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!!!