Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Some people are born Marathoners...

... while some others (like me) have marathon running thrust upon them?!!

Why do I say that? Well, for one, I am wearing a Carlsbad Marathon Finishers T-shirt (note, no "half" in there, anywhere). Why am I wearing this? The original half-marathon T-shirt that I got, when I went to pick up my bib, at the expo, the day before the half, was one size too small. So I figured I'd try and exchange it for a bigger size after the half was over. Exchange I sure did, but what I ended up getting in return was a full marathon finishers T-shirt. If I had noticed it right there, I would have taken care of it, but, neither did the person at the expo nor did I, until I got home. And so, as fate had to have it, here I am with my "undeserving" marathon finishers T-shirt :(

So, anyway, now I am left wondering... could this be a sign? Is this destiny's way of telling me that I am destined to run a full marathon??

Well, if you had asked me this question during the few hours immediately following my first half marathon, I would have gladly said "hell ya!!". Heck, with my "runners high" I had almost resolved to run the 2009 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon , in June, this year (in addition, of course, to the the triple crown resolve I made right after I had that little "chat" with Mr. Rauschenberg, during the expo).

A nice lunch, some resting and a cooler mind later, I began to think. And I started to wonder if not signing up a half marathon as my first running event (I have been doing shorter, 8K/ 10K type races for about 3 years now), had any effect on my performance on my first half. Did doing several shorter races over a fairly long period of time, before deciding to "officially" start training for a longer (13.1) race, help me become a better long distance runner? Would I have run the same pace and finished the same way I have, if I just woke up one fine day and decided to sign up for a half? Would I have been better or worse?

Well, my gut says I was way better off "working up" to the half, rather than just shooting for it straight. And, I think I am going to stick to that same gut feeling with the half marathon -> Full marathon gradient. I will put my full marathon aspirations off till at least 2010 (heck, even that number seems like the year to, for doing something major :) and continue running half marathons with the hope that they will do to my (somday) marathon performance, what the 8Ks and 10Ks did for my half.

I am hoping some of my running buddies (Bharat?) will decide to take the other route and shoot straight for the stars. I think that is a pretty darn awesome and gutsy move. Here's wishing them luck and hoping I can use their experience as a reference....

... and, here's me signing off for today, in my "guilty" finishers T-shirt!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Race Day - The Carlsbad Half Marathon 2009

Yep, it's done. My first ever half marathon. The results are in:

Overall: 1664 out of 7147
Men: 1119 out of 2863
M 25-29: 197 out of 455
Age/Grade: 52.86% Place: 3283
Finish: 1:52:02 Pace: 8:33
Tag Time: 1:52:02
Gun Time: 1:56:26

I guess I'm going to start by saying that I did achieve my preset goal (see "target" in this post) and a little more (which is always a nice feeling). And when I say "... and a little more", I don't just mean, those golden 7 minutes and 58 seconds, that put me into the category of a "sub-2hr halfer" (which for some reason seems to have a halo around it, although, for the record, I think a 2:01 is just as spectacular as a 1:59). I am referring to the fact that I totally enjoyed running this race. And by "enjoyed", I mean everything from actually running the race, to watching people around me run, the sights and sounds (the rock bands, of course), the many thanks I said to the people with the thankless job of picking up after us folks in a hurry (the volunteers!!), all the posing I did for the photographs and the many short conversations I had (with known acquaintances and strangers alike).

What was interesting was, that I have actually never had a conversation with anyone during a race, in the past. That may have to do with the fact that all my past "official" races have been 6mi (10K) and under, which really doesn't leave much room for conversations now, does it? But, what I really think it had to do with, was 2 reasons:

1. My T-shirt
2. Dane Rauschenberg

My T-Shirt: Before I explain how my T-shirt ended up being a "conversation starter" (if there is such a thing, in a "race"), I think it is important for you to see the front and back design of this thing (and many many thanks to Pradeep, for coming up with that ultra cool logo of the running-man-India-flag). Now, I know what I you are thinking... that is one terrific looking T-shirt. Sure is. Both, the front and the back and very well thought out and extremely creative. Except for one small flaw. The logo for the back was designed by a bunch of Nerdy Engineers (yours truly, included), who, as ironic as it sounds, failed to foresee how the physics of the intended application could come into play to mess things up. You see, the logo on the reverse was supposed to portray our "world-peace" or "anti-terrorism" theme, which it does perfectly (with some minor restrictions, as you will see). As it would turn out, when the logo on the reverse is in motion at an average speed of about 7 miles an hour, coupled with an upward/ downward rhythmic, bobbing movement of a few inches and a slight sideways wind (from the Pacific Ocean), it is pretty easy to garner responses from fellow marathoners, along the lines of "... is that a list of all the races you have run so far?" or "... wow, you actually ran in New Delhi?!" (although, I must give that guy credit for being able to read "New Delhi" under those conditions). And that is the story behind how I got into several of those short conversations (still beats me, why anyone would think I would decide to put a huge "STOP" sign next to the list of my races :).

Dane Rauschenberg: If his name doesn't ring a bell right away, you're not alone. I had no idea who he was until the day before my first half, either. I happened to bump into his "motivational speech" at the half marathon expo. Now, I am usually not the kind that gets drawn toward "motivational speakers", maybe partly because I think I am pretty darn motivated to begin with (or, so I'd like to think ;-) and partly because, most of the motivational speakers I've come across in the past, have had little to prove their case. In Dane's case, that was ruled out off the bat, when I read the brief description on the event schedule posted outside the room - "this man ran 52 full marathons in 52 consecutive weekends of the same year (2006)" (and may I add, while maintaining a day job). Now, before I went into this session, I was, for the most part, convinced that the Carlsbad half will very likely be the only event of it's kind for me for a while (at least for 2009). But, for some reason, after having listened to what he had to say about his "52 in 52" experience and talking to him in person, I realized, if he could sign up for 52 in 52, I should at least allow myself a crack at 1.5 in 52 (that's 3, 0.5 mathons = 1.5, just so we're talking common denominator ;-). So, long story short, I left the expo convinced, more than ever, that I was going to at least "attempt" 3 half marathons in 2009. Alright, now how does this connect to the main topic (conversations on the half)? Well, as it turns out, I have historically always been the type that gives every race the every last bit (I guess it must be easy to do on 10K's or something) of energy... and the Carlsbad half was going to be no exception. The plan was to race the hell out of myself, and not worry about whether I could limp out of bed on Monday morning, to go to work. Unfortunately, the events at the expo that resulted in me deciding to pursue my "attempt", which meant I didn't want to "risk-it-all" on the Carlsbad Half. As a result, I decided to only push it a little bit more than I was used to, on my training runs, thus creating all that time for "enjoyment".

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do let me know either ways (comments).... and hopefully, see you on the LJHM

Friday, January 23, 2009

THIS IS IT!! - Any Guesses on my finish time?

Nearly 2 months of running and this is what it all comes down to. I must admit though that, it almost seems like I just started training yesterday . And no matter how anxious I am, to get to that start line of the Carlsbad Half Marathon as soon as possible, there is a small part of me that always feels that maybe if I had trained a little more, I'd cut a minute or two more... oh that little minute that seems so tiny otherwise... seems golden on the race.

Come to think of it, that wasn't bad at all... 2 short runs a week and one long run on the weekend?... almost seems like I could do this all the time and more importantly, almost seems like there should be ABSOLUTELY NO REASON FOR ANYONE TO NOT DO IT!

Alright... being an Engineer... I feel a need to explain analytically, quantitatively and logically, every statement I make or theory I propose. So, here's a summary of what I had to do, to feel confident enough, to go do this (hopefully you'll be in agreement with me, after you read it)

SUMMARY
=========

Total training time from the time I officially decide to start training: 2 months (Nov 22nd, 2008 to Jan 22nd, 2009)
Total Distance Run during training (not including the half): ~140miles.
Total Time commitment per week: 1hr on Tue + 1hr on Thu + 2 hrs on Sat = 4Hrs/ week.
Total time spent training: 4*8 = 32Hrs
Target: Since this is my first half marathon (or first long distance running event for that matter), I started out with the aim of finishing, then slowly progressed towards a more and more aggressive pace... finally ending with a hope of a close to 2 hour finish

NOTE: I wasn't absolutely sedentary before I "officially" started training... but, I only ran once a week and restricted myself to under 6 miles for the most part. Also, I have to mention, having the best running group of friends (~15 of who will be running alongside me this Sunday) was a huge part of making this seem like nothing.


DETAILED RUN DATA
===================


DAY | DISTANCE | TIME | PACE
==============================================================
Sat (11/22) ~7.5mi ~1:02hrs ~8:30 (Not Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/2) ~5.5mi ~46min ~8:36 (Not Accurate)
Thu (12/4) ~3.5mi ~27min ~7:70 (Fartleks)
Sat (12/6) ~9.35mi ~1:27 ~9:20 (Fairly Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/9) ~5.5mi ~55min ~10:00 (Did this slow, intentionally)
Thu (12/11) ~4.0mi ~32min ~8:00 (Fartleks)
Sat (12/13) ~10mi ~1:35 ~9:30 (Fairly Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/16) ~5.5mi ~48min ~8:45 (Fairly Accurate)
Thu (12/18) ~4.5mi ~40min ~8:50 (Fairly accurate, Hill Training in cold)
Sat (12/20) ~9.2mi ~1:27 ~9:30 (Crappiest long run on record, shins hurt from get-go :( )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed (12/24) ~5mi ~45min ~9:00 (Accurate, shins were still hurting)
Sun (12/28) ~9mi ~1:25 ~9:20 (Accurate with some hills, shins feeling better)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed (12/31) ~6mi ~48.5min ~8:05 (Accurate and FAST, shins recovered!)
Sun (1/4) ~11mi ~1:38 ~8:54 (Accurate, with some hills)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed (1/7) ~4mi ~40min ~10:00 (intentionally slow, was a recovery run from Sunday's 11miler)
Fri (1/9) ~3mi ~24min ~8:00 (Fartleks on the treadmill)
Sun (1/11) ~11.6mi ~1:50 ~9:30 (took it easy 'coz I wasn't feeling a 100%, due to the flu symptoms)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (1/13) ~2mi ~20min ~10:00 (Slow paced recovery run, after sunday's 12 miler)
Thu (1/15) ~5.0mi ~41min ~8:10 (Fartleks)
Sat (1/17) ~7.4mi ~1:04 ~8:30 (Fairly Accurate)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (1/20) ~6.2mi ~50min ~8:05 (Ran this faster than I wanted to, or intended to)
Thu (1/22) ~3.5mi ~32min ~9:10 (Slow paced final training run)
Sat (1/25) - TBD (CARLSBAD HALF MARATHON 2009!!!)
=============================================================

Well... let's see how accurate a reflection, my final race day time is, of my training runs.

Any guesses on my finish time? (leave a comment)

Hopefully I have done my part in getting some of you to put that pair on and head out!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Reached the Peak

We did our longest training run this weekend. The plan was to do the actual Carlsbad Half Marathon route in reverse . Unfortunately, the trauma of losing our water (we place water at strategic points along our long runs, and this time someone flicked it) at mile 4, made us miss the turn right after that, and we ended up off course for the last mile or so. I remapped the actual run we did and it ended up being 11.6 miles (which isn't too bad). The one thing to note though, is that, this route happens to have multiple water fountains - there are about 3, along the bridge over Buena Vista Lagoon and another pretty close to the 4 mile mark, by Mountain View Dr.
Here is the updated run data. It's taper off time from here on...

DAY | DISTANCE | TIME | PACE
==============================================================
Sat (11/22) ~7.5mi ~1:02hrs ~8:30 (Not Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/2) ~5.5mi ~46min ~8:36 (Not Accurate)
Thu (12/4) ~3.5mi ~27min ~7:70 (Fartleks)
Sat (12/6) ~9.35mi ~1:27 ~9:20 (Fairly Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/9) ~5.5mi ~55min ~10:00 (Did this slow, intentionally)
Thu (12/11) ~4.0mi ~32min ~8:00 (Fartleks)
Sat (12/13) ~10mi ~1:35 ~9:30 (Fairly Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/16) ~5.5mi ~48min ~8:45 (Fairly Accurate)
Thu (12/18) ~4.5mi ~40min ~8:50 (Fairly accurate, Hill Training in cold)
Sat (12/20) ~9.2mi ~1:27 ~9:30 (Crappiest long run on record, shins hurt from get-go :( )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed (12/24) ~5mi ~45min ~9:00 (Accurate, shins were still hurting)
Sun (12/28) ~9mi ~1:25 ~9:20 (Accurate with some hills, shins feeling better)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed (12/31) ~6mi ~48.5min ~8:05 (Accurate and FAST, shins recovered!)
Sun (1/4) ~11mi ~1:38 ~8:54 (Accurate, with some hills)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed (1/7) ~4mi ~40min ~10:00 (intentionally slow, was a recovery run from Sunday's 11miler)
Fri (1/9) ~3mi ~24min ~8:00 (Fartleks on the treadmill)
Sun (1/11) ~11.6mi ~1:50 ~9:30 (took it easy 'coz I wasn't feeling a 100%, due to the flu symptoms)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also confirmed the "Cold Treatment" theory about walking into the ocean, minutes after the run. I feel totally recovered today and ready for another 12! So, it definitely works (and the Pacific is brutally cold :P )

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Almost at the Peak + keys to fast recovery

Did 11 miles this morning. Next weekend will be my longest training run.... and it is taper-off from then on. Here is the table updated with this weeks data:

DAY | DISTANCE | TIME | PACE
==============================================================
Sat (11/22) ~7.5mi ~1:02hrs ~8:30 (Not Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/2) ~5.5mi ~46min ~8:36 (Not Accurate)
Thu (12/4) ~3.5mi ~27min ~7:70 (Fartleks)
Sat (12/6) ~9.35mi ~1:27 ~9:20 (Fairly Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/9) ~5.5mi ~55min ~10:00 (Did this slow, intentionally)
Thu (12/11) ~4.0mi ~32min ~8:00 (Fartleks)
Sat (12/13) ~10mi ~1:35 ~9:30 (Fairly Accurate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue (12/16) ~5.5mi ~48min ~8:45 (Fairly Accurate)
Thu (12/18) ~4.5mi ~40min ~8:50 (Fairly accurate, Hill Training in cold)
Sat (12/20) ~9.2mi ~1:27 ~9:30 (Crappiest long run on record, shins hurt from get-go :( )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed (12/24) ~5mi ~45min ~9:00 (Accurate, shins were still hurting)
Sun (12/28) ~9mi ~1:25 ~9:20 (Accurate with some hills, shins feeling better)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed (12/31) ~6mi ~48.5min ~8:05 (Accurate and FAST, shins recovered!)
Sun (1/4) ~11mi ~1:38 ~8:54 (Accurate, with some hills)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also may have discovered to the 2 main keys to a fast recovery from a long hard run like the 11miler I did today. IE + CT.
Instant elevation (IE): use a park bench to keep your legs elevated for 10 mins (while sleeping on your back).
Cold treatment (CT): before shower just place legs under cold tap water. Even better is to walk into the ocean after the run, which I hope to try next time.

And ofcourse the general rules of recovery which include feeding and hydrating yourself ASAP and R.I.C.E