It's (nearly) that time of the year again. Three months left to go for this year's Bangalore Ultra, and time to start off on a training regimen.
If I can allow myself a little introspection at this point, its been nearly a year since I first started the blog in an attempt to motivate myself to fitness. There's not much that's happened on paper since then. One 25K run, barely completed, one 10K run, satisfactorily done and one recent Har-Ki-Doon trek. But in my head, there's been an almost complete turnaround. I guess I can finally say I've embraced running, in the sense that I identify myself as 'someone who runs'. A run is no longer a one-time achievement, to be somehow completed on the big day, but something that you train and prepare yourself for. I've set some decent goals for the next year, which includes completing my first ever full marathon.
In terms of fitness, I can't have asked for more, really. Lost 6 kgs and now weigh a healthy 59. Still not satisfied with the fat vs muscle composition, but I'm hoping a few months of gymming can correct that.
I'm still just on the starting blocks...there's a long way to go before fitness becomes a lifestyle, but it has been a good start. Time to cross my fingers and hope I can stay the course.
In terms of the Ultra, plan to sign up again for the 25K. This time though, I don't plan on dying at the finish line :)
My legs are, for some reason, a lot weaker than I want them to be. So instead of hitting the road right away, plan to do about 6-8 weeks of weight training (with the odd treadmill run thrown in), and spend the last 4-5 weeks doing the mileage build-up thing.
Here's hoping for the best! :)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Status update...
One day past race day and finally found that solitary cause for complaint that I was so keenly awaiting. Despite it being a nearly perfect race day, fell short of my goal of a sub 1 hour finish, and crossed the finish line at 1.02.33 hours :-(
But personal milestones aside, the race was an unqualified success. Because in the larger scheme of things, this run was about much more than individual finish times – it was about determination, dogged persistence, mutual inspiration, and an ultimate collective effort to cross the finish line.
I like to think that for each person in the group, that finish line denoted something much bigger than just completing 10 kilometers. For some people it was about shaking off years of lethargy and motivating themselves back to fitness, for others it was a symbol of a much bigger goal – to quit smoking, and for some of us it was a means of proving to ourselves that we were not just a one-race horse but on the way to becoming proper runners.
To provide some perspective, the whole idea started off as a mail thread among the 60kph Bangalore gang about a collective effort to quit smoking, and soon progressed to training for the Sunfeast 10K as a means of motivating people to stay off the habit. The initiative crossed geographic boundaries when a fellow-60kpher from Chennai and self from Hyd joined in :-)
Except for a few folks who had months/years of regular training under their belt, most of us were novices when it came to running or even fitness. But I don’t think any of us really let that little fact get in the way. We trained individually, but kept posting training updates, little motivational speeches, training and nutritional tips day after day on the mail thread. Soon it became a daily habit to switch on the PC first thing in the morning and check for new additions to the ‘status update’ thread…and the odd day when there weren’t any would invariably turn out to be a depressing day at work!
As race day neared, the excitement and nervousness increased. For almost all of us, this was the first time in our lives we’d trained this regularly, that we counted the miles this diligently and the race soon assumed proportions of a final exam. Thankfully, we continued to be in decent shape. There were a few injury scares, but apart from one highly unfortunate case of our fastest runner falling victim to a spell of overtraining, we made it to race day unscathed. Assembled at Bowring club at 7am and made it to Kanteerava. And then an hour later, 8 of us started what probably be the most memorable run of our lives.
Save for Ambar who’d got a timing chip and therefore had an earlier start, the rest of us started our run together. Wish I could describe what the run was like for the group, but I ran a solitary race in my quest for the sub one hour finish. It was actually a good run for me. I got into my rhythm almost immediately, some niggling aches I had earlier vanished pretty quickly, the course itself wasn’t bad given that the inclines were less steep than ones in my practice runs, and save for some humidity the weather was perfect. I guess the primary error I made was in not pacing myself properly. I didn’t check my timings often enough from the 5th to the 8th kilometer, and when I did check on the 9th my watch read 56:00:00 and it was too late to do anything about it. Towards the end I kept saving myself for a final hard sprint around the stadium which never materialized given that the finish was outside the stadium. Maybe I should’ve just tried to run the whole thing a little bit faster. Anyways, whatever be the cause, it didn’t happen and I’ll have to try again in my next 10K. Even if I do achieve it, it isn’t as great as saying that I made a sub 1 hour finish in my first 10K, but I can live with that.
But again, in the larger scheme of things, it was an unqualified success. Every one of us crossed the finish line, and 4 of the group made it an extra memorable event by sticking together through the whole course, motivating each other through the inclines when they felt like walking/stopping, and ultimately crossing the finish line holding hands.
The worst part of any race, though, is once you cross the finish line, when you’re suddenly demoted some someone special – a participant, a competitor, a runner – into just another member of a huge junta. In fact, the only crib I have about the race is the lack of organization at the finish line. From the over-aggressive co-ordinator who kept yelling at participants and volunteers alike, telling his helpers to “just push them in quickly”, to the sub-optimal use of space at the stadium to the people squashed like sardines at the certificate collection counters, it wasn’t a pretty sight. It’s a shame that something that was so well organized and conducted had to fall apart at the last minute, that we were made to feel more like a hindrance to the organizers just at those moments when we were feeling special about ourselves.
But that little issue aside, here are tributes to some of the individual efforts put in:
Ambar – Our most experienced runner with a full marathon under his belt, the one who started the whole initiative, in house expert on running issues and chief motivator when any of us felt down. Finished the race in a 1:01:40.
Subash – The most inspirational figure in the group. A guy who went from smoking 3 packs in one day (for 21 years) to smoking zero cigarettes the next day. His practice runs consisted entirely of running 100m rounds around his apartment block…he finally ran 100 rounds a few days before the race to complete 10K. And what’s more, we discovered in the latter days of the training that he was doing his running in jeans…in the Chennai humidity! Finished with a time of 1:26
Biju – The fastest runner, who posted speeds of up to 10.43 kph in the training runs. His timings kept motivating me to better my own. Unfortunately did a spell of interval training a little too enthusiastically and screwed his knee. It didn’t keep him out of the race though…he signed up a few days later as a race marshall, and was there to give us high-fives at the start and finish points. Also practically sponsored the celebration party from his earnings as a marshall.
Satish – The biggest guy in the group, and a fitness maniac. Was quite overweight until a little over a year ago when he took to gymming and subsequently lost some 12-15 kgs in record time. Does insane things like swim 100 laps of a 50 meter pool non-stop after work. The default sweep in all our rides, he was true to his image by doing the run slower than he could have, so he could encourage Subash and others to keep going at the tougher points.
Srinidhi – Our in house wiki expert. Was always on hand with a wikipedia copy/paste when a particularly difficult question was posed to the group, and showed the rest of us how to map our runs on wikimapia. On the rare occasions when Wikipedia failed him, provided guidance with his mantra of “Listen to your body”. Also ran repetitive rounds around a park for his training, and finished the race with Satish, Vishu and Subash.
Vishu – A biker turned cyclist (and now cyclist turned runner!), was one of the first few to sign up for the run. Apart from Satish, one of my original inspirations to get fit. Was part of the quartet to finish together.
Manju – Initially somewhat overweight, not too fit, and a smoker. One of those who started training in an effort to quit smoking. Soldiered through his runs, and was there at the race day despite a sports doctor’s diagnosis that his lungs were performing sub-optimally. Ran/walked the entire 10km and was triumphantly waving his certificate in our faces for several hours later.
Biren – The guy everyone wanted to see finish. Currently the most overweight person in the group, but makes dubious claims of having lost 3 kgs in training. Almost didn’t get his running number, but made it to Kanteerava at 7pm on May 30th (two hours after closing time) where he caught hold of an official and pleaded/argued/fought for 20 mins to get his number. On race day he overslept and nearly missed the race – we woke him at 7am after repeated calls – and he finally made it to the stadium a few mins before the race start. Also ran/walked the entire distance and keeps waving his certificate proudly at our faces, despite allegations that he took an unscheduled U-turn in the out and back part of the race.
And where do we go from here? Well, everyone who ran (and hopefully a few who didn’t) agrees that this was a great experience and feel they want to keep going, which I think is the single greatest takeaway. Personally I’ve set my sights on the Aug 30 Hyderabad half-marathon, and I’m almost sure to be joined by one or more people from the group. A common target for the group is the Bangalore Ultra-Marathon in November, where everybody is confident they can run at least 25km.
Now if that isn’t the start of a lifetime, I don’t know what is!
But personal milestones aside, the race was an unqualified success. Because in the larger scheme of things, this run was about much more than individual finish times – it was about determination, dogged persistence, mutual inspiration, and an ultimate collective effort to cross the finish line.
I like to think that for each person in the group, that finish line denoted something much bigger than just completing 10 kilometers. For some people it was about shaking off years of lethargy and motivating themselves back to fitness, for others it was a symbol of a much bigger goal – to quit smoking, and for some of us it was a means of proving to ourselves that we were not just a one-race horse but on the way to becoming proper runners.
To provide some perspective, the whole idea started off as a mail thread among the 60kph Bangalore gang about a collective effort to quit smoking, and soon progressed to training for the Sunfeast 10K as a means of motivating people to stay off the habit. The initiative crossed geographic boundaries when a fellow-60kpher from Chennai and self from Hyd joined in :-)
Except for a few folks who had months/years of regular training under their belt, most of us were novices when it came to running or even fitness. But I don’t think any of us really let that little fact get in the way. We trained individually, but kept posting training updates, little motivational speeches, training and nutritional tips day after day on the mail thread. Soon it became a daily habit to switch on the PC first thing in the morning and check for new additions to the ‘status update’ thread…and the odd day when there weren’t any would invariably turn out to be a depressing day at work!
As race day neared, the excitement and nervousness increased. For almost all of us, this was the first time in our lives we’d trained this regularly, that we counted the miles this diligently and the race soon assumed proportions of a final exam. Thankfully, we continued to be in decent shape. There were a few injury scares, but apart from one highly unfortunate case of our fastest runner falling victim to a spell of overtraining, we made it to race day unscathed. Assembled at Bowring club at 7am and made it to Kanteerava. And then an hour later, 8 of us started what probably be the most memorable run of our lives.
Save for Ambar who’d got a timing chip and therefore had an earlier start, the rest of us started our run together. Wish I could describe what the run was like for the group, but I ran a solitary race in my quest for the sub one hour finish. It was actually a good run for me. I got into my rhythm almost immediately, some niggling aches I had earlier vanished pretty quickly, the course itself wasn’t bad given that the inclines were less steep than ones in my practice runs, and save for some humidity the weather was perfect. I guess the primary error I made was in not pacing myself properly. I didn’t check my timings often enough from the 5th to the 8th kilometer, and when I did check on the 9th my watch read 56:00:00 and it was too late to do anything about it. Towards the end I kept saving myself for a final hard sprint around the stadium which never materialized given that the finish was outside the stadium. Maybe I should’ve just tried to run the whole thing a little bit faster. Anyways, whatever be the cause, it didn’t happen and I’ll have to try again in my next 10K. Even if I do achieve it, it isn’t as great as saying that I made a sub 1 hour finish in my first 10K, but I can live with that.
But again, in the larger scheme of things, it was an unqualified success. Every one of us crossed the finish line, and 4 of the group made it an extra memorable event by sticking together through the whole course, motivating each other through the inclines when they felt like walking/stopping, and ultimately crossing the finish line holding hands.
The worst part of any race, though, is once you cross the finish line, when you’re suddenly demoted some someone special – a participant, a competitor, a runner – into just another member of a huge junta. In fact, the only crib I have about the race is the lack of organization at the finish line. From the over-aggressive co-ordinator who kept yelling at participants and volunteers alike, telling his helpers to “just push them in quickly”, to the sub-optimal use of space at the stadium to the people squashed like sardines at the certificate collection counters, it wasn’t a pretty sight. It’s a shame that something that was so well organized and conducted had to fall apart at the last minute, that we were made to feel more like a hindrance to the organizers just at those moments when we were feeling special about ourselves.
But that little issue aside, here are tributes to some of the individual efforts put in:
Ambar – Our most experienced runner with a full marathon under his belt, the one who started the whole initiative, in house expert on running issues and chief motivator when any of us felt down. Finished the race in a 1:01:40.
Subash – The most inspirational figure in the group. A guy who went from smoking 3 packs in one day (for 21 years) to smoking zero cigarettes the next day. His practice runs consisted entirely of running 100m rounds around his apartment block…he finally ran 100 rounds a few days before the race to complete 10K. And what’s more, we discovered in the latter days of the training that he was doing his running in jeans…in the Chennai humidity! Finished with a time of 1:26
Biju – The fastest runner, who posted speeds of up to 10.43 kph in the training runs. His timings kept motivating me to better my own. Unfortunately did a spell of interval training a little too enthusiastically and screwed his knee. It didn’t keep him out of the race though…he signed up a few days later as a race marshall, and was there to give us high-fives at the start and finish points. Also practically sponsored the celebration party from his earnings as a marshall.
Satish – The biggest guy in the group, and a fitness maniac. Was quite overweight until a little over a year ago when he took to gymming and subsequently lost some 12-15 kgs in record time. Does insane things like swim 100 laps of a 50 meter pool non-stop after work. The default sweep in all our rides, he was true to his image by doing the run slower than he could have, so he could encourage Subash and others to keep going at the tougher points.
Srinidhi – Our in house wiki expert. Was always on hand with a wikipedia copy/paste when a particularly difficult question was posed to the group, and showed the rest of us how to map our runs on wikimapia. On the rare occasions when Wikipedia failed him, provided guidance with his mantra of “Listen to your body”. Also ran repetitive rounds around a park for his training, and finished the race with Satish, Vishu and Subash.
Vishu – A biker turned cyclist (and now cyclist turned runner!), was one of the first few to sign up for the run. Apart from Satish, one of my original inspirations to get fit. Was part of the quartet to finish together.
Manju – Initially somewhat overweight, not too fit, and a smoker. One of those who started training in an effort to quit smoking. Soldiered through his runs, and was there at the race day despite a sports doctor’s diagnosis that his lungs were performing sub-optimally. Ran/walked the entire 10km and was triumphantly waving his certificate in our faces for several hours later.
Biren – The guy everyone wanted to see finish. Currently the most overweight person in the group, but makes dubious claims of having lost 3 kgs in training. Almost didn’t get his running number, but made it to Kanteerava at 7pm on May 30th (two hours after closing time) where he caught hold of an official and pleaded/argued/fought for 20 mins to get his number. On race day he overslept and nearly missed the race – we woke him at 7am after repeated calls – and he finally made it to the stadium a few mins before the race start. Also ran/walked the entire distance and keeps waving his certificate proudly at our faces, despite allegations that he took an unscheduled U-turn in the out and back part of the race.
And where do we go from here? Well, everyone who ran (and hopefully a few who didn’t) agrees that this was a great experience and feel they want to keep going, which I think is the single greatest takeaway. Personally I’ve set my sights on the Aug 30 Hyderabad half-marathon, and I’m almost sure to be joined by one or more people from the group. A common target for the group is the Bangalore Ultra-Marathon in November, where everybody is confident they can run at least 25km.
Now if that isn’t the start of a lifetime, I don’t know what is!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Touch wood!
One week has morphed into four, and so far I’m still looking for that solitary cause for complaint :-)
While I’ve not stuck to the schedule as closely as I would’ve liked, I still managed between 3-4 runs on most weeks. There were significant ups and downs (significant for me, that is!) like the day I started out with all the enthusiasm in the world aiming to run 60 min continuously but couldn’t even do 10 (down!!) and the day I completed 9km in 50 min without too much of a fuss (up!!), but overall its been a fun ride.
Some pleasant (and much hoped for) surprises included the wife remarking “You look so malnourished” when she saw me at the airport after a 3 week trip to Bangalore. Of course, under the circumstances I’m taking “malnourished” to mean “a wee bit slimmer than when I saw you last”.
Nowhere even near becoming an exercise addict (endorphin junkie??) yet, but I’m kind of approaching the stage where I start to feel very guilty on the days I miss out on a scheduled run, and I run up the office stairs extra hard to make up for my sins.
Started to do a few small variations to the regular run, like one session of hill-training and two sessions of interval running thus far. Tomorrow I’m going to try out a little version of Fartlek. Was supposed to do it today, but again woke up late!
25 days left! Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping I don’t injure myself somehow in the interim!
While I’ve not stuck to the schedule as closely as I would’ve liked, I still managed between 3-4 runs on most weeks. There were significant ups and downs (significant for me, that is!) like the day I started out with all the enthusiasm in the world aiming to run 60 min continuously but couldn’t even do 10 (down!!) and the day I completed 9km in 50 min without too much of a fuss (up!!), but overall its been a fun ride.
Some pleasant (and much hoped for) surprises included the wife remarking “You look so malnourished” when she saw me at the airport after a 3 week trip to Bangalore. Of course, under the circumstances I’m taking “malnourished” to mean “a wee bit slimmer than when I saw you last”.
Nowhere even near becoming an exercise addict (endorphin junkie??) yet, but I’m kind of approaching the stage where I start to feel very guilty on the days I miss out on a scheduled run, and I run up the office stairs extra hard to make up for my sins.
Started to do a few small variations to the regular run, like one session of hill-training and two sessions of interval running thus far. Tomorrow I’m going to try out a little version of Fartlek. Was supposed to do it today, but again woke up late!
25 days left! Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping I don’t injure myself somehow in the interim!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A week of running...
Been running for about a week now, and for some reason feels like I’ve been doing it for months and months. Been careful to pace myself so I don’t aggravate any injuries, and so far I can’t really complain. In fact, I’m actually rather keen to keep it up and work towards increasing my speed. One issue is that the knee twinging injury has slowly started to act up, but I’m hoping it’s nothing that some rest and ice can’t cure.
I know it’s only been a week, but this is probably the first time in my life that I’ve been this disciplined about exercising, and I’m quite kicked about it. I guess having a bunch of crazy, inspirational friends makes all the difference in the world!
‘Training’ updates on www.weendure.com/user/kaushikak :-)
I know it’s only been a week, but this is probably the first time in my life that I’ve been this disciplined about exercising, and I’m quite kicked about it. I guess having a bunch of crazy, inspirational friends makes all the difference in the world!
‘Training’ updates on www.weendure.com/user/kaushikak :-)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
...And I'm back!!
After an extended break from most forms of physical activity, it’s back to the training grounds for me. Just registered for the
The difference this time around is that I won’t be doing it alone, but will be joining a bunch of friends from 60kph. If there ever was an eclectic crowd, this will be it; the group ranges from accomplished, veteran marathoners to fitness freaks to wannabe fitness freaks to the laziest SOBs under the sun, so this promises to be a fun experience.
I’m also determined to approach this differently than my 25K run. The goal now is not just to drop dead at the finish line, but to finish comfortably in a respectable time. No clue what that respectable time is, but I’ll no doubt find out during the course of the run ;)
Time to clean my shoes, load my iPod and bring out the Bangalore Ultra tee. I hit the road tomorrow!
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