The marathon eve

Ah...14 hours to go. Still feeling less than 100% with a bit of headache due to the untimely cold last weekend. But with weather looking great, I am going for it. Perhaps I should pare down the goal to 4:15 from 4:00.

Plan of action:
Wake up at 5am
Leave home at 5:30am
On Bus at 5:50am
Reach staging at 7:00am
Waste time doing nothing: 7:00 am to 9:30am
Line up at 9:30am
First coral start at 10:10
My coral #7 so start time 10:19(@1:30 per coral)

false alarm... still cant sleep:)

Cant sleep!

Darn...cant sleep. This tapering is going to drive me crazy:) At least I have started writing for my blog again...even though both of my recent posts have been post midnight.

Just read another blog regarding chicago marathon by
http://averagemarathongal.blogspot.com/ Pretty depressing to see how weather can distroy months of training. Looks like weather in nyc is going to be okay. Accuweather has a 15-day forecast at 54/34 sunny. If actual weather is anywhere close to that, we are in for a treat. (interestingly there is snow predicted for the Monday....God knows how anyone can predict precipitation 15 days in advance when chances are the water hasnt even evaporated to make the clouds).

Anyway...Interesting piece of marathon trivia: Bush and Al Gore ran a marathon at the age of 44yrs. Bush at 3:46 (pretty respectable) and Gore at 4:54 (pretty average). Good that I don't hate Bush otherwise I would have had to shoot for 3:45:-).

Another interesting piece of trivia: running 4 hrs in nyc on a good weather day would almost perfectly get you placed at 10000...good target to beat.

Finally, saw the amazing story of http://womenontherun.blogspot.com. This is a group of amazing women up in Ogdensburg NY...almost 400miles from the city...commuting to the city to run 9 races and qualify for 2008 marathon. They are almost done! Few of them will be finishing their 9th this weekend during the Poland 5 miler. How can I complain getting to start-line being walking distance from the park!

Yaawnn....

Marathon training recap

I haven't blogged at all since May. This does not however mean I haven't been running. Quite the contrary, I have been training moderately for the NYC marathon. With 14 days to go, my tapering formally began this weekend. No more long runs, no more races. I have had enough of those for the year. 15 so far, excluding the mid night run...but hey, who is counting. The one which really counts is coming up in less than 2 weeks.

This is probably as good a time as any to look back on the training so far; as for all practical purposes, the training phase is over and it now only wait and watch. Perhaps its easiest to compare 07 training with 05 when I ran my first marathon at 10min mile pace (4:22). I definitely ran less miles and less frequently. I did however run a lot more races including 4 (5?) consecutive weekend half marathon (incl one at 18 miles). Ironically PR was the first half at 1:52 with speed sliding steadily since. At 1:52 PR, I can shoot for exactly 4hr (1:52 x 2 +0:15)marathon if weather permits. If weather is a mess, may be good objective would be to beat my previous time of 4:22.

In general, the training this year was very bipolar. The races were typically pretty fast at 8:30-10mpm pace while training runs were unusually slow.
Also, work was heavier while food and sleep habits were wprse than last year. But perhaps keeping it healthy and stress-free in last two is what really counts.

Other aspect of the training different was the race strategy. I am almost certain that I will be shooting for negative split. I ran all serious race efforts with significant negative splits. This is partly due to the fact that I ran the races as tempo training runs. But I am not sure if I could have gotten the PR without negative split strategy. This strategy is however going to be a problem in the marathon as this will be a all-out effort and with second half much harder than first, making negative split would require first half to be unusually slow. Original plan was to run first half below 175bpm but this would push first half to 2:05+ (I tried this in the nyc half) forcing expectations for second half at 1:55 which could be problem...serious problem.

RACE 10K@8:37pace in Free

After NOT running at all April 22nd, finally ran today. Also after NOT running in my newly bought Free's I ran the 10K in my Free's.

It was healthy Kidney 10K. An american broke CP record by 2seconds at 28:08. It goes without saying that weather could not have been better. I got up just in time to make it to startline only to find that I lost my chip on the way and had to pick a new chip. It was fun retracking the walk to race on my way back scanning streets for the bright yellow chip. Fortunately, the chip had come off before I had hit the road and I found it at home:)

I was seriously concerned if I could actually run the whole 10K in Free given all the hoopla on online literature on how its not recommended to run in Free long distances. before getting used to it. Good news is I finished it and finished it in pretty okay time too. In fact, lack of support also meant lack of resistance and I felt like a runaway train on down slopes...just couldnt stop. Legs are hurting now and hurting differently than ususal. Let hope the damage is not too much. I will only find out tomorrow. But gotta admit, it was very enjoyable to run in these shoes.
Bad news that I started to get blisters though 5th mile. Fortunately, the race wasnt too long as the blister would have gotten much worse. Blisters are going to be a problem. Perhaps I should start wearing socks.

Conflict: To Free or not to Free

I have been hurting a bit this week with the two races. Also I have been walking around in my Nike Free and perhaps thats adding to the pain though its hard to believe such comfy shoes can cause pain just by walking a few miles. I have gotten interested about barefoot fad and have been reading a few things about it. I just posted following argument to a skeptic.

"Lets not confuse evolution with conditioning within one's lifetime. I believe that if one spends critical physiological developmental years of childhood in restrictive shoes, it may make sense for that person to avoid barefoot running. That does not necessarily mean that person cannot develop muscles/structures needed for barefoot running but it will be much harder than someone who had been barefoot all life (particularly in early years).
This is similar argument as drinking tap water vs bottled water. Clearly bottled water is safer to drink than tap water. There are people who drink tap water everyday without getting sick. Those who drink bottled water religiously are, however, more likely to get sick drinking tap water and its hard for them (though not impossible) to condition themselves to tap water. Perhaps for them it may be (expensive but) logical to keep drinking bottled water for ever. (btw, perhaps its more illustrative to compare bottled water with open water streams as tap water itself is treated)"

I am going to make the jump to running in the Frees tommorow in a 4 mile race. If the shoes are really causing the pain then this may be a pretty stupid thing to do. But if its the over stretching myself in these races then, running in Frees would be a blessing as I am almost guaranteed to run slow and unlikely to push beyond what I should run. Its a gamble but atleast it will settle my compatibility with Free, one way or the other.

4mi RACE

This was second race of the season for me after running the HM last week. Probably not a good idea but I didnt really push hard during HM so I felt okay before the race. The weather was perfect (in fact a bit too hot at 70+degrees!). I started out a bit too fast and ran out of gas at mile 3. I felt a bit of cramps in right leg. Interestingly enough, I had felt mini cramp last week too though in the left leg and that too 10 miles into the race. In any case, I have to start training now and need to improve food balance to avoid any serious cramp problems in coming hot season.
Few more stats:
Avg HR: 184
Max HR: 196 at very finish.
Avg pace excl walking: approx 8:30
Avg pace total: 8:56
Time TO STARTLINE! = 12:27min
Distance: 4.0 Miles, 6.4 Kilometers
Date/Time: April 22, 2007, 10:00 am
Sponsor: adidas -->Location: Central Park,
NYC Weather: 67 deg, 27% hum., wind calm
Its a wake up call that I had done similar race last yearat 7:29 (56% compared to 47% today)

Another interesting development: I just bought nike free 5.0 at Niketown for 85 bucks. I am totally sold on the concept of running barefoot to improve susceptibility to foot pains and even deterioration into worse injuries. I cant wait to start training in them. I hope I dont over do it. I will try to post couple of pics.

A different type of marathon

Found this interesting time lapse video of cross country drive...

Brooklyn Half @2:03

Brooklyn Half went fine. Weather was perfect. The race went smoother than usual but also slower than I would have liked. I started feeling small cramps at the end and had to slow down. The 4 dips in graph above shows them all. Michael joined with me for the race. His first HM which is always fun. I think I slowed him down a bit especially at the end.
I really need to build up my training to attempt serious times at HMs. 2:03 wasnt bad but it sucks that I had run the same race at 1:53 last year (PR). On the brighter side, this was probably my first negative split HM, which is amazing considering the slow down at the end. 1st half 1:04:38 and second half 58:25.

मराठी ब्लोग!!!

मज़्या ब्लोग मधे शुभेच्छा।

उदया मी २१ किलोमीटर धवान्याची रेस करणार अहे। ब्रूकलिन मराथोने


Translation:
Welcome to my blog. Tomorrow, I will be running 21Km race. Brooklyn Marathon.

Woo hoo. Found this head-ache free easy too to post blog in my native language of Marathi. It is similar to Hindi as far as typing is concerned.
This is great but it would be even nicer if I can send a picture from cellphone directly to my blog.

Anyway, I got lucky and managed to get the replacement for my Heart rate monitor just in time for the HM tomorrow. With some like I should be able to post my HM graph with heartrate as well as speed tomorrow.

go@blogger.com

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

6mi 60min Nike Group Run

Today, I tried the Nike group run at 57th st Niketown. The group is surprisingly large. I wonder if that is because we are first weeks of spring. Anyway the run was fun though, the long run group thinned out pretty fast. I ran as 10mph and got to a slow start as usual. The run was really 5.72mi and not 6mi since it does not include the northern loop of CP.

Anyway, the highlight was the post training socalizing and refreshement. Sounds like a good incentive to show up and finish the training. On downside, the whole affair takes a lot of time.

Changing in work gym>commute>warmups>training>refreshments>commute back>shower>go back home took 3 hours! NOT acceptable. Need to speedup this logistics.

Also I have signed up for me favorite HM...Brooklyn Half this Saturday. I am a bit concerned about lack of training, weight at 140 and the sudden 6mi training run today. I should probably refrain from running till the race now...No thursday training.

On unrelated note, I also singed up for JPM corporate challenge but its a while before the race.

Finally, as the graph above shows, the footpod worked reasonably well today, unlike the race on April 1st...was it playing joke on me:) I think the trick is to tie the pod through all 3 lace loops. 2 loops are not enough and pot shifts around.

No training today

Legs have stopped hurting today from the 10K race. I should had got a run in today but it was raining and I had to work late as usual. Tommorow may be.
Big news is I bought a home bloodpressure kit. My crude first few readings came out at 123/76 but I think the reading comes a bit higher if I over inflate (which I have been). I will get better feel for variability on these readings soon.

10K race; 8'43''pace nice little RACE.

Distance: 6.2 Miles, 10.0 Kilometers

Date/Time: April 1, 2007, 9:30 am

Sponsor: NYRR -->

Location: Central Park, NYC

Weather: 45 Deg. 60% Hum. Wind 5 Mph
WARNING: the graph in not calibrated properly. The pace in too aggressive by 1min20sec /mile!
Actual pace:8'43''/mi
Time:54'06'/10K

Perfect weather...the race couldnt have been better. The course was same as my usual training CP full loop. As usual, it took me 2 full miles to settle into steady pace. I was hurting a bit from Thrusday training run before the race. The race went fine but I will keep an eye on recovery. The finish line had nice Scottish bagpiper band playing. Nice t-shirt too which should show up on my finishline pic if I get one.

Anyway 2 down 7 to go for the year. The big one is coming two weeks from now...The brooklyn 1/2M. That was the only race longer than today's 10K race which I have run faster than today's racfe. Its the fastest race with best weather. I just havent trained for long distances....this is a problem.

Back to the training!!!

6mi 1 hr. Spring is here and so time to get out and run in the park. See below for the route.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=815595

No training today

Legs still feel a bit sore. In particular, going down stairs... Perhaps it was staying up till 2 yesterday or the 3 drinks :).

6mi 60min Back from 1 week break

6mi 60min Back from 1 week break. I missed the race on Saturday:(

May be I will run a substitute race. Also there is 15K next week which looks promising..

Ah the DOMS no training today

Saturday morning race is going to be a mess. No training today. Legs still feel heavy with light DOMS.

Rest day no running today

After a relatively heavy training day, legs are feeling a bit heavy today. I should take it easy tommorow if I want to shoot for saturday morning 4mi race.

6mi+ 55:40min speed TM & 5min stairs

6mi+ 55:40min speed TM & 5min stairs. Forgot the heart rate monitor again which sucks because today's workout was really heavy. I am sure the last 2 miles were close to 190bpm. Workout started with a quick biking routine following the last time's observation that I may not be warming up enough. First mile was 6/0. 5 6. 5/.25 7/.25. After this I steped out to watch and be the official recordkeeper for ken's rowing challenge. Ilias made it to 303 in a min but did not even come close to ken's 333. Geee I should try this sometime. I think I used do 250 as my warmup. Maybe I can crack 300 with some effort. Anyway. I tried some very heavy stairs (10 to 13 level) and I was hurting after just 5 minutes. That's just pathetic. But back to TM.After about a mile at 6mph I ramped up to 6. 5mph(9:13min per mile) and kept at it for 4 miles. This was TOUGH!!! I don't understand since I just ran a weak 4miles race at 8:43pace without effort, not to mention PR at formidable 7:29! Also just like last few times first half was worse than second half but its all relative.Anyway looks like I am going to need a lot of speed training to get my short race times up. May be its the heat and dehydration in gym. 2 full bottles of waters were barely got me through 5miles. Or may be it was the stair training. i wish I had the hrm graph to diagnose.

No training today

Lazy Saturday...no training.

6mi 60min TM flat

6mi 60min flat treadmill. I think heart rate never went above 165 but I forgot to bring the monitor. I did however bring in my blue supernova to work. Just like last three times, first three miles were uncomfortable while second half felt like cruize-control. Need to investigate. May be insufficient warm-up???Anyway. I have got one more race coming up this Sunday. I may have to skip a training run this weekend. Perhaps I should check out the swimming pool situation I have this saturday.Finally today was the second time in a row I stepped out in subfreezing temperature right after the run. Boy, its like a sauna in there at 70+ after one hour run. I should check if it is problamatic to have sudden change in temperature. May be this is like mild icing of whole body (except it feels good not painful). But I suspect, 3-5 min of stretching in freezing temp must be inconsequential.

6mi/60mi TM+hill training

After a long break, I had a nice 6mile training run. It felt effortless despite some solid hill training (max grade 5) with HR barely touching 185! I should probably take it easy next few days if i want to do the next race.

6:02pm got my seat (?) in this years NYC Marathon!!!

Just about 5minutes back I got confirmation that I am running 2007 NYC marathon....woo hoo. All that sweat and blood in 9 races last years finally paid itself. Time to go to drawing board and start planning bigger and better marathon plan for this year....

4mi 40min TM training

There is something wrong with my HRM but it works after it warms up. It was a 40min nice run on treadmill. But its too hot in gym and too cold outside. Cant wait for this freezing spell to get over. Its about time I start my CP big loop. (Next 45degrees day maybe.)

another rest day

no training today. 4 miles tomorrow?

Back to the training

3mi/30min TM. Felt a little effort to run the 3 miles. Must be mini-DOMS:-) 3mi should be enough to put me back on track.

4mi race, very nice

The race was a lot of fun. The wind chill of 3F was not anywhere as bad as I had thought. I guess warm up 1.5 mi run to start helped. The race was the first of the wave kind at cp. As usual I was at the very end and didnt get to start till 9:21. I started the race slowly and speeded up after the first mile. The last mile was the fastest. Didnt really understand why HR shot up to 210, the mechanism/battery must have failed due to extreme cold. Anyway, third mile felt a little effort but in general, the race was one of the least painful. In fact, I could easily break into all out run at end with not much effort. Btw, interestingly enough, the water cups were frozen over and I had to break the ice to get some water. very crazy.

specs:

Distance: 4.0 Miles, 6.4 Kilometers Date/Time: Feb. 4, 2007, 9:00 am Sponsor: NYRR -->Location: Central Park, NYC Weather: 14 deg., 29% humidity, wind 16 mph.

Pre-race chills (weather is going to be bad!)

Hmm. Weather forecast says 18F tomorrow morning with wind 15-25mph... thats windchill of about 3F!
The coldest race I have done so far was 34F with windspeed of 16mph (windchill 25F). So this should be interesting.

I better bundle up. Also I need a strategy. Good that I managed to get the race number in advance (I needed to make it to the nyrr office by 4:30 starting at 4 in downtown. With express trains not running, getting to nyrr office was a race itself..made it there at 4:29) Anyway, I am thinking hot shower and run to the startline just in time (9am) and continue the run and run back. -Thats may be 6-8miles total run instead of the 4miles race. Forget racing, in fact I better take it easy as I dont want to get chills from sweat early on. Boy, I get chills just thinking:-)

Testing email2blog

Testing email2blog. Please bear with me:)

No training today

No training today what so ever...as planned

4mi/40mi TM

Thursday 1st: Easy 4mi run at 10mph with few minutes at 6.5mph and 5.5mph on the forth mile. Bumped into BK in work gym. Also discovered the trick to carry a bottle to the gym. Amazing how much water I can guzzle down. I drank 20 oz half an hour before the run and managed to gulp another 20 oz bottle during 4 mi run. Another full glass after coming home should add up to a lot of water in 4 hours.

I was bit concerned about overdoing on Wednesday considering the race coming up. But the legs felt fine through the 4 miles. I will probably take a 2 day break Friday/Saturday just in case but I suspect I will be tempted to steal a quick run on Saturday. Let see...

Rest day no running today

I decided to take a day off completely after the 6mi run yesterday. Legs feel fine..so far so good.

First serious run: 6mi in 1hr TM

Almost forgot to rlog today! I had only planned on 3-4mi today but it felt pretty good after the 4th mile and I decided to my traditional training run routine of 6mi/1hr. Its funny that the 2nd mile felt pretty bad and then 3rd, 4th and 5th mile felt effortless. Even heavy breathing settled down, despite small increase in speed at end at 6.2mph.
I think this will be a huge help for my first race of the year, 4 mi race this sunday. I may be in worse shape due to the excersion but I will be more motivatated to get out in chilly/snowy weather. I think motivation will be my biggest danger. Once out there I can survive for 4 miles no problem

lazy day. nothing accomplished.

Its been 4 years since i have done any swimming training. I was planning to check the pool at university but I just forgot. I will check it out on wednesday.
No running today either. But I am all set for 3 (may be 4) miles tomorrow. I really need something to kick start my training RIGHT NOW. I cannot back out of the 4 mile race this weekend in CP.

More on my first day of rlogging

Did some research for online logs and found coolrunning.com to be the best so far.

My first rlog

Tuesday 23rd Jan: 4mi/38min (flat) TM with break at 2mi

Saturday 27th Jan: 3mi/30min (Random) TM at lunch break