A week's worth of running

While I have been shoe shopping, I have also been in training using my New Balance shoes. Rahul Verghese of Running and Living sent me an encouraging email after Delhi, confident that he could help me shave off more time from my Delhi run time of 3 hours 2 mins 47 seconds.

Rahul pointed me to Hal Higdon's website for a treasure trove of information on training plans. I am following the intermediate training plan. So in reverse order, here is my running log for the last week

Today, I went to KNP. After my usual warmup, I ran 10 laps in 35:18. I had my new shoes on and did not want to run hard or try something new. So this was an easy run with my first lap averaging 3:28 and the second lap was done in 6:59 mins.

Yesterday I ran a leisurely 5 laps for a time of 17:32

On Friday last, I ran the same distance in 34:31. My first lap was a super 3:05, the second completed in 6:28 and I had completed 5 laps in 16:54. This time was good considering that I have taken up to 19 - 20 minutes for 5 laps.

Last Wednesday called for 5x400m, at 5 K pace. I went to PYC which has a track of about 300 m. I ran 1.5 laps for an approximate distance of 400 m. My first run was 2:47 mins. After, I walked the same distance to catch my breath. The second iteration was completed at 5:44 mins for an iteration time of 2:57. Iteration three took me 2:54, four 3:02 and the final 400 m took 3:10. This is the first time I have run short distances. I took about 50 minutes to complete this workout.

Tuesday last was 10 laps of KNP again. My first lap was 3:29 and second completed in 6:54. I completed 10 laps in 34:54

On Monday last, I started the Hal Higdon Intermediate program. It spans over 12 weeks and puts me right in line for Mumbai on January 20th, 2008. I ran 7 laps of KNP in 23:46, my first lap in 3:19 and my second lap in 6:28.

Overall I ran about 15K last week having skipped my long run on Sunday. This week I plan to run 10K in the Pune International Marathon.
The Pune Marathon was granted National Status and one hopes for a better experience than the previous runs I have had here. So far, the organization, promotion and logistics are sorely lacking. If there is enough water on the course, I am willing to forgive and forget.