I feel like I invented this "Jaldi Five" though I have seen others use it recently (including my husband, further reinforcing my belief that I am responsible for it). And no, it has nothing to do with Bingo or Housie or whatever that awful thing is (I hate it, not the least because I am super unlucky at the game).
It was last year, as I was training for the Mumbai Marathon, my first full marathon. Super nervous. The boys kept telling me it was going to be okay. But I didn't (don't) believe them. They all think I am some sort of monster who is capable of anything. Or maybe they just are having fun at my expense.
My agenda was fairly simple. I read all the online training plans (the free ones, of course) and had my long run strategy clarified neatly. I originally wanted, ambitiously, to follow an intermediate training plan from Higdon, but after I found that any speed work immediately resulted in knee pain, I down-graded myself to the beginner one.
I ran 10-12 kms couple days a week; and a long run in the weekend. I was so nervous about not being able to do the long runs (and consequently the marathon), that I usually ended up doing the long runs on Saturdays - get it out of the way. But this was also the day we had our IIT training sessions. So I ran from home to there and impatiently waited for people to assemble, then I ran with them and so on.
It was terrible to do this the first few times, and I quickly learnt that this wasn't working. Then I begged friends to long run with me and KP, Ramesh and others joined me, and on Sundays we did legitimate long runs, where in we just concentrated on that. I took walk breaks, I run:walked, I worked hard on the mental game, and we ran 30km in the Shahid Ultra to Mahabalipuram.
That was it in terms of the longer runs. On Wednesdays, I gave myself a nice treat. On the cards was a simple 5km run. I allowed myself to run to AU and back or to Boat Club and back. I concentrated on moving my feet a bit faster, and while I did not do a great job overall (including in my long runs) in maintaining a steady pace, in my 5k runs I did consistently hit 27 mins.
I recall on the day of Deepavali, which happened to be a Wednesday last year, I woke up and was glad to see everyone at home still asleep. I figured no one would miss me if I returned back home jaldi jaldi. So I took off amidst the crackle of crackers and the whoosh of flower pots from the early risers. My feet took me to Anna University, the roads completely devoid of humans (or dogs).
That particular, solitary, short run is the most memorable one. I felt ready then for the day, the marathon and life. The Jaldi Five doesn't really add enough mileage meat to the week, but its a quick run, and with a 27 minute goal, not a super tough run.... After a long time, today I managed to do exactly this, and, as I am only slowly upping the miles and getting back on track now, was pleasantly surprised to manage the same time....
It was last year, as I was training for the Mumbai Marathon, my first full marathon. Super nervous. The boys kept telling me it was going to be okay. But I didn't (don't) believe them. They all think I am some sort of monster who is capable of anything. Or maybe they just are having fun at my expense.
My agenda was fairly simple. I read all the online training plans (the free ones, of course) and had my long run strategy clarified neatly. I originally wanted, ambitiously, to follow an intermediate training plan from Higdon, but after I found that any speed work immediately resulted in knee pain, I down-graded myself to the beginner one.
I ran 10-12 kms couple days a week; and a long run in the weekend. I was so nervous about not being able to do the long runs (and consequently the marathon), that I usually ended up doing the long runs on Saturdays - get it out of the way. But this was also the day we had our IIT training sessions. So I ran from home to there and impatiently waited for people to assemble, then I ran with them and so on.
It was terrible to do this the first few times, and I quickly learnt that this wasn't working. Then I begged friends to long run with me and KP, Ramesh and others joined me, and on Sundays we did legitimate long runs, where in we just concentrated on that. I took walk breaks, I run:walked, I worked hard on the mental game, and we ran 30km in the Shahid Ultra to Mahabalipuram.
That was it in terms of the longer runs. On Wednesdays, I gave myself a nice treat. On the cards was a simple 5km run. I allowed myself to run to AU and back or to Boat Club and back. I concentrated on moving my feet a bit faster, and while I did not do a great job overall (including in my long runs) in maintaining a steady pace, in my 5k runs I did consistently hit 27 mins.
I recall on the day of Deepavali, which happened to be a Wednesday last year, I woke up and was glad to see everyone at home still asleep. I figured no one would miss me if I returned back home jaldi jaldi. So I took off amidst the crackle of crackers and the whoosh of flower pots from the early risers. My feet took me to Anna University, the roads completely devoid of humans (or dogs).
That particular, solitary, short run is the most memorable one. I felt ready then for the day, the marathon and life. The Jaldi Five doesn't really add enough mileage meat to the week, but its a quick run, and with a 27 minute goal, not a super tough run.... After a long time, today I managed to do exactly this, and, as I am only slowly upping the miles and getting back on track now, was pleasantly surprised to manage the same time....
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