5 days left...

Imagine how Liu Xiang must have felt standing in front of the whole world, especially millions of his adoring countrymen, standing in front of all those cameras and saying he will not be able to defend his 110 M hurdles gold?

I nearly broke down myself as I heard him speak...watching Liu Xiang run the 110 and 400 hurdles was something I was looking forward to with an obsession reserved until recently only for watching Warne bowl. Such was Liu Xiang's presence and mastery.

I thought a lot about Liu Xiang last evening.

I caught a viral infection over the weekend and I am now on antibiotics. 5 days before the marathon. The one place I did not want to be: under the influence of soporific, energy sapping drugs the week of one of the most important days for me in my entire life. Seems grandiose and overstated but not too far from the truth that. I've put in over 5 months of time, energy, pain and sweat. I am not going to let a viral infection stop me from running of course but I am also not stupid enough to ignore the fact that I will not be a 100% on Sunday.

I thought about Liu Xiang and how he delayed his announcement of not being fit till the last moment...hoping somehow he would be able to run. One cannot even begin to fathom how he must have felt, indeed still feels at not performing in front of his home crowd at the peak of his abilities.

I caught a large part of the movie "Seabiscuit" over the weekend. I first saw it in 2003/4 in Rotterdam...in a near empty theatre with 6 other people for company. If ever one needed to see an example of triumphing over adversity, this was it.

I have 5 days more to be ready.