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suresh
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Re: Forum members get together to play...

Post by suresh »

A month ago, the first race for elite runners, the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, was held with top runners in the world showing up. It was a fast race and the top Indian was Avinash Sable who finished in 1:00:30 -- he bettered the Indian record by a couple of minutes!

The first in-person race open to the public was held last weekend at the Chennai Marathon. Entries were limited with time cut-offs in place and the race was held at the Madras Motorway. Lots of protocols were in place for the event but I missed running it for the first time. I was not willing to take a risk in a public event. The weekend before that I completed a Half Marathon time trial and went below 1:50 for the first time finishing in 1:48:33. My target was 1:45 but that did not happen.
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Re: Forum members get together to play...

Post by jayakris »

Mucho admiration for your running, Suresh. :notworthy: ... I wish I could run 1 kilometer :(
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jayakris wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:29 am Mucho admiration for your running, Suresh. :notworthy: ... I wish I could run 1 kilometer :(
There is no need to run. It is enough to walk! That is how I started.
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Post by jaydeep »

Great timing Suresh, you will be definitely going to break your target 1:45 sooner and raise bar for below 1:40 ... :clap:
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suresh wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 8:28 amThere is no need to run. It is enough to walk! That is how I started.
Thanks, Suresh. I must walk... I must walk... Needed motivation. Sitting at the laptop is way too easy.
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I can walk hours at a good pace. But, I tried to run. In the summer, I ran up to about 20 minutes at a stretch. And, now with winter I can only run 4 minutes. I have asthma and the cold air surprisingly (or may be not so surprisingly) makes it harder. Walking and running are different my friend ;-) I guess I will resume giving it another shot once the weather becomes warmer here. Until then, walking it is. :-)

Suresh should go to the masters world championship :-) There is no qualifying. Anyone who wants to can participate. I can volunteer to find a conference or some university to lecture at along with that Suresh, if you are up for it. :-)
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prasen9 wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 3:05 pm I can walk hours at a good pace. But, I tried to run. In the summer, I ran up to about 20 minutes at a stretch. And, now with winter I can only run 4 minutes. I have asthma and the cold air surprisingly (or may be not so surprisingly) makes it harder. Walking and running are different my friend ;-) I guess I will resume giving it another shot once the weather becomes warmer here. Until then, walking it is. :-)

Suresh should go to the masters world championship :-) There is no qualifying. Anyone who wants to can participate. I can volunteer to find a conference or some university to lecture at along with that Suresh, if you are up for it. :-)
Prasenjit, It is enough to do a brisk walk -- you just need to do that for at least 40 minutes. That is roughly equivalent to 20 minutes of running. The health benefits are the same. For me it counters depression as well. Another option for you is the run/walk method. Walk for 2-3 minutes and run for 2 minutes or some variant thereof. This will improve your aerobic capacity for sure. You should also consider doing breathing exercises (even pranayama that is touted by Sri^2) for 10 minutes every day. I do that regularly as well. If you can track your HR, figure out your resting HR and that is a good indicator of aerobic fitness.

I am what one should call a recreational athlete. The real athletes, even at the Masters level, are at a different league. These guys run the HM in around or even under 1:30. I run for fun & health. I will keep it that way. :-) Thanks for the offer. I am trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon and will take up your offer, if and when I need it.
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Post by prasen9 »

All good advice. Yes, I had used the run/walk method to push my stamina up. But, the cold air seems to have brought it down. I guess the solution is to do that again and get stamina for cold air. Instead, it is just easier for me to walk an hour. Gives me time to think. :-) When I am running, my daughter says that it looks like I am trying to survive. :-) Yep, let me know if you qualify for Boston.
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Post by suresh »

In cold weather (20-30F is all I have done), I do an extended warm up that include active/dynamic elements. Examples include jumping jacks, butt kicks, high knees or running in place. See if doing this helps you. It takes another 10-15 minutes of running to actually reach something close to normal after that. You will know other things such as covering one's head, wearing gloves etc. from your day to day living.
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Yes, I use protective clothing all right. I will try increasing the warmups. Or just stick to my walking. :-)
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Post by Kumar »

Amazing time Suresh! At this rate,I am positive will achieve your dream of Boston Marathon! how do you handle running in Chennai? Do u run close to beach?

Prasen,I Primarily walk nowadays with little bit of jump rope thrown in! I used to love running in cold weather when the wind is not bad! I started off with a heavy winter coat and at the end was down to my tshirt! Running in cold weather is exhilarating and I can still remember that perfect day

Another thing to try is run for 10-15 seconds every 2-3 minutes! That may get you in a good rhythm as well!
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Thanks Kumar. Will try that.
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Kumar wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 10:16 pm Amazing time Suresh! At this rate,I am positive will achieve your dream of Boston Marathon! how do you handle running in Chennai? Do u run close to beach?
Thanks Kumar. I usually run on the IITM campus. Never on the beach but my TT was on East Coast Road that is long the coast but the beach is not visible from the road. My mantra to run in Chennai is to "shut up and run". I plan for the conditions but don't fret over it as I don't have a choice.
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