On the 12 days of....

So 12 days to go before my rookie run. I know it’s not big…deal…………I am well aware that tens of thousands of people do marathons annually, so it is not a big deal. But for someone just starting out (both as a runner AND and a marathoner) it's really a big deal.
I always admired people that do marathons on a regular basis. It is a mark of human endurance - both physical and mental endurance. The focus and concentration required is immense. It hard enough to run for that long, let alone concentrating for so so long, and be so motivated to repeat that process over years and years.

And the training behind that...Every Sunday you give up your sleep-ins and crawl out of bed at 4AM to be ready to run at 5:30AM. Every other days you forgo the air conditioned bus, and run home carrying a big fat backpack.

And the constant niggles here and there…you almost forget what it feels like to be pain-free!

But I am glad my training is over for now. These last one to two weeks will be focused on rest and getting my body ready.

On the day we were recommended to follow the 4:15 pacer like ducklings. The reason is that he didn’t want us rookies to go out too hard (from the sheer excitements of the race
) and hit our heads on the concrete at the 10Km mark.