back to regular running

Managed over half a dozen runs over the past two weeks. Its been quite a task juggling cycling and running. I definitely like and enjoy running more, but cycling is so much convenient for getting to work (plus the fact that I can sleep that extra 30mins if I am cycling), makes it really hard to run to work on weekdays. Weekends are a different story as I don't have any deadline and can wake up comfortably (plus lounge & laze around) and still manage a comfortable run.

Micoach provided the required extra excitement and motivation. For starters I was able to get my discipline back, trust me it’s really hard to bring forward your morning wakeup time by an hour. It affect the entire day both ways, your morning work productivity and night sleep time and hours of sleep.

Being a gadget freak, I can be quite activity engaged with a gadget for more than a few days and Micoach has lived up to expectations. For starters it provides more inputs and features than its direct competitor Nike+ and provides accuracy in terms of distance which comes close to a Garmin and Iphone Runkeeper app. I hope Nike wakes up and launches the advanced version of Nike+ which currently only has a stride sensor integrated to an Iphone/Itouch app.

I have never really understood the way the Polar or Micoach calculates the exact distance (my assumption - the stride sensor provides the number of strides, they have my height as a parameter which assumes the length of my legs & length of strides from some research report) and calculates the distance travelled), this sort of approximation is more than enough for a distance runner, though a GPS based calculation will obviously be more accurate.

I have synced all my runs to the online module of Micoach on www.adidas.com/mycoach and analysed my performance on various parameter. The obvious irritant is the short break I have to take due to stray dogs and signals (as I run on a highway with intersections), this not only disturbs my rhythm but also messes up my average on most parameter (avg speed, heart rate, stride per minute, etc)

I have also found the heart rate monitor reading quite insightful, though I am not sure what I should do to correct or improve it. I manage to hit the red zone quite often, its when the heart rates goes beyond 168 in my case (find it hard to believe that I manage to hit 180 quite comfortably!), I need to monitor my heartrate over a longer run preferably something around 20km. I have a feeling on longer run I will tend to be on the yellow zone.

The graph on the link below will explain what I am trying to say, wrt the Red zone issue.







Micoach stride sensor, strapped to my shoe laces

25th Anniversary of MDS

I was recently talking to a friend of mine (Brigid) wrt her upcoming MDS in Sahara. This will be the 25th anniversary. She has participated in MDS 3 times already and this will be her fourth visit. MDS is the toughest multi stage ultra in the world.

My first question to her was - what has changed between the 1st and the 4th time. Since we are both endurance runners, there is no need to explain the mental toughness, familiarity with course, conditions etc. These were some practical points which stayed with me.... in her words -


"I started with 14 kgs the first time, had half a household on my back - was more than tough. Now I have a new Rucksack which spreads the weight on the back AND the front. I have managed to get incredibly light weight stuff like sleeping bag, matt, clothes for the night and this makes an enormous difference. The emphasis has to be on food. If you have enough food, you can move better. Plus salt tablets to keep the water in your body, managing your water...
I also now have everything I need in absolute mini-portions, as I know now how much stuff, like sun cream, emergency kit, wipes, bandages etc i will need. In addition, by getting a light-weight sleeping bag and matt, I've saved about 1.5 kgs. Plus taking more high-calorie but lighter weight stuff, like parmesan cheese instead of 800 grams of power bars (which I can't eat after a day anyways)........."

Anyway, here's the link to the Marathon des Sables homepage, where you can send email to a competitor from April 4 to 9: www.darbaroud.com

Brigid Wefelnberg, Germany, Bib no. 537

Do try and drop in a line on the dates mentioned above.

Detailed review - Micoach

After my weeklong break post March 7, 2010 BRM of 300km, I finally returned to running. This was my first run in March and I was missing it a lot. Plus I was super excited to check out and test my new running gear/aid - Adidas Micoach.

It took my about an hour to register on the www.adidas.com/micoach website, with my contact details, download and transfer the details to my PC and to my device (age, height, weight, etc to calculate distance, calories, max heart rate etc). After that I had to pair my Micoach pacer to the heart rate monitor (which was strapped on my chest)and to the stride sensor device (which is strapped to my shoe laces). Once paired its quite simple as the voice activated commands instructs you to do the rest (headphone is connected to the Micoach pacer device).

I don't believe in having specific pre programmed workouts, so I choose the free mode which allows me to do my own thing and the voice activated coach, informs me about my stride frequency, average speed, distance completed, Time taken, current heart rate, heart rate zone, etc, at the push of a button.

I run on the same route everyday, so I got to test the Micoach pacer over 2 days on the same route. It was nice to find that the readings were almost identical.

I am very new to the concept of having an heart rate monitor strapped on me, plus the readings that come off it. Strapping something on your chest while running is not really a nice feeling as one has to take deep breaths and this just gives you that claustrophobic feeling. On the second day I managed to get used to it, I also realised that the strap was adjustable. Now the most interesting bit, there are three zones, green, yellow and Red. Red being the danger zone. I realised that I was hitting the red zone quite a few times during the run, which might be for quite a few reasons, I was returning to running after a break, was yet to find my rhythm, the heat/sun and resultant discomfort due to late starts, etc. So I will have to give is a few more runs and somehow manage my runs while sticking to the Yellow zone.

Some interesting numbers which I discovered is that my average strides per minute is about 177, Now I need to check how good or bad is that. I remember watching a video called evolution running which had suggested the ideal stride rate for a long distance runner (and height of a person has no impact on stride per minute)


The device at the bottom is the heart rate monitor (which needs to be strapped on the chest with a elastic band, with plastic coated metal strips as sensors), on the left is the stride sensor and on the right is the main device (primary device which drives and collects data from the other two devices, and also connects with the PC for data upload and download).

Cyclothon - Tour de Bombay, February 21, 2010

The Bombay Cyclothon was another memorable event. It was also the first time I had a flat tyre (in a race) and had to travel half the distance running/walking with my bike (I was using a regular road bike without quick release, plus i did not have a spare tube, pump).

http://mumbaicyclothon.com/ had different race categories, but the only one I was eligible for was the 24km ride (sorta the biking equivalent of the dream run), I was not really keen on participating in this 24km ride as I had just completed a 200km BRM a couple of weeks before this event. The sea link ride made it all worthwhile (inspite of the 24km distance) and I was really looking forward to the event.

The 24k ride started very well and I really enjoyed riding my bike at 30km plus, on the streets of Bandra (without any vehicular traffic), reminded me of the first time I watch Tour de France on TV and used to marvel at the way those riders rode so close to one another without ever bumping into one another and having crowds (locals) line up on both sides. This bike ride through Bandra during the cyclothon recreated that experience for me. This experience was bigger than what I experienced running or cycling on the Bandra Worli Sea link.

The flat tyre only added to my memorable experience, it will ensure that I remember this for a long long time. Not many people understood why I was running with my bike, wouldn't it be more sensible to just hop onto the support vehicle and return to safety. I have never understood how people can give up on anything, even if it looks/sounds impossible, isn't it the obvious thing to do - to just go and get what you have aimed for, irrespective the variables (internal and external) thrown at you? I have always finished any race that I have started and even those I have not been able to finish (like my 2nd Bangalore Ultra) due to time limits, I have tried to do it till the very last minute.

I hope next year the cyclathon organised have atleast a 50k bike ride for regular cyclists.


this is the nasty nail which gave me a lot of grief

Running to reviewing running gear

I was recently approached by Adidas to review their product - Micoach PacerB. Its basically a device which helps a runner accurately monitor his progress, wrt no. of strides, calories burnt, monitor heart rate, distance covered, speed, etc.

I am a big gadget freak and have experimented with quite a few timing devices in the past, but most have not been very accurate, but have been good fun to use. My first tracking device was the Nokia 5500 sport phone (which I believe has been the only true sports phone from Nokia), I have also tried the Iphone GPS based run keeper application and I use a cat-eye cyclocomputer on my bike.

So far I have not yet got down to testing Micoach, but my initial homework tells me that it will help me monitor my progress better and also help me improve my avg speed. I am a little sceptical about the max heart rate numbers theory and their relation to running, but I do believe that its definitely better to do higher speeds without pushing your heart beyond reasonable limits. I hope Micoach will help me firm up my opinion on the max heart rate confusion I have in my head (will the theoretical max be different from what I experience myself).



Looking forward to putting Micoach to test this weekend, after my week long break post last Sundays 300km bike race.

After ultra running its also ultra cycling now

Its been a long break from blogging. But now I am back for good, hopefully :P

The last few months have been quite interesting, in addition to doing the regular Bombay marathon (my 7th successive full marathon, since inception of the event) in Jan 2010, I completed it in 4hrs 43mins. Which was quite good, given my level of preparation and the weather conditions in Bombay.

I also did the 200km and 300km BRM in India. These BRMs are organised http://randonneursindia.blogspot.com/ the Indian Chapter of Audax Club Parisien (France). Randonneurs India has been formed to get together the Hypermiler cyclists, with a view of participating in Paris - Brest - Paris 2011.

I hope to do the 1000km race in 2011 in France, If I can get everything else in place for it. I need to do four races in one year to qualify for it - 200k (in under 13.5hrs), 300k (under 20hrs), 400k (under 27hrs) and the 600k (under 40hrs). I am not really a natural cyclist, which means I can't just go for really long rides on my own (for training) and that in turn means doing longer distances in races is going to get increasingly difficult. My training - I use the cycle for commuting to work (about once or twice a week) and try to ride with friends over weekends. On the other hand running is something I really enjoy and can easily train for it alone, plus running (training) does not take up that much of time.

For more on randonneruring visit this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randonneuring

I started cycling primarily to get the biking going for my Ironman preparation, which requires 180kms of Biking and there is no way I can train for it in a Gym or on the streets of Bombay. The only option was to participate in group rides and races, Randonneruring was the obvious solution given by limitations and interest levels wrt. cycling.

Another very big plus for this sort of endurance cycling has been the benefits of cross training. I have not had any running related injury for over a year now, which is a very big achievement for me (as I don't like gyms and hence was lacking strength training).

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 :(

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.

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).

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.