"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

Funchal - 1 Mile Race - Jan 2022 - Madeira

Our two mile race had started in the dark but it was broad daylight when we got together at a slghtly different start line for the second part of these surprise, back-to-back races. The one miler was going to be out and back on the same course, just with fewer lengths of the cycleway. There was a mix of emotions for sure, not everyone had kept anything in the bank for a follow up race, but overall there was a sense of enthusiasm and acceptance that Viharin was right - this was something Sri Chinmoy would have done and indeed had done in the past, so everyone was more than up for it.

So race number two on the same morning began and immediately I was trying to keep walking at a decent pace without letting the muscles tighten or cramp up after several minutes inactivity following the 2 miler. I was able to keep up pretty much the same pace as before, until the closing stages where I felt a slight pulling in my hamstrings and decided to ease off just a little. With a knee injury healing up well I didn't want to set myself back any further with a muscle tear as well.

I came over the line in 10:53, just outside the pace I was aiming for, but happy that I had pushed as hard as I reasonably could all through both races. This time the post-race prasad did come, there was no second surprise in the form of a third race, and everyone wandered back to the hotel very happy. I had burned off the slightly sore throat that had been hanging around for a day or two and felt great after the hard race effort (though not as hard as if I had been running of course - Garmin clocked my average HR in the 150s).

As a strange post-script to this race I found myself feeling less great the following day and when I got home - I was convinced it was just a cold as Kokila and I had no classic covid symptoms and were testing negative daily - but a couple of days after arriving home I did register a positive test and had to isolate for 10 days until 2 back to back negatives allowed me out of the house. So in addition to injury, I'm writing this with post-covid tiredness to overcome! I get the feeling 2022 is going to be a good year - perhaps a great year - but so far it's not without its challenges!

 
Sacred Steps Home