12 miles in the hot sun equals 15 miles

Well, that is true, if you run on a hot day in the sun, the sun saps the energy. But what if because of carelessness, you ignore your turn around point. You end up actually running 15 miles in the sun and cry for rest of the day. "But Gaurav, you were supposed to run 12, how did you end up running 15?" Well, I will tell you the long story.

Since there are many different types of runners, and since they don't want to crowd the trails and roads with lots of runners, the TNT team trickles runners on to the trail. So with people of different abilities and target events running different mileage, they send runners in waves. Since the South Peninsula team was also running with us this weekend, there were even more runners. So, they had to create at least 5-6 waves of runners this last weekend. I started in the second wave at 9 AM. It was going to be hot and hilly, so I came prepared with three gels and 4 small bottles of water in my hydration pack. They told us there are three water stations and after the third water station, its out and back. The first 5 miles was a nice tear drop loop around Woodside. The weather was just perfect when we started, the course was not too hilly, and it went around the humungous estates of the ultra rich. Some of the houses had the front yard much much bigger than our entire apartment community.

Anywho, I did pretty well in the first hour, and after finishing a major hill, I reached the second water station. I was running towards the third water station when another team member from the south peninsula team, Pat, caught up with me and we started talking. After taking a little break at the third water station, we started running. We were thinking we must have run about 5 + 2 or 2.5 miles so the turn around point should be close. We knew there were two other runners ahead of us so we didn't quite worry about the turn around point and kept on running and talking. After a little while we really wondered if they forgot to mark the turn around point. Right then we saw those two runners and they told us we were about 100 yards from the 16 mile turn around point. Our jaws dropped. I was in no shape or mood for running a 16 miler. That run was a month from last Saturday. So, getting a little frustrated we started to walk back. Then we thought, oh well, we were not feeling too bad, we should just run as much as we can. We also met another captain who had missed the turn around point so he was also running back with us. We took a good break at the third water station, filled up our hydration pack and ate a gel for the run back to the start line. The volunteers at the water station told us that if we kept running straight instead of tracing our path back, we could cut our run by 1 mile. So we did just that. And thats how I ended up running 15 miles instead of 12.

My legs were tired but fortunately, I did not have any other major injuries. That whole day, I was so tired and dehydrated that I couldn't sleep and had a headache. They had told us about the advantage of an ice bath, so I tried taking that as well. If you haven't tried this, defn. try it when you are super exhausted due to too much exercise. It helps you recover fast. So, I sat in the bath tub, turned on cold water. Kept shouting and singing (this song) at the top of my voice as the water inch'ed up. To top it all, added some ice when the tub was full. It almost burns when the cold water touches you but after few mins, it feels great. I am not sure if it helped as the bone in my right leg still hurts, but I am guessing if I hadn't taken that bath and the icing that I have been doing every day, it would have taken longer to recover.

After that adventure, it feels really good to have run the farthest distance in my life ever.

Thank you all for your support!! Go Team!!

Sore Throat - Cold - Coughing - Sneezing

After finishing the buddy run last Thursday, I started to feel sore throat and sneezing. I kept on taking dayquil during the day time and nyquil during the night time, but the symptoms kept getting worse. They were the worst during last weekend so I skipped OYO (On Your Own) run with my buddies. With some more rest on Monday, I was ready to get back in the groove again. So, yesterday, I joined the team at College of San Mateo for the track workout. Boy, was it windy. Even while driving to the CSM tracks my car was swaying and I had to drive with a firm grip. I knew the wind gusts were bad but had no clue that it would be that bad. After coming home, I saw the news that the wind gusts were as high as 60-70 miles / hour. It made the truck trailer over turn on the San Mateo bridge and a fishing boat lost power and it kept on hitting the San Mateo bridge from the bottom due to the wind and the choppy waters. They had to close the bridge for the night. I am so proud of the team that despite such conditions, we trained and finished our session. Now, I have to make sure the cold is completely gone by the weekend so that I finish the 12 miles hill run strong.

The College of San Mateo track and field is in the hills off of highway 92. Its a beautiful track over looking almost the entire Silicon Valley. On a beautiful night, we also get to see the moon rise over the bay. We are so blessed with such beautiful locations that workouts become much more bearable. Imagine running around the same path with no views and worse weather. Ukhhh..

Also, I am very happy that the fund raising is going strong. Thank you everyone who has donated. I am already at about 32% and with the matching donations, will get close to 50%, but need to re-invigorate the fund raising to make sure I at least meet the target. I have barely 50 more days to go for fund raising.

Go Team!!

Double digits - here I come

Yesterday was the first time (not first time ever, but first time in this training) I ran a double digit run, 10 miles. We had run an 8 miler in the hills 2 weekends ago, so this was not going to be worse as the course was flat, and mentally, for me, 13.1 is the longest I have run, so anything less than that doesn't scare me. I will be entering unchartered territory a month from now when we run 14 miles.

Yesterday we ran in Half moon bay right next to the ocean. The trail is flat and beautiful. If you haven't run / or gone for a bike ride, its highly recommended. The trail starts at pillar point harbor. It is a paved trail which goes behind the beautiful houses and right next to the beach. The views from some of the points are amazing. I will certainly be going back for a nice bike ride and a picnic some day. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was sunny yet not too warm and with gentle wind and no fog, it was a pleasure to run. I usually target 11 min / mile but I must have had the fuel at the right time, I was able to finish strong with 10 min / mile pace. I am sure with more than twice the distance and hills added, I am not going to reach 10 min / mile pace on the day of the race but it is something I aim for.

The best part however was after the race, instead of coming home and putting an ice pack, we all just went and stood in the pacific ocean water. Boy was it cold. It was so cold that it was more painful to stand in that cold water than running 10 miles and for few mins it felt like the pain would not stop. Our coaches and captain kept telling us after a while you won't feel any pain and it will help us recover faster. I am glad I stuck around. Today my legs feel much better and I will certainly do it again after every race if there is an opportunity to stand in ice cold pacific waters.

For now, I am going to relax, recover and get ready for another hectic week of workout. Next big run would be 12 miles in the mountains somewhere in woodside in two weeks.