My Learning factor

I woke up very early morning. It was thick dark and chilly weather. I knew, it was going to be a super special day. The fact is I was getting ready to run my 5^th Marathon. I was truly excited. I geared up with all the necessaries for the day. After I got ready, I triggered my 10 year old to get up and ready. He got up as soon as I pronounced his name.

But to my disappointment, he was having a very bad wheezing and cough. He couldn't breathe properly. After doing preliminary remedies, I told him, “How are we going to proceed with the day? Shall we quit or should I leave you with another volunteer while I run? What do you think is the best idea?” I waited for his opinion. Before I could consider any of the option he said “I am running”. His reply was nerve-wracking and I was completely confused.

We both got ready. I booked an auto and asked him to drop us in the nearby train station as I know parking a car in the heavy crowd will be challenging. The auto driver dropped us in the station as discussed and he left. We went inside the station and waited for the ticket master to arrive. To our dismay, he was not coming any sooner. Only few men were there in the early morning.

 I was little scared. But knowing that my son is around, I was relaxed. I braved myself and asked them what time is the first train to reach the Beach station. They both replied, “In another 10 minutes”. I believed them and waited.

Time was running and I couldn’t see any sign of the ticket counter being opened. In the meanwhile I squeezed some biscuits and warm water to my son and asked him to relax as we had no clue on how to reach the destination at the moment. Few minutes later, a tall and stout lady came by. I was overjoyed seeing a female company. Again we waited for few minutes.

There was no one arriving at the counter site. The lady who came supposedly seemed to be an intelligent being. She moved the board which closed the counter slot and tried to speak. I was thinking she must be crazy. Who in the world she was going to talk as of now?

But to my surprise, I saw a man hiding inside the room behind the open counter. He must be sleeping all through the time making all of us fool. I asked him, “When is the first train to Beach station”. He replied very casually “At 6.55 AM”. Immediately I started to panic as the Marathon starts at 7 AM. There is no way we are going to reach on time for the event which is very important for both of us. I cursed my husband vividly for not joining with us in km, instead of running 21 Km.

I was very clear. We need to run. My mind wandered and thought what could be the next option. I booked another auto which came in 15 minutes time. By the time the auto arrived I saw two other runners heading towards the station.  I stopped them saying the first train starts very late. Hearing that they both joined with us in the auto. Soon the auto gobbled all four of us and we wheeled in the breezing cold wind in the early morning.

 What fun it is to ride the auto in the snow chilled air. We experienced abundance and all the world’s best experiences torched in front of the eyes. The moving lights, newspaper boys stacking the dailies, empty roads and less pollution a super wonderment in the morning. That was a purely a serene moment.

All four of us with two new faces started to chat like as though we knew each other for ages. Among the two, one was girl and it was her first marathon. She was discussing on the nuances of marathon thinking me as an avid runner. It was fun discussing and relaxing to feel that we are going to reach the place soon. Almost more than half way, the auto stopped. The auto driver was trying to make some stories and not making any progress. My threshold timer has stopped. I told him to get the money and leave us off.

We went to the road and started to look for other alternatives. In the meanwhile, my son was excited and his wheezing was trying to hide under his enthusiasm. I was feeling happy to see that change in him. Soon a SUV was racing very fast and I waved my hands in big circular motion standing in the middle of road that he left with no choice except to stop for us.  Surprisingly, there were also couple of marathon runners inside. Finally we were relieved. They reached the destination very soon and dropped us in the right spot.

I checked the time it was 7.00 AM. The balloons has already started flying. The countdown has started. By the time we reached the start point it was almost 7.06 AM and the crowd made their first step towards freedom. The energy surge, the music and the vibration made me shed tears. The crowd was so much that we couldn’t intrude the starting point at any case. So we made a dare jump through the bridge walls and joined the crowd.

The music was so peppy and exhilarating which left us focused on the run. We began our journey holding hands together. I checked his wheezing again. He was OK, but not very well. I was little worried. I was continuously checking on him. I told him not to run, instead do a fast pace walk. He was doing very well. After 1.5 km, he suddenly had the urge to run for short distances for which I said fine. He ran for few minutes and stopped. His heart was thumping so loud and I had to stop to check on him. On the way he fell on the ground once and I was happy that he didn’t feel embarrassed and I didn’t give time for him to do that.

We continued our journey, sometimes as slow runners, sometimes with brisk walk we raced forward. I was constantly checking on him. During the past marathons, around almost 5 to 6 km he used to lose energy and continuously whine that he couldn’t run further. I was so amazed to not hear any frustration or whining sound from him. I was also very relaxed. I knew that I can’t run as usual this time as I need to keep in pace with my son. I actually prepared my mind well in advance which helped me to do a better race.

Our joy was in no bounds when we heard that we finished almost 8 km. I was very happy seeing him run with no complaints in spite of wheezing this time. There were many inspirations on the way. Women in wheel chair, Man with artificial legs, Special children being the recipients of charity were all there in the way to motivate. It was a splendid moment. It was easy that way for me to motivate him. He ran and walked. I knew he was suffering to breathe. But he continued. He wanted to reach the goal. His goal was a booster for me to run.

We did not stop anywhere except for short snacks, water and electrolytes. Our destination was only 1.5 Kilometers away.  We saw an Auto driver taking video of runners in the early morning. It made me smile.  He must be inspired. It was almost 500 meters to the destination. I asked him,” Do you want to run or walk till the destination”? He said “I want to run’ and we both ran. It was a super fantastic journey together reaching the finishing point as winners.

Yei!! Hip! Hip! Hip! Hurray!!. Three cheers for us. I held his hands and hugged. I asked him, “How do you feel now”? He said “Ma, My wheezing is gone”. I was very happy. It almost looked like magical miracle. Few hours back, I saw this boy struggling for breath and now absolutely happy and healthy. I thanked the supreme power for the changeover moment. It was an immense gratification. I realized my thoughts and goal is very powerful than the physical body.

If you are destined to do anything by all your heart no matter what you might experience in the health, you can still achieve what you wanted to achieve. My son taught me a great lesson. He is the motivating factor for this Marathon and all my past marathons. I salute him from the bottom of my heart.  It was a life lesson learned in the most comfortable way. I am loving the experience.