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.