Fitness Challenge & its after effects

On Easter Sunday (of all the days!) I was persuaded to partake a fitness challenge organized by V-Channel at a gym at Khar. It was a killer routine with 10 exercises (using 10% of your body weight in each hand) with 30 reps each, totalling an amazing 300 reps. I must admit that I got wasted by the end of it all and felt like I would probably have a cardiac arrest (just joking:-)) at some point. The commendable part (I am being very modest!) is that I managed to survive it despite a 30km run the day before. Now how many of those 25 year olds that competed with me would be able to do that - eh?

The whole fitness challenge routine set off a roaring furnace inside me and I managed to lose about 2 kgs in 3 days. Well, it helped because I quaffed a few one-too-many with a vengeance when I got home, on Easter afternoon. The burn and micro-trauma in my quads has not healed till date and I did have a problem doing my tempo run today. It was supposed to be 8.8K including the hill at Aarey (I deliberately wanted to challenge myself - I'm incorrigible:-)). However, as expected I felt the burn in my quads surfacing at 5K (I was on pace BTW) and I had to let go before the hill climb. I immediately tweaked the work out and decided that I'd crest the hill without a break in stride and then restart my stop watch so that I could do the additional 3.8K (to total 8.8K). It worked cause I finished just 6 secs off-pace which works out to less that 0.5 secs per km off-pace. Well done Dan but you gotta learn that gruelling circuits are not supposed to be part of your marathon training plan!

A Good Friday Run

I could either put a comma or a hyphen after "Good"; it would not matter. I scheduled a long run on this Friday as I have a fitness challenge coming up on Sunday:-) and also because, in a way, it will mimic the "flagellation" that Christ had to endure at the hands of Ceasar' men. I also want to be well rested for Sunday so that I at least do my own set of challenge exercises well and don't make a fool of myself - afterall V-Channel is organizing it and I don't want to be the "Bakra".

The run started with a lot of pain and I saw that my pace was actually in the "recovery" rather than the "easy" range. I was convinced that I would not be able to get thru' this 18 miler! Well, I stopped at the small but serene ambience in the local temple to bow in prayer for a moment. Lo and behold (I am not given to dwelling on miracles) but I have yet to explain as to why my pace went to "Half Marathon" level for the next 5K! I did not slow down considerably after that spurt and I could complete the run at my target "easy" pace and even finished at the HM pace again. Damn! I gotta find out why this is happening so often.

Anyway, all' well that ends well, as Madhu likes to explain, and I returned home to a vegetarian breakfast. This happens once a year and I do it to sort of respect Christ for the pain, humiliation and torture he went thru'. I see the "passion" depicted on screen and I cannot imagine that one can do this to a person who merely preached his own thoughts. Its not important whether the scriptures are right; I am doing it assuming that they are. The rest of the day was difficult for me as I found my blood sugar and hydration dropping to discomforting levels. I kept visiting the kitchen much to the questioning stares and delight of the maid - she thinks I eat too little (wink). She is forgeting the calories I get from the "ambrosia" I quaff:-). I do not understand as to how vegetarians like Aalok and Roshni survive after their long runs:-) Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I also do not tipple on Good Friday no matter how great the temptation or the occasion. Will-power ol' chap - you are blessed with it. Say it again Dan!

Whew!

The exclamation is for 2 reasons: one; I did a tempo run today to "squeeze" in the hard day before taking a flight for Bangalore and two; I think I have a fair idea of the reason for the near break up of my runners' group.

I woke up with pain in my shins but a fresh feeling of having slept well. As I fussed around in the kitchen preparing my "Earl' Grey" tea (I stopped my Java because it was fueling my insomnia), I mused about the tough work out I'd planned. Would I be able to do it or would it be relegated to the "junk miles" heap? I smiled as I realized that I was nervous about its outcome. So when did workouts turn out to be formidable Dan?:-) You must be going over the hill!

I reached my start point and did some "lateral shuffles" and a "Carioca step" (the Colpal runners, especially Abhishikta, like to call it the Salsa twist). I set off at my tempo pace and realized 400m into it that my RPE was 8 and I could not believe that I had another 5.4K to go - are you crazy!!! Well as I kept up the pace and bit thru' the pain, I realized that I was not hitting target pace. So, this smart coach and yours truly decided to "step on the gas"! I finished in just about my target time and an RPE of 10; though, I want to call it 9 for my own shameful reasons:-) I rushed home to prepare myself a milkshake with chocolate and "whey" - a recommendation I had made to my runners. Thank God that you are at least taking THAT advice you !@#$%^&*!!

About the near crisis: I think that goodness and kindness of a few good men and women in my runners group got sense and sensibility to prevail and, inadvertently avert, a break up of the group. I will, in the days to come, confirm the reasons why this happened. I still have a lot of brownie points in the jar of "goodness" that God has set aside for me:-)

And then one day you find.....

.....ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again!

These lyrics from Pink Floyd' Time are appropriate for those that have yet to experience the soul and samba in running. It is also exactly 10 years since I moved to Andheri(E) and began running at Aarey. Oh! how fast time has flown. I remember Bryan as a 3+ yr old tot and how nice his tiny hands felt in mine. I remember the joy of running in the woods with its lush green ambience and a nip in the early morning air and "feeling" Robert Frost'.......the woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles...........sleep. I get nostalgic about my own school years when I remember...whose woods these are I think I know. I can feel the chill and the snow and the horse flaring his nostrils in the cold air - though I'd never seen snow before then.

Oh! what a difference it has been, from running repeated loops of 600m in Lokhandwala:-); and running to Andheri station and back whenever I felt like doing a 10K. I had to ensure that I reached back well before the traffic increased and I also had to contend with people wondering as to why this guy runs so much - distance running was alien then. I love my running route now; am lucky to be blessed with it; and yes, I love running - period. Amen

And you thought you could skip recovery:-)

I had a pretty hard time in doing my weekly long run, on Saturday but I recovered enough mid-way, to finish it at my half marathon pace. I was sore all day and on Sunday, when I trained the Colpal group on body weight strength circuits I found it very taxing. Today, I woke up with the intention of doing speedwork (since I will be on business tour this week) and I had infact planned that I would try to do a harder workout than was prescribed. This effectively meant that I was ignoring the requirement to treat this week as a recovery week.

I began jogging with a limp:-) and progressed into a shuffle with a heart rate near its peak. Its not funny as to how, after all these years and with my reputation as a coach, I seem to be getting foolhardy in training myself. I reached the start point for my speed workout and set off at VO2max pace. Oh boy! the damn pain in my calves and shins told me that they don't prescribe recovery weeks for nothing. Shame on you Dan!

I finished my speedwork with my target pace ( I tend to be demanding on myself) and came away with an RPE of 9 and a sheepish grin on my face. I must have looked pretty wasted because one of the regular walkers that gives me a thums up everytime I meet him said, "You are looking very tired today. What happened?", and I answered (again sheepishly), "Too much running last week". Take it easy Dan or you'll come down with one of those colds that last 2 weeks and screw your training.

Churchill Bros

Goa and the football caoching camp was an experience for Bryan as well as for me. The football grounds were EPL quality. When did Goa improve its football standard?? I enjoyed seeing the boys taken thru' plyometric routines by Dempo' coach; these were akin to the ones I do for my marathon training. The other surprise was that the Churchill Bros team were staying at our resort and the Serbian coach mistook me for the school coach (something to do with my frame, I guess:-)). He got so friendly that he took me along with the actual school coach to the VIP enclosure where their team was to play East Bengal Club! We got a pic of him with the boys.

I was able to do my "tempo" run at the Vasco stadium and it was quite taxing, given the fact that I was taxing my liver with good ol' Goa fenny. I teamed up with a young Basketball coach in his room and we enjoyed fish "rechado" and some pmofret fry. All of this added some blubber to my middle:-) Viva Goa!

Switching hard days

I am scheduled to be in Goa this weekend since I am travelling with Bryan' school team for their football coaching camp at Colva. I am aware that although Goa has some of the most beautiful roads and environment, I would find it hard to do my long run out there. There is also the fact that I would indulge myself in the "good life", making it even more difficult to lug my body along for a 2 1/2hr run:-) So, I decided that I'd do my long run today (and do the 'Tempo run' in Goa, instead) and boy, was it difficult!

I set off at what I considered to be my recovery pace; but, lo and behold, my heart rate was going thru' the roof. What was wrong?? I analysed and infered that may be I had not recovered from the weekend '2 hard days in a row'. Things got better when I met Mahesh and he actually dragged me along for my 2nd loop. I am sure that without him I would have found it an effort. What is surprising is that I finished the long run in good shape and even managed to speed up in the last 2k. I guess I have earned the beers in Goa. Hurrah! for a nice leisurely wake up on the weekend in Goa and of course, a nice big breakfast of Goa sausages and "Sorpotel":-)