Friday, August 11, 2006

13.1 miles

Proof that I really ran those 13.1 miles

Miles - 13.1

Goal - 2 hours 05 minutes or less

Actual Time - 2 hours 12 minutes 32 seconds

10 excuses for not meeting my goal.

1. I did not run faster.

2. I should have trained in hot weather more.

3. I should not have been stupid and should have drunk water at mile 22.

4. I was listening to PMI's explosive Thani for Koniyadina too attentively and forgot that I was in a race.

5. I shouldn't try to be too much of a Gentleman and say 'Ladies first' in a race.

6. I remembered that I had to take my Bib only after I had go into my car in the morning and as a result I was terribly nervous.

7. I had only one pin for the Bib (lost the other three) and was worried that my photos wouldn't come through.

8. I started wondering midway "Sripathi, why the heck are you doing this?".

9. I was too busy ogling at the chicks running alongside me.

10. I took the story of the hare and the tortoise too literally.

In all seriousness, I'm pretty happy with my performance. It was a bit difficult to run harder in the heat and I sagged towards the end. I could have probably saved a few minutes here and there and by running the last mile more aggresively but there are always reasons.

I have started training harder to prepare myself to run a full marathon. I've been running long distances the past week. Last Saturday I managed to run 16 miles in 2 hours and 45 minutes with a total running time of 3 hours and 10 minutes. It was very tough though and I recovered fairly well the next day. This week my preparation hasn't been all that great so far with only a 6 mile run yesterday. I'm hoping to compensate during this weekend by doing atleast 10 miles on both Saturday and Sunday.

I also realized that I need to strengthen my core and have been doing some exercises regularly. Having a weak core makes your shoulders drop and the body language becomes poor. I ran a few miles yesterday keeping my core and shoulders tight and found that I was able to run faster than my usual pace. Apart from these things, I also did some biking at the gym last week to do some cross-training. Biking for a long time was tough and you don't lose a lot of calories. But it does train your quads well.

If you are wondering why I'm so obsessed with running and why I make a big deal out of it, well, I'm wondering too. I have certainly transformed from the average slouch on the couch to someone who cannot live without exercise. The key to the transformation was the embarassment of having trained poorly for the Relay. I was stung by my poor performance and started to train for the next year's Relay a week after it. I have managed to set a few goals and kept myself motivated. It also helps that you get to be alone while running and it's a great time to collect your thoughts, do some introspection and solve problems without any intrusion. But the motivation to get the better of yourself, to challenge yourself to do something that the mind thinks it cannot, is the best part and I love to do that day every time I run.

I'd like to write more on how running is helping me in life, how to stay motivated and how you can get started. I'm a novice at this wonderful sport but I've already come into contact with some wonderful atheletes in this sport and they continue to inspire me each time my mind wants to give up.

Let's see how 26.2 goes!!

-Sri

1 comment:

  1. nice one Sri..!
    try doing sum self suggestion kinda tricks ! guess factor 9 is the biggest culpit of all! courtesy the pic of marathon!

    ReplyDelete