Run Update 10.01.2015

What a difference a couple of extra hours of sleep and a couple of bananas make. I felt strong throughout the run with minimal fatigue at the end of the run. Was a great run today. Weather was nice and pleasant and covered the 19k quite comfortably.

Getting closer and closer to the races. The schedule is happily filled with green ticks and not so much red crosses anymore. Feeling good and prepared.

:-)

Crazy Person!

I had a bit of free time on my hands and I decided to look up running back-to-back half marathons. Turns out I'm not the only crazy person who has this seemingly insane idea of running two half marathons in 2 consecutive weeks. Here is one such discussion on a running forum with some good advise. The general consensus is that it is entirely doable and not much of a risk provided you pace both the runs such that one is easier & slower than the other. (This was the plan anyway). Many of the comments warn you to be prepared not to PB on the 2nd one (This was so not the plan). Anyway considering that this will only be my 2nd & 3rd HMs, I shouldn't really be concerned with my PB. 

I also found this blog post  which outlines a proper recovery & training plan for running back-to-back half marathons. The writer had just 2 weeks in between the races and still made PB in both the races (with finishing times a good hour faster than my PB - I must add) 

It just struck me that my scenario is quite different - I actually have 3 back-to-back HMs with just 1 week between the first two and 2 weeks between the 2nd & the 3rd. Thats right! Three Half Marathons in 4 weeks. I almost forgot that I have signed up for the Auroville Marathon as well. While I can definitely take notes from the above blog post, I will be listening intently to my body and what it needs. I have no intention of killing myself.

So am I crazy? The only reason I think this is doable is because I know I will be running at an easy pace. I might push myself a little for TWCM - or maybe I wont - but I'll definitely be running way below my "all-out" effort. I have been consistently running 2+ hours in the weekends and my body has bounced back fine after every long run. There will of course be no more running in a sleep deprived state - I'll just have to make damned sure of that. Minimum 7 hours of sleep required. Non-negotiable. I will also have to keep a close check on my hydration and nutrition during these days leading up to the races. And I will probably also have to tweak my schedule a bit and add in more active recovery days in between the races.

Finally, there was this one article from a runner's world coach & contributor which put me completely at ease and gave me a sense of you-might-not-be-so-crazy-after-all. The article gives training advice & tips to a reader who had inquired whether it was okay to do 4 half marathons in 4 consecutive weeks.

Well... so here goes!

Run Update 08.01.2016

I did my first tempo run for 2016 this morning. It was a good paced 5k  - I was targeting 6'00" to a kilometer (0'45" longer than my average)  but ended up doing an average of 6'15". Was still pretty pleased with the effort. I did feel pretty winded at several points where I had to stop and take a breather. Allowed myself about 10 seconds here before taking off again. 5k in 31:27 - not my best but definitely up there.

I felt so awesome that shortly after the run I did a bit of impulse online shopping and got myself some new running gear. Yay! I think there might be a new post on the blog once they get here.

Now, nine hours later, I am really feeling the workout - calves, hamstrings - everything is sore. I think I'll have to go through another stretch routine in the evening to loosen up all the muscles.

Run Update 05.01.2016

My second run in the new year was marginally better than my first. Probably because I got marginally more sleep than the last time. Even though I was running today at an easy pace of 7'30" on average, it felt more exhaustive than it should have - even in spite of the cool conducive weather. I must stop this habit of running on too little sleep. 

I had a late start today and missed running with the Nitros. Will probably join them on Thursday. I feel like I'm back in the groove with my running. I am happy to be running consistently and am hoping this trend will go on through the year.

Did I mention that my goal for 2016 is six half marathons? 

Run Update 03.01.2016

It was my first run for the year - and not a great one at that. New year frivolities spilled over to the whole weekend and it was quite late when I went to bed on Saturday. I had had just about 3 hours of sleep when I woke up with the alarm on Sunday morning and not wanting to repeat the disastrous experience from a month ago, I made sure that I ate something before I ran and I kept the pace as slow as I possibly could.

It took me 2 hours and 26 minutes to finish my goal distance of 17k. Meaning which, my pace was considerably slower that even my first half marathon. But I finished it. And for that I give myself a pat on the back!

Run Update 31.12.2015

The Nungambakkam Nitros called out all runners for a big run on the last day of the year. It was a relatively big turnout with some 20 odd runners. It was meant to be an easy 5k but keeping up with some of the faster, seasoned runners turned it out to be more of a tempo run for me. At least it felt like a tempo run though my running app only tracked a pace of  7'02". My GPS was turned off and I'm guessing that lead to some inaccuracy 'coz I was definitely running outside my comfort pace.

My schedule called for a 3k tempo run and I did end up doing 6.5k in all - 3k of which probably counts as a tempo so it all worked out just fine. 

It felt great at the end of the run. I should run with the group more often.

Run Update 13.12.2015

I went for a run today after two weeks.

Its been an intense two weeks for Chennai. On the 1st of December, the skies opened up and the city saw rains like it hasn't in over a 100 years. If you have been following the stories in the news, this will come as old news. Every road and every street was flooded - some areas had it much worse than others.  Along with the many thousands of pitiable stories of destruction and loss also came an equal number of heartening stories about how the people of the city got together in helping one another. 

It is sunny days once again in Chennai and the city is slowly getting back to its feet and bits of normalcy has been returning. Runners are back again on the roads, continuing their training for the Chennai Marathon that was inevitably postponed. 

My run today was a pretty uneventful one. My target was to run whatever distance I could in 2 hrs. Ended up doing 16.2 at an easy pace of 7'25". 

Managed to catch a very pretty sunrise at Marina. (Would have been a pretty picture too if only that crow hadn't photo-bombed my shot!)