Good Run?

The Coimbatore marathon that I ran on Sunday was a mixed bag for me. My net timing came to 2:31:45. As bad as the Hyderabad marathon. And yet I don’t feel as bad about it as I felt after the Hyderabad run. After your fourth Half Marathon, your timing should certainly be better than that. But I don’t feel all that bad.

Although the timing of the run is close to my personal worst, it was the strongest finish that I have had till now. I think until 14kms, I did the pace that I would normally have done if I were not running with Nanda. My split at 14.8 kms was 1:41:19. Which I thought was good. After this point, I had the strength and energy to do 6.30 min/km for the rest of the run. That would have taken me another 40 mins and my timing would have been about 2:20 hrs which is not bad considering that I had just 3 hours sleep the night before.

I slowed myself and gave Nanda company for the rest of the run. I wasn’t required to do that during the run and he certainly didn’t ask  me to. I actually expected him to be stronger and I felt that if we ran together, we would push each other. He started tiring after 16kms and I had to hold back to run with him.

I wanted to avoid doing the mistakes I had done during the Hyderabad marathon and I think I did pretty well in that aspect. I have gotten stronger over the past few weeks and the quality of the run in Coimbatore was much better compared to any of my previous runs. I didn’t feel tired during the run the way I usually feel and even after the run, I felt I had the energy to do another 5k which bodes well for me as I have planned a 25k for this Sunday.

So more practice and more discipline are the way for the road ahead. And if I want better timings during my runs, I need to stop doing charity work and start concentrating on my own runs.

Pre Coimbatore update

I will be running the Coimbatore half marathon this Sunday. It will be my fourth running event. Somehow this time it really doesn’t feel like a big deal to me. Since I have now shifted my focus to training for the full marathon, the half has lost its punch a little.

Still it is a half marathon and the last half I ran was a struggle. I need to make sure that I don’t repeat the mistakes that I did in Hyderabad. I will need to start slow, maintain that pace for the first 4 kms, raise my pace a little till the 9 km mark and then access the conditions.

My splits during last years Wipro Chennai marathon were 46 mins for 7.25 and 1:38 mins for 16.5 km. I should try to be somewhere near those timings. 50 mins for the 7 km and 1:40 for the 16 km are realistic goals that I can set for myself. I took 42 mins for the first 6.5 kms during my last long run, so 50 for 7 seems like a good target to have for the first 7 kms. I could try to do the next 8 in another 50 mins. So will reach the 15k mark at 1:40 mins. From there I have 35 mins to complete the last 6k or so. Shouldn’t be too bad I guess.

I will probably be running with Nanda during the run so we will try to push each other. I think a 2:15 finish will be a decent result. Since I am treating this run like another training run, I wont really try to go for my PB. I don’t think I can do my PB even if I try to. I don’t understand how I did a 2:02 in my first half. Insane.

Pre Coimbatore Update

Quick update about how my running has been going these days. After a disappointing AHM, I took some time off to rest my right ankle. Weekly mileage after AHM was 21, 12,10 and 24. Got a little shin concern in between but otherwise am fit now. The ankle hasn’t healed completely yet but there is no pain during or after runs. It will get better over time.

I am seriously considering changing my registration from half to full for the Dec run. I may not get completely ready for the run but I should be able to manage. I don’t like being a half guy. I have to become a full marathon runner.

I have 10 weeks for training for the full. Last year I had 10 weeks for training for the half and I managed okay despite the rains. The mileage will go upto 30 kms from this week onwards which means I will be in full throttle mode. I need to monitor very closely how my body holds up to the stress.

About the Coimbatore half in due 2 weeks time, I am not taking it too seriously. I will do a 16 k this Sunday and I should be in decent shape for the run. I won’t push too hard in Coimbatore. I’ll use it as a practice run for the CTC half later in the month. I will take the CTC half very seriously as that is the last run before the Dec run and it will help me give a very good idea of where I am in terms of fitness. I wish I had more time to change my registration criteria. I am grateful they even provided that option.

Have completed 619 kms till now. 381 to do in 3.5 months. I should be able to manage.

 

A Reply to Sridhar 2012

To,

R. Sridhar Reddy,
Aged 23 years, 9 months.

Hey buddy, read your letter to me yesterday. As silly as the concept of writing a letter to yourself in the past is, I am compelled to do it. I have done very few cool things in life, but this blog and that post is definitely one of them. So apt and prophetic were your words, it amazes me. Yeah, sometimes I just amaze myself.

I write this piece to you because you asked me a few questions. Questions that I would like to answer for the purpose of maintaining a record.

The first question you asked:
How life going? — Exciting?  Boring?  Engaging?  Dull?  Relaxed?  Pressured?  Happy?  Sad?  Content?  Frustrated?

The answer to that is my life is currently Exciting, Pressured, Content and a little bit Frustrated.  You wrote that your life was a mixture of some of those feelings. I guess we are the same in that regard. One year has passed in between. Things have changed. But we remain the same at the core. Will I be able to say the same 5 years later??

Back then you had been on bench for 5 months in a row and were worried that that spell on the bench would hamper your chances elsewhere. You would go on to get a project only in December but that project turned out to be a good one so your worry was for nothing. You said that in September 2013 you would like me to be working in Hyderabad but you wouldn’t be disappointed if I was still at Mphasis. I am in fact still at Mphasis. And I am not disappointed about that. I am in an environment where I can learn a lot of things everyday from people who are so much more experienced than me. My learning is only limited by my drive to learn.

To the question if you were content, your answer was yes and no. If you ask me now, I guess my answer would be the same. You proceeded to rate yourself based on 5 parameters. I shall do that too

1. Money. You said then that you didn’t think the loans would be going anywhere. You were right. In fact they have increased. I had to top-up the personal loan so now I am paying 30k to your 28k. If were to write a One Year Later right now, I would probably right the same thing. The loans are something I have come to take up as a responsibility on myself. Its true that I am living in the dark a little currently. My credit card bill reads 80k and I don’t have the money to pay this months minimum bill. I didn’t have the money to go to Goa too but I went anyway 🙂 . I am sure I will manager somehow.

Have I become a little bolder over the last few months. I think so. Less worried over the upcoming expenses I am. I can remember a few months back when I started eagerly waiting for the 1st of next month when I would get my salary and I could sort out my arrears. Not anymore. My skin has thickened up.

You rated yourself 7/10. I rate myself 8/10, simply because I have reduced my expenses a lot and now am more mature about my spending. Or not!

Peace of Mind/Pressures:  You felt the pressure of not having a project. I have learn’t to cope with the pressure that are present in my present project. It’s just the issues with Dad which I didn’t have then have started putting an overhead on me. Added to that is my inability to help mom or bro in dealing with difficult times. Not that I think about that a lot. But I should. And act on it. Which I will. Soon. Boy has arseblog had an affect on me.
Your rating 8. My rating 7.

Health: Now this is where I am really proud. The idleness in the later months of 2012 drove me to take up running and I have not given up since. You expected me to run the 10k at least 4 times. I have done better than that. I have run 3 half marathons and am currently thinking of participating in a full!  Certainly one of the better decisions I have made in my life when I started running. My running is haphazard right now because of the rains and the shifts but I make sure I make the best out of the time I have.
Your rating 9. My rating 10.

Interests/Hobbies: Okay here I have not done all that I could do. It true that you cannot do it all but I can do better than I am doing right now. I have stuck to the guitar which I am not really getting better at but I have stuck to it which must count to something. Completely stopped practicing Telugu. Have managed to improve communication with parents. Am growing further apart with batchmates, specially with lot of them leaving for U.S.
Your rating 9. My rating 8.

Pussy. Bah!. The only difference between you and me is that in the last one year, 5 of my batchmates have got married. And bro’s marriage is planned for Dec. Wonder how that will go. Its a barren land for me out there. And will be for sometime to come. No point in rating myself here.

So there it is. My reply to you. May this tome go into the shelves of awesomeness. Whatever that means!

Love,

Sridhar
Aged 24 years 9 months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AHM Episode 1

I ran the Hyderabad Half on Sunday. It was my third running event and first in over 6 months. The preparation was less than perfect. I remember feeling more confident before last year’s Chennai half than the Hyderabad run. The ankle pain didnt let me train as much as I wanted and 6 weeks practice was not sufficient anyway.

How did the run go? It was bad. All because of my mistake of having started faster than I should have. Finished with a timing of 02:31:40, 29 minutes more than what I took to finish Chennai run last year. I was feeling good before the start of the run and I thought I could do a 2:00 hour run. It was over-confidence I got punished for it. Into the 6th Km I realized my mistake. I was tiring fast and the run had just started. I kept thinking that I had the energy to do the run well even if it took me more time. Boy was I wrong.

After 12 I felt depleted. The maximum I had run leading upto the event was 16 so I knew at that point that I was in for an ordeal. I reduced my pace and kept going. Soon I had to stop and walk a little after every km and after 18, I had to walk multiple times before I could finish the run. The track was 400 mts longer which didn’t help me any. I felt I had some energy left after the finish. I was not totally exhausted. This could only mean that I was not fit enough to utilize all the energy I had.

The run had its positives. Firstly the run is the toughest city Marathon in India so now I know what tough tracks feel like and I can prepare better. I learn’t a lot of things while preparing for the run and during the run. Met lot of new folks and slowly became more and more involved with the Chennai runners batch. Had a chat with Manivannan today morning during the run and now I am signing up for the Coimbatore marathon.. an event that I had no prior plans on attending.

I have to take the positives forward and keep learning. Can’t be too hard on myself but I have to get more discipline into my running.

I have 4 more events lined up for the next 4 months. CTC half and Coimbatore half in October and Chennai and Bangalore in December. I am planning to take it easy for a couple of weeks to rest my ankle and let it heal. After that I will start serious preparation for the Chennai Half marathon. My goal for Chennai is to do the sub 2:00. I have 13 weeks to train for that. I have to increase my mileage slowly and  make sure I don’t make the same mistakes again.

Till now I have faced Shin and ankle issues. What other problems can come up? Knees, Back, hamstring, quads, etc etc. Anything can give up at any time. I just hope I get an injury free 8 weeks to really develop a good feel of my running.

Prog 3

In the last couple of weeks, I completed the Auroville marathon and have settled down in the team. I was free last Sunday but couldn’t come up with a post so we’ll just have to do with this one.

Good:

1. Completed the Auroville marathon. It took me about 2 hrs 16 mins. It was a good run and I did better than what I expected second time in a row. The shin exercises in the gym have helped and although I have some knee issues now, it’s not that severe so I don’t have to worry right now. Prepared a running schedule and have stuck to it in a satisfactory fashion till now.

2. Played some more guitar. Again I have to put in more effort.

Bad:

1. Have got a bit lazy about getting the xerox for the RC. Have to get it done soon and plan to get the smart card done too.

2. Have to improve the driving a bit. Not doing good enough.

Next week:

Have to continue the good work on the guitar. Have to take care of the expenses at home and be constantly in touch with mom and dad. Just do better in general.

Pre-Auroville Post

I am to run the Auroville marathon this sunday. The preparation for the run hasn’t gone as I had planned. Shin splints came in my way and I had to drop the plan completely. I have been running in the gym for the last 3 weeks and have been doing some exercises for the shins and I think they been beneficial.

I ran a 10k yesterday on the treadmill and didn’t feel a lot of discomfort. But still the treadmill is completely different from the road and 10k doesn’t compare to the half. So I really don’t know how my body will hold up to the wear. I think overall I am a little fitter compared to when I ran the Chennai marathon but I haven’t run a long run in over 2 months so I am badly under prepared.

My target last time around was to see if I could complete the run in less than 2:05 hrs. I did it in 2:02:34 hrs. My target this Sunday is to complete the run without falling over the finish line and if possible, look to cross the finish line in 2:30 hrs.

The preperation for the Chennai marathon was perfect. It won’t be so this time around. This time it’s more of a mental challenge than a physical one. I just want to complete the run successfully and then look to building up a schedule for proper return to full time running. Wishing myself good luck..

So many resolutions!

1. On the first day of this year, I thought about what resolutions I can have for this year. The first thought that came to my mind was running. I will do 1000 kms in 2013, I declared. Just 11 days into 2013, I see it’s going to be difficult. Shin Splints are making me give up on the Auroville half marathon. I would have run 200 kms by the end of the Marathon if I hadn’t had this problem. But still a resolution is a resolution. And I will have to try my best.

2. 2012 for me was a year where I faced stress and pressures. I want 2013 to be the year where I teach myself ways to effectively deal with issues. I want to consciously acknowledge each problem as it comes along and I want to create strategies to handle these problems. I also want 2013 to be the year when I become proactive in every way. This is not going to be easy but I will try my best.

3. I resolve to get better and better at the guitar. There is no way for me to measure my improvement at the guitar. Time spent playing is not an accurate measure of progress and it is difficult to record. I will just have to be my own judge and see where I am going.

4. I want to learn a new language in 2013. Tamil.

5. I want to read 20 books in 2013. And I want to improve the quality of the books I read and diversify the range of topics that I cover.

6. I want to do a constant appraisal of myself in blog and collage about my progress.

Sridhar Reddy review – 2012

So.. this is a first. How do I review myself… Let’s see

There are still 3 days left in 2012. But I don’t think anything drastic is going to happen now. So I think I have a pretty full account of my year gone past.

Start: Flat 14, Sai Pooja Avenue, Kandanchavadi, Chennai

End: Flat GF5, Sri Jayendra Colony, Kandanchavadi, Chennai

I think I have improved considerably as a person in the year gone by. I have become more self conscious, more responsible for myself, matured as a person and I now am more confident. I have done things that I am proud of. Like persist with the guitar. I have come to the point where I can tell people that I am good with the guitar. And if someone asks me to play, I can play something that I am confident they will like. I couldn’t do that 1 year ago.

The half marathon was another achievement. I have felt that things have come really easily to me in life. But the run wasn’t easy. It was a lot of effort. I take pride in having the determination to stick to running and am proud of having achieved my goal. It’s a nice feeling, when you are able to achieve a goal that you set for yourself. I haven’t felt this feeling before. My goal in BITS would always be to do better in the semester and crack the courses but I never did. That is why I was never proud of myself.

Any other achievements? Thinking hard.. still thinking.. No. That’s it. There is nothing else remarkable enough to be mentioned.

How about things that I did well. I improved my communication with my brother. Was in constant touch with mom and dad. Made an effort to improve mom’s life. Tried to give back something to society through Action Aid and Greenpeace donations. Took more interest in politics and tried to be more aware of what’s happening around me. Became less lazy in general and tried to help the people around me.

So that’s about things I did well. On to things I didn’t do so well. When I was stuck in bench for those 6 months, I didn’t really try to force myself out of the situation. I was content to sit back and let things happen. I need to change that about myself. I need to start taking things in my hands. Become more decisive and less hesitant. That is a major change I would like to see in myself. I want to become less hesitant in public. And the rating that Kamal gave me. I can blame him for it but I can see that it was my fault also in a way. It certainly cost me close to 25,000 Rs. I have to keep this experience in mind always and act accordingly.

Major changes/ things I bought:

The bike in April. Cost me 23,500 then. Including the repairs that I have made on it till date, the cost comes to 29,000 Rs. It’s now in perfect condition. I have now decided to get the bike registered in my name. 7 months without an accident. It’s a good bike. I’ll carry it with me if I move. Bought car in August. Booked for home in June for which I took a personal loan of 3,00,000 Rs. The house is nearing completion and will be completed in a month. Gruha Pravesham is in a couple of weeks. Also bought a sofa set and a fridge for home. Minor things include a new pair of shoes, a pair of jeans, a new mp3 player.. that’s it.

Major losses:

Lifted a pair of Bose earphones from bro that I really enjoyed. They broke down a week back. I really feel the loss. Fell from the bus in January. Broke a tooth. Got a replacement. Spent 3000 for car window shades that had to be pulled down. And I managed to lose my license. And I have no idea when and where. Thats it?

Financial situation:

Liabilities:

Personal Loan: 3,82,500, Car Loan: 6,16,600, Education Loan: 4,50,000, Credit card: 35,000

Total: 14,85,000 Rs

Assets:

Car: 5,50000 Rs, Bike: 25,000 Rs, Room Advance: 24,000 Rs

Total: 599000

Deficit: 8,86,000 Rs.

Goals for 2013:

I think in 2013 I want to improve on what I have already built up. I want to break the 1:50 Hrs. barrier in half marathon. I want to improve further in guitar playing skills. I want to bring down the deficit in my financial sheet to under 6 lakhs. It’ll take some doing seeing as there will be a new addition to loans pretty soon but I will try my best and be proud if I do good. I want to keep coming up with innovative ideas to write about. I want to create a structure to my career and lay down some concrete plans. I want to find out what my dream is. And I want to get laid. Obviously.

I am in a dilemma career wise right now. I am not really sure what I want to do next. The lack of a C.S or an IT degree means I’ll never be able to work in technology companies. The options I have left for me are product related companies or IT companies. My current path is that of an Oracle DBA. I can arrange it to show that I have 2 years experience in DBA come June 2013. I can do that, or I can learn Java and try for a product based company. Product  based companies pay well. I can only get into IT companies as a DBA. Is money everything? Which career path is better? I don’t have answers to these questions. I have to make up my mind in the next 2 months about this. I’ll speak to different people and decide for my own. This is something I’ll like to have cleared up by the end of 2013.

So things to look forward to in 2013: My bro’s marriage. How I shape my carrier. More marathon runs. More guitar playing. And learning tamil …..

Preparing for Second Marathon – Weeks 1-4, Shin Splints

I decided to participate in the Auroville marathon after successfully completing the Chennai Marathon. The gap between the two events was 10 weeks so that gave me a nice interval where I could create a schedule and prepare properly. But my preparation so far hasn’t been the greatest.

The first week was all rest. I was sore for three days after the run and I donated blood midweek so I took it easy for that week. I started running the next week but had to struggle in my runs. I blamed the loss of blood for the struggle and it was expected. I ran 12k the first week and 18k the next week.

By week three, my fitness improved a little but the runs were still difficult as I started facing shin pain in the middle of my runs. I thought the pain was a result of lack of proper warmup and it wasn’t severe so I ignored it. I did 20k in week 3 including a 10k. My shins troubled me on all 3 runs of week 3 but they settled down once I had done some distance in the runs.

I scheduled 28k for week 4. I started with a 6k hard run which I struggled to complete. The shin problem of week 3 was in the back of my mind so I made sure I warmed up properly for the run. But I was in trouble after the first km. I took breaks during the run – the way I usually do on a hard run, but the shin kept aching. I could feel the soreness after completing the run. I had a good stretching  session and took rest the next day. But the pain did not go away. It troubled me from the beginning of my next run so I decided to take it easy and not to push through the pain.

There hasn’t been any significant change in conditions before and after the Chennai marathon. The shoes are worn out and I ordered another pair but the shin trouble may not be related to the shoes. All other conditions remaining the same, I think the its just a case of overuse. I have decided to take it easy the rest of week 4. I am icing the effected region twice a day and am doing shin related exercises. I do this for three days and then run again on Monday in week 5 with new shoes. If the problem persists, I’ll have to seriously think about this.

Running through the pain is a bad idea. In all the research that I have done about shin splints, all the people have suggested that running through shin splints might lead to stress fracture. This is something that I need to deal with very carefully. I’d rather be off the road for 2 weeks than 3 months. I outdid my expectations for the Chennai marathon so I shouldn’t push too hard for the Auroville marathon. I’ll be happy to participate and get some more experience. The 5 month lay off after Auroville can be used to build strength and fitness for the runs in the later part of 2013.

So I am not pushing in my runs. Auroville is 6 weeks away and I might not be as perfectly prepared for it as I was for Wipro marathon but that doesn’t mean I didn’t put in effort. When the body is fatigued, it pleads for rest. It’s better to give it the rest it asks for.