TWO MARATHONS IN A DAY

The total distance of two marathons is approximately 85km. This sunday, 27th May, 2012, İ covered a total distance of 80km , running and walking.

Güzelyurt is a city (Old name MORPHOU), located in far western corner of  North Cyprus.  It is a distance of 40km from Lefkoşa (North NICOSIA). I live in Lefkoşa. I planned to visit Güzelyurt this sunday, running and walking.

It was my first time that i would be running on the road linking the two cities. I had been there quite a few many times by car.But this time i wanted to go there running and walking. The distance was 40km, and the road and the route was totally new to me, so i had not made any plan for returning back from there again walking/running. I had left this issue, to be decided once i reach there.

                        (5.30am i started off for the 40km run. This is the lane just behind my residence)


I started off early in the morning, because the weather was going to be too hot, during the day time. According to my initial estimate i would be taking atleast 6 hours to reach there.So i started off early in the morning. It was 5,30am, when i came out on the road, and started walking towards the main highway, approximately at the distance of 2km from my residence. The weather was clear. No clouds. Just a bit cool in the early hours of the morning. I wanted to cover as much distance as i could during the early hours, when the weather is cool.

But i could not start running outrightly. I usually walk 2km atleast, to adjust myself.

I tried to walk at my usual speed, and reached the main highway, from where i had had to turn left (west) towards Güzelyurt (Morphou).

                                       (The signboard showing the way left towards Güzelyurt)

With sun dawning on my back, i started running westward. There was no traffic. It was too early for a sunday morning traffic. Here or there i found some people pacing for an early morning walk. In a short span of time, i found my rhythm, and picked up pace. A long long, unending road was in front of me. I had been through the same road quite a many times. One by one the known buildings continued passing me, on right and left side of the road.

I started feeling heat, at around 8am. Long long road was ahead of me. Some traffic had started passing by.

The sight of the oranges farms , was the first indication that the Guzelyurt was near. Almost the oranges had been plucked, yet some left over were there on the trees, perhaps waiting for someone like me. I did not leave any chance, and instantly put my hands on two of them. They were quite tasty. I took two more. I felt as if i had found again some of my lost energy.  I picked up speed.

I stopped at a petrol pump, and washed my face. I asked the boy there, about how much distance left to Güzelyurt. His answer was 4 or 5km. I looked at my watch. I was ahead of my schedule. That made me too happy. It was about 10am. I was on the road for about 4.30 hours.

I entered the city of Güzelyurt at about 10.30am. It was quite a good performance. 40km in 5 hours.

                        (I turned left from the main chember to enter the city of Güzelyurt.....lovely flowers)

I reached the main bus stop. I had planned to take rest there. I had expected some restarurants etc and some place where i could takesome rest.
It was a large round waiting hall. There were chairs, but no benches. Nobody was in. I went out the back side. There was a small bufe there. Passengers were seated there, waiting for their buses.

I took a cup of tea and returned to main waiting lounge. I put an another chair in front of me, took off my shoes, and tried to make myself comfortable on the chair. I  looked at my feet. The burning sun had made its mark, the colour difference of my skin was evident as i lowered down my socks.

I closed my eyes and dosed in somewhat uncomfortable condition. Passengers were passing through the main door and crossing to the other side where the buses were parked. I do not know how long did i sleep. When awoke i went out and took something to eat.

I padded myself up once again at about 2pm. I had taken my decision. I would be going back to Lefkoşa again running/walking. The very idea of completing 80km in a day, had really given me a new strength. I asked my legs," ARE YOU READY FOR 80KM İN A DAY,". The reply was YESSSSSSSS. I had already covered 40km that morning, and now was going ahead for an another 40km. I took off at 2,30pm.

It was quite hot outside. I did know that it would not be too easy. But with renewed determination, i started off. As usual i had taken a bottle of water with me. This proved to be a very costly mistake. I should have taken two instead of one water bottle.

I preferred to walk more, instead of running. I wanted to save my energy to run when the weather becomes somewhat cooler, in the evening. I saw some clouds on far far east, in front of me, but too far. I thought that it would be too better for me if those clouds come faster towards me. But it was just a hope, which ultimately proved senseless.

I was walking, the long long barren road was ahead of me. A couple of more kilometres. I passed through the petrol station. I decided to take a short break, and washed my face. I went off. The same gardens of oranges passed, but i was still in the beginning part of my marathon, so there was no need to stop and eat oranges. I continued.

I covered around 10km when i started feeling hungry. I sat in the shade of a sign board, and ate my packet of biscuits. I drank some water. I looked at the bottle. I realised my mistake. I must have taken two bottles. But it was too late. I did know that it was a new road, and there was no village in the way. There was only one petrol pump on the road, and that had already passed. I had had no other choice to keep on going.

I started feeling burning heat on back side of my neck. The hat that i was wearing was not large enough to save my neck from heat. I recalled the famous film BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, where the commander of the British forces and some of soldiers had put a piece of cloth attached to back side of their caps to save their neck from the heat. I had seen the same in some other movies also. 
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

I found a piece of white paper on side of the road. Somebody had thrown it. I could see lots of ants on it, because the paper was earlier used to cover some eatable. Part of the paper was stained with oil. I cleared the paper off the ants, and adjusted it under my hat, in a way that almost whole of the backside of my neck was covered by it. I had successfully found the way out to save my back from burning

But the biggest problem was that i was thirsty, and there was no way out to solve that. I was not running at all, just walking, but still thirsty. There was no village or shop or petrol station on the way.

I continued. Still half bottle was filled with water, but i was not going to finish it unless i get an another water. I took some very small sips of water, and kept on going.

I looked at my watch, i was much behind my schedule. It was 7.30. According to my performance in the evening, bu that time i must have been at home. But Lefkoşa was still more than 5km away. I stopped. I decided to take rest. I was too tired. My whole body was being effected by thirst.

But that was not all. By half way, i had checked that both of my socks had had big holes. It was not so in the morning. 80km were perhaps too much for them. The torn pieces of the socks had started troubling the bottom of my feet. I had realised that there were quite some water balls under the skin. But i had had to keep on moving. My speed had dropped. But i was continuing.

I found water in the first petrol pump that i found , around 5km away from Lefkoşa. I drank the whole bottle. Bought an another one for the remaining 5km.

The rest was just normal. Due to problems in the bottom of my feet, the whole of my leg had developed pain. I kept on walking.

I reached home at quarter to 9pm. I had finished these 40km in over 6 hours.

But the overall result was superb. Two marathons means approximately 85km. I had covered 80km in a day. Very fantastic and morale boosting performance from my point of view.

ANOTHER 25KM

19TH MAY 2012

Again the weekend. Originally i had planned for a long run/walk for 40km. According to my plan i would be going west of Lefkoşa, to Güzelyurt, and will return back. It was going to be tough, because i would have been running on that particular road for the first time and secondly the distance was going to be 80km.

However, the saturday morning i came to know that heavy rains were expected on sunday evening and on sunday. I cancelled the idea of going to Güzelyurt on sunday.

But as the saturday evening dragged near, i felt like going out for running. I decided to go to Girne, some 25km from my place.

I started off at around 4pm. The weather was cloudy. I had expected rain, and that was one particular reason of my going out. I wanted to test myself under rain. The route was the same, that i have been following for quite a long time. From Lefkoşa straight road to Boğaz, which is around 10km. Then the steep climbing up, and running down the road waving through the high Five Fingers mountains, down to Girne city, from i would be taking a left turn on the new road and run for about 4 further kilometres, to reach the house of our relatives in Karaoğlanoğlu.

I had gone through the same route last saturday evening. I had had covered that distance in 4,30 hours. That was not a good performance from my point of view, but the reason for that poor performance was that i had become too tired halfway. Later on i had realised that i had not taken proper carbohydrate rich food that day.
So this time, i did not want to repeat the same mistake again.

I wanted to cover the same distance in a much shorter time.

Everything went normal during the first 10km run. I was feeling myself quite fit to run. Last week i had walked most of the time, but this time i was running.

As i started climbing up the hills, after Boğaz turning, with heavy and slow steps, it started raining. Wow, i said to myself. For the first time i was going to run in the rain. Within a short period of time, i was totally wet. I was panting as i reached the top of the mountains. However, the best part, steep downward road, was waiting for me. I started off running. I emptied my bottle. There was no sense of carrying on with the filled bottle. It was raining, i simply extended my tongue out, and felt the rain drops pouring. It was a wonderful experience. I was running, and the people from the passing by cars were passing looking at me. I enjoyed the run.

I passed by the Onar Village hotel, from where i would be passing through the new underfround road and turn right towards the road leading to Karaoğlanoğlu. I looked at the watch. I had reached that point in about 3 hours time, a very good improvement.

The rain had stopped. I continued running.

I reached my destination at 7.45pm. So i covered the 25km long in a 3,45 hours time. A very good performance, from my standard. 

AN ANOTHER LONG LONG RUN/WALK

This time i decided to go north from the Lefkoşa city (northern Nicosia), where i live. With so many other factors to be considered, i managed to make a program for over 70km run/walk this weekend (12-13 May 2012).

                                      Ready for the long run...........in front of my house

On saturday at around 4.30pm i was all ready to for the expedition. This time i had decided to go north. I had planned to go to a small town called Karamanoğlu, which is in the outskirts of Girne (Kyrenia) , around 25 kilometres from Lefkoşa (Northern Nicosia) where a cousin of my wife lives. I was going to stay there at night and to go ahead in the morning,to Lapta, some 10km from there and return back. In the evening i had planned to return back to Lefkoşa (another 25km) back home. Ofcourse running/walking. It was my plan. Luckily despite all odds i succeeded to work according to my plan.

I started off at my usual pace. First 2km just simple walk, till i reach the main highway roundabout. This place has been called the Gonyeli roundabout. From here the highways go to 4 directions. On north is Girne (Kyrenia) (20km). In the East is the port city of Famagusta (around 60km). In the weat the highway goes to the city of Guzelyurt (Morphou) (about 40km). On the southern side of this roundabout is the capital city of Lefkoşa (North Nicosia) at a distance of about 3km. Lefkoşa is the place where i live.

The weather was cloudy. It was the most suitable weather for running. I started off, running slowly. Heading towards Boğaz, a small picnic spot just in the feet of the mountains. These mountains , which run through east to west of almost whole of the northern cyprus have been called the Five Finger Mountains.

I  always come across so many problems during the initial period of my run. I feel pain at distant parts of my legs, as they adjust themselves to my command. I do have to adjust my speed  during my first 3 kilometres. I feel problems in my breath, and what not.

But once overcoming these initial problems, a harmony develops between different parts of the body, and a routine of body swings start taking shape, and things start getting somewhat better with the  passage of the time.

It was a straight run for the initial 10 kilometres. There was barren land on both sides of the highway. It was evening and a good numbers of cars were whizzing by. I kept on my run/walk. I do not know if i am basically a runner or walker. Is it a run with intermitting walks or a walk with intermitting run. Whatsoever in fact it is, i continued. I run when i find myself fit enough to run. I start walking when i feel that i can not run anymore. I start running again as soon as i find myself fit enough to start running.

All of a sudden the weather changed and it started raining. I was at a distance of around 5 kilometres from my home. I had had to go for 20 more kilometres. There was no sense in returning home back I decided to continue. Luckily the rain stopped after a couple of minutes, but thick black clouds were there. However the sun had been showing its face now and then.

The long long road to Boğaz was in front of me, and as always i was thinking as to when it was going to end. I did not have any other option but to keep on running.

The right and left of the road was barren. The wild bushes and trees were spotting the otherwise brown hilly area with green.

I took a great sigh of relief as i completed the first 10km and reached the place called Boğaz, just in the feet of the mountains. The toughest part was about to begin. A long long steep patch of climbing up the mountain. The road pass through the high mountains. Cars were constantly passing by me with great speed. I had had to maintain my own speed. I was climbing up by the road, very slowly. I had started feeling hungry. I opened up the small packet of biscuits that i had brought with me. I ate all of them one by one as i continued climbing up.

However after climbing for over 15 minutes, i was really damn tired. I decided to take a break. I lied down to take the rest. The small stones were hurting my back. I closed my eyes. I remembered when i had slept at the railway station of Rohri, way back in 1970s. I smiled, and switched myself away from my surroundings. A deep breath and i was in some another world.

It must have not been more than 5 minutes. I stood back on foot. I had taken my rest. Still i had had to go a long way. The sun was fast going down. I must have crossed the mountainous part before it is dark. I continued climbing.

Then came the best part of the expedition. I started running, as the road had started going down now. I had run before too on this route. I usually run fast at this patch, but this time i decided to run slowly, because i did have some pain in my right knee the last week. I did not want to put more strain on it. I kept on running and running for some next 3 kilometres. I crossed through the high mountains along with the turning road.

The turning road heading for Girne

The port city of Girne and the sea could be seen from there, but was quite far away. After an another run of 2 km i turned left to go to Karaoğlanoğlu, where i would be staying for night. 

I had  started seeing the port city of Girne, down below there, still around 5 or 6 km away. But from here i had had to turn right to take a new road, recently build, that would go directly to Karoğlanoğlu, a suburb quarter of Girne , where i was going to stay at night. 

It was 9pm when i knocked at the door of my cousin. It wasa totally dark. I had finished the first stage of my run/walk. Around 25 kilometres in 4 hours and 30 minutes. I had completed this patch with a bit slower speed because i did not want to tax myself. 

After a sound long sleep, i woke up fresh the next morning. It was the morning of 13th May 2012. The weather was clear. It took me an hour to get ready for the enxt leg of my tour. I had had to go to LAPTA, a small beautiful town with beautiful scenery. I started off at 6am.

It was my first experience on running on that particular road. It was not a highway. So i had had to be more careful about the traffic, because it was a single track road. But since it was early in the morning and that too the sunday morning, there was almost no traffic of the road. I started running on the right part of the road. On my right side, at a distance of about 200 metres, was the calm mediterranean sea. There were no clouds, no wind, nothing, it was a perfect morning for my running. There were sporadic houses on both sides of the roads, with a lot of greenary. I enjoyed running. 

I went past the point where a signboard mentioned that Lapta was 10km from that place. I continued, enjoying my run, singing.

On the right hand side i came across the point where the Turkish forces had landed in july 1974. There was a wonderful monument just at that place. I stopped there. There were quite many graves of the fallen turkish soldiers. A couple of tourists were also there. I took some photos of the place, and left, to continue running.

At a distance of 6km, i walked past the small town of Alsancak. There was a beautiful bronze statue of a woman at the entrance of the twon. The sculpturer had perhaps kept the independence monument of USA in his mind while making that particular sculpture. But indeed it was not a copy . Wonderfully made. I stopped and took a couple of photos of the statue. 

The morning traffic had started to flow slowly. I was keeping myself on the far right end of the road, because the part just by the side of the road was filled with small stones, whole the way, very unsuitable for running. I stopped running and continued walking. I saw a young british tourist on the other side of the road, going in the opposite direction. He too was a runner. We rose our hands to say Hi to each other, and continued our ways.

I made my stop just at the point where the signboard of LAPTA was. I ate my biscuits, drank a bit of water from my bottle, and started off to retrace my footsteps, back to Karaoğlanoğlu. 

This time i was running/walking a bit faster, because i was concentrating more on my running. I had had enjoyed the scenery and taken the photos while coming up to there. So there was no other work left for me. Just run, run and run. I enjoyed running. Although the sun was shining with the clear blue sky, yet i enjoyed running. 

I reached back to Karanoğlu (the starting point) at around 9am. An another leg of the tour of 20km had just finished. I was ready to have a nice nice breakfast, with the family.

My mind started planning for my evening run from Karaoğlanoğlu to Lefkoşa(North Nicosia).

http://www.northcyprusforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10211

I took a rich lunch, loaded with carbs. Took some rest. I had had to took off for Lefkoşa at 4pm. But unfortunately, due to some reasons beyond my control, i could come out at 4,45pm. I was late.

From Karaoğlanoğlu, i climed up the road by Girne American University. It was quite hot. I turned left to start running on the new road that would take me direct to the crossing near to the Onar Village. There was less traffic. It was quite a long patch, with a nice scenery, with Five finger mountains on my right and the Girne city on my left. 

I took a photo of the mosque at the entrance of Girne, and turned right to keep on climbing on the main highway in front of the Onar Village. I did know that i was behind my schedule. I did not want to reach Lefkoşa at night. I had had to pick up speed, but the unending climbing was making me tired. I kept on walking, almost panting. There was no other option for me but to continue, heading towards Boğaz step by step.

The rather straight road by the Boğaz picnic site gave me a chance to start running. I enjoyed that. Some people were there enjoying picnic on the left side of the road. Some children noticed me and waved hands. 

My speed increased as the road took me to the steep patch, going down and down, having a look of the Lefkoşa city, at a  distance. But the distance was nothing less than 10km. The sun was setting down. I looked at my watch, and calculated the time when i might be reaching Lefkoşa. I was quite late. I had had to pick up speed. But i was tired.

My tired legs had forgotten tiredness, as i continued brisking towards Lefkoşa. The sun had gone, and the headlights of the cars heading towards me had started upsetting me. The lights of the Gönyeli Chamber were in sight. I started feeling satisfied. I again looked at the watch. I had recorded a good progress.

I reached home at quarter to 9 pm, not much tired. 

FIRST SERIOUS STEP .... 70KM

I run and run, jog and jog and walk and walk. It has never been important for me if i run or jog or walk. Whatever it may be, i like it. The movement, and that is it.

For years i am walking, sometimes less , sometimes for long period of times. With the passage of time, i developed a liking for going out for long distances. I started going to a place called BOĞAZ, which is at a distance of about 10km from my city Lefkoşa (pronounced as Lefkosha). It is a straight broad road, which starts from Lefkoşa and goes to the port city of Girne (Kyrenia),passing through high mountains. Girne is about 20km from my house.

Mostly on sundays , whenever i managed to get time to walk, i started running/walking from Lefkoşa to Boğaz. The stretch of going and returning used to take around 3 to 4 hours. I liked walking that way. The natural beauty attracted me. 

Then one day i thought that if instead of returning back home from Boğaz, i keep on moving ahead, i would be reaching Girne (20 km). The idea fascinated me. I started off for it. It required quite terrible climbing also, as the road pass through narrow gauges. I started going off for Girne in the evening of saturdays around 5pm, reaching Girne at around 8pm. The nephew of my wife lives in Girne. I started staying at their place for night and started returning the next (sunday) morning to join my family at the sunday breakfast. This practice continued for a couple of years, with gaps, since mostly this could have been done only during summer, when the days are long .

However, over a period of time, i started thinking of walking to some other places to. But where? That was the main question. 

However, the vital point of going out for long distances is to manage the food, rest and returning home back. This aspect appear too difficult as compared to the act of running/walking. Someone must pick me up from the point where i finish my walk at the end of the day, and must be able to retake me back to the same point the next time to let me start the long run again. Providing water and food at various points is always a problem. My wife is very helpful in such cases, but it is not always preferable to engage her in such at the expense of personal and family engagements. 

So what should i do, if i want to go out for longer distances.?

With the passage of time, the idea further developed into my mind, and i started thinking of covering the whole Northern Cyprus on foot. 

To some the idea may seem too impractical. But too me, it is easy. I always believe that in such expeditions what is needed the most is strong will power. I always consider fitness as 30% and remaining 70% as will power. Once one commits himself/herself to such a goal, half of the problem stands solved instantly. This is what i believe.

Although i still have got to finalise the details of how would i be able to walk through the whole northern cyprus, however, yesterday (29th April 2012), i decided to put myself through the first challenge. To Test Myself. The longest stretch of my run/walk had been 25km. This time i decided to put my legs to a bit harder test. I decided to go for a 35km run/walk.

A family friend of ours live in a village named PAŞAKÖY (pronhounced as PASHAKOY...meaning the village of the General). I decided to go there by foot. The point of returning back home was kept open. I had thought that it would depend on my physical condition. If bad, i would be asking my friend to drop me back home, if not i would try to return on foot. But i remained undecided on this issue till the last.

So as the day arrived, i started off at around 6.30am.  I had taken a light early breakfast, but had taken two packets of biscuits and one small cake piece, alongwith a half litre water filled bottle.  I was happy to see that the weather was cloudy. "It is doing to be a good day for running", i said to myself. I started jogging. I continued on the same road which take me to my workplace. From the round about of the Çangar motors i turned left and reached the main highway which links Lefkoşa to the port city of  Gazi Mağusa (Famagusta). 

Although the clouds were there, but the sun had started showing its presence, as i was heading east, facing the sun. 

It was an easy run. There was very little traffic on the road. I was enjoying running at my usual slow space on the highway. It started becoming a bit hot while i reached the round about of Hamitköy. I estimated, i had perhaps crossed first 5km. 

The next point was going to be Haspolat. A small industrial area, which has got the University opposite to it, on the left side of the highway. I was no more running. Just walking. Enjoying the walk. I walked passed Haspolat at around 8 am. 

The next point was going to be the bridge, from where i was going to take a right turn, to go towards the Ercan airport. I decided to take first rest for a couple of minutes. I drank some water from my bottle. But i was not supposed to waste the time . The sun was fast rising up. It was getting hot. There was no other option for me but to move ahead fast. I sat off. 

The newly built road leading to the Ercan Airport is the one that i always wanted to run on. The time had come. I started running. I was enjoying. The sun was shining, i was running with the bottle in one hand and the packets of the biscuits in the other. I was running, singing. Easy going. Metres after metres were passing by. 

But the road was too long. After a couple of kilometres i was walking. Still enjoying. I was not feeling any tiredness. Just moving ahead and ahead and ahead. I had started listening the signals of tiredness coming from my legs, as i was reaching the 20km mark. I understood the feeling, as that was the maximum distance to which my legs had been taken me till then. But now they were supposed to take me much too far. The real test of endurance had just started. I had had 15 more kilometres to go. I told my legs that it was the time for which i had been training them for. 

As i reached the round about of the Ercan Airport, i decided to give myself  an another break. I sat on the grass, took off my goggles, hat, shoes and socks. I ate the small cake piece and drank some water. I wanted somebody to take my photos, but could not find anybody. I took some photos myself.

which one is more tired?

my legs or shoes?

I looked at my watch. The time was 10.30am. 4 hours had passed. I was on the road. It had started to be really hot. I was not supposed to waste any more time. There was no other option but to move. I don my shoes, put on my goggles and hat. The long long road towards Paşaköy was waiting for me.

It was a single road, so i had had to be careful walking. There were hip high brown wild grass on both the sides of the road. There were trees too, but their shades were not extending up to the road. I had had to bear the heat. 

I kept on going ahead, sometimes running just to change my mood, but mostly walking. Tractors, some cars crossed me from both the sides. I had had to go, so i continued. It was terribly hot. 

Gaziköy was the next village at a distance of about 12km from Ercan airport. I was too happy as i entered the village, because i did know that Paşalöy village is not much too far then. I crossed through the village in a very pleasant mood, although the weather was quite too hot. There was very little water left in my bottle. I wanted to buy a bottle of water from some market, but the only market that i found out on the main road, was closed. It was sunday. I crossed through the Sports club, where some people were sitting, first i thought to go there and see if i can buy a bottle of water from there, but i decided otherwise. 

I re-started running, because i wanted to finish the episode as early as possible. The temperature was around 30 degrees centigrade, and i was running, enjoying. My legs , which had been complaining of tiredness at Ercan, had infact stopped sensing anything  that could be referred to as tiredness. They were just under the command of my brain, which was pushing them to run and run and run, without feeling anything. My feet were chasing each other in an automatic rhythm. I was running, without feeling anything. No heat, no thirst, no tiredness. Perhaps all senses had started becoming ineffective on me. I was running slowly but in a very passionate style.

It was not too long that i found myself entering the Paşaköy village. The grand mosque of the village was in front of me. The house of my friend was just 100 metres away. I took a snap of the mosque, as a landmark for my expedition, and ran past it. 

The door was opened by the wife of my friend, who was terribly shocked in seeing me in such a condition. She did not believe me when i told her that i had come running/walking all the way through from Lefkoşa some  35km away. She took some time to come back to her senses. I drank two large glasses of water, and fell down at the sofa. It was 12noon. I had completed the span of 35km in 5.30 hours. Not a bad performance. I was a bit tired but too happy. 

I slept for about an hour. A deep sleep did the wonder. I woke up at about 1,30pm, almost fresh. The lunch was very nice, and i loaded myself as much as i could. Rice, potatoes, bread, salad, yoghurt, i cleaned all plates on the table. I did not sit back as i finished the lunch. I did not want to sit back. Later on i drank two cups of hot tea. I went to the toilet .

I was all ready to run/walk 35km again. I was no more undecided and confused. I had been feeling myself sufficiently fresh and confident to go out for further 35km. The time was quarter to 3pm. I said goodbye, and came back on the road, heading back towards Gaziköy and Ercan airport. 

I was in high spirits. The only problem was heat. It was quite too hot. Scortching sun was just on my head. However, i succeeded in keeping my attention diverted to the sceneries around. In fact there was nothing extraordinary around. Stretched to the forenost were plain fields. There was nobody anywhere, except small lizards emerging from the brown grass, going faster than me for a moment and again going back to the grass. They were of all sizes. I enjoyed looking at them. I kept on walking. The road to Ercan was too long....more than 10 kilometres. 

Again i gave myself a ten minutes rest break as i reached Ercan airport round about. I took off my shoes, sat on the grass, rested my back to the iron base of a neon sign. I closed my eyes. The clouds had re-started emerging. In a short period of time, it was no more as hot as it had been before. I was lucky.

I took off again, to run back on the long long road with my back towards Ercan. It was a nice run with long patches of walking. Cars and taxis were fast passing by me. The traffic on the road had started to increase. A couple of aeroplanes had landed a little earlier, and the passengers were fast going to their destinations. Some did blew their horn, some waived hands to me as they crossed by. I enjoyed the scene. But i had started feeling tiredness. It was still more than 10 km to go. 

I was no more running. I decided to give myself another 10 minutes rest gap, as i turned left ton the main highway facing Lefkoşa. There was a small bus stop there. I put my things on the bench, took off my shoes, and closed my eyes. I was tired. 

I took off again. I had had to walk, there was no other option for me. Walk and walk and walk.  "Just ten kilometres left,"i told myself, as i set off with fresh commitment. I had already finished the water. I bought a fresh bottle from a petrolpump.The water was cold. I finished the whole bottle in one go. 

It was about 8,30pm as i crossed Hamitköy roundabout. Totally dark.  "Reaching home in 45 minutes." i messaged to my daughter. 

My legs were tired but were moving in full swing, as i turned to the road where i walk 6km daily. The rest was easy. 

It was 9 pm as i entered my house. Home sweet home.

It was a wonderful day. I was too tired physically , but not mentally. 

Now i am more confident. I tested myself. I passed. Next time i will be goiing for a further longer distance. I have already crossed the 70km mark. 

(In the end i would like to say that it is only Allah who helps me moving ahead in life and in overcoming all obstacles. But i do not like saying İnshallah, Mashallah, etc every now and then, because i believe that excessive repitition of any word leads to reduction in its importance. )

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