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Friday, November 06, 2009

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





Monday, August 10, 2009

#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 ...


Thursday, August 06, 2009

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.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

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.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

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.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

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

Saturday, June 13, 2009

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 :(

Monday, May 11, 2009

Great Indian Desert Multi stage ultra marathon, September 7-13, 2009

The details and pricing for the first multi-stage ultra in India have arrived. The pricing is quite steep, but given the challenges of organising an event of this magnitude for the first time and difficultly in managing sponsors in these difficult times, its quite understandable.

Further details when the website is up.

Dates - September 7-13, 2009


Details as provided by the organisers EchoStar Sports Private Limited are as follows -
"The website and the registration link will be up on 19 May 2009, and we’ll send the link a couple of days in advance. The key points with regards to the registration process are listed below. (Please note that we are trying to bring down the fees as much as possible, and it is dependent on the sponsorship we can raise.)

1. Important dates
(a) Registration opens May 19, 2009. The registration link will be open till the Confirmation date (refer below), or till such time all slots of the race are filled, whichever happens first. Keeping the link open is at the discretion of the race organisers.
(b) Cut-off date: July 15, 2009. This is the date after which a participant may not withdraw from the race without attracting a withdrawal fee.
(c) Confirmation date: August 15, 2009. The date by which the participant must confirm her/his participation by remitting the final instalment of the fee.

2. Race fee: The fee for GIDR’09 is as follows:
Indian Runners
Total fee - INR 65,000.00
1st Instalment (Paid at time of Registration) - INR 25,000.00
2nd Instalment (Paid after Cut-off date and before Confirmation date) - INR 40,000.00

International Participants (including NRIs)
Total fee - US$ 2,500.00
1st Instalment (Paid at time of Registration) - US$ 1,000.00
2nd Instalment (Paid after Cut-off date and before Confirmation date) - US$ 1,500.00

PLEASE NOTE:
(a) The total fee for GIDR’09 may vary (in either direction) due to various reasons. The amount quoted above is at best a close approximation of the fee that may be charged. The fee will be recalculated and communicated before the cut-off date. Participants may please note that the 2nd (and final) instalment amount may therefore be different from that mentioned above.
(b) In case the total fee charged exceeds the amount quoted above by 15% or more, a registrant may withdraw without any charge. Refunds on withdrawal are governed by the guidelines listed below.

3. Refund guidelines
(a) Full Refund: A registrant is entitled to a full refund of the 1st instalment, if she/he withdraws before the cut-off date (July 15, 2009).
(b) Partial Refund:
i) A registrant is entitled to a refund of 50% of the 1st instalment, and a full refund of the 2nd instalment (if paid), if she/he withdraws after the cut-off date and before August 1, 2009.
ii) A registrant withdrawing from the race after August 1, 2009, and before the confirmation date, will forego the 1st instalment of the amount paid, and a 10% withdrawal fee on the second instalment (if paid).
(c) No Refund: A registrant withdrawing from the race after the confirmation date will forego the entire amount paid up as race fee.
(d) While the guidelines in 3a, 3b, and 3c hold good under ordinary circumstances, in case the total fee charged exceeds the amount quoted above by 15% or more, a registrant may withdraw without any charge, and the amount paid up will be returned without any withdrawal fee.

Also, some of you have contacted us asking about accommodation, food, etc. In brief, these are being taken care of as follows:
1. Accommodation: participants and crew will be housed in tents during the race. The tents will be typical camping tents. There will be toilet facilities at each campsite.
2. Travel: International participants must get to New Delhi. Race organisers will arrange for participants to get to the race starting point from New Delhi, and from the race to New Delhi.
3. Food:
(a) Food will be provided for by the organisers for the entire duration of the race. We will ensure that the fare will take care of requirements of endurance athletes at an event of this nature.
(b) During registration, participants may mention any dietary constraints that they need to adhere to. We will do all we can to ensure that such restrictions can be taken care of, and inform participants in advance if we are unable to do so.
(c) Some participants may want to carry their own food. You are most welcome to do so. Hot water will be provided for at the campsite for pre-mixes and packaged preparations.
4. Checklist: A checklist of items one must carry will be provided to registered participants. Some of the items will be mandatory, and some others will be at the participant’s discretion. More information on this will be available on registration.
5. The race route will be charted in June 2009 by the organising team. Efforts are underway to make the course GPS enabled. This will be confirmed only after the course has been marked.
(a) The location of the race is between 26o 18’ N (Jodhpur), and 26o 55’ N (Jaisalmer), and the altitude is between 150-300 metres above sea level.
(b) The terrain, as already mentioned, is desert, with sand dunes and dry arid stretches.
(c) The timing of the race is towards the end of the monsoon season in India, when we experience most of our annual rainfall. The average temperature during this period is reported to be in the range of 70F-95F (21C-35C). The temperature variation between daytime and night may be significant.

Friday, May 01, 2009

A good week but down again?

Last week was quite good, managed four runs as planned on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Did 11k on all these days days plus added a good 1km swim on Saturday after the run.

This week has been very different, Given the long weekend i decided to run on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, followed by Saturday and Sunday. But things turned out to be very different on Wednesday, I stepped out to run after my regular basic stretching on Wednesday morning and after the first four strides I felt intense pain in the lower neck region (where neck meets shoulder close to the top of the spine), so I walked for a few minutes and then tried to run again, and realised very quickly that this was something serious and had to immediately abandon the run.

Wednesday was a very painful day at work, it started to get worse by noon and then the intensity continued. This got me really worried, so I decided to call my regular sports injury ortho for an appointment. Thankfully he was able to squeeze me between his appointments in the evening. Doc told me that I was suffering from severe muscle spasm (minor tissue tear), so now I am on medication and pain ointment (7 day course). He also mentioned that this could be due to bad posture while sleeping the previous night or bad posture while using the PC for long hours (have a strong feeling its the former) and thankfully it has nothing to do with running. He also allowed me to start running as soon as felt better.

So I am still under pain but can make necessary neck movements. I am not able to run today, but if I feel better might give it a shot in the evening. I am keeping my fingers crossed, I badly need a run tomorrow morning (already starting to have withdrawal symptoms from run deprivation).

Sunday, April 19, 2009

super couple of weeks..

Its been a wonderful week. Could not manage runs during the first half of the week due to various reasons, primary one being not able to get adequate amount of sleep. So I decided to convert this shortcoming into an opportunity. I planed to run on all days, Thursday to Sunday and was hoping to also add an swim on Saturday.

And everything went as per plan, I ran on Thursday and Friday, 11km to work and did 14.5k on Saturday and topped it off with a 17k run on Sunday, taking the four day tally to 54k. This is the first time I have attempted and completed four consecutive/successive runs. This gives me a lot of confidence for taking up multi-stage ultras, as they not about running hard or long, but about recovering from your run and putting another run, day after day. I hope to come to a position where I can do four half marathons back to back without much effort, to be in a position to mentally prepare myself for a multi-stage ultra.

The week before that was also very eventful and special. I was going through my twitter feeds on (www.twitter.com/girishmallya) to find out what I was upto during the week. I also discovered the reason for not being able to post last weekend, my internet connect wasn't working properly for the whole of last week :(

The highlight of the week was a bike trip from home till a place called Khargar, its about 25km from my place. This was the first long bike trip I have ever attempted, my previous best was a 22km trip. It felt really good doing this 48km trip, climbing steep flyovers (some of them were very steep and would be impossible to climb without a geared bike), riding on a national highway, going downhill at over 50km/hr, having state transport bus drivers intentionally coming close to you (for some stupid sick reason), the only thing that you need to rely on is your skill & riding ability. Plus its also getting that extra confidence to be able to ride on the highway with ease, instead of getting stressed out. Thankfully I had a fellow cyclist with me (who has done many long distance biking trips) leading the way. I would never have attempted this trip, had he not been there, riding solo on these highways is not a sensible thing to do. I hope to do a 75k or 100k biking trip as soon as I find another person or group to do it with, physically I know I am ready for any of these distances, but there is no way I can do it without someone to pace with (plus obviously having more than 2 riders makes things safer not only from the traffic point of view but also incase of a puncture or accident).

In addition to this wonderful and memorable biking trip (I hope to do the same trip again, as I want to see wonderful Khargar during the monsoons, it was the first time I had been to that place and it was truly beautiful), I also managed three runs, including a 18k on Sunday and a 17k run on Friday (after a really late night and 3 hours of sleep on Thursday), all of this made the last week also very special. And yes I think I did one more run on Tuesday or Wednesday, but can't recollect, it was a 11k run.

So its been two very good weeks, but I need to focus and continue biking or swimming atleast once a week, badly need cross training to stay injury free.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Weekend getaway in some really hot weather..

Managed 4 runs during the week, did two 11k runs on Wednesday and Thursday. Took a two day break, to Sula Vineyard Nashik and had a great time. This place is about 200km from Bombay, but its not muggy like Bombay, just plain dry heat. This forced me to hit the gym at Ginger Hotel, my first treadmill run in a long time. Running on treadmill is so easy, esp with the Aircon on ;-) Managed a 7k run in 40minutes (the equipment was really good, maybe coz its a new hotel). I completed the week with a very hard 15k run in 1hr 45, Stupid lazy me started at 8.30am in the morning and paid the price for it. I did a total of 44km for the week. It was a good lesson for me, I need to start at 7am in the morning on both work days and holidays!

I have a long weekend in the coming week, hope to stay in Bombay and catch up on Running and swimming. Need to get some good mileage in.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Rejuvenation required and a new discovery...

I had a great Sunday on March 22, managed a 25km run, but could not follow it up with an improved week of running. Last week I managed 4 runs during the week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, all runs of 11-12km, taking the weeks tally to 45km. This was almost the same as the week ended March 22, when I managed 47km.

During the two weekend runs, my legs felt tired right from the start of the run and I was not able to enjoy my Sunday run. My Sunday runs are very important for me, as they are very rejuvenating & relaxing. Am hoping that things get back to normal during the week. I hope to continue with weekday runs and then follow it up with a couple of swims/cycling over the long weekend. I guess I need a break from the routine... to improve things and move into overdrive.

New development - have registered a url www.letsrun.in, with a hope to build a website, which will provide a platform for runners in India to interact with each other. I have always wanted a website/forum for Indian runners, as the realities of running here are very different from those in the western world. This coupled with the fact that many fellow runners like me have also been looking for a similar platfrom. Plus I was recently inspired by the efforts made by a website www.cyclist.in, which has done a very good job for cyclists in India (esp. Bombay).

Currently I am working at gathering volunteers who will help me build it and contribute resources to host and run the site. I have the basic structure ready, but don't want to do too many things using my own instincts. Instead, I want to start with something basic and small and then build on it based on user feedback/opinions. Unlike a commercial product there are no revenue pressures, so the product can evolve and find its own way.

The trigger for going ahead has social media (comments on my blog) and I plan to use social media at each stage to build this online product. I asked for suggestions for a suitable name for this runners platform on Facebook and Twitter, and it threw up a whole host of diverse options, some of which I could never have imagined. I finally decided on a suggestion given by a twitter user @ekalavyab as this was simple, easy to remember, no opportunity for typos and most important of all it was available for registration.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

March so far..

Its been a good injury free March and things seem to be looking up. Over the past two weeks I have managed a good number of runs and am now planning to push up a gear. Last week I did four runs of 11k each on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and followed it up with two runs this week on Tuesday and Thursday. Unfortunately I skipped todays runs as the this week has been a little hectic and I haven't managed enough sleep (plus was watching some test cricket early in the morning, the only form of cricket I really enjoy), in simple words I was lazy & mentally tired due to lack of sleep.

I hope to more than make up for it with a good 20k plus run this Sunday, hopefully something like 25k. So I hope to run from my house till Girgam Chowpaty in town. I need to concentrate on my long runs now and also step up my weekly runs from 11k to 13k starting April.

I am hope to take up with first multi stage ultra in India this September, its call the great Indian desert run 2009. For details visit this Facebook group -
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=59462137898 The website is likely to be up by the end of this month and registrations are going to start in the first week of April.

I hope the organisers - Echo Star Sport get their pricing right. Given the fact that this is the first time its being organised and that the lead time is only 5 months, the number of participants is going to be very limited. I am quite confident that the organisers will put up a good well planned show, their initial homework seems promising. I have a lot of questions for them and most of them should get answered once their site is up. This ultra is being organised in and around Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India.

From what I understand, this Multi stage ultra should be on the lines of Four desert marathon http://www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing/

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Great Indian Desert Run 2009, Sept 7, 2009

Mon, Sep 7, 2009 The Great Indian Desert Run
Rajasthan, India 6:30 a.m.
200-250kms stage run (race format). 5-7 days.
Type of terrain: Desert terrain - Sand dunes, dry-arid flatlands, dirt tracks, village trails.
Temp. 50-80F.
What is provided: Travel ex-Delhi, food, H2O, medic team, t-shirt, medal, certi, race dinner.
Annual: 1st time event
Contact: Suren Sista/Dr. Rajat Chauhan
Email: echostarsports@gmail.com

This is the first time something like this has peen attempted in India. The official website will be up soon, it will also carry the pricing of the event. Will keep you posted on the details as soon as they are made available.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Cross training..

Its been another good week, managed four more runs this week. I ran on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The distances moved up a notch too, managed 11km, 11km, 19km and 10.5km respectively, taking the tally over 50k for the week.

Saturday was special as I did my first run and swim combo, did 19k run followed by 1k swim. And followed it up with a 10k run on Sunday, am very happy with the quick recovery I was able to manage after the strenuous effort on Saturday.

Last sunday I had done 20k of biking followed by a 10k run and this week it was the swim and run, I have a feeling that this will help me stay injury free (relatively). Its the sort of cross training that I badly need. Hope to do more of it in the coming weeks.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Hopefully a turnaround week...

After a long time its be a great week of running. I managed 4 runs of 11k each on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday. Plus a 20k biking trip on Sunday morning. This Sunday was truly special, as I was doing the run immediately after the bike ride and I still managed to do my regular time. I could not have asked for anything more.

That day is not too far when I will do my first home Tri, a 20k bike ride, followed by a 20k run and a 2k swim. Am looking forward to it.... bring it on.

The weather has worsened, its no longer pleasant in Bombay. Actually I am happy that its happened as its now a lot easier to get up in the mornings :) Its feels wonderful to be positive under any situation. But yes, this will make the swim more difficult as the pool will tend to be a little crowded.

I now need to carry forward this weeks momentum.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Blood pressure saga

I had a low key week wrt running. Managed only two runs this week, a 11k on Tuesday and 7.5k on Sunday. I have been suffering from some very bad cold for the last 3days or so, Sunday was the worst day. But, the short run helped me clear my throat & chest (and breathing).

The highlight of the week, was a silly blood pressure test I took at a Electronic store. I know it sounds stupid, but they had this fancy gadget for taking readings, so my friends and I just took that for a lark (although I have always had a feeling that I am a good candidate for high BP) and the reading said 85 - 140. (this clearly according to the administrator was not in the normal range 80-120). And that almost screwed up my Sunday afternoon, here I try to do everything right - Exercise regularly & more, don't smoke, am actually my below ideal weight and I have to suffer this reading. I was waiting to get home to start to reading what this meant and found some interesting stuff -

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/medicine/blood-pressure.htm (this definitely is not the best but its got heavy duty SEO done on it!)

But the important one is from my favorite health portal - Discovery health

http://health.discovery.com/encyclopedias/illnesses.html?article=31
"High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is defined as a systolic blood pressure reading greater than 140 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure reading greater than 90 mm Hg."
"How is the condition diagnosed?
Adults should have their blood pressure measured at least every two years. The diagnosis of high blood pressure is made on the basis of two or more blood pressure readings. It is diagnosed if two or more readings show a systolic blood pressure greater than 140 or a diastolic blood pressure greater than 90. Other tests may be ordered to look for conditions causing the high blood pressure."


All of this means that I am a boarderline case, just need to relax more and stop getting excited when people tick me off, plus maybe try my hand at meditation (but running is like meditation for me, its so calming). Plus I need to take more readings in the coming months to get some clarity as suggested by Discovery Health.

And yes I also need to go for a complete health checkup. I don't even know my blood group. So lotsa catchup up to do....

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Runs continue...

This week I managed only three runs - Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday with 11k, 15k and 10k runs. My right calf was feeling stiff Wednesday onwards, but decided to run on Saturday with it. It has not worsened and I managed to do the two runs quite comfortably (but my legs still not feeling completely normal).

Looking forward to the next week....

Monday, February 09, 2009

Mumbai marathon update & post marathon ...

I just realised I had written one post on my Bombay marathon run but its disappeared.

So will just do a quick recap of the last one month. I had a decent Mumbai marathon on Jan 18, 2009. Managed a time of 5hr 23min, which was good given my preparation levels and recent injuries. Did the first half in about 2hr 11min (which is what I was hoping to do) but after that my lack of training caught up and then it was a lot of run and walk. I got a good tip from one Apollo Hospital medic on quick relief from chin splits during a run (more on that later).

Post marathon I took a weeks break and after that I have managed to run twice in the last week of Jan and managed four runs of 10-11k last week. So things are starting to pickup but will now need to get the Sunday run upto 15-20km.

And yes now I have a proper roadbike and it should be fun riding it. More on the bike in the next post.

Over the past one year I have not been regular with my blog, first it was Facebook addiction and now its due to Twitter. Do check my twitter profile and if you are already on twitter you could follow me there - www.twitter.com/girishmallya

Will work hard to be regular with my blog posts.