At the Bangalore World Sunfeast 10k 2009

It was great running the Sunfeast 10k this year (missed it last year due to my ITB injury).

Getting there though, is another story.
My fault- Sheroy (my 5 yr old) & I started out late (abt 7.10am) and reached Nad's (my Dad's place, which is near the stadium) without hassle in a few minuted. He then drove us... Man, all the roads were blocked! We circled halfway-around Bangalore (even reaching the beginning of Old Madras Road!), before we could somehow loop back..by now it was 8am. I thought 'forget it, am missing this one'. But somehow, we did reach UB City quickly; I literally ran to the starting gate (mine was G6). There was a huge crowd of runners still waiting to get onto the track and start, so I merged in and made it!



The run was fun.
Good water stations interspersed along the route. Saw my family near the Minsk Square junction... Enjoyed myself!

By the next day, the rankings for those with timing chips were up (good work!).
I came in 1145 out of 1786. Oh God! Bad! But, in my defence (it's a poor one, i know), I never claimed to be fast... (Well, also, the actual number of people who ran the Open 10k race including those without timing chips, was about 8000; whew. Of course, many without a timing chip could have done better!).

Official Timing (chip timing) for myself (bib # 1966).

Looking foward to next year's running, hopefully improve my timing...

You know, that's what i really like about running -- guys like me (non-athletes), we can happily compete with ourselves. No pressure.

A Half Marathon Today! Cost: Rs.100/-

Hey,
The title's a bit misleading, yet true.
Intrigued? Read On!

[Note/Disclaimer- Experienced endurance runners, you'll laugh at this, but for me...].


Left from my house at 6.15am with Kaizer.. we drove to the EGL (Embassy Golf Links, just off the Inner Ring Road, B'lore) starting point and started at 6.30am, intending to run 10km.

Kaizer's been running for about 2-3 months now and is really dedicated and has lost significant weight! And, check it out, this was his maiden 10k run! Congrats Kaiz, well done!

The run went smoothly; we took a couple of 30-sec-or-so walking breaks...
At about the 9k mark, I was running along the side of the road keeping on the mud portion, when i saw what looked like a large grey rock. I ran onto it... turns out it's wet cement! Sheesh. My shoes are now clogged in cement. Kaiz laughed. Washed most it off with some (dirty) water... I can still smell the cement on my hands; yuck.

Continued on down completing 10.3 km and reached the card. Took about 1hr 20min. Yeah, we're not exactly world record breakers. Wiped my shoes off with a cloth best as I could and told Kaiz I'll run another 3-4 km..

Ran, and feeling good and strong at about the 13.5k mark, I 'phoned Kaizer & told him to carry on as I'd attempt doing a half. Uneventful run .. reached the 16k mark (tiring now) and turned around, heading back.

Man. This leg is the hardest I've done ever, in my limited running.
Also, I didn't plan on trying this much, so wasn't carrying any water or energy bars. (Of course I had a little water back at the car). But now was feeling pretty depleted of energy and thirsty.

At the 17.7 k mark, was feeling tired and in fact a bit light-headed. As luck would have it, I spotted a Naryal-Pani Vala (coconut-water man). The guy saved my life! Bought one (a "water" one) with the 100-buck note I carry in the silicon sleeve of my ipod. Costed 10 bucks. Best coconut water I've ever had!!! Drank the whole blooming thing.. mistake? Well, not really. I felt better and started off again down the road.

For another 0.9k the coconut water fuelled me; then I started to bonk... really really tired. The body's saying- "STOP you idiot Stop right NOW". Hm. Not a bad idea I thought. But somehow trudged on.
I mean that. I literally trudged down the road on that 19th kilometre. Man. I'm tired beyond belief, smelly with sweat, grime and cement. Yes. Pretty.
The mind is required to push the body at this point; at least for me. It somehow did.

Telling myself C'mon, it's only about 2k more from here to a half! Go man go! Yes, but I didn't Go! I slowly read slowly inched along. But running now...
Reached the 19.5k mark, gave wide berth to the cement "rock", and continued, moving a little quicker now, anticipation looming large.

At 20.5 k, I'm still running, even speeding up a bit, to the (completely imaginery) cheers of the "crowd". (In reality, there are a few security guards lounging around, hardly giving me a second glance; well, except when and if they see the cement on my shoes, pant, hand). I run. I run. I run until I just know I've passed that magic number - 21.097 km. I look at my phone (Android phone running the Google MyTracks app)- it says I've run 21.3 km. Yes!!! I throw my hands into the air, slow down, walk, trudge to the "finish".

Exhausted, dirty, happy, I throw my cap off, put my phone in it, slump down (actually lie down) in a kind of concrete parking lot. Put my legs up on the wall. Dilsh (the wife) calls me- "Where are you Kaiwan???". "Say Congrats". "Oh. Congrats. Why? Did you do too much?". "Yes, I ran a half marathon" I croak out. "Congrats!!! Well Done". I needed to hear that then... with my sore body, and yes, you guessed it, ITB injury acting up slightly. Fingers Crossed. Stretch stretch stretch. Yoga's awesome. It really helps.

Ok, Enough. I buy a 1 litre bottle of water at the small restaurant near the lot there. No one's in there. Pay Rs. 20/-. Walk a little, catch an auto-rickshaw, head home. Very happy. Reach. Cost: Rs. 67/-. The auto-wallah says "Sar 100 pay maadi sar". "Illa Sar namage only 70 Rupees" ille in my broken Kannada. So he grudgingly takes the 70 bucks. I say "I ran 21 km you know". He doesn't seem to even register it. Hm.

Now I don't want to run. Feeling will probably last a few days.

So no money left. Cost: Rs. 100/-. Told you so.

Forest Run off Hennur Road with RFL

On 19 Apr 2009 I ran with the RFL guys a lovely forest route, off Hennur Road, Bangalore.
It's a forest reserve and RFL obtained permission for us to run that morning.

I ran 17km, a PB!

Map View (might need to zoom out quite a bit (toward NE B'lore) to see the actual route..).

View 19apr09.HennurCross in a larger map

A 10k+ run after 3 months

Yes! I did a 12.5 km run this morning. Felt good. No ITB pain.
I did have to stretch, even during the run - it helps..

I ran from EGL, along the southern perimeter wall of the (old) HAL Airport.
Felt the distance after about 8km, and wished I had some company then!
If so inclined, check out the map below (i re-traced the exact same route back to the starting point):


View 12Apr09.EGL_run in a larger map

BTW, I use the (new-ish) OHA/Google/HTC Android phone to track my run...

A photo taken at the far end:

Yoga Stretches for Runners - IT Band Help and Stretches in Particular!

Man, I'm totally for the yoga-style stretching, having being doing it for a week or so (i know, not much but I can feel the difference already).
I find that several of the asanas (poses) _really_ do stretch the targeted area- more than "traditional" techniques seem to.

In particular, I find the iYoga Life website to be awesome, esp of course the section for Runners.
I perform these stretches on off-days and after a run.

IT Band Help

Very much in particular, I have been one of the typically 50% or so of runners who at some point have an IT Band injury. I've had it twice, first on my left leg, then on my right, and man, it really drives me nuts.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, till about 2 months back I had IT pain... I currently don't.

I did three things which I feel have really helped:
1) I stopped running for 3-4 weeks, did some cycling, allowing time to work it's magic
2) I take an OTC Glucosamine supplement - apparently, it's mostly cod-liver oil kind of stuff...and recommended by many runners
3) The Yoga stretches.


Update

• Rather than going the glucosamine route (& related), I'd strongly recommend using a foam roller to perform IT band stretches, etc. It really, really helps! In fact, I do it even when i don't have an active ITB issue; i feel it helps keep it at bay.
• Google for "YouTube ITB stretches"
• IyogaLife website for Runners
• youtube "Yoga Pigeon Pose"
  Doing this one really helps...

So, fellow IT band sufferers (ya i know i sound overly dramatic here :-), I know what it's like! try 'em...

This article "Yoga on the Run: Post-Run Pose" by Paige Greenfield I can empathize with. The IT band stretch is awesome! I feel it really helps...(did i say that before?).

Runners World "Never Get Hurt" Workout

Am yet to do these..still, they look useful. I could use all kinds of injury protection!

NikePlus - Men vs Women TV Ad!

Good stuff! I like it...



Do you?

Three Pre-Running Yoga Poses

From RunnesWorld.

Back, slowly...

Due to the persistent and annoying knee ITB injury, I laid off running for almost a month.
Did some cycling on my friend Suraj's 6-gear bike in the interim...fun, ...but not as much as running ;-)

So, from about 10 days now, am running again, but slooowly... - the smart way. Started doing just 3km runs, then progressed to 4, etc. Currently (last ran) about 6km. No knee pain!

The "correct" rule to follow for run mileage apparently is: run no more than 10% of what you ran the previous week. Hmm, trying to follow it.

Taking it a bit easy...

I've decided to take it easy and rest my knee - actually, ITB (illiotibial band) syndrome.
So: no runs for the past 10 days.. :-(

I did cycle a couple of times and it was fun.

Waiting waiting, to run again!

A 15k run..whew

Well, clocked up a 15k run this morning (Wed 14 Jan '09 - the Pongal / Sankrantri festival day). Ran mostly on (and off) Banaswadi Road...some areas were really nice on the highway. Landed up after 7 km at Bayapanahalli (or something) railway station.

Legs felt totally wasted man after that..and, of course, my runner's knee is acting up. price to pay right.

B2F Site

Doc - Dr. Rajat Chauhan - and team of Back2Fitness has set up a neat site.
It has various groups - running, back pain, knee pain, cycling, golf.

It's said that common sense is pretty un-common; well, it looks to be in good supply here! Good advice, tips...
Take a look.

Just Over a Dozen!

Hey,

A PR (Personal Record) for me: I ran 12.3 km tonite, in my area of residence Cooke Town, B'lore.
Yeah, happy about that..

And guess what - my best friend and, err, what else... oh yeah, wife, Dilshad ;-) - also started jogging yesterday! Cool huh.


Some details:
5k in just under 30 min (also a PR).
10k in 1:05:25 (yep, again a PR).
12.35k in 1:23:38.
Click here to see a map view of the run route (captured using my N82).


Still a bit plagued by an ITB injury (rt leg now), but all right overall - largely thanks to
Dr.Rajat and his fantastic team.

I'd like to do a few more of this distance, then aim for 15-16k and then do a half.
Yup, that's the plan!

Running Tips - Photograph.

This photo was taken on 8 Oct ' 08 at the jogging track at East Coast Park, Singapore.

Click on the pic to enlarge - useful tips.

And what a lovely place to run at...

More photos here.

Tip: It's fun (and cool) to see exactly where these photos were taken; you can do this because the N82 i took them with has a built-in GPS receiver and "geo-tags" each photo. So: when seeing this album in Picasa web, look for the map on the right side of the page; below the map you should see a button labelled "View in Google Earth". Click upon it and lo! you can zoom in, rotate and 3D view the location.

Run!

I've started running (well, since Jan actually) and am just loving it.

I run with a cool bunch in Bangalore called RFL (RunnersForLife) (and i hope to RunFL :-).

On 7 Sept '08 we did a run at the (old) airport perimeter road. I did 8k, many did a lot more! Great fun..

A few pics of the run..
Tip: When you view the above Picasa album, you'll see a map on the right of the page showing where the pics were taken (geo-tagging feature of the N82 exploited!). Click on "View in Google Earth" (link below the map in the album page), and it's just cool - well, at least for me ;-)

Later,
k.