Saturday, May 2, 2009

Solo weekend 'long' run


There is probably no standard definition of the long run. Personally I consider any distance greater than the Half marathon distance of 21K as a long run. Long runs need some preparation in terms of proper hydration the previous 24-48 hours, greasing up to avoid chaffing and water during the run. Even during the cooler months in Bangalore it is difficult to run beyond 15Kms or so without drinking water. I needed to get in a 25K run this weekend (midway between my April and May marathons). Due to personal constraints I was not able to drive over and join other runners for a run during this weekend and decided to do a solo run locally in the CV Raman Nagar area. Since joining Runners For Life over 3 years ago one has got used to having company on long runs - solo runs of over 20K have been very rare.


I set off with a couple of bottles of water in my hand at quarter past 5 on May 1st(a holiday for labour day)- it was still quite dark and not great fun running down Old Madras road towards BEML road. I was quite relieved when I crossed the railway track into the CV Raman Nagar area. I hid the water bottles in the bushes behind the statue and had a very decent run keeping pace around 5:55. I went upto the HAL walkers park next to the HAL hospital, did a couple of loops there and came back and did the usual loops around Bagmane Tech Park. Was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few runners out there- running is definitely picking up in Bangalore. I was quite satisfied in doing a comfortable 25.5K in 2 hours 30 minutes and happy that I could still do solo long runs if I needed to- though unlikely that I will ever be able to do 16 loops of 2.5K again like I did when training for my First full Marathon in 2002. I am as ready as I possibly can be for the next marathon two weeks from now in the RFL run on 17th May. Once again the weather will be a big factor and hopefully this time I can start around 5:15am.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am training for the Portland Marathon in Oct 2009 (my attempt at anything fitness related). I will need to be in Bangalore Jun-Jul timeframe for 3-4 weeks. I wonder if you could recommend routes for the long runs (I will need to do 14-15-16 miles when I am there). Prefrably routes which are safe for women to run alone. Or are their other groups I can join for a 3 weeks? I am avery slow runner (12 min miles) so may be hard to find serious runners at my pace. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!
-SJ

Bhasker Sharma said...

Hi SJ

Do you know where you will be staying in Bangalore. Checkout Www.runnersforlife.com and http://www.runnergirlsindia.com - both these groups have periodic organised runs in various lcoations around Bangalore. I am sure you will find runners here running at your pace. Look forward to seeing you in Bangalore

Anonymous said...

Don't know yet where I will stay, but since work will be in the whitefield area, I guess someplace near by. Thanks for the 2 links above, I'll check and see what info they have.
Thanks!

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