A good and a bad month

This month started very poorly for me. First, I had a quadricep strain in the first week of October that put me out of action for a week. And, then, maybe, I hurried back into running and picked up a gluteus strain - in other words, a pain in the a**! Well, lost another 2 weeks. This has more or less ruled me out of the Delhi Half Marathon. I am going to give it a skip

The good bit - got back to running over the last 1 week. And feel strong. My tennis classes have been going well too (minus the injury breaks), and the two handed backhand is beginning to fire!

My fitness regime is now reaching a balance between tennis and running. I run 4 days a week, and am targeting around 40 KM per week. And I play tennis the other 3 days.

An Induction into Tennis & Hill Training

It has been a couple of weeks since I last blogged. This month has been a different kind of running month. I am running much lesser than the previous months - and am doing that intentionally. I think I am going to end up clocking only around 100 KMs this month. But then, the focus has been to strengthen my legs. Hence, I am running only on 4 days of the week. I have been doing weights at the gym too.

However, the most important thing that I have done is to start playing tennis. This was a childhood dream for me coming true. I enrolled at the Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy last week - and am enjoying it. Got myself a Babolat Aero Blast Racquet which is pretty cool!

I also started my hill training regime. I am hoping that all this will help me now in breaking the 2.30 barrier at the Delhi Half Marathon in November

Getting Ready for Delhi Half Marathon

After the Hyderabad run, I took it easy for a week. I ran only 8 KMs the whole of last week. This week, I have increased my mileage and am going to end it at around 35 KMs.

I am planning to reduce my mileage a bit, and focus more on improving my leg strength. This will imply 2 things for me-

1. Two days of leg strengthening exercises in the gym per week

2. Am going to start doing hill training - atleast 1 session of hill running in sets of 200 X 6 per week

Finished my first HM @ Hyderabad

I had, in my books, a fantastic run in the Hyderabad Half Marathon. I finished 21.1 Kms in 2.40 minutes 27 seconds. Strictly, by the timings, and my earlier training sessions, I could have been disappointed - but am not. In fact, am on top of the world!

The run started on time at 5.45 AM. There were around 700 runners doing both the half as well as the full marathon. The warm up was interesting - we danced! Well, I just shuffled my feet around! but the energy juices and the endorphins started flowing quite early.

The route was a hilly one - there were several ups and downs. From KBR park in Jubilee Hills, we passed cyber towers, went into Hitex, then into Hitech city, and ended the race inside Gachibowli stadium.

I ran strongly in my books. In fact, in my Suunto Footpod, I finished 21.1 Km in 2hours and 21 minutes. But obviously, it was wrongly calibrated. I started flagging off and losing speed in the last 30 minutes. Even by the markers, I had finished 17 Kms in 2 hours. The last 4 kms - I slowed down. And, since I belong to the school of runners who do not walk, I did not walk for even a second.

Collected my certificate, and finishers medal. This is one of the best days in my life!

Teju and my father-in-law were there in the stadium to receive me while finishing. Took some snaps - will post them later.

Full kudos to the Hyderabad 10k Foundation for organizing the race very well. Water was available in plenty and routes were marked clearly. Dispersion of medals and certificates was also quite efficient. One area for improvement would be that in a couple of roads, the cops did not do their job in blocking traffic - it was a bit unnerving running on those. Nevertheless - great race

3 more days to go for my first half marathon

..here it is. Its now real. I am feeling quite well prepared for Hyderabad. Guess, the only precaution I need to take is to not run too fast in the first half of the race. My fear is that , if its a flat terrain, then I might be tempted to do so - given that most of my training has been on the slightly hilly terrain of Raheja Vihar

A Significant Week

This week is an important milestone in this journey so far.

On Monday, I was in Delhi for a client meeting. In the evening, after checking into the hotel, I put on my running shoes and went to the gym. I had missed my long run the previous day, and intended to compensate for that. Till date, my longest run was 15 Km on a flat track.

I ran on the treadmill for 2 hours non-stop and covered 18 kilometers. This was an incredibly important event for me - as I felt confident that I would now be able to definitely complete the Hyderabad half-marathon

..and yesterday, was again my long run day. I decided that I needed to do the 21 kms to feel fully prepared (most beginner programs do not recommend this though). I looped Raheja Vihar - which is a tough course in my opinion. The loop has a circumference of 1.7 Kms out of which 230 Metres is a fairly steep uphill. This implies that in a 21 km run, I would end up doing close to 3 Km of uphills.

I did it - I ran the entire half -marathon distance in 2 hours 34 minutes. While I was a bit dissapointed in not finishing within 2.30, I did not let that linger. I actually feel quite decently prepared now. And, I shall start the taper for the 30th August race sometime next week.

Am Running my First Half Marathon on August 30th

The day of reckoning now on this running trip has arrived faster than I thought. I was earlier contemplating on running @ Delhi in November for my first half-marathon. But, then, I am currently mileaging around 50 Km / week quite easily. Also, over the last 10 weeks, I have been running atleast 40 km per week. My post run recoveries have been good. And, I really wanted to know where I stood in the real world of running.

All these factors, prompted me to register for the Hyderabad Half Marathon on August 30th. Teju is accompanying me and has promised to take some good snaps of me finishing my first half marathon.

So far, the half marathon was just an abstract, distant concept. Now, its real. I am going to be running it in another 17 days!

A batch-mate of mine from B-school, Hemant (HAS, as we called him) will be running along with me.

I am really excited about this.

Break on through....to the other side!

Ok..10th August is the day I broke through the 2 hours of continuous running barrier...albeit on the treadmill.

I was in Delhi on a client meeting on this day. I was feeling a bit guilty since I had missed my long run the previous day. I had lost focus, wasted my time on the internet and in a retail mall, and did not run on Sunday.

On Monday, after my meetings, I checked into the hotel in the evening, and straight-away hit the gym. Not being too familiar with Delhi, I did not want to run on the roads.

Well..the big story is that I did 18 kms in 2 hours at an average pace of 9 km / hour. Now, I am beginning to feel confident that I shall finish the half-marathon in 2 hours 25 minutes.

The Curious Case of the Dog's....

Today was my long run day..I did 13.2 Km in 90 minutes at a 8.8 Km / Hour pace. It was a satisfactory run, as in the first 7 kilometers, I went around the Raheja Vihar loop 4 times, and was quite comfortable doing the up-hill stretches

While I was running today, I realized the extraordinary number of pet dogs that were there in Raheja Vihar. I am not one for pet dogs. In fact, I believe that the obesity levels of the pet dog is directly and linearly related to the obesity levels of the master! However, I do not have any problems with others having a different world-view regarding dogs, so long as they take care of their dog's poop.

In tony town Raheja Vihar, the upwardly mobile, upper-middle class shamelessly get their fat, overfed dogs to crap all over outside. It freaks me out as a runner; It freaks me out even more when I think of the poor civic sense of these so called 'civilized folks'

Confirmations Received for Mumbai and Singapore HMs

I have received the confirmations and race ID for both the Singapore and Mumbai half marathons! The registering experience for the Singapore run was cleaner and smoother as a transaction than the Mumbai one.

A Look at the Last 8 Months

Well..the weight loss has been almost linear. I had been thinking that there would be a balancing loop process at work here. But so far, that does not seem to be the case.

Nov'08 - 100 KGs

Dec'08 - 98 KGs

Jan'09 - 95 KGs

Feb'09 - 92.5 KGs

Mar'09 - 92.5 KGs

Apr'09 - 90 KGs

May'09 - 88.5 KGs

Jun' 09 - 85.5 KGs

Jul '09 - 84 KGs

..the diminishing returns will soon set in. My target weight is around 77. Actually, I have stopped thinking in terms of KGs. I should ideally target a fat percentage of around 15%. Currently, am at 24%. Started at 34% last November

End of July Stats

Here is the usual post at the end of the month summarizing my progress.

Weight - 84 KGs.

Total KMs run - 155 Km. This was around 45 kMs below my target of 200. Essentially, lost 1 week of training time due to a stomach infection.

Calories Burnt - 17300.

Time Spent Running - 17 Hours 19 minutes.

Overall, I would put down this month as a pretty good month of running. I was running faster and in better form (a qualitative feeling). Also, my 5 km timing improved to 29 minutes 12 seconds. I am certain that I will do 10Km within 1 hour next month.

..and yes, lost a further 1.5 KGs this month

A Revision of my Short Term Goals

This was something that I decided on around 3 weeks back - but never posted. My initial ambition was to target the full marathon in Mumbai in 2010. But, then a combination of new knowledge, and experience, illumined me and made me introspect on whether this made sense. Some of these included the following thoughts-

1. I was going to at-best be a struggling 5 hour plus finisher. I was not sure whether I wanted to go through my first marathon as a supreme struggle. I actually wanted to finish happy, and in good time

2. There was definitely a greater risk of injury in attempting a marathon without building atleast a base of 12 - 18 months of solid running. This was an extremely important consideration for me. I did not want to get injured and be off running for a long period

3. I realized that even in terms of a half marathon, I still had a very long way to go in my training. With my current speed and stamina, it looks like I would be a 2 hours 25 minutes finisher. I thought I should first see if could shave off atleast 15 minutes off this before the Delhi Half Marathon in November. And then, work towards doing a sub-2 hour half marathon sometime next year

Hence, I decided that I would seriously start working towards a marathon only sometime in 2010. Before that, I want to crack a half marathon within 2 hours. Does this all sound presumptous for a guy who is actually yet to race a half marathon...yes! But then..what the heck!!

Hence my new goals are to do 4 half marathons in 4 months.

November' 09 - Delhi

December' 09 - Singapore

January' 10 - Mumbai

February' 10 - Hong Kong

It is now a question of ramping up my running speed. My longest run to date is 15 km, and in terms of distance I am almost there. Should be hitting 18 Km by mid-August. Therefore, what I am going to focus on over the next 3- 6 months is on speed and strength. Hopefully, this should help me increase my average running speed to around 10 Km / Hour from my current 9.1 Km / Hour

A sinusoidal month

Its been that kind of month. A stomach infection forced me off running for 6 days. Got back to it tentatively on Saturday - and ran 6 kms in the morning. I could feel the tempo missing - I ran too fast and my normal cadence was completely off

Felt guilty about the lack of exercise and ran a further 5 km in the evening (I really think I should not have done this). Nevertheless, again, ran too fast

Things finally started feeling normal on Sunday morning. I ran 10 kms at a good rhythm.

Well - I have clearly internalized the meaning of muscle memory I suppose. That's been the one good thing that came out of my forced break from running

A new PR for 5 km

Things have been going pretty well for me in July as far as my running schedule is concerned. Today, in my tempo run, I did 5 Km in 29 minutes 12 seconds - shaving off 33 seconds from my June 24th record. I am quite happy about this!

So far,I have done around 105 km in 16 days. I should be closing the month with a mileage of around 195 Km

Am almost there

Last Saturday, I broke through the 15 Km barrier. I should be half-marathon ready, in terms of endurance, in another 6 weeks.

I took around 1 hour 43 minutes to do 15 km. The heavy rains did slow me down a bit maybe. Nevertheless, projecting basis this speed, I should be completing the half marathon in approximately 2 hours 27 minutes.

Since last week, I have included speed work, and hills in my training. This should hopefully, help me shave off atleast 10 minutes from my projected time by October

End of June Stats

Weight - 85.5 Kgs. Lost 3 more kgs this month.

Calories Burnt due to Running - 21,500

Kilometres Run - 174.5

Days Run - 25

Overall, its been a great month. I consistently did around 42 - 45 Kms per week; overall rhythm was good. I can now do a 10 Km run peacefully. My longest run to date has been 13 Km

A typical weekly running schedule this month

The typical weekly schedule that I have been following through the first 3 weeks of this month is as follows. My running week starts with a Saturday - which is the day of the Long Slow Distance.

Saturday - 11 / 12 / 13 km (Progressively improved each week from 11 to 13)

Sunday - Interval Training (250 M x 6 at 12.00 Km / Hour pace; each lap followed by 1 equidistant lap of walking; the pain of Saturday's run strikes me only on Monday morning)

Monday - Easy run of 5 km (average speed 8.7 - 9.1 Km / hour; average HR of 78- 80%)

Tuesday - Easy Run of 6 Km

Wednesday - Tempo run for 30 minutes at speeds close to 10; this week hit 10.1 Km/hour

Thursday - Easy run of 8 Km

Friday - Rest

A PR for 5 km - broke the 30 Min barrier!

Today was my tempo run - I did 5 km in 29 Min 45 seconds and broke the 30 minute wall for the first time!

Some of the resistance training and interval run work is beginning to pay off

Today's Long Run - 13 Km

I am posting after quite a few days. Overall, I had a pretty good week, and kept all my milestones. Today's long run was 1 km more than the last week at 13 km. I ran pretty well, despite the humid, muggy conditions.

Finished 13 kms, happy, in 1 hour 29 minutes.

Also, have ordered a few running books from Amazon, including 'The Lore of Running' by Dr Noakes - which is pretty much refered to as the bible of running.

Overall weekly mileage (though the running week will only close by Monday), is likely to be 41 Km, including the forecasted one for Monday. This means that I have pretty much kept a 40 km + mileage for the last three weeks. I plan to now step this up to 45 - 46 next week

Mid June Stats

So far, in the first 2 weeks of this month, I have run 85 Kms. The mileage in the both the weeks is almost the same - 42 Kms in the first; 43 in the second. Overall, the body, this month, has responded pretty well.

Have also been more regular to the gym this month. I am trying to keep to a schedule of at-least 4 days a week - of which, 2 are for the lower body, 1 for the upper body, and 1 for abs.

My Running Goals for the next 8 months

I have clarified to myself my running objectives for the next 8 months. 

Overall Vision- I want to be a full marathon runner.

Main Goal - Run the full marathon in the Standard Chartered Marathon in Mumbai in Jan 2010

Interim Goals

1. Run the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in Oct 2009

2. Run the Hyderabad Half Marathon in Nov 2009

These 2 half marathons would be nice milestones to achieve in my push for the full marathon in Jan'2010

As per my training schedule, I should be reasonably ready for the half marathon by end- August. Post that I have around 19 weeks to work towards the full marathon. Seems quite feasible to me. 

My Five Year Running Goal: To qualify for the Boston Marathon by 2013

Today's Long Run - 12 Kms

Today was a fantastic run for me. I got up early and was out on the roads for my run at 6.45 AM. The rhythm was good - and I did not push myself into running faster. I ran 12 kms in 1 hour 27 minutes. Was completely at ease, and my average heart rate was 82%

..well, one of those good days I guess. 

Today's Run - 5 Km

Today's run was well...run of the mill. Did 5 km in 34 minutes - and maintained an easy pace. I wanted to take it a bit easy today morning since I had done some strength training in the gym yesterday evening

Today's Run - 8.6 Km

Today morning's run was very good. Even though, again, I started later than usual at 7.30 AM. I ran for exactly 1 hour - and covered 8.6 Km. Had a good feeling about the run, and was in the zone right through - ran at a steady pace and did not over-exert myself. My average heart rate was at 80% of max heart rate.

I can feel my cardiovascular system getting stronger. A month ago, my average heart rate for a run of similar intensity and distance would have been 84-86% of max heart rate.

Slow it down

I had remarked earlier about improving my 5 Km PR from 33 minutes to 30 minutes in 2 weeks. Well - I just got slightly more literate, and scientific, and the fallacious, and dangerous nature of this objective is apparent to me. Some principles I have set down-

1. Am not going to focus on my speed for this year. The emphasis will be on finishing my goals.

2. This is the way I am going to keep it till I complete my first half marathon

Today's run made me come to this realization. I ran 5 km in 32 minutes - and improving this by 2 minutes is still a long way from here ---am not even going to think about it.

The second aspect is that somewhere my weekly mileage in the last 2 weeks has ramped up faster than what I initially planned ....and its also faster than what I have read in many running blogs (the 10% ramp up per week rule). I have moved from a weekly tally of 30 to 43 Km in 3 weeks. But I am listening to my body ---and am not feeling any repercussions, or warning signs. I am allowing myself 1 day for rest in the week .. and things seem ok.

Why Run at All?

Here is a nice article I found on the c25k website-

http://www.c25k.com/finishing.html

Today's Long Run - 11 Km

I was planning to start my run today at 6.00 AM. Wanted to be out before the sun, but then..Murphy struck. It was 8.15 by the time I stepped out. The weather  was humid and muggy. I decided to restrict my run in and around my colony.

Also, today was the big day - was going to try out my Camelbak Hydration Pack. It is 2 litre water backpack and it allows for hands-free consumption of water on the run. Camelbak is a true innovator - the fact that these guys thought of specializing in building these bags blew my mind off! These guys are very very serious about quality. For more info, you can check out www.camelbak.com.

I found the hydration pack an incredible value-add. The water remains cool - and the bite valve is perfect. There is no taste of plastic at all. The pack is quite unobstru sive. There is some noise of the water moving in the bag, but that hardly was a distraction for me - since I anywhich ways run with some music on.

Ran 11 Kms in 1 hour and 14 minutes. Felt pretty good overall. This week so far has been very good - have run 44 kms in the last 6 days

Suunto T3C Running Pack - Revisited

It has been a month since I got my Suunto T3C running pack -and here are the highlights of my experience so far-

1. It is a great training device. The heart rate monitor gives accurate information, and foot pod measurements in terms of speed and distance is very consistent. 

2. The motivation that one gains from this is invaluable. Every day, one knows one's benchmarks and hence what targets to set. The Training Efficiency index acts as a good alarm - it helps me decide on which days to raise my intensity, and when to cool off.

3. The manual was quite useless. However, I familiarized myself with using the watch in 3 - 4 days. The controls are simple, and the screens are well designed

4. Suunto Training Lite software is fairly elementary. However, it still helps me as it automates the storage of basic training data. 

Before I bought it,  I had read about the susceptibility of the watch screen to get scratches. And, yes , I have got my first scratch. Nevertheless, I am not too worried about it.

At an overall level, I am extremely happy with my purchase and experience

Some Thoughts on Murakami's Book

I read Murakami's book, 'What I Talk About When I Talk About Running' a few weeks back. For somebody who is not into running, the book could infact be banal. I know a couple of folks who just could not empathize with what Murakami was trying to convey.

I found the book a fantastic read, and in many cases I could really connect with Murakami's thought. I think that the main theme of the book is on the therapeutic power of running. It can change one's life so much for the better. Running clarifies the mind like no other activity.  The entry barriers to running are also minimal - all one needs is a good pair of running shoes.

Murakami's maxim in the first chapter - 'Pain is inevitable; Suffering is optional' is something that every runner can connect with. The book has a zen like quality about it and I enjoyed reading it very much

A 10 Km Run Yesterday

Yesterday was a good run - a really good, rhythmic run infact. I completed 10 km in 1 hour and 12 minutes. The speed was not really important. I just felt full of energy, and ran the entire run at almost the same pace. Celebrated it in the evening with some pasta!

Running Through the IIT Powai Churn

Last Saturday, my friend Gopal, who stays in Bhandup, called me over for breakfast.. and we were supposed to have a stimulating conversation on simulations, and a general rant on the frustrations of living in a non-linear world.

I thought the distance would be perfect for my weekend long run. Mentally, I reckoned the distance to be around 10 km from my house. My plan was to start at around 6.30 and be at Gopal's house by around 7.15.

The distance was actually 7.5 kms and it took me 51 minutes. I should have reached atleast 5 minutes earlier were it not for some frustrating road-blocks at IIT Powai. My run had to peter into a crawl for almost a kilometer. The roads were dug up, there was bad traffic and pollution, and the whole scene was quite pathetic. I do not know when the authorities are planning to clear up this mess.

Today's Run - A Question of Will

I woke up in the morning at 6.45 and every bone and muscle in my body urged me not to run. Somehow willed myself outside at 7.15 and told myself that I would run atleast  5 km. Ran in the big ground in my colony - one lap of the ground is 210 metres. Anywhich ways, finished 5 kms in 33 minutes - not a bad performance given the starting problems.

It was quite critical for me to run today, as I had ditched my run yesterday. An official get together on Sunday evening at the work place meant that I could not get up early enough. Also, I had had a glass of wine in the party, which made me a bit lethargic on Monday morning. Missing 2 days of running in a row would be catastrophic in my books - and not good at all for the momentum built up over the last 2 months

End of May Stats

Finished the month at 88.5 Kgs - have lost 1.5 kgs this month, which is what I was targeting. My total kms of running this month stands at 102. Am hoping to take this to 125 Km in June

Got myself a cool Camelbak 2 Litre hydration pack for long runs. The waist pouch I currently have is too small. Will post some pics and details on this soon.

Today's Run - 8.9 Km in 1 hour

I wanted to start my run a bit early today - but woke up late, and could hit the road only by 7.10 AM. The sun was already out, and in the area where I run, there is not much of tree cover.

I ran exactly for 1 hour, and did 8.9 Kms - not too bad in my books, but was a bit dissapointed at not hitting 9.2 / 9.3 which was my target. I did my first 5 Kms in 32 minutes though - which is an improvement of 1 minute over my personal best

Am not exactly setting the tracks on fire - but am progressing nicely in my books so far.

Completed a 10 Km Run!

I did it..broke the 10 km barrier this Sunday. 

When I started to run yesterday, my initial target was to do 8 km - having done a 6 km last Sunday. But ,at the 8 km mark, I felt quite good - and just decided to see if I could run 10 kms. I completed it in 1 hour 13 minutes. My average speed in the 10 km run was 8.3 Km / hour. It took me 33 minutes for the first 5 kms and 40 minutes for the next 5. 

Today's outdoor Run - 5 Kms

I was in the zone today - did 5 Kms in 33 minutes. This is a big improvement for me - I shaved off nearly 5 minutes from my earlier time of 38 minutes last week.

Am hoping to break the 30 minute barrier in another 2 weeks!

Did a six Km run this Sunday

I have been running outside atleast 4 kms everyday this month. I have stopped running on the treadmill as running outside is just so much more fun. My average speed has gradually improved to around 7.5 Km / hour.

On Sunday, I decided to up the ante. I was going to give a shot at running 6 kms. My route was to start from my house and run to my gym - which is 2.70 kms. Then, turn back and reach home, which would mean a cumulative distance of 5.40 Km. And then, continue my run for three laps in the ground adjacent to my home - a lap of this ground is 200 M. My target was to do this at an average speed of 8 Km/h - which implied that I should complete the 6 Km run in 45 minutes

Overall, the run went fine. I missed my target by 1 minute, and finished in 46 minutes. My average speed was 7.8 Km/h. Felt quite ok, and could have continued running for atleast 1 more km.

2nd May - The first run with Suunto t3c

I did my second outdoor run on May 2nd - wearing my Suunto t3c running pack. Decided to lap Raheja Vihar - the township where I stay. Well, the foot pod informed me that a full lap of Raheja Vihar was equal to 1.3 Km. I did three laps in 35 minutes. Not a great speed, but there were some steep inclines, and it was just my second run outside

Overall, I was quite impressed with the Suunto t3c. The measurements seemed accurate, and the range of information available is fantastic. It does take sometime to understand all the operations, but the reward is well worth the time invested in understanding how to use it.

Suunto t3c - my heart rate monitor

Did some intense web search on 2nd may and understood the importance of exercising keeping in mind one's heart rate. I also wanted to measure my performance in workouts more accurately (including treadmill runs in the gym). I shortlisted three heart rate monitor devices that day -

1. Garmin Forerunner 305 - very cool; awesome data analysis possible. A bit ungainly to wear, but what the heck, its for your exercise. The disadvantage was that because it uses GPS to measure distance and speed, indoor use (especially, at my gym) was not possible - I could still use it to measure my heart rate and calories burnt though. Another problem I foresaw was servicing - the battery had to be replaced by a certified Garmin Centre. And, the dealer in Mumbai, Aerial Services (located enroute to terminal 1A in the domestic airport - in the car park of the restaurant) was quite uninspiring. He seemed to know very little about the product - and infact, he did not seem very keen on the sale itself. He quoted a rate of around Rs. 17000 (before tax). 

2. Polar s625x - has the standard heart rate monitor. Distance and speed measured through pod technology (unlike Garmin which is GPS). I contacted Chintu at Kushi Exports - located in Lokhandwala. He was extremely helpful and quite knowledgeable about the product. The Polar did seem really good - and its reviews across the board were quite positive. However, again, the battery had to be replaced only by the company. This to me, just meant increased hassles.

3. Suunto t3c Running Pack - I finally decided to go in with the Suunto t3c running pack. It comprised of a watch, a heart rate monitor belt and a footpod. I also purchased a PC pod so that my training data could be downloaded on to my laptop for further analysis. Kushi Exports are the sole distributors for Suunto products in India. 

The Suunto t3c has some disadvantages - chiefly, these are it the watch can get scrathes quite easily, and the manual is quite poor. The advantage however is that it is quite feature rich, batteries can be replaced by users, and you can build it with components. For instance, if you need to measure your performance with GPS, you need to just go and buy the GPS pod. Yes - I needed to be careful about the scratches.

What do you get out of this heart rate monitor watch and foot pod?

1. Pretty accurate (98% +) measurement of speed and distance. 

2. You can either do an auto-lap or manual - lap of your runs.

3. Calories burnt, average heart rate, max heart rate, and time spent in the three heart rate zones

3. max speed, average speed

4. Training Efficiency - an index of how strenuous your run was

5. A provision to store upto 15 logs - that is, upto 15 days of data can be stored in the watch. 

6. Monthly and weekly totals of all the above parameters

...and, the best part is that all of the above data can be wirelessly synced into my laptop using the PC Pod (has to be bought separately). This data can then be analysed using the Suunto Training Manager Lite software. The software, to be honest, is average. But, hey, the good bits is that you can keep syncing and filing your training outputs here - and maybe, I am going to be amazed end of year on the progress!

All in all, seemed to be a very worthwhile purchase. Justified the purchase as being equivalent to my yearly cigarette bill.

Running Outside for the First Time

On the 1st of May, I thought about trying to run outside. I had been clocking around 5 - 7 kms per day on the treadmill through April, and my confidence had increased. 

I went to Oberoi mall and invested in an Adidas Salvation running shoe. These shoes felt real good - much better than my Adidas Supernova that I had been using.  I also bought some running shorts, shirts, and a waist pouch. Was going to attempt the run in style!

On 2nd May, I ran outside. I did 4 laps around my township and this took around 45 minutes. I was not sure about the distance since I had never measured it before

Running Ugly - Chanderpaul vs VVS Laxman

Right through April I ran on the treadmill. I am by no means an elegant runner. I often spent time at the gym observing the running technique of some of the more fit runners. There was this one particular guy who kind of flowed while he was running. His whole motion was so relaxed, and smooth. He would be doing 11 km/h while you would think it was 8. 

I was not one of those. I knew that. In my 50 minute run, I would just focus on making it. I could feel the lack of fluidity in my running form. But, then, I was not an athlete, and I had to make the best of my talents - whatever I had. 

This got me thinking about cricket. I have always been a great admirer of VVS Laxman. That knock of 281 is, in my books, the greatest test innings ever played. The sheer beauty of Laxman's batting, the grace of his strokes, the zen like peace which descends in the field while he is batting are aspects I have greatly admired. When Laxman bats, there is no violence in the field - there are no savage screams, no unnecessary adrenaline. A Laxman knock is definition of fluidity and beauty in batting.  And on top of this beauty, in the last 8 years,  Laxman has played a critical role in more than 60% of India's test match wins. And saved quite a few. 

At the other end of the Spectrum - you have Chanderpaul. Nothing could be more ugly than a Chanderpaul knock. Right from the guy's stance, to his defence, to the way he dabs the ball to third man - Chanderpaul is an aesthete's nightmare. He however is also a critical element of the West Indian team. Yes, sure, the WI team is amongst the weakest in the world - but Chanderpaul has played several brave knocks for his team in his career. 

So there you have it - Laxman is an aesthete's delight. And Chanderpaul epitomizes the concept of batting ugly. And, yet, both get the job done. 

I guess, to me, as far as my treadmill running was concerned, it was important to last through those 50 minutes. I knew it was not pretty. But, hey, the best part about running is that it is always 'me against me'. You are only battling yourself - trying today to beat yesterday's benchmark. And if its ugly, well, that is what it is.

Why is this blog titled 'The Tao of the Oat'?

Like a true south Indian ( I am Telugu, and grew up in Tamil Nadu), I enjoyed my Vada Sambar, Venn Pongal, and Poori Masala for breakfast - and all of this with loads of coconut chutney. Having grown up in Coimbatore, which borders Tamil Nadu and Kerala, coconut was an integral part of every aspect of cooking

One of the first things the nutritionist did was to eliminate these items from my diet - I was allowed to have idli (only with sambar & without chutney, and the sambar was not supposed to have coconut). Rather than have this watered down version of idli, I decided to eliminate it altogether - I mean, either I had the real idli or did not have it at all. 

My breakfast was supposed to be oats and egg whites. And, initially, I absolutely hated oats. It was tasteless, spiceless, took too long to chew - and generally made me feel like a horse. Soon, however, I started recognizing the merits of this meal. I was seeing the Tao, the way, by consuming oat for breakfast. 

Hence, the Tao of  the Oat

April'09 - A quantum leap in my treadmill running

After the 1 month break, when I started running on the treadmill again, I somehow felt fresher. Maybe, the lull in March had refreshed me. I just felt that I could run longer than 10 Minutes continuous - which was my record in March. Maybe, this was because my quitting smoking had cleaned up something in my cardio system in the last 20 days. 

I think, to someone more fit than me, this might just sound like the heights of being pompous - calling a 10 minute continuous run as a record! However, I have never been a physically active person before in my life. And, I was seriously overweight and trying to accomplish something reltated to my fitness. Hence, to me, moving from a 1 minute run in December to 10 minutes continuous is a big leap.

Coming back, I felt stronger on the treadmill in the first few days of April. On April 4th, I asked myself - "Hey, can I run for atleast 17 minutes continuous?" (after providing for a walk for the first 3 minutes to warm up). I decided to give it a shot. And, completely surprised myself by doing it!

My run was as follows -

3 minute walk at 6.5 Km/Hour

7 minute run at 10.5 Km/hour

4 minute run at 9.5 Km/Hour

6 minute run at 8.5 Km/Hour

..so, I made it. This was the first day in 4 months when I did not feel a sense of hate and revulsion about the treadmill workout. I actually enjoyed it - as I surprised myself with what I achieved that day. 

For a week I stuck with this routine on the treadmill, and continued with the elliptical routine of 25 minutes too. Then, I again asked myself, as to whether, I could run for 30 minutes continuous. This seemed to me to be an important psychological mark - a 30 minute continuous run. 

I decided to attempt this on April 12th 2009. I set some ground rules -

1. The slowest speed I would go down to was 8.5 Km/hour

2. It would be a continuous run; no walking

..and, again I did it. I mean - I ran ugly, and huffed and puffed on treadmill, including some very loud sighs of tiredness. But, I did the job. I ran continuously for 30 minutes - albeit at a slower pace than before. From my runs in the previous week, I realized that going at 10.5 Km/Hour early on was not going to help me last through 30 minutes. So, I decided to cut down my peak running speed to 9.5 Km/Hour. The 30 minute run schedule was as follows-

 3 minute warm up walk at 6.5 Km/Hour

15 minute run at 9.5 Km/Hour

15 minute run at 8.5 Km/ hour

I had approximately run 4 Kms on the treadmill that day. I was totally drained - and my knees hurt a bit. But it was enoromously satisfying.  I was beginning to enjoy treadmill running.

I persisted with a week of this routine. That is, 30 minutes on the treadmill, running. And, 20 minutes on the elliptical. This was till April 18th. 

Then, again, on April 19th, I asked myself as to whether I could do the whole 50 minute cardio session on the treadmill itself, and eliminate the elliptical from my cardio routine. I decided that I would try two 25 minute sessions on the treadmill- with a resting break of 3 minutes between sessions. And I did it.

The first 25 minutes, I repeated what I did earlier the previous week. I ran at an average of 9.0 Km / Hour with a peak of 9.5 km/h and a min of 8.5 km/h. The second set was difficult. When I started out, I could feel the strain. I decided to limit my run speed to 8.5 Km/h. The whole run was accomplished at this stready pace. I ran for a total of 50 minutes, and had run around 8 kms on the treadmill - with a three minute break. In a couple of days, I was able to eliminate the 3 minute break - and run continuously for 50 minutes on the treadmill. My typical run used to be -

3 minute warm up by walking at 6.5 km/h

5 minute run at 8.5 km/h

20 minute run at 9.5 km/h

25 minute run at 8.5 km/h

So, I had actually started running - and enjoying the treadmill. I spent the rest of April doing this.  I did slack off a bit on my weight training. But, I did not mind it, as I was beginning to really enjoy running on the treadmill

End of April09 - I was at 90 Kgs. I had lost 10 Kgs in 5 months since December

March'09 - a lull in my activity and quitting smoking

My quarterly gym membership expired on March 4th 2009. I had to spend 2 weeks in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu as my brother was getting married. In those 2 weeks, I did have some transgressions from my diet - in fact almost completely. The only saving grace was that I limited the quantities I was consuming. I did manage to do some crunches, leg raised and squats on alternate days. 

The most important date in this month however was March 6th. For old time's sake, I decided to travel to Coimbatore by train. I have always found trains an excellent medium to clarify my thoughts to myself - maybe its the rhythmic movement that calms my mind. Whatever it was, but on this day, I just felt that I was through with smoking. I mean - I just felt disgusted and decided that it was over. I was carrying a pack to smoke surreptitiously, when Teju was not looking around.  I threw that in the trash can and told myself that this was the end of it. I could just feel strongly inside me that this time it was for real. Smoking was out of my life.

I really did not have any withdrawal symptoms. Maybe being amongst my family, and the festivities associated with marriage helped. 

On 23rd I came back to Mumbai, and measured my weight for the first time in 17 days. Happily, there was no gain (I know that weight is not the only barometer of fat ..etc..but I was happy). 

I slacked around for another week. This was now getting dangerous. It was almost a month since I had done any serious exercise. I certainly did not want the good work of the last 3 months to be undone. On April 1st, I dragged myself back to the gym and paid up for a year's membership.

Feb'09- My running improves further

Well, the skepticism regarding the elliptical's figures got me thinking. I decided to take my treadmill workout in more serious fashion. It was as if, I turned on a switch. I was soon, able to run, 10 minutes continuously on the treadmill - and a total of 14 out of 20 minutes on the treadmill, I ran. My typical workout was -

3 minutes walk at 6 km/hour to warm up

10 minute run at 10 Km/hour

2 minute walk at 5.5 km/hour

2 minute run at 9.0 Km/ hour

1 minute walk at 5.5 Km / hour

2 minute run at 8.5 Km / hour

..and then cool off by walking for 2 minutes. This was then followed by a 25 minute workout on the elliptical and rounded off with the abs and back muscle exercises - 2 sets each of crunches, situps, leg raises and back workout.

This was in my books atleast, a big improvement from where I started in December. From a 1 Minute to a 10 minute continuous run (and a cumulative 14 minutes)

My smoking still continued at 6 cigarettes a day. Phillip, my instructor, kept telling me to quit it if I wanted to improve my cardio activity. I, however, was not even able to conceive how to quit. I was happy with myself in having persisted on my exercise schedule for 3 months. I was also quite disciplined regarding my food intake. I justified my smoking by telling myself that I could tolerate this - and in any case I had reduced.

The truth however, as every smoker knows, is that quitting is hard, and it has to be complete. There is nothing like a slow reduction of smoking and gradually quitting

Overall, Feb'09 was a good month for me. I was there at the gym 24 days out of 28. And continued with the same routine - alternating my days between cardio and weights. End of Feb'09, I weighed 92.5 kgs. In 3 months, I had lost 7.5 kgs. 

A Question of Measurement - Treadmill vs Elliptical

The concept of measurement without error is nonsensical. But when does the error become so large as to render the measurement nonsensical? This was a question that started troubling me in Jan'09. 

Over the last 2 months at the gym, I had relied on the measurements on the gym machines to set targets for myself and going about achieving and improving on them. Soon, however, I started doubting their accuracy. 

Initially, my problem used to be the difference in the numbers between the treadmill and the elliptical. On the treadmill, after a 20 minute workout, I used to feel quite drained. Overall, I used to feel the strain. On the other hand, the elliptical did not feel that difficult - yes, I used to have resistance etc - nevertheless, the workout was never that intense as a run on the treadmill. When one looked at the calories burnt figure however, the elliptical would always show more by atleast 20%. 

I could not somehow reconcile myself to this. Sure - my search across the net on this subject informed me that the elliptical was a very efficient machine. It also placed less stress on the knee joints - and hence, it did not tire one out as much as treadmill.

But, I just did not feel convinced. Maybe I was wrong, and being unscientific. This skepticism however, played a very important role in transforming my attitude to cardiovascular exercise.

The Second Month

Things got easier in Jan-2009. I kept the commitment going. Was there at the gym 26 days out of 31 (including New Year's eve and New Year)

The treadmill runs started to improve. End of Jan-2009, I could run around 9 minutes in total out a 20 minute workout. My general routines used to be -

0 - 3rd Minute - walk at 6 Km/ hour

4th to 10th Minute - run at 9.0 Km /hour

11th to 13th Minute - walk at 5.5 Km/ hour

14th to 16th Minute - run at 9.0 Km/ hour

17th to 19th Minute - walk at 5.5 Km/ hour

20th Minute - run at 9.0 Km/hour

Cool off at 5.5 Km/ hour for 2 minutes

This was my treadmill routine. The elliptical and bike went on ok. In consultation with Phillip, I decided to knock off the bike from my routine, and compensated for that by spending an extra 10 minutes on the elliptical. The whole of Jan-09 my cardio routine was -

1. 20 minute run on the treadmill, followed by a 2 minute cool-off

2. A 25 minute workout on the elliptical followed by a 2 minute cool-off

3. Sets of crunches, leg raises and sit-ups to work on the abs

On weight days, I did the circuit. Mostly found leg strength exercises tougher - clearly understood that relatively, my legs were much weaker than my upper body. I found free squats particularly strenuous. 

Snacking was mostly under control, and cigarettes were restricted to 5- 6 per day and eliminated on weekends.

End of Jan-09, I was 5 kgs down, cumulatively, and weighed 95 kgs. I was beginning to feel the difference. 

Why am I putting all these experiences in a blog?

1. I want to put it down as a kind of living diary to myself

2. In my fitness and weight loss journey, I gained inspiration from several blogs where people have documented similar experiences. These blogs have helped me enoromously. If  somebody as unfit as me could could start off on this journey of fitness, then anybody can. I needed to put this down so that some random searcher from somewhere in the internet space might find this useful

The challenges of eating right

Teju and my mother-in-law were in charge of my diet. Essentially, the biggest challenge for me was to avoid eating those office lunches - especially, pizzas and other greasy stuff in meetings. 

I just disciplined myself in the first month - no matter what, I would eat food packed from home. My mother-in-law helped me enoromously. I shared my work calendar with her, and on days that I had meetings, she would make my rotis into rolls so that I could eat in the car, enroute or exiting from meetings. And avoid the pizza stuff

Controlling my food intake was not such a big problem actually. Being a south Indian, I was expecting severe deprivation pangs for rice. Nothing like that happened - I was quite comfortable avoid rice in my diet. 

My diet was fulfilling in the sense that I did not feel hungry or deprived. The food was basic and simple. The quantity was adequate. 

A reduction in smoking

A good outcome of the first month at the gym was that my smoking reduced. The need to smoke went down. And, especially on cardio days, I used to consciously smoke lesser - the thought of the treadmill was dreadful enough. I did not need cigarettes to make my run on the treadmill worse than what it was. 

However, after a workout, I used to walk across the road to the paan shop outside my gym, and have a smoke - generally justified with an 'I deserve it after the workout' thought. 

End of December 2008 - cigarette count, 5 - 6 per day.

The First Month at the Gym

It took me a couple of days to get over the gym blues - that is, just to accept my unfit body to myself. 

On the first day, Dec 7th 2008, I felt a bit shy, and a bit nervous too. I went to the locker room, changed and went in.

Phillip, my personal trainer, told me that we would start off with a 20 min session on the treadmill, followed by 15 minutes on the elliptical, and 10 minutes on the bike. 

I was dreading the treadmill, and as it became apparent to me, that was for good reason. Phillip told me to alternate between a 2 minute walk and a 1 minute run for 20 minutes. Well - I could run for exactly 1 minute. And that was that. The run completely drained me - and left me panting. I walked for the remaining 19 minutes. And was quite exhausted. The elliptical and the bike were relatively easier - nevertheless, I was quite drained out at the end of 45 minutes.

This was pretty much the trend over the whole of December. I used to alternate between cardio and weights. The whole thing was quite painful- the cardio days especially. I just dreaded the treadmill. In fact, I used to curse the machine - since the effort expended seemed that much more than the elliptical, and the returns, in terms of calories burnt, that much lesser (atleast as per the measurement devices on the machines; the elliptical always showed  more returns per minute than the treadmill). I persisted through - and ensured that I was hitting the gym atleast 5 days a week. 

By the end of December, I could run for 5 minutes continuously at 9 Km/hour - which was no great shakes, honestly. But, I was weighing 2 kgs lesser - the kind of weight loss which you, feel internally, but is not apparent to the outside world.

The Fitness Trip Starts - After Many Fits and Starts

That's me in November 2008.  I was  35 years old, weighed 100kgs, and smoked 12- 15 cigarettes a day. One could say I was a regular corporate guy - someone who had in a sense allowed the mechanical pounding of the corporate world to tell on his corporeal self. This was till 26/11 happened in Mumbai. There was a mail being circulated in my office from one of the survivors. The writer of this mail, amongst other things, stressed the importance of being fit. And that was when, for possibly the first time in my life, I thought of getting fit

So, that's how it started. On the sixth of December 2008, I told Teju, my wife, that I wanted to do something about my weight. Teju was kind of shocked - she had been telling me to do this for 6 years, and never imagined that such a day would dawn!

I went to a nutritionist that very day. She essentially told me that I was atleast 14 kgs overweight. And the first priority would be to lose 10 kgs.  She gave me a diet plan - the gist of which was about avoiding rice and snacks, and eating right with a diet high on fibre, vegatables, and an optimal intake of proteins. 

I left the nutritionist's office and went over to the neighbourhood gym and enrolled for three months . I wanted to first see if I was disciplined enough before committing financial resources for a year's membership. 

That's how my attempt to get fit started. 

...and this is me in May 2009..6 months after the fitness journey started