ah.. wednesday evenings..

I suspect that no one else looks forward to 5.15 pm on wednesday as much as I do. Because that is the time I get to get up from my cube at work, change, and head down to track. Wednesday is "general workout" night at the Santa Cruz Track Club (SCTC)

Hmm, where do I start with the track club? I ve been running for nearly 3 years now, and have been with the track club for the past 2.5 years. It is a big part of how running has become a key part of my life.

"Track" is actually a rubberized asphalt athletic track at Soquel High School here in Santa Cruz county. Every wednesday at 6pm, members of the track club gather here, to do a "speed" workout. The group of folks is quite a mix - young (as well as old) speedsters/sprinters, some of the fastest in the county, middle-aged marathoners, ultra-runners who'll run 50 miles without thinking twice, etc. But they are not all. It also includes folks interested in running but looking for someone to run with - a new runner trying to run their first 10k, a 10k runner aiming to run a first marathon, someone coming back to running after a year mired in injury, a group of runners who are not known for winning or being fast, but just for running, year after year, mile after mile. Anyone who's running for whatever random reason, and at whatever speed, and whatever age, will find something to like at the track club. The club is all-welcoming, and there is no judging of anyone based on how fast or how slow or how smooth or how cumbersome they are.

This assorted crowd of around 30-40 people every wednesday is presided over by Coach Greg Brock. Every wednesday Greg comes up with a prescribed workout that's designed to just push you to almost your maximum thresholds, while guaranteeing that you won't go over. And each week he comes up with a different way to do that. Each week you think - ha - this sounds easier than last week! But by the time you are done with it, you are forced to have second thoughts. Another thing - Greg insists that you are running with/against yourself. The workout prescriptions always indicate that we should "run this at *your* 10k pace for the first lap, and *your* 5k pace for the second lap", etc. And over the weeks, as one figures out what "your 10k pace" actually is, one also finds a group of runners that's at his/her speed.

Oh, and before we actually start running, there's a whole routine - stretching for 10 min, followed by push-ups (15-20 depending on who's leading the group), followed by a jog around the track, followed by more stretching, followed by more of those god-awful push-ups. Then we do a couple of sprints around track to get really warmed up. And then, we come together and go through the rest of the community ritual - new faces get to introduce themselves, people who raced the previous weekend share their exploits. News gets shared, birthdays celebrated. And then, finally it's time to run.

This wednesday we had to do 3 sets - each set consisted of a 600, 400, 300, 200, and 100m run, with 200 m jog in between each of them. The goal was to run the 600 at current mile pace, and pick the speed up a little above that for the 400, a little bit more for the 300, and so on. The idea also is to do a 'net negative split'. In this case it translates to doing each set faster than the previous - i.e., when you are ready to run the 600 the second time around, run it a little faster than the previous 600. Sound confusing? So did it to me for the first 3 months...

I have been running lately with John, (who's in his late 40s/early 50s) and Marla (who's in her late 20s/early 30s). Their speeds are more or less similar to mine. Plus, John is one of the most steady people I've run with. He can announce what pace he wants to run a lap before he runs it, and nail it down to the second. Kinda like in a game of pool where you have to name your ball and pocket and send it exactly where you said you'll send it. And given that my watch has been out of commission, it was an especially good choice - this would prevent me from going too fast in the early sets and being unable to finish the workout.

Sticking with John and Marla turned out to be a good idea. We were pretty steady throughout, feeding off of each other. In the last set we tried to go all out, and I tried to run the last 300 faster than I should have, and ended up feeling like my legs were jelly for the last 100. Man, how far can 100 m seem sometimes! But overall, I felt pretty good about myself, feeling like I m finally back to nearly 100% after spending nearly 6 weeks in July/Aug fighting "walking pneumonia". We ended the day with 'Carl's cool-down technique" - which is a formula suggested by Carl, a fellow track clubber - running slow for 3 loops around the track does wonders for avoiding pain, stiffness and soreness after the workout. Not two, not 4. 3 loops exactly.

Regardless, I ended up feeling just a tad sore than usual - atleast one of my legs felt like lead throughout thursday. I suspect it's just a product of my increased mileage these days.

I m getting ready to move apartments in the next few days so won't be writing much - but am looking forward to this weekend - for our 18 mile long run. Obviously, this will be the longest distance I'd have ever run. That's the beauty of marathon training - every week you break your own personal record. Will report on how that goes...

A (not-so) lonely 12 miler

Our long run this past weekend was a 12-miler. Long runs, one every weekend, is THE main thing we do together as a group. Typically our long runs are on Sundays, but this time it was on a saturday due to some scheduling issues. I ended up going to the anti-war rally in San Francisco on saturday, and so had to miss the group run. But I was determined to get my mileage in for the week, so I decided to step out by myself on sunday morning, and do the 12 miler alone.

Our group weekend runs usually start super-early (by my standards) - 8am! But this sunday, since it was just going to be me, myself and I doing the running, I could start whenever I want! I decided to make the most of that, slept in later than usual. By the time I had added some gatorade mix into my water and parked my car by the santa cruz harbor (the starting point of the run), it was 9.30am! But I was feeling good and raring to go.

The course involved a long loop around the harbor, then along the santa cruz boardwalk, followed by running along the roads and pavements on the hills adjacent to the coast - running from the east to the west end of Santa Cruz. The bulk of my run was along this stretch of road called "west cliff drive" - which is a road that runs along the hilly bluffs that overlook the west santa cruz oceanfront. A paved walkway also runs along this stretch of road. And the moment I stepped onto West Cliff, I realized that this wasn't going to be a lonely run after all. The trail was bustling with people - runners, walkers, people with dogs, cyclists, moms and dads with kids in strollers. Looking sideways toward the ocean - waves crashing into rock, boats sailing, surfers attempting to tame waves and losing in that battle, and so on. It is such a different experience from say, running in the forest (which is what we did the weekend before). Running in the forest is truly beautiful, but there was something to be said for running amongst the hustle and bustle as well. I was thoroughly enjoying it.

The goal of this weekend's run was to get used to the feeling of running at our target marathon pace. The idea is to start off by running easy for the first 3 miles or so, to warm up. Then to run the next 4-6 miles at marathon pace - i.e, at around 9min/mile. And then run the last 3miles easy to wrap it up. My "marathon pace" stretch started at the beginning of west cliff drive, all the way to Natural Bridges State Park, and back. I didn't have my watch on me (currently broken after its battery died and its replacement didn't work), so I had no absolute way of monitoring myself... instead I decided that I would just run at a slightly higher level of exertion.

I cruised along till the turnaround point at Natural Bridges just fine. I had already done 3 miles at "marathon" pace. It was in the next mile that I started to feel it, and for the first time during the day, I started looking forward to the end. Still continuing on, I decided that I would resume people-watching to amuse myself. Turning to my left, looking at some of the houses that overlooked the ocean, I saw three kids sitting on the patio of a house. They looked at me, and then, hesitantly, waved. Almost as if I was in a passing train or something! I waved back, upon which the kids waved more vigorously and gave some of the most beautiful smiles I ve ever seen - and then the road took a slight bend and I lost them. Just a fleeting moment, but my spirits were lifted immensely. The next mile was breeze. Midway through the mile, I realized I was cruising and feeling extremely good about myself. Was this the fabled "runner's high"? Or was this just a result of those kids waving at me? Whatever it was, it really made my day.

I ran the last "marathon pace" mile hardest, and was ready to take a break by the time the 6 middle miles were done. Only 3 more easy miles to go. Soon, I was at the west end of the harbor. My car was at the east end - almost there! But these last two miles would turn out to be psychologically hard - since it involves a big loop around the harbor, a small channel of water separating the the two sides. You can see the other side and the end point, but you are just out of reach. Soon enough though, it was all over. As I reached the end, it was 11.45am, and the fog was starting to come in! It seemed like the fog had been just waiting for me to finish up.

The change of pacing during the run took its toll - I had sore knees and shoulders through sunday afternoon. Icing, and 9 hours of sleep that night helped quite a bit. But I must say I m looking forward to the next time I'll get to run alone on West Cliff Drive...

Its official: Im running my first marathon!

This week, I finally went ahead and did it - I registered for my first marathon! So - after MONTHS of rumination, back and forth, and after 3 different times over the past month when I *almost* signed up - I finally managed to gather the guts to go ahead and make the committment. So there's no turning back now.

I am running the California International Marathon (referred by people lovingly as Cal International). Sunday, December 4th, 2005 it will be. Exactly 10 weeks to go.

Cal International has quite a great sound to it - surely it conjures images of the great outdoors in this immensely well endowed state. You must be thinking - hmm, california - probably its a run along some stretch of the spectacular coastline? No, not quite. Well then - maybe a run through the grandness of the Sierra Nevada? Nope, wrong again! Well - it runs from Folsom to Sacramento - not exactly the most scenic part of the state. And no, I couldn't figure out whats so "international" about it..

But here's what's makes it GREAT for me - it is known as the 'fastest race in the west' - which, to us novice runners who don't care too much about speed, translates to - EASY!. Its a flat, net-downhill course, thanks to the fact that it is a one-way route. The weather also should be mild during that time of the year. (so long as it doesn't rain). And from the pictures on the website, looks like it might even be somewhat pretty..

Another reason for choosing this particular marathon is because of my track club. As some of you may know, I am a member of the Santa Cruz Track Club (which makes me sound like an athlete or something - but believe me, I m not) The SCTC is basically a gathering place for folks in the local community that are interested in running. Old and young, runners of all stripes and skills and speed (including folks who are just starting to run for the first time) are welcome here. The SCTC is a huge reason why running has become a part of my life in the last couple years. Hope to write more about SCTC in a later post, but I digress for now..

Where was I? Oh yeah. At the track club, in fall, folks band together to form "marathon training groups" every so often, aiming to train 3-4 months for a marathon at the end of fall or early spring. Last year there was one which had me tempted for 5 minutes, before I realized it was going to consist of all the super-speedy crazy guys. This year though, there is a different (read - normal) group of folks that also came together to start a marathon training group, aiming for a 4-hour marathon. And while I had no clue whether I was capable of running a 4-hr marathon or not, I knew some of the people in this group, and I have been more-or-less able to keep up with them during our short workouts on wednesdays - and that made me feel that this might actually work.

The big reason why marathons are such a big deal is because of the fact that doing it requires a lot more than just running ability to do it. Many people will tell you is that the marathon is in many ways a metaphor for life. Whether you are a novice or a great sprinter, one thing still holds - you cannot run a marathon without training for it. And so it requires discipline, diligence, perseverance, patience, and all of that good stuff. And after a point its not really about running ability, but more about making that committment, week after week, day after day - to go out and put in the miles. And hence, it REALLY makes sense to have a support group - or atleast a group of folks who are going through the same suffering, to go on those loooong, runs with, and who can keep you honest.

So here I was, thinking about a marathon (especially since in the last couple years I have seen quite a few of my friends and acquaintances do the thing) - and here there was, a group in my track club, consisting of normal, non-speedy folks forming a marathon training group just when I was starting to have some free time.. seemed too good for me to pass. And when my colleague Martin, who had never breathed a word ever about running before, suddenly mentioned out of the blue that he was running a marathon in Dec, I couldn't keep giving myself the same old excuses anymore.. [And his training efforts as it unfolds, continues to be quite inspiring]

So here we are. As of now, I am about a month into the training, and feeling at home with this small, motley crew of ours. The long run mileages are starting to climb - I already broke my personal record for the longest run last week - 16 miles!. Weekly mileage is starting to get past the 30 mile mark. The increased frequency of running and increased mileage are also making "running" a more central piece of my life than it has ever been. (This blog is a product of that). Which is good and bad, in some ways. And also starting to make my legs feel 10 pounds heavier. But, no injures so far, touch-wood. And am sure, as the mileage increases, there will be newer challenges to overcome, and richer experiences. I'll get to feel the "runners' high" (the result of increased endorphin release by the body causing you to feel really good, and feel like you can go on forever. Runners report it on especially long runs). And "The Wall" - the point in your run where you apparently feel, physically and psychologically that you CANNOT go on - a common thing that happens with marathon-level mileage, typically when people pass 20 miles. And many more unknowns.

Looking forward to all of that...

Why a running blog?

here's a top-10 list:
10. Got too much free time, i guess
9. Everyone else is writing a running blog, why shouldn't I?
8. to explore the blogosphere and its potential, from the inside, not just from the outside
7. to maintain a journal of my running regimen and make everyone else that's not running seem crazy
6. the fascinating psyche (read - craziness) of runners i know of, and the running community
5. to hear myself out loud. read my thoughts. over and over. (i m a narcissist)
4. to be even more engulfed with "running this, running that, blah, blah...
3. to get more energy, support and drive, from y'all in the process of running my first marathon!
2. to raise funds to support the cause of my cousin, who is fighting Leukemia (more on this soon)
1. to be really cool

got anymore reasons in your head as to why I should be writing (or NOT writing?) lemme know. leave me a comment.

Posting number 1

Birthday of my blog. Nothing to say, yet, but Im sure, words will come to me. soon.