New jogging trail...

Today after a long time I ran on a new trail, it was a welcome change from my daily path (where I happened to know each and every pothole and stray dog!!). Another change was that the new trail (Carter road stretch, in Bombay) is a dedicated track for people to walk (and also run), unlike my daily trail which is on a busy road. But Carter road is not really the best place to run as its been paved with very hard shahbad (stone) tiles. My shins got a heavy beating for the half hour I managed to jog.
The highlight of the morning was that I had the company of a bright boy named 'Nick', 10yrs old and always willing to try out new things. He wanted to try out jogging/running, something very different from tennis which he has been playing for the last six years. Hope had a good time and decides to take up running on a regular basis.
I only wish I had remembered that Joggers Park was located right next to Carter road. It has a mud track and would have been more fun to run. But, there is always a next time....

I had a good, smooth run yesterday morning of 5.5kms and did it in 32.36mins, which is a good time. Things seem to be getting back to normal and hope to do about 20kms this week before the Sunday run.
Plan to take a break today as I wanted to catchup on sleep, as I slept late yesterday. No point trying to run sacrificing on sleep. I always ensure that I catch up on atleast 6.5hrs of sleep the previous night before attempting a run. I hope to run tomm., looking forward to the Thursday holiday (not sure which festival, but the holiday is welcome!!)

Why do I run?

I have had a lot of friends and relatives of mine ask me why I run? Initially they thought it was to prove a point or to achieve some suppressed dream of achieving the unachievable or that I was simply losing it..
The most interesting remark was after I had completed my first marathon, almost everyone thought now that its done, I would get back to 'normal' and get over the 'fad' of running, as the goal had been achieved.
Now that I have completed by second, third..... They seem to realize that running seems to mean more than just a form of exercise or a fad (as its impossible to continue with a lone sport unless one really enjoys it). Coming back to the original question of why run - the answer, other than the obvious things about health and fitness, is the fact that it gives me time with myself, give me quality time to think, it gives me a high, helps me touch & push my endurance level limits every now and then, gives me the courage to push the envelope, it teaches me to be patient & consistent (practicing the same thing day in and day out and trying to get better with each passing day, to realize when I need to take break - ability to listen to my body) and gives me the required motivation and opportunity to travel to different countries by participating in different marathons. These are just the things that come to my mind now on what I get from running. I hope I have been able to answer the question.
I have till date only participated in one marathon outside Bombay and I did a fab time. So I hope to repeat it in my Singapore marathon! To better myself with each successive marathon is another motivator, till date I have been able to do it and hope to continue doing it in future as well...

Smooth sunday run..

My Sunday morning run of 10kms could not have been better, did it in 1hr 30secs. Was almost tempted to run more, but resisted it as did not want to push my right shin. It was smooth and relaxed, plus the fit of my new pair of shoes was really good (guess its the best fit pair I have bought till date). After that relaxed my muscles with a 2 km walk. Now I have started drinking energy drink/electral during my runs as Bombay is getting hotter with each passing day. Today I tried the new Gatorade orange flavoured drink launched in India, it tastes almost exactly like the good old rasna drink. Nothing really exciting but atleast it keeps the body well hydrated. But, there is nothing to beat good old water in taste especially when one is running...

Another week passes by...

This week thankfully has not been eventful!! I managed to do a light 3 odd km run twice during the week, it went off quite well and my right leg seems to be behaving better. Now the real test, plan to run my sunday run of 10kms. I walked for a good 3-4kms today just to get my leg warmed up for tomm. morning run. Really looking forward to the run, its been ages since I have had a good run. Waiting to update my blog tomm. after a very positive and smooth run.

Hope the wait is over...

Its been almost one week since I last ran. My right leg is still not feeling right, but I guess its more psychological than actual as the mild pain while moving around still seems to continue (which is usually the case as mind tend to imagine the pain even after its actually healed). This is the thought, will have to actually go for a light run tomorrow to actually put this theory to test. Its really frustrating when you want to run but are grounded due to injury, plus you tend to have thoughts that it will reoccur and keep on troubling you.
I need to put all the negative thoughts aside and focus on having a good and enjoyable run tomorrow. Past week has been pretty uneventful, did not get down to any cross training or leg strengthening, feeling a little guilty! Have a lot of catching up to do......

Rest days continue...

Today is the second forced rest day, my right shin is not showing any signs of improvement. I guess I will have to rest it longer. I will now convert my sunday long run to a good swim on sunday morning. It should be a interesting change and I look forward to it. I am trying to avoid anti-biotics for the shin splint and trying to make do with some pain reliving cream, hope it starts working. Till then the wait shall continue....

Time to take a break and rest a while...

I used today's holiday to catchup on my sleep and decided to finish it with a light run of 3kms. But, the right leg is not feeling right and now will have to rest it for the rest of the week. If it feels better, I hope to catch my Sunday run.
Sometimes one has to just take a break, even if its forced!! Hope to use the rest of the week to do some leg and upper body strengthening exercises. I need to do some leg strengthening and cross-training to improve my overall fitness levels, and this is a good opportunity to catch up on it.

Tuesday run...

Had a good run on Tuesday, except for the fact that the right shin does not seem to settle down, its still troubling me. I did my 7km on Tuesday within 43mins, the weather is still pleasent, so was not too much trouble. I plan to rest my legs on Wednesday morning with some anti inflamatory cream and lotsa hope that it will settle down by evening. If all goes well I will run in the evening today. Today is Holi - a festival of colours, so its not really a bright idea to venture outside during the mornings, evenings are pretty safe as things settle down by then.
If I am able to run without too much discomfort today then will run during the rest of the week, else will rest my legs till Sunday.

I love my Sunday long run...

I got up pretty early, but actually got out of the house a little after 8am. Was a little worried at start as my right leg was still not feeling right, the first 5kms I felt a slight continuous strain on my right shin. But as I started to get into a rhythm things started to get better, I did my 15kms as planned in 1hr 32min and it felt good. Was a little worried that the shin would feel sore after the run or on the next morning, but things have been good so far. I plan to take rest tomm. and hope that on Tuesday my shin would be back to normal.
I hope to do atleast twice my regular weekday run (distance) on Sundays. If the shin settles down next week, I might just decide to do an 18 or 20km next Sunday.
My Sunday long run is usually around 1hr 20mins, and while doing that I carry about 700ml of plain water on me, and as the summer sets in I carry an additional 200ml water with Electral (to replenish salts) and it is already starting to get very humid. After my run I usually have bananas and coconut water and then after a 2 km walk I unwind with some freshly brewed cappuccino. And I follow this routine almost 50 Sundays a year, if I am in Bombay. I usually never skip a Sunday run, even if I have not run the whole week. And it has to be something really compelling to keep me away from it.

Back to a clear blue sky...

I did manage to run today, thought the right leg felt a little sore. Had a good run, did 5.5kms in 33mins as I wanted to take it a little easy today. Completed the weeks milage, by running 26.5kms, not bad. Plan to do around 15kms on this sunday depending on how good I feel on that day. Hope to keep at it and raise it to 35kms for the weekly milage and raise the sunday run to about 20/21kms. Finally settle at about 40kms (over 4 runs) during weekday and a half marathon on every sunday till August end and then raise it further in the last three months before the marathon. If all this actually happens then 4.5hrs for the full marathon is almost certain and might actually end up doing closer to 4hrs. All of these are nice thoughts, but a lot of hard work in store.....
The good thing is tomm. is a break day and I can sleep for that additional one hour fifteen minutes. Yes!!!!!

A rainy day in March!!??

I got up at my regular time and left home at around 6.15am, it seemed like any other day though a little more pleasent then usual. And half way through my run it started drizzling, which was completely unexpected, inspite of the fact that I had heard on the telly that it had poured in Delhi the previous night.
The drizzle turned to a decent shower and the run felt effortless. Running in rain feels almost like running indoor with the pleasures of the outdoors, it does not get any better. The only hitch with todays downpour was that it was a one off unseasonal shower, which made the concrete road slippery. In my excitement I needed up pulling a muscle in the right leg. Hope it get back in shape tomm. morning and I can complete the targeted four runs of the week. Else will take rest tomm and run on saturday instead, will decide tomm. morning.
According to latest reports the showers are likely to continue for the next two days, so thatz a good enough incentive to run tomm! I did my 7km today at a good 42.30mins inspite of the slippery surface, hope to maintain the pace and remain in the 42-43mins range.

Another day...

I am just managed to figure out some of the various features on what blogger has to offer, its not as easy as I thought it would be. But am getting there, to get the title activated, to allow Anonymous comments, etc..
Had a good run today did another 7km a little under 43mins. This is the second one of the week, hope to do four 7km runs this week, lets see if I can execute it. If all goes well then I hope to do about 17kms on Sunday. Am home early today, so will get some good rest and be ready for tomm..

I did manage to run on a Monday morning after all, guess the blog is already starting to help me. I did a good run of 7kms in 42mins, the weather was good after a longtime time and I really enjoyed it. Legs are feeling a little sore though. Plan to take my break day tomm, to give my legs some well deserved rest.
I was pleasantly surprised when a got a almost immediate response from the Singapore marathon authorities when I inquired the dates for registration of the Dec 2006 marathon. This compared to the almost non existent response when I had written 'n' number of emails enquiring about various things to the authorities organizing the Standard Chartered Bombay marathon. Guess we have a long way to go in terms of both organizing marathons and customer service.

My previous marathons
I have run 4 marathons till date, 3 full marathons and one half marathon. Singapore marathon should be my fifth and the Mumbai marathon in January 2007 would be the sixth. My last three full marathons have been a little disappointing as its taken me well over 5hrs to complete all of them, though have been able to reduce my time with each successive run. I was reasonably confident of doing a time of well under 5hrs (actually closer to 4.5hrs) for the Jan 2006 Bombay marathon, but was unable to come close as did not have a good run that day and had not clocked sufficient weekly mileage during my preparation for it. But was optimistic about the time, as I had done a time of 1.58hrs in the half marathon at Delhi in Oct '05.
So this time around for the Singapore marathon I hope to ensure that I do a time of under 4hr,30mins. And hence the blog to motivate and keep me on track (by logging the right amount of Kms each week, in the coming months).

Had a good long run today. Was feeling a little rusty at start, but did 13.5km in about 1hr,21mins, and without any post run aches and pains. I hope to run again tomm., I usually don't run on Mondays, as the Sunday run usually makes one stiff the next morning and the fact that 5.15am is not the best time to getup in the morning after having had a good run on Sunday. I never have a problem going for my sunday run, its now become a part of my routine, and the very thought of having to miss it for some reason makes me very uneasy. I hope to get that feeling for my weekly mileage runs.
The weather in Bombay is getting hotter with each passing day and it takes a toll, when one is running at 8am in the morning on hard concrete roads of Bombay. But on the other hand it makes things easier to get up early in the morning!

Solution to solve - the Bombay electricity problem, which is just and practical, with no political issues (even the CPI-M will love it).
We need to do reduce our consumption between 5pm-11pm, as that is the peak load time. So its no point putting curbs on commercial enterprises under the current conditions.
Solution -
We should have the current rate per unit upto 300 units per household
For households who consume between 300-500 units, the incremental amount above 300 would be charged at 1.5x or 2x.
for units above 500units it would be 4x. and
No household should be allowed to consume more than 1000units (their electricty should be cut off if they consume beyond it). And these guys can afford generators (so they better invest money and generate their own power!!)
This is the only way we will be able to reduce consumption of electricity in Bombay 20% and not have load shedding during summers.
Do post your opinion and comments on this issue.... to help solve the problem.

Its been over a week since I wrote my last post. The past week was pretty tiring, lotsa work and traveling, all excuses and managed to run only once on Thursday in the last seven days. Did take my running shoes while traveling outside Bombay and had amazing weather for running, but did not end up running as was very tired (more mentally than physically). Hope to do better next week, starting with a good run tomm morning.