Devon: A beautiful county that gave me a shocking wake up call

Momentary insanity made me register for the Dartmoor Vale Half 2012 at Devon, a good 5 hours by bus from London, saving grace being a classmate of mine, Pritish Ray, for company. What I expected was a half marathon like any other. What I expected was a place like London, though smaller in size. What I expected was a good break. What I expected was to be able to handsomely handle the whole trip! But the trip turned out to be all that was unexpected!
As I stepped out of the bus, upon reaching Devon, I felt cold wind caress my face. As we walked around I realized that it was a beautiful, hilly and peaceful locality. Within seconds I knew it was going to be colder than London. What also struck me as I looked around was that the upcoming half marathon in Devon was going to have a similar terrain if not a more challenging one!!! Oooops said my heart, all is well said my mind.
On Sunday morning as we stood at the start line, my only concern was to finish the marathon at a decent time. My personal best is 02:10 hrs. I would have been happy with 02:15 hrs. The first couple of miles were good, then came the never ending uphill. While all the marathoners took to a comfortable pace for the uphill, in my quest to be done with the uphill run, I sped past the others. Soon I was to realize that the uphill lasted for around 3 miles. Boy, was it a tough trail?! If I thought uphill was difficult then obviously I hadn’t a clue about what was to come. Absolutely steep downhill for 3 miles. This is where my knees decided I am not its well-wisher! At 13 Kms my knees gave way, I couldn’t take another step forward running without doing a collapsing act. But I refused to give up, if I had, I couldn’t have lived with myself. I dragged myself to the finish line at 02:32 hrs walking the last 8 odd Kms, which was actually decent timing considering I walked almost half the race. I was badly limping around. I was forced to remain painfully mobile. What gave me a deep sense of satisfaction was the fact that the first full marathoner finished ten minutes after I did!
Ever since this marathon I’ve been unable to run for more than five to ten minutes. This incident brought home harsh realities – my weak core and my badly hurt knees requiring months to heal, ensuring I can’t get back to running immediately! This has also seen me withdraw into my shell with respect to fitness. Usually, I fight back. Maybe it is time to take to swimming, strengthen my core and then have a strong comeback with respect to running. I know there is anxiety somewhere deep down, I just hope it burns me into doing something about my fitness ASAP!

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