First Full Marathon Experience

I was supposed to have ran Singapore Marathon last year but missed it out at the end. The Singapore ghost continued and was determined to complete this time. I started the preparation after ECR10 by gradually increasing the mileage from 30 kms/week to 60 kms/week in a span of 2-1/2 months. By the end of 2-1/2 months, I ended up having an injury and subsequently met with a minor accident which robbed 3 weeks of my preparation time. Ultimately, I was forced to change my plan to concentrate more on the completion rather than the timing. Hence I decided to do 4:1 (4 mins of running, 1-min walking). Mean time, I got very useful tips from VPS, Karthik, Navin, and Hari (Hyd) on how to face the D-day based on their own experiences.

On reaching Singapore, Ramesh, Shiva, and I shared a cottage which we had booked already. Ramesh's knowledge on various aspects of marathon is highly commendable. I got to learn quite a lot including how to keep a check on diet, to maintain salt content etc. In fact Ramesh is quite knowledgeable on other stuffs as well. At one stage he had to teach Shiva Aa ba ca da… :-). Oh boy we had real fun.

All of us were completely relaxed before and on the day of marathon. Race started dot at 5:30. I knew that one would get drenched with sweat during the first 5 kms as humidity level was quite high. So, I decided not to be ambitious but take it slowly and steadily. Since I am prone to loose more salts, I made sure to keep myself hydrated by drinking a sip of water & 100+ whenever provided. First hour went without much notice, had covered about 7 kms. I knew the pace was quite slow but wanted to keep this pace for next 5-6 hrs. I continued with 4:1 model in the 2nd and 3rd hr as well. I had completed half in about 2:55, by then I knew 5:30 was out of reach and started to try for a 6-hr completion. Next 2 hrs (4th and 5th hr) went on perfectly fine. I enjoyed the entire atmosphere, the music that was playing on my mp3 player, beach side view, and everything. Around 27 km’s mark, I met Sangeetha. We ran together till 31, and I insisted her to do a 4:1. I completed 35 kms in about 5 hrs, and knew that 6 hrs was within the reach. But after 36 kms, it was a bit difficult to move my feet and so gave up 4:1, tried 3:2, and even 2:1, but nothing worked. So I walked for about 10 mins and did a walk¬¬–run like what I did along with Ramani and Venu sir in ECR10. I managed to reach 40 kms around 5:50. During the 40th km, I could not run as emotions took-over, but managed to walk for next 1.5 kms and started running again only after seeing the “Finish line” just for “Snaps”?. My official timing is 6:10:55 secs.

I was completely normal after run and met Ramesh and Siva at the finish point. We went back to our cottage and took rest for some time and caught our flight to Chennai in the evening. The whole journey was a complete fun and I had a “whale of time” with Ramesh and Siva.

Check out this video: Day after marathon. It's worth it.

Recipe for a Marathoner

Got this fwd from Runners forum. Cool one for Tee as well

1 part Athlete
1 part Dedication
2 parts Sheer Will
2 parts Heart
Add a dash of Insanity (or 2)

Combine all ingredients and
Shake for 26.2 miles!

Repeat as often as necessary!

Running for "fit mind"

Running helps to relieve depression
Running helps to reduce mood swings
Running is the best therapy
Running gives new goals, a sense of purpose and boosts self-esteem

What other reasons do you need to run ?. Start running.

Here is the article from BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7240545.stm

Running Festival - ECR Run 5

This is 5th ECR run for the group and 3rd for me. I decided to do a half in below 2hrs to 30 mins without any stoppages, glad could complete half in 2 hrs and 15 mins. A dip at cold sea at MGM resort was soothing after the run and finally breakfast made the day.

"Chennai Runners" now has a new blog, click HERE for more info. Don't miss snaps on the FLICKR.

Marathon and CEO connection.

Do marathon runners are best suited for CEO job ?. That is what a paper by KVSS Narayana Rao of ICFAI business school presented on Global CEO meet has to say. I am unable to up-load this pdf here. If you require a copy, Pls email me at bharbhi@gmail.com. Here is gist though

"Running a business is like running a marathon. Some of the skills essential for business success can be learnt, honed and demonstrated by training for and running marathons. Hence, some marathon runners among the eligible senior executives are being recruited as CEOs and some CEOs are taking up marathon running. Executives involved in marathon running comment that marathon running helps them to hone their managerial and business skills, improve their fitness level to manage their companies and help them manage their stress."

So, don't be surprised if i become CEO in couple of years rather think of investing in my firm from now on :-)

Chennai Runners run through "India Today"

This time Chennai Runners (CR's) ran through the pages of India Today rather than running on the roads. This was easier and much more benefiting. After "The Hindu" covered CR's couple of months back, India Today covered on September 17th 2007 edition. This is a big leap for this amazing group. On the different note, Rupert from University of Edinburg (Switzerland) joined us for the run, he was quite bemused that these stuffs get published on to National daily/Magazines. According to Rupert, these are considered to be College news else where.

Here is scanned format of the article

SNEHA Run to commemorate WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY

What is Sneha?
*SNEHA* is a suicide prevention organization started in 1986 and offers emotional support for the depressed, desperate and the suicidal.

Some facts about Suicide in India?
- Every five minutes, someone somewhere in India attempts suicide
- Suicide is Third major cause of death in India. (This is stunning)
- Annually around 10Lakh people commit suicide in India- Suicide is most common among youngsters.

How can running help?
Apart from good fitness levels, Long distance running is about endurance, patience and constant improvement. During runs there is a definite thought to give it up but then one has to keep egging oneself to stay as long as possible. At these period one would normally look for inspiration from fellow runs, great sportspersons etc. All these definitely has good psychological effects.

Some facts about running
- Nelson Mandela used to run long distance when he was in prison. According to Mandela, running helped him to cover lot of negatives he had carried for long time.
- Andrew Agassi ranking slipped close to 200 at one point of time. At that point, he used to run 10 Miles in the morning as well as in the evening. He believes long distance running was one of the many factors for him getting back top 5 in rankings and kept him playing for longer time.
- Dirubhai Ambani used to run 10 Kms almost daily until age of 60.
- Makhaya Nitini runs 20 Kms daily to stay himself fit.
Organizing a mini-marathon is a fitting way to celebrate Suicide prevention day.

More about Sneha: http://www.snehaindia.org/index.php

Singapore Marathon: A definite NO this year

Running a marathon away from India feels great when flight rates are cheaper, the scenic beauty during the run and the aura built around the marathon itself (like Boston or New York marathon). This is what Singapore Marathon is all about, probably the best in this sub-continent. For Chennai runners, there is an added package. Most bachelors are planning to do a Thailand. Given all these particularly Thailand and recent high after 30 * 30 ECR run, Yes it is tempting to do a Singapore Marathon.

This is scheduled on December 2nd and the registration is already open. Early registration works out cheaper and few of fellow runners have already registered. Chennai Runners targets to field atleast 10 for the run. Though would be great to participate, i am not prepared yet to party at 42.9 KMs. Possibly need to do couple of half before a full. Running a full is all about endurance, stamina, hard-work, planning and mental toughness. It requires good amount of preparation, looks like a far away dream at this point. Would possibly think about it next year (2007) but a definite NO this year. All is not lost, Bangalore is scheduled sometime in October and Chennai in December. Planning to do an half in these events.

30 * 30: ECR Run

Though, lot have been shared and written about the 30 * 30 ECR run, these snaps are flicked from Rams and KKs blog for my archive.

I swear, i am running and NOT posing for a snap

Team listening to instructions from Ram before the run

Photo time before the run

Big thanks to Satish, Abhinav and Satish for their help.

Fabulous team that completed

Long run wrapped with long chat with Dr. Kannan Pugazhendi

It was good statisfying run this Sunday, covered 17Kms in 2hrs and 30 mins. I did not plan anything in advance as planning never works in my case, wanted to work it out at every instant on the run. Made sure to keep applying myself on the tough stretchs like one starting from IIT to Adyar gate, another from lattic bridge to Velankanni chruch and concentrate hard on last few KMs.

Got up at 4:15 A.M. drank half cup coffee, immediately off to YMCA to join the group. My mom got up along with me for this half cup coffee. Normally, I don't allow her to wakeup at such crazy timings but did not stop her from doing this time. Half cup coffee refreshed me much quicker than expected.

We started this run around 5:10 AM starting from YMCA along Chamiers road, Greenways road, Lattic bridge, Besant Avenue, Besant nagar beach, Velannkani Church, Straight to Tidal park road, Madhyakailash, IIT, Annauniversity, Coturpurram and back to YMCA. In all it is bit more than 17KMs. After the run we had long chat with Dr.Kannan Pugazhendi. He was the Indian team physio & sports medicine doctor during tour of West Indies in 1976 and the Indian Hockey team to Atlanta, he gave insight on Preparation for a marathon, while running and recovery. He stressed on nitty-gritty details that we generally miss could make a difference to long distance running. Dr. Kannan is planning to write forth-nightly articles on general fitness and long distance running on "The Hindu" starting next month. The whole stuff got over at 10 AM.

The best part was reserved after i came back home. My breakfast was ready. Ate Sambar Rice, Rasam Rice and Curd Rice. Ending up with an ice-cream. Hit the bed around 12:00 and got up around 4:00 PM. Fantastic day indeed!!

Run on the cards.

It's a busy fortnight for Chennai Runners. Couple of BIG runs are lined-up starting Tuesday July 3rd.

July 03 (Tuesday): 5KMs interval run
July 04 (Wednesday): 5KMs easy run
July 05 (Thursday): 11KMs run
July 06 (Friday): Possibly a 5KMs run easy run
July 07 (Saturday): Off
July 08 (Sunday): 25KMs

Aha, if someone does all the runs, would have covered 51KMs. A cracker of an experience. Would be happy if i can cover 35KMs.

A repeat of same scheduled is followed next week, finally wrapped with 30KMs run on ECR July 15th (Sunday). I am looking for this ECR run. Junta has already tried it. The route is from Toll booth to Mahabs making it around 30KMs. It's scenic route with beach on long side, trees around, less traffic. The plan is to start the run at 4:30 AM, a good opportunity for runners like me to stretch beyond the limits, say to 15-20KMs. Finally take a bus/auto to Mahabs.

Toss up between Chennai and Singapore Marathon

This year both Chennai and Singapore Marathon are scheduled in December. Singapore marathon is scheduled on 2nd December but dates are not yet available for Chennai marathon.

I believe it’s quite unlikely for both to occur on same day. If so there is a problem of choice for studs of Chennai Runners. Ram, Hari, Shumit, Shahid, KK, Vidyut have already decided to skip Chennai Marathon for Singapore Marathon. What I hear is that Singapore Marathon is organized lot better than Chennai Marathon.

For junta like me the choice is simple, easy and obvious.

Best Run

Covered 11kms in span of 1hr and 20 mins non-stop today. This is my personal best along with Chennai Runners tough i was the last one to finish. Anyways, "How a race run is more important than winning" :-).

The last time i ran more than 10Kms was way back in my school days, possibly 1-1/2 decades ago. It looks like a century now. Yeah this happened in 20th Century!!