Musings of a maverick Bangalore runner: More thoughts from Strides of Hope experience

Monday, March 8, 2010

More thoughts from Strides of Hope experience

A little over two weeks after the Strides of Hope run here are a few random musings and more pictures from the event(in keeping with my recent habit of two posts related to every major event)

The fact that I was able to do a run/walk for 13.5 hours without any specific training shows that the limits of human endurance can be stretched quite a bit

This has awakened my interest in ultra endurance events specially multi-day events. In the US and other 'running mature' countries there are quite a few such events. Multi-day events are at a nascent stage in India. Globracers is organising a couple of such events that sound quite exciting and challenging. I will look at doing one of these in years to come.

I feel I should have carried a change of shoes for the event. Using the same pair of shoes for over 13 hours was definitely not a good idea. A fresh pair of shoes might have given a new lease of life to my feet and enabled me to carry on a bit longer

I also broke a cardinal principle of mine of 'Not trying anything new during an event' by helping myself to sumptous regular (and very good) food during the dinner break. My digestive system was obviously not used to running after such a meal. If I had stayed with maybe sandwiches, nuts and dry fruits I may not have hit the GI stress at dawn. See here for an excellent post on GI Stress.

Another realisation I had during the run was my addiction to running with a cap. I have rarely done a long run or a run in any event without a cap. The cap of course helps when it is either very warm or cold or even if it drizzles. Apart from that it helps absorb the sweat around my forehead. And now it has become a pyschological requirement for me. During one of the loops at EGL, while changing my running shirt to a full sleeve shirt I forgot to wear back my cap. I felt very conscious of this during the entire lap and was anxious to get back to the aid station point and wear the cap again. Talking of sweat I think I sweat very little compared to many runners I know - not sure the reason for this. But in general I am not a sweating type.