Completed a week of running!

Surpassed my own expectations by struggling through week 1!

Ok, that's a lie...I was fairly sure I'd stay the course once I got through the first day. It feels a bit strange, actually...this probably is the first time I've taken up exercising this seriously, with a fixed agenda and a definite, timebound goal. Too early to say, but maybe this is what I need to go the full distance.

The week did have one major disappointment, though...I tried to register for the Mumbai Marathon in Jan 2009, but learnt the registration closed only a few days ago, that's 5 months in advance! Who'd have thought marathons were so keenly contested??

So there you have it. A bit like counting your chickens before you buy the hen that lays the eggs, but my 'definite timebound goal', before I even started to run, was to run a full marathon! Yeah I know, best of luck to me!

Well, anyways, turns out I wont be running any marathons soon. Not unless they have a last minute wildcard entry for mildly overweight novices from Hyd. But I tided the diasppointment over by convincing myself that the next best thing to do would be to complete the halfway stage of the Bangalore Ultramarathon in November '08, which works out to 26km. Doesn't have the same 'cool' factor as saying "I just completed my first marathon" but then beggars can't be choosers.

But back to the 'training', I did four runs of 3.5 km each. The perpetual pains went away after the first 2 runs, but they'd come back during the run anyways. After the 3rd run the pain went away extra quickly and I was feeling great, so figured I'd try to up the distance for the last run...but as things went, I had a late night, so started late when it was already hot, and the last km or so was actually more painful than the other runs.

Maintained an average time of about 24.16 min, and a best time of 23.xx minutes.

Its been a little more difficult containing my food habits...I had a full chicken biryani, a 'Chicken 65 bun' and a proper buffet lunch (including 3 varieties of desserts, although in small quantities) during the week! But its early days, and will try to control myself going forward.

Starting tomorrow, will up the distance to 4.5-5km a day, and try to keep running for atleast 30 minutes. And depending on how I feel after 4 days of doing that, will either start to follow a formal training schedule, or just chuck this whole foolish enterprise into the garbage!

Wish me luck! :-)

Update: A few hours after I made this post, went swimming at Secunderabad club. The pool was great...it was nearly empty and the water wasn't too chlorinated. Completed 25 lengths without too much of a problem, which I think is good, considering I don't even remember the last time I stepped into a pool!

Life's good! :-)

And so it starts...

Finally woke up this morning, with the aid of three successive alarms set at 15 min intervals, at 6.30am and set out for my first run.

The first few steps seemed wierd, generally alien and overall quite horrible, and I would've given up right there with a declaration that running 'was not my thing', if only I'd not spent the last several days reading up on running and promising myself that I'd at least make a decent effort before I quit. And I'd definitely have quit had I not purchased a pair of brand new running shoes yesterday for Rs. 3700.

The short incline to the Sainikpuri temple at the very start of the run was the worst part, but after that it was sort of bearable. Reached the halfway point and the entire return route was a gentle decline which made it relatively easier.

Have the expected soreness and tightness in my leg muscles but unexpectedly, also felt a muscle pull in my left bicep after I finished, which lasted several minutes, and so my arm feels a bit sore as well. Damn...I'm probably more unfit than I realize!

Immediate goal is to complete the same run on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and we'll take it from there.

Oh, and no more sweets, fried food and junk food from today. Which may be difficult because the office cafeteria is shut for the next 3 days, but still, I'll persevere!

For the record, completed 3.4 km in 25:16:45 minutes.