Slooooooow January..

Here on the east coast the blizzard is behind us after leaving a huge pile of snow in its wake. In Morris Plains here we saw 33 inches of snow which is a historical high. However, people have dug themselves out, mostly, and life is getting back to normal at a quick pace. As far as running goes, it is generally in an unhappy state. I have not been doing my three weekly runs regularly. Weather has been bad and the hamstring/glute area is a bit sore after the long runs. I am hoping that the cut down in runs would at least help the soreness. Anyway, I've been trying to pick up a few miles here and a few miles there.. Sundays long runs are cut down to 10 miles. I could only do two runs last week, and the Sunday was a wash out due to the snow. Surprisingly, I still come across a couple of runners and cyclists especially on Sundays.

I had signed up for the Fred Lebow Half Marathon on Sunday which was cancelled due to the snow storm. I was also not too sure of myself as I hadn't run that distance since end November.  If the race was on I would probably have run it in any case, just to test my fitness, if nothing else.  On the other hand, I have been focusing on building some strength, especially the lower legs, hips and core.  I'm also working on balance and stability.  The good thing about these workouts is that I don't have to go outdoors, but I do miss the running and am feeling somewhat guilty about it.  I am enjoying the workouts though. Some are fairly high intensity and keep my breathing and heart rate high - it should help push out my lactate threshold (the effort level at which fatigue sets in) and build strength that should help in running. Oh, I did a 10K race at Central Park a couple of weeks ago - Joe Kleinerman 10K. That was my very first 10K in NYC last year. What a contrast - last year it was 17 F with windchill down to low single digits; this year it was 43 F!

On other New York news, the registration for New York Marathon opened a couple of days ago.  Although the race is on November 6, the registration is only open for one month from Jan 21 to Feb 21. I was planning to sign up, but I just wanted to see for how long I can resist the temptation:-) Every time I logged in to their web site they kept flashing the message "Accept your guaranteed entry".  My will power lasted about 48 hours :-)  Now the goal is set - run, walk or crawl across the finish line on Sunday, Nov 6!

Way to go Sunitha, Bala and Maidhily!

The Dubai Marathon was last week. Dubai bills themselves as the world's richest marathon. It boasts of a very fast course, and the top finishers in each gender win a purse of $200,000 with an additional $100,000 award money for setting a world record! I did not see even a single top contender from last year's NYC marathon in the line up of Dubai. Understandably so, as there is not enough recovery and training time between the November NYC race and the January Dubai race.

My cousin Bala, his wife Maidhily and another cousin's wife Sunitha all ran the 10k at the Dubai Marathon.   This was their first 10k - actually their very first race of any distance. It is so great to see their pictures at the finish line. I am hearing that this is inspiring a lot of people in the family and friends circle to sign up for the race next year. It seems, looking at Bala his friends are going, "If he can, we can." Running is contagious!!

Happy running.

If I can run, u can run

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everyone.  May you all attain or even exceed your goals in life, and reach new heights in your health, fitness and happiness in 2016.

I'm getting back to running gradually and cautiously after some holiday travel and recovery from the injury that occurred last month.  During this break I spent a lot of time thinking and researching ways to take my running forward on a safer and surer footing.  As a result I'm making some modifications to my schedule.  First, I need to spread my mileage over more days - three days is not enough if I want to extend my endurance above the half marathon level.  Even half marathon is a big stretch for a three day schedule with two six milers and a third long run. I really need to keep that long run below 50 per cent of the weekly total mileage, and preferably much lower. For my body, especially, a long run of 16 miles with a weekly mileage of 28 doesn't seem to be sustainable.  I'm planning to start off - in fact I already started - with 6+6+10 schedule and I plan to add another day shortly with a three mile run. I will raise the mileage and long run gradually but not immediately over a mileage base spread out over three or more days other than the long run day itself.

In addition to the change to the run schedule, I am expanding my stretches and also adding more strength exercises.  The new stretches target hips, glutes and upper hamstring.  The strength exercises expand my upper body and core exercises and also include new ones targeting glutes and legs. The idea being  stronger core, glutes and legs will help avoid injuries and help me run better and stronger.

I have begun making the transition to the new stretches and exercises. Again, taking it gradually so that it - actually, the soreness from the exercises - won't interfere with running.  So far I did a six mile and a ten mile since resuming. The six was on Friday and I felt some soreness of the muscles, perhaps due to the break. I did the ten today and it was feeling much better.  I'm also using the foam roller which seemed to help after Wednesday's run. So, overall just planning to ease into running and hold the long run at a more sustainable level with the mileage spread out, and focusing on building more strength and flexibility of the core, hips, and lower body.

So that's how the new year is starting for me. This year is a big year for my marathon aspirations, and I think these changes are in the right direction.  If things don't seem to work for you, don't be afraid to make changes to set you on the right course.

Good luck with your running in 2016. Happy New Year, again.

If I can run, u can run