Long distance running is no joke. In the initial stages of the 'training' atleast. Some history: Mumbai marathon is in Jan 09. TI India has formed a marathon club and we have an extremely fit and thoroughly motivating trainer in Keith Kuntz. I have been training for a couple of weeks now. A few short distance semi-sprints (3-4km in under 20 min)and one medium distance run (9-10km in 70 min) was my preparation level, until last Sunday that is. That is when we had our first 30km run. The emphasis was on completing it and not on how fast we complete it.
At 6:30am nine of us started on a 4 min run + 1 min walk strategy. Two rounds of 12.5km and one 5km round was to be completed at any comfortable pace. Drizzle and strong opposing winds were to accompany us for over 2 hours. The first 12.5km was surprisingly uneventful. All of us completed it in 75-80 min duration. 4 dropped off at this juncture. System evaluation showed that my legs were holding strong and I wasn't dehydrated either. After refilling our water cans we set out on the second round. 6-7 km into it, my right knee started reacting. It became increasing tough to restart after every 4+1 cycle. By then we were only 4. I kept pace with the front runners. But at the 20 mark the brain sent bright red signals to every body part. Screeeeeeech. 20 km in 2:15. I had to make it back alone to the entrance. That was aonther 3km in 00:30.
Total: 23km in 2:45. For a first timer, not bad.
One thing that Keith asked the team to remember every time we felt like giving up: How many people in my family have done this before? Believe me, this thought works wonders on your physical faculties. Another thing that kept me motivated: Keith is 39 and the fittest guy in the team is 45. If they can, I should.
Both of them completed 30 in 3:05. I was 4th at 23km.
And Saturday was a dream day too. Ofcourse there was a nice 7am sunshine and aiding north-east south west wind, but 2 stump uproots and 2 genuine outside edges in a single cricket practice session is something that has never happened and I can be proud of.
Climbing stairs took quite an effort. Had to take Monday off to recover. Waiting for the next weekend now.
At 6:30am nine of us started on a 4 min run + 1 min walk strategy. Two rounds of 12.5km and one 5km round was to be completed at any comfortable pace. Drizzle and strong opposing winds were to accompany us for over 2 hours. The first 12.5km was surprisingly uneventful. All of us completed it in 75-80 min duration. 4 dropped off at this juncture. System evaluation showed that my legs were holding strong and I wasn't dehydrated either. After refilling our water cans we set out on the second round. 6-7 km into it, my right knee started reacting. It became increasing tough to restart after every 4+1 cycle. By then we were only 4. I kept pace with the front runners. But at the 20 mark the brain sent bright red signals to every body part. Screeeeeeech. 20 km in 2:15. I had to make it back alone to the entrance. That was aonther 3km in 00:30.
Total: 23km in 2:45. For a first timer, not bad.
One thing that Keith asked the team to remember every time we felt like giving up: How many people in my family have done this before? Believe me, this thought works wonders on your physical faculties. Another thing that kept me motivated: Keith is 39 and the fittest guy in the team is 45. If they can, I should.
Both of them completed 30 in 3:05. I was 4th at 23km.
And Saturday was a dream day too. Ofcourse there was a nice 7am sunshine and aiding north-east south west wind, but 2 stump uproots and 2 genuine outside edges in a single cricket practice session is something that has never happened and I can be proud of.
Climbing stairs took quite an effort. Had to take Monday off to recover. Waiting for the next weekend now.
2 comments:
Maga! 23km is superb. Keep the enthu going :)
Make sure you have a weeklong acclimatization camp in Mumbai before the actual race :)
wow sam ..23 km in 2:45 hrs is cool !! :)
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