The
remaining distance changed from kms to meters..1000 mts to go. A sudden
adrenaline surge had me running again in elation after having been
waking for nearly 9 km. But this rush could not last for even 200 mts
and I again started crawling. As I approached finish, somehow managed to
sprint the last 100 mts (without doping) and achieve my personal
milestone of 42:195 km in 5hrs and 17 mins.
The finish line area was empty and none
seemed to be there to pat my back. Looking back I saw a guy from western
navy command approaching the finish line. I did not want him to have
same empty feeling and immediately turned back to congratulate him. We
just hugged each other as we both could relate to the pain and glory
when mind finally had overpowered the body in mind vs body game.
The bruises in the body, the pain in the
shoulders and back lasted more than the emotional high gained from the
marathon. The after week was devoted to caressing the body joints and
eating as much calories as I could without feeling guilty about it.
So at the end of it what did i gain?
Health, yes that is a big gain considering i was suffering from high BP
just a year back. My heart rate has now slowed down from average 80 BPM
to 70 BPM which means I have lessened my stress levels. But apart from
it nothing more to share as I believe completing a marathon is miniscule
feat compare to lot of activities we work towards in our daily life.
Don’t believe me, try once focusing 8 hrs in office for a productive
work. I don’t remember if I could achieve this feat in my more than a
decade experience in the industry.
We all are a running our own marathons
daily, be it simple thing like managing to reach the office through
heavy rush hour traffic, our wives stressful routine in managing the
family back home, our elderly parents health related issues, our kids
daily routine with of school home work etc without they even realizing
that this still is the best part of their life. And just as the hug from
the unknown man at the finish line made me feel good about the entire
marathon experience, a simple gesture like a hug or pat to our daily
marathoners at the finish line will go a long way to make them the IRON
MAN of ultramarathon called LIFE.
2 comments:
Himanshu, your topic moved from Marathon to life, which is a very interesting view that you have. Maybe we will meet in some Marathon and pat each other, as a part of recognition. Keep it up!!!
Thanks for your Comments Ashish..
For a marathoner Mumbai Marathon is the mecca of 42k race. Would highly recommend that to you and yes may be we get a chance to meet and congratulate each other!!
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