Bengaluru 10 k Challenge: My 1st officially timed run

Event Date : 12th JULY 2015

Venue : Nice Road Check Post, Banashankari, Bangalore

This being my first officially registered run with Chip Time was eagerly looking forward to it. My target time was sub 45 minutes considering the tough elevation profile of the Nice road. We, 14 of us running enthusiasts left from IISc at 5 a.m. on a Tempo Traveller arranged by the Gymkhana. Pre- race nutrition included few bananas and dark chocolate. Reached the race venue at 5:30 a.m after the comfortable ride.

The race start was from Toll Gate and the road was solid and concrete. Finished my warmup and stretching. The crowd was decent, unlike other official runs which are very crowded as heard from my friends. There was a Zumba warmup session which seemed to be de-facto standard for all organized runs in B'lore. The countdown for the race started at 6:25 a.m.

Flagged off at 6:30 a.m., I started off briskly up the slope till around 2 k, increased my pace on the downslope, it was a Nice solid, sturdy, straight road, anyone will love to run on such roads, the surrounding was a scenic beauty with hills and fields, reached the 5k mark after 21:31 mins. The return 5k-7k route a tough upslope route. The organizers were cheering and clicking pics all through the route. Managed to maintain my rhythm and speeded up the last 3 kms after a brisk water drink, sprinting towards the finish line after 44:05 minutes, my PB (personal best).

After grabbing the finish medal, and waiting for other fellow runners to reach the finish line, had a hearty breakfast arranged by the organizers, kudos to them for a very well organized and timely event without any hiccups. There was a DJ morning post run to entertain us too. Within an hour after the run I got a text message confirming my chip timing. Overall it was a very good experience and hope to participate in future events organized by Shriram Properties.

My Bike: Btwin Riverside 500 > Roadside

So, my first bike in IISc, I bought in Sept 2010, BSA SLR Photon is completing its 5th year and had been a light and steady bike. Its still in a good condition now, I made it lighter by stripping off its rear carrier, and its quite fast on flat roads, going about 30 km/hr. I did travel all over Bangalore roads on my Photon.

My first one: BSA SLR Photon: still with me:)

But, its brakes were not so efficient and being non-gear its slow during the climbs. So, IISc having a good biking community, I have been thinking to buy a geared road bike last three years. After much thinking and analysis, I decided to get a good hybrid bike, after finishing my first Triathlon. Now, deciding on the model was little confusing, and as I decided my budget between Rs. 15-25k, there were not many options, one was Montra and other Btwin Riverside and few other models, finally decided on Btwin Riverside 500 due to excellent service and convenience of Dectahlon stores in Bangalore.

I previously thought of selling my old BSA Photon but then decided against it, as it had been with me for past 4.5 years and its very rugged, simple and useful for rough use like in rain, and no worry of getting stolen which is not so with higher end bikes in India.

BTWIN Riverside 500

So, on 29th March, went to Decathlon Anubhava but they did not have the Riverside model even though they confirmed having it 2 days back, it was sold one day back only which showed its demand in the market. After few calls by the Sales guy to other branches, they found it available in stock in the Sarjapur branch, the main branch of Decathlon. As I decided to buy the same day, covered a long 2.5 hours journey and reach the Sarjapur branch. The patience payed off and there were 5 pieces of Riverside in stock. I had a smooth test ride, and found that it comes with battery operated front and rear light free. The only accessories I needed was stand, bottle holder and lock for time being. The total costed me around Rs. 20,700. After all the fittings and adjustments, I again had a test ride and it was super smooth and fast. The brakes also were very sensitive. As you can see below, its a beauty in its looks and has a attractively light blue green color. In the end, I found it to be a very good deal, along with free servicing within 3 months, 2 years warranty on some parts and lifetime warranty on frame. I came out of the store and had to drive 24 kms to IISc. I switched on my GPS navigation and had a smooth ride along with heavy Bangalore traffic. Even on a sunday, traffic was moving at a snail's pace and it took me 100 minutes to reach IISc, would have taken much longer had I taken a bus. There was too much pollution due to motorized vehicles, how nice it will be if the govt. encourages cycles in the city.

The frame 

BTWIN Riverside 500 in my room

Awareness

The awareness about good quality cycles is very less in our country. We should learn from bicycle-friendly large cities in the world like Amsterdam which has 400 km of bike lanes and nearly 40% of all commutes in Amsterdam are done on bike. Look at the article listing the top cycle friendly countries. Some other links on cycling are Cycling Gyan and Bikeszone.

Even a well to do people owning cars in India think that bicycles should not be priced above Rs. 5000 even if they spend 10-20 lakhs on posh cars. I feel its so disgusting when people, even well to do and educated people question me why am I buying a cycle for such a high price. Suppose I buy a motor bike or a car for the same price, lets say a second hand one for Rs. 20k, the same people will highly appreciate it even though its of a low quality, I will have to spend heavily on the petrol/ diesel, it pollutes the atmosphere and makes us lazy and unfit. They should understand that cycles can have a high price range: similar to other vehicles and  good quality cycles can be bought at high prices.

Whereas a good quality cycle is a one time investment, they are light weight, BTWIN bikes have excellent service from any Decathlon store in India, occupies minimum amount of road and parking space, makes us self dependent and improves our fitness, and is the most environment friendly commute. Also those who think that good quality cycles are expensive, they are totally wrong, when they use it for around 10 years and look back, they will come come to know how much they have saved, in terms of fuel, time and money. Even travelling by local buses is much more costly in the long run than commuting on a good cycle, apart from being inconvenient and dependent in terms of timeliness and location.

I am not telling that people should not own motor bikes and cars, they should have it but use it only sparingly. Most people in the city commute daily to their workplace, and using a cycle not only saves money but also keeps them fit and healthy. In this busy world, many people are constrained by time and cycling is an excellent way to both save time and keep ourselves fit simultaneously. Some people think that motor vehicles are fast, but good quality gear cycles are equally quite fast on roads, and the faster you ride the more time you save and more fitness you gain.  I agree that our roads are not cycle friendly at present, and there is no separate parking space for cycles. The initiative should be taken by the govt. by restricting usage of motor vehicles, separate cycle lanes whereever possible, and forcing all public places like malls etc to have secured cycle parking space.

I hope India will soon be listed in the top cycle friendly countries. 

Spectrum 2015 @ IISc Bangalore

The new year, the beginning of a new era. I joined the athletics camp on 10th January, classes thrice a week in the evenings to improve my running speed and strength along with good technique. The workouts given by the coach were very good including interval runs, endurance workouts, drills, circuit training, hurdles, stairs, abs and stretching in the end. We have enthusiastic group of top runners in IISc. So, I was attending swimming and athletic classes  along with few hours in the gym. The swimming coach also started giving us heavy workouts for core strengthening and circuit training before entering the pool. So, I have slowly been improving stamina and swimming technique in January and February 2015. Luckily, I learnt  proper breathing for freestyle swimming (completing 50 m lap) at the end of January. From then onwards, I after few weeks of practice, I was able to do 10 laps comfortably by mid-March. Then, I decided to do Triathlon as an individual as I was now confident of swimming also, had to ditch my teammates.

Spectrum 2015 was coming up in March and I participated  in the Mega Cultural , Sports , Literary , Science and Tech. fest of IISc, Bangalore : Spectrum 2015, in most of the sports events successfully. It is the first time I had successful participation in sports events. It kept all my weekends in on a high adrenaline.  I participated in swimming, athletics and triathlon events with 2 bronze medals in 10,000 m run and 4.71 k SnT run.

The first weekend 7-8 March was Aquatics 2015. I participated in only 50 m freestyle and did my personal best (PB). A lot of experienced swimmers participated enthusiastically with few of them grabbing 4-10 medals each. I volunteered for time taking along with the swimmers swimming gracefully.

The next weekend on 18th March were relay events. I participated in the Medley me doing the 300 m lap, 3 x 800 m and 4 x 400 m. We did in a good time overall coming in 4th and 5th positions. It was nice to see many good sprinters sprinting away in IISc.

On 21st March were individual short and medium distance events, and I did the 1500 m in a good time, PB of 5:34 minutes along with other athletic events like high and long jump. The next day 22nd, being the main 10,000 m run at 6:30 a.m, I kept a target pace of 4:30 min/km. It was a flat route, 25 laps on the tracks.  It was warm enough with the sun in the horizon and I maintained a constant pace throughout and pushed in the last 3-4 laps. Initially, I was in the 5th position and overtook one after around 1.5 k and the other after around 6 k. The other 2 were well 1 lap ahead of me, so it was difficult to catch up with them. So, finally completed the 25 laps, 10k in 45:52 mins, finishing 3rd with a bronze medal.

Start of the 10,000 m

The next weekend was the  IISc Triathlon, called the Scienceman: Swimming 500 m, Cycling 15 Km followed by Running 5 Km. Only 6 days were left for training, and on 22nd evening itself I did a 15 km cycling followed by 2 km run comfortably, then a 3k run after a break. The following wednesday, 25th march I did my first trial triathlon in 95 minutes. After two days rest, the day arrived, 28th of March, 2015, woke up at 4 a.m. and after pre-race snacks reached the IISc swimming pool for the event. Collected the Tshirt and Bib no. 20. As I registered twice, one without Tshirt, I had two nos. 7 and 20, I choose 20. After some warming up, my turn came for the swim at 7:35 a.m. Started comfortably and maintained a decent stroke pace, and then pushed in the last lap finishing 10 laps in 23 minutes, my PB (previous best being 27 minutes and this is 3rd time I swan 10 laps continuously). Then, changed in running gear and shoes, had some electrolyte and water, and started cycling after 5 minutes at 8:03 a.m. Cycling was a breeze, even though I cycled with BSA SLR Photon, only during the climbs slowed down considerably and finished 15 km in 34:20 minutes, shaving 2 minutes off my trial triathlon. Then started my run at 8:38 a.m, initially it was slow due to fatigue and stiffness from biking, but speeded up after around 2 k and sprinted the last 200 m finishing in 24:16 minutes at 9:02 a.m.

• Swimming 500 m - 23:30 minutes
• Cycling 15 km - 34:20 minutes
• Running 5 km -  24:16 minutes

Total time taken for Scienceman 2015 - 87:46 minutes; Thanks to my athletics and swimming coach for their intensive training and guidance.

I was 11th among 25 successful individual participants, and I needed to improve my swimming timing, which comes by practice. The event got over by 9:30 a.m. Overall, it was very satisfying and wonderful experience completing my first official Triathlon successfully. Looking forward to more rigorous triathlons in IISc and outside. The same day evening was the prize distribution which I attended and the uninteresting DJ night: similar tunes with no remixing.

The next event was the Science and Technology Run, 2015 the next day, 29th morning at 6 a.m. I thought I will take it easy due to Triathlon previous day only. But, unexpectedly few people turned up for the run and I got the runner's high initially only and was leading with two others first 2 k, then I slowed down a bit leading the 3rd place with none behind me in view, and finished the 4.71 k run in 19:46 minutes bagging a bronze medal. It was one of the few races I did without Runkeeper and did my PB, it was much faster than my 10k race one week back, as I did not keep track of the pacing and ran with the cool breeze early morning. Immediately after everyone finished the race, I was awarded the medal and SnT run Tshirts for everyone. The same evening the Spectrum 2015 end with the dance and fashion show, participants from many colleges in Bangalore.

So, in the end, Spectrum 2015 was an eventful journey throughout the month of March ending with 2 bronze medals and successful completion of 'Scienceman'. Looking forward to more such events.

My First Half Marathon >>>>>>>> 21.1 k

The summary of my first half marathon from Runkeeper is:

Saturday Run

DEC 27, 2014  -  6:16 AM

Since my last post of my 16 km run on Nov 6, 2014, I have been consistently running and strength training at gym for 5 days a week, yoga for 2 days and swimming about 3-4 days a week along with healthy and complete diet including fruits, beetroot juice (good for improving endurance), dry fruits, green tea, nuts and foods rich in proteins, calcium and carbohydrates. My subsequent long run above 10 km was on 3rd Dec, 2014, a total of 18 km, which was an evening run and was pretty fast accompanied by few good IISc runners for few kms. I realized evening runs  can be relatively faster that in the morning due to warmer muscles and active body.  Now, my weekly mileage is above 20 kms, and my regular run speed is above 12 km/hr. I also broke my PR's (personal record) for 4 km: 18:18 minutes, last week.  

I wanted to do my first half marathon by the end of this year. This year december is quite warmer compared to previous years. Today is the last saturday I will be spending in IISc, and I was confused whether I should run in morning or evening. I finally decided for the morning run, since there are no commitments and to enjoy the fresh and cool weather. Yesterday, I had heavy food to prepare for today's run. So today, woke up at 5:30 am and fueled up with 2 bananas and a dark chocolate bar (Cadbury Bournville - Raisin & Nut)  and water. So, after a brisk walk to IISc Gymkhana football ground at 6:30 a.m, I did few warmups like backward jog, strides, lateral run and dynamic stretching. Finally, I begun my run all alone with my music and feedback from Runkeeper at 6:50 a.m.

I was quite energetic in the beginning due to the warmup and good pre-run snacks.  Finished my first 5 km in 25:32 minutes at the below per km split speed:

Splits

NAME

SPEED

CLIMB

1 km

11.22

0

2 km

12.08

-1

3 km

12.08

-2

4 km

11.89

5

5 km

11.64

-2

The next 5 kms was pretty good due to the momentum gained and finished my first 10 km in 50:49 minutes which also my PB for 10 km run. I speeded up in the 10 km split to improve my 10 k timing. Split speed for the next 5 km is:

6 km

12.07

-1

7 km

11.62

-2

8 km

11.02

5

9 km

11.69

-3

10 km

12.92

-1

Then, I refueled with a pinch of dark chocolate and sipped few ml of water while running. The early morning sun was up, even though it was cool. The maintained my speed in the next 5 km also and finished the 1st 15.03 km in 1:16:57 hours :

11 km

11.71

-1

12 km

11.35

-1

13 km

11.53

2

14 km

11.72

1

15 km

11.44

-2

The subsequent 5 km was little uncomfortable due to some heat from sun rays and little fatigued legs. So, I had the last pinch of dark chocolate, sipped some more water and splashed my face with water few times without stopping the run, to refresh myself. Finished my first 20.02 km in 1:43:33 hours. The split for the next 5 km is:

16 km

11.26

1

17 km

11.59

3

18 km

11.20

-2

19 km

11.13

-3

20 km

11.28

5

The last 1.1 km I had speed up and sprinted the final 100 m to finish my first half marathon: 

21 km

11.71

-4

22 km

14.51

1

After finishing a successful half marathon of 21.1 km in 1:48:56 hours @ 11.62 km/hr at 8:38 a.m. had a a brisk walk towards gym to do some static and dynamic stretching for 20 minutes. My target was to complete in 1:50 hours, and I finished 01:04 minutes ahead of it.  the Had lots of water to rehydrate  and went to mess at 9:00 a.m for a  good breakfast. It was Idli today, so had 8 of them and went to room. Then, to cool down the fatigued muscles and body, went to swimming pool and did few laps and walks in water for around 20 minutes. And we do need to refuel with heavy food rich in carbohydrates and proteins along with fruits before and after the run. 

Benefits of running regularly:

I now run at least 5 days a week and do not take more than one day break. I have improved my immune system and resistance to cold a lot. Previously, I used to get common cold regularly, but in the past six months I did not get any cold. A slight cold in the mornings is gone after the morning run. I have also improved my breathing technique for swimming as a consequence of running regularly. And of course it gives you a high in life, improves stamina and endurance, and removes all the depression and worries in the life. And long distance running does improve our patience and perseverance.

The Long Run Due!

I was thinking I should do a long run of 16k today morning, due from more than a month, although I have been doing short runs regularly almost daily for last one month. My last long run being on 25th Sept, 14 , I was skeptical about my stamina.  But cross-training  along with the short runs i.e. core strengthening, weight training, sprints, HIIT (high intensity interval training), biking and of course swimming definitely improved my stamina and strength. Along with the cross-training, I have been following a very healthy diet, including green tea, fruits and juices.

I woke up pretty early today,  and got ready at 5:15 am had a bar of dark chocolate Cadbury Bournville, a brisk walk to the IISc Gymkhana football ground, some warm up and dynamic stretching.  The weather was cool, the sky was pretty clear and calm, and no dogs barking. I started the run at 5:40 am, along with my stopwatch and Runkeeper app to the beats of my running playlist. I was feeling cold and was wearing a windcheater. The tracks was standard running track with a circumference of 400-455 m.

The first round was quite comfortable, I was feeling warm and stripped out my windcheater. I was feeling very energetic and running felt  very natural. The first 4 km's was very comfortable I could feel the pace and cadence. Maintained a good speed of about 10.90 km/hr. I was the only runner at that time, and then a elderly guy jogged few rounds. Keeping my head up and closing my eyes for few seconds, I felt the nice early morning breeze and  the feel of me cutting through the air was amazing. The split speed for the first 4 km's is as:

NAME

SPEED kM/hr 

CLIMB

1 km

10.75

2

2 km

10.99

-3

3 km

11.20

5

4 km

11.22

-3

The next 5 km's was relatively slower, felt like stopping but continued while going with the flow, maintaining a steady pace. The split speed for the next 5 km's is as:

5 km

10.41

2

6 km

10.68

-2

7 km

10.51

2

8 km

10.04

-2

9 km

9.96

3

And the end of 9-10 km is when I normally get Runner's high, I get the boost of stamina and feel I can't stop running, also a consequence of Newton's 1st law quoted with an alteration as `A runner in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force '. So, I was again back to comfortable running at a good speed where I felt I could have speeded up a bit more but I was running alone, not a race, so I completed comfortably 16.23 km in 1:30:07 hours  at a good speed of 10.81 km/hr and a climb of 216 m with 954 calories burnt.  So, it was a very satisfying and comfortable run given my target before the run was to finish 16 k in 1.5 hours, while I covered a 200 m extra distance in the same time comfortably. The split speed for the last 7 km's is as:

10 km

11.13

-3

11 km

10.86

1

12 km

11.29

-4

13 km

11.66

0

14 km

11.36

1

15 km

10.49

1

16 km

10.67

-2

17 km

12.12

-2

I felt quite warm during the run. After the run, I walked for few minutes, and started feeling the chill of the morning weather. Did lot of stretching in the gymkhana, and for the first time did not feel any stiffness even after one day. But the morning chill did make me feverish for few hours after run, so need to get a running jersey for the cold weather.

Benefits and how to do  a long run:

The definition of a long run  depends on the individual, based on how much long he has run. For me, above 10k is a long run. It is similar to test cricket or a PhD student's journey which  tests your patience, perseverance, stamina and endurance. Definitely good core strength is also important to avoid injuries or side stitches. Comfortable deep breathing rhythm is also important so as to not get tired soon. Also, you will feel the joy of running,  by maintaining a overall steady pace throughout the run. The best strategy as per my experience is to decide how much distance you want to cover before the run, cover the  first 30% of distance at a average speed of your target speed, the next 30% is little difficult where you will feel like stopping so go with the flow a little slower. The final 40% is where you feel like not stopping the run, given you comfortably completed the first 60%. This is the part which decides your finishing time, you can speed up towards the end as you know that you are going to stop after some time. After the run, slow down and walk few minutes, have lots of water and refuel,  then do lots of stretching for at least 20 minutes so as to avoid muscle stiffness later.

The other benefits are you need not and should not do a long run on a regular basis, and for beginners at most one long run in two weeks is recommended, so you finish the long run within 1-2 hours and do not need to bother about it for some time. Obviously, you will feel the Runner's high and accomplished after the run. And also very fresh and energetic throughout the day.



Tips to run alone and comfortably:

The best way to run alone and not get bored on tracks is to plugin music, start your app, and feel the run. Just close your eyes and look up unaware of the surroundings (only on the tracks and for few seconds) and you will feel the bliss of running. The advantage of track running over road running is more concentration on your running form and cadence, and its not dangerous to close your eyes on the relatively empty tracks. Especially beginner long distance runners should train first on tracks, and the proceed to road run after feeling comfortable with long runs, even though I started with road running.

Road running has its own advantages as variation of scenery and environment with time and distance. As also the terrain varies, both elevation and curves, its considered more difficult and more strenuous but depends on the individual. Also, its important to vary your running terrain between tracks, road and grass, to avoid injury and gain more flexibility in running.