Five kilometres are relatively short. At least in my nowadays frame of mind. But short doesn’t mean easy. And shortcuts in running don’t exist either.
In the morning, waiting for the shorter hand
of an analogue watch to get on one to then make my move and travel to the race,
am thinking that the shorter the route, the higher the effort required.
It’s now three weeks since the last race,
training has been consistent with the rest of life going around it, and in this
periodization period it feels like we’re being built slowly, surely and efficiently.
The route for today’s race at the southern
Qrendi is new to me. Light blue vests with
the Mellieha emblem are all over the place and conversely to the route, they’re
the most familiar. Wearing one of them,
it makes you feel you belong. With most
of us under the guidance of the same coach and mentor it feels even more
complete.
Three o’clock and am standing. Am idle and for such a position the heart
beat is higher than usual. Am expecting the
signal to start. And it duly arrives. A brash start in the mass of runners but soon
I find my tempo and am faster than three weeks ago with lesser effort. The second kilometre is heading to the same
direction as gravity, and it feels nice accepting the help of the force. Another half a kilometre and it’s now back to
where we started to finish. What was
till a few minutes ago a gentle help will now turn to an extra irritation. Life may be as fickle as that.
The breathing gets harder, teeth are admittedly gritted, all for the sake
of a finishing line. But I know this will not last too long, and soon it would
be the last straight home. The average
timing gets understandably higher but then the last push makes up for it. The average pace is 4:19/km, and the timer is
stopped at 21:41.
I pick up my breath again, return from
nowhere land, grab a bottle of water and I feel quietly satisfied. Stories of the race are swapped and it’s time
for another run this time in the form of a cool down, in a nice breeze with
blue vests around again, a just reward for the entails before.
