The last weekend began with me getting up @ 6:00 a.m!! I don't remember when I last got up that early and especially that also on a saturday morning. I had to catch the train at 6:30 from Metropark so got ready fast and ran towards the station with my iPod, camera and an extra t-shirt.
My Destination - Riverside Park on 83rd St in uptown NYC.
Occasion - "ASHA for Education" NYC-NJ Chapter was organising its 3rd Annual 5Km Race/Walk Event.
Why I was there - To Volunteer and be part of the race.
Registration began exactly @ 8:00 a.m. I met Monel, Aniruddha and Nitin - the co-ordinators for the race. They introduced me to other members - Shikhar, Neil, Sonal, Marcos, Prutha, Sai, Jaina, Lok and Pradeep. I was bit nervous but kept a sole aim of completing the race... thought of taking one step at a time. as it has been more than 10 years since I ran even a kilometer! Moreover, it was a last minute decision to take part in the race and hence there was no so called race preparation. I knew i wud have done good if i can complete the race. With that aim set in mind i started the race at 9:00 a.m. First half of the race was bit tough. Just after 5 minutes I started to feel cramps in my legs. Somehow I pushed myself and started to run at reduced pace. The trick worked as my body got sometime to regroup its energy. I was pushing myself with that renewed energy. Finally, when one of the volunteer told that its half way and now we need to race back to starting point. I knew I can do it without stopping. :) . The simple thought - "Finish Line is not Far Away" does wonders to energy level. It pumps more adrenaline to complete the race.
I realised one more thing - LIFE BECOMES LITTLE SIMPLE IF WE HAVE A GOAL TO ACHIEVE. Hey you, SET SOME GOAL IN YOUR LIFE. DO THINGS FOR THAT GOAL. you will be the happiest person when you reach your goal. Belive Me.
Finally I completed the race in 00:30:42 minutes and at position 34 which was among the top 15%. Whatever might be the sample, being in Top 20% is always good considering the fact that it was an adhoc decision to run. Best timing among men was 00:19:50 and among women was 00:25:16. The girl who came first told that she runs 6 miles daily. So my performance was not that bad. I am a Happy person.
From 10:00 am to 12:00 noon I was with the ASHA Volunteers... helping them to wind up the race. At 1:00 I thanked everybody and left for Edison, NJ. Reached home around 3:00 and immediately left for Fairfax, VA in my Car. It was a long drive but with Himesh Reshamiyan belting out all fast paced tracks we reached Fiarfax in no time and that too with only one break at NJTP.
It was 7:30 when we reached. Puneet and eveybody were leaving for dinner so Abhi and I joined them. After dinner we went to play Pool. Roy and I started of on one of the table. I wasn't playing good and among 7 games i played, I lost all but one. But had a good time and finally we returned at Pankesh's palce around 3:00 am in early morning.
Next Morning, I got up at 6:00 and immediately wake Shah and Ajax. Last night only I had decided that I will leave for Great Falls State Park asap. At park, we did hiking and followed a simple trail of nearly 3 miles. As planned, we returned back to home around noon after grabbing a "Garden Fresh" Pizza @ Papa Johns. It was good.
Back at Pankeh's place guys were still on the bed... feeling more cosy and not in mood to go out anywhere... so Ajay and I decided to play Tennis. Later Pankesh also joined us. Three of us played tennis for nearly 3 hours with Pankesh and Ajax rotating after every set.
It was 5:00 by the time we started our return journey to NJ. Thankfully, there was no stalled traffic during our retreat. this meant we completed our return journey in exactly 4.5 hours. i was at home by 9:30 pm and one more weekend was over.
But yeah, this was a weekend which I will remember for some time. this weekend will drive me to more in coming weekends!!
Pics are coming in next entry :)
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