Re: The Mumbai Half Marathon

I am blogging after quite some time - more than 3 months. In January, I ran and finished the Mumbai Half Marathon in 2:24:52. It was a great feeling to finish a sub-2:30 half!

In the last 3 months, I have upped the ante on my tennis and am taking it a bit easy on the running front. I am also cycling, and building up on my quadriceps. I am again starting off on my half-marathon training in another week (KL Half - June 27th) and hope to work towards a sub 2 half.

Adult Learning & Kolb's Learning Cycle

Its about 3 months since I started learning tennis. My stint at TIS and some of the changes that I have been through got me interested in the concept of adult learning, and the process in which one acquires new skills (physical or mental) as one gets older.

I have started learning tennis at 36. So, obviously, the learning process has been slow, difficult, frustrating, and at times exhilarating. Its started getting better however, in the last 1 month. It is interesting to look at this learning from the Kolb's cycle perspective.

Kolb's theory is that a human goes through 4 stages while acquiring a new skill, and I can now, really correlate to this theory. The stages are -

1) Unconscious Incompetence - you don't know that you don't know

In the first 4 weeks, the coach used to scream at me, "Racquet Back" all the time. And I just could not understand what he was talking about! I was not even conscious of the mistakes that I was making. The whole thing was a just a flurry of events. I would see the fuzzy yellow ball coming towards me, and give it a whack. The ball would often go sailing out of the court. I was at the first stage as per Kolb's theory. I was not even aware of my incompetence.

2) Conscious Incompetence - you become aware that you don't know

In the second month, things changed a bit. I became aware of many things - why I needed to take the racquet back, why a good swing was needed, why having the right grip was important - still however, I could not execute any of the instructions correctly. I was aware of my mistakes, but still was not able to correct them. I was conscious of my incompetence. As per Kolb, this is the preparatory ground for learning to start happening.

3) Conscious Competence - you know that you know

This is the third stage of learning the skill. One becomes aware of one's mistakes and makes the corrections. Things start to happen. However, one still lacks fluidity in executing the skill. I am nowhere close to being competent at tennis but I do have flashes of it, and the learning has started to happen. The racquet goes back, the right foot is forward, and I execute my left-handed forehand with the follow-through. I am very conscious of these actions however.

4) Unconscious Competence - you don't know that you know

This is Nirvana. One has achieved mastery of the skill, and it all flows. One hits a beautiful forehand and cannot explain how that happened in words. The masters - Federer, Nadal etc . are at this stage of evolution

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