I won the Chennai Corporate Marathon : Yup, that’s right. I came first in the race. yeah, I know its kinda difficult to believe. I myself had a lil’ difficulty letting the news sink in. The corporate marathon is only for working people and Pro athletes can’t participate here. Yet, winning it has given me an immense feeling of satisfaction. Especially when you surmount a persistent knee injury sustained during practice, and winning a psychological battle of not giving up after vomitting during the half way mark.
One of the cardinal mistakes in Marathon is never to break your stride. And I did just that. I kept throwing up and my legs started turned jelly. My heart nearly broke. After dreaming about this day for more than a year , training for it for close to five months and leading the pack with just a quarter of the race to go, it would’ve been a shame to give up. My heart was willing but my body wasn’t. What made the difference was a small group of people and a very enthusiastic video cameraman covering the event kept egging me on with words of encouragement. At that moment, more than anything, I started feeling guilty letting these people down. Ironically, the vomitting seemed to be a blessing in disguise. It started clearing my head and I once again started on my run. But due to the break in the running, my muscles started to contract and i was beginning to feel a cramp coming.
What actually pushed me to victory was the sight of the person running in second. I turned around to see him catch up with me and I forgot eveything else. I picked up the pace … damn the knee pain, damn my wobbly legs, damn my bursting heart, damn the cramp. If my rowing coach had been here, he would have screamed, “Die running Kribs,DIE . But don’t ever give up. EVER !!”. Memories of our Rowing victories flashed by my mind and evertime I think of those, I get a renewed energy and inspiration that I can’t explain in words. In the end, I won the race comfortably. It’s an occassion, I’d always treasure in my life.
Sheesh ! when I re-read the post I just made,I almost made this sound like a Reader’s Digest story !! Now I can proudly take out my New Year Resolutions list and tick one off.
