At the tracks # 5

5X800; 2 lap continuous runs for 5 times, 2 minutes break between each.

So I dropped a group to group 3. We were supposed to do 2 continuous laps, and take not more than 4:45 minutes. The first one was good took 4:30. then 4:25, 4;31, 4:45 and finally 4:47.

Group 2 did a max of 4:20 per 800. I could not have done that. I was really tired at the end of 2 laps.
S took 4:40 to 4:52.

Week 7 - Monday run.

June 14, baylands park, 3 miles, 35 minutes.

I cant believe this track was our first long run! Its so easy now. Its about finishing it in lesser and lesser time!
I felt best when we were about to finish it off. All warmed up and got going with the rhythm. S also finished off almost around the same time.

Weekend Run #6

Alameda creek trail, fremont, 6 miles, June 12 - 63 mins!!

So this was the first long run > 5 miles. The last weekend was MTT so no long run.. so 2 weeks ago we ran for 3 miles and now we are running 6.

I was excited to start off with. To see how we fare. Started the run slowly, atleast not going at it in full throttle right at the beginning. Chatted with Shilpa singh till the first water stop at 1.8 miles. Then Bharathrajan was the chatter for the rest of the trail. He decided on running a lil slowly this weekend. 

Forgot my watch even today! damn! Anyways, we started around 7:40. When we reached half way turn around, I was all warmed up and in good rhythm and feeling great, I even rem asking the coach if this was it! Partly thanks to all the chatting. Bharath was telling me all about his "special friend" and I was telling him about S and me. S had to start off a lil late because he needed to repark the car. And then at the 4.5 mile mark. I had the Gu Gel that they provided. Supposedly a quick energy giver. strawberry banana flavor. It was sweeeeet  thick and gooey. I had to drink up some water to wash it down. But I started tiring after that. Mile 5 onwards, I was just looking for the damn bridge where we started the run. If it was not for Mr. Bharahrajan's -come on we are almost there... I would have easily resorted to walking the last mile. But yes we did finish it off, and in 63 minutes!! yay!! thats like a 10 minute mile. We were running at a freaking 6 miles per hour pace! I never thought I could have done this.!  S finished it off at 72 mins. He always says if he slows down its because of his knee and never because of the lack of energy. 

I love running.

Week 6 - Thursday Run

3.5 miles - hilly - Rancho San Antonio trail upto the pond. 41.20 minutes.

So from now on, the thursday runs will be at Rancho San Antonio park - to get us used to running hills. The park is beautiful. Really tucked away from all the rush. Green and cool. Much greener than most other parks.
After a small jog to the tennis courts we stretched and started running till the pond - 1.75 miles ahead. It was a uphill climb. It looked fairly long to go up. But while coming back I was all charged up and took just over 40 mins to complete the whole run.

At the tracks # 4

8 x 400m laps + 1 warm up and 3 warm down laps - Average time 2:03 mins.

I am sore today! My legs hurt. It was really challenging. I am in group 2 (S in group 3 - since he missed MTT).
We started off by warming up and stretching. Coach Bharath(?) was leading our group. Our group was expected to finish on 400m lap between 1:50 to a max of 2:20 minutes. I think the slowest in our group always finished at 2:12. Between 2 laps we took a break for 2 minutes max.
I ran the first 2 laps at 2:00 minutes dot. I was really trying hard. I decided to slow down a lil bit. I completed the next one at 2:05. And all of the others were between 2:03 and 2:05.
Like someone in our group mentioned, I was running harder than my comfort zone and I doubt if I could have done this time if it was not for the other fast runners in the group.
Quick gossip - Wako's boy friend's name is Murali!! :O And then S tells me about 3 more desi man chinki girl couples... Diversity!!

Week 6 - Monday Run.

3 miles sunnyvale baylands park 33:30 mins.

This was a real easy run. I ran 3 miles just yesterday and that did not seem to matter for today's run at all.
This I think is my fastest yet in baylands.
Even S found it very easy today. He finished off at 36:00. a good 3 mins better than his best.

So it was definitely the show that was giving me that achilles pain. The asics shoes- neither of them fit well. Now I do not feel that pain in my achilles at all. Its been 3 weeks with this nike and its been doing great!!

Mile Time Trial.

MTT - cubberly fields, Saturday, June 5 2010.

The long run was canceled this weekend. We had the mile time trials instead.
S was running some temperature and had to miss this. BP, Bharat and me reached cubberly at around 8:05 am. We were all part of team # 4. Some 16 of us in that team. Team #1 was running and warming up already.
We ran 2 laps warmed up and then we stretched for a bit. Then we were ready for the trial. So, we had to run 4 laps, non stop, as fast as we could, faster than the long runs atleast. We will be timed. Based on these times we will be categorized into groups.
We started off after coach char advising us on how we should not kill ourselves over this. Somehow us lining up and all that talk raised my heart rate so much, totally reminded me of all the races we used to have in school. Not so good for a race where you shud be running as fast as you can!! So first half was the first lap was on a real elevated heart rate, then I eased into the run. I approximately took 2:20 mins per lap. In the second lap I had to stop to tie my laces! damn 6 seconds gone a waste.
One guy in our team, real fast runner lapped me towards the end of third lap! what the...
I ran the fourth lap the hardest and finished with 8:59 minutes. Not bad I thought. BP took 8:58 and Bharath around 7:50 minutes.

We cooled down - warmed down as coach char would put it for 2 more laps and then stretched and left.
Picked up breakfast from Madras cafe and headed back home.

Week 5 - Thursday Run

3 miles Sunnyvale baylands park, June 3.

Forgot to take the watch, could not time it. Was a lil more tiring than normal. No pains. I guess it was tiring because of the tracks or lack of sleep. I cannot think of anything else. Ate dinner well, ate banana.
Running buddy definitely seems to make the run easier. I caught up with Divya and Balu on the way back and chatted till the end. The last 0.5 miles were the easiest.
S doing good. Infact he says this has been his easiest weekday run yet. May be because of the tracks. His left knee and hamstrings hurt after the run.
Turned in the recommitment forms.

At the tracks #3

Cubberly Fields tracks, 6:30 pm, June 1.

This tracks event was close to what the real one will be like. The tracks #1 was very elementary. Just to get used to how a 400m felt like.
We started off with a 2 lap warm up and stretching.
Coach Char then started us off on the tracks.

Round 1: Run once around the track a little faster than your long run pace. I took 2:10 on this one.
The guys who took under 2 mins were the fast ones and they did their runs by themselves.
Relax for a minute between each round.
Round 2 and 3 were the same and round 1. I took 2:14 and 2:12 on the other 2.
Rounds 4 and 5, run 2 laps non stop at the pace that you can hold. I took 5:06 on one and 4:48 on the next.
I was def slow on the 5:06 pace. I just conserved too much. On the 4:48 one. I was panting, but recovered in less than a minute.
2 more laps of cool down and then stretch and leave.

The mile time try outs will be held this saturday. 4 laps of this track, non stop, at a holdable, slightly higher than your long run pace. Lets see.

Week 5 - Monday Run.

Baylands park, 3 miles- May 31 2010.

Missed this!! :(
First run that we missed. We had a long sunday. Drove down all the way to hearst castle. We reached home only by about 12 in the night. And I could not have run anyways on monday.
We honestly thought we could run the evening run. But then we went to gilroy :P
So taking on the tracks directly on tuesday.!

Weekend Run #4

Campbell, Los Gatos Trail, 3 miles, 0:34:55.

On saturday morning, it was really warm and not many people had turned up since it was the long weekend. This time I was fully loaded on the run - I had a wrist watch, cap and a fuel belt - fully loaded.
I was really keen on knowing how long I really took to run.
First 0.5 miles I took nearly 7.5 minutes. I am thinking this is because of all the crowd. But the last 0.5 miles were in 6 minutes. I am approximately doing 11.45 minute miles!! Sure I have a long way to go.
All this apart. The run itself was easy. I was fairly comfortable running, 0 pains. Nothing that would stop me. Here and there for 15 s or so I would feel the left heel. But would silently go away.
Was feeling alive and pepped up after the run!
S took 38 mins to complete. His knees hurt a lil bit, but he was doing fine on the whole.

Week 4 - Thursday Run.

Baylands park, 3 miles, May 27 2010.

This was easy as well. Ate well for dinner last night. Ate the banana, slept for around 7 hours. Just the right combo for a good easy run.

Shoes really fit well. go nike! Not many pain points. I do feel some pain in my achilles area on left foot still, but its def not as bad as it was. If I start pushing myself, like try to run faster the inner left heel hurts, sort of like a warning, I slow down and everyone is happy! :)

stretching and strengthening as usual...
S on the other hand had some shin splints today. Ashish kind of made him run faster than he could, is what S was saying. He made him sort of run the up hills, which S never does btw... So they had to walk the last 0.5 miles or so. He iced it back at home. Hopefully the pain shud subside..

At the tracks #2

Tracks were cancelled this week.
Its been raining all week. And cubberly fields tracks were closed due to rain.

But S and me ran around the Elan. We warmed up around the inner elan village lane - village center dr circle. approx 0.5 miles. Stretched by the main pool, next to the leasing center. Oh My god! There were 10 tiny little ducklings in that pool! They were so adorable, they were all swimming with their mom on one end of the pool. But when we showed up at the other end, one came like sprinting to our side. It was funny to watch. It comes zoom for like 3 seconds and then it comes slowly for the next 3 and then it zooms again. Soon all others started doing this. One even tried to jump up and over to the land from water! They were happily playing. I touched one of them, that warm fuzzy feeling I had to feel, but I was a lil too scared and I picked my finger off even before I could feel anything.

So we ran all along river oaks parkway, joined back at village center and then back to elan village lane. This is one mile - acc to G maps. 2 rounds of this.. Was not at all tiring, feet did not hurt. On the whole good run. 2 miles is no big deal anymore!! yay!

Week 4 - Monday Run.

May 24 2010, Baylands Park, 3 miles.

It was drizzling on the way to the park. Gloomy weather, just did not feel like getting out of the bed. :(
We had run out of bananas. Just had a trail mix cereal bar -hoping it would suffice. No!!

It was a really tiring run. I ran with S all the way and was really worn down by the time I finished.
Could have been tiring because of the absence of banana or the lack of hydration on Sunday or also because of the exhaustion from the lonnnnnnng ride. I was feeling a lil feverish because on sunday night. Got 8 hours of sleep, but might not have been enough.

Started sending out fund raising mails today.

Weekend Run #3

Shoreline Park, Mountain view, 4 miles, 49 minutes. May 22, 2010.

This was the same place as we ran our first run ever this year. Sometime in April I guess, S and me ran a 5k run to raise funds for ASHA. I rem we took some 42- 45 minutes to complete that.
Today we can run 1 mile more in 5 minutes more!!

I am amazed at how your body can deceive you. The same body told me less than 4 months ago that I cannot run! I am able to run one more mile today with a couple pounds more on me. I fail to understand what a "group" can do to you. Thats the only difference I can think of.

The run itself was better on the heel than the last weekday run. I changed the shoe yet again on Friday night. This time with a lower heel cup. It happened to be a nike. It just fits better and easier on my feet not constraining any part of my feet. Ofcourse there was still some pain around the inner heel on my left foot. But it was much better.

It was very windy and cloudy. Starting was very hard and moreover we were running with our fuel belts for the first time - added weight. But soon got used to it. Ran alongside S and BP for quite a while.
Coach Char talked to me about the heel pain and said that it could be stiff calf muscles and asked me to massage it, stretch well and use a foam roller on it.

Madras cafe for brunch - had the 14 mini idlis. :)

Week 3 - Thursday run.

3 miles, baylands park, May 20 2010.

This is the first 3 mile weekday run.
My Achilles have started to hurt bad.

Immediately after the warmup run I felt like kicking off my shoes. Very uncomfortable tight feeling in my feet. I just loosened them and went ahead with the initial stretches.

I started the run slow and easy and not too far into the run like 0.5 miles or so. My left achilles started to hurt. I continued to run anyways. Wasnt too bad. I stopped at the 1.5 water fountain to stretch a bit and then continued at regular pace, my left achilles still hurting. Slowly there also started to develop some pain in my right arch. And then it moved to the right achilles. By the time I finished the run, both my achilles were hurting fairly bad. I could complete the run, didnt need to walk any stretch.

Once I started the stretching the pain started to coming down legs got better.
I spoke to Madhavi and she has mailed the coaches for suggestions on what to do. I will need to talk to the coaches before I run on Sat - 4 miles! phew...

For today and tomorrow I have to stretch the calves and achilles as much as I can.

I caught myself cursing the moment when we both decided to start running and training for a half marathon. The pain is starting to show. I hope it alleviates before I start cribbing more. I have to complete this July 25 run in any case.

At the tracks #1

Tuesday May 18 2010, Cubbely Fields, Palo Alto.

This was our first tracks session. 630 pm at cubberly fields, Coach Rajeev heading the session.
So, why tracks - short answer - To improve your cardio vascular capacity.

Long answer - well it was really very long, and I do not remember most of it. Basically you need to shape and train your body better. Not just for endurance but holistically - some points - Tracks can help better your lung capacity, have a good resting heart rate - your heart pumps the same amount of blood with lesser strokes - bringing your heart rate down and inturn blood pressure. All these for the long term good.

Interesting fact: Some elite runners have a resting heart rate in low 40s!! Isnt that almost as good as dead!! They must feel an amazing sense of calm all the time.

What did we do  -
It was a 400 m track - the regular running track - with a soccer field in the middle.

We ran 2 rounds -warmed up.

Stretched lower body.

First lap included 3 * (30 high knees - brisk walk for 20 steps - 30 butt kicks - brisk walk for 20 steps.)
Second lap was a run - not to easy not too hard - just run.
Third lap same as the first lap
Fourth lap same as second lap - last quarter of this lap we jogged backwards.
Last lap cool down.

By 730pm we were on 101 S heading back home - hungry like crazy.

Next tuesday will be the same as this. The tuesday after that, our mile time will be measure and we will be categorized into groups accordingly.

S complained of cramps around the lower right ribs. Coach said they were - side stitches. Walk slowly when you have this till it eases out. He was talking about a ctrl+alt+del to relieve this - not confirmed by anyone - hold the skin around that area, bring your (right?) foot down relatively hard and exhale through mouth.

Side notes:
I feel a lil light already. My jeans fit a lil loose. Just about noticeable. The scale is not showing too much difference though. Less than a pound of decrease.

Weekend Run #2

Los Gatos Trail, Campbell,  3 miles, 36.48 mins. May 15 2010.

This was the second long run. We both were running with different new shoes. Both of us went and exchanged our shoes. I was running with a higher stability shoes which is a W now, D width shoes, these shoes are not snug at my arches - more room. And S got rid of the 'brooks beast' and these shoes, he says, are much lighter, more comfortable than the beast.

This trail was fairly flat but for 2 -3 sort of uphills. Sort of an introduction to SF.

We start as usual with Coach Raman kicking off the initial stretches before the run and Coach Martina leading the post run stretch and strengthening.

We definitely need fuel belts. The only water station was at 1.3 miles and I was actually dry in my mouth.

I dont know if it was the new shoes and the getting used to it. I found this run a lil hard. I was breathing hard. Ofcourse I was trying to run at a slightly - slightly higher pace. Miles 2 - 2.5 were really hard and seemed never ending and then I met a girl and chatted with her all the way to the end. Much better.

S finished with 39.xx minutes. Panera for breakfast. 

Week 3 - Monday Run

Sunnyvale Baylands Park, 2 miles, Monday May 17 2010.

The third weekday run. This was definitely easier. The shoes fit and feel better. But still there is some amount of pain in the feet. In the outer sides of the mid feet. But then there is always a break in period for the shoes. Just waiting that out.
The run was good. Not too tiring. Definitely need the fuel belt. S complained of some knee pain at around 1.5 miles, but he ran and finished it all running.

The down part today were the mentors. There seems to be a disconnect between them, a lot of talking and trying to zero down on what exercise to do next. Lot of guidance - over the same things. Just felt very noisy and unnecessary. Overall did not feel like a good stretch. :(

On the bright side the rose plant that momsi sent is growing very well... This time the repotting was done at the right time... I hope this one stays long and healthy..

Weekday run #2

Thursday May 13, 2010 - 2 Miles - Sunnyvale Baylands Park - Approx 30 mins.

Its thursday today and we ran 2 miles and baylands park.
This is the first run after last saturday. The break def did not help.
We were sort of excited about all the new stuff we bought over the weekend - shirt/ shoes/ socks.
Inspite of this excitement the run turned out to be not such a pleasant one. We were tired and panting. The shoes were not the best - for both of us. My heels hurt and the sides. And S found them very very heavy and could not run that easily. He is planning on exchanging them. As for me, I think I just need to get used to them. Wear them a lil loose, lets see.

This weekend the long run is again going to be 3 miles at Campbell lets see how that goes.

BTW, never a good idea to have a heavy dinner the night before - also not a good idea - is to run with less than 7 hours of sleep the night before.

Sublock and Expensive shoes...

Marathon training is an expensive affair - that's what we discovered over the weekend. They said if you really need to be comfortable and have no injuries during the run you have to have the right attire.. Starting from really necessary to you should have it to look good while you run they gave us a list of things to buy..

Your clothes should be made of this moisture wicking material - new shirts for both of us- check. Luckily both our track pants were already of that material.

You should have a sun block which has a minimum of SPF 30 - new banana boat athletes sunblock - check.

You should have moisture wicking socks preferably double layer blister free socks - New pair of socks for both of us - check - phew they had a sale 3 pack socks at 9 dollars.

You have to have a cap of preferably wicking material - Hoping that we already have something for this - check 

You have to have shoes which make sure you land on your feet well - This is the biggest dent - Brooks motion control shoes for him and asics gel moderate stability shoes for me. The biggest hole in the purse.

Some things that we did not cross out of the list of things to buy:

*Fuel belt - a belt around your waist which can carry 3 - 4 tiny bottles of water / energy drink.

*Anti Chafe gel - rub it on the parts of your body to reduce friction.

*Runners fitted sun shades.

Before this I wore a new nike running shoes which were really comfortable and relatively new, still I was advised to buy a $100 shoes. This somehow makes me doubt the credibility of the "Gait test" that we were made to take. Shiku also bought a $115 shoes, but atleast he was always finding his Nike very narrow and uncomfortable and it gave him blisters.

$215 in one weekend for 2 pairs of shoes... Phew...!

But as S says: Better pay upfront and avoid injury rather than pay for a costly ankle surgery... In some sense this is the idea behind insurance which I just dont like!! 

I can't explain how, but it definitely feels like some form of blackmail... Just troubles me.

Half Marathon...

SF marathon is scheduled this year on July 25 - Sunday.
Both of us registered for a half marathon training with ASHA and we are going to enlist for the SF half marathon this year.

There are 2 half marathon courses. One through the golden gate bridge. We are gonna run this one. This one starts at 530 in the am.

We registered with ASHA for the marathon training. Every mon and thur increasing distances of runs and stretching - Tuesdays I think strength training and a full run on every saturday.
Quite an ambitious schedule. But this should help me lose some more weight, more importantly get rid of that fat and build some muscle. Srik should be able to build his muscles more.

Both of us were dead tired after the first thursday morning run (2 miles) and stretch - Muscles aching and sore. I had never felt that hungry in one day... But that night's sleep was bliss.

While reading on marathons came across this term - "Runners high" - wonder what this is..
Hoping to hit this one through the next 2 months. A non alcoholic high! hmm....