Yesterday was a very special day.
For the last 5 years, some of the volunteers of my community have been working tirelessly for rejuvenation of Choodasandra lake in Bangalore.
Yesterday was decided as the day for lake inauguration. It was supposed to be a momentum occasion for which we have worked for so many years.
The Bangalore Ultra running event was scheduled to happenyesterday morning and I had registered for a 25 KM run a month ago.
With both the events coinciding on the same day, maybe it was an Omen from Almighty.
Leaving home at 3.45am on a cold Bangalore morning never felt so exciting. Upon reaching the venue, I met many running mates that helped to calm my nerves. I was slightly struggling with my left knee earlier this week that had built up some anxiety in mind.
Nevertheless, I tried to keep that aside and was glad to meet so many runners early in the morning. Run started at 5.30am and the first few kilometers took us through a dense tree cover that elevated the running experience.
Felt happy meeting the runners from the R2R running group.
A peacock made a sound from a far place that reminded me that I was running in a very natural and pristine environment and it’s such a joy to experience it while running. From then onwards, all my concerns about my knee disappeared.
I felt really happy to meet Mr Janardan who is still going strong at the age of 92.
Spoke to Dr Sriniavas who is a radiologist and a passionate runner and thanked him and the medical fraternity for their selfless service during COVID19.
Seeing many runners from HRA running club helped me to keep my motivation level high.
In the last 5 kilometers, I pushed through whenever my body and mind gave signals of tiredness. I tried encouraging fellow runners to keep pushing and finish the run strong. When some people who had slowed down started running again, that helped me to get some more energy to propel me forward.
Felt happy to cross the 25 KM finish line with little over 2 hr and 42 mins of fun and joy.
At the finish line, met my coaches from Runners360 who have redefined the meaning of Consistency at a whole new level. A separate blog on the same later this week.
2 hours later, I was in the presence of my volunteering team overseeing the inauguration of the lake.
Yesterday’s run is dedicated towards the Choodasandra Lake which I believe will be a model lake of Bangalore in times to come.
