With my knee hurting, I always knew the last practice run was going to be tougher than all others! It turned out to be exactly that! Also, the cold weather didnt help much.
Though we were technically running an hour later due to end of daylight savings, it was still too cold.
Sarika had come to assist the Asha volunteers at the water stops. I decided not to run with the knee brace right from the start, so had Sarika keep the brace with her. Unfortunately, she ended up managing the 2 mile water stop, so had to wait till the last 2 miles to get the knee brace (since we were doing 10 up and 10 down)!!:D
Around the 10 mile/11 mile mark, my knee started hurting. But it was bearable pain, and I absolutely HAD to complete this run! So I carried on. Ended up consuming 3 packets of Goo on the way!!
Overall, I would rate this as my most determined and most satisfying run yet. It tapering time now, so the next 3 weeks would be low mileage weeks.....and then the big one on the 20th of Nov!!! Cant wait for it!!
Monday, October 31, 2005
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Back to the blog
Its been tough going since the last 20 mile run. I think I hurt my knee just a little during that run, which has been haunting me ever since. It also didnt help that I could not get any substantial runs in during the last 2 weeks. I had been in Alabama the week before, pretty much the whole week, and in Ohio last week. So it was difficult. Something like that really upsets your whole schedule.
But thankfully, all travel is over for now! Now only the marathon ahead! The knee is better now, and I hope to complete my last 20 miler training run successfully!!
But thankfully, all travel is over for now! Now only the marathon ahead! The knee is better now, and I hope to complete my last 20 miler training run successfully!!
Monday, October 10, 2005
Running 20 miles
Yes!! I completed my first 20 mile run yesterday!!! Yesterday's run could be called a steeple chase of sorts!!:D It was raining like there was no tomorrow on Saturday. So we expected things to be quite a mess on Sunday morning. But nothing prepared us for the first sight on reaching Johnson park. The trail where we run is a small strip of land, and is between the Raritan river on one side, and a canal on the other. Along the trail, there are a number of spill-ways so that water from the canal can flow into the river. The river was flowing like never seen before. Water from the canal was flooding into the river over the spillways. Water on the spillways was ankle deep!!! There are about 5 spillways, so we had to cross them 10 times while going to and fro!
If that was not enough, a tree had fallen onto the trail!! This was awesome!!!:D:D:D
The run was not only this spectacular, but it was also very satisfying. I could maintain a reasonable pace of around 10 mins 30 secs throughout the 20 miles, and could actually speed up a little during the last 1.5 miles!!
It is a great feeling when months of hard work finally start paying!! At the beginning of training, I never imagined I could just run 20 miles, let alone so easily!! This is probably one of the very few activities in which I have been so involved, so focussed and so motivated. I just hope to keep this up, not only till Nov 20, but even after that!
As for my first 20 miler, it was one of the most memorable runs in training!!
If that was not enough, a tree had fallen onto the trail!! This was awesome!!!:D:D:D
The run was not only this spectacular, but it was also very satisfying. I could maintain a reasonable pace of around 10 mins 30 secs throughout the 20 miles, and could actually speed up a little during the last 1.5 miles!!
It is a great feeling when months of hard work finally start paying!! At the beginning of training, I never imagined I could just run 20 miles, let alone so easily!! This is probably one of the very few activities in which I have been so involved, so focussed and so motivated. I just hope to keep this up, not only till Nov 20, but even after that!
As for my first 20 miler, it was one of the most memorable runs in training!!
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Jersey Shore Half Marathon
Today all of us ran the Jersey Shore Half Marathon, at the Sandy Hook beach, New Jersey. It was an awesome experience, and a great first race for all of us!
The day was as perfect as could be! Cool not cold.....with the sun nicely shining!!:)
The race started at 9:00 a.m. I finished 311th overall!!:D The course was a relatively flat one, and consisted of running a 7.6 mile loop first, and then a 5.5 mile one.
Coach and I had spoken before the race, and we had set a 2 hour 10 min time for me. In training, I always managed to do 12 miles in 2:10, so we felt that I could do the 13.1 in 2:10. I got my Team Asha T-shirt today - yellow in color - which turned out the best color to have, since we were pretty much noticed by one and all!!!
I started out pretty well, and made my way through the crowd. Coach and the faster guys had set themselves on a 9 min/mile pace and were running ahead! The energy and atmosphere was astounding, with people cheering the runners from anywhere and everywhere! May be it was the atmosphere, or it was just me trying to push myself for a better time, but I was setting a pretty brisk pace!!!
There were water stops at approximately 2-mile intervals. Each stop was managed by a different group, and the runners were told to vote for the best stop at the end of the race! So at each stop, there was plenty of cheers, shouting and encouragement!!
3 miles came in 27 minutes, and I felt pretty warmed up, and decided to keep this pace throughout!! It worked - until the 12 mile, I was pretty much on target with a pace just under 9 min/mile!!
The 12th and 13rd miles became a little tougher. The sun was making things a little difficult, but the crowd kept me going!! When the finish was a few hundred meters away, I decided to go faster. But the timing couldnt have been worse. As I came about 50m to the finish line, I was almost out of steam. Thinking back, I should have started speeding up a little later than I actually did.
During the finishing stages, Coach Tom, and the others who had finished were egging me on...and when I crossed the finish line, I was amazed to see the time - 1:57:16!! That is 38 seconds to 1:57:54, which is exactly 9 min/mile pace!!:) So I can safely say that I did under 9 min/mile!!:D:D:D:D
This was an awesome experience, and I really hope the Philly marathon experience measures up and beyond this!!!
To sign off, here's a photo of me finishing the half-marathon - the time is also visible in the photo!!
The day was as perfect as could be! Cool not cold.....with the sun nicely shining!!:)
The race started at 9:00 a.m. I finished 311th overall!!:D The course was a relatively flat one, and consisted of running a 7.6 mile loop first, and then a 5.5 mile one.
Coach and I had spoken before the race, and we had set a 2 hour 10 min time for me. In training, I always managed to do 12 miles in 2:10, so we felt that I could do the 13.1 in 2:10. I got my Team Asha T-shirt today - yellow in color - which turned out the best color to have, since we were pretty much noticed by one and all!!!
I started out pretty well, and made my way through the crowd. Coach and the faster guys had set themselves on a 9 min/mile pace and were running ahead! The energy and atmosphere was astounding, with people cheering the runners from anywhere and everywhere! May be it was the atmosphere, or it was just me trying to push myself for a better time, but I was setting a pretty brisk pace!!!
There were water stops at approximately 2-mile intervals. Each stop was managed by a different group, and the runners were told to vote for the best stop at the end of the race! So at each stop, there was plenty of cheers, shouting and encouragement!!
3 miles came in 27 minutes, and I felt pretty warmed up, and decided to keep this pace throughout!! It worked - until the 12 mile, I was pretty much on target with a pace just under 9 min/mile!!
The 12th and 13rd miles became a little tougher. The sun was making things a little difficult, but the crowd kept me going!! When the finish was a few hundred meters away, I decided to go faster. But the timing couldnt have been worse. As I came about 50m to the finish line, I was almost out of steam. Thinking back, I should have started speeding up a little later than I actually did.
During the finishing stages, Coach Tom, and the others who had finished were egging me on...and when I crossed the finish line, I was amazed to see the time - 1:57:16!! That is 38 seconds to 1:57:54, which is exactly 9 min/mile pace!!:) So I can safely say that I did under 9 min/mile!!:D:D:D:D
This was an awesome experience, and I really hope the Philly marathon experience measures up and beyond this!!!
To sign off, here's a photo of me finishing the half-marathon - the time is also visible in the photo!!
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