First 50km week of 2008

It feels great after having finally done my first 50km week of the year. Managed four runs during the week, 11km, 13km, 11km and 15km runs on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

I did Sundays 15km in about 1hr 35mins, in some amazing weather. It was raining during the entire duration of the run, which made things very easy and enjoyable. Actually its been raining all through the week, which has been a welcome relief (its not rained for almost a month, and Bombay was suffering water shortage, drought in Maharashtra and massive load-shedding in areas around Bombay). I personally love running in the rains, it makes running so much easier. Though it can be dangerous - greater chances of impact injuries, slipping, rashes, plus there are pot holes and manholes to manage (so its better not to experiment, and stick to the tried and tested routes). Will write a more detailed run on running and rains later.

A 45km week...

As planned I managed four runs during the week. I ran on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, doing 11km each on first three days and 12km on Sunday, taking the weeks tally to 45km. I could have done more on Sunday, but had to catch Dark Night in the morning (super flick, its got the best script ever for a super hero film. It had more than a slick action and digital special effects).

Next week I hope to do 50km during the week. And in a phased manner take it to 80km in two months time. Which means that September would require about 3 weekly runs of 13km each and Sunday run of 20-25km, totaling to about 65km a week. So that I have about 4-5 weeks in October with 80km each (doing about three to four weekday runs to 13km each and do a 30-35km on Sunday) and take November easy so that I am ready for my Bangalore ultra on November 16, 2004. I only hope I don't have to travel much in November, as that will make things more difficult.

I was recently contacted by a runner who wanted to participate in the Bombay marathon. He had ever run more than a few kilometers, but had gymd reasonably regularly till recently. I initially suggested that he take up the half marathon in Jan 2009. But, he wanted to do the full marathon in 2009, this again was very doable as he has about 6 months to go. So I suggest he aim for a time around of around 5.5 hours. And after that things went haywire. He mentioned that he wanted to be one of the top Indian finishers in the full marathon. I know most of us would have brushed this off as a random wild thought, but when he told me, I knew he meant it (don't ask me how, but I knew it). And this got me really worried. As a responsible runner I did my best to explain to him the pitfalls of attempting it (and explained to him the most obvious outcome, a permanent injury which will make it impossible for him to ever run again and tried to get him to postpone his goal to 2010). Distance running is about patience, determination and continuous training, and results don't come overnight. I hope he reconsiders his decision and takes up a more realistic and practical goal.

Catching up over the weekend

The long weekend is almost over, which makes it two great weekends in a row. I also made up for the lost time by doing two runs in 16hrs. I did a 11km run today in about 1hr 10mins with my new pair. It took my weekly mileage to 29km.

The weather today was hot and humid which made the run difficult, but the fact that I was wearing my new pair made up for it. The shoe seems to be behaving well and is living upto my expectations. I look forward to doing about three runs next week.

I also hope to become more regular with my blog, as I have been quite erratic with posts.

Eventful day..

Its been a great day, although it had a slow and lazy start. But after that its been a totally different day, when I went shopping.

I picked up some much needed cycling gear, cycling gloves and a foot pump. The sad thing was the store selling these biking accessories and gear (Hypercity, Malad), does not keep anything specific to road cycle. They only stock Raleigh gear (a UK company having a manufacturing base in China), which is almost 'dumping' stuff in India at some really attractive prices. So the gear and accessories they stock are also produced by Raleigh (which seems to only produce mountain bikes). I wanted to pick up spare tubes, seat covers, etc, could not find anything for my road bike.

But the highlight of my shopping expedition was purchase of a pair of Reebok Road running plus shoes (one of the few specialty road running shoes in India!). I have had a couple of bad experiences when I have purchased Reebok running shoes, as the cushioning technology they use does not seem to suit me. But these specialty running shoes have the extra cushioning to help my cause and I got them at a very special price (thanks to a sea (almost every clothing brand and accessory) of 'sale' and discounts doing the rounds in the city, to boost consumption, which has taken a huge beating after the recent news of Inflation - which at the consumer level is at 16%). I personally believe that in times of high inflation its better to spend more, as savings do not really help your cause.

Now I am fully stocked up on my running, swimming (not sure if I have mentioned, I now have another set of complete swimming gear which I picked up recently) and cycling gear. The only thing left is to train on these three disciplines.

I completed the day by doing a 7km run in about 42minutes. Thank god I went for the run today, as I found the new pair of road running shoes, while I was returning after my run and coffee break.

Lazy couple of weeks

Its been a lazy couple of weeks, though I have been running regularly, esp. last week. I managed 4 runs last week of 13km, 11km, 10km and 11km, on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

I also managed a short holiday last week, from Thursday evening to Sunday in Baroda. The weekend runs took place in Baroda and I had a great time running in a park, which had a 1km and 2km loop and it was a welcome break running on asphalt instead of concrete. The weekend break did me a whole lot of good, was completely distressing, lots of eating, cafes and watching movies (Jaane Tu was a highlight, it should be the biggest hit of this year, a very well made flick using a regular love story).

This week has not been so good for running, as I guess I strained by thighs a little. So taking it a little easy, more strengthening required for thighs now! I managed a good 11km run on Wednesday and will do another run on Sunday (I skipped my Saturday run, as I wanted to take it easy and go shopping, inshort I was feeling extremely lazy).

13K run in extreme weather

It really was extremely. I completed by 10.5km run today in about 1hr 10mins and did the balance distance in about 16minutes, after a short breakfast pitstop. Most of the pictures (below) have been shot at King circle and Dadar TT area in Bombay


Taken at Dadar TT, Outside Damodar Sweet shop


More pics from Dadar TT


BEST bus going up Tilak Bridge at Dadar


Road leading to King Circle flyover


Stranded taxis at King Circle flyover


Knee length water & higher in most part of King Circle area.


It was really deep.....


Massive traffic Jam before King Circle railway station, due to water logging


Road divider were submerged.






Water coming out of storm drains (knocking off 'warning' signboards)


More stranded BEST buses at King Circle area.

Rhythm is coming back...

Its been another good week, three good run of 10.5km, 10.5km and 13km each on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. All three 10.5km distances were done in 1hr 06/07mins. Which clearly tells me that my running rhythm is coming back. In the next few weeks I hope to increase from 3 to 4 runs a week and to step up my Sunday long run to something like 20km in a phased manner.

I have been watching a DVD called Evolution Running, given to me by a fellow runner. It was sort of a extension of the Chi running book I was reading last week. But its just that the drills and other things suggested by them are a little difficult for me to follow, but thankfully I have been doing most of the things right. Just need to get more regular and be patient.

Another week down..

I could not manage the planned run on Saturday. I did not really have a choice as I barely slept on Friday night, managed only 3 hours as I was having a blast on Friday night. The Sunday run was a late run, but managed the 10.5km run in about 1hr 9minutes.

Over all the week had some two very good runs and the weekend was a lot of fun. Looking forward to more such eventful weekends.

Am looking forward to tomorrow's morning run. Next week is going to have a bit of traveling so I hope I can stick to my running schedules. And yes, am waiting for the rains to return, am missing them big time.

Late start to the week

I had a very good run today, did a very peaceful 11km run in about 1hr 10mins. Not sure if it was a freak case or benefits of chi running kicking in. I have completed about 5 chapters of the book, but the main benefit/essence of the book was picked up by me in the first chapter and after that the book has just rambled on without actually taking the book to a higher level with each successive chapter. The big thing I picked up was that one needed to relax arms and limbs completely and to just let the body move (more glide) on its own, with complete control over ones breathing & driving the body from Chi (the center of the body). I hope I can actually make it happen with each of my forthcoming runs.

I hope to do two more runs this week, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. And if I am lucky and can get out early maybe even do a swim on Sunday. I am yet to do two activities back to back, bike and run or do a run and swim. Will this Sunday be the first one?

a mixed week

Start to the week was dreadful, I suffered a bad bout of stomach infection and needed to take some antibiotics (my first for stomach) to get rid of it. The second half of the week was a lot better, thankfully did not have to take too many days off from running and also from work.

This gave me a lot of time to think about Triathlons. I was giving some deep thought to the different types of Tri's in the market and I should aim to do first. The ultimate is Ironman - 3.8km swim, 180km cycling & 42km run. Half Tri (medium distance), which is basically half of everything in Ironman. Olympic tri with 1.5km swim, 40km biking, 10km run. I was originally planning to take up Olympic tri in 2009, which given even my current ability seems a little too easy (I should be able to manage it with as little as 2months preparation time). So I might actually have to find a Medium distance Tri or actually directly get down to doing a Ironman as my first tri, directly in 2010.

I did a mid-night run on Thursday (after a long time), managed 6kms in 36minutes. I also when for a swim on Saturday evening as I was feeling extremely lazy to do a morning run. This was not the usual with mechanical laps, more leisurely, relaxed swimming for about 30mins. Sunday I was back to doing my usual runs, managed a 11km run in about 1hr 12mins.

I need to pick some pace, distance and improve my frequency of runs, I have been doing the 11km runs for too long now.

Chi running and more

I finally got down to reading my first book on running. Actually there aren't any books on endurance/ultra/distance running, and definitely none in any Indian book store (which is quite understandable as there is no running culture). I have just about read the first chapter, but realise that this book is actually written for me, its in sync with my running habits & the way I approach running. I am quite sure that I will enjoy reading the book and will gain a lot from it. I have to thank a fellow runner whom I met recently during one of my runs for this book.

I would recommend this book who is looking at taking up running seriously. You can pick it up from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/ChiRunning-Danny-Dreyer/dp/074325144X

Yesterday was very interesting, I cycling for about 22km in the morning, my first biking ride/trip in ten years. I could not have chosen a worse time to do it. I had rained the whole day on Friday night and the road was slippery, mucky and there was a lot of traffic on a Saturday morning. The 22km bike ride took 1hr 25mins to complete. It was one of the toughest things I have done in a long time, I have never been so alert ever in my life. Stray dogs where at their worst, guess the rain had really upset them and I was chased (well the dog was charging at me with a lot of aggression), one of them for quite some distance. Lessons learnt - never to go on a biking trip on the highway on anything but a Sunday, to start by 7am in the morning and to never bike when its raining or when roads are wet. I had hoped to have done the cycling trip in about 40-45mins, so may entire schedule for the day went haywire.

I was hoping to go for a swim after the cycling trip. The only problem is that the pool is about 25-30km from my house, so need to plan for it well in advance. The cycling trip took a lot out of me, I was completely covered in muck (my entire back was covered with it). I needed some super cleansing and disinfection to feel clean again... and I gave up my plans to go for a swim.

In the afternoon, I happened to catch a new flick "21" - a movie about a bunch of MIT kids (led by their Math prof), crack Black Jack in Las Vegas using their intelligence, math skills, training and memory (counting) to beat the house. This movie was a huge stress buster and got me ready for my swim in the evening. I did about 1.25kms (50laps of my pool) in about 35mins very comfortably. By this time the weather change of the last few days had already had its impact and I was suffering a horrible throat infections. By some weird logic I was hoping that the swim would cure my throat infection.

The throat infection and the strenuous exercise routine of Saturday was starting to take its toll on me and I decided to skip my planned Sunday morning run. I always believe in listening to my body and not push it when its not really ready. I decided to rest and ensure that I slept till late on Sunday morning and in the afternoon. But by afternoon I was again itching to go out for a short run as it was getting difficult to resist running in the rain. Its been raining the whole of Saturday and Sunday but I had not had a single run in the rain (this year). I finally got out of my house in the evening (3km one way) for a short run to the coffee shop and to get down to reading Chi-Running.

Great week in the making

Its been a great week so far and in all likelihood it should stay the same way. I successfully managed two weekday runs with reasonable ease. I ran on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to work. I did the two 10.5km runs in about 1hr 7mins 30sec and 1hr 6mins respectively. Today's run was the smoothest (for the last 2 months) as I was able to manage it comfortably without having to walk in between, the rhythm seems to be coming back (hope I have not spoken too early). Though the in between waking does not really affect timing, it does take the sense of fulfillment out of the run.

It rained in the evening on both the days when I ran, which ensured that the run was in very humid weather. These are pre monsoon showers, the monsoons is due sometime mid June. But its a welcome relief from the high temperatures of the last few months.

I am looking forward to my first biking trip, plan to do a 20km run. I hope it does not rain tomorrow, last thing I need is a slippery road when I am riding a bike after a long long time. I have my riding gear in place, so it should not be much of a problem. After cycling, I hope to go for a swim to try and get things going and finally end the week with a run tomm., with a 13km run.

Its been a regular week. Managed the regular 2 runs during the week. The first was on Tuesday, did a 10.5km run in about 1hr 10mins. This was the first time when my backpack troubled me, the weight was straining my upper back (so I need to add another element to my list of things to strengthen).

This Sunday run was one of the toughest in a long time, could not manage anything more than a 7.5km run. I started really late 9.30am, which is this weather is not the best thing to do, plus the fact that I have not been logging enough weekly mileage, ensure that I had to give up well before the planned distance of 11km.

So I badly need to increase my frequency of runs, what better than to start off on Monday morning itself. I only wish I can sleep early, which will be possible only if the IPL final is a one sided affair!

And yes, my bicycle is looking wonderful after a complete overhaul (well everything except for the original frame seems to have been replaced!). Not sure when I will start riding again, I can't see myself riding it in the traffic, so I will need to get up very early in the morning to ride it. Maybe get up early on a Sunday morning, cycle 20km and then do a 10km run. Seems like a good idea.

Biking - pedal power, a new begining..

A friend of mine recently spoke about wanting to cycle from Bombay to Matheran, a 100km ride. This got me thinking and I realised that I also had a bike with, which has lying unattended for over 2 years. So I immediately decided to give it a complete overhaul and then eventually get down to using it regularly, and maybe some day even do a trip to Matheran.

Since i am hoping to do a Triathlon sometime next year, I need to start cycling sooner or later. Doing a cycle in a gym is not really the solution, need some time on the road. Plus it give me that extra time before I buy a decent modern bike (maybe a Trek) to replace my 18year old bike (Atlas Concorde Pro). I also hope to get some protective gear in place during the next few weeks before I start biking on the Highway.

Finally found my new running shoe

Its been three runs since my last post. I did a one on last Sunday, managed the 10.5km run in 1hr 10mins, given the heat and my fitness levels that was a decent effort.

I followed it up with a 5.5km run on Tuesday while I was in Delhi, in about 29minutes. This was one of my most pleasurable runs in many months. The weather was amazing, it had rained in the night and the temperature at 7am in the morning was a very comfortable 23degrees with medium humidity. I am waiting for the rains to hit Bombay, badly need a break from this muggy weather. The only disturbing part was the jarring and impact my legs suffered during the short run, which was a clear indicator for me to immediately replace my shoes (I have been trying to find a new pair of my favourite/current shoe for the last few weeks, but have been unsuccessful).

On Saturday I set out to discover my new running shoe, after two unsuccessful attempts, I finally manage to finalise it. I bought a Allegra Cushion running shoe of Adidas. Its quite similar to my Adidas Nova Cushion shoe. The new shoe felt quite good, as I was trying to break into them yesterday.

I started out on my Sunday morning run at 9am, which made the run difficult. I should ideally have started at 7am but could not get myself out of the bed, as I have been having continuous late nights over the last three days. The run felt good, though I was a little sluggish, as I have still not got into a rhythm. The new shoes behaved well and everything went of smoothly (no shoe bites, injuries....).

I am now looking forward to some good weekday runs with my new shoes. Feeling a lot more positive about picking up some momentum on my weekly mileage.

one run this week...

I managed only one run during the week, it was on Tuesday, i did a 11km run in about 1hr 8mins. It was one of my better runs and the best time I have had for sometime.

Was planning another weekday run but skipped it as my legs are still not ready for three 10+km runs a week, so will need to be patient about it. But am feeling ready and good about my Sunday morning run.

I have been doing a bit of thinking about my schedule for the next couple of years. I hope to do the following - Bangalore Ultra in Nov 08, Bombay marathon in Jan 09, an olympic triathlon sometime in the first half of 2009 (it will have to be some place in south east asia, need to find/discover that). This should get me ready for a MDS in March 2010 and an Ironman Triathlon in the same year.

Not really an eventful week. Last Sunday I went for a half hour swim instead of the usual run. It was a welcome change from the routine.

During the week I managed one weekday run to work. The weather has been very humid during the week, but thankfully its not really sunny. I did the 13km run in about 1hr 34mins (which includes about 8mins to pick up my breakfast).

I have not been able to run over the weekend. I had consciously taken a break on Saturday as I had to catchup on some work over the weekend. I could not manage the planned Sunday run as I strained my lower back, which I had to rest. After some 14hrs of sleep my back has recovered quite well. I hope to make up for this skip by doing two weekday runs in the coming week.

Active week....

Since my last post on Saturday, I have done four runs. The Sunday one was a 10.5km done in 1hr 7mins, followed by another 11k run on Thursday (which was a holiday) in 1hr 11mins, a 3km run on Friday night and a 7.5km run today in about 47mins.

All of this has strained my legs (no injuries!), just need some rest. So plan to skip my Sunday morning run. Hope to make up for it by going for a swim on Sunday morning, which will not only be a break from running but also help me rebuild my endurance levels.

Since the time I have started running with the backpack plus pouch, I have had complete strangers giving me a good cheer, each time (atleast 2-3 per run), which is so welcome. Today was the best one, I for the first time met a serious runner in Bombay (outside of people I have meet at Mumbai marathon) who runs all year around (trust me in a city like Bombay with an almost zero running culture, its easier to find a UFO), most others are either casual runners or the Mumbai marathon prep runners.

I have still not got my rhythm back, guess it will take a few weeks and I will need to be patient. Plus the weather is a lot hotter now (atleast 30-32degree Celsius) during mornings, I have put on a couple of kilos, the weight I carry has increased (the waist pouch was 500gms and now its gone up to 2-2.5kgs, with 1.5l of water, 500ml gatorate, extra clothes & reading material for my coffee break), plus its more humid. I will get it right pretty quickly...

The Human Race - August 31, 2008

The Human Race is slated to be the largest/biggest race ever. No this is not a ultra marathon, its more than that. Its a 10km run, which will be run (at the same time) by over one million runners in 28 different cities of the world.
The cities are -
Europe - Amsterdam, Istambul, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Rome, Warsaw
Americas - Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Lima, Mexico city, Quito, Sao Paulo, Vancouver
Asia Pacific - Melbourne, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo
United States - Austin, Chicago, LA, New York

Its sad that Bombay or New Delhi has not been included in the list. Had Bombay been there, I would have definately participated in it. Not sure what is the reason for the organiser (Nike), not having included a single city form China or India (if you exclude Taipei), two of the most populus cities. It would have been wonderful to have been a part of this initiative (even thought its a pure commercial exercise) and have asked my friends at CMP India to ensure that Bombay is a part of it next time around, should there be something like this again.

This is slated to be one of the biggest marketing initiatives (both the scale, resources and monetary investment) done by any organisation.

The beneficiaries of this initiative (Other than ofcourse the organiser - Nike) are WWF (World Wildlife Fund), Lance Armstrong foundation and ninemillion.org.

For more details and registration visit www.nikeplus.com

Weekday run after a long time

I finally managed my first weekday run (on a working day) in a long time. Managed to do a 13.5Km run in 1hr 31mins. Which included few minutes of walking at regular intervals and a break to pickup my breakfast, not bad at all.

Am feeling a lot better today after the run and hope to do my next run on Sunday. Next week I plan to do two weekday runs, basically run from home to work. With my ultra backpack things are a lot easier as I can also carry my work clothes in them (not everything but things that I need specifically on a particular day). Plus this weekend I hope to get my water pouch for the ultra backpack, which is going to make running a lot easier, as I will not have to remove the pack off my back each time I need water, I just sip water using the extended pipe which is attached to my 1.5liter water pouch.

I hope to use the water pack for the Sunday run, as I would get it on Saturday. One regularly needs these extra to keep adding that extra excitment to running. I also need to buy a new pair of running shoes, I am waiting for my regular vendor to arrange the Adidias Nova pair from me as its been out of stock for sometime (hope to get it soon).