5K PB at Puma Urban Stampede 2012

Running as the first runner as part of the Alcatel-Lucent CXS/Motive team at Puma Urban Stampede 2012 I managed to complete the 5K in just under 22:05 beating my previous best from Duathalon 2010 by nearly 50 seconds!! My previous best  at Urban Stampede was 24:54 in the 2008 edition!! I was certainly helped by ideal weather conditions and the fast pace set by a number of runners. Considering that till the previous evening I was nursing a sprain in my right lower back I am extremely satisfied with my run. On the other hand skipping my long run (13 miles at 8:34 per mile) on Saturday probably helped me. The other three runners in my team finished in between 30 and 35 minutes for a team time of 2:07 or so. Need to check the exact timings when the results are out later this week.

Riding with Harish, a colleague from Alcatel-Lucent, I left the Domlur signal at 5:10am and reached Clarke's Exotica right at 6am - we were among the first runners to get there. By 6:30am there were lots of runners around.  The holding area  and race start was outside the resort property The race was compered by Atul who is very good at this. The race was flagged off pretty much on time at 7:02 am. I took off at a reasonably good pace and completed the 1st mile in 6:43. The second mile took 7:07 probably due to a gradient just before the U turn point at 2.5Km. I was able to pick up pace in the third mile for a time of 6:59 to keep the overall 5K time just around 22 minutes! The race organisation was great - the runner name and company name in black on a black background on the bibs made it a little difficult for others to read the names. The event itself has come a long way since the 1st edition in 2008 which started with 78 teams. This year saw   participation from over 350 teams!!The top three teams in the men's category were all from Toyota (yet again) with terrific timings. After a sumptuous breakfast and photo shooting on the podium we left the resort at 10am and got home around 11:15am after a highly satisfying morning!! 

Month end musings August 2010

August has been a mixed bag. Started the month with the 'Mega' cycle ride to Nandi Hills on 1st August that I enjoyed tremendously. The following weekend , that is, 6th through 8th August I spent in Sankarnagar in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. During this weekend the Lucozade Urban Stampede was held - the 3rd edition of the event was a great success with participaton from 294 teams from 81 companies and 22 non-corporate teams. Once again Toyota bagged the top two positions. See here for all winners of this edition. Three teams from my company Mformation participated in this years and all the runners had a great time with many of them doing their personal best times. Having been involved in conceptualising and sponsoring the 1st edition of Urban Stampede it is a pleasure to see the event grow in size and stature.

Though I had a couple of very enjoyable runs at Sankarnagar soon after return I started suffering from a niggle in my left quads. Despite the pain the left quads I ran a decent 27K on 15th August at EGL. However, towards the end of that week the quads started to hurt quite a bit. Therefore after consulting with sports-physio Preeti, I decided to skip the RFL Nandi hills run on 22nd August. It turned out to be a great run based on reports and pictures from fellow runners who participated. I can imagine how it must have been - having experienced it myself 3 years ago- the only time I have run up and down Nandi hills. Well, it looks like forgoing the Nandi hills run and a forced lay-off from running and cycling is the price I have to pay for the Nandi Hills cycling during which period I ran 70Km and cycled 150Kms in a space of 8 days. At least that is what I think caused the stress in the quads. The only other possiblity is my shoes. I have over-used my current pair and am trying to break into a new pair - this transition could have also caused the stress. I have stayed with Addidas Super Nova cushion ever since I started long distance running 9 years ago. This model has now been replaced by Addidas Glide. Since I have not had any issue with the Super Nova cushion I assume the likelyhood of the shoe being responsible for the quads strain is low. Ofcourse, one can never tell.

Anyway, for 7 days from 20th to 26th August I stayed off running and cycling - my longest involuntary lay-off since the knee injury of 2003. I do consider myself fortunate to have stayed injury free for an extended period of time and hope that I have the good fortunate to stay with similar frequency of injury related lay-off(which is part and parcel of a runners life!). Forced lay-offs are never fun for a runner - it always makes me feel miserable and low on enthusiasm and energy. One gets the feeling during this period that one is likely to put on weight. Even my truncated strengthening sessions at Manipal did not got too well.

After nearly two weeks I ran a slow 21K today - my left leg (quads and toes) did not feel too good towards the end. Feel very worried and apprehensive about the upcoming Kaveri Trail Marathon and the 2010-11 running season. I had planned the following over the next 6 months:

• 
  
  Kaveri Trail Marathon(KTM) on Sept 19th
• Globeracers Bhati Lakes 100 miler on Oct 17th - 50 miles (tentative)
• Bangalore Ultra on November 14th - 50K if I do 50 miles above or else 75K if I skip the above
• Bangalore Midnight marathon Mid-December - probably a fast HM
• Mumbai marathon - January 16th 2011
• Auroville marathon - Feb 20th 2011

Now, I will  tune the above depending on how my left leg takes the full marathon at KTM. As of today it looks like I will have to skip the 50 miles at Bhati Lakes 100 miler and do the usual 50K at the bangalore ultra. Will know by this time in 3 weeks!

Random July end musings

It has been over a month since my last post. I have been meaning to write every weekend but have not been able to make the time to do so. Finally I decided that I cannot let the whole month of July go by without a single post and decided to combine a number of thoughts into a signle post.

The running has been going well. In preparation for the upcoming marathon season I have managed to do two good 30Km+ runs on consecutive Sundays. Did a 3:20/32Km on 18th July with Rishi,Nari, Amrita, Chandra etc of the BHUKMP gang at GKVK . Running in GKVK after nearly 8 months was a great experience. And of course the weather was fantastic. This was folllowed by a 3:47/35Km run as part of the RFL long run at EGL on 25th July - just a day before completion of one year since my milestone of twelve marathons in tweleve months . I again had the pleasure of the company of several of the BHUKMP runners who made 26th July 2009 truly memorable.  These runners also encouraged me in all my marathons and ran several of them with me. Looking back I am glad I set myself that goal and  managed to achieve it. It has certainly made me a better, stronger and confident runner and strengthened my friendship with numerous runners.

My next 35Km+  run will hopefully be the Nandi hills RFL run on 22nd August. Meanwhile I have registered for the 4rth edition of KTM on 19th September which will be my first marathon of this season. Registrations for Mumbai marathon - SCMM 2011 opened on 22nd July. There are a few changes this year including a new website for registration. See the website or the press release from the event launch for details of changes. Thouh I had a few initial hiccups I completed the registration for SCMM 2011 on 22nd July evening itself.

After running the Urban Stampede in 2008 and 2009 I will be missing the event this year as I will be out of town the weekend of 7th/8th August. With over 230 teams already registered the Lucozade Urban Stampede on 8th August will surely be the largest RFL event ever and could see close to a thousand runners. It will definitely be a great occassion - I wish all the participants including the 3 teams from Mformation all the very best!

23rd June was the the 98th birthday of Alan Turing - a poineering mathematician, philosopher and computer scientist of the 20th century. Through an alert on google related to martahon running I learnt that day he was also an accomplished long distance runner who ran a full marathon in 1947 in an amazing 2 hours, 46 minutes, 3 seconds! See this scrapbook page for more details of Turing as a runner.  Of course, today we know of several celebrities who are also marathon runners. Among these are :   Oprah Winfrey, 1994 Marine Corps Marathon (4:29:15), Sarah Palin, 2005 Humpy's Marathon (3:59:36),George W. Bush, 1993 Houston Marathon (3:44:52) ,Lance Armstrong, 2006 (2:59:36) and 2007 (2:46:43) New York City Marathon and Al Gore, 1997 Marine Corps Marathon (4:54:25)!!

Finally, tomorrow, 1st August 2010 I am planning to go on  a cycle ride to Nandi hills as part of the July month end ride of BBC(Bangalore Bikers Club). With over 130 cyclists registered to participate  - many of them experienced cyclists this should be good fun. Of course, I am a bit apprehensive as I have not cycled more than 55Km in a day before and that was 3 years ago. I am banking on the strength of my running form and also that I have been cycling 30Kms+ per week regularly. I also hope to get support and tips from the other experienced cyclists!!

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.