35 battles in one day!

After my bout of overtraining I decided to get back into running with a bang. Actually it was more of a whimper. My running group - the Chennai Runners (corny name I agree- but I didnt come up with it, so Im absolved) - organized a run to Mahabs from the Toll Gate. The total distance being about 29km.

So at 4.50 AM on Sunday September 16, 35 guys (34 guys + 1 girl whose one of the guys anyway) assembled at the Toll Gate on ECR with their ipods, water bottles, caps and other assorted battle gear. Battle started at 5.00 AM sharp thanks to the main organizer Ram.

I did my usual slow start with a gentle walk. I kept Mahadevan company for about 5 minutes. After that I started jogging. Managed to catch up with several people along the way and was listening to music most of the way. It stayed dark almost until 6.30 I would think because the sky was somewhat overcast. After about an hour, I was hit by a revelation.

The idea of running from Toll Gate to Mahabs is a BAD idea. Anyway, the water points were supposed to be at 5KM intervals. So when I passed the 3rd water point I was very impressed that I completed 15km in little under 1 hour and 15 minutes. As I was passing by I asked with requisite arrogance how far I had reached. The volunteer chirpily informed me that we had covered 11K. THe water points were moved to 3.5 to 4 k intervals because there were some newbie runners in the group!

It took me about 30 minutes to shake off that dissappointment. I then made it to the 17Km mark and caught up with my friend Cmdr Ashvini. He was a little sick from the previous days chicken curry apparently. So I sat with him (ok - that was an excuse to get some rest), drank a litre of water and ate a banana. All bad ideas.

I also packed an Electral drink. The packet advised 1 packet for one litre. I was a little over enthusiastic and made a drink of one litre with 3 packets. So my drink turned into a salty mess. So I had to drink the water. I was hungry so the banana was demolished. Anyway, these are all things you should not do!

After that we got one of the support cars to come back and pick up CAsh - as he likes to be called. Then I decided I will continue. I then started a run/walk attempt. I did that for about 40 minutes and went a bit further. Again caught up with several people along the way. I was feeling quite strong and my knees werent giving me any trouble as yet.

By now it was 2h 30min and I had about 9 km to go. I decided I'll just walk fast at this point. Suresh - another runner - joined me and we both walked briskly to a 3.30 finish.

The finish was somewhat of an adventure. The end point was to be a resort called Mamalla Beach resort. We were all looking at signs for Mamalla Restaurant and ended up at the restaurant which was 1 km further away than the actual end point. We hobbled and cursed but made it the wrong end point and came back to the correct spot.

Breakfast was as usual a diet disaster for me. I ate like I returned from a concentration camp and put away several dosas and eggs. Several trees and fruits were also demolished. It was topped off with a beer with Shumit.

All in all 35 battles were fought that day. Some won decisively, some lost, many didnt know whether they had won or lost. But at the end the breakfast was good.

Planning to do my next run on Saturday just to recover. Been doing some light jogging and some hard weights. My next event is on OCtober 14 where I want to run the 100, 400, 4x100 relay, and 1 mile. Im starting my training this coming week.

Lets see how that goes...

Overtraining and its benefits!

I am now officially overtrained. I have persistent soreness, tiredness, lack of motivation and am generally depressed. Please refer to this entry in Wikipedia for more info on how I feel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtraining#Other_symptoms.

There are some benefits to overtraining though. I get a good nights sleep, everyone feels sorry for me and I can eat what I want.

So Im off running for a few days and just enjoying it. I am also changing my schedule to a once every other day rather than every day. I think that would help. Another revelation is that even if I feel like a child my body is 32 years old and there is some wear and tear. Its ability to recover quickly is hampered apparently from the moment it hit 30.

So its time to slow down on the training and maybe up the intensity.

Until next time.

Sprinting to a T

On Wednesday morning Chennai Runners met at the Egmore SDAT stadium for a slow run. That happened to be my training day. So I decided that I will do my sprints.

And my new sprinting pal Gunasekar happened to come along. Let me tell you something about Gunasekar. Gunasekar is 22 years old. He is in the Tamil Nadu police team - just got in a week ago. He is built like a beast - muscular, big and fat free. Runs like a fast penguin. But smokes the 100m in 10.8 seconds. Think of a lean Rottweiller.

I am the only guy sprinting with him - not sure if thats because Im the fastest around or because Im the stupidest around. I have a suspicion that its the latter because every time we sprint, he beats me by about 7 or 8 yards.

The good news is that I stay ahead of Gunasekar for the first 20 yards. I wonder whether he actually clocks a sub 11.

Anyway, I did 4 sprints with him. And I finally got my core working. I can tell you that it was one of the most amazing experiences Ive had in running. It felt surreal. Now I now what "activating your T" means. The power and control - atleast what I feel - was totally exciting.

Im looking forward to next Wednesday for my next sprinting run with Guna.

I just wish the guys in my club would take to sprinting more. Dont understand why none of them wants to even try it.

Until next time!

Saturday night disaster....

Last night was such a disaster.


Actually it was a party. The party went very well. We had some 20 people at home and I had some 20 drinks!! Now (sunday morning) I feel like a walrus on land. My inches around the waist feel like meters. Damn, Im sick.

New Technology!!

Where will technology stop??

It looks like people want to go to the moon just to go to their backyard.

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/


Until next time.

Bangalore Midnight Marathon

Just got in from an exhausting drive to Bangalore for the Midnight Marathon!

Some background here. The Bangalore Midnight Marathon http://www.coindia.com/current.html happened on 19th / 20th May midnight in, yes, you guessed it, Bangalore!

Apparently, this is a world's first! There has never been a midnight marathon ever before - and I can see why.

Its hell running at night. Especially for someone like me who is a morning person. I read somewhere (in my Chennai Runners group mails I think) that the circadian rythm is on a major downswing at night and its extremely counter productive to an activity like running.



Anyway, it was an interesting variation and there was a lot of entertainment around. So I had a pretty good time. We had to run around a 5.5 km loop 4 times. There were killer inclines every one or two km. So it was one of my hardest runs. I managed to run 3 loops and had to walk/jog/shuffle the last loop. Also I think I came into this race some what overtrained. Never really rested after the Groton 10k.

My calves were bunched up like tennis balls by the end of the 4th lap. I managed to finish the half in 2hrs 23 minutes. Thats a world class time. Only problem was that it is world class for the marathon. But thats a small detail.

The elite runners were keeping a pace that seemed more like my sprinting. Boy were they fast. The Dammaro drummers who were hanging about to encourage the runners would beat their drums to the rythm of their gait each time they passed by. When I passed by it sounded like they were tuning their drums. I wasnt very happy with that. Must complain to the organisers.

Anyway, I had a great time, and my buddies from Chennai runners - Hari, Shumit, Ravi, Guna, Karthik, Adhinav, et all seemed to have had a great time too. Karthik finished the race quite strong. But was making funny noises for a while after. The noises earned him a cold bottle of "Pulpy" mango juice or some sugary drink that they were vending at the end of the race.

After the race we gathered at the main area for announcements and generally basked in a sense of triumph and achievement. The walk back to the car park was a bit of a chore. Ravi and I hobbled to the car like a couple of old women and helped each other across a 1 foot high median. Fortunately, there was no one around to see us.

I went home at 4 AM and ate the perfect post race meal - rice and beef curry. After that lights out till 9 AM.

53.12 at the Groton 10k!

My last day in the US this visit and its at the Groton 10k. This post is a little late, but I had to write about it.

My first long race (more than 1 mile!) in 3 years. I had the usual race nerves getting ready for the race. My brother, a couple of his friends and I reached the venue a little early and were just taking in the sites and the atmosphere. There were the usual band playing, sports drinks companies selling samples, etc. There was even a test where they were giving free pre and post race massages.

I was too nervous to try it out. Anyway, we gathered at the start line - a good 150 meters behind it actually. There was quite a crowd. I heard later that there were some 1200 participants in the 10k.

When the gun went off, I quickly moved through the crowd trying to find a gap. The first kilometer was tough - as always. Getting warmed up and finding my rythm. Fortunately, I was dressed warm in a pull over. I also carried a couple of energy gels with me. Never tried it before but I thought I'll check them out.

Once I got into my rythm things started looking good. There was a bag piper around the 5th k - up on a hill and alone - quite picturesque. I running a pretty good pace and I was moving up on a few people by now.

A couple of kms later and the picture started to change just a little bit. A couple of pretty girls passed me by. I had to let them pass. Gentlemen are like that. Then a guy who seemed to be in his 70s - he was probably a lot younger - slowly passed me by. Gentlemen are like that too.

I decided to try my energy gel. It was pungent and harsh. But it woke me up. I pulled in a blistering burst for 100m and exhausted all the gel I had consumed. These packets are very small it seems. I then continued at my regular pace after having shaken up the several ( 2 ) runners that I passed in that burst.

I made the mistake of not drinking any water. There were only two stations. So I couldnt really get any in for the rest of the race.

I was now coming up to the last km of the race. It was getting really exciting now. I and a couple of guys with a stroller and a baby fought bitterly for position. Then I let them go - yes, you got it - gentlemen are like that.

I then urned into the final quarter mile and I decided to burn all my matches and sprint all out like Abibe Bekila coming in for a strong finish in the 10,000m. Boy was I a sight. I finished 683rd out of a field of 1200. I was just being gentlemanly as you would have guess by now.

Overall, it was a great race. I felt really good after the race. I waited for my brother to finish and we packed up and left.

From here next step was the Bangalore Midnight Marathon!