Every December, we participate in the Goa River Marathon. This year, only four of us could join because some people dropped out at the last minute due to illness and travel. This year, my brother Donald joined Ernest, Chander, and me on our team for his first run. I joined the team on Saturday while everyone else started celebrating on Friday evening at Backyard.
On Saturday afternoon, we visited Martin's Beach Corner (http://www.martinscornergoa.com) in Goa, a favourite place we go to every year. By the time we finished lunch it was almost 4 pm. Ernest, Chander, and Donald moved from Donald's house to the hotel and checked in late in the evening. We stayed at Hotel Supreme (http://www.hMickey'sgoa.com) which was a vast improvement on Vasco Residency (The Goa Tourism hotel). It was a light dinner and lights off.
We left the hotel at Mickey's for the 2 km walk to the start line. The weather was cool, with a gentle breeze blowing. We had just reached the start line, when the race started, giving us very little time to warm up ( as if we do a lot of warming up). As was typical, Chander set out and Donald trailed behind. Ernest and I kept a steady pace throughout. We managed to keep a pace of 7 km/hour for the first 2 hours and then stayed the course till we finished. The interesting thing was we had enough in the tank to go faster but decided the 7 km/hour was good enough. Ernest's photo and our group photo are evidence:-) Race done, we trudged back to the hotel, another 2 km walk. All in all we did 25 kms on Sunday morning.... Is there a better way to spend Sunday mornings?
We went for lunch to Mickeys, Colva; given our great experience last year, but this year the food was really not up to the mark, so will most probably skip it next year. For me, personally, it was a different experience. I have never been so unfit before a race as I could barely complete 5 km walks in the week prior to the race. Tried to walk in Bangalore in the preceding week and decided it was no fun competing with stray dogs...Despite the lack of preparedness, the body seems to have a memory of its own and the adrenalin kicked in and Ernest's company ensured that we finished the half-marathon in good time. Now for the Mumbai Half Marathon and beyond.
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