Expectations

4 days to race day and 2 days of training remaining. Since last three weeks I have been practicing speed workouts which resulted me to think about an over ambitious goal of sub 4hrs marathon. Sunday I ran 21.5k in 1hr 55mins. Sub 4hrs marathon goal will become realistic if I could cut down my half marathon timing by another 5mins. During the race I hope the environment, people and the company through out the race might help me in achieving the 21.5k timing and subsequently the remaining distance in another 2hrs. If I fail to manage it, I would be satisfied with finishing the marathon. It's the day on which all my training would be put to test and I am desperate to clear the test.

I was browsing through a triathlon blog site and found this wonderful clipping which states "Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's level of aspiration and expectation". Check out Bevan Docherty (in black dress) of New Zealand sprinting from behind to clutch victory from the grasp of compatriot Kris Gemmell at the 2005 New Plymouth ITU World Cup triathlon.

Running and Brain

French "mathlete" Alexis Lemaire broke his own world record after working out in his head the 13th root of a random 200-digit number in just 72.4 seconds. Lemaire, a 27-year-old doctoral student in artificial intelligence sat at a laptop computer that randomly selected the figure and displayed it on the screen. The number was so long it ran over 17 lines. He took just over a minute to identify two quadrillion, 397 trillion, 207 billion, 667 million, 966 thousand, 701 as the 13th root. In other words, the number multiplied by itself 13 times produces the 200 digit number originally generated by the computer. He uses an artificial intelligence system on his own brain instead of on a computer. He says sometimes when he does multiplication his brain works so fast that it would require him to take medication. He practices regularly and jogs every day, doesn't drink coffee or alcohol and avoids foods that are high in sugar or fat to help him think faster.

What caught my attention is that he runs every day to keep his brain active. I have also read articles mentioning running helps in development of brain cells. Read this article. Now what's your opinion to start running?

Tapering Starts..

I should have approximately ran 35-36k yesterday, i.e. my peak distance before Singapore marathon. I ran 7.1k lap five times. My idea was to complete the run in 3hrs 30mins maintaining a lap time of 40 mins. In fact, I completed 28k in 2hrs 50mins and which is almost on target. But, as usual the last 7-8k was quite hard, with sun burning my skin, I managed to complete the remaining distance and my run in 3hrs 46mins. Good part is I managed to be on the road for long duration under hot conditions. Last week I suffered from IT band syndrome and was quite annoyed as it prevented me from running for couple of days. Few stretches and tips from my running group helped me to hit the road again in quick time. Now I am pretty confident of completing the Singapore marathon under 4:30(high hopes). Tapering starts from this week and has started counting days for the D-day.

31k in ECR

I was drenched in the rain even before we started the run. There is nothing more annoying than running with wet clothes and soggy socks. At least my clothes got dried after few mins of running, but my socks were wet till I completed the run. At around 22-23k mark I felt like removing my socks and throw them away. I completed 31k in 3hrs 22mins, and felt just ok. Somehow on Saturday night I was very anxious about completing the run in 3hours and wasn't able to sleep properly. I found last 5-6kms to be very hard; I spoke to myself "You are a tough guy and not going to give up easily". I was following Ram for long time and managed to run behind (with a gap of 400-500mts) him during the later half of the run.

For last few kms, I was repeating the quotes from the movie "Rocky Balboa" in my mind to keep myself moving forward.

It ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done.

Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!

You can find the briefing in Ram's blog and the pictures here.

Need Endorphin Rush

I messed up my training this week. It all started due to heavy rains during the weekend. I woke up at 3AM on Sunday morning and waited for nearly two hours for the rain to subside, but it decided to take some breather only in the evening. Rest of the week went on with accompanying relatives at home, attending friend’s marriage and some personal work. The week, in which I should have run approximately 60k, I ran just 19k. Not sure if I could cover up at least half the targeted mileage for the week. Training for a marathon requires lot of focus and dedication, even if a person loses his focus for a week or two while peaking mileage, can lead to laziness and complacency. It’s been quite a while since I have focused on my career and personal issues. After the Singapore marathon, I would take couple of months break from the hectic training schedule and explore my other interests before I train hard again for my next marathon.

I badly want to experience the endorphin rush and probably will run 12k tomorrow.