Its been a fluctuating path to Marathon fitness. Some weeks that seem heavy and others that seem light. Four weeks back i thought i was training too heavy and draining myself. I would not look forward to a run as much, more so for the strain it caused. It was good enough that i stuck to delivering the time-goal for all the long runs. Three weeks ago the over training showed off its bad side and i fell ill. A case of weak immune coming out of a strained body, and i missed two runs. The rest days during the illness helped the body recover. Nature has its ways. When i got back to training the next week, there was a little loss of stamina but body felt better. I had hoped that i survive the 29km long run that weekend which i did. This was also a week where i included walking into every run. It seemed like the right thing to do - to finish and conserve than to indulge and burn-out. At this stage of training one thing i realised is that if your body is calling rebel, then you should just pull your horses back a bit, which i did. The week after , which was a week ago, had a reduction in running distance as training prescribed. I felt a certain improvement in run quality. By now i had acquired enough confidence in hydration and diet to have a fast recovery, while i maintained run quality. And i guess it was the combination of all these weeks of learning that came together this week, which is also the peak training weak, the one in which i run the maximum total distance. 8km, 16km & 8 km on weekdays and 32km on weekend. And at this point, i don't know if its too early or too late, i realised i have discovered running form. The weekday distances are over. I managed to run these with efficiency better than any run in past. I never felt the need to walk, my heart rates were lower, finish times steady and recoveries fast. And now i wait for Sunday morning when i run the big finale of this training - the grand 32km. There could not be a better state of body and mind for me going into this big run. This week so far, that was high on physical and mental stress (also, for various reasons), has toughened me in manner that i wonder if its a bit fanatic ( the kinds you find in some extra happy families, religious gatherings or competitive sports. the Too-good-to-be-true kinds). I am trying to curb it to the levels of modest-self-assurance, which is what i prefer. However in all this, there is no denying that my body has finally attained the form that it should. This, coupled with some consistent support from people who matter has put me into a state of peace that pays you a visit once in a while, making you hope that it stays for a little longer than it does.
I hope too.
Coming to the Grand 32km waiting this Sunday. I am hoping more than finishing it, that i have a fair amount of energy left. Enough to tell myself that i will last another 10km, three weeks later in the agonising Mumbai heat. My online coach says i would be in a very bad shape when i finish. But i have a feeling he is wrong this time. I think i just stepped a bit above his average marathon rookie, for the first time in his 18 week training program.
It must be the modest-self-assurance of my running form :)
Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Quality Running (marathon training)
The D-Day is 31 days away. Last week was the second toughest week of training, that ended with 29km run. I had missed the long run the week before that (19km, part of step-back week, where the distances are reduced), fell ill, must be the training. Pushing body to such levels is bound to weaken immune at times. The good part was that the illness helped the body to recover from the tedious training routine, but at the same time i lost out on a little bit of stamina. So i obviously had apprehensions about how will i last the longest run in my training so far, 29km. But the strength of apprehension seems to have reduced over the course of training. I know i can do it, most of the time. I worry more about state of mind than state of body. I was more eager to try out new things to help me sustain the run better. To improve the quality of the run and not just to finish it. So the focus was on Pre-Race food and liquids during the race. And as much as i have never liked the concept of carrying a water bottle while running before this training started, its least likely that i will be found leaving without one now. Water just turns it around, entirely. Its amazing how much of what you eat and drink pre and during the race can add to your performance. And its even better to know how much it can help you post race, as i discovered this time.
For a change i decided to start run with glucose water than plain water, and had a little extra milk 45 minutes before the run. I had late dinner, so was hoping that it will come into effect too. The last record of me feeling hunger into a long run was 13km. This time i pushed it to 22km! its a big achievement. I realised that the secret lay in not getting hungry for as long as you can, which brings it all to energy levels ,obviously related to hunger. Hunger is body's message to you for dropping levels of energy, from where it starts to put more pressure on muscles and drain them of all reserves. In a long run i guess its not entirely possible to be not hungry, but the performance depends in how much you can push it, hunger. And i could not have learnt this lesson any better than how i did this time. I was running without music this time (i carried it, just in case), because i think it helps me focus on my running rhythm better. And at the point of 22nd Km i was out of energy and hungry, almost together. While contemplating how much i will have to suffer on the time i targeted this run to finish in, i saw a Banana vendor, and if i am going to suffer in the next 7km , i realised i might as well eat one to curb the hunger. However it did more than that. Suddenly i found an extra load of energy that lasted me the rest of the run. I did walk but i also ran faster to make up for it. With this i switched on the music too. It helped a bit. Music can at time annoy too. Here though it blocked the traffic noise. Running faster in patches and walking is not a bad strategy. Helps you sustain the last few Kms.
I survived and improved the last 7kms, thanks to the Banana and Music (more banana :) ). Finished it 3hrs and 04min, as planned.
What i also discovered later was the hydration and eating helped me recover from this long run better than any i have done so far. There were no post run headaches that i normally get out of dehydration. The cramps loosened themselves rather fast. Except for sore calves i did not carry any pain for too long. This is a very important lesson, on how you handle your run can also affect your recovery. Benefits of a well handled run stay beyond the run. That also is the ulterior motive of any training program, to not just finish the marathon, but to cross the line with a smile on you face.
For a change i decided to start run with glucose water than plain water, and had a little extra milk 45 minutes before the run. I had late dinner, so was hoping that it will come into effect too. The last record of me feeling hunger into a long run was 13km. This time i pushed it to 22km! its a big achievement. I realised that the secret lay in not getting hungry for as long as you can, which brings it all to energy levels ,obviously related to hunger. Hunger is body's message to you for dropping levels of energy, from where it starts to put more pressure on muscles and drain them of all reserves. In a long run i guess its not entirely possible to be not hungry, but the performance depends in how much you can push it, hunger. And i could not have learnt this lesson any better than how i did this time. I was running without music this time (i carried it, just in case), because i think it helps me focus on my running rhythm better. And at the point of 22nd Km i was out of energy and hungry, almost together. While contemplating how much i will have to suffer on the time i targeted this run to finish in, i saw a Banana vendor, and if i am going to suffer in the next 7km , i realised i might as well eat one to curb the hunger. However it did more than that. Suddenly i found an extra load of energy that lasted me the rest of the run. I did walk but i also ran faster to make up for it. With this i switched on the music too. It helped a bit. Music can at time annoy too. Here though it blocked the traffic noise. Running faster in patches and walking is not a bad strategy. Helps you sustain the last few Kms.
I survived and improved the last 7kms, thanks to the Banana and Music (more banana :) ). Finished it 3hrs and 04min, as planned.
What i also discovered later was the hydration and eating helped me recover from this long run better than any i have done so far. There were no post run headaches that i normally get out of dehydration. The cramps loosened themselves rather fast. Except for sore calves i did not carry any pain for too long. This is a very important lesson, on how you handle your run can also affect your recovery. Benefits of a well handled run stay beyond the run. That also is the ulterior motive of any training program, to not just finish the marathon, but to cross the line with a smile on you face.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Food For Destiny
I have never spoken about food in this blog, and it surprises me. There are only few things that hold the kind of importance as eating for me. I would not want to start thinking what the rest are, because its not about them that i want to talk, its about food. Such a pleasure, the act of eating .
One of the most fulfilling experiences in training for Marathon has been getting to eat as much as i want (not that i did not do that earlier) and the entire excitement of getting the diet right. With a Mumbai-Workaholic lifestyle its almost a reason for celebration if you get your meals right. Any mumbaikar would agree. I have finally managed to make time for breakfast - elementary for most, fantastic for folks from the most crowded populous this side of Arabian sea. And that i managed with the meal that poses the biggest threat to America's gift to the world - Cornflakes. I almost missed the Corn craze amidst limitations of Time, Affordability and Utility. And when i finally made a come-back to the race, i was pleasantly surprised by this new challenger, well riding into being the most fancied and preferred option for the new age healthy, please welcome Muesli. The utility of it almost makes me ignore the dry taste that it starts with in your mouth, yes, i have acquired a taste for it. Not just that, it also suits my need to think into any food i eat, by making me carefully plan a single raisin into every scoop, and timely rewards of crisp almond bits.
Lunch is a very important mind meal (every meal for me has direct correlation to mind)for it also decides how I will be for the second half at work-place. Mumbai-Workaholic syndrome pushes me into the Office Canteen with the POV of saving precious minutes into an already long work day. And the thing about any canteen that most would reciprocate is that it reduces your appetite considerably the moment you enter the food area. What that in turn does is make the second half at work-place a hard-push. Off late, a week to be exact, a certain rebel in me has worked, and i figured a popular lunch joint nearby that served the best food - Fried Bangda Fish Thali at a popular restaurant called Jai Hind (Bangda would be Mackerel and the world famous Ailaa for every Malayaee). Bangda is considered to be a poor man's fish. My eating is mostly obsessed around such foods, poor but yummy - Dal Rice, Rice Rassam + Dry fish , Mutton Biriyani etc. Basic, hygienic and Large portions would be the three governing principles of anything i love to eat. So i have been feasting on Bangda and relishing the new found post lunch happiness.
That brings me to essence of writing a blog on this . I was not up to taking the walk to Jai Hind today. Don't know why but i guess i had strengthened my body already with as much Bangda I needed for another week or just too lazy (honest and true) to compete with the canteen-appetite-killer-effect. All i hoped walking into the canteen was that there would be an option for Complex Carbohydrates (Read Roti/ Wheat Bread). Our canteen in charge likes to excite all by serving coloured rice and chicken under the pretext Biriyani on Fridays. And with that dreaded expectation i moved towards the food trays to bewelcomed by a smiling canteen manager standing behind plates of Bangda Fry & Fish Curry. Its a moment that that lasts a second and feels more than that. To get the perspective right, this is the first time in five years of my working here that i have seen any form of fish being served in the canteen.
Imagine a set of Bangda fishes that once swam the ocean and destined to be fried and served to this one individual, for it was always meant that way, to be relished over a week. And in this there was a smart twist of fate, for reasons beyond a common man's intellect, where one fish would pursue its consumer to a place where even the consumer did not know he would head to, till an hour before lunch-time.
As much as lunch time food would not seem the most appropriate messenger to flash a deeper sense of world , but It is moments like these that make the Atheist in me wonder if there is a power around me (or in me) that is beyond me.
Hindi Proverb - Daaney Daaney pe likha hai khaaney waaley ka naam ( every grain has written on it the name of its consumer)
Food for destiny indeed.
One of the most fulfilling experiences in training for Marathon has been getting to eat as much as i want (not that i did not do that earlier) and the entire excitement of getting the diet right. With a Mumbai-Workaholic lifestyle its almost a reason for celebration if you get your meals right. Any mumbaikar would agree. I have finally managed to make time for breakfast - elementary for most, fantastic for folks from the most crowded populous this side of Arabian sea. And that i managed with the meal that poses the biggest threat to America's gift to the world - Cornflakes. I almost missed the Corn craze amidst limitations of Time, Affordability and Utility. And when i finally made a come-back to the race, i was pleasantly surprised by this new challenger, well riding into being the most fancied and preferred option for the new age healthy, please welcome Muesli. The utility of it almost makes me ignore the dry taste that it starts with in your mouth, yes, i have acquired a taste for it. Not just that, it also suits my need to think into any food i eat, by making me carefully plan a single raisin into every scoop, and timely rewards of crisp almond bits.
Lunch is a very important mind meal (every meal for me has direct correlation to mind)for it also decides how I will be for the second half at work-place. Mumbai-Workaholic syndrome pushes me into the Office Canteen with the POV of saving precious minutes into an already long work day. And the thing about any canteen that most would reciprocate is that it reduces your appetite considerably the moment you enter the food area. What that in turn does is make the second half at work-place a hard-push. Off late, a week to be exact, a certain rebel in me has worked, and i figured a popular lunch joint nearby that served the best food - Fried Bangda Fish Thali at a popular restaurant called Jai Hind (Bangda would be Mackerel and the world famous Ailaa for every Malayaee). Bangda is considered to be a poor man's fish. My eating is mostly obsessed around such foods, poor but yummy - Dal Rice, Rice Rassam + Dry fish , Mutton Biriyani etc. Basic, hygienic and Large portions would be the three governing principles of anything i love to eat. So i have been feasting on Bangda and relishing the new found post lunch happiness.
That brings me to essence of writing a blog on this . I was not up to taking the walk to Jai Hind today. Don't know why but i guess i had strengthened my body already with as much Bangda I needed for another week or just too lazy (honest and true) to compete with the canteen-appetite-killer-effect. All i hoped walking into the canteen was that there would be an option for Complex Carbohydrates (Read Roti/ Wheat Bread). Our canteen in charge likes to excite all by serving coloured rice and chicken under the pretext Biriyani on Fridays. And with that dreaded expectation i moved towards the food trays to bewelcomed by a smiling canteen manager standing behind plates of Bangda Fry & Fish Curry. Its a moment that that lasts a second and feels more than that. To get the perspective right, this is the first time in five years of my working here that i have seen any form of fish being served in the canteen.
Imagine a set of Bangda fishes that once swam the ocean and destined to be fried and served to this one individual, for it was always meant that way, to be relished over a week. And in this there was a smart twist of fate, for reasons beyond a common man's intellect, where one fish would pursue its consumer to a place where even the consumer did not know he would head to, till an hour before lunch-time.
As much as lunch time food would not seem the most appropriate messenger to flash a deeper sense of world , but It is moments like these that make the Atheist in me wonder if there is a power around me (or in me) that is beyond me.
Hindi Proverb - Daaney Daaney pe likha hai khaaney waaley ka naam ( every grain has written on it the name of its consumer)
Food for destiny indeed.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
End of Level 2 - 26km Run (Mumbai Marathon 2010)
Twelve weeks of the eighteen week training is over. Two-Thirds done, six more weeks to go. Level three of training begins....
One long run after another. Life is about one Saturday morning to the next. This feels like a period of transition, shedding the cast of an over-worked & stressed out executive and dawning the new mould of a blood-pumping & efficient running machine.
After the last long-run and the struggle i had to recover, I had started my recovery led work much earlier in the week this time around. Following the same pattern of run for the three weekdays as coach Higdon suggested, I increased the focus on stretches, and was bit surprised to see myself stretch better as I progressed. I have always been a poor flex all through my armature athletics years in school. So even the slightest promise in it gives me pleasure beyond measure. And at the end of third decade of living with these joints, it only feels better. It was almost like one of those past life corrections i had to make amongst other things to make my peace with life : Will make up for lack of reading, spend more time with parents, will stretch well once :)..like that.
My goal going into Saturday's 26km run was to manage the same 7 Min/Km pace as last week’s 24km and finish in 14 minutes more than last week’s 2hr 43min. For that I was not relying on sleep the night before for its always a disturbed one, full of odd dreams. Like the one I dreamt when i bought my Heart Rate Monitor was that my Heart Rate while rested was 14 per minute. Kept me worried through my sleep. That's another, the heart rate monitor, my new gadget whose exact benefits I am not sure of. But somehow I can see if I keep my heart rate in check, I don't seem to over shoot on pace and injure myself. And sticking to an average heart rate also helps get a good timing. The disturbed sleep before the run is an important part of pre race conditioning, because it’s bound to happen on 16th January 2010 too (day before the Mumbai marathon). What matters is if you have slept well the night before that. Long Runs are the very critical to pre-race conditioning, and by that I don't just mean the distance you run. It is the run to re-create every scenario from race-day. So I have been shifting them to mornings, starting at the same time as race, experimenting with pre-race food and drinks while in the run. Am not being extremely pro about it, given it’s my first marathon, but it’s interesting to note certain ways in which my body reacts. Like having milk instead of fruits before run ensured that I felt my first hunger pangs around 13Kms instead of 9Km. Whether to have a liter of water before a liter of ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution)or the other way ( it’s a 2hr+ run, two liters do as of now). I know it would be difficult to get these things right on the day of race, but one can try.
The day before the long run I referred to the online advice from Coach Higdon. It said - "Next week you'll run a shorter distance as part of a stepback week, so tough this out". There is something about a coach telling you to give it all, you feel backed up, more than before, and you want to do it. The conservative estimates go out of the window. I have always been a coach's boy, hell bent on doing as told, every time, without fail. This time too, it seemed like I had a new shot of confidence, to tough it out. I tried a new route; kept a small paper with distance markers and time to help me pace well, geared up, and headed out to 'tough' this 26km out.
My legs felt stronger at the start, there were clear improvements from last week's run. For most part of the run I felt like there was a lot left in me. I managed to stay steady and in control for longer. I switched to cap with the Sun rising to my right. Took my usual half-way water break to buy another liter of water, mixed it with ORS and headed back .Somewhere I also realised that I could make a considerable improvement in my timing by running this 26Km in the same time as I ran 24Km. That would be something to clearly demarcate my improved performance with. But the hard Sun on you in the closing stages threatens to eat into any goal and reduce it to just finishing it fair. It did for me too. The last 6km was difficult, not to ignore that the road was not flat, but I realised i was not suffering much if I walked the ascends and make it up while descending. "Just keep the heart rate at check and don't stop" - I told myself. I thought I stopped to walk more than i should have, not to forget the dust and traffic piling up around you at the closing stages which are not encouraging either, though i don't worry over it because race day won’t have them. Sun, however, would stay, on race-day too. So i had to battle it. Maybe it’s because of energy drain, that my jaws had begun to stiffen by the end of long run: happened last week too. In all, when I finished, I realised I had put enough effort in the first half of the run to not let any of these effect the performance.
Finished the 26Km in the same time as 24Km. Tough as promised. Wanted to inform the coach, but i have not paid for that :). The training is a free download. Let’s hope he reads this...haha.
Twelve weeks of the the eighteen week training is over. Two-Thirds done, six more weeks to go. Level three of training begins, and it does feel like three levels. Started with conditioning (level 1), followed by hardships (level 2), and now heading for maintenance & improvements (level 3).
One long run after another. Life is about one Saturday morning to the next. This feels like a period of transition, shedding the cast of an over-worked & stressed out executive and dawning the new mould of a blood-pumping & efficient running machine.
After the last long-run and the struggle i had to recover, I had started my recovery led work much earlier in the week this time around. Following the same pattern of run for the three weekdays as coach Higdon suggested, I increased the focus on stretches, and was bit surprised to see myself stretch better as I progressed. I have always been a poor flex all through my armature athletics years in school. So even the slightest promise in it gives me pleasure beyond measure. And at the end of third decade of living with these joints, it only feels better. It was almost like one of those past life corrections i had to make amongst other things to make my peace with life : Will make up for lack of reading, spend more time with parents, will stretch well once :)..like that.
My goal going into Saturday's 26km run was to manage the same 7 Min/Km pace as last week’s 24km and finish in 14 minutes more than last week’s 2hr 43min. For that I was not relying on sleep the night before for its always a disturbed one, full of odd dreams. Like the one I dreamt when i bought my Heart Rate Monitor was that my Heart Rate while rested was 14 per minute. Kept me worried through my sleep. That's another, the heart rate monitor, my new gadget whose exact benefits I am not sure of. But somehow I can see if I keep my heart rate in check, I don't seem to over shoot on pace and injure myself. And sticking to an average heart rate also helps get a good timing. The disturbed sleep before the run is an important part of pre race conditioning, because it’s bound to happen on 16th January 2010 too (day before the Mumbai marathon). What matters is if you have slept well the night before that. Long Runs are the very critical to pre-race conditioning, and by that I don't just mean the distance you run. It is the run to re-create every scenario from race-day. So I have been shifting them to mornings, starting at the same time as race, experimenting with pre-race food and drinks while in the run. Am not being extremely pro about it, given it’s my first marathon, but it’s interesting to note certain ways in which my body reacts. Like having milk instead of fruits before run ensured that I felt my first hunger pangs around 13Kms instead of 9Km. Whether to have a liter of water before a liter of ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution)or the other way ( it’s a 2hr+ run, two liters do as of now). I know it would be difficult to get these things right on the day of race, but one can try.
The day before the long run I referred to the online advice from Coach Higdon. It said - "Next week you'll run a shorter distance as part of a stepback week, so tough this out". There is something about a coach telling you to give it all, you feel backed up, more than before, and you want to do it. The conservative estimates go out of the window. I have always been a coach's boy, hell bent on doing as told, every time, without fail. This time too, it seemed like I had a new shot of confidence, to tough it out. I tried a new route; kept a small paper with distance markers and time to help me pace well, geared up, and headed out to 'tough' this 26km out.
My legs felt stronger at the start, there were clear improvements from last week's run. For most part of the run I felt like there was a lot left in me. I managed to stay steady and in control for longer. I switched to cap with the Sun rising to my right. Took my usual half-way water break to buy another liter of water, mixed it with ORS and headed back .Somewhere I also realised that I could make a considerable improvement in my timing by running this 26Km in the same time as I ran 24Km. That would be something to clearly demarcate my improved performance with. But the hard Sun on you in the closing stages threatens to eat into any goal and reduce it to just finishing it fair. It did for me too. The last 6km was difficult, not to ignore that the road was not flat, but I realised i was not suffering much if I walked the ascends and make it up while descending. "Just keep the heart rate at check and don't stop" - I told myself. I thought I stopped to walk more than i should have, not to forget the dust and traffic piling up around you at the closing stages which are not encouraging either, though i don't worry over it because race day won’t have them. Sun, however, would stay, on race-day too. So i had to battle it. Maybe it’s because of energy drain, that my jaws had begun to stiffen by the end of long run: happened last week too. In all, when I finished, I realised I had put enough effort in the first half of the run to not let any of these effect the performance.
Finished the 26Km in the same time as 24Km. Tough as promised. Wanted to inform the coach, but i have not paid for that :). The training is a free download. Let’s hope he reads this...haha.
Twelve weeks of the the eighteen week training is over. Two-Thirds done, six more weeks to go. Level three of training begins, and it does feel like three levels. Started with conditioning (level 1), followed by hardships (level 2), and now heading for maintenance & improvements (level 3).
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