Full Marathon at KTM, 18Sept'11

Below is the email I sent out to the Runner's High group mailing list - the running community consisting of runners, ASHA volunteers, coaches and physio that I train with - that pretty much sums up the difficult but satisfying full marathon (life-altering!) experience that the Kaveri Trail Marathon (KTM) is! (Billed as "the toughest marathon in the country").

I'd also like to say:

• Many many thanks to all you generous folk who donated to 'ASHA', toward the education of underprivileged kids.
  And hey, if you haven't yet, that's okay :)
  You still CAN! Please Do so.
  
• Having my family turn up at the event was just great! (See photos below). Did wonders for my morale during the tough phase of the race thinking about all of you.

A few pics below!

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Hey All,

Congratulations!!

So many of you did your PBs (Personal Best); inspiring to see all the effort put in on a tough course!

And yes, for many, a difficult day; it's no wonder at KTM..

For me, it was a very good, though very tough (last few km) FM.

I did a PB bettering my time from last year's KTM FM by about 40 min! (i finished in about 5h:35m or so). 

Obviously, due to the fantastic training and support from the RH community, coaches and physio!!!

Felt great. Heartfelt thanks.

I had a fun and enjoyable first 10k running with Chandra. Thanks Chandra, as usual!
Then, right till about the 35k mark, I was going strong, following a run-walk pattern, hydrating, salt tabs, etc and generally feeling good. 

After 35 km KTM took over and the dragon revealed herself :-)

Found it very tough then, and was reduced to a fast walk from about 39k on, due to quite severe cramping...

Then, 1.5k from the finish, Ajay was there - thank God! He was just brilliant. It's only due to Ajay that I managed to finish strong, running (most of) the last km - which seems never-ending at KTM, believe me! Kanishka and the other supporters cheering along the way lifted me.

At the finish line, the last few metres, I charged (at least i think i did :). And promptly collapsed after crossing it. People helped me up and in a few minutes i was okay. I remember saying "Man, I'm all wasted here; and, just think, I saw Santhosh back out there on his third loop!!!". Awesome. Inspiring. 

My brother Darius did his first 10k yesterday (in very decent time 1h:06m!) and was there at the finish, along with Nileesh, Chandrika, Ram, Kalpana and so many other familiar faces. Felt wonderful seeing them all. 

I really enjoyed cheering and seeing others finish, Sreeni P included.

Awesome to hear about the Ananya kids doing so well, in such conditions. Wow.

Again, many thanks.

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Chandra and Ajay

Fellow marathoner Srinivas P

At the finish line, whew :-P

Some of the RH gang

Canal of the Kaveri river; it runs the entire length 10.55km course 

Cooling off!

With Amit Sheth

I was lucky. Amit Sheth, author of "Dare To Run", was in Bangalore launching his book at Reliance on Sat 6 Aug '11.

He gave a wonderful presentation, showing many photos of marathons/ultras he's been in. He showed us why he's a really good motivational speaker & author!

Amit's blog makes for interesting reading!

My running logs

Am using a great online website to keep a detailed track of all my runs, training & events.
It includes some awesome tools, including viewing the run route "in 3d" and on maps.

It's called Running Free Online (earlier "RunSaturday").

http://www.runningfreeonline.com/people/kaiwanrun


On the left-column menu, "Training - Blog" has a summary of each run.
Do check it out!

A Fantastic Half at Auroville, 13 Feb '11

Had a fantastic race at Auroville, Sun 13 Feb '11. I did a half marathon (HM) and I loved it!
The natural beauty of Auroville, the energy and kindness of the runners and volunteers, team RH being there - an almost spiritual experience!

In fact, a PB (personal best) for me - "official" time of 2:27 (though my garmin shows i finished in 2:26:05).

 Auroville Visitor's Centre

Key Learning's-

- Well before race day, I argued with myself, Santhosh and Preeti, saying that, man, what's the use of running a half when I've already run two FMs (although quite poorly). Today I stand corrected, and how! Running a good race is not just about the distance or the time you take or even if you're successful. I really enjoyed it.

- Any runner who's had (or has) ITB issues knows that sinking feeling when it hits; it happened to me soon after I took up running seriously, at the KTM '10 FM and at the Ultra. This time, I worked harder on strength training for my legs & core; I think it definitely paid off- I did not have any ITB pains. Whew, what a relief! You take out what you put in. No shortcuts. Yup.

- Sticking to the schedule (after my initial bumps & having Santhosh tell me off about doing my own distances!) is bloody important. (I know, I know, eye rolling from Santhosh; when will these people listen!). Thanks Chief!


Soon after completing, I picked up the book "Dare To Run" by Amit Sheth, mostly on impulse. I love to read and a book on running! Yeah. By today I've read about 60 pages of it and Wow! it is inspiring. Do read it. Even better, I saw Amit Sheth there; I paused, wanting to go up and say Hi but he was conversing with friends and I thought it rude to intrude. After reading just part of his book though, I wish I had!

An Update!
Here's the Amazon link to Amit's book "Dare To Run"; I reviewed it as well!



Reading all the RH (Runner's High) folks emails was very inspiring. Fantastic. Kudos to all the PBs; Ajay's sub-4, Pree's 4:30! Wow.

Many thanks to RH, especially all the coaches. Had a fun trip there and back with Chandra and  Preeti, get-together's with Surya, his wife and Gopalan Sir. Meghana and Sudarshan - thanks to their kindness I was offered a lift to the venue on race day from the (beautiful) Zest Big Beach resort.

Wish my family could have been there too, but hey, that will happen next time! Dilshad had quite a marathon day herself juggling two lively boys, Sheroy and Danesh (1.5 years old at that!).

Am really glad and thankful to be a part of the awesome RH group, to have a passion for running. What more could one ask.

Zest Big Beach resort

The sea @ Zest Big Beach resort!

Below, a 3d Google-Earth-powered view of the race! (courtesy of runningfreeonline.com).

HELP Wanted! Running for a Cause with Team Asha.

Hey!
Lucky me, lots of stuff happening... have decided to run a second full marathon. It's the Kaveri Trail Marathon (KTM) and is on Sept 19, 2010. It's billed as a beautiful though very tough run.

This time I want to train better (than I did for the Mumbai one); so, I joined the excellent group Runner's High for a 3 month training programme. This one's specifically for the KTM.

Santhosh Padmanabhan runs it (I talked about him in this earlier post). They're very professional -- highly recommended!!!

Santhosh and team basically does this to raise funds for the Asha Foundation.
Ah. That's where the "HELP Wanted" part comes in.


So: PLEASE click here to navigate to this page now, and help out. It's for a really good cause and I know you'd want to.

Thanks!!

International Women's Day Run : 7 Mar 2010

Ran for Women today! :-)
Dilshad wanted to come along for the 5k run, but could not make it thanks to catering to the needs of a certain 5.5 month-old person named Danesh (and his elder brother Sheroy!).

I ran from home to Ulsoor Lake where the run started (dist of about 2.25km), ran 5k around the lake and back home for a total of about 10km. A nice run, lots of ladies and kids as well. Was fun. Unfortunately, knees are still hurting (in spite of starting hip strengthening exercises about a week back - yeah, i'll give it more time & cut down on mileage).

Details from the Contours International website here.

Strides of Hope

The fortnightly RFL run this time (Sun 21 Feb 2010) was at EGL. Again. A favourite location for me though, no complaints.

What made this run very special, is that we were all a small part of a pretty amazing and awe-inspiring event: Strides of Hope:
an extraordinary gentleman, Santhosh Padmanabhan, was running for 48 hours, raising funds and awareness for "Team ASHA". Wow.
(Click here to see Santhosh's blog).

Santhosh Padmanabhan

Santhosh started his incredible ultra at 4pm on Friday. Obviously, a lot of supporters/volunteers/Team ASHA members ran with him, in a kind of morally supportive relay, throughout. Sunday morning, it was our turn, through the good offices of RFL.

Incidentally, Santhosh ran an awesome 156 kilometres (nearly 100 miles), at the Bangalore Ultra 2008 event.



Also, I ran a half marathon distance (21.1k) in a PB (personal best_ for me: 02:24:15. Another reason to be happy...

The certificate from the 'Strides Of Hope' event.

RFL's Neat Bookmark-cum-Marathon-Checklist

While in Mumbai for the marathon (17Jan2010), at the expo I spotted the Runners For Life, Bangalore stall.
Arvind Bharati was there; was fun meeting up.

I picked up a couple of cute, and very useful!, bookmarks that RFL produced - one side has a "Check list" for runners (see pic below).

 

Click pic to zoom in.

In fact, the checklist really helped - I took along my water bottle (the red Kingfisher one provided) and a hanky for the full marathon, which turned out to be a really good idea.

My First Full Marathon !! Mumbai 17Jan2010

26 miles? Huh easy breezy man, c'mon.

Kidding!! 
Yeah, you bet I'm kidding - not about the doing it, about the "easy" part.
Yes, actually did a full marathon - the SCMM (Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon) -
on Sun 17 Jan 2010!

When I reached Mumbai on Sat 16 Jan, at about 1pm, I was taken aback by the heat. It was really hot! As though I (and am sure others running their first) didn't have enough doubts and those small lurking extremely rational fears inside that say "look, this is crazy..you can't really be expected to last this distance"...; the weather Gods decide to add to the fun.

Sherry (Bharda) was kind enough to pick me up at the airport -- probably had more to do with the fact that her parents (and Bailey) landed up the same day, same time (ok kidding again Sherry).

Met Arvind Bharati at the expo where we picked up our running bib and goodie bag.. Arvind (A2), is the on-the-ground guy for RFL and like virtually every runner in the group, is an extremely helpful and great guy..
I (and in fact several other runners from B'lore) stayed the night at a small decent-enough hotel - Landmark, next to (behind) VT - it's generally known as "Railways Hotel".

Well, up the next morning at about 5.15am. My new 'Race Ready' shorts' pockets quickly filled up: credit card/cash in one, small 'Volini' balm in another, back mesh pockets held a total of 5 gel packs (thanks Mum, Silloo!), mobile phone. Felt quite heavy.

Met with the other runners in the lobby; waiting for Ramesh...finally left only at about 6.20am. Quickly walked down to Azad Maidan (the start area), but of course, it can't go that smoothly right... we found we had to ask directions and take a round-about route (including going down the steps and across the VT/CST station to the other side).

So..we were at the Marathon holding area / start at just about 6.40am. Obviously with the large crowds, I really couldn't see much ahead and just followed along with the crowd moving up to the start. Some gal was shouting something over the sound system...at least I gathered we were about to start and then we did! Exactly on schedule: 0645; hey, not bad! Excited, smiles all around, a large number of people on the sidelines cheering us on. Wow, the Mumbai Marathon's living up to it's name! Reminded myself of my 'race strategy' -- yeah, sure, just finish the damn thing. No, seriously, go out slow, really slow...so i mostly just jogged slow/walked fast that first km..

Of course, when I switched on my trusty Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch (at the last minute, too late!), it couldn't lock onto the GPS satellites immediately (this happens if you move a long distance from where you used it last). So, it took more than 5 minutes before i could press Start, and we'd already covered about 600m. So, i thought to myself, when this guy reads 41.6 km you've already covered the 42.2 ! (For you skeptics out there :-) here's the wikipedia entry on the full marathon).

The SCMM 2010 Route Map


Soon hooked up with Ramesh (another RFLer) who had a similar race plan-- go slow now. So yeah, we did, taking photos of the Air India building (Darius, remember how we played there on the escalator as kids!), the Oberoi, etc on Marine Drive, enjoying the cool morning air and thinking 'hey this isn't half bad'.

Before starting (in B'lore itself), I agonized over whether to take my phone on the run or not. If I do, I'll have to carry it in my hand (it bounces too much in the mesh pocket and the front pockets are too small). Finally made a compromise- I carried along my old Motorola Rokr phone and not my (kinda new) Android one; really, the main reason was that my Rokr camera was working and my newer phone's cam was on the blink! Good thing, really enjoy taking some photos on runs.
So, at about 7.40am guess what- I get a call, form none other than my Sheroy!! Was really great to speak with him now, as always.

Soon after, on Pedder Road, caught up with Manjula, another RFLer. Actually, both Ramesh and Manjula are primarily cyclists- who also run marathons. Man! Just a month back, Manjula had completed the really demanding 900km-in-8-days TFN (Tour of Nilgiris) endurance bike race.

The thing about running the Mumbai Marathon- which I heard about and now saw first-hand - the people come out and watch, cheer you on and are really helpful! On Pedder Road, I saw at least 3 people handing out biscuits, snacks, glucose and fruit to any runner who'd like some! In Bangalore we're lucky if we don't get run down..well, it'll happen (the good stuff :).

The elite runners (which included the world's top marathoners --big purse, after all), started at 7.45am, an hour after us. When Manjula and I were at about the 8km mark, just starting on the Worli seaface road and next to Haji Ali, a bus comes up behind us. Was puzzled, until we saw it's a bus for the press. Then, at a pace I can hardly believe - correction- cannot believe - a troupe of about 10 tightly packed Kenyan athletes 'swish' past us! Okay, so the press weren't there for us huh ;-)

Man, it was just awesome to see these guys go. Then an Air Force helicopter carrying a TV crew zooms in low on our left over the sea, following the runners. Wow. Quite a show.

Slowly progressed up North, past the Worli Diary, Shivaji Park, Mahim (see map).. I think it's around here that we hit the halfway point (21.05km). There was no marker, nothing to inform us that we're halfway done (my gps watch did). As of now, I was right on schedule - 3 hours, 9.45am, halfway. So, the plan was to go easy and then, if feeling good, step up the pace a bit to finish in under 6 hours. Ha!

By now of course, I had spoken on the phone with Dilsh, Sheroy and Nads a couple of times..that was nice; it definitely helps. Sherry called; said she'd meet me at the start of the Worli-Bandra Sealink. Great. Told her I'm coming along slowly..Just before the Sealink, there was an aid station that most of us took advantage of -- they really were helpful; I saw guys lying down, seated, most putting on a brave face while a volunteer massaged their sore muscles/applied sprays, ointments and what-not. I got my legs sprayed (the balm stuff); they literally forced me to drink some electrolyte-laced water "your muscles will seize if you don't. Drink it!". Yes, Sir.

Met Sherry within 2 minutes of the aid station at the bridge entry point (it's about the 25km mark here). That was nice. Took a couple of photos there. Sherry goes "how can you stop running yaar? C'mon go now". Interspersed with some choice expletives, I explained that I could, indeed, just walk and talk, even stop a bit and not just keep running, you know! :-)

With Sherry at the beginning of the Sealink

On a more serious note, it's an accepted fact that running a marathon is a fairly difficult undertaking; hence, many, most perhaps, runners do it for a reason: charity, a cause, in memory of someone they hold dear, etc. Giving this some thought, a few days back, I suddenly knew why I'd do this: in memory of my dear friend Burjor Bharda. So, here at the Sealink, I told Sherry. Now of course, I had to complete it!

Photo: Manjula, me and Ramesh.

Feeling good now, we're (Ramesh, Manjula and myself reunited -- see photo) smiling and heading down the sealink. Well, the high doesn't last all that long. It's almost 11am and burning hot. The sun blasts down  on us, there's no cover. Worse, there's no water stations! Luckily am carrying the red water bottle from the goodie bag. We took some photos, walked, jogged and tried to keep our spirits up. But that bridge is one long mother man. And hot. At the very end, Ramesh and I find some volunteers - it's about 29k-30km now. We collapse in front of them, lapping up their TLC! Water in two places- mouth and top-of-head (but not much, as they don't have all that much now and need to keep some for others- we understand). Ice packs on top of my thighs, under Ramesh's calves. Yup, we're not looking all that pretty now. By the way, on the bridge I see workers clearing away the marathon-signage, ad hoardings, etc. Hm. Then check this out: a big bus comes trundling along behind me; I can see some runners sitting inside; the guy at the door says 'do you want to get in?' And give up? No no go! I say, sounding braver than I feel, actually. He throws me a water bottle from the moving bus and I really accelerate to catch it! The things we'd do for cold water.

View from the Sealink bridge

Ice aplenty, where's the scotch??

The three of us get over the darn bridge and and are back on the Worli seaface. Somehow, it's not as much fun now. We're happy in the sense that, we're now about 32km down, and essentially know we're going to finish! So we lie to each other saying Yeah, now it's all downhill man. Yeah, right. We calculate that at our current walking pace (everything hurts too much now to keep running), we'll take, Manjula says nonchalantly, "about another 2 hours". That hit me...already out here nearly five hours, I don't want to be out here in the heat another 2 hours damnit.

Soon after, at around 12pm, the brother, Darius, messages me with some inane encouraging statement :-). I call him right away saying "hell, speak to me bro; I need your voice not a damn message!". "Oh, i thought you're running and can't speak". Hmm, people really think we (meaning guys like me) actually run all the time for 26 miles??? Anyway. I break away from Ramesh and
Manjula while speaking with Darius ("go for it bro!")... they've stopped at a water station. Feel a bit guilty but I really want to try and push it now and finish- trust you two understand!

Finally, I pass Haji Ali and am back at Heera Panna, Pedder Road. I clearly remember Burjor showing me around here when I visited, oh-so-many years back (1988 or 1989). Very fond memories (an aside: remember my suitcase being taken off the train at Dadar; I panicked ran out onto the platform, retrieved it, from the guy who kept pleading his innocence (he did not run away with it while he had it, after all)!).

Walked, bone weary, up the Kemp Fort flyover. A guy from Bangalore had a small aid station running somewhere after that...was really thankful for it..tanked up on ice water, and yes, poured it on my head as well, filled up my bottle. He offered me a sandwich, I said no, am not really feeling like eating..did not even feel like having the gel at this point. Suraj called me (in fact, twice) somewhere around here; he was in Mumbai & thought he'd catch me at the finish by now...but nope, I'm slower than that!

The Mumbai Marathon this year, as usual, had many plusses as I've mentioned already. On the negative side, it felt like it's really being organized for the elite athletes, with the "good" runners also being taken care of. Slow-coaches like myself, you're on your own buddy, after around 5 hours. No sign-age, we almost went the wrong way (me and a few others). To be fair, there were a few aid stations still operating but not enough and no med aid station at all now. Also, taxi drivers regularly tried to run us off the road by now.

Back on Marine Drive, and am in no mood to enjoy the scenery. All I think of is how hot it is now and when will the finish line show up! (it's now around 12.30pm and the temperature is about 34-35 degrees Celsius). Chatted with Amar(?), a sardaji from Rajasthan; he's in engineering college there. We jogged and walked, until I told him to just go ahead. At first he said No problem, but then the slow-coach got to him and off he went.

My feet have been burning for several hours now (yup a fairly big blister had formed on each foot).
At the expo, I picked up a few bookmarks from the RFL stall- it's really nice, with a Marathon Checklist on one face! Taking it's advice, I took along my hanky. Thank God!!
Now I would slop water on it and wipe my face...relief for a few seconds at least.

Hitting around the 37km mark, I was basically finished. Yup this was the Wall all right. Those 5km from Marine Drive back to VT felt like forever.
Near the 40th kilometre, I get a call from whom else? Sheroy. They're enjoying a coffee-brunch session at our favourite Sunday watering hole, Raintree. Sheroy says (before I can say anything as usual) "Dad! Diana fell and hurt her lip! Blood's coming!!". Yeah, Mum did fall (she's okay now, some niggling muscle pull still hurts though). Then Dilshad speaks with me. You know, in the movies, men are this macho lot, no pain can move them etc etc. But honestly I wasn't man. Speaking to her, I was virtually in tears now- it just came out.

The last kilometre was not like I had imagined it would be. Indeed, I did put on a brave front and even started to run fairly quickly when I saw (from my gps) that I'm about 500m from the finish. Tehn, somewhere near Churchgate Station I suppose, there were many intersections, circles, traffic lights, traffic. No sign-age on whcih way to go, nor was my mind really all there. At one of these junctions, I stopped to take a photo: no luck, my phone memory was full (and now was not the time to sit and decide what to delete). A foreign couple who had finished waved me on, encouraging me-- I asked them 'whci hway do i go??'. They pointed, and I went. But it got worse. I was reduced to asking directions, and some guys I asked about the finishing point had no idea what I was talking about, nor were they helpful. Of course, I probably looked like a lunatic to them, running around sweat-stained and dirty at 1.40pm in the blazing heat. Another runner waded into view, he seemed to know the way, we briefly mumbled something about no directions and I followed him. Then he slowed citing an injury, and I went ahead. I kept running, on fumes. Very close now and...another wrong turn- no volunteers, no sign-age.
Finally finally I see something- the Marathon flame, a little ahead a table and some volunteers sitting around. As I approach, still struggling along, one of them jumps up and cheers me telling the others to get up. They don't; but that's okay, I thank that guy!! I cross the finish line, throw up my arms. I click the Stop button on my watch. It reads 42.2km. I started it late, by about 600m. So I've actually run 42.8 km, about 600m more than a full marathon, in 6 hours 55 min, or so. Man. An unintentional Ultra :-)

It's peculiar, I thought I'd be elated etc but no there's really no emotion right now, that had drained out...I somehow found the Marathon Holding area and stumbled in. Almost like a hospital, people lying all over the dirty matted floor, but with a key difference: there's joy in the air, a feeling of achievment, wan smiles and good-natured shared pain. Ah, I feel like I belong. A lady at a table gives me a finisher's medal! Cool. Even though many of us did not meet the 6 hour cut-off. Hey very positive, we all really appreciated that! Ramesh and Manjula came in soon after and we were really happy! Took some photos, then took a cab back to the hotel (which was a 10min walk away).

So, yeah. An experience I'll treasure.
Of course, the real reason I was here in Mumbai and finished this (a major goal I wanted to achieve), is because the wife, Dilshad, supported me. Most people would think, yeah sure, and why not. Yes, but most people don't have to juggle a 6 year old, a 4-month old infant!, a successful financial advisory business (where clients call you at all hours) and a home! And that's not mentioning all the long training runs on weekends. Thanks Dilsh! and indeed, the whole family.

Some surprises: I really did not use my ipod as much as I thought I would; I really did find carrying my phone (with camera) and a handkerchief very useful! My typical injury-prone spots, my knees (and a groin injury) were okay- am sure the sprays helped a lot there. In fact, after the race, the back of my right upper calf/back of knee hurts (still does). Yeah, carrying the (somewhat bulky) water bottle and handkerchief also turned out a good thing.

Well, this still pales before what others have done: the winning Kenyan completed the race in 2h12m! Gulp.
A Dr. Ashis Roy was running his 100th Marathon the same day in Mumbai! We actually saw him, walking at a fast pace (he finished before I did). Two weeks later, he runs his 101st Marathon at Chandigarh. Idiot.
:-) yes am just joking and green.

Q. What's the biggest room in the world?
A. The room for improvement.

Couldn't resist - an aerial view of the route taken - see the multi-coloured line toward the top...[might have to click it to zoom in & see it fully]
(courtesy runsaturday.com and google maps).

Bangalore Ultra 2009 | 25K in the Bag!

Yup, a new PR for me -- a 25 km run. Took a looong time, 3.5 hours, but what the heck. I really didn't care, given this was my first 'ultra' run.

The B'lore Ultra 2009 edition was on Sun 15 Nov 09. Beautiful weather, cool, cloudy, even a bit of a drizzle at times to cool us off. Over 600 people participated. Was great.
And the funny thing-- even though it's definitely the most i've run so far, it didn't feel like it, what with the amazing company, chatting here & there with others, the fantastic support / aid stations etc etc.

Yeah my knees hurt a bit in the last five...well, naturally right ;-).
All in all, it was a lot of fun. Kudos to RFL. Really looking forward to trying even more!

Read more about the event, some pics, here.

Nike+ Human Race 2009 Run

Impressive organization skill!
Nike apparently had no less than 27 cities participating (more or less) simultaneously in the Nike+ Human Race 2009, a 10k event, on Sat 24 Oct. Looks like Bangalore was the city in India..lucky us!

The race started bang on time - about 3-4 min early in fact..
Saw Sreesanth (the cricketer) among the people flagging us off.

Wanted to run the 10k in an hour or under, which is definitely a challenge for me. Intended to use my Garmoin 305 watch to pace myself correctly.. and guess what. Of course, I left it behind! Driving at 3.20pm when I realized it, I could go back & possibly miss the start or forget it. Well i forgot it...
Instead, I downloaded the MyTracks Google app onto my trusty Android-Google phone & used it instead. Worked out.

So. The race was hard going, but fun, as always. This time I was very focused on my pace etc... haven't got the 'official' results yet (we all wore a timing chip), but according to my 'phone I did complete in about exactly an hour or just a bit over! Lets see...at any rate am happy with my performance..by contrast I took 1:11:20 for the same distance at the Sunfeast 10k in May this year.

Anju Bobby George gave away prizes after... the cool chicks from Golds Gym Mumbai had us perform warm-up & cool-down exercises before & after the race. :-)

Here's a link to a quick article on this event...

Also, we're already in the taper period for the big one - the Bangalore Ultra is up in about 3 weeks. Fingers crossed!

Nice run with my new toy :-)

Before you think kinky :-) -- it's my Garmin Forerunner 305 I'm talking about.
Just Super.

Won't bore everyone w/ all the tech details, but it has an excellent built-in GPS and tracks you (walk/bike/run/etc). Can then download the track, save it to a website (i'm using runsaturday.com (link below)), analyze your effort, blah blah.

Bottom line- it worked, and so did I! , had fun.

My Workout.

Map:

The mind is willing...

Yup, been a while since I've posted; though no one's really hanging onto my every word waiting for that next awesome post :-)

Improved in terms of distance running, yes. Have run the half-marathon distance (21km), now a total of 5 times, with one run in GKVK hitting the 23.4 km mark (11 July '09).

I seemed to have hit a plateau though... running anything more than 20k (heck, 18k) is, well, hell :-). It's not like the runs are getting much easier either.. Actually, I've been doing some speed-work and it definitely does help. But.. yes, always a but in there isn't it - I think the strive for speed and distance in the recent weeks has exposed another chink in my (already flagging) armour- I now seem to have a groin strain on my left leg :-(.

Can still run- today I ran 16.4k, albeit with some pain..guess I'll rest it for a while now.

So, in summary, I really do want to hit higher milestones; regrettably, the mind is willing but the flesh is weak.

PS> I've ordered a Garmin Forerunner 305 runner's watch- a superb piece of equipment, literally a must for serious runners; should reach me in about 10 days... waiting..

A trail in Cubbon Park.

From Kaiwan's Running Blog

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?