Life seems to be at its best when I am running regularly. For the past 6 months it has been sporadic, the year started with a rush of travel, late hours, very little time to myself. Running suffered. In the latter part I was plagued by injury, esp in May & June. Something within kept pushing me back on the road yet the record is pretty ordinary…
Jan – 11 days
Feb – 6 days
Mar – 11 days
Apr – 9 days
May – 10 days
June – 8 days
I am determined to redeem myself… the fire burns within. The main injury that I was suffering from (pain in the right Achilles area) is pretty much gone after some sessions with the physio. The issue is now about a really sore heel on the same leg after a couple of runs a week ago. Did 10.4 k this morning and it seems fine – but this was a 5k slow jog + rest was a jog/walk combo. I really won’t know if I am over it till I test it out with a 5k run in about 30 to 32 minutes about 2 days in a row – I will put myself to the test on Tuesday & Wednesday.
It’s pretty frustrating when you know you are capable of something better but held back. Life is more fulfilling when I am running regularly. Running the Singapore Marathon this December is the redemption plan! It is not the usual plain vanilla prepare a training plan & run run run. I have vowed to supplement it with some lifestyle changes… so, until I finish the Singapore Marathon here we go with my new vows:
- Do core conditioning / strengthening 2 days a week
- No alcohol
- No desserts
- No non vegetarian food (though I may moderate this if I am not able to keep up with vegetarian protein alternatives)
I have managed 3 sessions of core conditioning in the last 10 days or so – started some sessions at the Blue Gym, thanks to fellow runners Yash & Senthil. Senthil and I have a hidden agenda – to revive the doberman project! Also have been off alcohol, desserts and non veg food the last 2 weeks – difficult but manageable. Bundle the training runs, core work, lesser calories imbibed – I should be back in form and in top shape by the end of November & run strong in Singapore.
I was reflecting on the fact that I rarely write about anything else but running on my blog, and on Facebook. Why do I do it? Of course there is much more to life than just running. I don’t know if writing about my work – things like making sugar, the sugar industry and so on is something anyone would give a hoot about. May be I should talk about life and work in general. The real reason seems to be lack of motivation to find time to write about thoughts, views and opinions on all kinds of things. Should I use Twitter as a medium to communicate actively with my team about work (in a closed, invitation only loop), I wonder. Well, I guess I should just let it be, and let it evolve. For now, am happy that I finally broke the jinx and blogged after nearly 7 months & am itching to get back on the road again regularly….
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Missing out on many things
Little did I realise that after the Hyderabad Half I would take this long to get another post on my blog. The Hyderabad Half was supposed to be a stepping stone, a prep run to ramp up steadily for the Singapore Marathon. For the record, I did well in Hyderabad… here is my tweet after the run: “Finished hyderabad half marathon in 2:18 this morning! finished strong route was tough weather great feeling swell!!”. That was a 108 days ago! And from then on my running frequency and distance progressively dwindled and came to a stop in mid November. I was back on the road last Sunday with a 5k and have managed to get out a couple of more times since then – a 6k on Tuesday and a 10k today. I really let work overwhelm me, and being in Kakinada did not help as the place does not lend itself to running after dark – if this were possible, I would have scripted at least a few 5k runs. What I missed by not running I kind of compensated by staying on my feet for hours at the plant, walking around and climbing stairs – it takes about 100 steps to get to my office from the ground floor of the plant, and another 20 odd to reach the top floor of the control room. The calories in and out must have been at balance as my weight has been static. The last few weeks have been pretty full on, action packed, long hours, very little time to do anything other than the immediate work at hand.
This morning has been one of “can’t recall when” type thoughts. I can’t recall when I spent more than 2 days in a row in Chennai – it was probably a good 3 months ago. I can’t recall when I went for a run from Dimensions at 5:00…. Then was thinking about what I have missed out on… there has been plenty personally but let me talk about running. The Berlin Marathon in September was the beginning. Then my 4 x 4 plan has gone for a toss. I have missed the Singapore Marathon on 7th Dec. I wanted to attempt the Mumbai Marathon on 17th Jan, though my training was going to be half baked (barely 4 weeks) but now Mumbai is off the list as well, as I have to be at Kakinada that weekend. So, here I am now thinking Auroville is a definite possibility on 14th February – registered last night. Am going to finish 2009 without running a Marathon and its not a good feeling. Hope 2010 is different. I want to run at least 2 next year.
I started my run this morning at Dimensions with a couple of other Chennai Runners at 5:15. The weather was absolutely fabulous, and if I were in form I would have probably wanted to do 20 kms… but I aimed for 8 km at the start with an agenda to push to 10 as the weather was so good. Started slow, and maintained a steady pace. Ramesh Seshadri, who gave me company, was content to waddle on with me – he has been in good nick and has just finished the Singapore Marathon 10 days ago. Did about 7k comfortably and as I moved on my legs started to complain, and it was then my knees. I felt woefully out of form but was determined to put this feeling behind soon. So kept going and finished off with 10.3 km in 1:10. A 5k tomorrow and a 15k on Sunday should do me just fine before I head off to Kakinada again.
Hope my next entry is sooner and has lots on my running back in form!!
This morning has been one of “can’t recall when” type thoughts. I can’t recall when I spent more than 2 days in a row in Chennai – it was probably a good 3 months ago. I can’t recall when I went for a run from Dimensions at 5:00…. Then was thinking about what I have missed out on… there has been plenty personally but let me talk about running. The Berlin Marathon in September was the beginning. Then my 4 x 4 plan has gone for a toss. I have missed the Singapore Marathon on 7th Dec. I wanted to attempt the Mumbai Marathon on 17th Jan, though my training was going to be half baked (barely 4 weeks) but now Mumbai is off the list as well, as I have to be at Kakinada that weekend. So, here I am now thinking Auroville is a definite possibility on 14th February – registered last night. Am going to finish 2009 without running a Marathon and its not a good feeling. Hope 2010 is different. I want to run at least 2 next year.
I started my run this morning at Dimensions with a couple of other Chennai Runners at 5:15. The weather was absolutely fabulous, and if I were in form I would have probably wanted to do 20 kms… but I aimed for 8 km at the start with an agenda to push to 10 as the weather was so good. Started slow, and maintained a steady pace. Ramesh Seshadri, who gave me company, was content to waddle on with me – he has been in good nick and has just finished the Singapore Marathon 10 days ago. Did about 7k comfortably and as I moved on my legs started to complain, and it was then my knees. I felt woefully out of form but was determined to put this feeling behind soon. So kept going and finished off with 10.3 km in 1:10. A 5k tomorrow and a 15k on Sunday should do me just fine before I head off to Kakinada again.
Hope my next entry is sooner and has lots on my running back in form!!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
On Course for Hyderabad Half
I wanted to ramp up mileage badly and had to make the time. Long distance running is a lot about personal motivation. At the end of the day, no one can drag you out of bed and out the door for a run except you. When I have company and run with Chennai Runners, it is great. But many a time I have to step out the door on my own and enjoy a run as timings and location could be different. When I am out there on my own, I am alone but not lonely. At work I am constantly connecting and engaging with people. At home I don’t get the chance to switch off or isolate myself. So running alone for me is an opportunity, it is therapeutic.
Reading through my blog entries of last year, I picked up that there were places where work pressure and hectic schedule were cited as reasons for struggling to stick to a training plan… well, looking back, with my current reality, last year was nothing!! It kind of sunk in that the here and now will always seem to be improbable, and in due course I would certainly look back and say, “that was nothing” – in the intervening time, I would have missed out many a run that I could have put away. This is where the 2 simple rules I spoke of last time come in to play – and why I should strive hard to stick to the rules.
Armed with the insight about last year Vs this year and the need to make time, this is how I ramped up since the last post…
Thu, 13th Aug: 5.6 km - Kakinada
Sat, 15th Aug, 5.1 km - Chennai
Sun, 16th Aug, 15.6 km - Chennai
Tue, 18th Aug: 5.7 km - Chennai
Thu, 20th Aug: 10.3 km - Chennai
Fri, 21st Aug: 6 km - Chennai
Tue, 25th Aug: 5.6 km - Kakinada
Wed, 26th Aug: 15 km - Kakinada
Fri, 28th Aug: 5.6 km – Kakinada
This morning a thought crossed my mind. During the registration for the Hyderabad Half, due to a glitch in the system I tried twice, and actually ended up registering for the full marathon instead of the half. I was told that I could change it at the time of collecting the bib, so left it. The thought today was, why not get out there and run the full?? Finally (as I write this, that is) based on the fact that I have not trained adequately for the full, and that the terrain is full of ups and downs which will bust me up in in no time, I decided that I should stick to the half marathon distance and not try and let my enthusiasm ruin the ramp up to achieve the 4 x 4 plan.
Based on my recent timings and the hilly terrain that the run will be held, I think a timing of 2:30 is possible. I am mentally ready and rearing to go. A feeling of restlessness exists about the run, which is great!
Reading through my blog entries of last year, I picked up that there were places where work pressure and hectic schedule were cited as reasons for struggling to stick to a training plan… well, looking back, with my current reality, last year was nothing!! It kind of sunk in that the here and now will always seem to be improbable, and in due course I would certainly look back and say, “that was nothing” – in the intervening time, I would have missed out many a run that I could have put away. This is where the 2 simple rules I spoke of last time come in to play – and why I should strive hard to stick to the rules.
Armed with the insight about last year Vs this year and the need to make time, this is how I ramped up since the last post…
Thu, 13th Aug: 5.6 km - Kakinada
Sat, 15th Aug, 5.1 km - Chennai
Sun, 16th Aug, 15.6 km - Chennai
Tue, 18th Aug: 5.7 km - Chennai
Thu, 20th Aug: 10.3 km - Chennai
Fri, 21st Aug: 6 km - Chennai
Tue, 25th Aug: 5.6 km - Kakinada
Wed, 26th Aug: 15 km - Kakinada
Fri, 28th Aug: 5.6 km – Kakinada
This morning a thought crossed my mind. During the registration for the Hyderabad Half, due to a glitch in the system I tried twice, and actually ended up registering for the full marathon instead of the half. I was told that I could change it at the time of collecting the bib, so left it. The thought today was, why not get out there and run the full?? Finally (as I write this, that is) based on the fact that I have not trained adequately for the full, and that the terrain is full of ups and downs which will bust me up in in no time, I decided that I should stick to the half marathon distance and not try and let my enthusiasm ruin the ramp up to achieve the 4 x 4 plan.
Based on my recent timings and the hilly terrain that the run will be held, I think a timing of 2:30 is possible. I am mentally ready and rearing to go. A feeling of restlessness exists about the run, which is great!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Challenges
It’s more than 3 months since my last post. This blog is pretty much about running, and what I am up to in relation to the passion I have for running. May was one of the best months, I did a series of 5 km runs, and managed to touch a PB of 5 km in 25 min. June was very much in contrast to May… fewer days (too embarrassed to mention how many days!) but I was also battling with heel pain. This problem could be because I was trying to run fast, and my running style changed considerably, perhaps I tried to maintain my usual running style & was landing heavily on my heels. Whatever happened, it was painful. So I kind of let work overwhelm me, with the excuse of resting my heels and did not run frequently.
The heel pain started to ease off in July and I wanted to ramp up for the Chennai Runners’ ECR run in end July, and do a half marathon distance. I just could not get a routine established and ramp up enough on time – sure, I could have just gone out there and ran the 21 km distance (or did a run/walk combo) but with more than a 100+ turning out for the run, I wanted to play a part in making sure that I did a part in ensuring that the event was a success, and that everyone who ran took back with them the feeling of having experienced something fantastic, something that tempts them to come back for more + bring more people along for the next run. The organising team did a great job and we had the best turn out ever, at 104 runners. Though we had kept distances of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 km, a couple of them ran a very inspiring full marathon distance of 42 kms. That certainly had my adrenalin going and starting to get me hungry for more. Running perf in July was also nothing significant to write home about, I managed a few runs, but what kind of upsets me is that I broke my 2 fundamental rules i.e. (1) No more than 2 days in a row without running and (2) At least 4 days a week of running.
Work pressure has been relentless. Plenty of late nights, it is not physically exhausting, my energy levels are up high e.g. even at 1:00 AM after a review meeting with my team, I have the enthu to go around the project site for another hour! (much to the discomfort of most of my team who are not used to the intensity or length of the reviews!!) But, the issues is, typically, if I have to get at least 6 hrs sleep, going to bed so late, I end up waking up close to 7, and its too late to run outside – the heat is absolutely crazy in Kakinada. My routine these days is that I am in Kakinada during the week and in Chennai for weekends, on top I tend travel during the week also in overnight trains and all this travel and odd timings throws running schedule out of gear. It’s also a challenge to suppress the desire to get out on long runs on the weekends… I typically tend to sleep for most of the day after a long run… anything over 15 km. It’s a challenge as I would like to be up and around the house for my sons as much as possible. They miss me too much as I am constantly away, and as long as I am in the house they don’t care what we do.
August has started off on an OK note. The gaps between my runs has widened, so running 2 days a week on average is no good. This morning I went out at 7 on a 5 km run and came back pretty much exhausted from the heat and the effort. I am running the Hyderabad half marathon on August 30th. Thereafter wards I plan to alternate between a half marathon distance and 15 km on Sundays – challenge is to be available for my kids as much as possible after the runs!
One positive is that I have done some “gap filling” with the 5BX plan – a 12 minute workout that you can do in your room with no equipments – so I am kind of satisfied that I have added something to my fitness routine, which is only about running. In fact if I can combine the 5BX with my runs, it would be a powerful way to not only strengthen some of the muscle groups that I do not really use while running, but also strengthen core and back hopefully? This 5BX plan is basically from the Royal Canadian Airforce developed in the 1960s.
This is getting a bit long winded, so to sign off for now, the plan is to get out of this project related routine by end October. I have signed up for Singapore marathon (early Dec) & Mumbai Marathon (mid Jan), I plan to run the Auroville marathon in Feb. Then one more in March (don’t know which one yet). So that will be my release… all this pent up feelings about not being able to keep up with my running desires… a 4 x 4… 4 marathons in 4 months!!!
The heel pain started to ease off in July and I wanted to ramp up for the Chennai Runners’ ECR run in end July, and do a half marathon distance. I just could not get a routine established and ramp up enough on time – sure, I could have just gone out there and ran the 21 km distance (or did a run/walk combo) but with more than a 100+ turning out for the run, I wanted to play a part in making sure that I did a part in ensuring that the event was a success, and that everyone who ran took back with them the feeling of having experienced something fantastic, something that tempts them to come back for more + bring more people along for the next run. The organising team did a great job and we had the best turn out ever, at 104 runners. Though we had kept distances of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 km, a couple of them ran a very inspiring full marathon distance of 42 kms. That certainly had my adrenalin going and starting to get me hungry for more. Running perf in July was also nothing significant to write home about, I managed a few runs, but what kind of upsets me is that I broke my 2 fundamental rules i.e. (1) No more than 2 days in a row without running and (2) At least 4 days a week of running.
Work pressure has been relentless. Plenty of late nights, it is not physically exhausting, my energy levels are up high e.g. even at 1:00 AM after a review meeting with my team, I have the enthu to go around the project site for another hour! (much to the discomfort of most of my team who are not used to the intensity or length of the reviews!!) But, the issues is, typically, if I have to get at least 6 hrs sleep, going to bed so late, I end up waking up close to 7, and its too late to run outside – the heat is absolutely crazy in Kakinada. My routine these days is that I am in Kakinada during the week and in Chennai for weekends, on top I tend travel during the week also in overnight trains and all this travel and odd timings throws running schedule out of gear. It’s also a challenge to suppress the desire to get out on long runs on the weekends… I typically tend to sleep for most of the day after a long run… anything over 15 km. It’s a challenge as I would like to be up and around the house for my sons as much as possible. They miss me too much as I am constantly away, and as long as I am in the house they don’t care what we do.
August has started off on an OK note. The gaps between my runs has widened, so running 2 days a week on average is no good. This morning I went out at 7 on a 5 km run and came back pretty much exhausted from the heat and the effort. I am running the Hyderabad half marathon on August 30th. Thereafter wards I plan to alternate between a half marathon distance and 15 km on Sundays – challenge is to be available for my kids as much as possible after the runs!
One positive is that I have done some “gap filling” with the 5BX plan – a 12 minute workout that you can do in your room with no equipments – so I am kind of satisfied that I have added something to my fitness routine, which is only about running. In fact if I can combine the 5BX with my runs, it would be a powerful way to not only strengthen some of the muscle groups that I do not really use while running, but also strengthen core and back hopefully? This 5BX plan is basically from the Royal Canadian Airforce developed in the 1960s.
This is getting a bit long winded, so to sign off for now, the plan is to get out of this project related routine by end October. I have signed up for Singapore marathon (early Dec) & Mumbai Marathon (mid Jan), I plan to run the Auroville marathon in Feb. Then one more in March (don’t know which one yet). So that will be my release… all this pent up feelings about not being able to keep up with my running desires… a 4 x 4… 4 marathons in 4 months!!!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Need a widget
I need a widget that will transfer my thoughts to my blog! Cant believe that its nearly 2 months since I last posted an entry. I have been running, and have published a training plan for Berlin and mentally started training for the marathon... 25 weeks or so instead of my usual 18 week plan. But this hot weather is really taking its toll. I am not enjoying runs anymore, especially the long ones >10km as I find them draining, sapping energy. Even shorter runs, if done >6:30 am tend to be exhausting - rather than energising they are enervating! Anyway, though my blogging has not been regular, my running is another story – except for 6 day break in early April when I was travelling and did not run (which is unusual), I have been putting those runs away.
The ECR No. 9 is the longest run so far in 2009, I did 25km with Venkat. I was done mentally after 21km and wanted to go back to the finish then Venkat, who was running with me right through, said he had never done more than 21km in his life and wanted to aim for 25 - I could not resist being part of his personal historical highlight moment, so did a run-walk with him for another 4km - had to flog him till we did 25! Great.
My team (Srini, Bragadeesh, Deepak) won the “Twist in the Trail” – an event organised by Chennai runners on 1st May. The event took us through streets and sights of Chennai that I would have never imagined setting foot on. It was like a treasure hunt where you keep getting clues in a trivia like manner, only thing is that the questions are all related to historic sites of Chennai. We went through Triplicane, Wallajah, Anna Salai, Fort Station and then a train ride to Triplicane station and then run to the finish. In all I think we would have run-walked 8km. Enjoyed every bit of it. My colleagues from Parry turned out in full force (Gomes, you really did a great job in pulling a team together, besides getting into running shoes yourself after high school!!!). My cousin Arun who rocked up with some of his buddies and a “navigation support” team on bikes! They really seemed to have a rollicking time of it. Thanks guys I hope you all had fun.
I did 16.1km today. After 10km in 1 hour, I slowed down as the heat was getting to me. I took a walk break at 12.5km. I was running out of fuel and the Gatorade in my amphipod + the iso sport drink had gone. Stopped at Vidyuth’s usual potti kadai and got a litre of water then went on to finish 15km in 1:40 and another 10 min to finish off. After the finish I was feeling the all too familiar signs of heat exhaustion… it took me about 20 min to recover and then the pongal vada dosa at Anna University canteen was as usual the well deserved feast after a tough run!
My plans for Berlin are in place. My training is not. An emerging development at work is likely to result in my work peaking in mid Sept and I have grave fears that training for Berlin, running the event and taking 2 weeks off around that time may have to be jettisoned. Am tentative at the moment. Should I just call Berlin 2009 off and run Singapore as usual, when the heat at work will subside and I am more relaxed or should I go through the stress of training, uncertainty and a truncated trip - will it be worth the effort and the money? For now I think I should just focus on getting this month out of the way, doing 6 to 12km runs, then take stock.
I a twit now! So you will get my twitter updates on my blog, even if I am not regularly updating the blog space itself.
Cheers, until till next time!
The ECR No. 9 is the longest run so far in 2009, I did 25km with Venkat. I was done mentally after 21km and wanted to go back to the finish then Venkat, who was running with me right through, said he had never done more than 21km in his life and wanted to aim for 25 - I could not resist being part of his personal historical highlight moment, so did a run-walk with him for another 4km - had to flog him till we did 25! Great.
My team (Srini, Bragadeesh, Deepak) won the “Twist in the Trail” – an event organised by Chennai runners on 1st May. The event took us through streets and sights of Chennai that I would have never imagined setting foot on. It was like a treasure hunt where you keep getting clues in a trivia like manner, only thing is that the questions are all related to historic sites of Chennai. We went through Triplicane, Wallajah, Anna Salai, Fort Station and then a train ride to Triplicane station and then run to the finish. In all I think we would have run-walked 8km. Enjoyed every bit of it. My colleagues from Parry turned out in full force (Gomes, you really did a great job in pulling a team together, besides getting into running shoes yourself after high school!!!). My cousin Arun who rocked up with some of his buddies and a “navigation support” team on bikes! They really seemed to have a rollicking time of it. Thanks guys I hope you all had fun.
I did 16.1km today. After 10km in 1 hour, I slowed down as the heat was getting to me. I took a walk break at 12.5km. I was running out of fuel and the Gatorade in my amphipod + the iso sport drink had gone. Stopped at Vidyuth’s usual potti kadai and got a litre of water then went on to finish 15km in 1:40 and another 10 min to finish off. After the finish I was feeling the all too familiar signs of heat exhaustion… it took me about 20 min to recover and then the pongal vada dosa at Anna University canteen was as usual the well deserved feast after a tough run!
My plans for Berlin are in place. My training is not. An emerging development at work is likely to result in my work peaking in mid Sept and I have grave fears that training for Berlin, running the event and taking 2 weeks off around that time may have to be jettisoned. Am tentative at the moment. Should I just call Berlin 2009 off and run Singapore as usual, when the heat at work will subside and I am more relaxed or should I go through the stress of training, uncertainty and a truncated trip - will it be worth the effort and the money? For now I think I should just focus on getting this month out of the way, doing 6 to 12km runs, then take stock.
I a twit now! So you will get my twitter updates on my blog, even if I am not regularly updating the blog space itself.
Cheers, until till next time!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Breaking the Biological Clock Jinx!
Since landing back home last Wednesday morning, my body struggled to return to Indian timing,. I had only been to Syria, 3.5 hrs behind Indian time, for about 5 days. I did not sleep on time (min 1:00 AM), and did not wake up on time to make it to the regular runs with my buddies. Wanting to ramp up mileage in preparation for the ECR run on 22nd March, I find myself woefully behind target. Consider this: the longest run in 2009 has been a 7.5 km run so far, and that was nearly 2 months ago! My average from 29 runs in 2009 has been 5.4 km. Ha, I love going through these stats!!! I have a database that captures every one of my runs of the last 10 years… it started as a simple Excel spreadsheet and has evolved into this big database full of info on weather, shoes etc and full of charts and all kinds of fancy indicators – these have largely been responsible for keeping me going during the time I was running by myself and needed the motivation to step out the door (don’t ask me for a copy, am not giving it out – but can always show it and format can always be shared!!).
This morning I finally broke the jinx and was up by 4:30 and out the door by 5:00. Went for a 5.7 km run with Hari for company, I was going at nearly 80% capacity over the flyovers while he seemed to hardly work up a sweat. It was a good run and timing was decent. Hari reckons that one uphill workout and one speed workout a week besides the usual runs will take me to a sub 4:00 timing in Berlin. He has also promised to push me all the way and that he is ready for a workout any time. Thanks mate, you may regret that you made this offer as I intend taking you up on this one!!
I will have to get past the 10 km mark before Friday, and the 15 km mark on Sunday. Target for the ECR Run is now 21 km – to run it comfortably and if the wind is behind my back, finish strong!
This morning I finally broke the jinx and was up by 4:30 and out the door by 5:00. Went for a 5.7 km run with Hari for company, I was going at nearly 80% capacity over the flyovers while he seemed to hardly work up a sweat. It was a good run and timing was decent. Hari reckons that one uphill workout and one speed workout a week besides the usual runs will take me to a sub 4:00 timing in Berlin. He has also promised to push me all the way and that he is ready for a workout any time. Thanks mate, you may regret that you made this offer as I intend taking you up on this one!!
I will have to get past the 10 km mark before Friday, and the 15 km mark on Sunday. Target for the ECR Run is now 21 km – to run it comfortably and if the wind is behind my back, finish strong!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Greed for Speed
There has been some restlessness over the past few weeks about improving timing and the growing realisation that a 4 hr marathon completion time at Berlin is not going to happen unless I work on my speed and strength… this has resulted in my maiden attempt at a speed workout today, led by Shahid and a few of my friends from Chennai Runners. I used to think that running for 5 hours was a virtue, that the fellows running faster than me could not relate to comprehend or compete with…. Well, after today’s “work out” I seem to be changing my mind quickly. I was busted pretty quickly. Shahid’s workout was a fairly simple one, or so it seemed! We were at the MCC School grounds. Warm up for a couple of laps (about 500 m each) then run 800 m full blast, ease off for another 100 m, then run 800 m full blast again. After my first 800 m blast, Shahid came up to me and said something like “You’re supposed to run at your top speed” was it so obvious! I was actually trying to conserve my energy and see how far I go at about 70% of my capacity. I never did 100% right through the work out, and my laps became shorter and shorter every time. I kept going back to my usual waddle, and temptation was to waddle on for more, rather than sprint. I think I goofed up the sequence early on, but kept trying to run fast in bursts, at about 80% capacity, and busted myself soon enough. What happened?? Some realisations and reflections…
(a) I did not warm up really, I just eased into the workout just like my usual start during a long run… run 1 or 2km, that’s the usual warm up
(b) I use a different set of muscles and I feel my upper legs a lot more + my stride changed + the landing and take off of my feet were no longer heel and toe / flat footed but more off my toes, which has de-stabilises the mind (read conditioning)
(c) this was my 5th day in a row of running so I was probably fatigued out – I usually take a day off after 2 or 3 days max this time I have been doing a streak of 5 days non stop
(d) Monkeys… I thought I was going fast but the guys running next to me seemed pedestrian yet always ahead of me, so, pre-occupied with thoughts of how the heck can they do it and
(e) I did not have my spikes on :)
The Bottom line is that I was well and truly humbled about speed (I’ve got to tell you about this great pie joint on a highway from the Gold Coast to NSW in Australia called Humble Pie… ate some today!!). OK. So here is the BIG ASK which is why speed has become a big deal... To run Berlin in 4 hrs, I need to run a half marathon in 1:45 that’s the speed that Hari and Mohan ran in Auroville a few days back. I will have to tag along with them as far as I can from now onwards, one long run at a time + stick to these speed workouts religiously at least once a week + hit the gym as much as possible.
The greed for speed is growing!
(a) I did not warm up really, I just eased into the workout just like my usual start during a long run… run 1 or 2km, that’s the usual warm up
(b) I use a different set of muscles and I feel my upper legs a lot more + my stride changed + the landing and take off of my feet were no longer heel and toe / flat footed but more off my toes, which has de-stabilises the mind (read conditioning)
(c) this was my 5th day in a row of running so I was probably fatigued out – I usually take a day off after 2 or 3 days max this time I have been doing a streak of 5 days non stop
(d) Monkeys… I thought I was going fast but the guys running next to me seemed pedestrian yet always ahead of me, so, pre-occupied with thoughts of how the heck can they do it and
(e) I did not have my spikes on :)
The Bottom line is that I was well and truly humbled about speed (I’ve got to tell you about this great pie joint on a highway from the Gold Coast to NSW in Australia called Humble Pie… ate some today!!). OK. So here is the BIG ASK which is why speed has become a big deal... To run Berlin in 4 hrs, I need to run a half marathon in 1:45 that’s the speed that Hari and Mohan ran in Auroville a few days back. I will have to tag along with them as far as I can from now onwards, one long run at a time + stick to these speed workouts religiously at least once a week + hit the gym as much as possible.
The greed for speed is growing!
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