Long Run 7

I had a poor 2 weeks of training since my last long run on 6th June. It took me a couple of days to recover after my first half marathon distance in 3 years I think? I need to collate my previous finisher medals! The last weekend being a friend's bachelor party saw me in Goa. It took a whole lot of effort to stay vegan, stay sober and put in a couple of runs over those 3 days but I did manage 1 pretty decent run on the beach followed by another pretty disastrous run on the beach. Let's just say running at high tide and in the monsoons can be exciting! I was 1.5 K from the nearest shelter when the rain decided to come smashing down and I was rapidly running out of beach thanks to the tide. My Vibrams performed beautifully though. The feeling of running through the water with the rain pelting down gave me the feeling of being fully and completely alive in mind and body. Not seeing a single soul for miles on either side...just the waves, the rains and me was surreal.

Right, so I'd planned on pushing the 20K distance today but couldn't muster the will. I also have learnt it isn't a good idea to eat beans the previous night! I put in a decent 20K today. I finished 6 minutes faster than the previous 20K which is a good improvement. I felt I should have finished at least 15 minutes faster but again the last 2K really did me in again. That said, I definitely felt stronger, faster and smoother today than I have done at anytime since I resumed training on April 20th. I finished 20K in a time of 2hrs 34 mins. That's still 32 minutes slower than my personal best in the Mumbai half marathon...long way to go yet! But progress again is most satisfying. I've gone from 0 to consistent half marathon distances in under 2 months. At no point in the run today did I ever feel that I wouldn't finish. Around the 13-14K mark, it was only quiet determination and a mental "I got this" feeling of achieving the 20K mark. I briefly flirted with the idea of breaching a 25K distance but just didn't have the gas in the tank today. At the 15K mark, I felt good..really good. I was timing my splits in 5K slots. I finished each of the three 5K splits within a minute of the same time...37-38 minutes which tells me that I'm able to maintain a consistent pace despite the miles increasing. I also didn't keep peering at my watch to check speed but trusted in my body to be the guide. At the 15K mark, I felt it may just be possible to keep pushing and hit 22 maybe even 25K but I think I first gave up mentally and then my body followed. The last kilometre was a real struggle again. It didn't help that there was a cross fit crew in the park who were racing up and down past me, probably wondering why this guy was even here struggling to shuffle by. I also spotted a blonde gazelle. At least I first thought I did but then it turned out to be a 6 ft 4 inch, blonde, lean, muscular dude who was flying down the trail. Damn. As I finished 20K I felt like throwing up, collapsing into the mud, yelling out loud thanks to my screaming calf muscles and the surge of joy I was simultaneously experiencing. I instead settled to warm down, stretch and limp back to the car...and that's when I dissolved into laughter. No one told me a joke. I didn't see anything funny. All I was experiencing was fatigue, thirst, an urge to use the toilet, itching from the bugs that had gotten me in the early morning and legs that were increasingly feeling like lead. But then I yet again realised why I run. That laughter was worth the 2.5 hours it took to earn it.

I still need to hit the gym hard and work on core strength. I'm now down 5 kilos in under 2 months which I'm happy about. I still have another 10 kilos minimum left to shed. Once that's done I'll start bettering my personal bests...of that I have no doubt. My form, my training and my diet are coming together beautifully. But to be honest, finishing double the distance of what I ran today in 2.5 months seems almost impossible right now. But...one step at a time. I have another 11 good weeks of training left before the big day so must keep trying. 

Long Run 6

I woke up at 4 AM yesterday (Saturday) and sat up in bed, switched on the light. I then wondered why the hell I was waking up at 4 AM on a Saturday morning. The bed had never felt softer and my eyes couldn't really focus yet. A rush of reasons flooded my brain, urging me to lay back in bed and give myself up to the beautiful cocoon of sleep. I didn't. I pushed myself out of bed and splashed some water on my face, looking in the mirror I reaffirmed the reason I had woken up at 4 AM: today was the day I had planned to run my first half marathon training run distance. Looking in the mirror, I quickly looked away lest all the usual fears and questions came rushing back telling me what a foolish endevour I was embarking upon. I got dressed, did my stretching routine at home and headed out the door to the car.

I reached Cubbon Park by 5:20 AM, set up my "aid station" in the back seat of the car: 1 big bottle of a lemon and very salty water mix, 1 big bottle of gatorade, bananas, green tea mints (delicious) and water. I hit the road by 5:25. Truth be told, it was still pitch black and I was a bit apprehensive to take my usual trail route through the park. Snakes do have a presence here and I didn't want to risk stepping on any. Broken branches and logs too are a risk. I'm going to strap on my flashlight from the next long run. I decided to plunge into the park nonetheless and trust in the running gods.

My usual loop is about 5 K but I knew today that that wouldn't do. I was aiming for 20K and 4 loops would mentally not be feasible. I changed the route a little bit and ran a few extra rounds of the hypnotic Queen's park. My first stop was at the 7.5K mark. My 2nd stop was at the 17K mark and that was when I started struggling. Around the 17.5K mark, there was an explosion of rational assessment in my head: to ease off, to stop, to walk, to relax because it had already been a fantastic run and when none of that worked, all the blissful sensations of stopping flooded my brain. It's really incredible when you begin to consciously study and become aware of the REAL reasons you stop doing something. At least when it comes to distance running, rational assessments have no place. That much I now know and I pushed on harder when all those reasons flooded my brain. In fact, I think they made me more determined to carry on and achieve the goal I had set for myself that morning. I really struggled for the last 2 Kms and that destroyed my time for the run. However, I wasn't running time but distance so I didn't mind though it did hurt my pride that I slowed down to a crawl those last 2 kms.

I completed 20K in 2:40. Even if I shave off 3-4 minutes due to stopping etc. that's still too slow. But on the other hand, I've gone from 0 Kms to a half marathon in 45 days of training and discipline. I feel a comforting sense of satisfaction and quiet accomplishment at this small win. This while Scott Jurek is attempting to run 2,160 miles from Georgia to Maine. :-) Perspective. But mine is a great, single step in what I hope will be a much longer journey. The jury's still out on whether I can attempt 42K in another 100 odd days. Let's see. For now, I'm going to focus on just the next training week, the next long run. I'll aim for 25K in 2 weeks or so. What is abundantly clear is that I have never before trained in so scientific a manner and never stuck to my training goals as well as I'm doing right now. You would think there's some payout at the end of all this right? Wrong! There really are no guarantees in distance running as in life as in hoping to spot a tiger in the wild. But you still keep trying.

As I hobbled to my parents' place after the run, I was berated (as usual) by my Mom about how foolish this whole thing is, how I am now "middle-aged" and shouldn't attempt such madness, how I have done it before and why do I want to do this again? et cetera. One of my responses, which admittedly further reinforces the belief that this whole exercise is crazy is the motto of one of Scott Jurek's coaches, "Pain only hurts." What lies beyond is something far more magical and worthwhile.  

More Core

I'm back from a week of doing nothing. Well not nothing. Last week saw many social gatherings and I could not drive myself to wake up after late nights and hit the road. The weekend saw me in Tadoba (first tiger sighting and all that) so no long run. This last weekend was also my "step back" weekend where I was scheduled to run a 12 K distance. This week has been better so far. The challenge was always going to be to shirk off whatever little laziness and fatigue that would have crept in from a week of doing nothing and getting back to training earnestly.

I ran a decent 5K at a 6:30 pace on Tuesday (2nd June) and followed that up today with a good swim in the AM. Now the time has come to start focussing with more intent on building core strength alongside putting in longer and longer runs. It's going to be a real challenge. Post my 5K yesterday, my right calf was sore as hell and the swim was essential to loosen things up. It's better now but still painful. I need to put in a 10K tomorrow (doubtful) and prime myself for the next big push on Saturday: my first half marathon in a while! I'm excited at the prospect of pushing these kinds of distances again but also apprehensive and afraid I will break down during or soon after. This is the reason I need to push myself for core workouts more. I have 10 good training weeks ahead of me now before September 20th where I can push myself if my body allows. August 1st week is when I will take a call on whether I start the 42K or hold off. I will be distraught if I have to back off the 42K but there will be 3 good reasons for me to have done so (as Hal Higdon says): not enough training, not enough training and not enough training.

My core work will involve floor exercises, time on the rowing machine, multi-gym and more intensive swimming sessions. I will need to do all this while I aim to clock a minimum mileage of 35K-40K  a week which includes 1 long run which will now be at least a half marathon distance and steadily edging the 30K mark. Just thinking about this, I feel it's better to not push this hard or build castles in the air and that I'd be more realistic if I just reassigned myself for the Kaveri half and prepared in earnest for the 50K in November. Memories of my painful drop out around the 35K mark in Mumbai in 2012 are still fresh as ever and the reason for that was again...yes not enough training. Will I be taking the Kaveri for granted and pay a heavy price? Am I fooling myself to think I can be ready in 3 more months? I'm not sure to be honest. But I don't want to think about that right now and just push, push, push. Rational assessments too often lead to rational surrenders.