So Many Miles To Go

I've been running earnestly now for the past year and a half and it occurred to me that I have no record or log of my experience as a runner except for the activity history on my Nike+ app. I imagine that at some point I would find such an account useful. Or maybe somebody else would.

Like many others I started running as a means by which to shed the excess weight I had packed on. But on my very first run I realized I loved it and knew that I would continue running even if I were to become skinny as a rail. This was back in Jan 2013. I started out right in front of my apartment where I would circle the building a few times. One round is approximately 150 meters. I weighed 72 kilos at the time and was so unfit that on my first run, I couldn't even complete half a round of the building.

For a month I kept at it alternating between running and walking and gradually I was able to run about four or five rounds at a stretch. I realize now that the pathway around my building was probably the worst place to run because it was paved with concrete blocks and being badly maintained was uneven in places and on the whole a very poor surface to run on. I used to get terrible pain on my shins thanks to that. Also, I was running in shoes which I had bought for the gym and general work-outs and I'm pretty sure they weren't made for hard running.

Back then I had no clue about pace and interval training and fartleks and what not (I'm still pretty clueless) and I also did not bother to read up on running as a sport or access the world of information out there on running and training properly. I don't remember exactly why (the shin pain and lack of information being likely causes) but after a couple of months I stopped with the running and switched to Zumba and Tae Bo instead to lose weight.

About a year later (and 12 kilos lighter), my friend Mallika got me enthused about a race called Pinkathon. Essentially a "fun" race organized to promote awareness and detection of breast cancer, Pinkathon is meant only for women participants. I signed up for the 5K distance completely motivated and inspired by Mallika and began running again. This time I took it slightly more serious. I invested in a pair of Puma running shoes, downloaded the Nike+ app and ran every alternate day for about half an hour covering a distance of  4 to 4.5 kilometers.

The run was held on March 8th, Women's Day and it was a really great experience. I finished my 5K in 34:08 but what really stood out was the experience of running with thousands of women and being cheered on by random strangers. I felt like I had achieved something momentous.

On the very same day of the 5K I registered myself for a 10K event organized by a Chennai based group, Dream Runners. The run was scheduled for June 22nd which gave me enough time to train. I began my training with great enthusiasm but it was quite disorganized and uninformed to say the least. To sum up my training, I just ran as much as possible whenever I felt like it. As a result, I suffered many injuries (most of which I could have avoided by just stretching properly post & pre run) including a very painful and awkward groin pull, an ankle injury and many minor others. I also developed a very strange recurring issue with my foot (I looked all over the internet but didn't come across anything similar). It was a pain right behind my toes and hurt all the way to the balls of the foot. If I stopped running the pain would go away over time and come right back when I resumed running.

Thankfully none of the injuries were serious enough to keep me from running on the day of the event. The run started off well enough but by the time I had crossed the 4 km mark my strange-foot-pain returned. I ofcourse continued running with it but it became more painful with each passing kilometer and I had slowed down to a slow jog the last kilometer. But heres the awesome part about running in an event with thousands of others - the last 200 meters or so of the course is filled with cheering spectators yelling out encouragement and you can't help but give it your all. The last 200 meters I ran my fastest possible and crossed the finish line feeling elated (runners high? maybe). I clocked 1:19:43 - 10 minutes longer than my worst training time but it was okay. I was still pretty kicked.

Here's something I learnt from that race. Baggy pants for running - terrible idea. I had chafed so badly that both my inner thighs looked like they had been burnt and stayed that way for a week. My foot continued to hurt for another week but slowly disappeared with rest.

I had big plans of doing a half marathon later that year in December. But good sense prevailed and I decided to do another 10K instead. I only ran sporadically in July and August and once I was sure that my foot was ok, I started training in September. This time round I did some research online and looked up training schedules by professional trainers and runners. I really liked the beginner training program by Hal Higdon and tweaked it a little to suit my fitness level and schedule.

By November I had figured it wouldn't be possible to take part in the race so all training came to a complete stop.

I started running again in January. I didn't have a race to look forward to but I stuck to the 10K training schedule that I had worked out previously. Sometime in March I got to know that Pinkathon was holding its 2nd event in Chennai on April 12th. I registered for the 10K this time around. Since my training was going well anyways, I really had no worries. I got a couple of my friends enthused as well so had lots of company going for the run.

In the last couple of weeks leading up to the event, my friend, Nishani joined me in training. Running with a friend is so much more fun than running alone. Its not like we were chatting away or exchanging gossip mid-run but having someone run along side you pushes you on and keeps you motivated which is great.

April in Chennai is sweltering hot. By 6:30 am the temperature is already 30 degrees plus. The race started late. It was 6:00 a.m (my training was always during 5:00 to 6:00 a.m) when the 10K runners were flagged off and midway through the run, the sun was beating down in fury and I felt it acutely. Had to hydrate more than usual and that led to wanting to pee badly which is a major distraction when you run. I finished the run in 1:11:05 which was not bad given the torturous weather.

A few days before the race I had registered for my first half marathon. The thought itself was daunting to me. After Pinkathon it felt even more daunting because I had felt completely exhausted and depleted by the end of the 10K itself. And a half marathon is more than double the distance!

I've been training somewhat diligently for the past 16 weeks and the event is a week from now. Its the 4th edition of the Dream Runners HM and I'm excited and nervous as the event draws close.

Watch this space.