First thoughts from Delhi...

The first thing I heard when I touched down in India was: "dont you like India - you never visit!". Before me was a customs official - a friendly, gangly man of about 40. I am sure however, he looked older than his years; like most people here do. He went on to say "India needs people like you', among many things. Having landed in around 2am local time, I could barely manage a smile. I felt guilty though, I think he expected me to be *alot* friendlier than I felt at that moment. I am like this though - I worry about these things.

I totally expected to run this morning - but didnt. I couldnt. The most overwhelming feeling I get from this city is one of apathy and numbness. One cant help but be influenced by it. I call it the "Yob" culture - it is most prevalent. I will expand on it later; when I have more than 10 minutes before I rush off.

I did run just before I left Singapore. I did 250 stair sprints in 35 minutes. It felt good, I felt strong.

The food here is amazing. Sadly, not enough motivation to move my ass. I shouldnt complain, its day 2 of 3 in this beautiful city. I am serious, only Delhi manages to look charming in the rains. People are so happy in the rain - we can all learn a thing or two from that. Where inconvenience is never an excuse to be grumpy - I think I refer to myself here :-)

2nd last run before India!

I run to stop internal chatter - It is the only thing that gives peace.

Did not even manage to shut my eyes last night and my heart was racing with too much anxiety.

Dead legs for the first mile till I found my MOJO. Trying to stay positive - so hard when one is an eternal pessimist!

6 miles steady
10 by 60m sprints
0.7 miles cool-down
2 miles on the stairs sprinting.

An observation: My route is slightly lit every morning. As I ran today, I followed my shadow. It was long and strange. I could see my running form and corrected my posture, pulled my elbows in and relaxed my shoulders. Then I thought, "I cant remember the last time I paid attention to my shadow". This is what I love about running - my shadow is a running partner.

On distance...

In life sometimes one is too close, yet not close enough.

12 relatively fast ones this am. This is the farthest and fastest I have gone since the marathon last week. My throat isnt as scratchy - I need it to be ok so I can eat in India :-(.

16 freezing laps in the pool! (probably not the smartest thing I couldve done this morning, I forgot I had the flu)

Post - Marathon flu?

I think thats what I have. It has only been a week and I am, once again, totally over-stretching. Is there any other way to be??

5 really strong miles in 40 minutes. I couldve kept going but held back.

A better Sunday...

Today feels much better than yesterday. I slept for 4 hours uninterrupted. I had my usual breakfast of raisin toast and porridge. Thankfully in life we can say that 99.999% of the time that there will be another day, and today is another day that was better than yesterday.

Thanks be to God.

7 miles @ 4.25am
100 stair sprints
17 minutes in the freezing pool!