The Elusive Negative Split and a splendid Sunday

When you are working thru a weekend, you need some support to maintain sanity. It is easy to bitch and rant, which I do infrequently. But there is always a silver lining.

Today was a special day in my return to running. I ran a negative split for a half marathon! I don't remember when I last ran a negative split. And then followed it up with a splendid breakfast at Cafe Mysore in Matunga with a double filter coffee.

"A", you made my day. A fellow runner and former Bangalorean "A" who I frequently encounter somewhere between Siddhi Vinayak and Peddar Road caught me on my return leg around Peddar Road and kept me company. He was cycling and actually turned back from his ride since he saw me. (God bless his soul). When we reached the signal before the Atria mall, I realized that my pace had upped to about 5:42/km and it struck me that I could go for a good finish (I usually have a sissy 2nd half, whatever the distance, although I run like mad for the last few 100 ms). I kept the pace up and thanks to A, managed to finish 21 km in 1:59. Not my best timing. But I had enough gas in my tank to go for another 6-8 km :) And the intent from the very beginning was to run a steady race. Now I know what I need - a friend on a cycle when I chase my Boston dream.

And to top this off, A picked me up from my place and we had a splendid breakfast, all due to the man. May god make more of his kind... (The fact that Swati Snacks (our earlier planned location for breakfast) was closed (it opens at 11:30 am) didn't deter us a bit, although I ended up having breakfast at 10:30 ish). TANSTAFL, but there is a free breakfast, as sure as hell...

Now, if only I could have cloned myself to go attend the Mega-Whats quiz :(