Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Biting more than I can chew

I returned from travel last week and feeling lethargic, I decided to go to the Gym and pump up my delts. The next morning, and since I felt I was going thru' withdrawal symptoms, I ran about 12.5K. On Saturday, I joined the group for our weekend run at Aarey and did a 10.7K. I wished I could have done more but then I was slacking off on Saturdays a bit too often and didn't wish our HR guys booting me in the **s. I had a hearty lunch and just one large swig of "Glenlivet" before drifting off into a deep afternoon siesta. I woke up and whaddya know, I went out and did a 10K run. I must be losing it but then I felt superbly refreshed! A non-runner will frown and say, "This guy flogs himself with two 10K runs in one day and says he is refreshed??" Well, thats our world and only the running fraternity will understand:-)

I woke up on Sunday at 5am for a session at the NIKE RUN CLUB. It was a day on which I was to demo "Boot Camp" fitness routines to the people. I was a bit disoriented with my sleep deficit and exhaustion thru' flogging my body these last 48 hrs. I sat a while after making my cuppa java and was suddenly overcome with melancholy. I guess it was the sound of the teaspoon striking ceramic that triggered nostalgia. I remembered my times in Goa as a school kid, with my brothers, sisters and parents. I remember the early morning twitter of birds and the first rays of dawn lighting up our french windows. The sound of mummy' leisurely chores in the kitchen; the sound of copper pots, the squeak of the pulley on our well as she drew water, the funny sounding horn of the "Poder" (bread-man), the arguments with the milkman that he had added too much water to the milk delivered that day and the gentle purr of the cat at my feet. The same melancholy dragged me back to reality with recalling the recent internal squabble in one of my running groups; I seemed to have been drawn into an unseemly and internal controversy on "credits". I was affected by it and it took me a while to digest it.

The routine at NRC of which I partook, seemed to have enervated me completely. I woke up on Monday morning, thinking that I should go out for a recovery run and little did I know, how much two-a-days affect the body; I was brought to a grinding halt after just 2K into my 7K run. I felt humbled by this realization and decided to do a sensible thing; walk more than run the rest of the distance. I guess I also saved myself the ignominy of doubling up in extreme exhaustion, had I persisted with my usual but deplorable penchant for risk-taking. All in all a well "spent" weekend:-)