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!