SCMM 2014

After the Goa River marathon on 08 Dec 13, I could hardly participate in group runs , firstly due to my trip in December with family to a hill station, where I tried to run but could manage to run only twice and that too a measly distance of about 8 km. Then I got this cold and flu which really got the better of me. Normally, I don't take any medicines and just take care by warm saline gargling and green tea , turmeric milk etc. etc. . Antibiotics are a strict no-no for me. But this time, the cold wouldnt go away, in fact it worsened and I developed acute sinusitis with fully blocked nose and severe headaches everyday. I had to surrender myself to the doctor after about 15 days of struggle with a steamer and all above mentioned home remedies. I took an antibiotic dose for about 5 days and still no relief. This time I was told to take an X ray and then the ENT specialist pronounced the symptoms as "Allergic Rhinitis" and gave me another antibiotics for 07 days with a nasal spray to be used for a month, I was killed, this was the 11th of Jan and the race day was round the corner, no practice and this was really frustrating.

I decided that I was not going to give in, I decided to do my practice run on Thursday. I ran in the morning for about 40 minutes, I coughed and gagged and a lot of phlegm came out, but I was able to run. Great so I can do it, was the feeling in my mind. I decided to rest on Friday and Saturday and then give it a shot on Sunday the 19th Jan 2014. As luck would have it on Friday, I started to feel feverish again, it seemed like a sine wave, it becomes all right for sometime and then again comes back at you. I decided to take all precautions so out came the woolens, muffler and I took full rest on Friday and Saturday. I strictly followed a carbohydrate diet ( our normal diet is quite carbo loaded, so no problems at that end...) and had a mixed feeling in the evening, not knowing whether it would be OK to run in this condition or not. Come on, it is only a 21K and you have been running it so many times, how can you even think like that?  Will the body breakdown, will I get a searing headache during the run and land up quitting in the middle of the race, all such thoughts were flowing in my mind. 

Then came a saviour, a book called "FLOW" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi which I was reading on Saturday. It talked about  "optimal experience" of enjoyment when energy flows in any activity. There was mention of a rock climber , painter, but no example of a long distance runner, which I felt was equally apt to quote as an example. The Book says that when the rock climber is climbing that precarious rock mountain, or the artist is making that creative painting, the entire energy is so invested in that task that it just flows smoothly and there the painter or the rock climber has an "optimal experience". I wondered whether all  long distance runners also have the same experience when running in a rhythmic form and our entire energy is invested in that next step of ours. So I made up my mind that this race will be to experiment this "optimal experience" while running. Well, I was still feeling quite under the weather, but now there was a mission to feel the optimal experience when things are not OK. The real challenge lies in diverting the mind from the sickness feeling to the optimal experience of running.

I got up at 0300hrs feeling a bit feverish, so I gulped down a combiflam after a sandwich and banana breakfast. I finished about 1 litre of water from when I slept at night and the 0300hrs breakfast. I made a lovely hot cup of green tea for myself and that triggered the bowels.. Yeah, funny as it may sound, this is one of the greatest worries in the mind of a runner, as you want to be fully 'de-ballasted' when you leave home for the race. Well the urination is not that much of a problem for the male runner in India till date, so we can take care of that at the venue. So all is good for now and I am ready by 0400 hrs all rigged up for the run. The bus for the Navy contingent is scheduled to leave by 0430 but somebody mentioned that you must reach the bus stand by 0415. So I left home at 0410 and walked down to the bus stand about 800 m from my house. A gang of 20-30 navy guys ready for the run were standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus to arrive.

We reached the venue at about 0530 hrs and there was this huge crowd standing in line. I was in Enclosure C which was almost at the start point, a privilege given to runners who have completed previous races in less than 2 hrs. It took me quite a while to reach the  enclosure and thankfully I could do my warming up dynamic stretches for about 05-07 minutes there in the cramped up enclosure. I met some of my group runners, but all my close friends from the group were doing the FM so I really missed them there. 

Well the race started off well, and I trotted off at an easy pace. I could see the 1hr 45 flag of the pacer ahead of me, so I felt good that in my easy pace I was near that guy. Soon , as the sea link was crossed, I could no longer sight the guy, so I knew that I was slow, but I decided that I shall increase my pace , only after crossing the half mark or rather during the uphill climb after Cadbury junction/ Peddar road. I love uphill running and I am quite comfortable, and I enjoy making my rhythm ( i count 1-8 in my mind and shorten my steps and run easy but fast) there. So while running on sea link and then after crossing Worli sea face, I started my experiment when I felt my calf muscles tightening up( lack of practice was showing up..). I focussed on every step, my body posture and harmonized myself looking for that optimal experience. After a moment I realised I was running smoother and faster. Then again the pain started showing up, I again switched myself to the "flow" and felt better. This kept happening and everytime, I felt that my body was going to break down, I harmonized and the flow worked beautifully. At Peddar road, I was overtaking people easily, but suddenly near the last climb, i felt pain in my stomach and felt like stopping. I slowed down, harmonized and continued to run and again the flow worked. I knew that my body was weak from the illness and lack of practice but the flow was working beautifully, and I continued like this and near "Pizza by the Bay", I got a pleasant surprise, my wife and kids were there cheering me, I looked at them , and waved and smiled and dashed to the finish line, I knew that this was not going to be my PB but  I managed to cross the finish line at about 1hr 52 min and some seconds, I don't remember, it may have been 1hr 53 too . How does it matter? I had succeeded to have an optimal experience and that was a great feeling. So  with another HM down the belt, it will have to be a break for some time as I am undergoing a transition in my career and will restart running races once I settle down. One thing for sure, it will be very soon as running is for life and I cannot live without running. 

Adios and see you soon.

Goa River Marathon 2013

Well, I had decided to run the Goa River marathon this year instead of  the ADHM basically because they were too close to each other and this would be my first run in Goa. Normally, ADHM is conducted in November. Well, am I glad I did that, as I thoroughly enjoyed the run. To be frank, I was not well prepared for the run as I had just returned from a trip to Delhi and on the previous weekend I had gone for a family outing to a scenic place near Bhimashankar. So while I did enjoy myself, I missed out on  the long run on Sunday and the other training runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I was having trouble with my right knee outer lateral side( ITBS), and  stiff hamstrings. I had booked in Konkan Kanya Express on Friday night which reaches Madgaon next day morning at 1045 hrs. I was travelling 2nd sleeper as there were no reservations available in AC and I had a side lower berth. The konkan journey was really scenic but it started getting cold in the night and I was only carrying a bedsheet to cover myself. The berth was  a wee bit short for me and a bit uncomfortable. The train was 1 hr late and we reached Madgaon at 1145 hrs and I took a pilot bike to reach my relatives place in NOFRA, Vasco. 

    I slept in the afternoon for about an hour and went to collect my Bib at Baina beach at around 1745 hrs . Dr Vallabhjee( am I getting the name right?) was giving  a speech on injuries and sports science. He had completed Comrades twice in less than 8 hrs. Amazing man, I must say. Well, he addressed the exact problem as if I had told him that I was having a stiff hamstring and ITBS, and made us do some glute pumping exercise. It seemed to provide some relief. He also explained that knee pain especially on the outer side ( ITBS) was actually due to the gluteus medius not firing and leading to stiffening of the IT band and causing the patella to be pulled outward , causing pain. So the root cause was identified and that was needed to be treated and not the knee. He also showed some exercises for the glute. I sincerely followed whatever he taught and tried doing it at home that night itself. I also did some exercises taught to me by Sushant Karkera, a great runner in our group. I did get a lot of relief and was feeling much better. I applied Volini gel and went to sleep early at about 2030 hrs after a nice meal of pasta and rice. But trouble was waiting for me, I was feeling very heavy in the stomach and had this queasy feeling when I went to bed. I woke up at 0330 hrs with a very bad feeling about my tummy. I drank a lot of water and had a banana. I was suffering from indigestion and had loose motions. I gulped a pudin hara tablet and hoped like hell that it would become alright. I then started getting ready for the run. My  right knee was still a bit stiff but much better. I did some dynamic stretches and crossed my fingers. I was definitely not in the best of my spirits, but I told myself that there was no way that I was going to pull out in the last minute and focussed my thoughts and energies on being absolutely fine and healthy.

    We left home at 0515 and reached the site at about 0535 hrs. I couldnt spot the Savio group runners anywhere. I searched around and finally I saw Pervin, Aishwarya, Santa and the entire gang near the start point. I did my warming up and joined them for the start. Savio was flagging the race and then he jumped down and joined in the run. We started dot on time and I started running slowly. It seemed people were trying to run too fast or something because I saw Sunil take off very fast and heard Pervin telling Parin that if you want to do a sub 2 hr, you have to run like Sunil. I heard that and increased  my pace a bit, but normally, I always start slowly and increase my pace only after about 4-5K. Here I found myself running the first 4K with the 2hr pacer Mr Dinesh, who has very strong strides. I ran with him till about 4k and then as the uphill began, I slowly overtook him, I enjoy uphill running as I guess I am used to uphill running, it is tough but I still enjoy it more than running on a flat stretch. After about 6-7 k , we started running next to the river, the climate was a shade cooler here as compared to Baina Beach. At about 7 or 7.5K, I spotted the Pilot jeep coming and the Kenyan runner sprinted past. The next few runners were all of the same breed. I was waiting to see some Indian and then I saw some brilliant runners. One of them , I think his name is "Raj" was really running very strong. It is a treat to the eyes and an inspiration to watch strong runners. I saw Savio Sir at about  10K mark and felt good that I was not too far away. Then as I was about to reach the U turn for the return leg, Rahul and Sunil shouted out to me and they were already on the return leg. I was amazed at their speed. I decided then that I had to catch up with them, so I made my strategy and slowly started pacing up to  catch them at the "8K left to go" milestone. Initially I couldn't spot them  but as soon as I crossed the 9K milestone I saw the "Savio's Stars" blue and yellow T shirt pair running far away on an upclimb. I ran along and kept my pace and sure enough just before the 8k milestone I was about 25-30 metres behind them. I decided not to overtake them as I started feeling a bit tired and a little pain in the knee had suddenly shown up and then disappeared. Slowly I inched up to them  near the 7K milestone and then I tried to keep pace with them.  Somehow, I tried and kept pace with both of them and at some point even went ahead of them. We overtook "Khurshed" on the upclimb and we were surprised as she is a podium finisher. We yet had 4K to go and Sunil and Rahul were both going very strong. I was a bit zapped out so I stopped at the 2K milestone to have some water. I decided to catch up with them but I just couldnt, as they were way ahead by now. Again there was this small upclimb near Baina beach and I just managed to keep up my pace somehow, the sun was also up by now. I saw these two guys way ahead turning into the Beach finish point. I challenged myself saying that I had to make it to them somehow and I mustered myself and tried to step out as much as I could and as soon as I saw the finish mat, I sprinted and managed to stamp on the mat just about 30 seconds after Sunil and Rahul. So I bow down to these two guys, who inspired me to finish strong and get a decent timing. I am extremely grateful to GOD that I could enjoy my run inspite of the scares that I had the previous evening and night. Overall, an enjoyable experience.

 

"When the Mind is strong, the body just aligns itself  and lets you achieve whatever you want! "

-Naveen

Run on 24 Nov 13- First run beyond 21K afte the SCMM FM in Jan 2013

Today I had decided to break the mental barrier of 21K. Actually after the FM of SCMM in January, I have not run greater than 21K in 2013. Reasons  or excuses are many, but I finally decided that I have to break the mental barrier today. I just finished the Nashik Sula Half marathon on 17 Nov  and decided to use it as a launch platform to start pushing my mileage more. I know it is too late for SCMM and I will have to be happy running only a HM here. Actually, I have registered for a HM and I had thought that in Nov, I shall change over to FM, since I was told that it is possible to do that. HM gets over much faster than FM. After 17 Nov HM, I ran on Wednesday(20 Nov) in PDP along with our running group of Savio D'Souza( 800s and 300s ). I did 7 of the 800s and then ran one fast 400m. I was feeling fit.

 

22Nov 13 ( 2hr run).  On Friday, I decided to run a 2 hr run, whatever distance it is. Being a working day, I wanted to start at 0500hrs and finish by 0700hrs and then do my stretching and be ready to leave for office by 0800hrs. My alarm was set wrongly and I woke up at 0430hrs instead of 0400 hrs. Yes, I need 1hr to comfortably do my routine and set myself up for the run. Nevertheless, I was ready to go by 0500 hrs. I did my dynamic stretches and warming up for about 10 minutes and about 05 12 I started my run from NOFRA( Navy Nagar). The RC church bus stand entry gate is the only gate open at this time. All other gates open at 0600hrs. So I ran from there, in front of INHS Ashvini Hospital and then took the colaba causeway road and joined the Cuffe Parade road in front of Badhwar park. I then went straight to Marine Drive near Air India Building. I saw my watch here, I had clocked 26 minutes to reach here, This distance is about 4.6 kms, so I was clocking about 5.65 min/km at this  point. I ran till end of marine drive and turned around at the Amul Hoarding ( 4.1 kms from Air India Building). I crossed the runners who start in the mornings of Friday from Chaupatti/ baulNath) and then on the return leg, I crossed the entire group which starts running at 0600hrs from NCPA. I was running well and effortlessly and crossing distances very fast. I decided to go all the way upto the end at NCPA and then turn around and go through INOX (Nariman Point) to the cuffe parade road. This would increase the mileage a bit more. I did that and I reached back to my starting point at NOFRA in front of my house in 1hr and 40 min( approx. 18K @5.55min/km). I continued to run for another 20-22 minutes and then I did my stretching and was just in time to get into my car pool which leaves at dot 0800hrs.

 

It is strange, that though I like running in the Group, but now I have started enjoying my solo runs. It is a kind of meditation for me, I am in touch with myself and try to understand my body. I feel every part of myself while running, I keep telling myself to relax while running and observe my shoulders, my legs, quadriceps, hamstrings etc. and keep relaxing them while I run. I intend making running absolutely natural and easy like talking or walking. This is possible only when I am alone, because in a group, while you just don't realise the distance and can keep chatting while running, you can miss out on the signs that your body keeps giving you. A couple of times, I have had to back off almost for a week due to a long run when I didn't realise that I was hurting myself because I just ran in a group without observing myself. You also feel tempted to push in more mileage much beyond the 10% rule and increase the risk of injury. Yes I enjoy observing good runners( effortless runners) and their gait and try to emulate them so as to improve my gait.

 

24 Nov 13( 25K run). The previous day was an official picnic and I had participated in a Tug of war competition and had pulled my left lower back muscle. Whenever I bend in that side, I face pain. So I iced it, applied MOOV and slept hoping like hell that it would become alright the next morning. I kept the alarm at 0400hrs and slept early at 2100hrs itself. The alarm rang at 0400hrs, I dismissed it and continued to sleep and then when I woke up , it was 0426 hrs already. But I was feeling better, the pain was very slight. I got onto my preparations and was ready to leave by 0540hrs. I packed up  a change of T shirt and bananas and Energy drink and drove to NCPA. Nowadays, you do not get parking space due to the large number of runners ( in thousands) and I had to park quite far off .

Nashik Run by Zendurance.

The inaugural event at Nashik organised by Zendurance at Sula Vineyards was a good experience. Sula Vineyards is located at the outskirts of the city and it is more convenient to have own vehicle when you go there. The local autos fleece you and buses run from the city till Gangapur Village and you have to take the auto from there. Minimum fare is 100/= to120/= post negotiations.

The run was very well organised with sufficient water points( every 2 Kms) in a 10K track which had to be done twice and then the balance distance was in the road leading to the vineyard. Most of this 10K track was a trail run in the backdrop of villages and farms and was a real pleasure for me. Small children from the villages were cheering the runners.

I stayed in a hotel in town ( it was the cheapest option available). So my day started early at 0330 hrs. I left my hotel at 0430 hrs and reached Ibis hotel by 0450 hrs by auto. ( had tied up with an auto guy the previous day, who agreed to drop me for 200/-). Another participant who was staying at IBIS hotel had agreed to give me a ride to the venue viz. Sula Vineyard which was another 8-10k from Ibis Hotel. So we left for the site at 0500hrs and reached there by 0515 hrs. It was pretty dark and the organisers had just started their arrangements. Crates of Water bottles, sign boards etc. were being loaded onto the tempo which had to go and place them on the route. The weather was kind of chilly for a Mumbaiite like me. The toilet complex at Sula vineyard was clean and warm. So coming early helped as I could freshen up there. Slowly, the crowd started pouring in, the DJ music was set up and loud music had started to pump up the spirits of people. People were feverishly warming up and the scene was of a professional marathon start point. The race start time for the 21K was 0630 hrs, and there was a lot of time as it was only 0545hrs, when I had finished my first round of warming up. I generally do dynamic stretches which includes lunges, side kicking and frontal kicks, running with my heel kicking my butt and running with knee lifts (20 steps each). Then some stretches for the hamstring and quads.

I then met up with few friends from my running group and chatted with them for a while. Again at about 0615 , I had my second round of warming up and got set for the race. Deepak's ( One of the main organisers) voice was resounding everywhere, building up the spirit of the run. Then the count down began and the run started when my watch read 06:33 a.m. It was a lovely starting for me as there were not too many people and thus there was no pushing . I had decided to run easy, and I had no clue about the route or the type of  road that I was going to run. So I started off very slow with a companion runner and decided to slowly warm up and increase speed only after about 7k. The initial part of the run was on road and then we turned left onto a trail path, and my companion warned me to take care as you could twist your ankle and land up with an injury. The path was stony and running across fields and villages and mountains in the backdrop. At about 3or 4K, I don't know what happened but I was running ahead of my companion and I was running smoothly but landed up overtaking people one after the other. I just couldn't stop. I don't think anybody overtook me at all after this point. The scene was beautiful, we went across a dam and water body and then some huts and fields. The track was stony and I knew I had to be careful, but my previous experience of trekking in such paths made me very comfortable with this road and I just ran naturally as my legs conformed to the path and found the right surfaces to land on without hurting itself. It is very important to harmonize with nature and I just let myself go with it. I was running very comfortably and easily generating conversation with all the runners whom I was overtaking one by one. I was not pushing at all. The weather was awesome and the scenery was breathtaking. These factors definitely gave me a boost and I was in good form. I had a problem of a stiff left glute muscles earlier and in the back of my mind, I was measuring the pain, which seemed to be somewhere lingering there. Every 2kms, I did this funny drill of kicking my butt with my heels about 15-20 times and then trotted along. It seemed to help and I felt better. The water points were the distance markers as there was one every 2K, and finally we were back on the Tar road. This road running had its share of a gradual uphill slope for about 3 -4 k and I just glided along. The first loop was over in less than one hour (approx.). I generally avoid looking at the watch while running, as I want to run naturally. So the second loop was on and this time it seemed much shorter, and I seemed to be just flying past the water points. I stopped at most and had a sip of water. ( A negative point here- The energy drink was in short supply, would have been better to have more of that). I was overtaking many people still, and I started setting targets- I would see a person ahead and tell myself that I had to get to him and voila!,  in a few minutes I would be there, I would wish him/ her "great running"! and move on to my next target much ahead of this one. This continued till I reached the road and then I saw one guy with sleeveless red t-shirt very ahead of me on the upslope. I set him as a target and moved on. Finally I caught up with him just before we entered the Sula for the finish and here one lady participant was cheering us, ( she had completed the race in 1hr 36 min) and was back to cheer fellow runners. She joined up with me and helped me sprint about 200m and then I had another 200-300 m to go, I managed to keep up some pace and then grit my teeth and sprinted back to the finish point. When I entered , the watch was showing 08:25 or 08:27( I don't remember exactly) but I was well within 2 hrs. Most of all I wasn't tired at all, and was feeling relaxed. That was my aim. I had thoroughly enjoyed my run and then I returned back and ran along with a couple of my companion runners and helped them to finish the race strongly.  So Thank you very much to the organisers for the great event, and hope to keep running at many such events. Cheers. Timing obtained 1:53:45.