ello! I skipped my Week 2 schedule blog, but in a nutshell here is what I did-
Sunday 12th April: 40 over cricket game, lots of running/bowling. I fought some cramps but I felt good thanks to the off-season half marathon training.
Monday 13th April: Rest day, sit-ups at home.
Tuesday 14th April: Swim class, I am kind of sort of enjoying it. But it is still a steep learning curve.
Wednesday 15th April: Too much work, had to skip pilates class! :(
Thursday 16th April: Swim class, we were taken to the deep end. I held my own for a little bit. I am getting quite comfortable with backstroke. Need to work on breathing while doing freestyle.
Friday 17th April: Too much work, couldn't do anything!
Saturday 18th April: Swim AM, Biking PM. Good double whammy.
Week 3 schedule-
Sunday 19th April: 50 over cricket match, will be a toughy. I am quite sore from swimming, and I have a biking session in a few hours.
Monday 20th April - Thursday 23rd April: I am traveling to Bahrain on work. I am going to try to squeeze a swimming session at the hotel pool. I will be spending most of my time on the plane, hence a workout is going to be tough.
Friday 24th April - Sunday 26th April: Traveling to sin city Las Vegas, again getting a work out will be difficult.
Looks like week 3 training will take a battering given all my travels. I REALLY need to catch up in week 4.
Last week was my first week of training for the Rookie Triathlon. I discussed my training schedule for the week in my previous blog entry. Here I will discuss how I did, what I could do, what I couldn't do and the lessons learnt for road ahead.
Sat 4th: Cricket - went well, I got a good run work out as I bowled 6 overs. I was very rusty, to be honest I didn't really bowl well. All in all an average start to my cricket season.
Sun 5th: Cycling - I got to test out my bike- Anderson (it has been named). The weather was rather chilly, but Cha and I had a solid bike session, we did 2 loops of 3.5 miles. I got the Biking 101 from her :). In the process I got to test out my clip-on pedals- with some success I must say. I can't wait to get back on the bike.
Mon 6th: Off-day, I did some push-ups/sit-ups at home.
Tues 7th: Run/Swim. I ended up going for an unexpected 5 mile run with a couple of work colleagues. It was a rocky/trail route, my left knee was a little sore from it. It was a gorgeous day to go for a run, I pretty much set the pace for the other folks. In the evening I had my 1st swim class, I learnt basic strokes and techniques to breathe efficiently under water. I HAVE SO MUCH TO LEARN, I am definitely worried about the swimming part. I really need to take it seriously.
Wed 8th: X-trainer/Pilates. I had a good 20 minute session on the elliptical before I went for the pilates class. Pilates was quite hard, its a joke how some of the ladies make it look so easy. But the core got a good workout, I really need to work on my posture.
Thurs 9th: Gym/Swim. Today at lunchtime I had a good weights session. I focused on arms- mostly biceps. And soon I am off to my next swim class. My aim today is to just work on breathing. I might try to use the basics to do a lap. Lets see how it goes.
Friday is my off day. All is all a decent first week of training. My legs are sore, I guess they will get used to the training schedule too. Over the next week or two I will know how my body responds. I will be back tomorrow (or Sat) with my training schedule for next week. Have a good Friday!
It has been a while since I blogged, and no I have not stopped training/running. I have been taking a well deserved time-out and also been recovering from a minor surgery (deviated septum). I am back now, I ran a 10K last weekend (a memorable one must I say) and now the training begins. Target- ROOKIE TRIATHLON. Why? Just like that! :)
Before I spit out my training schedule, just a couple of updates. First, I bought a fantabulous bike (Felt Z-80, thanks to my beautiful fiance). I am pasting a picture of my bike, I still need to give it a name (suggestions welcome).
It was finally here, my target race. After months of waiting, anxiety and training I was ready to tackle the New Orleans half marathon. Let’s be honest I could have trained more; I could have been more disciplined, but now was not a good time to fathom on could-have-been’s. It was game time; I needed to bring my top form for this one. The race morning was chilly, slightly breezy and overcast. My fellow runner and I spent hours the night before inquiring about the race weather. Some said it would rain, some said it would be cold and some said it would be gorgeous. Clearly the jury was still out; the weather could not make its mind up. It was a short half mile walk to the start line from the race hotel (Hilton Riverside @ New Orleans). I saw some runners jogging to the start line; I was content with my brisk walk. Breakfast came in the form of cereal bar, banana and Gatorade- simple but just enough. I checked my bag/clothes in and made my way to the start line. The race started on the main road opposite the Superdome, the plethora of people swarmed the start line. I tried to locate the 3.50 full marathon pace group, but could not find it and hence decided to run my own race. After another brisk walk to the start line it was all GO GO GO! 0-3 miles: This was my favorite part of the course because we got to run through the French quarter. It was a two for one deal- 1) run the race, and 2) sightsee through the French quarter. The roads were narrow and it did not help that cars were parked on the street. Believe it or not, people had already started hitting the bars at 7 AM, or maybe they were still drinking from the night before. I was offered cups of beer by folks who were cheering us on! It was tempting, but I decided to pass on it. I was mostly running on the sidewalk as I was desperately trying to overtake the traffic (more on this later). Soon we left the French quarter and were on wider roads. 3-6.2 miles: This part of the race course was very rustic and classic New Orleans. A tram line was running right in the middle of the street, grass and pavements around the tram track and then the road on either side. There were old houses, shops and coffee shops scattered on the sides of the road. Although most of the runners ran on the road, I chose to run on the grass area adjacent to the tram track. I had been battling left knee pain for the past couple of weeks and hence I figured that running on the grass would be easier on my knee. After 4 miles of running I was averaging 8.5 miles/hr pace- which in hindsight was a little quick. I was used to running 9-9.5 miles/hr for the first 10k. It was at this point that the pain in my left knee started. I had no choice but to slow down, I needed to do this so as to last the distance. At the half way point my stopwatch read 55 minutes- which meant around a 1.50 finish. 6.2-10: This period proved to be the typical mind against body battle. My left knee was hurting, but my PR was on the line. My legs wanted to slow down but my mind wanted me to run a solid race. I spent the next 10 minutes thinking about nothing but the pain in my knee. I was struggling; I was constantly changing my left leg stroke. Amidst of all this I forgot that mentally I was exerting a lot of energy and eventually my body caught up with it. I was tiring not because of the distance but because my mind was constantly fighting the pain. I needed a boost, I needed a break. Near the 8 mile mark (beautiful park with a golf course) I decided to take a quick water pit stop. I gulped down 5 glasses of water, a gu shot and a Tylenol - then off I went. 10-finish: The Tylenol started to take its effect around the 10 mile mark. I once again chose to run on the grass, this time we were running on the other of the tram tracks. I could still see quite a few runners on the other side of the road. My pain was ever present; I managed to recuperate some energy and hence decided to press on to the finish. For the next two miles (10-11, 11-12) I picked up the pace to 8 min/mile and felt great. It was when I hit the 12 mile water stop that I realized that I could beat my PR- my clock read 1.49. And here I made a rookie mistake- I got complacent and eased my pace. With the finish line half a mile away I realized that I was foolish and then had to sprint hard to the finish. The final product, 1.57.38- a personal record by 1 full minute! Of course this could have been slightly better had I not eased my pace at the end.
Lessons learned: 1). I spent way too much energy trying to make my way through the running traffic. I need to figure out how to do this more efficiently. 2). I could have run the first half slightly slower and conserved more for the finish. I was slightly unhappy with the fact that I ran the second half slower. 3). Running with niggling injury is very tough. A lot of energy gets exerted in focusing/thinking about the niggle when it could be rightly used to focus on the race. 4). Have a race plan and stick to it. The night before the race I decided I would run with the pace group, but then changed my mind just before the race. I should have gone into the race with my own plan; instead I had to come up with one while I was running. I think I had better race strategy in my previous race at Dallas- partly because I had a good steady pace setter at the beginning of the race. I need to work on figuring out what works best for me. 5). Strengthen the legs and core- then stick to a more disciplined training schedule. 6). Do not get complacent when ahead! Next race- Austin ATT Half Marathon on 15th Feb! Cheers, V
My race season has finally started - three races in a span of four weeks! Up first was the 3M Half Marathon Relay. I was running the relay with Charanya. Both she and I have our big races coming up next weekend and hence decided that doing the relay was the best option. I for one didn’t want to get a freakish injury and jeopardize my target race. The 3M course is famous for being a fast one. Being mostly downhill, the course offers good prospects of setting personal records. The relay is split up such that the first runner runs 6.4 miles and the second runner runs 6.7 miles. The plan was for Charanya to start us off and for me to finish the race.
My part of the race- The pre-race events were good. I got to see the start of the race, I saw the elite runners jet by and then the ASHA runners followed. I then was dropped off to the relay exchange point by ASHA volunteers- Murali, Gaurav and Bharat. It was a bitterly cold morning; I managed to stay warm by constantly moving and stretching. As I waited I cheered on the runners who were passing the relay exchange. I struck a conversation or two with some of the other folks who were also waiting for the racing partner to get to the exchange point. Around 8.20 or so Charanya appeared from the turn, and this was my cue to take my layers off and get ready. She gave me Hi-Five, I gave her my hoodie and off I went.
It took a long time for my body to warm up. My toes felt numb, my gloves didn’t help much but my brand spanking new shoes felt great! I had been battling some left knee issues, but it felt okay at that point. I was zooming past people, partly because I had just started the race and they were more than half way through it. I was running 7.5 min/mile pace for the first two miles, at which point I decided to slow down a bit in order to conserve some energy for the finale. This was about the time that my knee pain kicked in. This knee pain is a strange one, it happens on the inside bone on my left foot and no stretching/exercise makes it go away. I decided to suck it up and keep going. I passed the 10 mile marker and before I knew it, my pain was increasing. I decided to totally change my running form; I changed the way my foot landed - but it still didn’t help. So I decided to run by just straightening one leg- the right one. I somehow managed to keep the pace up in spite of a strange running step. Once I got to the 12 marker I forgot about the pain and dashed to the finish line.
All in all, it was a satisfying race. The course was easier than some of the other routes I have run in Austin. I managed to run a sub 50 min 10K, which is a PR for me. Mentally it puts me in good shape for my target race ahead. But the same cannot be said about my left knee. I have been icing/rehabbing it constantly for the past 4 days. It feels better, but I will not know for sure till race day Sunday!
Here are Charanya’s thoughts on how the race went!
Charanya: I ran the 3M Half-Marathon relay this past weekend with another Team Asha runner Vishwas. It was the 2nd time that I was participating in a relay race – the 1st being the Silicon Labs Relay Marathon last year with G31 and G32. Relay races have a different dynamic to them – as a relay team member, you are not just focused on how you personally run, and how well you do, but also on how your relay portion contributes to the team’s success, and how your team members do. Vishy had been complaining about a knee pain the previous evening, but I knew that despite that pain, he would still run a great race – and I was determined to do my part in helping to acquire an overall good time!
I was running the 1st leg of the race – and started off slowly, letting the crowds pass me. I saw the Asha cheersquad at the start waving our brand new posters – which made me smile. The weather was cold that morning, but that worked for me since I LOVE running in the cold. I took off my jacket after the 1st mile and settled into a comfortable pace. I was carrying my own Gatorade, and did not need to stop at any of the water-stops. By Mile 2, I was doing sub 11-min miles, which for me is pretty good! I was excited at Mile 3 to see that I was maintaining that and started to pick up my speed a little. I ran past a few familiar faces along the way – and cheered on a couple of Asha runners as well. I was feeling great. We ran through the lovely Spicewood neighborhood and finally hit Mopac. I crossed the 5 mile marker right after the Mopac intersection and really picked up my pace. I had just a mile left and figured I might as well give it my all. Praveen – another enthusiastic Asha volunteer was cheering so loudly it really got me all motivated to keep up my speed! Before I knew it, I had crossed the 10K marker and reached the relay point shortly after. I had completed 6.4 miles in 1:07 h – which is a personal record for me! I was thrilled and gave a Hi-Five to Vish after taking his sweater and waved him off. I then rode the shuttle bus to the finish point.
Vishy reached the finish just 54 mins after the relay exchange – which is quite incredible! We had an overall time of 2:03h! Vishy’s knee was hurting a little but we were both excited about how the race had gone and stayed at the finish to cheer on the rest of the Asha runners and our friends who were running the race.
All in all, Vish and I had a really great race and truly enjoyed ourselves! We are both extremely grateful to the awesome Asha volunteers for cheering us on at the various points of the course – despite the cold, and boy was it cold!! We are both now looking forward eagerly to our target races this weekend in New Orleans! Hope we have a good time there as well!
I write this while I hog on another cheesecake at 28,000 feet on my flight back from Trinidad. After the race in Dallas last weekend this week has been nothing but rest. I initially didn’t plan on taking a week off training, but a combination of recovery from left knee pain (as described in previous post) and work travel essentially compelled me t¬o be off training this week. I have been in hot and humid Trinidad all week, I had to visit a client to take some important data for a study that we are performing for them. I didn’t bring my runner shoes along with on the trip, something that I started to regret on Thursday. In hindsight I should have throw them in my luggage. But running was the last thing on my mind when I was packing for the trip on Sunday evening. By Friday I was itching to get back into it, I think my legs are ready. It would have been a good test to run in the hot and humid conditions. I had a blissful leg massage at the Hyatt yesterday. The hotel was kind enough to give me a complimentary 15 minute massage voucher, which I pounced on as soon as I got into my room. I must say having a leg massage is something that I could totally get used to! Even my eating habits this week hasn’t been the best. For those of you who don’t know Trinidad has a huge East Indian community, almost 45% of the population is of Indian origin. I have been eating Indo-Trinidadian food, it is very good, but it’s rich in Potatoes! All I have been eating this week is LOTS of potatoes. Don’t get me wrong, I love potatoes (aloo- as we call it), but I have had too much of it. To add to this the 2 hour time difference and weird working hours has messed up eating schedule. One thing I was proud of was that I managed to stay away from alcohol, something that I intend to do till I finish my target race (for the most part!). I wonder how ever-traveling consultants manage to eat/sleep/work-out healthy. Hats off to them! All in all it’s been a decent week off training. I do however wish I had taken my shoes along and squeezed in a short 3 mile run yesterday. It would have been a good opportunity to test out my knee. Lesson learnt- take your shoes along EVERYWHERE with you! The next two weeks of the holiday’s period will involve some travel for me, hopefully I can squeeze in a short run or two and eat healthy.
My first half marathon experience was a real treat. The plethora of people, the smell of rubber soles, and the pre-race celebrations was amazing. Last weekend I drove up to Dallas to run the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. I stopped by Austin where I was accompanied by some close friends (Charanya and Ganesh) - both Team Asha runners.I planned to run the race unofficially since I missed out on registration but my friend Sharanya fell ill and couldn’t run the race. So I ran with her bib number, which meant that I was Sharanya Rao for the day!
The pre race setting was perfect. Sharanya had made reservations for us at the race hotel- Hyatt Regency downtown. The drive up to Dallas with Charanya, Ganesh and Supratim was a lot of fun. We listened to some Hindi music (mostly Rock On and Ghajini), gossiped some and ate rubbish! We stopped at this place called Italy, Texas and hogged on Dairy Queen- perfect pre-race eating! Packet pick up was a breeze; Charanya got away with being Sharanya and picked up her race bib which I needed to run with. Staying at the Hyatt was very convenient as they had free shuttles to the race start/stop location. After a lengthy discussion about a place to eat, we decided that eating close by was the best option. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant inside the Hyatt. The oven baked veggie pizzas were delicious. Ganesh and I were on super hydrating mode, we both had about 4-5 glasses of water over dinner. (Although their wine list was incredibly tempting) Before we slept Charanya was awesome enough to pin up the bib to my Asha t-shirt and attach the race chip to the shoes. I was all set, now all I needed to make sure was that I get enough sleep! I never sleep well the night before a cricket match and I was afraid the same would happen the night before the run. After fighting off heater noise, blocked nose and warm conditions inside the hotel room I somehow managed to get about 5-6 hours of sleep- just enough to keep me charged.
Pre-race breakfast came in the form of two horrible tasting protein bars and 1 gu shot right before the start of the race. We took the free shuttle which got us to the start/stop location (American Airlines Center) in quick time. We met up with some of the Asha Dallas volunteers/runners. It was nice to touch base with another Asha chapter. The White Rock race served as a target race for majority of their runners, so they were well prepared. Charanya and Supratim waved Ganesh and I goodbye close to the 2.10 pace group at the start line. They were then headed to Asha Dallas’s mile marker 9 water stop where they would be volunteering/cheering/serving water. I must say Asha Dallas’s water stop was awesome, more about that later. Now breakdown of the race-
Mile 1-3: I started the race with Ganesh, he would be my pace-setter for the first three miles. Being a new runner I always need a pace-setter as I run the risk of starting off too fast. I enjoyed the steady 10 minute pace for the first three miles. It helped me warm up my legs, get my hands moving and get used to the conditions- it was incredibly overcast . 5K time- 30 minutes.
Mile 3-6: I parted ways with Ganesh just past the 3 mile marker. I was running alone, trying to get through the traffic. I must say I need to get used to running through hundreds of people, sometimes it slowed me down and I had to run off course to overtake them.Thanks to my watch I was able to keep a tab of my pace. This 3 mile stretch was by far the most comfortable for me. I was cruising, at 10K my clock had approximately 56 minutes and I felt good.(Salt tablet at 10K marker)
Mile 6-10: It was after the 10K mark when I started to feel the effects of the overcast conditions. The humidity was getting to me, left side of my stomach started to cramp (I had a salt tablet), I was sweating profusely (something I don’t do a lot) and felt a little zapped. For the next four miles I decided that I would grab Gatorade/water at every water stop to make sure I was over hydrated. I initiated conversation with a couple of random runners to keep myself distracted. Just before mile 9 the left side of my left knee started hurting. It was probably my ITBs- a problem I have had in the past. I changed my stride ever so slightly to help with the pain, it worked for a while. I finally saw the Team Asha water stop just past the 9 mile marker, it was awesome as they had a live band playing Hindi movie songs- it really got me excited! I quickly stopped as Charanya helped me have a gu shot. At the 10 mile marker I was doing good time, I had 1 hr 28. The previous week I had run 10 miles in 1 hr 26, given the conditions I was only off by 2 minutes which was great. I was all set to finish strong, little did I know J
Mile 10- Finish: I had some more stomach stitches, my left knee pain picked up, the running route wasn’t very good and I was really tired. Instead of picking up pace (my plan was to finish the last few miles at 8 minute pace) I had to slow down as I just didn’t have anything left. My leg (barring my left knee) felt great, it was just that the bad running conditions finally caught up with me. The narrow running road increased the wind velocity, we were running into very STRONG winds and it required me to work harder, something that I couldn’t. I should have got onto someone’s slipstream but I didn’t think of it. I was well in time for a sub 2 hr finish, which was my goal. Hence I was content with slowing down to 10 minute/mile pace and finishing comfortably. I was gasping for breath and realized that speeding up could affect me adversely.I was very glad to see the finish line about 500m away, I gave it all I had and sprinted to the finish line. I finished with a time of 1:58:47; I was pleased with it given it was my first race and the weather conditions.
The guy who finished immediately in front of me threw up as soon as he crossed the finish line, to be honest I too felt like that. I picked my finishers medal, t-shirt and cape with a huge smile and a sense of achievement. I thoroughly enjoyed the run, only that my left knee was hurting a little. I was dehydrated, I was cramping up, and I had a few more salt tablets and some banana to help me with it.
All in all it was a wonderful experience. I am fairly confident that with a little bit more training I can easily shave a few minutes off that time. I thank Sharanya for giving me the opportunity to run instead of her. Special thanks to Ganesh and Supratim for pacing and cheering respectively. Lastly big thanks to Charanya for making the whole experience ever so easy! J
Plan ahead: I want to do a couple of long runs- 12 miles and 14 miles. I would like to squeeze in my usual middle of the week short 3-5 mile run. My next race is the 3M Half Marathon Relay (Jan 25th) after which is my target race (Feb 1st) the New Orleans Half Marathon.
