All about miles

Marathon season is upon us now. Yes, it is summer in Chennai and mostly very hot and humid and sweltering and sweaty. We cannot help that. Every year we train in this weather and I really don't think we are much worse for wear.

I haven't particularly made up specific goals for each of the races in the immediate future this time. Last year was the first time I did so many long races, and while I did suffer a few body breakdown type events, it was by and large a successful running year. I am going to go with that now.

Upcoming are:

Dream Runners Half Marathon Jul 7th, Chennai
Mumbo Jumbo 15km Race Jul 14th, Chennai
Hyderabad Marathon Aug 25th, err, Hyderabad

I have to really make up my mind about a couple other HMs - in Coimbatore and the Delhi one. I ran the Delhi a few years ago and that was my PB till the Dream Runners thing last year, but still I kind of am not motivated to go back there. Coimbatore is a new run and I ought to go (October 2013).

As I say often, the reason I like to run these events is because it gives focus to my training. I guess you could say that I am pretty motivated - and would exercise for the sake of it anyhow - and have done so for years. But having these events upcoming is pretty nice - plus thanks to the awesome group I run with, we have a lot of fun planning long runs and so on.

I think I have learnt a lot about running, especially these past four years. I tell anyone who will listen that I have been running for the past 30 years. Pretty much. I have loved it through all these decades, but right now what I feel about long distance running is a kind of insane love.

Insane or not, I am trying to be sensible about this. Both in terms of expectations from my body, and the time I have on hand to allocate to marathon-mania. I plan to mainly run three times a week - focussing on uphills (sort of), sprint workouts, and of course the long run. The rest of the week has to be strength and stretching (yes, the hated stretching!).

My broad goals going into this season are to become stronger. The kind of runner that has her strength intact even in the last few kms of a race, if not even splits, something close to that. I am not going to delude myself into thinking that I am going to hit Personal Bests this year. But I do think that I have the chance to be a better runner this year, timing be damned.

Changing Goal Posts

Actually this is something my colleague said in a work meeting. We had a blazing telephone call with one of our collaborators. And then we were all super upset. At each other. At him. At life in general. We all said the same thing in different words for a while and in turn kept saying Oh we are saying the same thing in different words and kept arguing. Till the food came.

Its annoying, right? If the goal post is suddenly moved? Or should one work it, make it an advantage? Who knows. After much arguing and eating of food, we concluded that its all for the best. Someone spoke eloquently and very long and we concluded that its fine with us, the goal post can be wherever. It can keep changing. We will rise up to it. As long as someone brings samosas.

Like Calvinball, the fun is not in reaching the goal per-se. Its in having the creativity to make up rules, its in defying those same rules, its in arguing and fighting and calling names, and ultimately, deciding that its fun to do things this way, for us. Calvinball is just fantastic, isn't it?

My personal fitness goal post has moved now. Over the years, it has moved a fair bit, I guess. Being the world's best basketball player (1986-90). Being the world's fastest 100m runner (1989-93). Being a strong basketball player, stable under the board (1995-00). More basketball (2000-03). Being a fit pregnant person (2003-04). Losing flab (2004-10). Running (Forever-Forever).

As far back as I can recall, basketball has been an important component. I like to think that its only because I had a coach who saw some potential in me (us). We were a group who thought ourselves a team. I have never been a spectacular player, of course, but I have gotten the job done, even though I am small. And that has been very encouraging, and I have loved my time on the court.

What boggles the mind is that, if anything, I showed more potential as a runner. Why did I not pursue that with the same passion? I don't know. At any rate, its now not worth thinking about (though I do think about it a lot :-(). I just participated in races when they were there. I ran the sprints at the school level, and an open 'Road Race' that was held by the city admin every year.

And ever since I can remember, I have run to overcome frustrations. In college, I got out and ran to the gate and back, lamenting that it took me only 15-20 mins (now I know that the distance is 3.6 kms exactly, and I wonder, was it 15 or 20 minutes? Big difference, right?). In grad school, I ran laboriously on the treadmill (hateful thing), or, during spring & summer, outside when I could, and I always felt super happy after.

In the past few years I have retired from basketball fully, gone from a 2+ hour half marathoner to a sub-2 Half Marathon-er; scaled to full marathon distance; gone minimalist in my shoes; figured out GPS devices; incorporated core strengthening in my routine; discovered the pleasures of interval workouts; and learnt swimming.

My legs are in great shape. They feel strong. My core and abs are doing much much better than in 2004 (post child birth), though they do feel flabby, and therefore weak, often. My overall fitness doesn't leave much to be desired. However, my feet, have been an entirely different story.

My ankle twists, which had dramatically reduced in frequency, have come back. The noises that emanate from my ankles and feet in general when I walk, are ridiculous. I feel Plantar pain often. My toes look ridiculous. My heels hurt occasionally. Various bits of bone and muscle in my feet trouble me.  And in the recent past, I have had -not severe- but very annoying pain in my right foot. Like someone punctured something in there.

After much deliberation, and much prodding by friends and family, I looked it up on the web. It felt like it might a repetitive stress injury on one of the long bones in the foot. I was going to ice it occasionally and deal with it like that. But I got egged on to meet the doctor, and finally succumbed, because it really felt like this was going to really limit my movements, and I was miserable, and growing fat.

He does diagnose it the same as I did (I give him points for that). He recommends a whole host of things, some of which I can easily do, and things consistent with what I was planning to do anyway to manage this pain. He gave me a few pills. I thought I would resist it, but heck, I jumped on them as soon as I could. So much for knowing my own mind.

So again, the goal post moves. I am going to work on weight training for a bit, and stick to core strengthening and cross-training exercises that don't make me stay on my feet for over long. I am scaling back running mileage significantly - even below my 'maintenance mode' of 30km/week. And see how that goes.

Wait. The goal is what again? To keep on running till the end of time. This month's routine is also aimed at ensuring I can do that. Oh boy. That means the post hasn't changed at all. It has always been there in the same place all my life. Through all the basketball and horsing around with other things, and all those other goals that I have failed at, this has always been there... Heck, thats a revelation for sure! 

The When, The How, The What for

I need to get my running mileage up. Thats it. No two ways about it. I have slacked off plenty since the big Mumbai marathon party, and the time has come. The list of excuses is long, and ever growing:

• Ankle twist
• Weird Plantar like pain
• Child's swimming class
• Husband's gymming sessions
• Traveling
• Partying
• Weather sucks
• Oh my period!

But these are not new. Everyone knows this stuff. I know all of this. I definitely fully expect all these things. I live in Chennai. The city is not going to get air-conditioned. My ankle ligaments are torn/strained/non-existent for the past 20 years. Plantar & ITB are a runner's best friends. The child and husband are not stay-at-home sleepy folks - they are active and crazy and I love them for it. I haven't even travelled or partied over-much. In fact, I have stuck to my resolutions on the party front very well indeed. And about the last thing? Well, I had whole posts planned but somehow not moved it past the drafts. A period is no reason to not run. In fact, I have run most of my half marathons while having a period in various stages. I would infinitely prefer to not have my period during a race, in fact, I would prefer not having the damn thing at all, but it has been a part of my life for so many years now. It can hardly be the excuse for not stepping out for an hour. 

The When:

I need to get a rhythm going. I was running Tue-Wed-Thu-Sat during Mumbai training. I cannot run Tue-Thu any more as those are swimming days. But that is good. I can totally run Wed-Fri-Sun and make up the mileage. I never do intervals/tempo/speed etc. workouts anyway. So it is real easy. Wed-Fri are peaceful 12km run days, and Sunday is the monster long run. Super easy. Sunday is a long swim session for child so she is unlikely to miss or need me, at any rate!

The How:

One foot in front of another. Thats how.

The What for:

Well, yes. I hear you, you stupid voice. I am a middle-aged (like hell. I am reaching old age already. Been middle-aged for nearly a decade now!). A has-been. Mommy-fat-hobby-jogger. I am unlikely to break into any big leagues. In fact, I am more likely to injure myself with the thought of the big league. But that doesn't matter. I need to keep my running mileage up because thats what I do. My next race might be months away now (September), but it will soon be close. I may not win any prizes. But I am sure as hell going to aim to finish strong. I do my share of core, and strength, and weight workouts these days, because its good to have all this in the mix. Also, I swim now. But at the end, what I do is run. In my long life I have been a basketball player, a long jumper, a shot-putter, a soccer player, all with varying degrees of ineptitude, but all through, I have been a runner. And thats at the center of everything now as well. 

The 136kms I have run in the past six weeks? Is just too damn depressing. No, I am not going to Pam Reid it up by running the remainder 164kms of my goal starting now and ending day after tomorrow, setting a record and having local media click pics while at it. No. I am going to do my best tomorrow, in a real long run, and then re-negotiate my goals...

This.. ain't going to cut it...