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!)

Run Update 29.11.2015

This morning's run felt brutal! When my alarm got me out of bed at 4:15, I had had only 3 hours and 45 minutes of sleep. I was determined to run today and got ready despite feeling extremely sleep deprived. This was a bad idea in itself but to top it off, I didn't have any bananas - my usual pre-run energy snack - on hand at home and so had decided to run on an empty stomach. Some experts on weight-loss recommend running or working out in a fasted state for increased fat burning... but no one, absolutely NO ONE would recommend it for running long distances. My goal was 19.5k. 

Sleep deprived, feeling dehydrated and absolutely depleted of energy, I trudged through kilometer after kilometer  - yes, like a crazy person. The first 7k were ok... the pleasant weather made for easy running and I was going at a pace considerably slower than my last couple of LSDs. I had covered 7.5k by the time I reached the beach and the sea breeze and the lovely being-at-the-beach feeling kept me going till my half-way point. 

At 9.75k, I forced myself to take a long pause. By this time, the only thing that was keeping me going was my energy drink in my fuel belt - my sugar & salt water concoction. I took the opportunity to take my first ever "running selfie", a few deep breaths and a little stretching before deciding to plod on. 

I ran the entire stretch of Marina Beach Walkway and back (6k) and felt better when I came to the beginning of the return leg of my route. I was at 13.5k at this point and I don't really know how. I think I was sleep-running by this point and my pace was at an all-time low. To make things worse, it was around 8:00, the sun was out nice and bright making it uncomfortable weather to run in. At 16k, and afraid that I would pass out otherwise, I slowed down into a walk to complete the target distance. 

I just about managed to crawl up the stairs to my apartment and somehow did my cooling down stretches and within about half an hour's time collapsed into deep sleep.

Never Again.

Being Bad

My training schedule is looking pretty dismal these days with a lot more red crosses than green ticks.

I've not been out there running hugely because of the way the weather has been but - and here I must confess - also a little because of my laziness... For instance, today was perfectly good weather for a run but I just didn't feel like getting out of bed. I gave myself a mental talking-to and I did get up the motivation to squeeze in some indoor running drills before my hectic day swallowed up all of my time.

My insanity 60-day workout program has been an utter failure... Most of the time I can barely get through the 30 - 40 minute workout. I think I will give another crack at it in the new year.

The Dusk 2 Dawn Night Marathon has been postponed to a later date thanks to the weather forecast for 28th & 29th. I'm being very hopeful here and am thinking of getting in my 19.5k (which I missed last weekend) on Saturday morning. Stay tuned.

Less Than 4 Weeks to Go

There is less than 4 weeks to go for the Chennai Marathon. 

To recap, I had planned for it sometime in September giving me about 13 weeks to train for my second half marathon. My training plan looked good starting out. I had scheduled 4 weeks of warming up (with 2 runs a week) - to fully recover from my foot injury followed by 9 weeks of "proper training". This part of the schedule had me running 3 times per week with an LSD (Long Slow Distance to clarify - standard runner lingo) on the weekends progressing each week by a kilometer and a half. 

At the end of my warming-up period, I registered for the race feeling confident that my foot was coping fine and that it was fully recovered. That not being the case, I found myself having to cut down my running days. By Mid-October (and several tweaks & re-tweaks to the schedule later), I was running just once run a week - the long one over the weekends. To sum up, I'm 9 weeks in and I have only gone on 11 runs since my "training" started - in contrast to the 25 runs that I was meant to have done by now. My total training distance to date is 87.6 k instead of the 231 k that I would have racked up if the original plan was to have been followed.

The misbehaving foot, the rains, and the general being-a-lazy-bum-ness have all contributed more or less equally to this low-key training. 

Just for fun I googled "running half marathon with no training" and came across quite a few articles by runners who had done just that... I loved this one particular blog post and thought it was quite humorously written. The search also threw up a lot more articles on why it was a bad idea to run a half marathon with little to no training. 

Come December 13th, I will be standing at the start line. I am hoping that all the LSDs that I've been consistently (more-or-less) running will ultimately count and that I will be able to see the distance through.

#fingerscrossed

Run Update 14.11.2015

I was hoping against hope that it wouldn't rain this morning. Even though it had rained all through Friday (and crazy amounts at that!) right up till bedtime, I still had a teeny tiny hope that it would dry up by morning. And what do you know? 4:30 am and the skies were clear(ish) and most of the water on the roads had dried up. 

It was late by the time I started (5:45) and it took me 2 hrs and 1 minute to complete my goal of 17k (walked an extra 400 meters to get home - I'm not counting that extra 0.40) yet, woo hoo! I felt awesome at the end of it! I had to be a stick-in-the-mud last night and stay at home while my friends were partying but it was so totally worth it!

I ran an extended version of my usual to-Marina-Beach-&-back route which included a bonus 3 km stretch along the beach. That turned out to be the best part of today's run. The weather was perfect - pleasant, not too humid and so breezy! Alongside the Marina Beach Promenade, and straddling the wide sandy beach, the rains had created a temporary inland water body which though probably icky looked very pretty rippling away in the morning breeze. There were many points along this 3k stretch when I wished my phone wasn't strapped on and that I could click a few pics but I had to satisfy myself by just taking in the sights and I kept running along.

It was an OK run - not helped by the fact that I had gotten just 4 hours sleep the previous night but I loved it all the same.

Running Drills

We've been seeing crazy incessant rains here in Chennai for the past week or so. I missed my long run on the weekend and all this week I've been getting up early in the hopes of doing a short tempo run only to end up standing in the balcony gazing at the bucket-loads pouring out from the sky. I usually wait around for a couple of hours in the vain hope that the rains would let up enough for a quick dash and invariably would find myself crawling back under the covers by around 6:30 with the rains still going strong.

Apparently there are a few strange souls in the city who like running in the rains and if you are crazy enough to get out in these rains and if you find yourself sploshing along through the mucky puddles, you might come across a few other crazy runners from my running group braving the weather in the name of training. I love running. But not this much.

But still, I couldn't just let my training schedule get all those red crosses, so today when it poured like it has been for the past so many days, I decided to do a running drill at home and ignored the calls of my warm bed. 

I did a 30 minute workout of Jogging, Butt-kicks, High Knees and Fast Feet in a 2 1/2 easy + 30 sec intense combo. According to my Nike+ App that was the equivalent of 4.28 k run. I'm counting that! I completed the workout at an easy-medium effort - but hey, it sure beats not-running. 

Run Update 31.10.15

When the alarm went off at 4:30 yesterday morning, it took all my will power and then some more to not crawl right back into bed. And as luck would have it, none of my usual running gear was washed and for the second time since the alarm went off I considered falling back into bed. Sleep deprived and feeling very low on motivation, I found myself changing my mind even as I stepped out the door. "Lets at least do 3k", I told myself and somehow, talked myself into hitting the road.

Once I hit the road though, my mood changed entirely. It was the perfect weather for a run. It had rained all night and the air was clean, with a crisp, cool breeze blowing throughout the route. I felt completely on top of the world as I ran through my route, passing the familiar scenery and jumping over the thousands of tiny little puddles that had been left behind by the rains. I finished 3k and then another 11k - finishing the 14k as per my training schedule at a decent average pace. I felt super at the end of the run. I should hold on to the memory of that feeling for the next time I feel like not running.

Woohoo! Next Week 16k

Run Update 29.10.15

I went for a quick, short run last morning. My foot has been behaving really well after my decision to not wear my Jambu shoes and I felt good enough to attempt the run.

The Run planned was really short- just 2k. The idea was also to test my fuel belt out close to home before bringing it out with me on a long run. I positioned it the right way this time (I guess) where the bottle sat on the small of my back as opposed to lower down on my hip like I did the last time. It looked quite ridiculous (I thought) but it stayed put, felt comfortable enough and allowed me to run unhindered.

Being a short run I upped the tempo a bit and ran the distance at an average pace of 6'22" which was a good minute faster than my long distance pace. It felt good. Post run, the foot feels fine even though I skipped the usual routine of icing my feet. It still feels fine. I think I should be able to do a short tempo run like this one mid week, every week.

I also started the Insanity Fitness Program yesterday. Its a 60 day workout program of (as the name suggests) insanely intense exercises combining cardio, plyometrics, interval training, sports training and body weight training. I find it crazy tough. I could barely get through Day 1 and Day 2 but it feels amazing when you've pushed through the end and Shawn-T tells you you've completed the work out. This will now be my workouts on my non-running days. I figure it will really help build my endurance and strength which I find so necessary for long distance running.

Foot Worries Solved (?)

Last evening I may have discovered the reason my foot hasn't gotten quite back to normal yet. While sitting at my desk I felt the familiar nagging pain on the outside of my foot that has been happening on and off over the past few weeks since I resumed running. 

In case you missed it (which is highly unlikely considering how much I've been obsessing and lamenting about my foot injury), I strained the peroneal tendon on my right foot shortly after my first Half Marathon back in July. I resumed running after 6 weeks of resting it and though there isn't any major pain, swelling or any visible signs of the injury, the foot still feels tender from time to time. 

All this time I assumed that the tenderness was caused due to the running but as I discovered last evening, it may very well be my everyday-wear shoes. These are the comfiest pair of shoes that I have ever owned and since I tend to walk a reasonable amount on an average day, more often than not you'll find my feet encased in them despite my husband calling them the ugliest pair of shoes I have ever owned. As I felt the too-familiar irritation, I reached down and loosened the strap of the shoe and almost instantly the pain disappeared. On thinking about it, I realized that my snug-fitting shoes strap down at the exact point of the injury and could quite possibly be keeping the tendon from healing fully especially since I walk a lot in them.

I'm also remembering that the tendon doesn't get irritated immediately after or during my run and it usually occurs a few hours after I've rested and walked around (most likely in my Jambu shoes) a bit. Although I love them, I going to try not wearing them for a week and see if things with my foot improve. I hope they do.

Michelle Kakade & The Great Indian Quadrilateral Run

Today I across this runner & her event while reading random news feeds on facebook and it is Jaw-dropping to say the least (my jaws dropped anyways).

The Great Indian Quadrilateral Run is a run planned over 6010 km of highway passing through 57 major cities in India, touching Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta, Chennai and Bengaluru among the others. More on the route can be found here. Michelle Kakade is running this distance in an attempt to enter the Guinness World Record for "Fastest time to travel the Indian Golden Quadrilateral on foot (female)". The run has been broken down into 171 stages and the plan is to cover all 171 stages in a matter of 187 days by running an average of 35 km a day with just 16 days of rest inbetween. Phew.

Michelle's run was flagged off on October 21st at the Gateway of India in Mumbai and has been going strong ever since. I have been reading her blog updates on finishing each stage and I have a feeling that its going to take on a sort of serial addiction.

In every city, she's had other runners keeping her company for the whole or part of the way - just to be part of the event - and its being called "Run with Michelle". I wonder if  I'll join in by the time she reaches Chennai. It will probably be 4-5 months from now so I'm not sure myself. 

But all in all, Kudos to this woman. She started her running at 35 - she only took part in sports in school because it was compulsory - I can relate - and is going incredibly strong at 47. She holds three Limca National records - all for endurance running and has a string of other achievements at various endurance running events all over the world. So much admiration!

The runs - they get longer!

I had a really nice training run this morning. The weather was cooler than usual, I felt well hydrated and energetic and managed to push out a 12k when my goal was only 11.5k.

I took my new favourite route down Nungambakkam High Road, Cathedral Road and RK Salai all the way up to Marina Beach and back. I was hoping to run with some of runners from Nungambakkam Nitros but I guess my timing was off and I couldn't spot anyone from the group. 

I enjoy these weekly long runs - I am even hoping on increasing them by 2k every week as opposed to 1.5k so in a very small way I can increase my training miles. I've hardly been sticking to my workout schedule these past couple of weeks and with just about 7 weeks to go before race day, I better get back on track. I'm also thinking of signing up for the Dusk to Dawn Night Marathon (10k) which will take place 2 weeks before the Chennai Marathon and will make for a nice taper run before the big run.

Not that my feet are back to normal - they still feel slightly strained - but the running hasn't worsened them and this run-a-day-then-rest-6-days-plan seems to be working well. 

Stay posted for updates.

The definitely-must-run-someday list.

In my last post, I mentioned my definitely-must-run-someday list. Its fairly new - only has about 3 runs on it currently but I'm sure it will grow in no time.

My list started out two months ago when I was unable to go for the Chennai Trail Marathon thanks to my foot injury and I decided I would definitely do it next year. The latest entry on there is the Run the Rann that I posted about last. The 2nd entry and the most interesting of the three is something that I chanced across while reading another runner's blog.

This blog, mom on the run, carries an interview - rather a story by a runner which details her experiences of running a marathon in Antartica. You heard it. Antartica. ANTARTICA. Who goes there? Let alone runs there! The story is very inspiring and I couldn't help feel awestruck by this mom of two and her grit. 42 kilometers (and then some) in unimaginable sub-zero temperatures, strange terrains all in 8 layers of clothing - I'm all applause for this lady.

I am not even sure why this run is on my list. My fingers turn numb if the air conditioning is turned to below 20 degrees C. If I ran, I think I would just turn into a frozen block of ice and they would have to ship me back home. But then I imagine being in a place so remote that only a handful of people have ever been to, running with penguins gawking at me wondering what on earth I was doing there in their territory and seeing beautiful ice scapes such as only nature can create and I think that would be a wonderful thing to have on your bucketlist. At this point I find it highly unlikely that I would ever do it but how awesome if I do! :-)

This is the link to the actual race which I looked up later on. Incidentally they are fully booked for the 17th & 18th editions in 2016 & 2017. Just saying.

A Trail Run for Whenever

Yesterday, I came across a call for registrations for "Run The Rann", a trail marathon held in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat and of course I had to read more on it...

The trail snakes through the arid terrains of the salt desert and runners will have to put themselves through limit-testing conditions to get to the finish line. Some of the photos in the gallery from past editions of the run look beautiful. The Desertscape and the promise of views of the ancient ruins of the Indus Valley Civillization made me want to put this one on my definitely-must-run-someday list. (The list is pretty new and currently has only 3 runs on it). Normally, I would have wanted to register right away and start counting down the days to the big run but these days I'm not feeling very upbeat about my running and hence the list. 

I'm totally not happy about having to take my training down a notch and not running as frequently as before is causing a disconnect between me and my running.  There are so many running events happening all around leading up to the Chennai Marathon and it sucks that I cannot participate. It is also the Marathon season now and there are races taking place almost every week. I would have loved to be part of the Bangalore Marathon (just for the experience - I heard from people who went that it was not well organized). Sigh! I keep having to tell myself that there is always next year...

A Nice Long Run

Laced up my running shoes today, after a break of 10 days. The goal was 10 k which I managed to do in a pretty decent time of 1:08:52

A slight change in scenery today as I had decided to run straight from home all the way up to Marina Beach - an extension of the usual Nitros route - and halfway back. Loved the run! It is always awesome to be up in the early hours when there are so few people and traffic about (relatively) and the air still feels fresh and clean! Once I got to the beach, I paused a little for a few lungfuls of the sea air before turning around.

There were a lot of runners around today. Chennai Runners had organized a short group run along the same route and I got to see a few familiar faces from the Nungambakkam Nitros as well. I initially thought that I would run with them today, but running with the group might have made me push a little harder just to keep pace with some of the other runners  and I wanted to go a little easy on the foot. 

I like today's route, it is more or less a straight stretch and can be easily tweaked for slightly longer distances. For my long runs I thinking I'll use versions of this route from now on. I'm all psyched for my next run on Saturday which will be 11.5k. 

Foot is doing ok right now. Need to see how it fares over the next couple of days and if all goes well with it, I'm thinking of doing a short 3k run on Tuesday to get used to my hydration belt & make sure that I can run comfortably with it. Fingers Crossed...

More Foot Worries

Its been a week since my last run. Had planned on doing a 10k run on Saturday but my weekend was way too happening to squeeze it in.

Post my 8k run last Tuesday, my foot has been feeling a little strained so the unplanned rest was actually a good thing. It feels ok now so I could probably run tomorrow but I think I'll skip it - just to be on the safe side. Funny thing is that the foot started acting up just when I was feeling confident about it and had registered for the the Chennai Marathon.

I am concerned that if I continue with my training as planned - even at the low weekly mileage at 3 times a week, I could end up injuring my foot badly and having to take several weeks off running. I'm cutting my runs down to once a week so it gives my foot enough time to recuperate after every run and fill the rest of the week with cardio & strength-training exercises. Its far from ideal but its the only way I can think of by which I could still run the half marathon relatively injury-free. The runs will be long, slow distance runs to build & maintain endurance which is the most important requirement for finishing a marathon. 

Given that I will be doing any tempo runs or speed training runs, I will have to focus on finishing the run in whatever time and not worry about beating my PB. 

I ♥ Tuesdays

I'm really starting to love my Tuesdays. I have my first run for the week plus on the work front its "technically" my day off (though I still end up doing a bit of work from home). The group run gives me that little extra nudge out of bed in the mornings since I feel slightly more accountable and running in a pack makes the run enjoyable in a different way.

My schedule called for an 8.5k run today but I set off with a target of 8k. 5k to 8k seemed like a more reasonable jump than 5k to 8.5k. (I am not counting the 7.5k indoor drill I did on Sunday). I was very happy with my run. I could cover the distance without feeling drained or exhausted at any point and managed to keep up a steady, consistent medium pace.

For the past few runs I had gotten into the habit of skipping my pre-run snack which is usually a banana or some other calorie-dense fruit. Today, I did manage a banana in the morning before my run. The weather was pretty pleasant today in comparison and I also had my water bottle with me today and was hydrating frequently. Any of those or all three could be the reason behind my no-fatigue run. 

I really do not enjoy the feeling of holding something in my hand during a run. I must get accustomed to the hydration belt and get back to my hands-free running.

My running app setting was still on indoors from my last run so the distance shown isn't accurate. I ran 8.1 k (according to google maps) but it showed up on the app as 8.45k. Making my average pace 6.48 as opposed to 6.31 as shown.

Running Drills

I've had a pretty chilled-out weekend so far... Party Friday night, vegging out the whole of Saturday and a relaxed Sunday morning. Did not manage to wake up early enough for the 8k run that I had planned. So decided to substitute that this evening with some indoor drills for running form.

In the past, I've often resorted to running in place at home whenever I've been unable to get outside to run. Based on what I've read, it is a good form of cardio work-out and it also helps you train your running form. I looked up some running form drills today and came across this article on Women's Running which I tweaked a bit for today's work-out.

So the entire workout which lasted for 50 minutes included 10 minutes of jogging in place to warm up then 9 rounds of 40 sec High Knees + 20 sec jogging in place, 40 sec Butt kicks + 20 sec jogging in place and 20 sec fast feet + 40 sec jogging in place with 2 minutes of easy jogging after the 3rd and 6th round followed by 9 minutes of jogging in the end to cool down.

I had my nike+ running app turned on to the indoor settings and it showed the above workout to be the equivalent of running 7.5k and burning 418 calories. I'm not sure how accurate that is but it was certainly a sweat fest. I'm glad I worked out and happy that I did not give into laziness as I am prone to do on weekends.

:-)

A non-run run

There was another Girls Only Run organized by the Chennai Runners held today and I had planned to run for it. 

Since my schedule called for a 8.5 k run this weekend and knowing that I wouldn't be able to run this Saturday (blame it on our moderately active social life), I had planned on running from home to the GOR venue and participating in the 5k run with the women making up a total of about 7.5 k.

The run was meant to begin at 5:30 so I left home nice and early at 5:00 along an unfamiliar route to Panagal Park in T Nagar. Being a new route and unsure of how safe (or unsafe) it would be, I had asked my husband to come along with me. He was biking slowly along with me and I felt like one of those super-star runners with my own personal patrol... :-) :-)

I had worn my new hydration belt as planned and boy! did it take some getting used to. It was bobbing around all over the place (I probably hadn't worn it correctly) and I had to keep stopping to readjust it. 500 meters into the run I gave up on it, handed it to hubby and ran unhindered the rest of the way to the venue. Managed to cover the 2.5 k to the venue in about 20 minutes only to learn that the running event would start only by 6:00. I was all warmed up with my run and didn't want to stick around for half and hour and let myself cool down completely and so I turned around and headed back home.

It was a good 5k run to T Nagar and back but I may have to do an 8k on Sunday to make up my weekly mileage.

Got Myself a Fuel Belt!!

A couple of months ago, a new specialty running store, Running Lab opened up in Chennai and I've been been wanting to go and check it out ever since. Finally yesterday I managed to find the time to drop in and ooh! wasn't I like a kid in a Candy Store!!

I picked up a snazzy new fuel belt and a super-wicking headband and I'm so excited to try them out. They had a few options for hydrating on the go - from palm held bottles to fuel belts. I got the belt with the single bottle that holds about 750ml of fluid. I picked this over the double bottle belt since that one could only hold about 300ml of fluid (both the bottles combined). Given the weather conditions that I run in, I tend to need a lot more than just 300 ml.

As always the teeniest things excite me... Going to inaugurate this baby tomorrow... 

Tuesday Runs

I love days like today when I'm up, laced up and running before the sun. :-)

Ran with the Nitros today. Did another easy 6K slowly progressing up my schedule. Was in much better form today than during my run on Saturday. Finished my run in 41:50. 

As always, running with the group helps me pick up my pace but I'm constantly in the danger of comparing myself to the other runners in the group - some of them are way better runners than me in terms of pace & form and they have about the same length of running experience as I do. I have to keep telling myself that each runner is different and considering that I never had much of an athletic background growing up and in my younger adult years, I should learn not to be too hard on myself

Heres our customary post-run group picture. This time around, we changed the backdrop.. :-)

Run Update

I had to switch activities around in my schedule this weekend thanks to some social commitments and ended up doing my 6K today as opposed to yesterday and squeezed in a bit of Yoga yesterday instead of today.

Was out of my home and running by 5:30 am today. I debated a bit about taking the long route through Haddows road & college road but stuck to my regular route instead. It was super humid today - like it has been for the past few days and felt like I was running in a sauna. By the time I got to my half-way point, I was ready to call it quits but somehow talked myself into continuing. Drank a few sips of water, slowed down considerably and managed to push myself into finishing my 6k. Took me nearly 45 minutes but felt great at the end.

I figured that a lot of my exhaustion was probably also because I was most likely dehydrated from the couple of drinks that I had last evening. Alcohol and running just don't mix and I've discovered that time and again. Every time I've had a drink or two in the evening prior to my run, I've felt it in my running. 

Did a longer than usual post-run routine and everything feels good. Looking forward to my Tuesday run already.

The Gear...

I'll be the first to admit it... one of the things I enjoy the most about prepping for a run is putting together my running gear. I love coordinating my sports bras and tops with my socks and shoes. And if it is a big run, like the few races I've taken part in - then the planning starts weeks ahead. I recently discovered the ultimate comfort of running in Dri-Fit and would love to replace all my cotton gear with Dri Fit. 

Dri-Fit is Nike's patented performance fabric but most sport's wear brands have their own versions of it. (Like Reebok's Play Dry). In a textile sense, the property of fabric to move sweat away from the body and to the surface of the fabric is called wicking and most mid to high end sports wear brands use this technology to develop performance fabrics for athletic gear. Wicking is possible only in fabrics with high polyester content and living in a hot, humid climate, I would shudder at the thought of wearing polyester or anything synthetic at any point in the day. Wearing polyester gear while running was therefore inconceivable!!

During my last race with the Dream Runners however, I was talked into trying out Dri-Fit. My leggings and sports bra were both Dri-Fit and what a difference it made. You don't get the heavy drenched feeling and the clothes feel dry and light even though you're still pouring with perspiration. My tank was cotton though. 

For my next major run I'm going all out wicking. :-)

The Way Forward

I've gone on four runs now since recovering from my foot injury. And so far so great. I love that the foot is behaving well and that there is no recurring niggling pains. I've given myself two more relaxed weeks (not counting this week) to ease into my training and if all goes well, I am thinking of going into full-swing half marathon training from October 12th onward. That will leave me 8 full weeks of training before the race week. 

Heres's my planned schedule. As always I'm sure it will be subjected to a lot of changes over the course of 8 weeks...

Most hard-core runners would say that my schedule has too little running. Which is probably true if you're a serious runner and you have set-in-stone targets for bettering you PR or earning a podium finish. At this point I am more concerned about running injury-free and running strong. So I figured that a thrice-a-week running + thrice a week cross + 1 day rest schedule will work just fine for me. 

Been reading up a lot of articles online and there are lots of different opinions out there on how much you need to run. Here are two conflicting thoughts on the matter from runner's world & competitor. Ofcourse for a novice who is really just running for the fun of it (me) some of those points are just moot...

Good Run & Feeling Good

I had a good run today. Woke up feeling very enthu, laced up the running shoes and ran up to Haddows park to meet the Nitros gang. Ran at an easy relaxed pace along the usual Nitros route of Nungambakkam High Road & Cathedral Road up to the Flyover on Radhakrishnan Salai. Counting my run up to the Haddows park, that was a total of 4.5k which was on my schedule anyways.

Post-run the talk was about registering for the Wipro Chennai Marathon which is about 90 days away. This time though I'm going to register only once I'm sure my foot can withstand the distance & the training that I will be putting it through. There is still plenty of time. Foot feels okay though, after today's run, so thats a start!

Heres us in our customary post-run pic.

Missed it!

I had a running event scheduled for today. It is the Bessie Runners' anniversary celebrations and they had organized a fun little run where you predict your finishing time at the start and run without any gadgets or timers. Had signed up for the run earlier in the week and had predicted a finishing time of 34:50 for 5K. Didn't run yesterday thinking I would have this run today. 

Come this morning, I slept through my alarm and suddenly woke up around the time when I should have been lining up at the start line. :-( Felt pretty awful. Since I had all my running gear set out from last night for this morning I decided to run a 4.5k along my usual route in hope that I would feel a little better. It was late already (6:45) when I started. It was hot and humid and I felt exhausted by the time I hit 1.5k. The general lack of sleep that I've been putting myself through the whole of last week thanks to work also didn't help with the exhaustion. Decided to call it quits and head home.

Hopefully next week is better.

Next Time

Now that I've started running again, I am glad that I didn't follow through with my crazy idea of going for the CTM 2015 trail marathon. Not running for 6 weeks has made my fitness level drop quite a bit. The 3K was a comfortable distance for me to run the other day but I would have found anything more that 5K taxing - let alone 21.1k on rough, uneven terrain.

However, now my FB news feed is filled with pictures from the trail run and I do feel disappointed I could not run...

On the flip side here is a picture that a runner posted of his shoes post CTM.. :-)

Next time. Theres always next time!

Feels Great to be Back Running

I resumed running proper today. Did a nice and easy run by myself along my usual route down Kothari Road and its bylanes. It felt great to be pounding the familiar streets and to see the familiar faces on their routine morning walks. 

I ran the 3K comfortably and was able to run throughout without walking breaks. The foot seems to be fine but I made sure I stretched it out before the run and icing my feet has become a permanent feature in my post run cool down routine.

Feels fantastic.

A Crazy Thought...

The Chennai Trail Marathon will be held this coming Saturday. If you remember, I had registered for it while riding my runner's high after having completed my first half marathon. Then that annoying thing with my peroneal tendon happened and I had resigned myself to sitting out the race. While recuperating from my foot injury, I used to get see the rare update from the race organizers which was easy to deal with. But now, as the race day approaches, the updates and also notifications from their facebook page have increased significantly.
Here's the latest - the race route map!

I only resumed running last weekend (and that too a run/walk combo) but I am so tempted to go. (Maybe I can run slowly, Maybe I can do a run/walk combo, Maybe I can walk all the way....). 

Yes, as this post title suggests, I am aware that its a crazy idea. I wouldn't attempt a regular half marathon with no training let alone a trail run over hills, farmland and muddy terrains... But look how exciting this route looks... And I did register!

I think I should let a sane, impartial person - non-bitten by the running bug - talk me out of this.

Finally on the run!

Yay!  I've got my happy face on because I finally got out and ran today after nearly five weeks of rest.

Last week a committee member of the Chennai Runners had got in touch with me and asked if they could use one of my images shot during the Dream Runners Half Marathon for use in some of the promo material for The Wipro Chennai Marathon to be held later this year. With my permission they used it for a "girls only" running event to generate more participation from women in the upcoming race.

I thought it only natural that I participate in the group run that my face was promoting.. :-). I got one of my friends, Pooja to run as well and it was her first ever run... Kept it nice,slow and easy and we went 5k with a run/walk combo. We ran about 2 k of the distance and walked the rest.

Pooja & I enjoying our post-run energy drink! :-)

I'm just feeling happy and content post the run. The foot too seems to have taken it sportingly! Such a pick-me-up running is for me!!

Still not running

Remember my last post on the Peroneal Tendon Stretches? I tried out the stretches the next day as planned and it didn't do me a lot of good. I'm not sure if it was just in my head or not but after doing the stretches it felt like my tendon was more irritated than ever.

I've been continuing with my low-impact work outs at home to keep my fitness level up. I have given myself another two weeks of this before I can resume my running. The coming week I'm going to focus on core strength and I've put together a series of work outs including cardio and strength. Its a mix of zumba, dance, pilates and your standard core exercises like crunches and plank and so on... I'm actually looking forward to it.

Working out at home I've come to realize that I have very poor upper body strength (I can barely do a single straight push-up and about 5 push-ups from the on-the-knees position), ok core strength and ever-so-slightly better lower body strength. Building strength and muscle is important even for running form & better endurance. So even if I am not running I hope these weeks of strength training help me in the long run towards becoming a better runner...

I've also been keeping up with my running reading online. It actually keeps me motivated and helps me with the not-lose-interest-in-running bit. There's this article on running frequency which I found useful that I'm linking here for future reference.

More Foot Stories

I am so annoyed and frustrated at not being able to run. It doesn't help matters that almost on a minute to minute basis I get updates from my running group via whatsapp on group runs, upcoming running events and other running related matters. I sorely miss running. 

In the throes of my annoyance I was googling recuperation time for peroneal tendonitis and came across this article that showed some strengthening exercises and stretches for peroneal tendon injuries.

This is the (edited) image from the article

I tried out the towel stretch (very cautiously) and that was pretty doable with zero discomfort or pain and I feel that I can progress to the rest. So tomorrow I shall try the calf stretches and a couple of  the others. 

Sometimes I think that my tendon has actually healed completely and that I'm imagining any tenderness or abnormalities. But I have strict instructions from hubby to continue putting running on pause. (sigh!)

Itching to Run

Its been more than 2 weeks since my last run and my little injury. Recouping has been going okay. Two weeks of complete rest, icing, elevation and a magic ayurvedic oil has made my foot near-perfect. I'm being cautious however and am going to give it a couple more weeks to really settle before I resume running.

Meanwhile I've started on some cardio & strength workouts to keep my fitness levels up and hopefully strengthening my muscles will help with my running form whenever I resume. I'm a fan of this really cool website, Fitness Blender that posts full-length work out videos that I love. This week, I am following a five day work out program that is meant to work out all the different muscle groups in the body.

While I love the post-workout feel and seeing the results, I miss the enjoyment I get out of running. It really is the best!! :-) :-) Can't wait to start...

Ouch!

On Tuesday, after my run with the Nitros, while walking home from Haddows Park, I started noticing some familiar pains in both my feet. The left one was just a sore, achy kind of pain around the ankle while the right one was sharper - the kind that makes you want to take all weight off the foot even if it means limping home - and on the outside edge of the foot. Looks like a week off wasn't enough to fully heal it.

I got home and iced both my feet. The left foot behaved perfectly normally after that but the right one was still a little tender and I thought that there was a slight swelling on the outside.

After hours of looking it up on the internet I finally came across the probable cause of this. Peroneal Tendonitis! Ha! 

"Peroneal Tendonitis is another common cause of pain on outside of foot and around the heel.  It develops when there is repetitive tension through the peroneal tendons of the foot causing irritation, inflammation and degeneration. It is usually caused by frequent overuse such as long distance running, abnormal foot position, muscle imbalance or after an ankle sprain. - www.foot-pain-explored.com"

Click here for more wisdom on Peroneal Tendonitis

Long Distance Running - Check! Abnormal Foot Position - Check. It hurts at the exact same point that is highlighted in the diagram and it hurts when I tilt my foot down from the ankle and when I turn my foot to the outside which is the exact function of the Peroneal Tendon (plantarflexion & eversion) which makes me 99.99% sure that this is what is affecting my foot.

The Article went on to say that icing, rest and elevation is the best remedy for this. It also said that this injury could take up to several months to fully settle. Bummer!!

On Tuesday and Wednesday I put a complete stop to all my activities. Iced my poor right foot and kept it propped up most of the time. On both days I could hardly bear to put any weight on my right foot and was hobbling from room to room whenever I had to. Thankfully, today it felt better. I could walk slightly humanly and feeling completely insane after spending 48 hours with just myself, I decided to come into work even.

Yes, of course training has been put on indefinite pause. I have even made my peace with not being able to run in the Chennai Trail Marathon on September 13th. :-( :-( :-(

Hurry up foot! And get better fast!!!

Keep on Running

I ran today after a week of keeping off my tender foot. As per my schedule it was a "hill run" today. I ran with the Nungambakkam Nitros over the Cathedral Road Flyover (our "hill"). The Flyover is approximately 250 meters one way and at an incline of 25-30 degrees (I'm guessing) and I could manage about 2 reps up and down before my body decided to call it quits. Hopefully should graduate to a few more reps the next time.

I was running with a water bottle in my hand which I'm so not used to and after having read an article in Active a while ago about the long-term dangers of carrying something in your hand while running, this is something I really don't want to get used to. I think I need to start looking for a hydration belt.

Heres me with the Nitros in our customary post cool down pic.

CR00969 :-)

Last week I had registered with the Chennai Runners a group of runners and running enthusiasts based in Chennai. The registration gives you a subscription to Chennai's own Rundown Magazine and a few other goodies. I received my "registration kit" today and read the magazine cover to cover in a matter of minutes. And honestly, I am so easily excitable! Just had to pose with the Neon Green Chennai Runners Cap & my membership card...

:-) Yay!

 

Time for the next one!

Two days ago I registered for my next Half Marathon (Thats right! I did!). This time its a trail run as opposed to running on the road. This Chennai Trail Marathon has been called the toughest course in South India and takes place in the villages & hills surrounding the Cholavaram lake by Red Hills on the outskirts of Chennai. 

I have been seeing pictures of the runs held in the past years and it looked beautiful! I was tempted to join but being so far out and not having anyone to go with, I had sort of decided I wouldn't register. But on Tuesday some of these guys from Nungambakkam Nitros said they were going so then I figured why not. 

I did get some fair warning from Mudit, one of the runners in the group, that it was a tough, tough route. He said I should expect to finish my run in half an hour to 45 minutes later than my last half marathon time! Ooh Daunting!! Wouldn't hurt to try though right?

That there is my training schedule for CTM. The "Hill" Workouts are going to be with the Nungambakkam Nitros on the Cathedral Road Flyover. It sounds a bit risky to me but I guess the group knows what they are doing. The race organizers have also arranged for practice runs on the actual trail over some of the weekends in August & September. May try to squeeze one of those in into my schedule.

Okay... so here we go again!

My Foot!

I find that my feet are the most vulnerable to injuries and soreness after the run. While (touchwood) my knees have never given me any issues in all my running my feet are often tired, sore or achy especially after long runs. 

When I walk, my feet are naturally cross footed and the same applies to when I run. (Very clear to see in these pics below.) I think thats the main cause of the strange aches around the ankles that I feel.

I've been reading up on exercises to strengthen the foot muscles and not surprisingly there are quite a few of them out there. I really like this article from Breaking Muscle and the exercises described in this article from Sports Injury Clinic. This article from Active is meant for tennis players but I think it has great use as general advice for the feet and plus it also has other links to great feet articles.

I must try and incorporate some of these foot exercises on a regular basis. 

The Nungambakkam Nitros

After much facebook crawling I found a chapter of Chennai Runners that run in Nungambakkam (called the Nungambakkam Nitros) and I joined them today.

Running with others (as I had previously discovered) is phenomenally better for me than just running by myself. This group has a good mix of beginner & seasoned runners and they meet on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays every week for organized training sessions. Trying to keep pace with the faster runners really helped me improve my pace.

They start their runs at Haddows Park and today the easy recovery run was done till the over-bridge on Cathedral Road and back to Haddows Park - a total of 5 km. Adding the 1.7 k jog from my place to Haddows park makes my run total of 6.7 k on a day that I had planned to rest and take it easy.

It was a good run followed by a quick coffee session at Raj Bhavan which was fun, light and quite informative too. No one in my immediate friends circle is into running so it felt great to be part of conversations centered around running.

I hope this is the beginning of something awesome!