50 K

I've signed up for the first run of 2010. I am still a bit down about missing the Mumbai Marathon this month. However, November 14th I aim to attempt the half Bangalore Ultra...that's 50 K. Tough but what's life without a challenge?

Sunfeast World 10 K Bangalore

I ran the Sunfeast World 10 K today in Bangalore. I hadn't really put in anything close to preparation for this run other than sporadic visits to the gym and I was pretty ashamed at how I approached this event. I really believe that a healthy respect is to be given to any activity which involves a combination of physical and mental application. I learned that the hard way in Bombay earlier this year. Machismo has no place in distance running and over confidence is the harbinger of disaster. Well...disaster for a serious runner that is. Clutching your sides while people are zipping by you counts for me as disaster.

So yes I felt extremely underprepared and I had mentally accepted that I would go easy and really guage the pace on how I felt on race day. The event itself was very smoothly organised. Smooth entry, easy baggage counter, decent holding area and on-time start. The race route too was great mainly following the route I have been taking for the last one year so I could count off all the familiar sights. I started strong and knew exactly when to push the right buttons and when to ease up to get that little bit extra later. It's amazing what a wise teacher Experience can be. I must also admit reluctantly that I did take a little bit of pleasure & pride in passing so many runners after the 5 K mark. I didn't have a timing chip this time so I got a 2nd priority start at the race. I must have been at least 15 minutes behind the timing-chip runners and after the 5 K mark almost every person I was passing had a timing chip clipped to their shoes. I ran a surprisingly strong race and if I had pushed myself a little more from the 8 K mark I should have completed with a sub 50 time. As it is, I finished in 52 mins and 55 secs and I didn't even feel out of breath as I finished. Not too bad for a 10 K. But my personal Everest still looms large and daunting, albeit distant in the form of finishing a 42 K in under 4 hours. Now that would be cause for celebration. For today, I'll have myself a couple of beers and contemplate a more serious training schedule from next week.

Recovery

This is going to be a quick post. I really pushed myself last night on the treadmill...5 K in 26 minutes and eased up when I felt sharp pain in my left heel. Cooled down, stretched and went home. The pain got really bad in an hour and it felt like I'd need a week to recover from this. I woke up this morning and gingerly tested the ankle and heel for fear of that familiar shooting pain but there was only a dull stiffness and now I am walking almost normally.

I think this is testimony to the hard yards, exercise and stretching. My recovery period has improved dramatically in the last year and that's great news all around. More pleasing was the fact that I put in a 15 K tarmac run on Sunday morning and followed it up with this strong run the very next day. And right now I feel I can put in another 5 K easily this evening too. Shedding those kilos is the only thing on my mind right now and pursuing that with a vengeance. South Beach is king.

Gels

After more than a month, I put in a good, long-ish tarmac run. I covered close to 15K in an hour and half. The finish was really strong and I felt very fluid. That was encouraging. I am still carrying a few excess kilos which are now becoming more than a mere irritant. Something will have to be done about that soon.

In another positive development of my running routine, the energy gels the Sethi got me from the States are simply magnificent! They taste like hell but I was warned about that by other runners. Its curious how the gels work: while 2 gulps of Gatorade really goes straight to your muslces and brain and gives you a real surge in step, the gels work slightly differently. The first 2 minutes or so you don't feel anything at all except for the synthetic, plasticky aftertaste of the gel. Then slowly but surely you feel more balanced and stability that wasn't there starts to come into your stride. It will be interesting to see once I start hitting the 30 K mark how these gels work but for now I am happy I have some to fool around with. I hope to complete the Sunfeast 10K in under an hour but lets see how I feel on race day. For now, another Sunday and another endorphin high. Cubbon Park was beautiful and I slowed down a little while going past Nehru's statue this morning...he must be smiling, whereever he is.

Refresh, again.

I read this story from the newsletter of Runners for Life:

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle
when the sun comes up you'd better be running.

(But, unless you're a runner, you won't understand.)

I was quite taken by imagining how Nature has programmed so many creatures into being fit and non-sedentary for their very survival and how humans have through a quirk of evolution, managed to avoid it completely.

I also recently finished the last few pages of Murakami's "What I talk about when I talk about running". I have been savouring this book for over 6 months now believe it or not. I was extremely reluctant to ever reach the end because I don't think I have enjoyed any book as much as this one. The connection between what the author is saying and your personal experiences ran so deep as to be almost a reflection of your own life, if you know what I mean.

A combination of that little story and Murakami's conclusions about running has revealed again a profound sense of meaning to me not just in terms of running but in terms of what simple action means to all creatures and how there is so much meaning and fluidity that can be derived from mere action, how our senses and surroundings are revealed to ourselves in sharper, brighter colours. More than ever, I am determined now to squeeze out every ounce of whatever it is that running has to offer me: the gap between mind and body is only increasing and this is my prime. They say youth is wasted on the young: well not this time its not. I feel a sense of rejuvenation that is hard to explain. And more than ever, I yearn for early morning, slanting rays of the sun and the road.

10 K

Email I got today:

Dear Abhijeet,

Congratulations!!!

Procam International Ltd. takes a pleasure to confirm your entry to the Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore to be held on Sunday, 31st May 2009.

Details of your confirmed entry are as under:

Race Type : Open 10k
Running Number :1106
Reference Number: 126
Birth Date : 1981-03-30
Gender : Male

Your Acceptance Letter will be sent to you shortly with all the details related to collection of running number.

I am unable to decide what time I should target for this 10 K. I have not put in the kind of training I would have liked but I think a time of 55 mins or under is realistic. Maybe.

Smooooth

I've put on a few kilos which are more of an irritant than anything else. My flexibility and strength is down which is a big concern. But today I had a simply brilliant, fluid and smooth as honey 5 K run. I purposely slowed the pace to about 10 K/hour and around the 4 K mark I couldn't believe the way I was floating. What a sensation. You should try it some day :-)

For now I have 6 weeks for the Sunfeast 10 K run on 31st May. The shape I am in right now, I would probably have a dismal run if it was next week but 6 weeks is about enough time if I am able to put in about 20 more runs like I did today.

Love it.