After 3M we did the second half of the Freescale run. Rougue running systems had taken a lot of trouble in designing runs to make us feel comfortable and make it seem like a cakewalk on D-day. This was just an example. We followed the same course we would follow on the second half of the marathon. Doing this would make the course familiar and put us at ease on the final day.
It was an amazing feeling running through the Capitol. Running has become a part of my life now :) ..Well, I don't promise that I will be doing it all my life, though there is a very good chance that I just might. But, every time I do a run, I don't think I will feel bad about it. I have learnt to enjoy running ...and as in the famous words of someone ;) .."Do birds need to learn to fly, do fish need to learn to swim...But, of course I need to learn to run.. "
After the week we did the second half of freescale, we did an easy 7-10 mile recovery run yesterday. It actually felt like I was missing a long run ..o.k I should stop pusng it a lot. I meant it felt much better doing shorter run for consecutive weeks. 7 more days to go and I can already feel my heart pounding!
We had a Rogue party yesterday evening. It was wonderful to meet the running community of austin. Team asha has been very lucky in receiving support from an organization like "rogue". They have the best coaches in texas and were voted the best running club in texas! Steve and ruth could have very well said "NO" to us losers when we approached them the first time. But, they decided to give it a try and I hope we didn't fail their expectations :) ..and I am sure we got what we expected from rogue and we believe that this relationship between the orgs. would go a long way in the future too..Thanks rogue for making us what we are!!
In all this talk about running, training and the marathon I would like to reiterate that none of our runners would be here at this point if not for that one driving motivation that keeps us ticking, put aside injuries, wake up early in the morning day after day and put on those running shoes...the cause we will be doing all this for. I have posted a lot about what "Team Asha" strives for in this blog. If any of you have any questions, please do send me an email and I will be glad to let you guys know more.
When we cross that finish line on Feb 19th, it will only be a job half-done. We hope to raise $100 for every mile we run on marathon day. We need all the help we can get from ppl like you. Every contribution and every small change you can make helps...
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Runs after the longest one.
I have been pretty busy with a lot of things over the last few weeks and its been extremely difficult to update the blog ..and of course, I was lazy :(
We had a 10 mile recovery after the runtex to runtex 23 miler as expected! Wow it was so much fun to do a recovery run!
The week after that was the 13.1 mile 3M half marathon. I clocked m PR half marathon at probably a speed I will take a long time to match again! I did about 1:37 for the half at around 71/2 mins per mile. But, the course was a steady downhill course and the authorities had made a mistake while drawing out the course and erred by 0.1 miles :)
http://www.runtex.com/NewsView.asp?key_m=557
But, no ones going to take my PR half marathon from me ;)
As for the rest of the team..
Many of our runners finished their goals at this half marathon. Terrible injuries had revised goals for some of our runners. I am really proud to have these fighters stick on and come this far even in the face of bad injuries. Dinesh literally limped across the finish line because of his ITB. He was limping for more than half of the course! It was impossible for him to go on like this to do a marathon. We didn't expect him to do the half with the injury. But, his resolve to attain the goal was amazing. He did an amazing job especially because of the downhills when the stress on the knees and the ITB are the most!
Ashwini had to face multiple problems with her back, wrists and what not! She took it all in her stride to complete her goal of finishing the half marathon too! All of team Asha was there at the AID station at the end of the finish line. But, it sounded like a party!! With almost all of the guys there and ppl with ice wrapped around their legs it looked like a battle field. But, then there were smiles, jokes and excited chatter ! Yes, it was painful and we had gone through a lot to be where we were and thats the reason we deserved to party :)
Anita, our seasoned campaigner finished her half marathon with no major problems and she made us all proud in doing so! Mihir, Sanjeev, Arvind, Gaurav, ganesh, karthik, vinod and the rest of the runners did great times in getting ready for the final frontier!
A special thanks should go to the Rogue team for sticking with us, no matter how complicated we made things for them :) ..
We had a 10 mile recovery after the runtex to runtex 23 miler as expected! Wow it was so much fun to do a recovery run!
The week after that was the 13.1 mile 3M half marathon. I clocked m PR half marathon at probably a speed I will take a long time to match again! I did about 1:37 for the half at around 71/2 mins per mile. But, the course was a steady downhill course and the authorities had made a mistake while drawing out the course and erred by 0.1 miles :)
http://www.runtex.com/NewsView.asp?key_m=557
But, no ones going to take my PR half marathon from me ;)
As for the rest of the team..
Many of our runners finished their goals at this half marathon. Terrible injuries had revised goals for some of our runners. I am really proud to have these fighters stick on and come this far even in the face of bad injuries. Dinesh literally limped across the finish line because of his ITB. He was limping for more than half of the course! It was impossible for him to go on like this to do a marathon. We didn't expect him to do the half with the injury. But, his resolve to attain the goal was amazing. He did an amazing job especially because of the downhills when the stress on the knees and the ITB are the most!
Ashwini had to face multiple problems with her back, wrists and what not! She took it all in her stride to complete her goal of finishing the half marathon too! All of team Asha was there at the AID station at the end of the finish line. But, it sounded like a party!! With almost all of the guys there and ppl with ice wrapped around their legs it looked like a battle field. But, then there were smiles, jokes and excited chatter ! Yes, it was painful and we had gone through a lot to be where we were and thats the reason we deserved to party :)
Anita, our seasoned campaigner finished her half marathon with no major problems and she made us all proud in doing so! Mihir, Sanjeev, Arvind, Gaurav, ganesh, karthik, vinod and the rest of the runners did great times in getting ready for the final frontier!
A special thanks should go to the Rogue team for sticking with us, no matter how complicated we made things for them :) ..
Photos from Runtex 20 miler.
As you all know I am pretty bad at keeping my blog updated :( . O.k here is the next flurry of posts. Here are the promised photos from the runtex20 miler.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
The longest run before the 'end'.
This week was the most tiring week of all in the training. We hit our maximum mileage for a week and a long run. Here is what we did :
Mon/Tue - 6 mile easy
Wed - Hard 5k, >5k, easy pace 'intervals' workout (around 4-5 miles)
Thu/Fri - 6 miles with strides
Sat - 20-24 miles.
We did about 40 miles this week culminating in a 22-23 mile long run! Personally, I did 23 miles at 3:35 . The efforts of team asha was admirable as each one of us put up with the extreme pain to get it done!
As the marathon nears, I am really amazed and am proud of what every runner with team asha is doing. Savitha did a 20 miler all alone in the cold weather of north carolina in pouring rains. Arvind braved the sun and wrong directions in completing 22 miles.
Gloria did her longest run all alone on sunday. I have been very fortunate to be with indivduals who have not made heavy weather of all troubles that they have undergone to be where they are.
When I see the efforts and pains of my team members, my own pain, however small or big they might be, seems to diappear and I draw inspiration from the efforts of my team.
The next few weeks would be the 'taper' before the final exam!! We have started planning for the big one. It would require help from a good no. of friends. Its not easy to get through this challenge without the help of friends and family! While the individual is the one who crosses the finish line, its the team - runners, donors, supporters et. all who have made it possible for us!
As we cross that finish line on Feb 19th, it would not be the ecstacy of standing up to a challenge..rather it would be a satisfaction of making a change however small it might be, in lives that have been ignored and not given the due that they deserve.
I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this wonderful team and look forward to cross the finish line with all the 'heroes/hreoines' of my team who have made it an experience of a life time!
Mon/Tue - 6 mile easy
Wed - Hard 5k, >5k, easy pace 'intervals' workout (around 4-5 miles)
Thu/Fri - 6 miles with strides
Sat - 20-24 miles.
We did about 40 miles this week culminating in a 22-23 mile long run! Personally, I did 23 miles at 3:35 . The efforts of team asha was admirable as each one of us put up with the extreme pain to get it done!
As the marathon nears, I am really amazed and am proud of what every runner with team asha is doing. Savitha did a 20 miler all alone in the cold weather of north carolina in pouring rains. Arvind braved the sun and wrong directions in completing 22 miles.
Gloria did her longest run all alone on sunday. I have been very fortunate to be with indivduals who have not made heavy weather of all troubles that they have undergone to be where they are.
When I see the efforts and pains of my team members, my own pain, however small or big they might be, seems to diappear and I draw inspiration from the efforts of my team.
The next few weeks would be the 'taper' before the final exam!! We have started planning for the big one. It would require help from a good no. of friends. Its not easy to get through this challenge without the help of friends and family! While the individual is the one who crosses the finish line, its the team - runners, donors, supporters et. all who have made it possible for us!
As we cross that finish line on Feb 19th, it would not be the ecstacy of standing up to a challenge..rather it would be a satisfaction of making a change however small it might be, in lives that have been ignored and not given the due that they deserve.
I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this wonderful team and look forward to cross the finish line with all the 'heroes/hreoines' of my team who have made it an experience of a life time!
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