Running

This coming Jan, I’d be running my first ever full Marathon [42.19 km] in Mumbai. And since this is so important to me, I decided I’d as well run it for a cause that has so much been resonating in me - Eliminating the educational inequity in India. Six months back, when I left Infosys for a two-year full-time commitment with TeachforIndia, I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. But now, having experience the ground reality my resolve to weed this out got even stronger. As a class teacher of 46 second grade kids in a low-income private school out here in Pune, every single day I’m amused, thrilled and challenged to provide them a better way of life, to provide them opportunities to excel and nourish the hope in their lives to be confident and self dependent.And more importantly have trust that one day they would be on par with any other kid who’d graduate from an élite school or college. ...

Yet another scooping rise from underneath - The water around blinds me out completely, the leg craves for rest, but the mind defies succumbing to pain and the body just goes on in a sinusoidal motion towards a non descriptive goal. I turn around by instinct and damn the mind takes over; fear creeps in and I get back to the shores twice as deftly as I swam in to the ocean. As I sit on the shore staring out into the expanse ahead, the throbbing calf muscles stand testimony to what Running can get one to do! I’d just completed my second Half marathon earlier in the day and even before I could come out of the excitement, I’d already swum the farthest I’ve ever been into an ocean till date..Couldn’t ask for a better reward! ...

Whew!! 2h.17mins - That was one solid run! With this I officially enter the league of serious runners and not to mention, I’m now one among those millions of half marathoners! Goal three for this year accomplished [Enduro3 and a Himalayan escapade being the first two.] Running was never something that turned me on. I never really understood why people ran kilometers in a stretch and I could never digest the fact that it would over time help you in reaching your goals. It was only during the Jalori Pass Mountain Biking expedition when I met Viral [Who still wears the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon wrist band!], I gave a thought to training for the Marathon. Back in hyd things soon faded out. Leave alone training, running as a hobby never materialized. Only in August when there was talk in the air of the second edition of the Hyderabad Marathon organised by the Hyderabad Runners club and the Hyd 10k Foundation, the guilt feeling of not training sank in. It was pretty late to start training so I volunteered instead. I’m so glad I did! It was indeed a wonderful experience getting to see the expression on people’s faces as they were handed over their medallions amidst the thumping rock songs and tremendous cheering. Goal three got frozen right then! ...