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.

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/

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.

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.

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.