Naughty arrived in April. Princess and I went and visited him for a couple of days.
Same as with Speedy, i whispered in his ear... My next race will be for you.
The next one was to be on May 27th, in Bangalore - TCS World 10K. There would be at least 15000 runners converging for this particular race. And i would be one of them.
This race required a timing certificate from a previous race and thankfully, i'd just done one in Feb. So, i used that certificate to qualify for this one. Well, i could have used an earlier certificate also, but i used this one.
In march, a friend of mine had come to hyd and stayed with us for a couple of days. During that time, i said...come let's sign up for a race in May, in bangalore. You and I and another mutual friend in Bangalore, can all go together. He said ok. I will sign up, but little later. Of course, my gregarious friend ditched me when he didn't sign up in the next few weeks, citing stress at work and a lot of travel. My other friend said... Nah ! It'll be too hot, i'm not going to do anything outdoorsy !
This race with friends, was not to be. I was a little disappointed, but accepted the situation for what it was.
Then, I went to see Naughty in April.
Ever since my feb end race, a 10K, i'd been decently regular in my training. I'd upped my mileage in a conservative fashion. Not overdone anything. But injuries were not far behind.
I did a timed trial in the second week of May. 10K in 63mins. It wasn't a great time, but decent, considering the hilly terrain. Hyderabad is full of rolling hills and inevitably, every route will have a little bit of elevation or slope. It is good for runners to practice and train on rolling hills, since it helps develop the leg muscles in a better fashion. Apparently, that's what i'm told :)
A couple of days later, i felt pain in my shins. I was disappointed again. Why oh why, does this always recur with me ???
I iced. I rested. Excercised a bit. I toned down my runs. Did just barely enough to make sure that i had enough stamina to complete the 10K.
I went to Bangalore. Stayed at my friend's place. I'd made a snafu by booking my tickets too close to the race day and not having enough time at my disposal to go to the expo :( His wife helped me, by collecting my bib from the expo near her residence. Thankfully, she had company in the form of a running friend.
I'd used a crepe bandage for my right shin, which had been bothering me a little. This on the day prior to the race ! Damn ! I wasn't fully fit.
So, my friend, is not really an early riser. Don't know when he chose to see the rising sun, voluntarily :) He'd said, we'll go to the race together, maybe even take my daughter along.. And i'll wait for you to finish and then, we can come back. I'd said ok, pretty sure that he hadn't realized what he was getting himself in for :)
Of course, i wouldn't let him get up soooo bloody early, just to drop me off to the race. I'd figure something out. But he and his wife, were a step ahead. Bless their souls.
Now, the society where he lived in Bangalore has a lot of runners and a few of them would be participating in this race. It also helped that his wife had a runner friend who would be going. They asked her to give me an early morning ride to the stadium.
Evening, we went and met her. I had my crepe bandage on and of course, she enquired, what's wrong ? Are you fit to race ? This was to be expected from any runner. They're always supportive of other runners and will always lend a helping hand. She proceeded to tell me which exercise to do, to recover. She even told my friend that she should make sure i had potatoes for dinner. Carb loading ! So sweet of her.
We chatted for a bit, enquired about our running histories, swapped stories about our families, kids, work. She has her own design firm... a good one at that !
She would be happy with a sub 65 and i would be happy with anything under 63. I mean, i would be very happy if i could do under 60 mins, which i had hoped for, trained for. But, wasn't sure, considering my painful shin. Fortunately, we were both assigned in the same corral (which is always helpful).
She would give me a ride the next morning.
So far, the universe was aligning in my favor to get to the venue early morning. But, of course, Murphy's law is omnipresent :)
My friend's family and I went out for dinner. Had burgers, milkshakes. It was fun to go out. Went back home and chatted. Ultimately my friend and I even ended up sleeping together, late late into the night.
I woke up on time, had hardly slept...3 hours or so. Got ready, had a couple of bananas and headed out the door, trying to ensure that i didn't wake up my friend's family.
I met our mutual friend nice and early, picked up another girl (a tri-athelete) and the three of us proceeded to the venue. It wasn't far off...about a 20 min drive. She'd booked a parking slot in advance, so was pretty confident of making it in time and not having to hurry.
Bangalore had other ideas !
Bangalore has perpetually had traffic woes. And for a race where at least 15000 runners were congregating, it was to be expected. 500 meters before the parking turn off, we got stuck. And stuck pretty badly. No forward movement. Plenty of other cars and runners in the same plight. The girls said...maybe we should have gotten a driver along... we could have gotten off and walked the rest of the way ! I mean, that would have been the practical thing to do, but nobody had anticipated this bad a jam. Thankfully, the traffic cops diverted the cars to a parking lot in a school, which was commandeered on the spot, for that purpose. We just about managed to park and start walking to the stadium.
But, Murphy wasn't done with us.
The entrance to the stadium was chock a block with people. Big crowds waiting to get in. Security was handling it the best they could. We didn't have a choice. Got in line and waited for the queue to move. Move it did, at a snails pace. By this time, the race had started ! and we weren't still inside the stadium :(
While i was waiting in line to get inside the stadium, i was thinking... why does it have to be so difficult ... for me to run a race for my nephew ? Why couldn't it have been just a tad bit easier ? Why does life make it so tough for me ? Is it not to be ?
Ultimately, we made it in. Did a very very quick Loo stop and proceeded to the assigned corral.
Runners had started off way way way ahead of us...but plenty were still going out. We hadn't had time to warm up. No stretching. No Nothing.
Now, every runner will tell you the importance of warming up properly before a race, of stretching and limbering up. All of this helps to provide an impetus for the race and deliver our best.
It was not to be for us ! Murphy was winning ... even before we had started the race :(
Later, i would find out that we started our race almost 7 mins after the flag off !
Anyway, we started off. It was pretty crowded and the going was slow... at least i thought it to be slow.
I wanted to do well. Past few months had been tough on me physically. I'd had ups and downs, with my legs being the culprit. I felt that i wasn't progressing beyond the 10K race mark. This was another 10K ! Least, i could do was get a decent race time, isn't it. I mean, there has to be something good, after running a few 10Ks. My best time till then was 60 mins 33 seconds, which was incidentally my first timed race too... from almost 2 years ago.
So, i thought, i'll use the first two Ks as my warm up. Then i can try a little speed...get to 5K and then, really push myself to go all out. Advantage was that this was a flat flat flat course, and almost all of my weekend runs were on rolling hills. Weekday runs were of course on a flat surface, but my endurance was getting made during my weekend runs. It had to help me somewhere.
There were a couple of times when i had to stop and walk for a bit, when i felt that my heart race was really beyond my capacity. Had a couple of oranges, biscuits, during the race.
There were a lot of runners in the open 10K. Multiple times, had to zig zag my way through them. But i knew that i was doing well. I passed a plethora of runners. Passed the 70 min pacer, then a few minutes later, passed the 65 minute pacer. I had started to feel good by that time. Thankfully, my shins didn't hurt much. My knees co-operated. I was going all out... Finally, it felt like a race where i was doing well !!!
I finished in 57:45 ! This was a personal best. This one is for you Naughty ... muah !
But, my shins hurt, post the race. I would have to deal with pain...again.
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