Berlin, here I come!

I registered for the Berlin Marathon this morning... 20th September 2009.
Am already excited about it! Target: 4 hrs.
More on this later.
Missed my runs on Monday and Tuesday - sleeping in, working late.... how does 3 AM sound? That's my excuse.
Ran 5km this morning in 26:40 - felt good. I just have to do this 8.5 times and bingo, Berlin's in my pocket. Would really like to crack 5km in 25 min and 10km in 55 min by the end of 2008. Stay tuned!

Back to Church

Well, that’s a take on what Shumit has on his email footer…
“The road is my Church
Sweat is my Prayer
Running is my Religion”

Am back on the road now, started with a 5.2 km run yesterday.

Recovery from the marathon was pretty quick, I was back at the office on Monday morning though I had initially planned the day off. My body was kind of aching, mostly in my legs. Especially after I sat for a while and tried to walk I would clam up. Once a few meters of walking was done, it was fine. By Tuesday most of the aches had gone, and Wednesday was pretty much normal. I was itching to run on Thursday but deliberately did not pack my running shoes for my trip to Kakinada to force some rest… apparently there are a lot of micro tears and injuries that happen during and the lead up to the marathon that one needs to refrain from running for at least a week. Or so the story goes.

Friday was a sleep in, and I had to get out yesterday. I planned an easy 5 km run, and my wife Nithya joined me. She has been running these days and is already running 5.5 km non stop, albeit at a gentle pace. I gave company for a couple of laps and did a couple of faster laps myself to finish 5k in 32 min.

Sunday is the day of the long run with my buddies at Chennai Runners. I rocked up at the starting point today with nothing more than a 7 to 8 km run in mind. I ended up finishing 10.2 km in the end. Beyond 5 km I can feel my legs a bit, but going past 8 km it seemed okay. I have slowed down a fair bit... 10k in 1:06. Need to get this down to <1 hr consistently at least for shorter runs.

There is a lot of noise about Auroville marathon (Feb 15th) among my running buddies and I must say the temptation is there to run the full again… but I have to forget marathon training for some time and get stuck into other priorities at work and life (like writing my Singapore Story!!). The plan now is that I will do “base level” training, running 4 to 5 days a week, min 5 km and weekend runs of about 15 km, with one run a month being half marathon distance. In fact one of these half marathons could be at Auroville, and Nithya is aiming to run the half there - her first - so I might give her company. I also need to go the gym and get some workouts done aimed at my core and leg stengthening. That should keep my system well lubricated to ramp up for the next marathon… Berlin, September 2009.

Staying happy!

Beaten, but still victorious...

I did not achieve what I first set out to do i.e. "conquer Singapore in <5 hrs" nor did I achieve what I estimated as my finish time would be (2 weeks before the race) i.e. 5:30 and I did not get to beat my performance of last year i.e. 6:04. So, I guess I was beaten, fair and square. But - I finished the race in 6:18, battling on after about 30km. The first 30km took me 3:25 and the last 12km took me 2:53!!! After hitting the wall at 38km, and a massive cramp attack at 39km, I was pretty much written off to be a "transport by ambulance" case. Lying on the pavement for a long time and talking my legs into taking me to the finish line, managed to get up and do it - a triumphant smile on my face as I crossed the finish. ...

I am really happy I finished, it was a fight, and I did not want to see a "DNF" against my name. That kept me going and I think this means more to me than a <5 hr finish. Victory, after all.

More on this and other related stories later.

Monsoon in full swing, training too!

Chennai copped some serious amount of rain with tropical cyclone Nisha. Luckily, I escaped the brunt of it – went off to Kakinada on Wednesday afternoon – it really started hammering from Tuesday night. Here are my runs since my last update:
Wednesday, 26th Nov: 6 km on treadmill at Dimensions
Thursday, 27th Nov: 6.1 km at Kakinada
Friday, 28th Nov: 12.3 km at Kakinada
Today (Sun, 30th Nov): 21.2 km at Chennai

I was cruising during the week and the runs were quite good, “flowing”. Was back in Chennai yesterday afternoon, and saw a bit of the aftermath of cyclone Nisha. Still wanted to get out this morning – started at 4:40 AM with Senthil, got about 5 km out of the way then met up with couple of other running buddies from Chennai Runners – Hurry and Anu. Well, that’s not his real name – but that’s how he runs. Hari finished 35 km the last two weekends in 3:30 and is well set for a sub 4 in Singapore next Sunday. We did about 16 km+ together at a lazy pace, I just wanted the miles behind me. Finished 21.2 km in about 2:33. Satisfied! Now that is my last long run before Singapore. I have survived the training… only two more runs on my agenda – a 5 or 6 km on Tuesday and another 5 km on Thursday. I then leave for Singapore on Thursday night. No running there till the marathon.

Was flipping through my training logs and noticed a few things that has given me added confidence….


*till date. Another 10-12 km likely next week
**till date. Another 2 runs planned
*** shorter period – equivalent will be 11.5 for Singapore 2007 and 12.1 for Singapore 2008!

Gazing hard through these numbers, despite my anxieties, discomfort, tentativeness, I seem to be better prepared now than I was for the past two marathons!!
By this time next week the Singapore Story 2008 would have been scripted. Watch this space!!!

Another 25 km out of the way

Started the Sunday run (yesterday) at 4:20 AM with a number of my running buddies from Chennai Runners. It was pouring overnight, but by the time I stepped out of the house, the rain had eased off. I had not warmed up and stretched and was really slow at the start, easing into the run. By the time I did an hour’s worth of running, I realised I had just covered some 8.8 km - too slow to my liking. I wanted to finish half marathon distance in 2:15, so picked up my pace. I was running comfortably and thought I was running faster than the first hour, but by the end of 2 hours I had just touched 18 km. I ramped up my pace but managed to cover half marathon distance in 2:24 – same as last week!! I had made 2 stops for water / Gatorade and one walking break for about 200 meters. The roads were flooded in a number of places and that kind of slowed me down too. It drizzled / rained along the way in part. I kept thinking about the long day ahead of me – I had to fly to Kolkata in the afternoon after attending a wedding / lunch. So no sleep therefore after my run. Kept going till Elliots Beach when I hit 24 kms in about 2:42 – stopped for a drink there and ended up hanging around a little while trying to make sure the water stop was organised properly for other runners too – this, was a big mistake. I got influenced by a fellow runner to truncate the route to 30 km and once I yielded to that temptation, and started off again, I was stiff all over and could barely walk. Tried to revive myself and slow jog but I was rapidly losing interest and finally, after 25 km I stopped and walked for a little while before catching a rick to the finishing point. A bit of a cop out really! So, the last longish run before Singapore is now done. Recovery has been pretty good – none of those issues like last week, I feel fine and ready for at least 6 km tomorrow, 12 km on Thursday, 8km on Friday and perhaps a half marathon on Sunday…. After that, it will be the home stretch the next week. I am really looking forward to getting Singapore out of the way.

The New Mantra: “Constant Correct & Redirect”

I seem to have fallen in love with this mantra! Lets start with last Sunday’s run. Yes, its behind me – 33 km in 4:15. Finished half marathon distance in 2:24 (plan was 2:20), was running well up to 28 km, which I touched in 3:18 then took a walk break for about 750m and then started running only to start cramping. It was slight at first then became troublesome enough to force me to stop. My toes were cramping – that’s a new one! This time the cramps were in my lower left leg mostly. Could barely walk for some time. Then slowly, after some Gatorade, Shahid’s energy drink, bananas, etc started a walk-run sequence that took me to 33. the last 5 km took me nearly an hour! Am glad that I got this distance out of the way – it was very important for me to cross this, mentally I am more confident of finishing and getting another finishers tee in Singapore.

Recovery was bad. It took me nearly 3 days. On Tuesday my calf muscle was sore and I had to abandon hopes of running on Wednesday morning too. The problem I had with the boils has gone away, hopefully for good. I have completed the course of antibiotics.

The next run was Thursday morning – a good, refreshing, charged up run – 6 km in 36 min. No sign of any pain or discomfort.

Friday’s run was an LSD… 15 km in 1:45. Good, easy run at a very comfortable pace (read as waddle). I had not had much sleep the last two nights and I was feeling the lack of it towards the end of the day on Friday.

So, the last two weeks have been a classic case of constant correct and redirect approach. I have stopped stressing about Singapore now, and am seemingly very casual about it. That’s a bloody good sign, after all the mental gymnastics I went through the last few weeks!

Now, as I type this up, I am pretty refreshed after a 9 hour sleep. Am keen to run 35 km tomorrow – one last longish run before Singapore. It was raining heavily this morning, with plenty of thunder and lightning. I hope that is not the case tomorrow. I will run tomorrow regardless of the rain, but if there is a thunderstorm, I will be forced to chant the mantra again!!

Another sub 4:00!!

Well, that was my start time this morning – 3:55 AM and I covered 11.7 kms via the flyovers on TTK Rd and RK Salai up to Gandhi Statue on the Marina Beach and back. This is the first time I have ventured on to this route before 5:30 AM. I quite enjoyed the route and the run was good. I ran for 1 hr 16 min. The roads were wide open and most of the time I had them to myself. There is something highly mood elevating about this – the early hours of the morning, the freshness of the air, the quiet streets, music, myself and the run thrown in. It’s amazing how nature seems to press an auto reset button after the end of each day, takes all the polluted air out somewhere and fills in cleaner, fresher dose of air. It’s a pity we ruin it through the day. Anyway. Rushed back home after the run, hardly stretched and was on my way to the airport in half hour.

I had to do this run today, ungodly the hour may seem! I missed yesterday’s 16 k run – was at 4, contemplated stepping out… then went back to sleep, got up at 5 again and was still tentative. Reason: the boils were just starting to heal and no new eruptions – finally the antibiotics seemed to take over. So I decided to give the run a miss, and make up this morning – without any idea that I would have to catch an early flight. Never mind – I am actually more happier now, and more confident.

Today’s run was good. I wanted to up my pace a bit and see if I can pack close to 10k in an hour. But managed only 9. The second half was good though. In the end I averaged 9.2 kmph. Prior to the start I was feeling a bit of heartburn but popped a couple of Hajmolas and that seemed to do the trick soon enough. But I felt my dinner in my throat most of the way, was wondering why and then it hit me – it had hardly been 4 hrs since my dinner – which I had at about 11:30 PM!!! There is a lesson here.

The outlook for Sunday’s 35k run: I am pretty sure that I will do 21k comfortably. My “correct and redirect” strategy now is to run at least 30k of the 35k run on Sunday. Then, do a 8-16-8-30 the following week. Tight, but I think I need I would need one more 30k run to make up for all the lost miles and time. It does not matter if I don’t do a 35k run before Singapore – would be nice but I can run 42 k anyway. Looks like my pace is going to be in the region of 9 kmph – so, the prediction for Singapore now: 5 hrs 30 min.

There is no let up at work. In fact the demands are increasing by the day. The monkeys were out this morning trying to get me to think about doing something next year with more time and training possibilities. It did not last for long. There is something within that is helping me stay committed to run this race at Singapore this year. I keep talking about it to my family, friends and colleagues, its an affirmation of sorts to myself by setting expectations and putting pressure on myself to maintain credibility! That reminds me of a quote: ”Integrity is: Doing what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, and how you said you would do it” (Byrd Bagget, The Pocket Power Book of Integrity)

By the way, I am off alcohol till I finish Singapore. Have not had a drop for a week now!
Am still ON folks.

Grounded??

Most of my post run recovery on Sunday was via my usual strategy of going horizontal. Not much in terms of aches and pains but I think I generally needed the sleep.

Monday was rest day, running wise.

Tuesday - did 8km over the flyovers. Did a negative split, consciously picking up the pace in the second half, about 10km/min. Heel pain - gone. Rhythm - good. Fluidity - coming back. Feeling - good.

But this problem that haunted me the previous week reared its head again - boils in my inner thighs. Again, very localised. Away from some vital organs and orifices!! The first signs of a come back was on Sunday evening, with a random appearance - I wrote it off. But on Monday it seemed to persist with a couple of other smaller ones. But there was virtually an eruption of them yesterday. Not wanting to miss any runs in my most important week of training for Singapore 2008, I rushed to the doctor. He says he has never seen something this bad!!! Chances are its 95% bacterial and 5% viral. Put me on antibiotics. Told me to stay away from running. Did a random blood sugar test (results today).

So, here I am now. Was keen to do a 5k this morning after yesterday's feel good 8k. Am very restless. Am going to defy the doctor's advice and run the LSD tomorrow. Can deal with the consequences later... may have to skip the Friday run, but should get well in time for the Sunday 35k run. Hopefully the antibiotics will take over from today. Weather forecast for Sunday - 100% chance of rain! Oh well. More fun and games.

Clawing my way back

I did 20.5 km this morning in about 2:40 - quite a pedestrian pace and could have done it in 2:20. Lesson: Don't try a new, unfamiliar route when I have a serious goal to achieve. I managed with a map given by Karthik, one of my running buddies, but after about 10k, constantly stopping and checking if I was on the right track kind of broke the rhythm. Anyway, I don't think I maxed out even at the end, and am happy with the performance. My right heel has been playing up, it was painful while running and afterwards. Seems OK now but am a bit restless about it - need to read up a bit on this after I sign off.

The big week is ahead and the Singapore fever is on!

Here is something that captures the mood:

Zilch!!

Yes, if you asked me how my running was from 1st to 6th Nov, the answer is zilch. Combination of reasons, but the main one being very unusual - I had blisters / boils in my inner thighs, very localised, with new ones popping up frequently and making it miserable even for a walk. Looks like a heat reaction, despite the usual precautions I take to prevent chaffing. The condition seems to have subsided now, though not 100% and I was itching to get back to running. Broke the no run streak last night. More on that soon.

Yes, I am still running Singapore. Another "correct and redirect" is in order. I have 4 weeks to go, and blindly optimistic that I can make it. I just could not stomach the thought of quitting. So have to do it. I don't care any more about timing. But I have a strong feeling it will be better than last year's 6:04!!

Now, on the "comeback" trail...
I did a 5k easy run last night, took me 35 min.
I did a 9k easy run this morning, took me 60 min.
I plan to run for 2 hrs tomorrow, the ultimate objective being a 21k.

Then, the plan for next week is now 8k on Tue, 15k on Thu, 8k on Fri, 35k on Sunday. After that I should be well and truly on my way to the finish line at Singapore. This, is a real crazy way to ramp up. But with 4 weeks to go, I can't think of a better one. Watch this space!

Operation Salvage Singapore!

You must be laughing at the swings in my mind in terms of wanting and not wanting to run Singapore. Well, right now the breeze is blowing in the direction of Singapore! After a series of "fast" 5km runs, I was really charged up enough to attempt a "Correct and Redirect" approach last night - have come up with a re-hashed plan to tacke Singapore. I still don't know if I can make it in terms of preparedness, but now feel I should just show up at the starting line and let things happen. This is what my runs were like the last few days...
Tuesday, 21st Oct - 6.1km - Chennai - waddled on
Saturday, 25th Oct - 5 km - Chennai - in 27 min
Sunday, 26th Oct - 5 km - Coimbatore - in 26.5 min
Tuesday, 29th Oct - 5 km - Coimbatore - in 26 min, PB
Today... Thu, 30th Oct - 12.6 km - Chennai
I am thinking now, that I have about 5 weeks more of training for Singapore, may be I should taper up rather than taper down my runs! Just turn the strategy around and bingo, I may make it comfortably!

The weather was glorious today morning. Not so my running.. it was an effort to keep my mind focussed on finishing the distance of 12.6km - the effort was 99% mental. On the return leg I caught the ubeaut sunrise at Elliot's Beach. I started reflecting how life has changed for me, from being an absolute nocturnal animal to this early morning person. That's the influence of running with Chennai Runners, solely.

Anyway, there was a time when my house mates during my college days used to wake me up to force me see what a sunrise was like. I had always seen and used to love photographing sunsets, not sunrises! I was thinking it would be nice to see more sunsets too now (and sun rises), this means finishing work soon and leaving the office soon enough to catch it! I am so stuck with late hours at work that I never see sunsets. Something to keep thinking about....

Signing off, on the lighter side, Jill sent me this email today...
Subject: Finish What You Start
I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me, and we all
could probably use more calm in our lives.
Some doctor on tele this morning said that the way to achieve inner
peace is to finish all the things you have started. So I looked around
my house to see things I'd started and hadn't finished and, before
leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a
bottle of shhhardonay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of vocka, a pockage
of Prunglies, tha mainder of bot Prozic and Valum scriptins, the res of
the Chesescke an a box a chocolets. Yu haf no idr who fkin gud I fel.
Peas sen dis orn to dem yu fee ar in ned ov inr pece

Brooding.. To Singapore or Not?

I said this to Senthil last night in response to his question, how my training was for Singapore:
For my dreams about running marathons I need money
For money I need to work
If no work, no money, no running marathons (overseas).

In fact I am about 86% on track with my training plan for Singapore, and another 6 weeks to go. Still time to catch up and finish the marathon strongly. But my work demands are so much now that I am pretty close to jettisoning my plans to run in Singapore. Just the thought of being free from the bondage to a training plan seems to be liberating. This week at work is a classic example, Wed night I was at work till nearly 1 AM, the next morning my plan was to run 13km... but I slept in, no time to make up in the evening. I seem to be more against running in Singapore this year than for. Looks like I am close to the decision but don't want to confront it yet.

Right now my priority is work. I have to deliver this project I am responsible for, and it needs my time and energy big time.

On another note. I always say, "if you want something badly, you've got to make time for it". Here is something I came across from the archives:
A young man asked Socrates the secret to success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met. Socrates asked the young man to walk with him toward the river. When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The boy struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy started turning blue. Socrates pulled his head out of the water and the first thing the young man did was to gasp and take a deep breath of air. Socrates asked, 'What did you want the most when you were there?" The boy replied, "Air." Socrates said, "That is the secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get it." There is no other secret.

Adios for now.

Breaking the Jinx, Battling the Monkeys

Finally the string of jinxed weekend long runs is broken!! I did 30k yesterday at ECR No. 8 with Chennai Runners, in 3:40. Weather was not all that fantastic, no rain but it was humid and hot as the sun came up. The runs leading up to the Sunday run were like this:
Tuesday: 8.5k
Wednesday: 5.6k
Thursday: 15.6k
But from Friday afternoon I started getting shin pain in my right leg and it persisted. I got onto a pain killer and anti-inflamatory from Fri night, skipped Friday evening run and continued taking the pill till Sat night. The shin pain was still there but only a niggle by Sunday morning.

The run started OK, my system was warming up fine. Then it started... the monkeys were out in full flow. Do I really need to run Singapore? Do I really need to run this 35k now? Why not just quit Singapore, get into a 5 runs/week with gym work and save valuable time for work related stuff?? And on and on and on. Crossed 5k. No sign of the shin pain. Crossed 7.5k still OK. Crossed 10k, the monkeys were still there. I told myself I had to go all the way to the 17.5k turn around point then decide what to do. By the time I crossed 15k and turned around at 17.5, I started feeling that I had caught some second wind. Then running against the head wind, my mind played games again and I had to force myself to think - half marathon first, 25k next, 30k next and then I would not care as I would have touched the psychological number of 30k. That's what I ended up doing.

Was pretty busted by 30k, started to take more walking breaks. In fact, after the half marathon point (2:23) I was mostly doing run/walks. Lost interest after 28k or so. It would have taken me the best part of an hour to finish the last 5k, so gave up and went to the finishing line by car!

A big plus from the run is that I have settled in well with the Asics Nimbus X. No blisters!! After a very long time I have had a long run with no blisters on my feet.

As I key this in, my thoughts are mixed. I may pull off Singapore after all. Everything depends on my training over the next 2 weeks. I am going to be 40, in about an hour and a half!!!!! Wow. I don't feel that I am 40. More like 25. Plenty of reflecting to do and plenty of stock taking to be done. For now I am happy that I am staying fit and in an elite crowd that can run the way I do at this age!

Cheers!!

Arrggh... Jinxed Long Runs

I had a great record for the week, heading into my Sunday long run (21k). I had done 14.5k in 1:35 on Thursday and another 5k on Friday, both in Kakinada. I was on a high on Sunday moring. I had warmed up nicely, stretched and felt that 21k was already a done deal.

As I started my run, it was crazy - it was as if I was running against some heavy wind, and was struggling. It went on and on, and I thought it will change after the first couple of kms. No. So after 5km, I stopped and stretched. Started again and it was no different. Then it started raining, pouring, in fact. Felt great to run in the rain, but I just could find the propulsion in my legs. Heart rate was fine. Gave up, went home after 11k. Serious reflections on why this happened. May be it was the late nights on Thu & Fri. Long days, plenty of booze, little sleep (4 hrs each night?). Though I managed to get some rest on Saturday it was a disastrous Sunday run.

The feeling is miserable because I have had series of long runs on Sundays that I have either under performed or not started as I was sick, travelling or something else... this is the 4th weekend in a row that I have had a jinxed Sunday run.

The monkeys were out having a ball all through my run yesterday, and forcing me to give up on Singapore. it's a battle. But as I key this entry in (Monday night) I am keen to claw my way back and get on top of the schedule in the remaining days to come....

Work-life balance

This is what went through my mind during my run this morning. I don't think there is such a thing... life is a series of trade offs. One needs to make choices. I used to be a seeker of a balanced life style, this never happened and I doubt if it will. What is more important is that I choose between various options - involving work and life - and be happy with the choices I make.

At present I am at a stage with my work where it is very tempting to jettison my plans for the Singapore Marathon and just focus on work. Its easy to just stick to a 4 to 5 days of running / week regime with random distances from 5 to 8k thrown in, and not train for the marathon - which takes time, requires planning and slotting in to my increasingly hectic schedule. But I have chosen to stick to the training plan, as much as I can. It's not the easy road, but that is what is going to make me happy - doing both my project and the marathon - its not an either or but an and situation! I may have to sacrifice my goal of a sub 5hr finish, but the first thing that matters is finishing, then finishing strong and then finishing in sub 5 hrs.

I did an 8k yesterday, nice easy run, felt really good. Was worried I may not wake up in time, but managed to get out at 6:15. But this morning is a different story, it was a restless night, I did not sleep well. May be I am still jet lagged. May be there are too many work related issues on my mind. May be I am stressing beyond my threshold. It was tempting to sleep for an hour or two longer in the early hours of the morning as I seemed to have become sufficiently tired to sleep by then... but decided to chuck the monkey and got out of the house at 5:15, went for a 6k run, joined my running buddies from Chennai Runners enroute. It was an easy run from the start, meaning I took about 40 min for this run, instead of 36 min. Quantity first, I say to myself. Quality next. So, I am thinking, tomorrow's LSD in Kakinada should be a "stay on my feet for 1.5 hrs" rather than 12k.

In closing, I want to share an exerpt of an article titled "CORRECT AND REDIRECT Starting out without starting over" by John Bingham, thanks to Rajesh who forwarded this yesterday (how topical!!)...
"I can't even count the number of times I've gotten deep into a marathon-training program, only to have life intervene. I'd have to skip a long run. Then I'd miss a speed workout. Finally, I'd need to take a few more days off for one reason or another.
In the old days, I'd push through--just carry on with the program no matter what. And as often as not, I'd end up injured and discouraged. Now, I correct and redirect. I don't just ignore the missed days. I openly acknowledge the fact that my running doesn't always control my life. Sometimes, my life controls my running."

As Bingham says, Waddle On, Friends!!

The Clock is Ticking

My mileage has been pretty low over the past 3 weeks and the 35 km run that I have planned for the ECR is only 2 weeks away!!! And I have lots of travel in between with 2 Sundays in a row away from home... these thoughts were predominant in my mind as I hit the treadmill at Cannons Gym in Nobury, a London suburb. I did a 10k in 1 hr, happy with this as I have not been running frequently. I will have to significantly ramp up mileage over the next few days, the plan is:
Tuesday, 7th Oct - Chennai, 8k
Wednesday, 8th - Chennai, 5k
Thursday, 9th - Kakinada, 12k
Sunday, 12th - Kakinada, 21k
Tuesday,14th - Chennai, 8k
Thursday, 16th - Chennai, 15k
Friday, 17th - Chennai, 8k
Sunday, 19th - ECR Run, 35k

Lets see how it goes. Am settling into the new Asics Nimbus 10 well. Bad weather - rain, wind and cold weather are not a good combo! For once I am looking forward to running in Chennai where I can still run even if it rains or if its windy!

Playing catch up

I have been meaning to update my blog but work and travel have kept me away from this... but not from running. I finished running 16 days in September, less than expected but I was sick for a few days and travelling towards the end of the month so no go. Not tracking well with my prep for Singapore, but am confident that I will make up. Am planning a 35 km run during the forthcoming 8th ECR Run of Chennai Runners on 19th Octber....

Since my last entry, some of the highlights have been the Chennai Half Marathon on 31st Aug, about which I have a section at the end of this entry...

I had hit some pretty good form post the Chennai Marathon and was really enjoying my runs and building up the miles. Pacing myself comfortably and doing a 5k in 26 min too in one of the runs. In the middle of Sept I caught a cold and that really did me in - have missed a couple of long runs, started and stopped after some distance as the body was just not able to cope. Am slowly building up the miles now.

Have also had problems with my feet, the blisters are back and badly. One of my toe nails has fallen off, and I am done with my current collection of shoes. I wonder if I have to buy a half size larger or shoes with a wider toe box. For now, I have decided to stick to Asics, and as I type this, am wearing a brand new Asics Nimbus 10... thanks to Murthy and Priya for the birthday presents (they got me 2 pairs!!). Am about to step out for a 5k run in London. Am mad keen to do a 21k run here on Saturday... lets hope the weather holds up.

Oh, I have also read 2 books on running in the last 5 weeks.
Must read: The Barefoot Runner by Paul Rambali (about Abebe Bikila - unputdownable)
Optional: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami (you can skip this one I did not get much out of it)

More writing later, hopefully, for now here is the short story on
The Chennai Half Mara"torn"

Pic shows me (No. 2734) and my buddies from Chennai Runners at the starting point..
It was a gruelling event in hot, humid weather... the event wa s a huge crowd puller... apparently some 160,000 people participated in various events. One person died, more than 30 ended up in the hospital.... here are my recollections from the run:

I made it to the "finish" in 2:23, I think Ram was ~6 min and Shahid ~3 min ahead of me. My Garmin said something like 20.55 km.

After about 18km I lost interest - till then I had not walked. After that I started walking as I knew I would finish in <2:30.

The top two accounts of the Chennai Marathon were from Monappa and Sandy.. I have reproduced them below... do read them, worth it!!!

Monappa:

I participated in the Chennai (half )Marathon 10 days ago..there was major publicity prior to the event...posters all over the city with endorsements from local celebrity sportspersons ( Vijay Amritraj,Kris Srikanth, Jyothsana chinapa,etc)..radio and press ads.. However on the day ..none of them were present at venue..we had to wait at start line for the sports minister (M.S Gill) to turn up to inaugrate the event..he turned up 30 min late..(as usual)...the compere/announcer at the starting line was doing his best to keep the restive participants in check with announcements on the P.A system..." Ayyo Mister..why are yuu krassing the line?..vat is the yuse ? u have to run full 21.09km anyways...pleese go back."!

Once the race started ..loudspeakers at regular intervals on the course blared out the marathon anthem with heavy bass beats..."YYoo Chennaaii Marathon.. ... .."..I noticed runners with IPODs fidgeting with their earpieces..trying to block the noise and then giving up...!

The sky was overcast with a light drizzle...which made the initial phase comfortable..but as the course bordered the beach right through..it began to warm up soon..

I paced myself to the staccato beats of the Chennai marathon anthem with "tunnel vision focus" to maximise my running efficiency..however I lost a stride when a lungi clad barefoot middle aged gentleman overtook me and went ahead saying" ayyo ayyo rumba rumba urgent..".. Suddenly the guy veered of the course into an adjoing vacant plot and went about with his morning abolutions..thats when I realised that he wasnt a runner..but a resident of one of the shanties adjoining the course...and the shortest distance between his resident and the (public ) latrine was a portion of the Chennai marathon official route..!.

My new Saucony running shoes--->$70
Quick wicking Russels running vest---->$20
Adidas fuel belt filled with Glucon D----->$25
Number of candy bars pilfered from my 3 yr old son to "fortify" my energy diet---->4
Expression on my face as this guy went about his "£$%^%" stuff---------> PRICELESS .. .

The organisation of the course was well planned with water stations at the regular intervals and "physio" stations manned by trainee physiotherapists from a local college.. Not surprisingly the stations manned by the lady physios were crowded with "injured "young runners.. while the stations manned by the guys had only flies ..... the "TLC" clearly was in more demand than the Iodex sprays..!

2 hours into the run with Chennai sun shining with all its might..my mind was beginning to create a world of its own..I imagined a giant chilled limca bottle awaiting me at the finish line....the finsh line..where was that damned thing..the more I ran/jogged/hobbled/crawled..the longer it seemd to take..
Tiger passed by at the 17km mark....I thought.."hes experienced ..I should give way.."
Ram passed by at the 19km mark.. I thought.."hes experienced ..I should give way.."
Narayan passed by at 20.5km mark...I thought.."hes experienced ..I should give way.."

Finally 2hrs and 20 min from the start line...I finished the race..exhausted, dehydrated and tanned like a cherry blossom tin The organisers in their infinite wisdom had located the finish 4km short of the parking lot..! so finally after covering 21km+4km..after a full 3.5 hrs in the sun ..I was finally done with it all..

Chennai Marathon..lots of sun..some fun on the run..a little fiction! Enjoy!


Sandy:

Here’s a small note on my experience with the Chennai Marathon:- I went to bed Saturday night looking forward to the 7k Chennai Marathon absolutely pumped up.

I slept very well despite the anxiety. I woke at 0600 hrs ready to hit the start line. And then I did a minor calculation. I had to drive 4 -5 km to the parking lot. Walk probably a km or two to the start line. Jostle with 1000s (At that point I didn’t know it would be lakhs) of runners, non-runners, organisers, celebrities, various dogs and some sheep while waiting for the chief guest to arrive. Run 7Km dodging school children who sprint out 30m and then walk hand in hand like in the old MGR movies. And finally get to the finish line which over a period of time starts to resemble a refugee camp with people sprawled all over the place amidst the battle debris of plastic water packets, crushed aquafina bottles, various little pieces of ice, general puddles of water and various podiums with no one around. (all seen during the last Chennai run in feb this year) Oh and of course drive back another 4-5 km to get home.

Decided I would instead run my own 7k and ran it in my head while I slept another 1.5 hours.
And I have lived happily ever after.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Run when Chennai Sleeps, Sleep when Chennai runs.

Thanks Monappa & Sandy - for "cut pasting" your entries without permission!

Recent runs

The week after my last entry was mixed as far as running goes. I had a great outing in the early morning run - fantastic, not a sole in sight (seemed like!) and I had the roads to myself. I did 6k and it was one of the most enjoyable runs. After that I was in Kakinada and could only manage 3 runs for that week instead of 4 (one evening run was aborted after I was just not with it), but I managed to catch up with a long run on the Sunday, albeit a painful one.... I wanted to do some 18 odd km but after 14km or so my toes started jamming in my shoe as they swelled up... the Brooks Glycerine that I was wearing was not tested out for 15km+ runs and I realised that the toe box was too narrow. By the time I did 17 km it was two hours with some walking after 15.5 km - I was in pain. So gave up and went home... it took me 2 hrs. So, week 2 of Singapore prep looked like this:

1. Tuesday, 12th Aug, 3:30 AM, Chennai - 6 km
2. Thursday, 14th Aug, 7:15 PM, Kakinada - 5 km
3. Friday, 15th Aug, 8:00 PM, Chennai - 3 km walk
4. Sunday, 17th Aug, 5:15 AM, Chennai - 17 km

The last week was much more eventful, and the highlight was my Sunday run of 21.1 km in 2:14 tracking the same route as that of the Chennai Marathon coming up next weekend. I had not crossed 20k since Brisbane in April. I felt restless right through Saturday (good!) and did not sleep much overnight. I paced myself well and had a few more kms left in me at the finish. I am not sure if I can better this performance next weekend though I initially aspired for a 2 hr finish. Reason being mostly weather oriented - the run starts at 6:30 and the sun would be up and intense by the time we are at the half way mark. Almost all my runs during Week 3 were pretty good....

1. Tuesday, 19th Aug, 8:00 PM, Chennai - 5 km (treadmill)
2. Thursday, 21st Aug, 5:15 AM, Chennai - 10 km
3. Friday, 22nd Aug, 5:15 AM, Chennai - 7.5 km
4. Sunday, 24th Aug, 5:15 AM, Chennai - 21.1 km

I am a bit sore today from the run yesterday. Should be OK for tomorrow morning's run.

Adios.

The tale behind the tiger

I have made this blog address public now.... I have no idea how frequently I can visit and update this space but here it is, my own space in the lanscape! After reading some of the blogs of my running buddies from Chennai Runners I am pretty sure I will not be able to emulate their articulation, span of coverage, frequency of entries. But hey just like running, it does not matter - I will run my own race. The intent of this blog is largely running and all random bits that are in some way related to it.

FAQ 1: Where did I pick up this nick name of tiger swami?
It was during my golfing days about 10 years ago when one of my buddies - Tony Hausknecht or Bruce Kelso - or both - decided that I resembled Tiger Woods and started calling me Tiger Swami. To these two guys I owe all my little knowledge and experience of golfing.... Anyway while selecting a name for my gmail ID I got tired of not getting what I want and came up with tigerswami... my running buddies in chennai got hooked on to the name pretty quick and it stuck!
FAQ2: What is my handicap? (or was) - I don't have a handicap. I am a cripple. But, I had a mean put.... and generally after a couple of holes I would start looking forward to the 19th hole.
FAQ3: Am I a golfer now?
Nope. Will I get back into it? Probably, but not in the near future. Running takes away too much of my spare time and energy.

Speaking of running, following on my post on Sunday. I got out for a run at 6:45 PM. Decided to take the Malar Hospital > Indra Nagar bus top > Kotturpuram loop first and cover 8k that way and then do the rest around Boat Club. This, was a BIG mistake. I was running beautifully but really got put off by the heavy traffic, people cutting in and out, auto rickshaws and cars hardly giving me the space to keep running - plus I could hardly see the road due to watching on coming traffic (vehicles and humans) and poor street lights; to add to it the roads were noticeably not flat, they were full of slopes and pot holes had to stop many times, swerve and slide! Something I never paid attention to when I run this circuit early morning. Never again will I get out this way at this time. By the time I came around the 5k mark around the Kotturpuram road turn, I was done by the traffic, the pollution and the start stops. After that it was mental, not physical - I finally called it quits at 12.5k. When I came back and updated my training plan Vs actuals I realised I was 0.6 short on the cumulative mileage to date... bugger! Should I have checked what the break even number was!

Anyway. It's about 3 AM now. I got up about half an hour ago.... have a flight to catch and need to be in the airport at 5:30 AM... I don't want to miss my 5k run planned for the day, so, here I am, waiting to step out in a short while and get the run out of the way.

Am I crazy? Call me what you like. I am just focused.

Getting stuck into training

I am going back to Singapore with a vengeance. I have to conquer the distance in <5:00 this time.

Every time I have drawn up a training plan it seems to bring back intense focus on to my running. I speak from the experience of having trained over an 18 week plan for Singapore and a 10 week plan for Brisbane. Without a training plan or goal my running seems to lack focus and I tend to get very contended with 5 to 6 km runs. Doing a couple of marathons a year would fix that problem by the looks! Now, lets think about this one. 2 marathons a year - at this rate, by the time I am 50 I would have completed 24 marathons! Wow. May be I should throw in the 2 Oceans Marathon (an ultra at about 54 km) and the Comrades (another ultra at about 92 km) in and that should take me past 25 marathons!!

The week that's gone by...
Tuesday: 5.6 k over the flyovers and then on to the gym for some stretching
Wednesday: 8 km around the boat club and river view roads
Friday: Hyderabad - 5 km on a treadmill at the hotel
Pending - a 16k run today - I slept in. Was too tired and needed the sleep after a fairly intense week at work. Am planning to run this evening, still undecided about the route.

I have tried to focus on what I eat and moderate / avoid beer, non veg food and sweets. I can't say that I was too successful. Its tougher when you travel and attend meetings, conferences and dinners. But I have started to think twice before reaching out to that bottle / platter!

I have visited the gym more number of times over the last 7 days than I have been ever over a similar period! That's a good sign. I need to strengthen core, back and legs... not to forget Project Doberman!!!!

Highlight of the week: Sajjan Jindal, the VC & MD of JSW Steel was the guest speaker at the annual meet of the group I work for. It was a very inspiring address, something that makes me reflect and wonder about many aspects of my career, goals and dreams. An address that resonated so well within me - because of the parallels in character and outlook to life and work that I have and what he was sharing about himself. Among other things he spoke about the importance of being fit and how fitness is a great stress buster for him.. he said that the brain needs oxygen and his fitness routine is key. He does not compromise on his game of squash or volleyball even during intense work demands - he takes time for it. Reminds me of what I say to myself: "If you want something badly, you've got to make time for it".

Another couple hours before I step out for the long run of the week... can't wait. My Ipod shuffle has been playing up despite 2 visits to the service centre and getting "serviced" - I've got so used to music on the run that I strap on the big old 20 GB bugger to make up for it. Time to buy another shuffle. It's becoming a "use and throw" item - I have been through 2 of them in <2 yrs. Fortunately the price is now less than half of what the first one I bought.

Cheers...

Getting Set for Singapore

18 weeks to go before the Singapore Marathon and I have just drawn up my training plan for the event. Need to register and book my travel later today. After going through a fairly sluggish period where my running was more in the region of 5 to 6k since finishing the Brisbane marathon in a personal record time of 4:45, I feel am ready to ramp up my mileage. I think I will drop out of the Hyderabad half marathon on 16th Aug. Will gun for Chennai half marathon on 31st instead - 2 hrs target > may be tough (with a 6:30 start) but will give it a go.
For Singapore prep this time around I will do hill / interval training on Tuesdays, and visit the gym at least 2 days a week for core and back strengthening, besides stretching and doing some weight training. I am also wanting to lose 2 to 3 kg, the thinking being that I can go faster.
Project Doberman is also a temptation... this is one where I lose my beer gut and am able to run topless shamelessly like the two blokes who did so during the last ECR run! But for this I think running alone won't do - a life style change is required... beer, eating out, greasy, non veg food, sweets & desserts have to go or reduce - now that's a real challenge for me!