another milestone - first 7 mile run

Saturday was a day of many milestones, some real, some artificial, thanks to the metric system. It was the first time I had run 7 miles continuously, and I really mean continuously. Did not pause for even one step to take a break or to sip water, thanks to my fuel belt. It was the first time I had run for more than one hour, and the first time I had run more than 10 kms(11.2 to be exact). And the cool thing is I(along with my running buddies) kept a perfect pace of 11 mins a mile - finishing 7 miles in 76 minutes (we made up 1 minute due to our over-eagerness over the last half-mile by upping the pace).

And the weather had a lot to do with it. It was a muggy, cold day about 55 F/12 C, one of those days I used to hate when I was a kid. You know, an irritating, dull day where it is neither sunny nor rainy, just gloomy - basically like England but with zero chances of showers. But the perfect day for running, and if Oct 26th is anything like last Saturday, I think my chances of completing just doubled. If only I could get my hands on those weather-changing stuff China has apparently(see The Daily show from last week).

the performance pressure of running barefoot

Running barefoot seems to be pretty uncommon, at least in the runners I encounter around San Jose. The sole(no pun intended) reason for me doing this is to reduce/prevent injury. As I have explained earlier, running barefoot means you do not have the luxury of making mistakes in running form, inefficiency etc. Thus, you immediately correct your mistakes, which in effect reduces the chances of injury.

But many people, mostly other runners, seem to think that running barefoot is an exhibition than a better approach to running. People seem to think I am doing this to prove that this is possible, or to rough it or something unnatural.

For example, during the last long run, these are some of the conversations(sort-of) that I had with other people that I shared the trail with.

Lady with dog: (with a huge smile)OH MY GOD! You are insane!!!!

Me(running in opposite direction): Not really

Lady with dog: YES YOU ARE

Random girl: (stops running and starts clapping) That(me running barefoot) is so great...

Me: (uhhh.. what do I say... say something smart, or funny, or non-chalant.... ok, they are 20 yards away now and I just acted rude by not saying anything)

Other random comments

"Nice shoes"

"Your laces are undone"

What this looks like from other people's PoV is that am doing something that is hard or difficult, and like I am trying to make a point. They seem to think that I have a disadvantage, that this is a super-human effort. Running a marathon is, running barefoot is not. I am not dumb enough to attempt something with a disadvantage. I believe running barefoot gives me an advantage over me running with shoes, which is precisely why I do it. Am doing something which is easier and more natural, something which works for me. And it is not as hard as it looks.

But to the title/point of this post. If I get injured, people are going to attribute it to the barefoot running. If I get tired or if it is not my day, it is going to be attributed to the same thing. Which makes me think twice before giving up, before stopping to take a breather. So, in all it works out pretty well, sorta.

hill training

Our mentor at the group that I run with told us that we would be starting 'hill training' from next time onwards. And half-way through our run he took us along another trail that was definitely uphill. Man, it feels a lot harder running up a hill! But it does work relatively under-worked muscles which you do not use much while running on flat ground. And there's always the way back down to look forward to :)

So, how should you tweak your training? Incorporate some hill running, it helps a lot and it is more intensive than you might think. If you are running 4 times a week, once a week or once in two should be enough, depending on the trail you run obviously. It is definitely something you should check out though. It feels horrible, worse than running does, when you are doing it, but great once you are done. * sigh * I still dont enjoy running the way others do, but hopefully I will get there.

where you train matters

The long runs that I do on Saturday typically takes place on environments similar to actual marathon trails (like Campbell Park, which the SV marathon route runs through for about 15 miles). On weekdays, the 4 miles that I run with my smaller group is at Rancho San Antonio, in Cupertino. This trail is not flat and is a real trail, not paved road. It is hard ground, with stones and pebbles and with a constantly undulating path. It is a lot harder to run 4 miles on this, than to run 4 miles on, say, the SV route. And this shows on the weekend runs when I have to typically run longer distances than I have ever done before.

If you are in NorCal and east of Redwood City, west of San Jose, I would recommend Rancho over any other place. 

running schedule and mileage after 7 weeks

There is not much difference between one run and the other most of the times. Rather than document each run, I will try to approach different angles in these posts. But what will be useful would be mileage and the incremental increase in it. So, after 7 weeks of training, I am running

3.5 miles on Monday

8x400m on Tuesday at 1 min 50 sec per lap

3.5 miles on Thursday

5 miles on Saturday @ 11 min a mile

Going by the incremental increase, think the number of laps I do on tracks will increase by 2 each week, and 1-2 miles each Saturday. Just a guess.

4 miles - saturday run

Time for the long run. Some days you feel good, comfortable and running seems a lot easier. Unfortunately, this was not one of mine. I felt sluggish, was breathing heavily and struggling for rhythm. Wonder how really long runs, like 14 miles will be on days like this...
Ran barefoot again, but was not as comfortable as the previous times. The thing is, I need to concentrate a lot when I run. Most people relax while running, zone out and do it sub-consciously. Again, unfortunately, I am not one of those. I need to concentrate on quite a few things. I need to focus on breathing through my nose, will write a post on why this is better. I need to concentrate on my path, make sure there are no pebbles, stones, glass etc as I am running barefoot. I also focus on my running form, trying to find out which works best, as I have never really ran properly before. It was just general haphazard, point A to point B type of a thing previously. With all these things, I am pretty occupied while running.
Like I said, I was lazy and sluggish on this run and didnt focus too much, banged my heel somewhere and could complete only 3.5 miles, and walked the last 0.5. One good thing so far about running barefoot has been the lack of blisters, which is pretty cool. Hopefully, it will stay that way.

Running barefoot

Another thing, I run barefoot. Yes, I did the gait analysis and got fitted for shoes. And I did run with those shoes and they felt better than other shoes I have run with. But I have always wondered about how I used to play barefoot all the time when I was a kid and it felt easy and good. And I was wondering if that applied here too, and I found that there was a whole school of thought that supports barefoot running. I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS, I am merely stating what works for me. About 200 people run on the group runs, maybe more, and there is ONE guy besides me who runs barefoot. So, shoes work for almost everyone and will 99% work for you too.

Of course, I do not run on the actual trails barefoot as they are full of stones. I run on paved trails barefoot, and I will be running the marathon barefoot. But at Rancho, I use Nike Free. They are very thin and light shoes, pretty cool. Worth checking out.

purpose of this blog

I am hoping that a lot of people who did not know about Asha will learn about it from here. And that you empathize and believe in the cause. And donate.

How will I donate?

If some people are following this blog to actually run, not necessarily a marathon, that is awesome. Do let me know if you are and I will start including some tips and pointers etc.

June 3, First track workout

The training was at Cubberly field, in Palo Alto/MV. Got there a bit early, warmed up by running 4 laps around the 400m field (4x400m = 1 mile). Did the usual batch of stretches, and then the coaches split us into groups. We were asked by our coach (Coach Raman), to stick to a time of around 2.40 for each lap, which is a very slow time. The session was supposed to run like this - run a lap, then take a 90 second break, run a lap and so on, 4 times.

Since there were a bunch of us who were quicker than 2.40 (we all missed the time trial), we set a quicker pace. I finished my first one in a relatively calm pace of 2.20. Then did the subsequent ones in 1.50, 1.40, 1.40. So, over 4 laps that is a total of 7.30. Am guessing running this continuously will add at least 1 minute to the total time. So, 8.30 is what am aiming for in my time trial.

Since it was an even field, I was running barefoot and as long as I watch where am running, it is very reasonable and comfortable.

One thing that all coaches and mentors repeat all the time is not to run for speed. This is the first time, there is no rush and the only goal should be to complete. It is a lot easy for me to do this, as I completely agree. 6 weeks back, a mile seemed so far and now, it is not. My goal is only to finish 26.2 miles and not get injured during the process. What I tell myself is, if I post a very good time this time around, then beating it next time would be a lot harder. So, ease off.

June 2, Monday run

I was sick the past weekend, and am still recovering. So, half-walked and half-ran the 2.5 miles on Monday morning. Not really much to report. Am hoping that by Thursday I feel better to run properly.

Missed the 'Mile Time Training' on Sunday, due to aforementioned sickness. Team Asha records our time over a mile and puts us into various groups. And on Tuesdays, starting TODAY!!!, we have to run short distances(400m) based on our mile timing. Dont know more details yet, as I didnt go for this. Lets see what the evening brings.

May 31, Team Asha picnic

The folks at Team Asha organize social events too, so that it is not only about running but meeting people and making friends. At Ed Levine park in Milpitas, we generally hung around, ate and played a few crappy but fun games. good fun overall.

Running form

Form is incredibly important. Landing on your heel is not good, learning to land midfoot or forefoot is something that is hard but necessary. Why shouldnt one land on the heel? Because that is like basically applying breaks. Check out this cool animation. Now, am still not sure if forefoot is better or midfoot is, am still learning to run. I guess it is something you figure out slowly.

May 24, My first 4 mile run

The long run at some trail that is apparently part of the SV marathon. I was scheduled to run 4 miles, which was approx twice as much as I have ever ran till not so long ago, and a mile and half more than what i was running on the weekday. It was a very narrow and cramped trail, and I just stood to the side while everyone passed and was the last one running. Thankfully, Ram( one of the guys I run with regularly) had done the same thing and we set off slowly, as we were used to our pace by now. 4 miles was a big thing for the both of us and we were careful not to be too quick. We just stuck to our pace and passed a decent amount of people, which for some reason felt good. The volunteers at Asha(people who dont run but volunteer their time to setup waterstops and stuff) were at the one mile marker, and I foolishly assumed they would be there at the 2 mile marker too, where I would turn around. The second mile was a little harder than I expected but the water stop motivated me as I knew I could cheat a bit and stop for a few seconds. To my horror, there was no water at the 2nd mile. And now I was one mile away from my break. But thankfully I manned up and kept running, and we made it to the water stop where I made a quick stop for some Gatorade and kept going immediately. Even the 10 second stop made it hard to start again. As I was running, I realized that it was slowly becoming more natural. I hate treadmills, I cannot run alone(well have never really tried) and here I was. Me and Ram made it back to the start line and 4 miles were completed successfully in decent time. Since neither of us kept track we dont know the time, but like to believe it was a 'decent time'.

Now, this was a major milestone of sorts. I hate running and didnt have the stamina to run, and here I was, running 4 miles less than a month after starting this training. It felt awesome, and more importantly, it felt possible.

May 13, Recommitment

Re-commitment was not really much of a question at this point. Now, by committing you are not only saying you will run a marathon(or a half) but more importantly you are saying you will raise $2400 towards the cause. Yes, in return for being trained(by volunteers), we promise to raise money which will go towards educating kids in India. You can find out a lot more about these projects on Asha's page.

So, I recommitted. Although I had or still have no clue about how to raise money. This blog is one part of the grand scheme to raise money.

April 25, Starting the weekday runs

Soon, we started running on weekdays too. How this works is mentors handle small groups. Mentors specify what time and place they handle( Cupertino on Mon/Thu mornings, Sunnyvale on Mon/Thu evenings etc). And other runners see which works best for them and join one of these groups. Most of the training is done with these groups. So, I somehow managed to get up at 6ish and got to the place i was supposed to meet my group roughly on time. After introductions and muddling names with faces, we set off on a short run on a very cold california morning. After warming up a bit, we did our stretches that were still a bit unfamiliar. Then, some more running. And then some stretches. And then home. Now, if this seems like a lot of running, rest assured it was not. We ran about 500 metres, stretched, then ran around a mile at most at a very slow and relaxed pace, then stretched. And that was it.

And that was the routine. Run monday and thursday mornings, and then run slightly longer distances with the whole group on Saturdays. Slowly, the miles on Mon/Thu went up (to 2.5 miles as of now), but at a very reasonable level. And the saturday runs were based on the marathon people were running. People running SFO half had more running to do than people running the Silicon Valley full. This is because the SFO half is on Aug 3 while the SV full is on Oct end. So, for the SV marathon, my miles around the first week of august would only be 10 or so. So, people running the SV marathon had a few extra weeks.

April 21, Shoe clinic, Equipment etc

Team Asha organized a series of informational sessions about nutrition and running gear at Sports Basement. A digested form of what they said

Food - need proteins and recovery drinks

Clothes - no cotton. everything, including socks to be made of wicking material or the like

Shoes - need proper shoes. Sports Basement (and a place called Up and Running) do something called gait analysis. I guess other places might do them too. They basically analyse your gait to see the level of pronation. Basically, most of us dont have a perfectly straight gait, we tend to pronate a bit. And this can be corrected a bit by using shoes. So, they prescribe a few shoes and we were able to go inside and see which one worked for us( while i thoroughly recommend that you get gait analysis and shoes, i do want to disclose to people that i run barefoot. more on this later). So, I outfitted myself with new running gear and felt good about myself, felt like a runner. Bring on the weekday runs.

April 20, First group run

So, the following saturday, we were all asked to come to Shoreline( I live in the bay area, and am part of the silicon valley chapter. Asha has chapters in many places) and once I reached there, the entire group was asked to run. No warnings! Thankfully, it was a very short run, less than a quarter mile(400 metres) and then we did some stretching. This was when the coaches and mentors started talking to us, walking us through what was going on and what we will be going through. Timeout to explain who these people are

Coaches and Mentors: There are 4-5 coaches at Asha who are hard-core runners and really really know what they are doing. The mentors are repeat runners who help out. All these people are volunteers, including me. Which is why Asha donates 97% of all money raised.

So, they walked us through these stretches(will put up a post with pics once i get them) and explained why some of these were really important. And we were also asked to attend a shoe clinic the next day.

April 13, Asha info session

So, I went in for the information session to see what it was all about and who these crazy people were who were running all these distances. And hearing the people talk with so much passion, about running marathons, about educating kids, it got me more interested, and I signed up on a whim. The actual time to recommit would come a month later, but that seemed far away.

There were regular people all around the room, not much different than me. I mean, seriously, they did not look like they could run marathons. But these people were talking about the joys at the finish line and the sense of accomplishment they felt and it was really cool to hear all that. While I can sprint at a decent time, and I do play a decent game of Ultimate, I have never ever run more than 2 miles. EVER. And listening to these Asha runners, I genuinely thought I could.

March 20ish, Hearing about Team Asha

What is this? Well, I am starting this blog during the last week of May, and now porting this to blogger from wordpress. and am trying to include dates about the previous things so that people have an idea about the timeframe etc.

A friend of mine was training with Team in Training and I was acting interested in the idea while I was actually thinking "Why would someone run 26.2 miles rather than lie in bed or in front of the tv... hmm, does not compute". The only exercise I have been getting recently had been playing Ultimate Frisbee and being outrun by people at least 15 years older than me. And in the end, that spurred me to improve my stamina and actually feel like a 25-yr old. While raising money for leukemia did not really resonate with me, when I heard about Asha's cause it did. Asha for Education is, from their website, a secular organization dedicated to change in India by focusing on basic education in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. Team Asha is a premier endurance sports program that trains people for half and full marathons with the motto Train. Run. Educate. To run hard and long is a pleasure unmatched. To run for a noble cause makes it even better. Train with us and help support educational initiatives for underprivileged children in India(again, from their website).

Intro

Hi,

My name's Arvind Ashok, and I am training for a marathon, specifically the Silicon Valley marathon on October 26th 2008. This is my first marathon and personally, I hate running for running's sake, or atleast I did.

Now, am running for Team Asha, to raise awareness and money for educating under-privileged kids in India. All proceeds from this blog will be donated to Team Asha.

Also, am porting this blog from wordpress, so most posts are dated the same day, till June 6.