Marathon, Marathon

First, my earlier marathon this year needs a mention. Orange County - Jan 2007. It featured a whole of 1500 runners! But for the cheering provided by 4B, Buss, Meher & Sridhar and company by PC, I would have utterly bitterly hated the experience. Those people made my day. Coming back to the marathon.. I have not seen such a barren marathon before, and it was really very hard to run those middle miles without any people in sight. Only things that were there were blazing sun and fields around. It was then that I decided that I am going to run only when there is going to be cheering. One way to ensure that (I hope) is to have large number of runners. That was how I picked up MCM - the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C.. I had read good things about it too. Now, it is within 7 days!! October 28th 2007 - the D-day is fast approaching.

This marathon is different from all other marathons I have run, in the sense that I am actually trying to stick to a training regimen. And I pushing myself just a little bit. (It would be nice to beat my time for the first marathon.) And all this brought its own share of injuries. What this means is that I am more jittery before the marathon than I was before my first marathon 3 years ago!!

First it was the hip. Now it is my foot. Part by part, my body is crumbling. It needs rest and recuperation. I can't wait till the season is over! (1 week from now.) I felt good in my last long run yesterday. But marathon is a different thing. And the after-effects are a different thing altogether. So, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. And I need as many wishes I can get.

The one thing I am certain about is that I will not miss the cheering part as long as I am running with Team Asha. Also, it is great to be running among friends - Chicken, ADP, here I come!