GRM2017 & TWCM Volunteer Run

Last Sunday I had an amazing run at the Goa River Marathon 2017. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to turn out as good as it did. The 10K race was flagging off at 7:30 and I assumed it would be hot and muggy like it is here. Surprisingly, it was cool and pleasant almost all through the run. The event was organized well. There were aid stations every 2 kilometers and almost at 1K intervals they had volunteers standing and handing out water bottles. I get dehydrated very quickly on my runs so this was a totally blessing. I had planned on just two water breaks but ended up taking a lot more. 

The course and route was almost like a trail in terms of elevation gains & dips and the view. It was a very scenic route and I enjoyed the views especially along the river. I stuck to my pace plan more or less till the 8K point. But from there until the finish line was all incline. Including a particularly steep climb for about 500 meters. I finished the run at 62:36. Though it was 2:36 minutes off my target, I was incredibly pleased with the run... :-) It was still my PB. I bettered my time by almost 5 minutes. I was even more kicked when I got the timing results and saw that I had come 9th...

Running the GRM seems to have given me a whole new boost of confidence and I seem to have gotten over my mental block of running at sub 6 paces. So this weekend when I had the chance to do another timed run, I happily took it up. It was a run in lieu of volunteering at the TWCM. The run was organized by one of the chapters of the Chennai Runners and it was strange route. Almost all of it was run along the highway in Vanagaram in Chennai. I was running with a couple of others from the Nungambakkam Nitros and thank God for the company! Maybe it was my fellow runners, maybe it was because the route was so boring that I was eager to finish it quickly, maybe it was because I had had enough rest the previous night or maybe it was the weather, but whatever the reason, I found myself almost comfortably finishing at around 61:40. My official timing which I received later was 1:01:33. Another PB. Super thrilled! It is still a minute and a half away from my elusive sub 60 goal, but a PB is a PB! :)

Another Race is upon me

December 10th is two days away and its going to be my day of reckoning (to put a dramatic spin on things!:)). This year I had set a running goal for myself to break 10K in 60minutes. To be truly honest, my training hasn't been the best. I could have been way more focused and way more consistent with my runs. Anyhow, in two days time is the Goa River Marathon. I've signed up for a 10K and this was the race meant for me to meet my goal. 

I am not at all sure if I can beat my target. Over the past couple of months, while I have definitely managed to improve my speed, my best training time for 10K is still shy of four minutes from my goal. I am a little hopeful that by some miracle I cross the finish with maybe seconds to spare. In fact, I've promised myself that I am going to give it my all. Still, self-doubt is at an all time high at this point.

The event seems to be well organized and the organizers have given a clear cut route map. I have aid stations at the 3K point and the 7K point which I plan to use and I've broken down the route into 1K segments with the average pace for each segment & the cumulative time at which I should reach each KM point.

Looks perfect on paper. But running at a consistent pace below 6'00" has always posed a challenge for me (not sure if its all in my head) where I find myself tiring out quickly and wanting to stop or at least slow down a bit. Goa at this time might be more humid than here. That is bound to slow me down. I will be staying in a hotel the night before the race and many variables could fail to add up. I may not get proper sleep on a strange bed in a strange place, I might not have access to my usual pre-run snacks, I may not get to the venue on time (God Forbid!), and so many other things. My brain is just full of this. 

Time to take a deep breath and chill out. 

Tales of a Devil Slayer :)

I really don't mean for this blog to turn into a monthly issue.. :( But looks like it's happening anyway. I am going to pick up where I left off and write a (very) belated post on my Devil Circuit Experience from last month.

17th September started really early for me. Even though my start time was given as 8:20 we had a long ride ahead of us to get to the venue. Which meant starting off bleary-eyed at 6:00 am. It had rained all night so we knew we were in for a slushy treat... :-) And as expected, the grounds in Oragadam where the obstacle course had been set up was an icky, muddy mess. Its a good thing that we were expecting this and had worn our oldest shoes.

I had gone with husband Dominic and a bunch of friends from the Nungambakkam Nitros and running the course was that much the better because of the company. It was a tough, tough course made much worse by the slippery, marshy terrain but I enjoyed it all the way through. The course was a 5K stretch run in a maze format with 15 military-style obstacles peppered through it. To say that I was unprepared for the course would be an understatement. None of my training involves the sort of climbing, jumping and pulling that the course demanded. 

The First of these were the "Triple Threat" - three shoulder high barriers that you had to pull yourself over and across. I must have looked like a complete non-athletic mess as I scrambled & tumbled over the three of them. But whee! what fun... I had taken part in the non-competitive category which meant that the ambiance was one of jolly, high-spiritedness and everyone was helping one another & giving each other a boost where requested!

Then came the "Tyre Trawl" (I maybe getting these names wrong since it's already been a month) where you had to get across a string of tyres suspended on chains. It looked easy enough but it wasn't. Next was the "Push Your Limits" - a vertical wall (maybe 18 feet high) which you had to scale over with the help of a rope. I was mighty impressed when I managed to get on top... but the feeling of elation quickly evaporated when I realized that I had no idea how to get myself down (eventually though, I did). 

The fourth nightmare, "The Devil's Cage" was a Domed Ladder of sorts. Climbing up was easy peasy... At the top however, there was a platform about 5 feet wide with rungs spaced about 9 - 10" apart.. lose your footing and you might just slip through. I have an irrational fear of heights and I nearly had a panic attack here - but somehow managed to clamber across and get down.. The fifth one, "The Dead Ringer" was a suspended rope of a height of maybe 20 feet. It was knotted at about 4-5 feet intervals and you had to climb it all the way and ring the bell hanging at the top. I attempted this but didn't get further than the 2nd knot.

Next up was the "Sideway Plank". You need to prop yourself hands & feet across two support structures (which means you are suspended horizontal - a couple of feet off the ground with your hands & feet holding you up) and make your way across (maybe)15 feet of that. I attempted this one too but the overnight rains made the support structures very slippery and I could barely stay up.

Then came the "Devil's Steps" which was the most fun of all. You had to climb up 4 ascending platforms (each with a person-sized gap between them) and from the final platform you had jump off into a pool below. The pool below was super muddy having seen waves of muddy participants jump in. It made for an icky dive but by this point the mud really didn't matter.

The "Tunnel of Fright" which came next wasn't frightening in the least. These were a nice set of tunnels partially submerged in (muddy) water and you had to make your way through. This was one of the more doable obstacles for me. The next two obstacles were also water-based - "The vertical climb" in which you had to climb out of a pool and onto a sloping panel and jump over & repeat and "The Over and Out" in which two sets of rotating blocks would tumble you through one pool into the next and out. Both of these I bumbled through - rather ungracefully I must add.. :-)

The "Balance Bridge" was another obstacle which I managed to cross without falling into the water or looking like a total fool while crossing it. After this came the "Warped Wall" the first obstacle which I didn't bother attempting even. As the name plainly puts it, the obstacle was a warped wall which you had to scale. The way to go about scaling it is to run a few meters, and allow the momentum to help you scale up. I wouldn't have attempted it even if the land had been dry and smooth. Given the condition of the grounds (everyone was slipping and sliding all over the marshy grounds - some even got their foot stuck in it) there was absolutely no chance of it.

This was followed by the "Torture Trenches" a nice long stretch of barbed wire with about a foot and half crawl space underneath which (you guessed it) you had to crawl through. This wasn't too bad compared to some of the others. I'm sure my crawling form wouldn't have looked very pretty but I did manage to get across without any bodily harm from the barbed wire. I didn't attempt the next obstacle either. The "Devil's Hanger" as it was called had you doing an inverted climb across a pool of water.

The last obstacle was indeed the cherry on top - the "Brain Freeze" was a tunnel / slide on the other side of which was a freezing, ice-filled pool. As I slid down the tunnel, I had no idea what was coming. When the icy cold water hit me, my brain went into shock-mode. It took me a few seconds to even figure out what was happening... Waded quickly out of the water and several minutes and some jumping jacks later, started to feel normal again. But oh, what fun!! :-) :-)

(Head on over to the DC website for some nicely illustrated diagrams of all the obstacles)

It was a super-fun event (if you didn't mind all the mud and water) and the camaraderie with my running buddies made for a memorable day. Would I do it again? I'm not too sure. (We'll find out next year :-))

The Month that Went By

Its only when I logged in today that I realized that its been about a month since I posted.

The running has been going great! I am super thankful that I'm completely injury free and that I've been able to consistently get in three runs a week. I'm on course with my #runninggoal2017 training and every week on Tuesdays & Thursdays I have been joining the Nitros folks for incline runs & speed runs. On the other days I continue to work on my strength training. So all in all I have been pretty well behaved. :-)

Tomorrow I have a 5K obstacle race event - The Devil's Circuit. The distance is nothing but I have never run an obstacle course before. The 5K course is peppered with 15 military style obstacles which involes a lot of climbing and crawling - moves that I'm unfamiliar with. I'm participating in the noncompetitive segment which means I'm allowed to skip obstacles if I choose to and just run for the fun of it. Thats just good sense.

Though I had decided that I would not sign up for any more events this year, when I came across a notice calling for registrations for the Goa River Marathon, I couldn't help it and I signed up for a 10K. Its in December and if my training continues as it is, I might be ready to cross 10K-in-60 minutes off my bucket list.

Till then, I just got to keep on running! :-)

Keeping up with goals

This week has been about getting over vacation blues, overcoming inertia and getting back into the groove. I enjoyed a brilliant vacation in Meghalaya over an extended weekend and got back four days ago. While vacationing, though I had to skip my long run, I more than compensated with hours of trekking, hiking, climbing and cave explorations. I even managed to do a short, brisk run in pouring rain around Shillong's Wards Lake which felt great! But it's been a whole different story since I've been back.

I've managed to be borderline active. Have been doing some yoga and some weighted walking but no running and no strength workouts. Set well-intentioned alarms three times during the week all of which were instantly shut down and ignored. And finally today was the day. Mustered all of my self-motivation, laced up and hit the roads for my 60 minute run.

Remember my running goals for 2017? 10K in under 60 minutes? In my last post I described my training plan of progressive 60 minute runs. Each week, I try and push the distance covered by a little bit and as per my plan, I should be at goal pace & distance by Nov 5. Heres the 14 week map...

I'm on week 3 and its so-far-so-good (despite skipping week 2). Sticking to this consistently will be key. As I progress beyond my PB pace (Week 6 onwards) it will be crucial not to skip any week. To supplement this weekly 60 minute run, one day during the week I will be doing a tempo run at goal pace of 5'55" for shorter distances with the aim of getting accustomed to running at this faster pace. More on that later...

I'm pretty optimistic about this plan. Here's hoping...

Just keep on running

After running & trekking in Yercaud over the weekend, it felt pretty torturous to get out for a run in the hot, humid & clammy Chennai morning. Yercaud had the perfect run weather. Enjoyed a really great trek on Saturday morning and a quick short run up the slopes on Sunday (sans music and running app). In total contrast, this morning saw me run up & down the sloping Cathedral Road Flyover. The chirping birds replaced with the harsh honking of the morning traffic, the lush green with concrete and glass and the gravel & dirt trails with asphalt. I'd swap road running for nature trails any day.

Now that all my events are out of the way and that there aren't any new ones on the horizon, its time to get back to my running goal for the year. At the start of 2017, I had set my sights on running a 10K in under 60 minutes. I had given myself the whole year to train, develop and progress towards the goal. I must say, I was making some good headway until my ankle injury in April. From April to now, I haven't been following any specific plan and have mostly been winging it with the Nitros. Meaning which, I am no closer to my target than I was on Jan 1st.

To put it very simply, in order to run faster,  you must practise running faster. (If that makes any sense!). To run 10K under 60 minutes (even 59:59) I have to be able to run at a pace of 5'55" for the entire distance. My current 10K pace is about 6'55" to 7'05". I can run at a pace of 5'55" but will only be able to sustain it for 1.5K or 2K at the most. My training will therefore involve increasing that distance slowly through Tempo runs. Ultimately its about training my body to get accustomed to running at that faster pace. 

Well here goes!

Run Update

I got back to running on Wednesday after my half marathon on Sunday. I got out pretty late in the morning (6:00 am) for a 30 minute, easy, "recovery" run. Recovery runs are meant to be light, short distance runs to ease you back into your training. Being able to get back to running 3 days post the half marathon has to mean that my run was a strong one. Its a good sign.

The recovery run went well enough. Covered 4.3k in the time of 30 minutes at a relaxed pace of 7'00". The morning heat is always a bother but just something that you have to deal with while running in Chennai.

I have a weekend of hill running and trekking with my running gang coming up this weekend. We're taking a trip to Yercaud and the weather is supposedly much more pleasant there. Looking forward to some good running.

Race Day - DRHM2017

Yesterday had me running my first half for the year (and most likely my last one for the year too). The weather was 35 degrees C and the humidity at 63% (I am talking 6 a.m). It was not an easy run. Even at 4:30 when the race was flagged off, it was hot and stuffy without even the slightest whiff of a breeze (even though the initial stretch was along the beach). 

I tried desperately to keep my pace just under 7'00" the whole time in order to get to the finish line in under 150 minutes and thereby PB. And I did manage that more or less for the first 15 kilometers. In fact when I reached the halfway point at 1:12, I actually kidded myself into thinking it was possible. But with the rising sun, it got exceedingly tough and I had to stop at every aid station to hydrate and sip on electrolytes (which made me want to pee - to add to my misery). 

At around the 16k mark (after several why-am-I-doing-this-moments) I actually got to my give-up point. Its true what you read - long distance running actually has nothing to do with how physically able you are. It is really all about your mind. Ten thousand stories I had to tell myself to just get one foot in front of the other. (Perhaps in another post I'll retell them). Honestly its a miracle I got to the finish line.

Turning that last corner and seeing the giant red clock hanging in front of you a mere hundred meters away is an indescribable feeling. Its over. You're done. From nowhere there is a surge of energy that just takes you forward. I always love sprinting that last 100 meters or so. Its worth it. Even if it means not feeling anything waist below for a while after that.

Post race it was nice catching up with some of my running buddies and the personalized medals were a nice touch too! 

Even though I was 4 minutes away from a PB, I was still damn kicked with my time and the fact that I pushed myself through it. I know I gave it my all and thats all I could ask for. Everytime I run, I'm just trying to beat myself. So theres always a next time and theres always scope to win - whether its at an event or otherwise.

Week 8 DRHM Training - Race Week

Tomorrow I'm going to be running my first half marathon in nearly 9 months and to be honest, I'm a little nervous. Chalk it down to my nervous energy maybe but I've checked off all my pre-race activities that normally take me the whole day.

Collect bib & race kit - DONE
Clean Shoes - DONE
Sort out Race Gear - DONE
Take Picture of Race Gear & Post on Instagram - DONE
Buy Bananas, Peanut Butter for pre race snack - DONE
Stretching / Yoga - DONE
Figure out transport to Race Venue - DONE
Suss out race route - DONE
Sort Music - DONE

Yep. Its been a productive morning.

During the week I have been allowing the butterfly population in my stomach grow. Been doing some strength training and ran a short 3K (sans music, sans gadgets - it was weird!) which should have helped with the breeding insects but everytime I thought of the race or read a notification or post about it, they just kept multiplying unheeded.

Which brings me back to today. Jittery. So jittery.

I worked out the route on google maps against the rather skeletal plan published by the event organizers. I did it mainly so I could mentally visualize the kilometer markers and know the distance covered during the race just in case my app froze (which it does quite often).

My working shows the route to be only around 19K. I worked it out as per the landmarks given on their map. Start at Olcott school, turn down 4th avenue, down Elliots beach, back up 5th Avenue, along 3rd & Besant Avenue, to Adyar circle, then Madhya Kailash, then Tidel Park, loop back to Adyar, cross the Adyar Bridge run along MRC Nagar (three little loops there), back along Adyar bridge, Besant Avenue, 3rd Avenue and finish back at Olcott School.  

I can understand my workings to be off by a couple of hundred meters maybe but to be off by 2K? Thats fishy. Either google is horribly wrong or I have misread the DRHM map. Has to be the latter. In any case I have to make damn sure that I don't miss out any loops and that I cross all the timing mats correctly.

I've been enjoying carb loading today. I love carb loading because I get to treat myself with things that I normally steer away from. Nothing too disastorous (like pizzas & junk) but things like chocolate (mostly dark), sweetened yogurt, extra helpings of rice, fruit juice, peanut butter. Later I might just indulge in some ice cream. :-)

My shoes are cleaned, my race gear is all set (I'm loving this particular outfit) now all thats left is to stretch some more, eat some more, relax and hit the bed by 7:00

Current Butterfly population: Fifty million.

Week 7 DRHM Training - Taper Week

Taper Week - my favourite week of all the training weeks. Running is at a comfortable volume and the workouts are at a manageable intensity. Taper week is inserted into training plans to give your body a chance to heal & recover so it is ready when race day comes along.

Ran on Thursday and Saturday - a good 300m x 10 speed session in SDAT on Thursday with the Nitros and a solo 4k Tempo run on Saturday. I had a meet up with the group on Saturday morning which left no time for a long distance run. The Tempo run was fun. I spilit the distance into 1.5k x 2 which was run at a steady 6' something pace and the last kilometer was run at a faster pace of 5'30". The heart - it was ready to fall out!

My drill seargent & trainer, Dom had set out strength workouts on Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday which weren't as crazy intense as the previous week given that I was on taper-mode but was effective all the same. Everyday now I "flex" in front of the mirror imagining (hoping for) better definition in my muscular structure. :) :)

On an impulse I got myself a new pair of Reeboks. (It looked really cool, felt great and it was on Sale! Plus it goes great with my race-day outfit!). Broke it in on Sunday with a 12K run. Weather was brilliant. I had a nice and easy run at medium effort and finished the distance in 01:27. Shoe behaved well. 

In other headlines - I twisted my ankle (again!). It had barely healed from the injury back in April and I had another mishap on my Saturday run. The road was badly maintained & was all dug up and to avoid all the rubble on the side, I was running almost down the middle of the road (it was early and with hardly any traffic). I didn't see a small dent in my path and mistepped. Twiiiisssst! Same ankle, same point. Shook it off and continued on my way.  It hurts the same way as before - in an annoying but very manageable way. There is no swelling and possibly because I've been living with this injury for three months now, I guess I've just become used to it and am treating it like a mild irritant. 

We're in race week now and the intensity gets gentler. Have got emails & messages from the race organizers regarding bib collection and the race expo. Butterfly population in stomach: 1.

Week 6 DRHM Training - Peak Week

Most Training Plans will have a "Peak Week" two or three weeks before the race week. Peak Week is where you will have the highest weekly mileage of all the training weeks. This should set you up properly to tackle the distance on race day.

My peak week was truly intense. On July 3rd I officially started taining with my personal trainer, Dom the trainer! (aka. hubby). He's put me on a 8 week training plan where I will be working with free weights, barbells & body weight three times a week with the aim of making me more toned, stronger and more powerful than before. I have never in my life lifted 32k barbells or loaded my muscles with 47k weights but it was nice to see that I could do it. In Dom's own words - "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for" :-) :-)

As for my runs, I got in an intense tempo run on Tuesday, an easy short run on Thursday and my long time favourite, beach-to-beach-to-beach lsd run on Saturday.

Thursday's run was a cross between a Tempo run and interval training. I did 1k x 4 at goal pace of 5'55" (This is the pace I need to run at in order to complete a 10K under 60 minutes - thats the goal for this year). Running 1k at this pace is uncomfortable to say the least. It is high effort for me and I am really pushing it. Not an effort that I can sustain for even 2k let alone 10k. Which goes to show how far away I am still from my goal. 

I think I've confessed before to my not knowing cycling and also about my attempts at learning it afresh earlier last year. I've had a cycle with me for the past year - and some more - and now and again, I take it out to try and improve my skills. I cycled for 20 minutes on Thursday (very wobbly but managed to stay cycle-borne) and then did a short easy jog for another 10 minutes. Though it was a light workout, it left me feeling very pleased with myself.

On Saturday, I did my beach-to-beach-to-beach run. I had run this route last year once when I had to meet a friend of mine at Thiruvanmyur for breakfast. Now another friend of mine lives in Thiruvanmyur and I invited myself over for breakfast on Sunday just so I could run this route again... :-) I was very sweetly obliged and my smelly, sweaty, post-19.5k-self was tolerated and fed a hearty South Indian breakfast. (Thank You Priyanka!).

Sunday turned out to be a bonus work-out-all-day day. My running group had their annual running event - The Nitros Running Festival at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and all of us were volunteering. Apart from actually running, there was a lot of running around, walking and heavy lifting to do all day (5:00 am to 9:00 pm) which was a terrific workout in itself.

I was pretty pooped at the end of the week and took Monday off (no workouts at all). Which is just as well since this week is taper week. I'll be reducing my running volume and recovering so I can be fresh and pumped for race day.

Week 5 DRHM Training

May not have been the best but this week went a lot better than the last couple of weeks.

Had a great tempo run + hill (flyover) training on Tuesday. Everytime I run with the Nitros, I try and keep pace with the faster runners - it leaves me exhausted but its a great way to push myself. On Tuesday, I managed 6 repeats of the Cathedral Road flyover. The 500 meter flyover has an elevation of 80 meters at the top and though it may be a gentle slope for some, its pretty killer for me. Club the 6 repeats with my mental block of doing flyover workouts (on two occasions I've suffered foot injuries due to incline running), I consider it quite the accomplishment. 

On Thursday I put myself through a pretty intense 30 minute stair workout. If you have a flight of stairs in your building.I really recommend this. Its handy (the stairs are always right there!), its convenient (you don't have to go far or pay a membership) and its brutal (super calorie torcher and a great workout for the hams, quads, glutes and calves). If you can tolerate the strange looks you get from the rare neighbour who also uses the stairs (most people just take the elevator), this is totally perfect. My building has five flights of stairs and my workout consists of Rundown + Runup + Rundown + Runup 2 steps at a time + Run down and this is repeated as many times as my beating heart will allow it. Ofcourse it goes without saying that you have to be careful to land lightly (on the balls of your feet) both while going up and down so as not to injure your knees. Also try not to trip and go sprawling face first down the stairs.:) (That has never happened - I'm just saying)

Today I had the Pinkathon 10K event. Even though it fell during my DRHM training weeks, I had signed up for it a couple of weeks earlier to keep my friend company (not that we ran together in the end). I would have been better off just doing my LSD training run today. For Pinkathon, this is their 4th edition in Chennai and every year it seems to get a bit worse than the previous year. (I have run all 4 editions now). Today the route was so badly managed that I'm not sure if I even ran the whole 10K. Didn't get an official timing from the organizers so I'm guessing I must have missed one of the timing mats. (Whose fault is that?).

Couple of HIIT routines, a total body strength training session and a yoga workout made up the rest of the week. Green ticks for all 7 days! Nice!  The coming week is important. Its week 6 and its peak week for me. Which means max mileage & max intensity. Let's go!

  

Week 4 DRHM Training

Week 4 didn't fare much better than Week 3.

Thats 2 weeks in a row that I've skipped my LSD and settled for an indoor drill instead. Other than that, all that I ran in the week was a speed interval session of 200m x 12. I also ended up skipping two other workouts in the week and so all in all; not good.

Dismal.  

:(

Although I did enjoy some good rains in Trivandrum care of the monsoons.
And lots of sleep.
And lots of food.

.

Week 3 DRHM Training

In the week that went by I didn't get in as many runs as I would have liked. In fact Week 3 was somewhat light and easy on the muscles. Inbetween sessions of Yoga, Upper Body Strength, Pilates & Core Strength, I was able to squeeze in one speed session at SDAT during the week. Over the weekend, social plans made me skip my regular LSD and I had to make do with an indoor run which is definitely less taxing. The highlight of the week though, was a really good, hour-long swim on Saturday.

While training for long-distances, the key workout is your LSD (Long Slow Distance). This is what will help your endurance and this one workout (if done properly) will ensure that you complete the distance (for no one likes a DNF). All the other workouts (speed, hills, tempo) are what will help your timing, your performance and your recovery. So while they are important (especially if you're looking to hit a PB) these shorter, more intense workouts are not absolute essentials if you're just aiming to complete a particular distance. So if you had to skip any workout for whatever reason, I would pick the latter than the former. (Clearly, missing out on the 16.5k run is still grating on me).

I use indoor running (on-the-spot) as a substitute workout whenever I miss an important run. It is a light impact, long duration (depending on how long you go) cardio workout and while it does mimick the running movement and test your ability to sustain the cardio activity for a long time, it is not the same as an actual run. Although the same set of muscles are engaged (quads, hamstrings, gluts & calves) the intensity is lower because of the lesser range of motion. And running outside also has the added advantage of inclines and declines (even the flatest roads are not completely flat) which makes it more challenging. But as they say, something is better than nothing.

I know what you're thinking and yes, running for 2 hours on the spot can be mind-numbingly boring! I have to play a movie or some videos to get me through it. You burn calories and get entertained!

:-) Here's hoping for a stronger Week 4.

Week 2 DRHM Training

Its nice to see the weekly mileage slowly creep up. Its also nice to see the consistent green ticks on my workout calendar.

Tuesday Flyovers - Done
Thursday Speed Session - Done
Saturday LSD - Done

Tuesday's Fyover repeats was quite an interesting session. The Nungambakkam Nitros joined forces with the T-Nagar Trendsetters (Yes, these CR chapter names truly deserve an eyeroll) for a refreshing change in the work-out. Like the Nitros, the TNTs (as they're fondly referred to) also do flyover repeats on Tuesday but with some 50 meter sprints thrown in at the beginning of the session. The sprints were fun but the flyover repeats were another story. The T-Nagar flyover is at a steeper incline than the Cathedral Road one that I'm used to and therefore felt way more challenging. Post-run, the group did a thorough & extended cool down routine which felt especially good after the exertion. 

Thursday's Speed Session was at SDAT as always but this week, one of the veterans in the group took a small seminar of sorts on correct running posture & techniques followed by some practise sprints where he gave all of us some advise on our form. It was an informaton-packed hour at SDAT but with very little actual running done. :-)

Saturday was my Long Slow Distance. Added 15K to my weekly mileage and finished happy. Took 1:51 to complete 15K (was aiming for 1:45) but still happy that I completed the distance. Theres something about completing these extra long distances - I get such a sense of accomplishment at the end unlike the shorter, more intense runs.

I got in three strength work-outs on the other days making Week 2 a good one.

6 to go.

The week that was...

Its been 30 weeks since my last half marathon and since then, I haven't run anything over 10k. So when I got out today to complete my goal of 12k, I wasn't quite sure how it would go. Maintained an even pace of 7'20" and it felt like a moderate effort. Ran all the way to marina, a little bit along the beach and ran back to Haddows Park to meet up with the Nitros folk. Having started at 5:20 (just a bit later than the sun), a kilometer into the run, things started getting hot and uncomfortable. Luckily there was a bit of a breeze now and then to combat the heat.

This week has been a good one - workout-wise. A few weeks ago, we bought a battle rope to add to our collection of ever-growing gym equipments at home. Although I thought it would be mostly used by Dom, turns out I love it as well. This Monday we took it up to the roof and had a short, intense session accompanied by some rain! 

Tuesday I had a quick tempo run. I was running with the Nitros and all I had to do was keep pace with one of the faster runners and voila - tempo for me. 4.5k in 30 minutes. It should have been faster but I am not going to push the pace until the ankle is a 100% ok. 

Kept Wednesday for a total body strength session with Dom. He went really easy on me and kept the workout light considering I'm still quite the novice. Skipped my speed session at SDAT and instead had a burn-out stair workout on Thursday. My calves were screaming the next day (remember: sore today strong tomorrow). A good HIIT & core workout on Friday and my 12K today brings the week to a close. 

Feels good to be consistent

This week officially kickstarted my training for DRHM2017. The event is on July 23rd which gives me seven more weeks to train for that elusive sub-2:30.

Here goes.

Run Update 27.05.2017

Post TCS10K, I have been able to get back to running without much of a break. Though my ankle isn't a 100% okay, running doesn't aggravate it (in-fact the activity seems to improve it) and so I continue to run (albeit at a comfortable, non-pushing pace). 

On Thursday I did a speed session in SDAT. A 200m fast sprint followed by a 200m catch-your-breath-jog. My fast sprint was nowhere near as fast as it was prior to the injury - but I'll get back there eventually. Saturday I did an hour-long run after a long, long time. My distance has slid down to 8.5k. (Literally right back to where I started at the beginning of the year) In March, before my injury I had got my speed up to 9.58k in one hour. So this is quite a slide.

I have registered for DRHM2017 - my one half-marathon for the year. So the next few weekends are going to be dedicated to 10k+ runs. Will start over on working on my 10K goal pace once thats done.

TCS10K

I'm back in Chennai after a lovely extended weekend in Bangalore. Although the TCS10K was my my primary reason to visit, I enjoyed an extra few days there, just hanging with friends and family. 

The run was on Sunday and typical with all these events, they had an expo the previous day where you could collect your bib and check out various running & health related stalls if you so wish. I caught up with a couple of runners from Nitros and went to the expo together with them. As expected from a big event such as this, the expo was well organised and had some pretty good, worth-spending-time-at stalls. 

All throughout Saturday I was pretty nervous. I hadn't run for almost an entire month and I had only run a slow, easy 2K run just 3 days earlier, my ankle was still iffy and I really wasn't sure how it would fare through the distance. Before going to bed I religiously iced, massaged and did the physio exercises for the ankle but come race-day, at the line-up, I was still feeling very apprehensive.

The event was huge. The number of runners at the start was staggering! (Probably close to 10K - there were 8553 finishers). I have crowd-phopia on a good day and so the feeling wasn't pleasant at all. At 5:30 a.m the gun went off and the crowd slowly shifted to the start line. It was 5:33 something when I got the startline... the last wave of runners crossed the startline close to half an hour later.

I guess I shouldn't have worried so much. The route was mostly flat with some very gentle ups and downs. The start was from the Kanteveera Stadium and the loop was a nice long round snaking MG road, Cubbon road and finally finishing through Cubbon park. The weather was perfect too. It was so much cooler than Chennai and there was even a lovely breeze almost throughout. The only damper was a section on MG road which had been flooded thanks to the previous night's rains. All the runners had to move into a single file and inch their way along the side where there was a crack of dry road. 

For the first 4 kilometers, there were so many runners that you couldn't find your rhythm or your pace. You could only shuffle along while constantly trying to zig-zag your way through the crowd while dodging other runners trying to overtake you and avoiding shoulder bumps.  This was expected. Things were looking up at the 5K-6K space and I had to tell myself to take it easy and not push too hard. At around the 8K mark is when the ankle started to protest (very feebly but still I decided not to ignore it). Took a few little walking breaks after that and did some ankle stretches to assuage the protests. The month long break from training definitely showed. I started feeling fatigued towards the end with the overwhelming urge to stop and not go a step further. When I saw it eventually, the finish line never looked so good. Inspite of everything, I managed to finish in 1:08:25 seconds - just a minute and twenty four seconds less than my PB.

Post-run I got to hang out with my cousin who had also run the 10K. He was running his first ever event and finished in 1:07. A yummy post-run breakfast (care-of my aunt) and hours later I was still thinking of my timing. My Nitros buddies (who I never even saw during the run thanks to the huge number of runners) had both run their PB and I couldn't help wishing that I had pushed myself a bit - just a teeny bit. The route and weather was just perfect to achieve PB. If only. 

I could say there's always next time but the crazy crowds are a major deterrent and so there probably won't be a next. There are other races though. Need to scout around for my next 10K. 

Finally Running Again

With only three days to go to the TCS10K event in Bangalore, I stepped out yesterday for a short run to test my ankle. The Nitros were running in SDAT and I thought it would be a smart idea to join them and test it out on the dirt track rather than the road.

I ran 5 steady, slow rounds around the track (thats about 2K) and the ankle was none the worse for it. In fact it seems to be behaving almost normal now.

For the first time ever, I was running without any gadgets. No Nike+ to check pace, distance etc and no music in my head. It was strangely nice. I figured since I was running on track I'll know the distance anyway and pace and time wasn't an issue since I wasn't running with any target in mind. I did miss the music though.

It felt so nice to be running again. Sorely missed it over this past one month.

I'm all set to leave for Bangalore tomorrow and am quite excited to do the 10K in a brand new setting. I've been given line up coral E. So its going to be a crowded and slow start. But given my fresh-out-of-injury-ankle slow is probably a good thing. More updates soon.

Sad Face :(

The worst part of pursuing an active lifestyle is managing the injuries that come along with it. Heres whats frustrating me the most...

1. I have to take a break from running. Unless you're a fan of running you won't get this. I absolutely enjoy my runs - above all the other workouts that I do. In fact the reason I do all those other workouts is only because its not advisable to run every single day (unless you're one of those elite, pro-athlete types). So not being able to run is quite a bummer.

2. I have the TCS 10K coming up in less than two weeks. I want to make sure that the ankle is fully healed before I resume running. But, all the while I'm losing precious training time and my fitness level is probably dropping as I'm typing this. If I resume running too soon, I risk worsening it and not running the event at all. What.To.Do.?

3. My ankle was almost ok. I was all set to run two Saturdays ago and then (very stupidly) last week I wore a new pair of sandals and did a lot of mall walking in them. I didn't figure it out immediately but later realised that the delicate strappy flats wouldn't have afforded much support while walking, I would have been inadvertedly gripping with my toes which in turn would have been the reason for my ankle taking a turn for the worse. (Stupid. Stupid)

I have been icing it on and off, elevating it when I sleep and even applying my magic ayurvedic oil (which has worked for me in the past). The only thing I've not been doing is resting it completely. I have been doing my strength training and low impact cardio work-outs just to make sure I don't fall completely off the wagon with regards to my fitness. And I don't think that has affected the injury adversely.

For now, I'm sending happy thoughts down to my ankle, urging it to get well. Ofcourse the icing, oiling and elevation continues in the same hope. Watch this space for updates.

Aaaaargh!!! Not Again!

On Tuesday I joined the Nitros for the weekly Flyover Repeats session. It was a deathly hot & humid day albeit with a little breeze but I was feeling pretty motivated and had targeted 8 repeats. For safety sake, we always run facing oncoming traffic and along the very edge of the flyover. At the end of my 3rd repeat, I landed on one of the reflecters placed along the sides of the road. Lost my balance, stumbled and almost (almost - but didn't) fell flat on my face. In that stumble and between trying to catch myself, I twisted my ankle good and proper. Ow. 

Hobbled my bruised ego and twisted ankle across the road and slowly tested my ankle to check the extend of damage. It was a little painful but I could put weight on it. I slowly walked back to Haddows Park and after getting home iced it for a bit. Now, three days later, the swelling has subsided and its only painful to touch. I am super-glad that it wasn't any more serious than a bad twist. I am going to give it one more week before resuming running just to be on the safe side. But aaargh!! This is very annoying!  

Ooh! News flash: My TCS 10K application got confirmed. I'm in! Off to Bangalore then!

Running in the Background

This has probably been the longest I've gone without posting (while still being consistent with the running). I've been running quite often with the Nitros gang and its nice to see the resulting, steady improvement in pace and stamina. A dental complication & ensuing surgery sort of disrupted my weekend schedule and I had to skip my hour-long runs two weeks in a row. But I've been getting in some good fly-over repeats, speed drills and tempo runs.

My average pace which was hovering at around 7'15" has come down to 6'45" which is quite cool. But I really need to do another 10K soon to understand where I am at vis-a-vis my goal. I did register for the TCS 10K in Bangalore and am waiting for the confirmation of my spot in the Open 10K race. If it comes through, I'll need to train towards it and be ready for it by May 21st. 

Heres hoping it comes through.

Run Update 21 & 23.03.2017

Had a great couple of runs this week with the Nitros. Both were challenging and left me quite zapped at the end of it. Zapped is good.

On Tuesday, I joined the group for my dreaded flyover repeats. I dread these for two reasons. 1. because the first time I attempted these, I injured the peroneal tendon on my right foot and that injury took about 3 months to fully heal. 2. well because they're tough! :-) 

Flyovers are the city runner's solution to hill repeats. Running on inclines are a good way to build stamina and they're also strengthening. We did a warm-up run upto the cathedral road flyover and 4 stretches across & back along the flyover by which time I was totally done and jogged / walked back to haddows park. Ofcourse the pace suffers a bit during these runs but as long as the form doesn't, its totally ok.

This morning I joined them again at SDAT. Ran 6 fast 200 meter stretches. I felt like I really pushed myself and the timing was super! Managed an average time of 52 seconds per round. I don't think I've ever seen my pace at sub 4'00" before. So yes, giving myself lots of pats on the back.

Going away on a holiday today. So this would be my last run for the week. Unless I decide to do some barefoot beach running. :-)  I am looking forward to lots of swimming though!

Weekend Run Update

Usually I never run on two consecutive days but this weekend was an exception. I got out on Saturday as usual for my hour-long run. But it was late, the sun was already pretty high up and it was too hot & extremely humid. Every step felt tedious and I felt dehydrated to boot so I turned my hour-long run into a fun fartklek incorporating random bursts of speed into a rather fast-paced 2K loop. The short bursts (I'm talking 50 meters - maybe less) of full-speed running kept it interesting and maintaining a good pace and consciously not slumping down into a jog coming off that speed burst made it challenging enough. Finished the loop in a little over 12 minutes making it my fastest 2K ever. Thats enough to keep me content and happy with my run.

Today, the Chennai Runners were celebrating their 11th anniversary. It was a by-invitation running event - no expensive registration fee there! - put out to all the different chapters and members of Chennai Runners. It was quite a decent turn-out and runners could do 10K, 5K or 3K as they wished. The start and end point was the Anna university and the 10K route looped through the university campus, sardar patel road and the boat club area. Though I had rsvp-ed yes, I was in two minds to go but since I had only done a 2K yesterday, I thought it would be a good idea to run a longer distance today. I made car pool plans with some of the runners from Nitros to make sure that I didn't change my mind in the morning.

I'm very glad that I went. The 10K route was a nice one and quite enjoyable. The boat club area is a favourite among runners in Chennai for its quiet lanes and shady green cover but I had never run there before and so it was rather refreshing. Although the start time was late (5:50) and the weather quite hot, since most of the route had green cover, the temperature was pretty tolerable. 

I stopped my clock at 1 hour so I could track the distance & pace (following my training plan). But as usual the app was on the fritz and wouldn't show anything. The route being unfamiliar I have no clue what the actual distance was but I estimate it to be about 9.4K judging by the remaining distance to complete the 10K.

Post-Run there were general festivities (a cake was cut) and I hung out with the Nitros for a while. A good start to Sunday I would say.

P.S - my app is really starting to bug me know. Must figure out how to fix it.

Run Update 16.03.2017

I had planned on a speed session earlier in the week but that didn't pan out. Instead, I did a stairwell workout on Tuesday. Though these functional training workouts are excellent, I was craving a nice fast running session. So when I found out that the Nitros had planned a speed training day at SDAT today, it sounded perfect. I am joining them after what feels like eternity. As always, it was nice to run with company and it was even nicer to run on the track. 

Did 6 laps of 400 meters around the track with about a minute RI between laps. Target time was 2:00. The first lap was inconsistent. I was running too fast and was sure I would't be able to sustain 5 more laps at that speed. From the 2nd lap on, I sort of got the rhythm right and managed a steady 2:06, 2:04, 2:01, 2:00 and 1:57. By the end of the session I felt zapped. (But good zapped!)

The SDAT track is a dirt track. My grey shoes were caked brown at the end of the workout. :( Cleaning dirty shoes - now thats the not so fun part.

Run Update 11.03.2017

Summer is officially here! This morning was hot and humid at 5:30 in the a.m. And I mean HOT. Which made my hour long run feel like a massive effort. I've got to start my runs earlier than 5:30 now... sigh!

My app is back on the fritz. Today it wasn't tracking anything correctly I think. At the end of the run the screen returned blank. No route. No distance. And ridiculously claims that it was raining! Checked my run distance on google maps and had to manually enter the distance. Which put my average pace at 6'16" - even though it felt like a high effort run, I don't think I was running that fast. And being so hot, I took several hydration breaks too and so in all I must have taken about 1 hour and 10 minutes to cover the distance.

The runs are gonna get sweatier from here.

Run Update 08.03.2017

This morning I ditched my scheduled Tempo Run and opted for interval runs of 500 meters instead. The idea was to see if I could do these short bursts at my goal pace of 5'55" (the pace I need to maintain if I want to complete 10K under an hour) and to accustom my body to running at that pace.

Well that was the idea. The execution was another story. I started the first 500 meters as a warm up and managed that at a steady pace of 6'05". Then followed 3 sets of 500 meters all of which was inconsistently paced, done at inconsistent efforts and way faster than 5'55". It was definitely fun but as a training run goes, I'm not sure if it was very effective towards my goal. I think I should stick to my original plan of doing tempo runs where week-wise I gradually work my way up to goal pace. I feel like I am in better control of my pace that way.

The good news is that my app seems to be back to working well. Routes are being tracking correctly now. :-)

And once in a way you have a bad run...

This morning's run was pretty dismal. 

I got out to do my usual hour long run but absolutely wasn't feeling it. It could have been that the intense cardio session I had with Dom just last evening had tired me out too much. It could have been the lack of a restful sleep last night. Maybe it was because I had swapped my usual banana pre-run snack for an apple instead (though I highly doubt that). Or maybe it was because I had started really late (6:00 am) and it was already hot and humid. It could have been all those things or the fact that I just wasn't in the mood. 

I had completed a little more than a kilometer when at the turn into Sterling road from Kothari lane, a bunch of  bored stray dogs decided to get their early morning kicks by barking and chasing me for a slight distance. It was annoying and a litle worrying but I continued on. A little later my fuel came undone and fell down by my feet. I just about avoided a trip-up-and-face-plant situation and a potentially embarrasing scene. Nothing seemed to be going right in the 10 minutes that I has been on this run. I decided that I had had enough, picked up my pace a little bit and headed on home. Sometimes you just have run days like this. It can't be helped.

Wednesday's run was a different story though. I had a nice 3K session with Dom for company. Though it was meant to be a slow recovery run, managed to do it at a nice fast pace of 6'05". The first km was at a steady warm up pace of 7'00"ish and the next 1.8 km was at a tempo pace of 6'15"ish and the last 200 meters was a flat out sprint. It was good, quick and intense.

At the Marina Rinnerz event, I got quite a few "What happened to you? Why are you only doing a 10K?" Other than an injury-related excuse no other response is accepted. I realized that people view running 10K events as a step-down after you've run Half Marathons.  But I find that doing these shorter more intense runs are far more beneficial for my muscle strength and overall fitness rather than the 2+ hours of continuous running. The latter will develop your endurance, for sure, which is also important in fitness but I think a balance of the two will lead to better overall development.

I'm looking at signing up for another 10K in April/May, DRHM 2017 Half Marathon in July and maybe 2 more 10Ks after that - one in Sept/Oct and one in December. The last one should have me meet this year's goal.

Here's to more running, better running and faster finishes.

Marina Runnerz 10K

My first running event for the year done & dusted.

It was a pretty decent event. Reasonably well organized and most importantly for me, not too crowded! It was a flatish route almost throughout except for a 500 meter stretch over the flyover both on the onward & return loop. I started my running app a little late into the run and so I wasn't entirely sure of my time. Throughout the course, I had the feeling that I was keeping good time and thought I might finish close to 63 - 64 minutes. I had managed to keep a steady consistent effort (at no time was I straining) and so I was a little disappointed to see the clock at 69 minutes as I crossed the finish line... A little later though, my chip timing came in at 1:07:01!! (Theres always a difference between the gun time & chip time... Gun time starts as the race is flagged off but the chip is activated only when you cross the start line to make things fair for people who are at the back of the lineup). Anyways! Thats still a PB for me. :-)

So this is the baseline for me this year. By the end of the year I should shave off that 7 minutes & 1 second. Today's run was at at average pace of 6'42" (inclusive of all hydration breaks). Need to quicken my pace to 5'59" for a sub 1 hr. Got to train, train, train.

Happy Birthday to me!!! :)

For the past couple of years I've always made it a point to run on my birthday. I just find its a great way to ring in a new year. Puts me in a good mood and sets me up for a great day (and hopefully a great year). So instead of running on Tuesday, I pushed my run to this morning and instead of a taxing tempo run, I gifted myself a comfortable, easy run. No pace to worry about. No set time. No target distance. Just run. 

I had a good run for about half an hour. Didn't push myself but kept going at a steady, comfortable pace. Ofcourse, at the end of it I did have a look at the distance covered, pace, time etc etc and I was happy to see that my "comfortable pace" clocked at 6'59" - a far cry from 7'45" (which was roughly what my easy pace was last year).

Happy B'day to me!

Run Update 18.02.2017

Another 1hr run done! I'm slowly inching my way towards my goal. Today I managed 9.4k in an hour. It was just 110 meters further than last week but in terms of effort it felt much harder. The temperature is slowly creeping up as well and throughout the run I was feeling thirsty. Took more breaks than normal just to hydrate though the plan was just 2 breaks - one after each 20 minute interval of running.

Again, my location services was spotty and again it seems to have gone off after about 300 meters into the run. so it shows my whole route as being from home to halfway down kothari road. I need to investigate. I cross-checked the tracked distance on google maps and 9.4k seems about right so the spotty route is really not a big deal I suppose.

I know 9.4k sounds like I'm only 600 meters off my goal. But this is not counting the break time. By race standards, the actual time (or gun time or chip time) I took to cover today's distance of 9.4k would be more like 64 or 65 minutes. Next weekend's 10K race will tell me exactly how much closer I've gotten to my goal. 

Run Update 15.02.2017

Had my 2nd speed session for the year today. These speed sessions are intense! They're very short (maybe 20 minutes including the RIs) but at the end of it you're like "Phew! I did it". Completing today's speed session felt like a bigger achievement than what I felt at the end of my last half marathon. 

Today's workout was same as my last speed session (200m x 4 + 1 min RI) x 2 + 4 min RI between sets. (RI = Rest Interval). When I started out with my warm up jog, I didn't think I would complete one set let alone two. For some reason my legs felt like lead even during that slow-paced warm up jog. But once I got started I found the energy to push through all 8 reps. Completely washed out at the end of it but so worth it. Oh! plus I was within the target time of less than a minute. :-)

My location services was spotty again. Didn't measure the route exactly on 3 of the runs and didn't work at all for one of the reps. Ideally speed / interval training should be done on a track. A standard track measures 400m around 1 lap so you can be exactly sure of how much you are running. For me, SDAT is an option but I will need company.

Alright, till next time.

Run Update 10.02.2016

The down side to upping my strength routine is that I find myself permanently sore. My muscles are getting worked out like never before as my husband and self proclaimed trainer has me lifting heavier and heavier. (Well not that heavy but he does tend to pooh-pooh it when he sees me working with 2K and 3K dumbells). The soreness doesn't help with my resolve in waking up early and going for a run. Its also a viscious cycle - I was fatigued on Tuesday after my Upper body strength routine from Monday so I decided to skip my early morning tempo run and do it on Wednesday instead. But I ended up doing a lower body strength routine on Tuesday evening (to make up for skipping my run) and so was too fatigued on Wednesday to go for the post-poned run... (You see!!?) I did a very thorough stretching routine for the sore muscles on Wednesday but that got me nice and relaxed so I slept in on Thursday and did a core routine later on. Finally, this morning I decided I absolutely had to go for a run so went out for a nice fun fartlek (also fun to say!).

Fartlek (Swedish for Speed Play) is a run type where you incorporate short bursts of high speed running into your regular run followed by a slower paced run as you recover. There doesn't have to be any set pattern  or pace. It can be random (like from this tree to that lamp-post) so it is a lot of fun. I took some of the fun out of it by doing one corner to another on my usual run route (which I know to be exactly 200 meters) for 4 sets - very structured! Finished 4K in roughly 27 minutes but the 200m dashes were a super workout which more than makes up for the slower average pace.

Somethings wrong with the location services on my phone and the app's not tracing my route properly. The last couple of runs has it showing a truncated route of 100meters though the overall distance is tracked correctly. Well. Once upon a time we all just ran. No apps, no pace tracking, no heart rate monitors. Simpler. But I can't even think of stepping out without my gadgets. I need to know! Every few seconds I have to check my distance, my pace and my time. And music! I need my music! Every now and then I do toy with the idea of just running free - just me and my thoughts. Then I freak out and drop the plan! :-)

Not going to be doing another run this week. Next week I guess I should be back to my usual running schedule. More then!