Half Marathon Run...

What a medley of emotions... what a heady mix of everything... what a ride...
I completed the Vodaphone Half Marathon on Sunday October 28th in Delhi clocking 3:02:47. This is by far my best timing at this distance category.

Let's start at the beginning. I landed at Palam airport on Friday night and the car was waiting there to whisk me to Gurgaon. I reached my friend's (VM)home at 9:30 PM. We stayed up till 1:00 AM drinking his lovely cocktails ( he has diploma in bar-tending) and catching up. On Saturday VM and his family drove me to Ansal Plaza so I could pick up my bib and timing chip. We had a late lunch in a lovely Chinese restaurant and he then headed off to drop me to my overnight destination in RK Puram.

I stayed with another friend (AP) in RK Puram near Sangam theatre and DPS RK Puram. That night at dinner, I had only rotis and potatoes (carbo loading Indian style) and a tiny bit of a lovely chicken curry that AP's wife SP had made.
Next morning I woke up at 5:00 AM and started my preparations. No grown toenails, gobs of Vaseline, strapped the pressure bandage on my right foot, filled the water bottle with Electral and Glucon-C, got my cap and I was ready. I had a calorie bar before starting out. AP drove me to meet his friend (SG) who was running and my ride to Nehru Park. We drove Bhikaiji Cama Place, parked and got onto DTC/BlueLine buses that took us to Nehru Park.

I got about 20 minutes to warm up in the Chip holders area and off we went, flagged by film, cricket (one) and political celebrities (many). I started off aggressively running faster than my normal pace, consuming the first click in no time. I had to slow myself down back to my usual pace. At around 2K or so, SG passed me :-(.

I clocked sub 1 hour at the 8 KM mark, very much on pace. My target was to come back to the 16 KM mark in 2 hours. I ran down the verdant tree canopied roads, going past some people, most people going past me up to Rajpath.

Photo Credit: The Blog of Gord) Rajpath is completely barren and has no trees at all. I ran that stretch feeling the heat each inch of the way, not even taking the grand view of the Sansad Bhavan. On my way back, I took in the view of the Amar Jawan Jyoti framed by India Gate at the far end of Rajpath, mentally dreading that I would have to run all that way.

The course turns back off Rajpath to cooler shadier roads gratefully. At around the 14KM mark, a traffic cop stopped all the runners (grrrr) to let piled up vehicular traffic through.
Picked up running again and passed the 15KM mark at 2 hours on the nose. I felt good about where I was and I knew I was tracking to my long run. I plotted the next 6 KM mentally convincing myself that even if I ran a 8 min kilometer, I would make it under 3 hours. KM 16 passed by at 2:08, 17K at 2:16-2:17, 18K at 2:25.

Past the 18K marker, I got overtaken by Dr. Ashis Roy. That was a temporary morale booster. Dr. Ashis Roy is 75 years old, competes in the Sr. Veterans category. I remember someone commenting "Look, it means Dr. Roy is faster than us". I felt awed.

Somewhere between 18 and 19, my legs cramped up badly and I felt like I would collapse. I stopped running and for a moment, felt woozy. I drank my Electral/Glucon C loaded water, had my calorie bars and walked till the 19K marker.

By this time, the Great Delhi Run folks were out in full glory with their costumes, banners and slow walking :-(. I ducked and weaved through them, walking some, running some more till I saw a clear path. Came into the last 500 metres and I accelerated not wanting at all to walk to the end.

As I passed the finish line, the overhead clock indicated 3:04:25 - the time since the race had begun. As I stopped my watch, the readout indicated 3:02:56. My official certificate says 3:02:47 ... the nine seconds gone between the time I started timing and I passed the official start line. (this is my PB)

Overwhelming emotion rippled through me as I stumbled to a stop, and slowly found my way to a water station. Elation at having completed, unvarnished joy at finishing almost 40 minutes better than my last outing, a twinge of disappointment and regret at not completing sub three. I lined up at the certificate counter (badly managed logistical setup leading to long queues) and over bottles of water swapped stories with people ahead and behind me, met Dr. Ashis Roy again, and just hung out till I got my certificate.

I got a medal for completing which sent me over the moon and still does every time I look at it or show it to someone. This will have a place of pride in my heart...my first ever running medal...wow.

I met up SG and the rest of the guys. Their timings were much much better than mine - 2 hours 3 mins, 2 hours 18 mins, 2 hours 43 mins. We were all tired as we waited for SG's wife to come by and pick us up. They dropped me back to AP's place where I peeled off my clothes, socks, stepped into a hot shower for a long while working out the aches and pains.

Lunch was at Punjabi by Nature at Basant Lok shopping complex and I had a celebratory glass of red wine.

Delhi nama....

As the Jet Airways airplane cruises at an altitude of 35K feet plus (this will obviously get posted once I am on the ground), I am sort of in a happy glow. I made it...I have run enough miles, I got my airline tickets, thanks to some accumulated air miles, I have arrangements for transportation, stay etc.
I am just so happy...

Jet as usual has good cabin service despite delays taking off from Pune airport. The thing I like about them - Jet gives me a meal with linen napkins and real cutlery - not some paper tissue/plastic fork combo. Now I know all about restrictions and the possible threat that steel cutlery may represent, but plastic forks with sharp edges that cut the sides of your mouth... gimme a break. They treat me like a guest, not a passenger.

This is the first time I am traveling after Jet changed their cabin crew uniforms. I must admit the uniforms work... the fine embroidery on the serving aprons, the sleeve cuffs and the canary yellow jackets... this whole ensemble looks different and elegant.

Delhi weather is predicted to be nice over the next two days, maximum temperatures hovering around 32 degrees C. The important point is humidity is predicted at 32% on Sunday which should make for a drier run (unlike Mumbai early this year)

The route got published finally on the Vodaphone Half Marathon website and from what I can make out, there is just one steep climb. It appears most of the route has tree lined avenues. The start time is 7:45 AM

I will stay with friends in Gurgaon most of the time, except Saturday night when I go to another friend's place in RK Puram. Apparently this location is close to Nehru Park from where the race begins.

I can't wait....

सीमोल्लन्घन run

Before the Dussehra weekend, I had run a total of 50 minutes in two sessions of about 25 minutes each.
I had planned a long run on Saturday this time, not Sunday as is my usual practice. Sundays tend to be lazy, and there is always something that crops up at the last minute, kiboshing my well made plans. So Saturday it was.

I got out after warming up at 7:00 AM, and as I was walking towards Good Luck Chowk, I got splashed by a car racing up Bhandarkar Road, from the only puddle on that street. :-(. I was cussing as I reached my start point, and after adjustments to the strap on my waist bottle holder, I ran towards Karve Road. Turned right on Karve Road till the Law College Road turnoff. (1.75KM, 9:42 minutes or so). Went up Law College Road chugging along nicely till NCC Grounds (3.13KM, 20 minutes). At NCC Ground, turned on Senapati Bapat Road and continued on to pass the Chaturshringi Temple. (5.33 KM). Went on to Baner Road from University Circle till ITI phata (8 KM, 1:00:04). I was quite happy with my progress so far since it would previously take me an hour just to get to ITI Phata from home.

I had originally decided I was going to turn around and go back along the same road, but changed my mind and turned towards Parihar Chowk. I ran from Parihar Chowk back to Aundh Road (9.77 KM, 1:09:00) and then began the torturous climb up to University Circle. This stretch of about 2.5 KM just keeps climbing and I was panting by the time I got to University Circle (12.3 KM, 1:36) having taken a good 27 minutes.

Ran down Ganeshkhind Road till the far end of Ferguson College Road (14:45 KM) and continued on till Simla office. Past Simla office, it was exactly 2 hours and 15 KM opposite the Bank of Maharashtra building. I sort of struggled beyond this point a little on account of traffic on Jungli Maharaj Road (JM Road). I walked when traffic prevented me from running.

It was 9:20 AM by the time I ran down most of JM Road back to Good Luck Chowk. Total distance 17:19 KM. Total time taken was 2 hours, 18:28:74 minutes



This was a great सीमोल्लन्घन run before Dussehra day.
Simolanghan (सीमोल्लन्घन) literally means going beyond the boundary (typically of a village) and refers to an old apocryphal custom of village youth/the army in a kingdom going beyond its boundaries to plunder/notionally plunder neighbouring kingdoms/villages. Simolanghan in a contemporary fashion means going beyond your boundaries/limitations.

I certainly went beyond my bounds this time around. I am gratified with my timings, though it's not great, but it's much better than previous timings. This also gives me confidence I can do the Delhi Half Marathon well. I am ready... अब दिल्ली दूर नही .... हम तैयार है.

Runner's Log

Today Tuesday 16th October, I asked the Most Wondrous if she would drop the other kid to her school. Wondrously, she said "Sure". That gave me impetus to plan and execute a good run. I dropped the first kid off at 7:30 AM and arrived at KNP pondering if I should have continued on to Chittaranjan Vatika. (I wanted to do at least one more lap than yesterday, but that's another story)

As I entered KNP, the number 15 flashed into my brain. No reason, no logic. I decided I was going to try for 15 laps today. After warming up, my first lap was a easy 3:26 min; I lost about ten seconds on the next one ... Lap 2 was done in 7:06 min. I continued on completing 5 laps in 17:28 mins. The next 5 laps were good - I stayed more or less on pace to complete 10 laps in 35:56 mins. I completed a dozen laps in 43:28 mins feeling mighty pleased to have come in under 44 mins. The last three laps were somewhat slower and I completed 15 laps in 53:54 mins. Overall, a good run

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A week's worth of running

Decided to skip running last Tuesday, cannot remember why. On Wednesday, I ran 12 laps of KNP in 44:49:42, averaging about 3:40 mins which is good. Thursday was an easy 6 laps in 23:05. Friday was 7 laps in 24:00:71, one lap better than Thursday.

After I finished running/cooling down, I headed back home. Along the way I passed this couple on a bike; overheard a small portion of a conversation in Hindi. She was leaning over as they talked, blowing out tendrils of cigarette smoke in an uber- cool fashion, her loose locks falling over her glasses... who she is I don't know and don't care... she just epitomized how young feels.....IMMORTAL ...man! that feels awesome... that's how I feel when I run.

The best laid plans of a long run over the weekend were put paid by laziness and late nights in that order. On Saturday night, I went to see an Indian fusion band called Naad Brahma. Consisting of a veteran flautist, a businessman drummer, young guitarist, a young lad on the western drums, a veteran tabla player, and the like, this band weaves some very melodious harmony with the great staccato rhythm of the various percussion instruments. They were simply great and the location was nice and cozy.

Today (Monday October 15th) after dropping the wife and kids, I went to Chittaranjan Vatika. It was already close to 9:00 AM by the time I started. Pune though is still pleasantly cool and so it was as good a time as any. Warmed up and ran 8 laps in 34:35:59 mins. Don't really know what the length of the Chittaranjan loop is, but feels like about 600m. Had a good run; need to keep running all this week.

The Delhi Marathon is round the corner and the route has been published (Here is Tanvir's post on the route). Not knowing too much about Delhi, I don't know what to expect, but it is a loop: 11 K up and 11 K down more or less.

I also got my racing number by email. I am # 5121.
I am excited about the prospect.. now all we wait for is when the actual race begins.

Running Weekend

On Saturday, I ran 15 laps of KNP in 53:52:03. If my odometer is correct, that translates to around 9.6 KM. I did not start out with any ideas of running these many laps... some days, you go with the flow. I started out well with my usual easy pace and continued till a PYP came along. My target was 12 laps which I had done this week and the PYP helped push it over to 15 laps. Was a good run.

I struggled out of bed on Sunday - the usual mental games of "but you just ran 15 laps yesterday... It's Sunday for crying out loud, etc". Somehow I convinced my sorry self to get out of bed and lace up. I wanted a long run, but somehow my brain wanted nothing more than to have a good cuppa with the Sunday newspapers. One step after another - I told myself. Started out after warming up at 7:20 something AM.

I have calibrated the Bhandarkar Road loop at 2.69 KM. I start out next to Ranade Institute, go up BMCC Road, climbing the incline near Marathwada Mitra Mandal, past BMCC college to Law College Road, and down Bhandarkar Road, through Good Luck Chowk, back to Ranade Institute on Ferguson College Road. Three laps of this loop and I was bored; besides the idea of climbing up the incline was daunting, so I continued down Ferguson College Road towards its far end near Police Grounds, turning back there to come back to Good Luck Chowk. The FC Road loop is around 3 KM. In total, I ran 11.14K in 88:00:34 minutes. Headed home for a litre of water, cool down exercises and to get out of my extremely wet togs.

The day after a long run is mentally dreadful. I have to play all sorts of mind games to get running again. Dropped the kid off today and went to KNP for a leisurely 6 lap run in 22:52:64. No pace, sheer running for the sake of running. 6 laps is my entry fee to KNP and I completed that with twinges of pain in my right heel, left calf and a few other places.

All in all, a good running weekend.

Two runs

Monday October 1st was the dreaded morning after..... the long run. Dreaded because it's sort of a chore to lace up after you have just run a distance you did not do in a while and are feeling very chuffed about it.. why don't I skip today? ..after all I did run close to 11K yesterday. Regardless, this time around I tried to shake myself out of the self congratulatory slumber. Dropped the kid at school, went to KNP and ran 6 laps in 21:53. Not my best timing for this, but I was happy that I did get off my ample you-know-what to run.

In the spirit of Gandhi Jayanti or International Day of Non-Violence, I did not run (what a lame excuse.)

Went to see Dhammal yesterday with the kids and the Most Wondrous. In general, I try and stay away from these, only to be dragged to such waste-of-time movies as Golmaal or Tom, Dick and Harry (all of which my kids absolutely enjoy). In fact, I did kwetch at the Most Wondrous about the sheer waste of money in watching the last mentioned waste-of-time movie.
What a laugh riot. This has to be the best slapstick comedy I have seen this year. First, the show was completely packed and there were people even in the first row of the movie theatre. Second, my kids and the Most Wondrous were in splits all movie long (that alone makes it पैसा वसूल ) and so was the rest of the audience. I liked it - non complicated plot lines, some genuine slap stick humour and intelligent.. why intelligent?
OK, my favourite part of the movie is when Bose (a chit fund cheat... hmmm wonder who that reminds me of..), after telling his story of the buried 10 crore rupees which none of the four leads in the movie believes, leaps up from "dead" and reiterates "मरने वाला आदमी झूट नही बोलता " and then lolls his head and gives up his temporal body. As he completes his final throes of death... his foot kicks a पत्रे कि बाल्टी ... get it? he kicked the bucket . I was tres impressed and laughed a lot.

Today, I decided to tweak my schedule (wow, that sounds like such a positive statement) and make sure the other kid was ready for her school before I left her and the Most Wondrous to manage the drop-off. So, started running after my warm up at 8:30 AM (don't like to start this late, the sun is up and there are not enough people in the park to show off at :o) ). Today's first lap was easy, no exertion 3:36, and I sort of started dropping seconds after that, the second lap was 3:52, retuning my running strategy, I ran at a slower pace going for at least 10 laps. Lap 10 was around 36:19 and I decided to push on for another two laps. Finished 12 laps today in 43:54.

I am happy about a couple of things - one, my first lap which is usually easy and no exertion still ranges around 3:30 to 3:36, which is great considering I used to take almost 4 minutes at one point per lap. The second thing is I used to take up to 44 minutes for 11 laps and now I am sub 44 on 12 which is way cool.

Keep on trucking....