Kaveri Trail - Half Marathon 2013 - Race Recap

Even though it has been over a week since I ran the Kaveri Trail Half Marathon 2013, I still cannot stop raving about the experience. The Kaveri trail is one of the most scenic marathon trails in this prt of the country. With the sound of singing birds, gurgling water, the chants of the field workers and the near perfect running weather that Bangalore offers, it became a must do after being initiated into the world of running races last year.

My training was quite consistent in the beginning but slacked quite badly after I was uprooted from my home, changed jobs and basically my world changed over night! The longest run I had been on was a 13k, while the Hal Higdon Plan stipulated that I run atleast a 16k as part of the training.

But I have been running for more than a year now, and the Scientist reassured my nervous self that I'd be ok once I reached the start line. The drive from Bangalore took nearly one a half hours. I woke up at 4 a.m. so that we'd reach the start line after I'd had enough time for a pee.

 I warmed up and stretched. And was enjoying the experience of being amidst all those half marathoners and in complete awe of the full marathon runners! Imagine 42k on your two feet!

I must admit that the first few kms were tough for me - I was annoyed at myself for being so fat and felt that was slowing me down  lot. I felt fatigued easily - unlike how I usually felt strong and good during my practice runs. I was sure the lack of running during the preceeding two weeks was the one that was stunting me so badly! Then I saw people who looked much fitter and thinner than me also slowing down, struggling and walking. That when I decided to forgive myself and just run between the water stations.

At the 6k mark, I felt a strange pain in the deep seated muscles of my left hand. Its a pain I've never before experienced. I did some arm swings and rotations to ease it out and kept moving. I consciously took electrolyte at every water station and even cooled myself down by splashing water on my face, neck and hands. The weather was humid-hot and that made running the tough trail pretty hard. Lots of people walked and ran alternately. I kept going in the same way until I saw the 10k mark.

In my head I expected to turn around at 10k. But the turn around point was at 11.1k and that felt like the hardest 1.1k EVER!!! On the way back, it was more walking, though I felt a surge of strength from the 121 k mark till the 15k. After that, I was just counting down kms to finish line. I forgot about how slow I was. I just did what I could  ran/ walked. My feet were begging to be taken out of shoes.

The last 2-3 kms were treacherous. I was thinking that it would be the last time I'd ever do something this crazy. Then in the home stretch there were people cheering at every 100m point. And the thought of actually finishing it up fueled me till the finish point.

The good things were:

• I did not cramp 
• no injury except knee pain which I felt for 2-3 after the race too
• I did not faint/ vomit like many others
• of course - that I finished
• the awesome medal at the end!

The bad were:

• I took more than 3 hrs to finish which I thought was embarassing
• I walked wayyyyy!!! more than I expected to
• by the end my feet were crying 

But the best is - that I am contemplating running the Wipro Chennai Half Marathon in December this year - for better timing you see?

Here are the official race pics:

How the 13k was ruined on today's run

Sunday is long run day. I was up before the alarm this morning. I thought - Is this not psychotic that I wake this early in the morning just to go running? And then I had to literally neck myself out of the house. The Husband was still snoring and the toddler was snuggled up next to him. I wanted to get right back into the warmth of that bed.

I instead grabbed the phone, strapped on my belt, filled my bottle with water remembered that I had forgotten to buy gatorade yet again and quietly left the house. 13k was on tap for today. Mentally, I had mapped a route that would let me run 7k till I reached the edge of Cubbon park, 5k in cubbon park and last 1k in the home stretch.

I was feeling just too good and even a bit happy as I jogged into cubbon park, literally spitting out the GU I had got long ago complimentary to the Runners for Life membership. Yuck it tasted horrid!!! I clearly prefer Gatorade!!! The next 2 kms was also pretty good. Suddenly I felt a wincing pain on the bone just below the toe of my left foot. I wanted to take off my shoes right away! I tried to wriggle my foot around inside the shoe, adjusted the position and thought I'd be ok. Ughh!!! The pain was back. Arounf the 10.6k mark, I was limping my way back, after calling the Scientist to come and pick me up. I limped until the mapmyrun app showed 12k. What a disgrace!!I hate to quit at the end!

The background is that the spot of the pain is exactly where my foot was fractured 3 years ago :( I am waiting for the week to actually start to go see the orthopedist about it. Having fractured both feet back then, I was not able to let the left foot heal as much as I paid attention to the right. Hopefully it should not be anything too bad. But all day today I have not even been able to put a finger on that spot. It has been pretty painful!

The updates will come!

The weekend post - rains, long run and home cooked food!

On Friday evening, it finally felt like the monsoons had arrived. The rains lashed down on the city like something had finally given way and I felt like I have seen such a downpour after long. The desire for having hot hot parathas had to be instead satiated with palak soup and rice ended with a nicce peanut butter Reeses cup.

 

Saturday is our dsignated home visit day when we visit our house currently under renovation. Waking up late, I postponed my workout a bit. I had wanted to do Jillian Micheals - No more trouble zones. A sandwich breakfast had, we finished up our site inspection after I did some adventurous stair climbing - with no step- only frame!!!

 

Back home, I had already asked Maami to cook lunch. I was too hungry to workout, plus it was also late. In addition, Sunday - was a long run day - 10 kilometres (6 miles) on tap! So I decided to take it easy. Instead, I showered and had lunch and snacked on another Reeses!!! Yikes!

 

To compensate for lack of exercise on Saturday I spent about 40 minutes running alongside Chittu on the cycle! See finally my running practise has physical rewards! Dinner on Sunday was a quite affair with The Scientist and my outside dinner plans foiled by a hyper Chittu who refused to sleep even though he had missed his noonly nap.

 

The gulit of not exercising on Saturday bothered me so much that I was up at the crack of dawn (after having checked the phone multiple times during the night)on Sunday morning ready to go on my run. I loaded up on Gatorade (I was going to run 10K) and set out with a definitive trail route in mind.

 

 

 

 But the rains had made the trail so slushy and slippery that I had to change my route and run on the tar  road(Boo to hurting knees). But the rains had made it all lush and green:

 

 

 Anywho, I finished up the run fairly tired and sweaty (~600 calories burned)

 

 and ensured to stretch on my yoga mat!!! Yay for stretching! The effect of not stretching after a workout is too obvious for me. Do you guys ensure to strectch after your workout?

 

I refueled with a banana-flax smoothie post run and kinda lost my apetite after that. Lunch was good home cooked food of dal- subzi-roti- though I got lazy and had rice instead!!! My siesta plans were ruined by the Scientist's ringing phone and the rest of the evening passed uneventfully, except I had more rice for dinner!!! Since my mileage is increasing, I am happily eating rice, like no ones business. I know, I know I have been telling this far too many times! Time for some serious action, baby!

 

 Monday morning, I started the day with Jillian Micheals - No More Trouble Zones with my newly bought dumbells, even though it was a rest day to make up for Saturday's lapse. What a good way to start the week! I'll try to share my thoughts on the workout soon! Until then, whats up you guys?

Chennai Dream Runners 10k - Am I ready?

Race day is almost here. Today was a designated 5.5 k run. But the knees were feeling a little painful, and so I decided to hit the gym and go on the recumbent cycle instead. I knocked off a 10k in 24 minutes :) Fast is it not? I guess that the purpose of the invention of the cycle! So a 10k with far lesser impact on my knee and hip joints. It is for this reason, that I can simply not wait to lay my hand on a good cycle sometime soon.

But I digress. The Dream Runners Chennai 10k is scheduled for Sunday, 5.30 a.m. We leave for Chennai tomorrow morning for packet pick up. I am guessing that the early start should protect us well from the harsh sun in Chennai.

My aim is to run this race in under 75 minutes. We shall see. I have been eating well and hydrating. Also stretching regularly to ease out trouble areas.I am nervous as I always have been before race day. Little butterflies in my stomach hoping nothing awful should happen.

This is going to be my fourth 10k- race. You can see my other pre-race day blog posts by clicking below. Wow!! I can't believe I have come so far. If someone even told me that I'll be doing this three years ago, I would have scoffed at them. May be I can call myself a runner? What do you think?

Do wish me luck. Hopefully I should be back with a good race recap! Meanwhile follow me @Sugarmeltdown on Twitter!


Pre Kaveri Trail Marathon -10-k post
Pre Bangalore Ultra 12.5-k post
Pre Countour Womens Day Run 10-k post

 

Friday, Chittu & Halfmarathon training :)

Boy! Am I glad its Fridayyyy!! I just want to be home, put my feet up, have someone cook me a healthy meal and lap up toddler glory before the whole thing is gone. Until now Chittu used his crayons to randomly scribble. Now he wants us to draw things so that he can colour. This brought tears to my eyes last night:

Can you see he has coloured the spots on the Giraffe that the Scientist drew for him?

I can't believe he is growing up so fast. I really want to be able to rent cycles at holiday destinations and cycle away with him. On one hand I cant wait for him to be all grown up, on another I want him to stay a baby forever! Hard, I know!

Half marathon training is underway, which means no missing workouts!! Yesterday though, the Scientist left insanely early for work and the toddler would not let me get past the warm up round. So I gave up and swapped yesterday as a break day instead of Saturday!

Today morning, though my body clock was ticktocking away from 5 a.m. the cool Bangalore weather coaxed me to stay in bed a half hour longer. It was however only 7 a.m.when I was done with a 5k in 35:40 a PR so far. Doing a sub 35 minute 5k would be cool no??? Although I recognise I have come a long- long way since I wrote this first treadmill running post :) One year of fairly consistent running has brought me to shave off 9 minutes since that first run! My legs feel strong and agile now. The focus will however be on staying free of injury.

The DreamRunners 10k event that I signed up for originally as a half marathon is due in Chennai on July 7. By running that I will fulfill my dream of participating in an event outside Bangalore. I am totally looking forward to that one. When I had registered for this one, I wanted to run the half marathon distance. But owing to injury, I stayed off serious long distance running( for me) for a month in between! I asked if I could downgrade and the folks were kind enough to met me do it!!! So 10k it is this time :)

So I'm expecting a low key weekend. What are your plans?



 

Exercise, Running faster & some workout gyan!

Sometimes I really love the routine of the weekdays. People at home - including Chittu & the husband and those who come and live with me understand that exercise like morning tea/ coffee is a non-negotiable part of my routine. I wake up sufficiently early so that I can attend to the family's needs - like get the Scientist's lunch ready at 6 a.m. on some days of the week, keep the toddler's milk ready in case he wakes up before I return from the gym, make the FIL's coffee, turn on the washing machine, give the veggies for chopping to Maami - before I head out of the door to the gym in the morning.

Believe me, this did not come easily to me. When the Scientist and I were just married, I once paid an annual membership to a gym and went only for 3-4 days!!! Can you believe it?? I wasted about 12-13k if I am right.

Now I have my gym bag packed the previous night, lay out my gym clothes and even have a filled water bottle, so that I minimise the excuses I can come up with for bunking gym! And yes I try to hit the bed early so that I can manage to do all the above and go to work and be productive there :)

Today, I decided to run at the gym. I have a 10k event coming up soon and I better get some running practise! I find that as I lose weight, I am able to run faster.I did a 5k in 37:30. I think thats my personal best so far! Here's proof:

My aim is to be able to do a sub 30 minute 5k. That needs some hard work, but I guess it IS possible!That apart I have been totally missing my body pump classes :( The only problem with the classes is that they all start only at 7 a.m.(Only???) 7-8 is the time Chittu wakes up, bathes and gets ready for school. Being in the gym at that time means missing out Chittu time, which I don't want to do!!! So I guess I'll be exercising this way for a while longer.

Just to give you an idea, this is what I do in the gym:

• 20-25 mins on the elliptical/ arc trainer + 5k on the recumbent bike (13 minutes) + 5-10 mins stair master
• treadmill 5k run
• 15 minutes on elliptical/ arc trainer + 3k treadmill ( 20 minutes) + core workout*

* core workout - regular blanks, modified side planks, pelvic bridge pose, crunches

I always end with a good set of stretches - the down dog, simple warrior, child pose, camel pose, glute stretches, hamstring stretches, calf stretches, chest stretches, neck & arm stretches

I cannot stress enough about the imporatnace of stretching post workout. One thing is certain - If you fail to stretch, you are setting yourself up for injury. Streching helps the muscle to release the stress and go back to its original size after vigorous exercise. So those of you who pass off stretching, please do give it another thought!

Enough gyan from me. How do you workout?

Foggy morning run, school admissions, size Medium and new shoes :)

I guess the pressure of running the 10k this coming Sunday got to me pretty bad. I woke up at 6.20 am and was running by 6.35 a.m. I managed the 7k slotted practise run pretty well, though I stopped in between fot some foggy morning shots:

 

 Would you believe if I said that was at 7 a.m? Well I loved my foggy morning run. The rest of the day was taken up in bank work for the home loan that always seems to require more documentation. Did I tell you guys we are remodelling the home we bought!! While it sounds pretty exciting and all, the paper work, dealings with government bodies and licensing authorities drives us to the edge.

Another thing I've been massively stressing about is Chittu's school admissions. While I know it really is not a big deal, I keep getting pangs of "I think I'm not doing enough" time and again. I know there is no" enough" per se. But the complexity involved in getting admissions for these not even three year olds is quite a nail-biting process for me. I'm not sure if my parents stressed about any of these things - but this competition amongst my peers and the kids peers is something that is quite psyching me out. We have applied to only two schools - one being my own alma mater which is the best in Bangalore. The other is also a much sought after school, and the chances that we will get into either of them is not a predictable figure. Anyway, my guess is that the wait should be over soon and we should know by the end of this week.

Sunday, I fixed breakfast along with the morning Chai. I ran a 6k on the treadmill at the gym and came back home to cook lunch. I napped a short while, before I did a wee bit of shopping at the Shoppers Stop sale. Discovering the size M me was fun!!! The Scienst also indulged the gym-rat in me.I got new shoes! Score!! That makes it to a total of 4 pairs of sneakers - I keep one pair  of Reeboks in Chennai in case I have the desire to run there, one is a cheap buy from the Decathalon store here in Bangalore. Another one is my fancy expensive running shoes - my Reebok Response Stability that I spent quite a fortune over  and my latest one yesterday. Its also not out of place to mention that I am completing my annual gym membership in March and thats one year of gymming!!! I will share shoe pictures soon , I promise!

 

Sometime during the weekend, the Scientist commented that he's proud of me - for waking up in the morning and heading out to run even in the fog. Yes I have become that person. Ok enough talking I guess. Anyone else running the Contours women's day 10k? I'd love to meet you, before the race :)

 

 

Weekend action and thinking time!

Brighty bright Monday morning here in Bangalore.

 

Looks like the winter is long gone and the summer is ready to roll. Summer makes it easier for me to run outdoors without having to warm up too much before actually breaking into a run. The weekend inspired me enough to run quite a lot. My mileage this weekend was 12kms (7 on Saturday and a treadmill 5k on Sunday morning). Yes I am prepping for the 3rd March event and hopefully I will be able to do 2 more 10k events - one in May and the other in July before the Kaveri Trail Marathon 2013 (September), where I plan to do my first ever half marathon!!!Gulp!!! Touch wood and God willing!

 

I had a stellar weekend with the BIL & his wife coming over from Chennai. There was plenty of window shopping, walking, talking, eating, gossiping & movie watching. Family time is always good, no? I guess except for the doughnut mania, the eating was pretty sensible. I pat myself and forge ahead.

 

I also finished reading this book- The Valley of Masks by Tarun Tejpal, which I will highly recommend that you gift to anyone you wish to torture immensely! Sorry, in case any of you guys reading really liked the book. That was my opinion, that's all.

 

That apart there was plenty of Chittu time and now I'm beginning to wonder what exactly I do keeping my job missing out on all that growing up my baby is at furiously paced. I was looking at some pictures of his taken about 6 months back and wonder if I have lost a lot of that babyness that he had in him. He seems all grown up now and even says he is a big boy when I call him a baby! Sigh!!! But that figure with all those zeros which get credited into my bank account at the end of month force me to actually keep the job, considering we have a million loans to pay off, right now!

 

Running, but not running :)

Hi! from the land of wanting more sleep. Or I don't know if my body is running low on salt.

 

I ran to body pump today. But I was barely able to walk back. I was so pooped. Its been ages since I had a decent long distance run.  I am slightly fearful about stopping running just like that. I am planning on a 7k run tomorrow morning. Sometimes, I think - Its so easy to run. I just need to get in to tracks, tie up my hair, lace my running shoes and take off. But there are so many reasons I don't - its too cold, I'll go to the gym instead, my feet are hurting, Chittu will wake up, I'll sleep five minutes longer or I'll hit the gym in the evening and such other totally lame excuses. I end up feeling guilty during the day, specially when I glance at the incomplete workouts on my workout schedule page.

 

I missed out the Chennai run in November and then  missed the Bangalore midnight marathon for December. There is a 10k on tap in January 2013 and I am inclined to do it. And then there is this in early February.  Running in Pondicherry does get me excited, but running out of Bangalore will mean travel and stay needs to be decided. And little Chittu? Originally I planned to do the half marathon of the Auroville event, but later decided against it, because I may not be sufficiently prepared. I will instead do the half later in the year, hopefully, but will need to start a serious training schedule. I found this training schedule for the half marathon. Does it not look so easy on paper? 21.1 kms a.k.a 13.2 miles on papers looks so easy. All you gotta do is strike off the runs. But for that, you'll have to first run it. Heheh :)

 

I am not sure where I will be the next i.e last week of December. I could be in Bangalore/Chennai/Trichy. Whichever way it is, I am going to try to run or atleast walk as much as I can. Afterall, I have some cool goals for 2013!!!

 

My Yoga experience and today's run!

For the last two month or so, I have set the tone for healthy weekends, by taking a power yoga class on Friday nights. While I first approached yoga, I took it as another exercise. But as I did it I realised I was building a whole energy cloud around me. I began to feel happy (like the happy high!) after yoga class. But it was not the kicked up high. It was calming, peaceful and just so different.

 

The yoga instructor at the gym has however gone on long leave and this months schedule showed a different istructor. I decided I would continue with yoga!

 

Today however, the Scientist's workplace has a family day, and that meant my evening routine is kind of bothred. I decided, last night, that I will prep something for breakfast today, so that I could get my workout in. I was up at 5.30 a.m. without an alarm, and was out of the door zipped up and laced up into the breaking dawn for my run. After not having run outdoors for more than a week now, and with my chest congestion still bothering me, I must admit it was not the best runs ever. I was ready to stop at 5.5 kms after 45 minutes of running! Mapmy run showed a pace of 8:23 per km which sure is progression :)

 

When I came back home, I found the Scientist and Chittu still fast asleep! These are good mornings, I tell ya.

 

I am SO ready for the weekend! Can you believe 2012 is nearly over? The weather here in Bangalore makes me want to bunk office, curl up on the couch with some good tea and a fine book! **Sigh!** Day-dreams! How's the winter treating you?

 

Pacing, puris for brunch and books!

I usually don't post on Saturdays, but I simply HAD to share this:

I headed to the gym for pacing practise. I am working on speeding up my running. So I made puri-aloo for breakfast and dashed out after snacking on a granola bar. I promised myself puris for breakfast if I did well!! And here's proof:

5k in under 40 minutes!!! Progress!!!!

 I came back home to enjoy my breakfast and find my flipkart parcel waiting for me:

Pure joy!!!

Remember at the beginning of 2012 I vowed to begin reading again. My reading habit really slackened after the baby. But I have managed to read some fine books this year! My book preferences are usually fiction by Indian writers. And NO, I don't mean the Five Point Someone types. A bit heavier fiction on the lines of Amitav Ghosh (most recent) or David Davidar is to my taste :) Sorry, hope I did not bore you guys!

But as I said I just had to creep in here and share. How is the challenge going guys? Yes I ate puris for brunch and then Semiya (Vermicelli) Upma for dinner, which is not exactly diet food. But I have also been fighting major sugar cravings and gas problems :(

And oh! the Progress Pictures page is finally updated. Thanks, Smitha! I needed that push!

Wierd Weekend Post

I was feeling low, fat and sick when the weekend began. Nonetheless, I lugged myself for the power yoga class on Friday night. The winter in Bangalore has shown sub 15degree temperatures. And the dark and cold is just not a very cheery combination. While I did lay out running clothes for a Saturday morning run, I woke up after an uneasy night having the todlder waking up far too many times and an unwell Scientist. I was too late for an outdoor run, and so I laced up and made it to the gym instead. I worked on my running speed and attempted a sub 40 minute 5k. I clocked a 5k in 41 minutes on the treadmill, with no elevation. But I shaved nearly 9 minutes off my first ever treadmill 5k earlier this year. And then I did a random hill workout on the recumbent cycle for 20 minutes. Solid 60 minute sweaty cardio.

 

I spent the rest of Saturday flitting between the hall and bedrooms of my home, feeling pointless and directionless. I must have mentioned that to the Scientist atleats one million times, that day - that I feel so lost in my career, in life and weight wise too. I overslept on Saturday afternoon and just went deeper into the awful mood I was in. The many rava laddoos did not help either. 

 

Sunday means dance class day. I have missed class for more than a month now, and am nowhere near motivated  to continue with it. That is really sad after having been super excited about restarting dance. The main reason is that I ended up dancing amidst little kids, who might have been pretty good at dance, but I was just not able to find my connect there. I think that might mean the end of dance for me, for now. What I am expecting is a teacher who will be able to focus just on me for an hour or two every week. I dunno if I'm asking for too much, but dancing amidst kiddos after 12 years of hard core bharatanatyam, just sort of upsets me.

 

So after much thinking the Scientist and I agreed that the class may not be the best for me, right now. I will reassess later, when I can think more clearly. We spent more directionless-pointless time on sunday watching a random tamil movie. By the evening I had about had it, and we decided to go temple visiting. I felt wayyyy better afterwards, and both Chittu and the Scientist slept fitfully. I was up before the alarm went off at 5.30 this morning and headed out into the chilly winter morning for an 8k run at Lalbagh. The run was just what I needed to get me back into the grove and I am so glad that I was able to find my running mojo!

 

My next stop will be the Wipro Chennai Marathon -10k on December 2nd 2012 where I will see if can run in the humid Madras weather. Initially I was thinking that this will prepare me for the Auroville half marathon which is slated for Feb 10th 2013. But now, I'm wondering if I am attempting too much, too soon. Anyway, I am not sure sure of the Chennai 10k route, but am hoping I will get to run along the beach to make a dream come true :)

 

I DID it! The Bangalore Ultra 2012 12.5k race recap

Yes, my lovlies! Thanks to everything that worked me up till the moment that said: Go! I just ran and ran and ran, had the awesomest run of my life and was on an adrenalin high all day long.

This is me at the finish line:

12.5 k done! medal and all.



I think I must have taken around 2 hours. The speed is pretty pathetic. But still, I did it!

The loop was 6.25 k out and back. I ran the 6.25 k out without any walking break/water break. At 6.25 aid station, I gulped own some water and a bit of electrolyte and continued running until 8.5k mark. After that I must have taken about 3 walking breaks for about 100 metres each. I simply kept running, and am happy that I actually ran almost all of the distance. People much thinner than me took walking breaks far earlier on. But my main aim was to keep running and my focus was not exactly on the time. So once I found my pace I kept at it.

The run itself was a trail run and the elevation was pretty good. The event was very well organised, and I felt kicked to be a part of it. Running among so many other runners was also a new experience to me considering that I did the KTM 10k all alone! The cheering on, the photographers and the general act of running was enough to make even a non runner want to try  to run! I don't think words can actually express the elation I feel for having been able to do it.

Ofcourse, nothing can be accomplished without support. The Scientist is almost solely responsible for having got me to run. I would have scoffed at someone if they told me I'd ever do something like this in my life. Honestly! But the nice husband that he is, was up early so that we could get to the venue on time. We were also joined by BIL no.2 for additional support :) It feels so good to see those known faces at the finish line. Especially for me, running is not a natural thing. I invest a lot of hard work into it. And any appreciation is so valued. So when those two guys waited two hours patiently till I finished the event and were so sweet to capture those moments, I had to feel so lucky!

I will share more pictures soon. I suspect that since I ran with the group and well on time, the official photographs may also give some nice captures. I also look forward to the official timing and my relative placement. Yes, I will share.

But right now, I think I will go eat a laddoo! :)

 

Thanks guys for all the support and wishes. I really appreciate it.

Weekend Update - resting, socialising and mental therapy!

The heading pretty much sums up the weekend for me. My I-dont-feel -too-good days last week were the result of the hormones at play. I took 4 full rest days, not bothering with exercise and by last night the guilt was just eating away my brains. Also my body seems to have settled so much with the idea of "exercise" that I find it is unable to cope without physical exhaustion! I was finding it so hard to fall asleep these last few days, that I lay awake much after the Scientist and Chittu had dozed off. But  I finished up reading "The Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh" and really loved the book.  The amount of research that must have gone into writing that book was phenomenal. It sounded so authentic and so real, it might not have been a story, after all!

 

Anyway, that apart, my mental fog has cleared up now, and the reason could be  a. that I sized up and did an 8k run this morning or b. that the monthly cycle is over. I really struggled this time, I don't know why!

 

Sunday morning was spent cooking an elaborate meal for some guests :) And Sunday evening was spent socialising with the Scientist's colleagues. I had enough leftovers to see me through the morning today, and less cooking on Monday morning, truly makes life simpler. Don't you think?

 

On the SBD front, I am doing pretty ok, I guess. I am not 100% abiding.  I took my tea with sugar, until this morning when I used splenda, and decided the tea was not palatable. I have stayed mostly grain free - rice & wheat included, except for yesterday's roti. Sugar made its way into my hot cocoa and also in a laddoo I ate. I have wavered a bit.Or may be more than a bit.  But I AM trying to stay as focussed as possible. It sure is hard to say NO to sugar when every cell in my body is demanding it! Its like an addiction I guess. But I am trying to fight it off! With exercise picking up again this week, I think the relatively stricter food habits will show good results. I am going to try to sustain this as long as I can. I know I will never have a perfect food day or a perfect body or a perfect anything. There will always remain something to be desired. But it sure is fun to get better everyday, right? I've long ago left the person behind who always sought out an all or nothing philosophy! Either I did it all or I did nothing. But now I'm aiming to find a mid ground and be more forgiving to myself when I don't be as perfect as I expect. I try to see the next minute as a new opportunity, when I need not gobble up all that candy we brought home from the US. Did anything I just said make any sense?

 

Phew! What a start to a Monday morning! One week to Diwali. What plans?

 

Running in the rain? Not yet.But faster!

The weather in Bangalore today, makes me feel like curling up on a bay window, razai on to keep my feet warm, a steaming bowl of a spicy soup and a fine book in hand. Idealism. Sigh!

 

Realism was this: that I got out of bed by 5.30a.m found it so dark outside as if it were still 4 a.m.and rechecked my clock for the time. A run was scheduled today and running clothes were ready. I had to go. The 12.5k is dangling over my head and this is no time to slack off on work outs. So I got dressed and got out of the house, only to discover it was raining!!! I still can't think of running in the rain, so I went back home, grabbed my gym access card and whipped up a 5k on the treadmill in 41 minutes ( average speed about 8 minutes and 10 secs for a km) which is a whole minute and ten 10 seconds faster than my very first 5k on the treadmill! Progress :)

 

I returned home to make a healthy breakfast and lunch for the family and thus was my morning sans the warmth of my bed and book in hand! But life is what you make it, is it not? I have learnt that lesson the hard way. I know I must be happy for this moment, for today!

 

The month of October vanished with my weight holiding around the same as I started. Now that the mysore pak worry is addressed, we shall hopefully see lower numbers soon! The October round up and November goals is up next. So stay tuned? How was your October?

The holiday mish-mash!

Yesterday, was a much needed break. After the wedding madness, I just wanted to be home and cool off. Since we got back home from Chennai, I found that I was in a perpetual state of sleepiness. Its not like I worked too hard during the wedding, but still my body and mind needed a HOLIDAY.

 

I raced out of bed yesterday morning, for a run! Glorious weathr I tell you. I did 8 kms in 70 minutes. My pace is picking up SLOWLY. Right now, I am focussing on endurance and stamina more than the speed. I feel that as I get lighter, my speed will improve. So I returned home a happy camper to find the Scientist and little Chittu fresh out of bed.

 

I fixed myself breakfast to go with my morning chai, because my stomach was GROWLING!! Gosh! these runs make me ravenous sometimes. Since yesterday was the final day of Navaratri, I decided to indulge the family in some good traditional festival food. Since we had been mostly out, I had laxed out a bit on the festivity. But made up for it yesterday with - the vadai, payasam and morkozhambu ensemble ( for those that dont get it - its just traditional tam-brahm cooking).

 

The toddler was mighty hungry by lunch and my cooking turned out pretty good too. The Scientist appreciated it and made his wife happy!! Honestly, the Husband is the main reason I cook. He loves home cooked food and also openly appreciates when the cooking is tasty. I usually try to add the healthy twist by ensuring the carbs-proteins- veggies are balanced out!!! But really, I am super lazy when it comes to getting into the kitchen.

 

Well, since we had not yet watched  English-Vinglish ( which we both loved too!), the Husband and I sneaked out for two hours for the afternoon show leaving the toddler behind with Maami. When we returned the Scientist suggested we take Chittu out somewhere. Lalbagh it was! To watch the ducks and the sun set. We enjoyed a leisurely 3km stroll, and brought up my yesterdays mileage alone to 11 kms. Sounds good, no? I think I might be almost ready for the Bangalore Ultra - 12.5k run on 11.11.2012. Oh and did I mention?My new reebok shoes seem to have eased out the knee pains for me!

 

I saw a weight gain this morning and I think all those sweets are catching up with me. I have put away the excess sweets in a place I wont access, and hope taht will be the solution to my problem. I did body pump today and think I might have a quivering body for hitting the weights after a week long break! It will be yoga tomorrow and long run on Saturday! I know I am rocking the workouts. I just need to work on the food aspect. Oflate, its become so so hard. I know I really need to watch the food the help me get rid of the last ten. Sometimes I am tempted to give up. But not now. Surely not. Let's see, I aim to lose a bit before the end of this month!Will I see a 77?

 

 

Today's run and my eating problem

When I woke up this morning close to 6.30, the Husband had already left to work. Body pump class is at 6.50, and so I quickly got into gym clothes that I laid out the night before and scooted off, only to find the shutters closed tight at the gym entrance. I figured, it must have been a holiday for Saraswathi puja and briefly contemplated going back home. But ugh!!! I could not tolerate another day of feeling fat and useless. So I decided instead to hit the park where I usually run. Only problem was that I was not wearing my running sweat pants which have pockets to accomodate my phone and scooter keys. Also I was not really comfortable running in the my gym pants because they are a lycra mix material, and not exactly flattering. Oh, and I was not in my running shoes!

I was so ready to just go home and lounge around, but better sense prevailed, and I coaxed myself into atleast going for a walk. It's better than doing nothing, I told myself. Just half hour, you can do it. I got off my scooter and grabbed my cell phone and keys in my hand and pushed myself into a brisk walk. I tried to jog. Ugh!! No.. I could not. My knees hurt. My body felt so rigid. So I walked some more, until I felt my body warm up. And then I tried to jog. Ah yes. Some pace was returning. Just then, I thought my lungs would burst. So I slowed down. And continued, until I had done one loop - which is about 2 kilometres. I would have done another loop, had it not been the pressure of getting back home in time for office. And I had wanted to wear a saree to work.

 

So that's how hard it was for me to run this morning. The same me who could do a 7k was panting and puffing, after a few metres after one week of little physical activity. The excess laddoo and mysore pak availability at home makes my mind keep darting towards the idea of just grabbing a big mysorepak and settling into a corner to enjoy the sugar-laden goodness. In fact last night when I woke up for Chittu's milk, I found myself eating the sweet in the solitude of my kitchen. I wonder how I got that habit! I take great pleasure in eating such stuff in secret, behind everyone's back. Sometimes, I feel ashamed. Sometimes, I look at it with a practical eye, and wonder how to treat that problem of mine. I know that this behavious stems from many childhood incidents. But I've come such a long way, and I don't want to sabotage my own efforts. But I have a bigger problem controlling sweets when I am alone than when I am in public. Anyway, I have found that only consistent exercise keeps me from such deviant behaviour and so I did myself a favour and got a run in, even when I found that the gym was closed. I know I am changing. But some psychological traits are so hard to eliminate, especially those with some complicated connections. I am trying to work on it. It is an every day battle. A hard one for me- more emotionally than physically.

 

The whole thing has made me so sensitive about my weight, that I find it so hard to take comments. But I  guess I have rambled on enough. I'll reserve that for a different post. But tell me - does any body have a secret eating  issue like me? How do you deal with it? I know I'm not the only one. I have read many others with such problems too who have successfully managed to lose weight and keep it off. But until I get there, I guess I'll have to keep trying!

Post wedding fatigue

Back to work time, after the awesome wedding celebrations!!!

Its always hard to get back to routine, no? And even though I had crossed my heart about getting this morning's run, I decided to take it easy and sleep in. Minimal sleep was had the past week and I just could not shake it off. Plus its always glorious to be back home in your own bed and your pillow and have your own bathroom back, right?

Not so bad food choices were made. I really took it easy on the food, and was able to stay well in control most of the time. My weight has stayed the same, I guess. But the only problem now is quite the supply of the wedding sweets. I will have to keep my defences up! And I will go to the body pump class tomorrow. The Bangalore Ultra 2012 - where I'll be doing the 12.5 k run is less than 20 days away! Yikes !!!I better get my act together!

Home- Bangalore or Chennai and a medley of thoughts!

As my flight touched down at Bangalore Airport last night, I felt my heart swell with that feeling you have when you return home. For a very long time, may be even now I wonder whether I belong to Madras ( now Chennai) or Bangalore. Being tamilian and having most relatives in Madras makes me have familial allegiance to the humid, coastal city which is now literally tattered under the metro construction. The december month shows Madras in resplendent beauty with every sabha and temple sporting kutcheris (musical performances), dance programmes and upanyasams ( spiritual discourses). The weather is at its quintessential best too, with the early mornings showing a relieving dip in the Mercury. The language is mother tongue for me and even though my ears twinge when I hear the school going kids talk in a seemingly harsh dialect, I cannot help but get lost the beautiful verses of Tamil slokams such as the Shiva Puranam, Thiruppavai and Kamakshi Viruttham. I have come of that age when I know that the dance and music education education I got back in my school going days is priceless because it opens up a whole new world of joy to me.

 

But then there is Bangalore, a city with pleasant weather almost round the year. A city where you can lace up and take a run in the open parks. The city with quite a good number of lakes within. A city which is relaxed. The city where I went to school and tasted academic success. The city where I wore my first chalangai (  dancing ghunguroos), the city I became a young woman in my first legal internship, the city I came to just married to my husband, the city where late night movies became so much more meaningful because I had a hand to hold while I watched, the city where I bought my own home in and the city where my baby is growing up. Really, I cannot decide which is home to me, whether I prefer the molagai bajji ( tamil -chilli bajji) or maddur vade (kannada-with no english translation).

 

But then again Madras reminds me of my thatha's old house with a couple of mango trees, neem trees, jackfruit tree and a flower garden that yielded red, yellow and white hibiscus flowers, the orange kanakambaram (that I came to dislike as an adult), the pink arali, the white thumba poo that is Ganesha's favourite and the violet shanku poo ( butterfly pea flower). Oh and the sacred Tulasi plant? I can live in that old, cracked and vast house within my mind. My memories of those are crystal clear.

 

How can I decide the city to which I belong? My heart is divided.

 

But coming back to why I started this post - last night when my plane touched down at Bangalore, it was the surety that I was going to my home. It was pouring and the chillness in the air was welcome from the uncanny Madras heat. I was travelling alone and bought myself a subway sandwich. There was no hurry. I could go home at my ease. Nobody was waiting. I ate my sandwich slowly, told myself that chocolate chip cookie was not exactly what my body needed and patted myself for having stayed away from the inviting aromas of the Cookie Man counter at the Chennai airport.

 

This morning, I woke up in an empty home. I went for my run and came back and stretched ( a luxury - because i usually have to come back and prepare for rush hour :). Yesterday, there was a battle raging in my mind on some personal issues. I guess the 7k-run let out all the negative energy. My mind is relatively peaceful, and I guess that is where is home!

 

Friday post - body pain, upcoming long runs & the great Indian wedding!!

Friday again? Ah! My body was begging to give a break from working out this morning. I am seriously considering taking a massage once a month as a reward to all that I put my body through. Ever since I started combining my runs with body pump classes, I find that my legs hurt A LOT. Especially when I have just got into bed at night, I feel as if I have some creepy crawlies creeping through my feet (soles)- calves- thighs. There have been many many nights that I  have been unable to fall asleep because of this extreme discomfort in my legs. The Scientist says its lactic acid build up. Whatever!! I guess this is how muscles will react when they have been awoken from a life long slumber :) But I try to use some Ayurvedic oils which quickly give me relief. Otherwise, the kindly Scientist helps by pressing my legs! I told you I am lucky in that department.

 

So I stayed away from exercise today, but am now considering doing the evening power yoga class, before I hop on to the train for the weekend in Chennai. There is a family wedding next week, and some related rituals this weekend. There will be no exercise per se fro the next two days, because the mornings are going to get taken in rituals and in Chennai, and its kind of hard to exercise during any other time of the day. Yes I'd love to run along the beach, but that's another story!As a precursor, I will be doing this 10k run in early December in Chennai.

 

This weekend will therefore be family time and I plan to make a come back long run on Monday morning, because, I am pretty serious about the 12.5k I am scheduled to run at the Bangalore Ultra. I will be going back to Chennai again on Tuesday for the main wedding and reception. My sarees are lined up and so is my jewelry, and I have discovered that other thing I can look forward to in the wedding other than food! I will consciously try to stay away from indulging in every meal, and will save my calories for something I find totally exotic. I am an expert at making plans, you see and even better at non-adherence. I will leave it at that.

I guess thats all for now. All I can think of is the wedding and the fresh romance of the newly weds. It brings back many a sweet memory to me, although there is a great sorrowful story that shrouds my own wedding. That's a different story though and I cannot share it here! But life goes on, and an optimist will stay happy. Don't you think?