Pursuing my passion

After joining a software company in Bangalore as a fresher I had to stay away from home and developed bad eating habits. With sudden shift from college to corporate style of lunch and with wide and rich variety of menu being served, it becomes quite irresistible for any fresher to control their taste buds. This resulted in my body weight to touch 84 Kgs (used to be 76 Kgs before landing in Bangalore). Unfortunately I didn't realize that I had put on so much of weight in a very short period and one fine day I tried to wear a 34" straight fit jean in front of my friends (Nagarajan and Satish). Suddenly there was a burst of laugh. Well.. My waist was looking quite weird when I looked myself in the mirror (flab hanging all around the waist area of my jean) . The same weekend I exchanged my jean with 36" waist jean and also bought a pair of running shoes and started running from the same weekend. Since then I haven't looked back and last week I have registered in Chennai Marathon which is scheduled on Feb 5th.

When I started running, I found very tough even to cover 1km continuously. Everyday I managed to increase the duration and distance of running and as on today I can complete half marathon without any break. Everyone needs some kind of motivation to pursue their interests for longer time. So what motivates me to run?? After having shower every morning, I stand in front of the mirror with a towel wrapped around and will start searching for six pack abs?? I didn't manage to find it till date. hmmm... I had to run tomorrow and burn some fat. While I was in Switzerland many health conscious freaks have inspired me. I saw old people aging more than 70 yrs carrying ski boards and traveling to Alps during the weekends. When they can do, why can't I?? My parents didn't recognize me when I met them in chennai airport. I managed to bring down my weight to 72 Kgs before landing in India? During my last visit to Bangalore one fine evening when I was enjoying my dinner with friends someone asked what makes me run like a dog everyday morning. I replied that the pain I experience while running gives me pleasure. It did sound funny for them, but that's the truth. After getting up early in the morning at 4:15AM (at least 4 days in a week) and reaching the beach in my road bike hitting the roads at 25km/hr (good speed in Indian roads) with my legs ramming the pedal like a piston in an engine cylinder and running continuously for 10-22Kms with heart pounding at maximum rate while my legs on the verge of getting fatigue, I cannot say that I feel like having a wonderful time at a body massage center. It really pains..and I cannot stop my passion because of pain. Being a amatuer runner I can't compare my training schedule with any pro athlete even at district level. But I am happy to lead an energetic life. I am addicted to this lifestyle and it's quite difficult to become sedentary.

With still 7 more weeks to go for my first marathon, I don't have an option to miss anything in my schedule and have to train vigorously. Will post my experience on first marathon after Feb 5th.