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!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
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!!!
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