Delhi Half marathon November 1, 2009

I had stopped participating in the Airtel Delhi Half marathons for the last 2 years as its just way too much effort to run just 21kms. This year it so happened that I was scheduled to attend a wedding in Delhi, in the last week of October (and I had booked for it 3 months in advance). During the second week of November when i actually got down to writing to friends in Delhi, about catching up with them, I realised that I would be in Delhi during the Delhi marathon.

Once I realised this, it would be stupid and impossible for me not to participate. I had to pull a few strings to get my registration done, as the last date for online registration was already over.

I did a 20k run two weeks before the delhi half marathon and was reasonably sure that i should be able to do a decent time at Delhi (ie a sub 2hr time).

I reached Delhi on a Thursday morning and was having a blast attending a traditional Indian wedding which takes place over 3-4 days, which means lotsa food and wine. But I did take the tough decision of going on a healthy high carb diet on Saturday evening to ensure that I have enough good calories for the run but could not manage enough sleep (barely had 3hrs of sleep that night before the run, as we were attending the marriage reception till 2am).

Sunday started well, the weather was good and I was able to find my way to the start point quite easily (Nehru Park), met up with lotsa old colleagues at the start as well as post finish in the holding area. I also met some runners from Bombay who recognised me, esp. one of them who runs regularly at Shivaji park.

Organiser Procam had done a decent job, much better than the what I had experienced 2yrs back, but it was nothing exceptional. I wish they do a lot more to make things better and special for the real runners, instead of worrying purely about the sponsors, TV partners and celebs.

My 21k went exactly as per plan, i did the first 10k in about 55mins and after that I was quite sure about doing a sub 2hr time. I kept the same pace and tried to accelerate during the last few kms and managed a decent time of 1hr 56min 53secs.

Split @ 7.5K 00:41:02
Split @ 10K 00:54:52
Split @ 19.35K 01:47:07
Split @ 20K 01:50:58
Finish Time 01:56:53
http://www.timingindia.com/results_page.php?keyword=8948

Managed to click just two pics from the marathon

#mmmm and self styled Triathlon.

I did my first triathlon last Sunday and it was a lot of fun. Since it was self style and personalised one, there was only one participant! India does not have any Triathalons (not even 70.3 ones), so you have do your own thing to train for one.

I got up at 3.30am in the morning and took a 4.15am start for my bike ride. It was a 27/28km bike ride from home to NCPA, Nariman point. It took me about 1hr 20mins, which is not bad given the road conditions. I parked my bike at a secure place in Churchgate, just in time for the 6am start from NCPA for the Mumbai monsoon mini marathon (#mmmm). This #mmmm was organised by local congress party politicians & workers, to protest against terrorism & to support peace. To my horror the planned (not publicised) start time turned out to be 7am and the final start time was close to 7.30am.

But the spirit was very good and the turnout was lot higher than what I had expected it to be, so things improved as soon as the run started (since it was a very short run of 5k, the delay did not really make much of a difference). I finished the distance in about 25minutes and then headed by to Churchgate for my swim. So I ended up doing about 8k or so that day (3k on my return to Churchgate)

I had originally planned a 1k swim as I was hoping that the mini marathon would be somewhere around 12km or so (which turned out to be just 5k). So I decided to make up for the distance by doubling my swim, to 2kms.

After that I had some yummy breakfast and then the bike ride back home (another 28km). With that I completed a 55km bike ride, 8km run and 2km swim. The only thing I need to really improve upon is the run for my next triathlon, need to take that to atleast 20km, and that will take be very close to the 70.3 Triathlon or half Ironman or Olympic Triathlon.

This triathlon has given my confidence a big boost and Ironman no longer looks so difficult. I was also inspired by a friend who recently completed his first Ironman (he did it in a little over 13hrs, a super effort indeed). Do catch his blog www.bedders.blogspot.com for more ...

August 9, Mumbai monsoon mini marathon POA

I am planning to participate in the South Bombay mini marathon this Sunday. It starts at 6am in the morning, and given the fact that its about 30km from my house. I plan to cycle to my start point. To make this possible I will have to start from my house at 4.30am, so that I have enough time to make it (esp. given that I will have to use street lights to guide me). And if all goes well I hope to do a 1km swim after the run. This will help me create my own little triathlon. And yes after the whole thing is over, I will also have to cycle back home (another additional 30km).

All of this means I will be doing about 60km of cycling, about 12-15km of running (the exact distance is not known) & about 1km of swimming (if I am feeling really good, I might extend this to 2k). I will have to carry good amount of food & sports drink to replenish my salts (as the biggest hurdle I will face is not fatigue but cramps during to loss of salts). I will have to be careful about parking for cycle plus I will need to find a place to deposit my helmet at 6am in the morning (or actually run with it, carry it inside my hydration backpack)

I will be taking the next couple of days easy, plan to take tomorrow off to catch up with some friends who are in town, load up on carbs and keep myself well hydrated.

Cycling to work..

I have finally got down to cycling on a regular basis. And the best way to make this happen is to cycle to work, once a week. Anything over weekend will be a bonus.

Last Friday was the first day I cycled to work and today is the second day I will be doing the same. Just need to keep it up for the next few weekly before it becomes a habit. Cycling to work means I am able to put in about 25km of cycling a trip (both ways combined), this includes some twilight/night cycling while going back.

Cycling to work is quite effortless compared to running to work, which (running) is quite an effort when I do it twice a week. I am now getting used to cycling in traffic and once I get comfortable I can easily increase it to twice a week.

With this new addition I am able to do about 25km of cycling in addition to about 50km of running a week. Now my next goal is to improve my running mileage, need to take it from the 50km level to 80km level. Hope to do the 60km with 13k, 13k, 15k & 20k splits as the next step 70km with 13k, 13k, 20k, 25k levels.

Mini Monsoon Marathon, August 9, 2009, Mumbai

Bombay is hosting a Pre-Independence day “Mini Monsoon Marathon” this Sunday, 9th August 2009, at 6.00am (Its really early & am very doubtful about the turnout given that most of Bombay stays in the suburbs!!).

Cause - A run for peace, to combat terrorism and build a united peaceful city.
Start point - Opposite the NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai.
Entry fee - Free
Event organised/Supported by Annie Shekhar (MOS, Maharashtra Govt.)and Milind Deora MP from South Bombay

Other arrangements - They will have stalls all along with way serving drinking water.

Route - Not sure about the exact distance, but the route is as follows -
Start - opposite NCPA Nariman Point, Mumbai
Netaji Subhaschandra Bose Road towards Chowpatty
Takes a U-turn near JD Road
Proceed towards Netaji Subhashchandra Bose Road again
Takes a left at Veer Nariman Road, near Soona Mahal Building
Take a right from Eros Theatre towards Maharshi Karve Road
Take a left from Madam Cama Road
Go on to Shyamaprasad Mukharjee Chowk
Take a left towards “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk
Go towards the Gateway
Take a right from the Taj Mahal Hotel
Go on to Ramchandani Mar
Take a right from Radio Club
Proceed towards Azmi Road
Take a left at S.B.S. Road towards Sasoon Dock
Take a left from Indumati Sakhrikar Marg
Ends - Shantabai Sathe Chowk.

Mumbai (Bombay) marathon 2010 registration open on July 9, 2009

Mumbai Marathon 2010 registration starts on July 9, 2009. The last day for registration is August 18, 2009 (or earlier if they finish the quota for each category). Please register early if you are planning to participate in the dream run, as that is the category which fills up first.

Official website for registration: http://scmm.indiatimes.com/
Mumbai Marathon 2010 will take place on January 17, 2010.

Entry fees Rs 500/- (including cost of disposable championchip) for full and half marathon runners. If I remember correctly till last year the champion chip was optional, but I guess this year its different. Dream run will now cost you Rs.300/-

Race Category Indian Applicant (#Overseas Applicant)
Marathon Rs. 500* (USD 35*)
Half Marathon Rs. 500* (USD 35*)
Dream Run Rs. 300 (USD 20)
Senior Citizens' Run Rs. 200 (USD 10)
Wheelchair Event Rs. 200 (USD 10)

* this includes the non-refundable cost of ChampionChip timing service being offered to all marathon and half marathon participants.

The Great Indian Desert Run 2009 dates postponed to December 7-14, 2009

The organisers of The Great Indian desert run 2009 have posted the race dates from September 2009 to December 7-14, 2009.

They have also worked hard to revise the participation rates. The new rates are as follows - The cost of the event is lower than before - US$ 1,500 (earlier USD 2000)for international participants and INR 40,000 (earlier Rs.65,000) for Indian Participants.

The event will now be held on the dates December 7-14, 2009, as they had got feedback about participants wanting time to train, and others needed time to fit this event into their calendars.

The Registration date is now August 15. Visit http://www.greatindiandesertrun.com for more details.

So now we have two Multi stage ultra marathons in December (and both are in Rajasthan, India). It might be good if both of them combine their energies and do a joint event, the other options would be for one of them to back out - it will be survival of the fittest or the smartest ;-)

Best wishes to both the organisers, am sure they will not leave any stone unturned to own the privilege of organising the first the first Multi Stage Ultra in India.

Rajasthan Thar Desert Run 2009

We now have another Multi-stage ultra marathon in Rajasthan, December 24-30, 2009. This is in addition to Great Indian Desert Multi stage ultra marathon, from September 7-13, 2009.

The details of the Rajasthan Desert Run 2009 are as follows -

Globe Racers’ Professional, Indian Rajasthan Thar Desert Run is a 5 day, 210K (~130miles), endurance race. One of the first in the Indian subcontinent, it is designed to test your strength, and offers Royal cultural experience, while you stay at Palace Hotels, which are earlier residences of Rajasthan Royal families, at the end of each gruelling day.

When: December 24, 2009 – December 30, 2009

Registration: Before September 15, 2009
Race Fee: $2000 for foreign nationals, Rs.50000 for Indian nationals
Payment at the time of registration: $1000 for foreign nationals, Rs.25000 for Indian nationals.

Contact: Kavitha Kanaparthi: +91 98454 00158 (or) +1 989 796 4231 kavitha@globeracers.com or Ram Sethu: +1 336 255 0937, rams@globeracers.com

For more details visit - www.globeracers.com

New found love for cycling

I could never have imagined, I have now started to like cycling. And I owe a good part of the credit to me joining www.cyclist.in and meeting some serious cycling enthusiasts.

Over the last few weeks (well months now), I have done a 50km cycling trip to Khargar. Gone a trip to town, actually managed all my travelling for one full day exclusively on the bike, clocking about 65kms and this included a big chuck through city traffic (which was extremely stressful) and a night biking trip which had its own charm and hurdles, plus done a critical mass cycling event.

Critical mass cycling event is a meet very like minded cyclists meet up and cycle some distance in city traffic (in the case of Bombay its Saturday evening, but usually its Friday evening in most other countries), highlighting their claim over the road in a nice and peaceful manner.

Cycling is lot less stressful and enjoyable if done in a group (well atleast a 2 member group), plus its a lot safer. Running I continue to like doing on my own, and having a companion makes things complex and difficult, as its difficult to adjust to someone else's running speed.

Month of catching up..

Its been one interesting month, I have been running about 45-50k a week for the last one month. Its been stable, but I have not been able to push things up. The good thing is that I have been able to add some swimming or cycling once a week, during the last four week, which has meant cross training is happening and I am able to stay injury free.

This week has been good so far I did three runs of 11k during the week on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and hope to top it off with a 20k tomm, if I can get everything right. Plus, I also did a 700meters swim today.

Its been twitter all this while and once I update things on it, it sort of becomes difficult to write a detailed account on the blog. Tweeting is so quick and instinctive, where as blogging continues to remain a planned activity. And the plans keep getting postponed ;-)

Paramount Airways Inflight Mag article with my comments & interview on distance running

Finally a post after almost a month. I seem to have run out of excuses for not being regular with my posts :(