Sunday, November 1, 2009

YO I WON.

1st November 09
Sunday 9:30 am
Event - Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

With the kind of weight i have put in the last one year, winning was out of the equation however I thought 500 mtrs or at max 1000 mtrs would be what i would be able to run.

Shahrukh khan waved us off at the start line and There we were... offff on a 7 km "The Great Delhi Run."

A few fit ones started a normal jog and settled into a nice rhythm ,less fitter ones ran a sprint for a while and then sided away into a fast paced walk and then finally rested.A few girls and guys were more interested in getting a pose clicked in their newly bought impeccable Reebok attire for the race.

Looking at them i wondered how come i always find myself out of options whenever it comes to a dress code....?
and i wonder a bit more when i see girls coming out with the perfect dress for whatever occasion it is.

I must admit ...There were a few really impressive ones.

I kept shouting,cheering myself and the co runners for the first 5-10 minutes.I think 500 mtrs was done ...mind wanted me to stop running and enjoy the rest of the race.I told mind to shut up as we(mind and body) were going on for next 500 mtrs.
It was quieter then the first 500 mtrs .I don't know when and I don't know why but at some moment i decided that i am going to complete this race.

Legs were getting heavier and the asset that i have built over the last one year (76 kgs of human Flesh) was proving to be a liability .I was just taking the race 500 mtrs at a time.This way I completed 3000 mtrs (6 times more).From here we took a turn back ..

On our way back i was telling myself "It's all in the mind ,i'll make it.I am not backing out."

Now at this moment 500 mtr theory was not working, a mere look at the next 500 mtrs of the road was hitting my determination,i felt like quitting at the mere glance of the next 500 mtrs.
Thats when i took the race one step at a time.I lowered my head and started watching my steps.I wanted my next step to be better than the last one. I knew it was a long way to go but i had to enjoy each and every step of my race.

This way i got to 6000 mtrs. I caught hold of kingfisher mineral water but didn't have the energy to rip it and have a sip.

I was doing fine but a pain had started in my right lower abdomen. I was in a kind of a zero zone,dumbly focused on the race but energy was draining out and pain was excruciating.A girl ran past me ,on the back of her t shirt was written "Runner in the day ,Rockstar in the night". I don't know what that meant exactly but watching her run... she was indeed "a Runner in the Day". Another female foreigner just shot past me wearing a black shirt,profusely sweating.On the back of her shirt i read a quote "Pain is temporary ,Quitting is Forever".

I smiled as i felt Lance Armstrong had himself come to motivate me for the last 1000 mtrs.
I just lowered my head and tried to overpower the pain as i wanted to Win this race and defeat my mind. Last 500 mtrs i sort of went into a sprint colliding with a big fat girl and nearly running over her.

Apologies to her and there i was 50 mtrs away from my finish line.

I raised my hands,closed my eyes ,threw my head backwards ,made the loudest of shouts and gave a huge high five to my friend .

People stared confused as i was in no ways a winner of the race but they didn't know.....I had won...I had defeated myself.

11 comments:

ManojBlogs said...

Heartiest Congratulations bhai...
Here u go .. this is what we call.. a Champion..

ManojBlogs said...

pain is temporary .. quitting lasts forever.. :)

Nayanank said...

good going man... keep it up

Shamail said...

Mast!! I feel now that I missed, though you told me that day :(
Well, Well done!
Looking forward for atleast a treat :-)

Sanchit421 said...

congos !! a very gud post...shows how true champions r made....u mentioned sth abt the 'zone'...similar to smth wht cathy freeman says abt her sydney medal...and she was thr in the marathon as well !!!

Secretariat said...

Man that is what you are........
You motivate yourself and people around like that............
Hats off to you buddy.......
This is the difference b/w an average guy THE GAURAV :)
keep on polarizing :)

Gaurav Vashist said...

thanks guys :)

Unknown said...

a lesson learnt for every one i guess...
thanks and congratulations!!

Shishir Kumar Goel said...

Yo Winner! [:)]

Dr. Neeraj Sharma said...

one can never loose if one can identify what one has gained. the effort only matters if one can identify this gain.

Rajkarn said...

Congrats....you finally defeated ur mind. It reminds me of the quote that our competition is with ourselves & not with others. Those who compare them with others actually insult themselves......Wish I was there to see U after u completed the marathon....haha :)