The travels of yesterday may have left me tired but somehow sleep seemed to have deserted me. So after a bit of tossing and turning, headed to the lobby to complete what I had tasked myself to do each day.
I had tasked myself to hit the road once again and getting at least 10k under my feet before Sunday’s race. However, woke up to the sound of the patter of rains drops on the rooftop. Ok not really from my room but when I stepped into the lobby could hear the same. So after having my customary black coffee, and giving mumma some hot water, headed out for my run, in a cold rain, actually it wasn’t really raining, it seems like it doesn’t really rain in Ladakh, it only drizzles, or you have light cold showers.
So after few minutes of warm up, off I went down the road that lead to the airport. The road here in Leh tries to deceive you, it first disarms you by having a constant gradual downhill, and captivates you with the sights it offers you, where else would you be able to see a plane land while our on your run. So you’re able to reach a good steady pace till your halfway mark. Till then only challenge you face is from the cold, and even though you’re wearing compression tee, shorts and socks, you can still feel the cold, and at the same time you are also sweating, call it the biggest irony of a runner.
Now the return journey adds a new dimension to the challenge of running. What goes down will find its way up, what was downhill is now uphill. This considerably slowed the pace, very often left me feeling breathless, thanks to lack of proper breathing patterns. In fact had to walk quite often. Now, since I hadn’t done Shanti Stupa, decided to undertake the challenge of taking that route. Once again running-walking finally made my way to the top, but not before making some new friends from Delhi. The view from the top offered a panoramic scene of the city below. So after capturing a couple of pic it was time to make the run back.
Reaching the guesthouse, did a few cool down drills, and since Prerna had the first edition of the MRR tee, I had the second and the third, we decided to do a quick shoot with all the tees, after I lent my vest to Jaj. So after a quick shoot and post on FB, not forgetting about taking a shower and having breakfast, we headed to Leh market to cheer our friends who were running the Khardung La Challenge.
So after having a sumptuous lunch, we even kept a watch out for cheers, lest we would miss out on cheering and pacing our friends (at least that was what Jaj wanted to do), we parked ourselves on the pavement, cheering runners as they made their way to the finish line. We waited patiently near the start of the last stretch, worrying as the cut off time neared. We learned from runners of the extreme conditions that the runners had to face on their way to the top. Imagine if you have to cope with rain, snow, cold and the sun. We felt bad for the ones who had to DNF (Did Not Finish in non Running terms) but we salute their spirit for undertaking such an arduous challenge. We even learned about few of our friends who didn’t complete, but respected their spirit and their attitude.
Now as the clock slowly ticked away to the final cut off point, we couldn’t sit one place waiting for our friend Pinto to arrive, so we began to walk in the direction which the runners were trickling in. Around 20 minutes to the cut off time we finally seen him. We ran those final few meters with him, right to the finish line. And once he crossed we headed to the recovery area to congratulate him and all the runners who had finished.
From then on it was time for some fun, and clicking pics. As soon as Zingat began to play then began the post race shenanigans. We all may have been tired from waiting and the morning run but music seemed to fuel our enthusiasm. So we danced with gusto, we danced carefree, we danced from our hearts, we danced like a only a Mumbaikar could do. So we even did garba and a bit of Zumba. Our friend Sunjay even did a bit of breakdance. Crowd seemed amused and entertained, but we didn’t care for it, we did what only we Mumbaikars can do, have a total blast.
After everything was wrapped up and the apple pie was eaten and tea was drunk, we headed back to the guesthouse. Here we had some quick snacks, courtesy of Prerna, and headed to Bob’s Cafe, which was strongly recommended by our friends Rupal and Vignesh, who’s wonderful owner, Srinivasan, we had met at the finish line and who joined in indulging us in our shenanigans.
The meal at Bob’s Cafe was sumptuous and didn’t disappoint. Even though we had something light, we did enjoy every food item (at least for me). We planned the activities for the next day. So returned back to the guesthouse to retire for the day and recharge for a new day.
P.S. we woke this morning learning about the decriminalising Section 377. It was a decision in the right direction, a progressive step in respecting people’s choice to choose who they want to love and how they showed their love to them. Though acceptance may still be a long way, but every little step can be seen as a giant leap in the right direction. However, what left a bitter taste were the jokes and memes that began to circulate. Yes everyone needs to have a light side but timing of these seemed bad, as they were in bad taste and illtimed and even crude. Everyone has right to their opinion and how they feel and react, but don’t see people realising the magnitude to the verdict other than the crude humour we see in the movie. So let’s live and let live and don’t infringe on the rights of one another, cause not all things need to have a humorous side.
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