12th in 12 months...a great morning!

After a nervous weekend spent hoping that everything goes off well I am pleased that the day(26th July 2009) went off fantastically well. With the help of a very large number of fellow RFL runners running along side and cheering me on and also aided by the wonderful running route at Olde Bangalore and great Bangalore weather I managed a very comfortable 4:29 finish in my 12th Full marathon in 12 months. Thereby I accomplished the goal I had set myself about 16 months ago April 2008. The high point of the day was unarguably the enthusiasm and support of fellow runners specially from the Red Dragon Gang and BHUKMP runners. The two cool and unexpected gifts: a T-shirt and a wooden plaque listing the twelve marathons (see pictures below) left me quite overwhelmed and speechless. I shall truly cherish these mementos for years to come !.

I started from Domlur layout at 430am and after picking up Rishikesh and Amrita at Brigade towers and connecting with Vasu, Nari , Chandra, Prasad and Ram at GKVK we reached the resort just before 530am. We started running at 535 am just as dawn was breaking out. We ran out from Olde Bangalore resort on the route of the Urban Stampede , went past Prakruthi resorts and at the T-junction took a right and ran up to the point of 7.5Km from Olde Bangalore. It was a fantastic route – pollution free, traffic free with chirping birds and greenery all around. We did not see even a dog for a long time. The route so good that had we carried water with us we would definitely have continued on for a few more Kms. However, without water we did not want to take any chances of risking cramps later in the run. On our way back to the resort as we hit the water point at the 2.5Km point we were joined by a number of other runners: Pankaj, Praveen, Meher, Shantanu, Partha etc. So a much bigger gang set off on the second loop from the water point in which we took a different road. This area turned out to be a great area for running and cycling with numerous peaceful roads crisscrossing around. By the time we returned to Olde Bangalore we had done about 22.7Kms in 2 hrs 20 minutes.

Rishi and I then decided to do two loops of 10K and 9.5K respectively to compelte the FM. I was accompanies by Nitin Gupta for these loops. Though the pace slowed down a bit as the weather warmed up I was feeling very comfortable and able to keep the target of a 4:30 finish well in sight. With Nitin and Manoj pacing me I managed to complete just under that time to cheers from A2, Nikhil, Praveen, Pankaj and others at the finish point. Felt really wonderful at the end to have accomplished my goal . Rishi, Prasad and Amrita also crossed the finished line a few minutes after me. After celebrating with the T-shirt, Plaque and a birthday cake for Pankaj Rai and a hearty breakfast we started the return drive around 11:15am with myself pretty much on cloud 9!.

Garmin Forerunner 305 issue with saving History data

About ten days ago I realised that data was not getting uploaded from my Garmin Forerunner 305 into the Training center application on the PC. On further investigation I found that the problem was actually different - my device had stopped storing data in its memory almost exactly 2 years after I started using it. I used the device for the first time on 4rth July 2007 and the last hirstory data in the unit was for 28th June 2009(my 11th FM in the current series). All data after that date was lost. As per the user manual the unit is supposed to overwrite history data once the memory is full. I tried deleting the history data but was unable to do so.

Having become addicted to my Garmin Forerunner 305 and uploading and analysing my workout data on a weekly basis I was quite disheartened with this malfunction of the unit. In despair I wrote about the problem to Garmin support and got the following response a few days later.

'Dear Bhasker Sharma,

Thank you for contacting Garmin Europe.These problems can usually be solved by updating or reloading the unit software and then performing a hard reset. Please be aware that this process will clear all of your data from the unit so ensure that if possible it is backed up to a computer.To update the software on the unit the Webupdater can be used, which canbe obtained from: http://www.garmin.com/products/webupdater/. Download and install this then connect your unit the computer. The webupdater will then check for available updates and download as necessary ? if theupdater states that you have the latest version then please select the option to reload current version.To reset the unit turn the unit off, hold down the mode button and turn the unit on. When the unit asks if you want to erase all user data, select yes. After resetting the unit, leave it with a clear view of the sky for about 30 minutes to acquire the satellite almanac.

If there is anything else I can help you with then please let me know. Alternatively you can search for a solution here: http://www.garmin.com/support.'

I followed the above instructions and downloaded the Webupdater software using which I updated the Firmware on my device from V2.6 to V2.9. Then instead of reseting the unit as mentioned above I turned it on and was prompted to delete the history data. I was able to successfully delete the history data and thankfully all is back to normal and my workouts are being stored again!

Countdown to the 12th..

Just about a week from doing the 12th marathon in 12 months on 26th July. My confidence level is pretty high with a few good training runs under the belt while at the same time I am a bit nervous. A lot of fellow runners and family members are aware that this is the 12 th run putting somewhat additional pressure - I hope everything goes well and I am successfully able to complete the mission that I sent out on 12 months ago! Running wise I am in as good a shape as can be. I did a 2hr 23 minutes 25Km run on 11th July. Followed by a couple of good tempo runs of 9K last week and a decent 12K with Rohit today. Nevertheless, I am not looking at pushing myself to achieve any specific timing - I would be happy to complete between 430 and 445.

The RFL run on 26th July is going to be a mock relay run to practice for the Urban stampede on 9th August and is at the same location of Olde Bangalore resort starting at 7am. As has been the case in the past few marathons done in the RFL organised runs, I hope to start running around 530am with the goal of completing 15K before the start of the RFL run at 7. And again I am expecting the company of RFL runners throughout the race including those of several runners from BHUKMP who are planning to do the full marathon.