20 minutes tempo run today in between 15 mins each of warm up and cool down - sheer blinding rain today with very strong head winds - almost toppled me backwards - sharp prickly rains were giving free acupunture treatment to my face - first time i am doing tempo run this season - therefore start with low tempo - need to progress that in the coming weeks - total 7.5 kms in 52.24 mins
Narendra Deraje and his team deserve a standing ovation – for an almost perfect start to the Thane half marathon innings – few glitches remained which has been pointed out to him and for which he has responded in double quick time with positive intentions.
THM route straddled between two highways – starting from eastern express and almost touching the western express highway – it was a undulating hilly route with few twisters – a tough route for runners. It was an out and back route from the starting point it goes to the left for about 500 metres before turning back all the way to 11.5 kms and then returning to the starting point. Timing mats were placed at 0.7 kms and 11.5 kms in between – the road most part was concrete on the way up and on the return leg, there was a small stretch of tar road on the extreme left, which was used by the runners. The route was a straight east-west road and so on the return leg, the runners were running into a climbing sun, which was gentle for ...
After having run 6 half marathons in Mumbai and 3 more during the year 2010, the beginning of the year saw me resolve to go upto full marathon – why? Because I thought I was ready for it and many of my friends were also graduating at the same time. So, when the time came to fill in the forms for Mumbai marathon sometime in July 2010, I filled in the form for full marathon without any trace of trepidation whatsoever.
My preparation for the full marathon which should ideally have encompassed two or more 32 kms long runs, did not really take off at all because I was doing all sorts of runs throughout the year with the KTM trail half in September, Bangalore Ultra 25K in November and Goa half in December. So the build-up did not take place at all – October was my busiest month in terms of mileages – I logged in 260 kms that month compared to about 140 kms in September, which month also saw few ankle twists taking place – a couple of them monstrous ones. Post ultra, the ITBS came knockin...
It was a very satisfying 4th group run (of course this time w/o the originator of the concept - Milton Frank in far away Mahabaleshwar disturbing the romantic couples there with his crazy and vengeant running - from having missed this one!!!)
We, three of us i.e. Dr. Sharma, myself & Qureshi started at 5.15 a.m. from andheri station with trepidation because the route was unfamiliar to me, distance was daunting & winter had not yet set in, so the heat was still a factor.
We started at an easy pace but after about 1.5 kms, Dr. Sharma took our permission and upped his pace and vanished away into the early morning at s.v. road. The roads were mostly cement but we tried to run on the sides where there were paver blocks but these were loose (again shoddy work), so it was not easy from andheri to bandra. The humidity was also a factor plus the pollution levels were high. We reached Bandra S.V. Road Petrol pump junction at about 6.5 kms and looked to the right to possibly see Giles and ...
Completed the longest mileage so far - 25.77 kms and also for the longest time feet on the street 3.37.17 hours. After 20kms it was tough going and had to grind it out using all kinds of mental tactics.
Kaveri Trail Marathon is a tough, demanding, grueling marathon held on the banks of a flowing canal, with paddy fields, sugarcane fields, bullock carts, hay stacks & farmers intently working, along the route. There is very little tree cover and the surface is dirt track more used for village life than city roads. The track is interspersed with stones embedded into the ground and it is narrow with capacity to hold only two runners at a time. Moreover, running right through the centre of the track are green tufts of either grass or other some small plants with the result that each runner has only a small place to land his feet. The runners have to constantly keep shifting from left to right and be alert all the time or they could stumble and fall. There is only one small slope at after the 9.5 kms mark, otherwise it is a flat track. The route for half-marathon is a straight one to 10.55 kms and return to the starting point, whereas the full marathoners have to do this loop twice.
47 kms week ending 5th september with a 7.7 kms on tuesday, 8 on thursday, 17.75 on saturday at aarey forest and 13.34 at borivli national park on sunday. while aarey forest was hot and humid, bnp was pleasant with mild to moderate showers cooling the temperatures much to the liking of runners.
