hey..only the last words on this blog before my marathon :) .
I had to kind of 'pep-up' our wonderful team too!
Hey ppl,
Take it easy and no tension. If at all you feel nervous think about all inspirational moments in our training. These are moments that were turning points in our running careers.
1. Gaurav misleading savitha on the first long run
2. Savitha misleading karthik in revenge
3. My burnt pasta in our first potluck
4. Arvind being given president's treatment with cop cars and all at the 20 miler.
5. Mihir loving the hills and going "insane" after the tablets.
6. My piece of philosophy of "finding one's own path"
7. Steve getting so irritated with A+ gaurav's questions that he volunteers to cut his legs off.
and so on :)
Seriously, its been a party so far!! At the finish line tomorrow it will be the biggest party of them all!!
We are well trained and are prepared. Don't work yourself up ..just enjoy the party tomorrow ...10,000 ppl running, a sea of ppl on either side of the roads, music bands almost every mile, Team asha support teams at various points, known faces and the whole city cheering for you.
...and of course, when you reach the finish line there will be beer :)
Life like the marathon tomorrow teaches us to focus on positives and keep going. When you think of the legs that ache or the body that says enough... just spare a thought for the underprivileged we all strive for. Is this pain and suffering anywhere close to what they undergo ? Think of the change that this could bring in their lives...
Zatopek said "If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon."...
when we were discussing about a slogan for next year sanjeev came up with one that fits us damn well!
"If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to change a life, run a marathon."
You are a hero because you will cross the finish line tomorrow. You are a hero because the kid in that remote village of india can now go to school.
Go Team Asha!!
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Last words..
Our team felt pretty bad about the weather and sanjeev is fighting flu. The change of weather has caused trouble for some of or runners. Vinod, the expert marathoner in our team sent a few last words...
Folks,
There is a lot of talk about cold weather and winds and visualizing
your race. You have heard about it incessantly from Steve. So I wont
say anything about that.
Au contraire, don't spend too much time thinking about the race. You
have all done your homework and the months of training will help you
accomplish your goal. Think about where you were and what kind of
shape you were in before the training schedule started. Reflect how
you have matured as a runner over the past months.
The one thing you should do tonight and tomorrow is to load up on
electrolytes It is very important to load up on electrolytes
especially in the last 60 hours. No matter what your choice of
electrolytes is, make sure you are well loaded with them. Plan on
drinking atleast about 1-1/2 to 2 gallons of electrolyte drinks
uniformly distributed over today and tomorrow. Also strictly avoid
alcohol (and thats not just for Santhosh).
For the rest, sleep early and sleep long tonight. You have to get up
very early on Sunday morning, and it is easy to not sleep well on the
night before the race. So please make sure you sleep well tonight and
are well rested.
There will be lots of Asha folks out on the course to cheer you on the
day of the race. We have folks coming from Asha Houston as well. There
are excess of ten thousand people running the marathon. The atmosphere
is going to be electric. Soak it all in and just enjoy your run, you
might even miss seeing the finish line go by.
Good luck to everyone. That said, I'll shamelessly paste here what I
had written on last year's mailing list.
______________
It will be over in two days. When you cross that finish line come
sunday, you will experience a joy unlike anything you have ever felt.
Every aching muscle has been reflected in the face not in the form of
a grimace but as a smile and a grin. Wherever you are, whatever life
has in store for you, I know that all of you will succeed. Success
comes not from complaining but from overcoming difficulty by sheer
dint of work and persistence. Courage is not the absence of fear but
the ability to continue despite it. It took courage to walk into that
room in Texas Union in that other lifetime a long time ago. It took
courage to lace up those shoes and head out the door on every run you
did in the past 5 months. It will take courage to cross that finish
line a week from today but I have the greatest of confidence in your
indomitable spirit. The same spirit that saw the pioneers blaze the
path westward a hundred and fifty years ago in this country. The same
courage that saw Tenzing and Hillary climb Everest. The same courage
that saw Leonidas and his men refuse to surrender to the Persians and
choose to die to the man at Thermopylae. In that famous battle the
most courageous was Dienekes who, upon being told that the Persians
had so many archers that their arrows would darken the sun, said
"Good. Then we will fight in the shade".
George Sheehan uttered these famous words - "I have met my hero, and
he is me." Go out my heroes one and all, let us conquer Austin.
-Vinod
Folks,
There is a lot of talk about cold weather and winds and visualizing
your race. You have heard about it incessantly from Steve. So I wont
say anything about that.
Au contraire, don't spend too much time thinking about the race. You
have all done your homework and the months of training will help you
accomplish your goal. Think about where you were and what kind of
shape you were in before the training schedule started. Reflect how
you have matured as a runner over the past months.
The one thing you should do tonight and tomorrow is to load up on
electrolytes It is very important to load up on electrolytes
especially in the last 60 hours. No matter what your choice of
electrolytes is, make sure you are well loaded with them. Plan on
drinking atleast about 1-1/2 to 2 gallons of electrolyte drinks
uniformly distributed over today and tomorrow. Also strictly avoid
alcohol (and thats not just for Santhosh).
For the rest, sleep early and sleep long tonight. You have to get up
very early on Sunday morning, and it is easy to not sleep well on the
night before the race. So please make sure you sleep well tonight and
are well rested.
There will be lots of Asha folks out on the course to cheer you on the
day of the race. We have folks coming from Asha Houston as well. There
are excess of ten thousand people running the marathon. The atmosphere
is going to be electric. Soak it all in and just enjoy your run, you
might even miss seeing the finish line go by.
Good luck to everyone. That said, I'll shamelessly paste here what I
had written on last year's mailing list.
______________
It will be over in two days. When you cross that finish line come
sunday, you will experience a joy unlike anything you have ever felt.
Every aching muscle has been reflected in the face not in the form of
a grimace but as a smile and a grin. Wherever you are, whatever life
has in store for you, I know that all of you will succeed. Success
comes not from complaining but from overcoming difficulty by sheer
dint of work and persistence. Courage is not the absence of fear but
the ability to continue despite it. It took courage to walk into that
room in Texas Union in that other lifetime a long time ago. It took
courage to lace up those shoes and head out the door on every run you
did in the past 5 months. It will take courage to cross that finish
line a week from today but I have the greatest of confidence in your
indomitable spirit. The same spirit that saw the pioneers blaze the
path westward a hundred and fifty years ago in this country. The same
courage that saw Tenzing and Hillary climb Everest. The same courage
that saw Leonidas and his men refuse to surrender to the Persians and
choose to die to the man at Thermopylae. In that famous battle the
most courageous was Dienekes who, upon being told that the Persians
had so many archers that their arrows would darken the sun, said
"Good. Then we will fight in the shade".
George Sheehan uttered these famous words - "I have met my hero, and
he is me." Go out my heroes one and all, let us conquer Austin.
-Vinod
A few hrs more...
Just a few hours more for the marathon...very bad news though..unexpected weather - 28-30s and ice rain/ice pellets have been forecasted. Here is a part of the mail from our coach on how we should handle it...
Cold Weather Racing
OK, sot the weather seems to be staying in the 30's for most of the
morning on race day. What changes do you need to consider given this
unexpected change?
Race Plan: It stays the same. No strategic changes to how you approach
the race given cold & possibly wet weather. 2. Apparel: Since we have
been used to warmer temps this winter many of you are probably going
to need to break the "only if you've tried it before" race rule. That
is OK these are unusual circumstances. Everyone has different cold
tolerances & needs different numbers of layers but the basics should
be pretty consistent.
What to Wear
Lower Body: I like half tights for races below 45 degrees but never
wear long tights. You won't need for your calves & achilles to be
covered. they don't get cold except at the start line. I think the
temps will be cold enough to warrant long tights though. If you are
comfortable in them wear them. If you are on the fence, I HIGHLY
recommend half tights...they keep your core warm when you need it.
Upper Body: Layer, layer layer. I think you will all want at base
layer of short sleeved tech tee then a long sleeve tech tee (like the
one you bought in this program. By the way we still still have WOMENS
Large, Medium & Small & MENS Medium & Small at RunTex Riverside. Tell
them you are a Rogue to get the $30 price. We will also have them
available in the Annex on Saturday AM for our workout.)
Once you've got those layers down you will want to layer on top of it
in one of two ways:
• Disposable Outfit - The disposable outfit takes the recommended base
layer above & adds multiple layers of throw-away clothes to dispose of
along the race course. You can layer as much as you want, though I'll
give you a little tip & recommend that you wear a large black thicker
ply trash bag with a hole for the head & arms over top everything.
These are rain protection & really warm. Plus you can throw it away if
you don't want it anymore. Then if there are showers at the start you
have some cover. I recommend that layer from thinnest to heaviest on
top. This way you can slowly peel the layers off & limit the overall
weight of your disposable outfit. It is important that you realize
that you will likely NOT be able to retrieve these clothes after the
race is over. I recommend you hit Goodwill or St. Vinny's. A great top
layer is an over sized hooded sweatshirt...though these can be
difficult to get ahold of.
• Shell Outfit - The shell outfit takes the recommended base layer
above & adds a shell to it...this can be a long-sleeved jacket or a
vest. The quality is not critical because what you are looking for
from the shell is to trap the hot air produced by your body to
continue to keep you warm. If you have a waterproof one, Great! If
not, use the I love vests for the same reasons I love half
tights...the core stays warm but I am still as light as possible. If
you don't have a water proof shell then I recommend that you wear a
large black thicker ply trash bag with a hole for the head & arms.
This is the poor man's vest. I have used this as a shell many, many
times.
• Extremities: These are perhaps the most critical areas to keep warm
during a race. You need gloves & a hat. You can always get rid of them
during the race but you NEED them at the start! I recommend you keep
them with you though. Just fold them over your short's waistband & I
bet you never know they are there unless you need them. I don't
recommend taking your hat off ever in the race. Unless you are just
roasty-toasty, keep the hat on!
A couple of other points:
If it is wet:
- The more cotton you wear the heavier you will be. Cotton loves water
& collects it. This is bad news. You will want to wear tech fibers
close to your body.
- You may want to have a friend or family member meet you at a
designated location after the 10 mile point with a fresh pair of dry
socks. Losing a minute of two to put on dry socks may make the
difference with blisters for some of you.
- Stay on the crown of the road at all costs to stay out of puddles &
standing water.
Cold Weather Racing
OK, sot the weather seems to be staying in the 30's for most of the
morning on race day. What changes do you need to consider given this
unexpected change?
Race Plan: It stays the same. No strategic changes to how you approach
the race given cold & possibly wet weather. 2. Apparel: Since we have
been used to warmer temps this winter many of you are probably going
to need to break the "only if you've tried it before" race rule. That
is OK these are unusual circumstances. Everyone has different cold
tolerances & needs different numbers of layers but the basics should
be pretty consistent.
What to Wear
Lower Body: I like half tights for races below 45 degrees but never
wear long tights. You won't need for your calves & achilles to be
covered. they don't get cold except at the start line. I think the
temps will be cold enough to warrant long tights though. If you are
comfortable in them wear them. If you are on the fence, I HIGHLY
recommend half tights...they keep your core warm when you need it.
Upper Body: Layer, layer layer. I think you will all want at base
layer of short sleeved tech tee then a long sleeve tech tee (like the
one you bought in this program. By the way we still still have WOMENS
Large, Medium & Small & MENS Medium & Small at RunTex Riverside. Tell
them you are a Rogue to get the $30 price. We will also have them
available in the Annex on Saturday AM for our workout.)
Once you've got those layers down you will want to layer on top of it
in one of two ways:
• Disposable Outfit - The disposable outfit takes the recommended base
layer above & adds multiple layers of throw-away clothes to dispose of
along the race course. You can layer as much as you want, though I'll
give you a little tip & recommend that you wear a large black thicker
ply trash bag with a hole for the head & arms over top everything.
These are rain protection & really warm. Plus you can throw it away if
you don't want it anymore. Then if there are showers at the start you
have some cover. I recommend that layer from thinnest to heaviest on
top. This way you can slowly peel the layers off & limit the overall
weight of your disposable outfit. It is important that you realize
that you will likely NOT be able to retrieve these clothes after the
race is over. I recommend you hit Goodwill or St. Vinny's. A great top
layer is an over sized hooded sweatshirt...though these can be
difficult to get ahold of.
• Shell Outfit - The shell outfit takes the recommended base layer
above & adds a shell to it...this can be a long-sleeved jacket or a
vest. The quality is not critical because what you are looking for
from the shell is to trap the hot air produced by your body to
continue to keep you warm. If you have a waterproof one, Great! If
not, use the I love vests for the same reasons I love half
tights...the core stays warm but I am still as light as possible. If
you don't have a water proof shell then I recommend that you wear a
large black thicker ply trash bag with a hole for the head & arms.
This is the poor man's vest. I have used this as a shell many, many
times.
• Extremities: These are perhaps the most critical areas to keep warm
during a race. You need gloves & a hat. You can always get rid of them
during the race but you NEED them at the start! I recommend you keep
them with you though. Just fold them over your short's waistband & I
bet you never know they are there unless you need them. I don't
recommend taking your hat off ever in the race. Unless you are just
roasty-toasty, keep the hat on!
A couple of other points:
If it is wet:
- The more cotton you wear the heavier you will be. Cotton loves water
& collects it. This is bad news. You will want to wear tech fibers
close to your body.
- You may want to have a friend or family member meet you at a
designated location after the 10 mile point with a fresh pair of dry
socks. Losing a minute of two to put on dry socks may make the
difference with blisters for some of you.
- Stay on the crown of the road at all costs to stay out of puddles &
standing water.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
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