Unstuck and Get a Life - April 2012

Started this month will a mileage of 6K and completed April with a mileage of 15K. I gradually increased the distance/time everyday by few hundred meters (and few minutes). I feel that i m much fitter and my legs are little stronger than March. I no longer feel that mild soreness. The overall mileage of April 2012 stands at 174K (yeah, it is one hundred and seventy four kilometers only). Here is my chart.

The key thing about running is that i got a time slot to think about myself and set my priorities.

Side effects:
During this month, i would have burnt down (108 (weight in kg)*174 (distance in kms)*1.036(a constant to be multipled) = 19468.512 calories) and this should have helped me to reduce 2.5kg of my mass if my intake is 2400 calories per day. I need to burn 2 lakh calories to reach ideal body mass (which would take at least a year if i m pretty consistent in my efforts). The key here is an healthy diet + not more than 2400 Kcal per day.

Stats:

Starting Mileage: 6K

Ending Mileage: 15K

Total Mileage: 174K

Total Running days: 19

Total rest days: 12

Cross Training: none

Good things

• Enough rest days
• Not too much carried away. Take every day as it comes. When you take unplanned off from running, i don't feel guilty.
• Take enough rest before increasing the mileage (if it is more than a kilometer)

Next Target

• Half Marathon {Run a half marathon in 2-3 months from now.}
• Cross training (swimming?)

Once again, thank you folks for supporting me. Your pouring comments here and in Facebook are really cool and motivates me to keep running.

As i said in March, i m looking forward to complete May with much better stats & health.

Heuristics and Review

Read about Heuristic

Infer things from common sense and use it for solving a problem. The human generally don't believe in common sense unless they perceive a pattern (we usually term this as experience) and once they find the pattern the human hardly believe that the pattern can change. We start with a low confidence (that leads to frequent checks/reviews), build the confidence by perceiving patterns and become over confidence (through the knowledge gained). Over a period of time, we tend to ignore the signs of pattern reversal. It is not pattern reversal but it is mere lack of understanding the system (one theory is that we fail to understand the theory of large numbers. For example, the probability of getting a head is 0.5. In the current trial, if we get a tail, it doesn't mean that you will get head next time. It means that for (real) larger number of trials you will get 50% heads and 50% tails.).

For example, when you try to learn to drive bicycle, you are tend to be very careful (cautious). Then, why do accidents happen? (check out theory of large numbers, theory of medium numbers)

I think, this applies to everything and the failure of things is more pronounced in discrete systems.

So, it is absolutely critical that we review (to keep inferring things/environment) and anticipate failure.

Failures are inevitable (as most of the systems in this world are really medium and hence there will be irregularities)

One can rely on heuristics if he reviews the heuristics properly (keep inferring and never conclude).

More gyan can be found in Introduction to General Systems Thinking by Weinberg.

Running Log - 20/Apr/2012

Today (21-Apr-2012) is yet another rest and after increasing my weekly mileage.

Yesterday, i added two more kilometers to my mileage. Since i follow 10%, i run an additional 1km run and added a kilometer for my cool down. I m kind of reached 12K mark. Here are the details

• 0.5 km - warm-up walk
• 9km - run (couple of 10/1s and 5/1s)
• 2.5 km - cool down walk

Observations:

After initial hurdle of 10 mins, i was able to run comfortably up to 40 mins.

After about an hour of run, i was again able to run comfortably (i ran couple of 10/1s after about an hour)

Running in uphill (not steep one) is little difficult (but i m getting better)

Walking speed has noticeably increased at least by 1kmph.

Next Milestone:

Hoping to reach my next milestone of 15K in three weeks from now (12-May-2012).

Be serious on stretching before/after the run 

Important Thing:

Apart from very mild soreness (which goes off after the rest day), i don't have any joint pains and running doesn't interfere in my daily life. I m talking this as my body's signal to add more mileage.

Running + drinking lots of water is doing wonders in my sleeping patterns.

My Experiment with my body

I have been experimenting a lot with my body (especially my legs, knees and hips) and i think my body is responding well to the toughest challenges. For people who know me well (and those you had a chance to look in close shot) will visibly see me bulky. And with hardly a month of running (with enough rest days), i understand that the size doesn't matter. Here are my learning.

• Size doesn't matter. The legs are designed to carry you even if you are heaviest unless you don't abuse it. But the catch is that it can run any distance only when there is gradual increase in mileage.
• Consistency is very important factor. You cannot bunk days. It is good even if you have time to walk/run a kilometer. Just do it and your body will surprise you.
• Rest days are as equally important as your run days. Veteran runners say body uses the rest days to recover. I feel it slightly. I need to watch my body more to really comment. But one thing that i can say that after every rest day my body craves for more running.
• Three words that i carry - consistency, hydration and good shoes
• Being around with good friends who just pep you up when you are down (thanks to all those who post comments in my blog, likes in facebook and retweets in Twitter)
• Personal mileage tracker with challenging short term goals.
• Don't starve. Rely more on whole foods and non-carbonated fluids (and say NO to junk foods - those half air-filled chips packets)

I m sure that these things are pretty much common (more common sense) among fitness freaks. Anyways, not too bad to share. You will see more common sense posts on running in future :-)

Running Log - 13/Apr/2012

After almost a week, i tried to increase my mileage today and tried to reach the next milestone - 10K. I didn't feel any pain/discomfort while i ran. I didn't overstep, i didn't increase the intensity of the run and thoroughly enjoyed. I m going to keep watching my steps and it is doing miracles. Watching the body really works. I did couple of things before the run. Around an hour before my run, i gulped 200 ml of Tang (flavored water which gives around 75 cal of energy) and 500 ml of plain water. Here goes the running log.

• Total Mileage: 10K
• Warm-up: 0.5 km walk
• Run: 8.5km (5/1s). 
• Cool down: 1km walk

Next Steps:

• Few upgrades
• Research on compression shorts/pants.
• Research on the need for knee band (that keeps the knee cap intact). I feel that i should wear it for next 3-6 months
• Check out the loss of minerals and how to build it back.
• Check out crossing training (cycling/swimming)

Observation

5/1s is really doing wonders. If you want to finish your race few minutes before, you should walk in between your run.

My overall mileage this month stands at 75 kilometers.

Previously (sometime back when i traveled to San Jose) i ran 12km but today's 10K gives me different feeling. I feel that i should keep running.

Thank you guys for being with me. Special thanks to Sandy for motivating me. Whenever i run, i sincerely feel that i should wear the kurta you gave me. The gift can actually change my life/lifestyle.

Running Log - 11/Apr/2012

After yesterday's rest, i think my body repaired quite well. Today's run is pretty impressive.

• Distance: 9K
• 0.5km - warm-up
• 7.5km - non-stop (no 5/1s or 6/1s). [But there is an interesting observation. 5/1s actually help me shave few minutes in my total run]
• 1km - cool down (cool down was absolute cool down. Not feeling any heat/hotness. Hydration is super cool)

Only two more runs this week. Hoping to add 20K to my mileage

Thanks to Veeru for sharing his views in Facebook. I m going to be very careful in add miles to my daily run.

Plan for 1/2 Marathon

I never thought that i would take up running seriously and enjoy every step. Whenever i run, i never think about shedding my pounds. I don't have losing weight as my goal. I enjoy the way i sweating out because running helps me to prove to my own self - what i m capable of. I don't just run. When i run, i think, i m hearing my body.

For the past one month, i have been witnessing the importance of keeping goals that are challenging. Everyday, when i untie my shoes, i think about adding a mile next time. I m not successful in adding a mile the very next day. But i add few hundred steps before giving up and everyday it is incremental. It is great thing to faint and fail. It is great thing to give up after sweating your butt.

I started with 3K. And for past few sessions i broke 9K and i should say, "i m pretty much consistent". With this consistency and if i apply 10 percent rule (increasing the mileage by 10 percent every week), i should be hitting 21K mark (half-marathon) in another 12 weeks (3 months). If i add a month to it to factor in my rest days, i should be able to run a half marathon within four months from now. It is very much attainable goal.

The point here is. I can run my half marathon next week. It is bit easy to run 21K once. But can i run 21K consistently every week without an injury is a question mark. I would like to bank on consistency, 10 percent rule and advices of veteran runners.

Running Log - 8/Apr/2012

Today, it was a fantastic day for two reasons.

First, my hydration was super cool and second i got new pair of Asics. I have been using Reebok for sometime for my evening jog. I wanted to buy a new pair of shoes. I was not happy with my new Reebok Vibetech and started searching for good shoes. Good that i came to know about Asics. Today, i bought a new pair of Asics from Reliance Footprint and my run was sturdy. I never jogged with such a comfort. More on Asics later (after my initial experience).

Coming to the run. Today, i took a different route. Here is my run log

Run log

• 0.5km warm-up
• 7 km 5/1s runs
• 1.5 cool down walk

Yeah, i crossed 8K today and made up 9K. 8K was my psychological barrier.

Upgrades (both these made my run pretty comfortable):

• Asics running shoes
• Nike running socks

Learning

• Try to find a route that you can complete in single run (irrespective of the distance). For long distance running, repetition seems to be a scary thing. Running laps are just boring. Make your run motivating.
• Add a bit of sodium after a long run. Today, had banana milk shake. Just a pat on my back :-)
• I feel that with training (and Asics), running a half marathon (13.1mi/21K) is an attainable goal (may be in 6-8 months).

Next:

• Need to study a bit on injuries due to running and how to mitigate them
• Have to check websites on Gatorade. Should i really take Gatorade?
• Start working on half-marathon running/training plan. Get a gyan and fix a goal (which is attainable yet challenging)

Gyan that i got:

Don't run to complete 5K/10K/half-marathon or to lose weight. Run to enjoy life and discover who you are.

One more kilometer to hit 10K. As usual, my endurance was up a bit and few times in the middle of my runs, i ran really fast (due to traffic signals and traffic congestion).

Only word that hits me these days - Consistency, Consistency & Consistency.

Running Log - 7/Apr/2012

Yesterday was a rest day (and also had some work @ office. had to stay till 8pm & attend a late night call). Good that all those fell on the rest day.

Today, i jogged 8K. While leaving home, i said i would go 10K today but my father asked me to stop at 8K (asked me to increase gradually). Took, few more minutes than my previous run (5-Apr-2012) but finished with little energy left.

• 0.5 km - Warm-up
• 6.5 km - 5/1 runs @ 54 mins
• 1.5 km - cool down

Started to keep myself hydrated well. In today's run, i felt that my endurance to run 8K has increased and  today i didnt feel the uneasiness.

I closed this week with overall mileage of 29km.

So, fell like it is good going and great self-training :-)

Tomorrow, have to buy a Asics (seems like available in the city at Reliance Footprint). Reebok doesn't seem to go that well with my foot.

Running Log - 5/Apr/2012

Today is a wow. Stepped inside the shoes and jogged 8KM. Here is the log

• 0.5 km warm-up walk
• 6.5 km (5/1, around 10 sets of 5 minutes running and 1 minute walking)
• 1 km cool down walk

Observation

• It was bit difficult to run 5/1s throughout. Had to slow down in my jogging in couple of runs. As usual, finished strong. Some energy was left to job another kilometer. (run-walk-run does the magic)
• After 53 minutes of 5/1s, i feel that my endurance has go up a little.
• It is high time to do some leg toning in coming weeks (climb stairs, do some sit-ups)

Next

• Complete this week with a 6K (tomorrow) and 8K (saturday or sunday)
• Be ready to run 9K by end of next week
• Get a good pair of shoes (asics or new balance, have to check out in sports shop during weekends)
• Keeping my fingers crossed to touch 10K by end of April' 12
• Have to find some cool jogging routes near my home.

So far, have clocked 21 kms this week.

Experiencing "Running"

I have been running (rather jogging/walking) for quite sometime. Got past my target of 5K pretty consistently and every day i jog i make sure that i jog 5K. And most importantly, i finish my run with lot of energy (which is good) and i have to (deliberately) tell my legs "stop". After my evening run, i still have energy left to play with my playful nephews.

The following helps me to enjoy my running

• Use run-walk-run method (check out Jeff Galloway's website) .
• Have enough rest days (two consecutive run days followed by a rest day)

and slowly i have to

• add miles to my run
• cross training (do toning exercise or bit of cycling/swimming)
• work on my "hydration" and make it better
• work on my diet
• Run in the morning (through not very urgent)

This week, i ran 6K and 7K on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Hopefully, by the mid of May, i should run my first 10K (yeah, it is 10 kilometers in single run). Currently, i m not focusing too much on the time to complete. Being heavy, i feel that running is much more important than speed.

My first gyan from this renewed habit is - "Size doesn't matter".

Philosophy of Being Naughty

Any philosophy to be called as a philosophy should primarily have two attributes. It should withstand the test of time and there should have been enough counter perspectives [contrarian views]. If you accept something simply because it has been rolled out by the CEO, you will do more harm to the philosophy than good. If you don't rebel, there are two possibilities. The philosophy could be so great but you missed to understand it. The second possibility is that the philosophy could actually be crap but you would be wasting your time on something which is useless. So, when in doubt, question. When in doubt, do not co-operate. When in doubt, be naughty.

In some cases, obedience is height suicide. Disobedience can lead to great self satisfaction and most productive for the company. This point itself could be a philosophy. Philosophy of being naughty (by naughty i mean not taking the casual route, naughty could be not fearing, naughty could be not trusting until there is a proof, naughty could be trying to be rebel).

By being naughty, if you don't buy in to the philosophy, it just fine. Because, you follow "Naughty Philosophy"

Unstuck and Get a Life

I never thought that this blog would turnaround my life and make me think big. You the readers have been my source of inspiration in many ways. I only hope that i live up to my own potential of being an human being.

Here is March '12 performance card of my jogging {i put together a tiny personal tracker/website in my laptop and till will take a while to make it online}

Points:

• Restarted to jog. {started and stopped the habit many times in the past. Every time i start, i vow to make it a part of my daily life. nothing changed this time}
• Training myself for a 5K run. {as of now today, i can comfortably jog 5K with 4/1 strategy. 4 mins jog and 1 minute walk}. 
• From mid of March, have jogged a total distance of 40 K (yeah, it is kilometers).
• In the last day of March, did few 3/1s, two 9/1s and a warm up (5 mins walk)/cool downs (10 mins walk).
• Next would be reaching 10/1 gradually and build endurance.
• Next 10 days, i would be working on hitting 5K consistently, every day that i run.
• From the end of April, i would be training for a 10K and hoping to hit 10K once with 10/1 strategy.

Learning:

Have enough rest days. Allow muscle to repair itself. Be tough to be consistent and be gentle while you run.

Hope to put up a better post on first of next month.

[By the way, don't think that this is fools day post. It is just a coincidence that i started this on March '12]

See you later.