Western Ghats Ultra 2015

The Western Ghats Ultra was announced soon after the completion of Pune Ultra on 22 Nov 2015. It was a pleasant surprise to em as I was feeling low for not having been able to run a 50km in Pune Ultra being the Race Director of the event. I felt happy though that we had initiated/ pioneered the Ultramarathon in Pune and given confidence to organisers to conduct the same. I was anyway planning to run a 50km soon along with Parag Dongre, who also could not complete the run on 22 Nov 2015 due to official commitments. 

So we decided to register for this event and run our 50km here. The Western Ghats Ultra was organised at Oxford Golf Course club/ resort which is a very beautiful place located on top of a hill. The route comprised of a 12.5km stretch which had to be done out and back twice to complete 50kms. This 12.5kms stretch had the first 1.5km downhill, and then a 3.7km stretch through a trail( pebbled/mud path) followed by a road leading to vilage Chande and then further to another village where the turn around point was located. We had to cross a river( bridge) and a "shamshan Bhumi(funeral place)" enroute. There were four Check Points (CP0, CP1, CP2 and CP3). There were many water stations in the intial stretch and then for a good stretch of about 5kms, there was no water station and then again two water stations just about 2km apart on the main road to village Chande. 

As we started the run, the morning was dark and chilled, with a full moon but because we were going down-slope and we turned into a trail path, the moon was almost hidden behind the hills and we were in absolute darkness. As we were running downhill, I was constantly checking myself to run slowly and towards that, I had purposely not warmed up. So the warming up was just not happening as it was quite cold and I was wearing a sleeveless vest and a shorts. I met the famous Piyush Shah during the run, and saw many people overtake us in the beginning. We just started 

Training Novice Runners to become FreeRunners

The running journey continues, albeit in different forms as I train novices/ amateur runners and of course training is learning as you learn everyday from the novice and other runners in the group.  A few points about training runners which are relevant in today's context of running marathons are given below:-

Training Runners

Training is an activity which I have started enjoying as it is mostly about "giving" your energy to the new runners who need to learn about "form" and "breathing" and correct techniques to avoid running injuries and also to build good habits which keep them in good shape always. Running is an activity which needs constant focus and attention on the "posture" while running. Training runners involves a lot of personal attention while they run and most of the times, you have to run along and point out the correct way to run, especially for beginners who have not run/ played sports earlier in their lives. This has to be completely personalized as each runner has a typical form and you need to be highly observant to know where the change is required to make their running more efficient. Constant pointing out and making them realize and experience the correct posture is key to their improvement. 

FreeRunners has a unique method of doing this through the 5 day week training program which includes Tempo Running, Interval training, Trail running with hill repeats, Slow Running, and Strength Training followed by a weekend Log run. Each of these activities are focused on form improvement and muscle strengthening which are the basics for running strong.  Consistency in attending all the 5 days training is important for proper training of the muscle groups and form improvement. During the training, a lot of emphasis is given on improving breathing techniques, which needs to be practiced 24x7 and not only during running. The same is true for form, and if you notice most of the old group members, you will be surprised to see the similarity in form of all the runners. The entire training program has a very strong focus on "form"and "breathing" always which results eventually in getting a good "speed" also as the muscles get strengthened and running becomes more efficient. 

The biggest challenge here is in the consistency of runners and when you miss any day of training , it is like a "snake" and "Ladder"  game and you have to re-start/ re-correct. Old habits die hard, and so does form as we always tend to return to our old ways especially when we are not mindful of it. 

To summarize, Running training is about consistency, and complete focus on posture and breathing, at all times.

Join the FreeRunners group which operates Tuesday to Friday and Sundays at two places: Kedari Ground in Wanowrie, and Opposite DPS school at Mohammadwadi/ Undri. Contact the following to join: Jeetendran Nair at 9421038552 or Naveen at 8879105249.

Madness of Running Events

Running Events

I have been managing a few running events and I have quite a bit of learning from here too. Having participated in many events earlier, though I have stopped participating in events now, I know what happens in each runners mind and what they need. So the entire focus of any event we organise is runner-centric to keep them supported. However, what I see in events nowadays is a mite disappointing. While it is heartening to see many "couch-potatoes" stepping out to join a Marathon event and this is very good from a health perspective overall, on the other side, the thirst for "Facebook likes" is actually creating a mockery of the word " marathon". It is a human need to seek recognition and there is no harm in getting some recognition when you achieve something. But the key word is "achievement" and "marathon" so there has to be some benchmark as we are talking about a sport and not a picnic. 

While each person is different, marathon is about running and not about jay-walking. We have people who walk to temples and do parikramas which are very long distances, but are they to be considered as marathon runners? This is a sport and needs to be given some respect. If you were to open Facebook today, we find people being praised and congratulated for timings which are "shameful" for a HM, and the good runners who actually perform well are not even spoken about, especially those from the lower strata of society. As marathon organisers, we need to respect this sport and set some bench mark and timing cut-off. Pleasing the runners to get a huge ticket size and get more entries in the next edition seems to be the mantra at least in most Indian races today, where we boast of large number of participants, where quality of a runner does not seem to be a concern. 

I still remember when I ran my first HM in ADHM at Delhi in 2008, I was shit scared that I will be a DNF if I reach beyond 3 hours and I pushed myself to complete in 2 hr 40 min. The runner was not entitled to a certificate or a medal if he/she did not complete within 3 hrs. Nowadays, there is a marathon event almost every Sunday and there is no time limit, thereby assuring each runner of a medal and certificate, though I don't know if I can call a person who completes a half marathon in more than 3 hrs 30  min as a "runner" or a "walk-runner". A runner completing in sub 2 hrs is not differentiated from a runner who does it in 4 hrs and therefore I do not approve of this model. A runner needs to train for running any event, and the training is actually more important than the event itself. If we claim that we are promoting good health by organising marathons, then we must dissuade jay-walking runners and ask them to start training properly and consistently so that they actually become "seasoned runners" and not "seasonal runners". 

Therefore, I have a suggestion: Let all marathon organizers have three categories: Elite Runners, Amateur Recreational Runners, and Novice Recreational Runners. The novice recreational runners are those who cannot complete a HM in less than 3 hrs and they will only get a participation certificate. They have to earn their medal by completing the run in less than 3 hrs. Set some benchmarks in this sport which brings some competitive spirit in all runners and they strive to achieve some personal goals.  In this way an amateur runner who completes in 2 hrs 30 min will also feel good as he is differentiated from a jay-walker/ runner who just walked his way in a HM to complete in 4 hrs. Ideally, novice runners should not be encouraged to participate in an event, rather they should train and improve themselves to finish a HM in at least 2.5 hrs before they are allowed to register.  A test of a 5 km run in at least 30 min should be a good bench mark to start with.