Today is Saturday and the day for my weekend long run. Because of my calf injury, my whole training schedule for Hyderabad Marathon has gone for a six! So, it's more in a fast forward mode now. This week I did two long runs i.e including today's run. Tuesday did a 10 km and today did a 20 km. Let me run you through the details of today's run.
1. Got up real early i.e at 0400 hrs. Got ready by 0430 hrs. Didn't find much in the fridge ( from next time I going to keep something to gorge on in the morning before a long run ), so ate a few Parle-G biscuits ( these are glucose based biscuits and gives instant energy ). Pocketed few because today's run was going to last for about 2 hours.
2.
WARM UP - Did 6 Surya namaskars, walking lunges and high kicks. Picked a 500 ml bottle of water and pushed out of the door.
3. What I had planned for today was that I was going to cover each 5 km in 30 minutes, so that my goal of 20 km slow is achieved. At 0500 hrs, the roads were deserted except for few trucks and buses moving at a speed which will put Michael Schumaker in shame. Overall, there was less pollution, disturbance and cool breeze was blowing. I thanked my stars for such a lovely day and started pumping in kilometers.
4. In an hour of run i.e by 0600 hrs, I covered 10 km and started to hit back. I was feeling good and was running in a nice rhythm. I was thoroughly enjoying my run. I remembered then that I had few Parle-G biscuits in my shorts pockets( I have to buy a hydration pack or belt in which I can stash some food, water, money and cell phone ). I ate and drank on the run, well actually was practicing. It is, certainly, not easy to eat and drink, while on the move. While coming back back, few Army cross - country teams crossed me. Boy, they were running fast at 15 km mark.
5. Luckily, today I didn't feel any blister building up because I had applied Vaseline on blister prone areas before putting on my shoes in the morning. Route on which I was running today has a wonderful stretch beyond 5 km from the start. It's all green and almost no traffic with smooth road and also no stray dogs( I don't know why they like to chase me) and cows( means no minefields to cross ).
6. The last 5 km were bad in the sense that at 0630 hrs, Hyderabad traffic erupted out on the roads like an angry volcano. I shuffled back in a slower pace, occasionally racing some lone cyclist. By the time I reached home, it was 0700 hrs. The joint where quads meet the glutes and the calf muscles were hurting but still, surprisingly, I felt good and strong.
7. COOL DOWN - Not much energy was left to cool down properly, but I thought to run again on Monday, I need to cool down and stretch my muscles. Moved and walked around a bit, shaking my muscles. Did yoga to stretch hamstrings, glutes, quads and calf for 15 minutes. Thereafter, started thinking of breakfast. I was famished. Fixed myself a couple of sandwich of bread, cheese and chicken nuggets.
I guess that's it for today. My next long run will be a 30 km but on a weekday because I want to have a gap of at least 10 days before the marathon. One last thing. One long run is absolutely essential in a week to develop endurance i.e time spent on legs and to cut down weight. Till then, CIAO.
1. Got up real early i.e at 0400 hrs. Got ready by 0430 hrs. Didn't find much in the fridge ( from next time I going to keep something to gorge on in the morning before a long run ), so ate a few Parle-G biscuits ( these are glucose based biscuits and gives instant energy ). Pocketed few because today's run was going to last for about 2 hours.
2. WARM UP - Did 6 Surya namaskars, walking lunges and high kicks. Picked a 500 ml bottle of water and pushed out of the door.
3. What I had planned for today was that I was going to cover each 5 km in 30 minutes, so that my goal of 20 km slow is achieved. At 0500 hrs, the roads were deserted except for few trucks and buses moving at a speed which will put Michael Schumaker in shame. Overall, there was less pollution, disturbance and cool breeze was blowing. I thanked my stars for such a lovely day and started pumping in kilometers.
4. In an hour of run i.e by 0600 hrs, I covered 10 km and started to hit back. I was feeling good and was running in a nice rhythm. I was thoroughly enjoying my run. I remembered then that I had few Parle-G biscuits in my shorts pockets( I have to buy a hydration pack or belt in which I can stash some food, water, money and cell phone ). I ate and drank on the run, well actually was practicing. It is, certainly, not easy to eat and drink, while on the move. While coming back back, few Army cross - country teams crossed me. Boy, they were running fast at 15 km mark.
5. Luckily, today I didn't feel any blister building up because I had applied Vaseline on blister prone areas before putting on my shoes in the morning. Route on which I was running today has a wonderful stretch beyond 5 km from the start. It's all green and almost no traffic with smooth road and also no stray dogs( I don't know why they like to chase me) and cows( means no minefields to cross ).
6. The last 5 km were bad in the sense that at 0630 hrs, Hyderabad traffic erupted out on the roads like an angry volcano. I shuffled back in a slower pace, occasionally racing some lone cyclist. By the time I reached home, it was 0700 hrs. The joint where quads meet the glutes and the calf muscles were hurting but still, surprisingly, I felt good and strong.
7. COOL DOWN - Not much energy was left to cool down properly, but I thought to run again on Monday, I need to cool down and stretch my muscles. Moved and walked around a bit, shaking my muscles. Did yoga to stretch hamstrings, glutes, quads and calf for 15 minutes. Thereafter, started thinking of breakfast. I was famished. Fixed myself a couple of sandwich of bread, cheese and chicken nuggets.
I guess that's it for today. My next long run will be a 30 km but on a weekday because I want to have a gap of at least 10 days before the marathon. One last thing. One long run is absolutely essential in a week to develop endurance i.e time spent on legs and to cut down weight. Till then, CIAO.