“On TFN, I would ride 1,000+ Km in 8 days It is not a flat route, it has 2 killer climbs Ooty and Sultan Bathery”

Why am I doing it ?

I guess for the same reason every endurance athlete does what he does – To explore my boundaries… To challenge myself for something out of my league and then, do it.
I want to finish an Ironman one day. I guess after TFN I would be ready at least for the 180 KM cycling bit

How am I planning to prepare?

In short:

1. Quit smoking – done (It has been around a month since I last smoked. I would write another blog about it in sometime…)
2. Get the weight down to around 80Kg
3. Ride as much as I can !

(Still need to figure out If I am missing something. Maybe I will ask someone who has done TFN’09 and update here)

15th and 16th August was a long weekend for Team LifeMojo after a long time. Varun Khurana and I love training (running for varun and cycling for me) on mountains. We enjoyed the Nandi climb a few weeks back and wanted to train on a different mountain this time ( this way we all have an outing as well ). Varun Gupta was nice enough to become our support (with the vehicle) for this training session

We somehow managed to fit in my bike in my Santro (Nangia Airlines) and pushed off. There was no space for the guy sitting in the back seat to keep his legs down, so it became a sleeper birth ( the only Business Class Seat in Nangia Airlines )

On the way to Yercaud, we stopped at Salem for lunch and then decided to train (run / ride) on the uphill the next day morning. On the way up we noticed a lot of monkeys near the base, but there were few of them near the top. After a fun filled evening on 15th (guess what we did) we woke up a bit late than we decided (thanks to me ). We got ready and reached the hairpin bend no 5 at around 8AM and got the bike together.

The Training

It is a nice 8Km climb (with 2% – 12% gradient) to the top (from hairpin bend no. 5 to 20).  After 500 meters or so, I realized I am not able to shift properly, the screw that maintains tension in the gears had been replaced a few days back and I knew that was to be fixed. We had to wait for 10 minutes till I got that back into shape and we started again. Varun Khurana ran almost at the same pace as I rode my bike (which means he is a nice runner). Varun Gupta was with us the whole time, helping us with Gatorade, Water and moral support.

The Finish

When we started, Varun was ahead, halfway up the climb (after I took a leak), I was ahead and then Varun climbed on hairpin bend 18 or 19, skipping 100 meters and took a lead of about 50 meters. As soon as he saw the destination, he started pacing up. Seeing him do that I shouted lets race and moved my gears to 2 – 6 (the same gear ratio that I usually use on flat roads). I gave it all I had and I think I reached 15 seconds before him.

Overall It was great fun !

Dry tea has more caffeine by weight than coffee; nevertheless, more dried coffee is used than dry tea in preparing the beverage, which mean that a cup of brewed tea contains significantly less caffeine than a cup of coffee of the same size.

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea

I am not your usually Adventure Junkie who would just pull up his socks and hop on the saddle when he reads that. In fact my first reaction was “Nandi Hills, yeh I have been there once or twice. I don’t remember it to be that steep a climb. Why do people love it so much?”. The reason was, I had been to Nandi Hills before but at 3 AM on usually Saturday nights after enjoying “somras” with a couple of close friends. So I was reconstructing the feeling of being at Nandi Hills with the glimpses of what I remember

This Sunday, I decided to give it a shot. It was a group riding session that a few people from the BBC (Bangalore Biking Club) were organizing. I couldn’t locate the way to Hebbal Flyover and at some place, I guess at Makeri Circle, I took a left and went 30 Kms towards Tumkur. Anyways cutting the long story short… I reached the assembly point 1.5 hrs late. There was no point turning back now so I thought I would climb the Nandi alone and If I meet someone on the way it would be great.

I reached the Idli Point and then got together with 3 more bikers to ride nandi. I parked my car there and we starting riding up hill. It was kinda boring flat road till the Bull Statue around 4 Km from the Idli Point, but it got way more interesting after that.

From the Statue to the top is a 8 Km uphill climb. I usually ride 22Kms daily in around 1.5 hours in the city, so I thought 8 K uphill should not be that tough. But I found myself breathless at the 4 Km mark and I knew it would only go steeper.

I saw a few riders coming downhill at what I guess was above 60 Km/hr. The smile on their face made me do the full 8 Km climb. One of them even stopped and asked me if everything was ok and if I needed any help. That was amazing, a complete stranger, stopping and asking if I needed any help! – I haven’t seen people doing that too often. I guess like Runners, Riders are a close community as well.

From the 4 Km mark, I would have stopped at every Km mark and stretched my legs, had water, enjoyed the view and then thought “This is nice! I can do this!” I finally reached the top and we posed for a few photographs and then started downhill.

The ride downhill is indeed really awesome – I can’t describe it in words, you have to do it to feel it.

http://www.lifemojo.com/people/namit/post/1986036

Here is my split timing for the 10K
2 Km    15:13
3 Km    7:42
4 Km    7:31
5 Km    8:28
6 Km    9:27
7 Km    8:09
8 Km    9:26
9 Km    7:39
10 Km    7:44

My official 10K timing : 1:21:29
Avg. Speed: 7.36 Km/hr

Target for next year: Finish 10K in 40 Minutes.

Need to find a comfortable running stride and style for myself…

Here is a video that made me think about Front and Mid foot landing while running.

http://www.lifemojo.com/people/namit

So you guys can have a look at what I am upto ( health wise ) and the good thing is that it keeps tweeting on my behalf as well

Oh, and if you want an easier access, just subscribe to my Fitness Feed here : http://www.lifemojo.com/people/namit/feed

I am glad, I just skipped one today

I started running on 26th November 2008 just to get back in shape, but now I want to run as many marathons in my life as I can. I ran for around 15 days and then Knee Pain started. 12 days in the gym and I was back on my feet to run again…

I have been running with Varun (Gupta), Himanshu and Varun (Khurana) on Sundays at Lalbagh. We usually run as much as we can and then have a nice meal at MTR. The maximum that I had run before this was close to 5 Kms.

Stuff that helped me complete the 21 Km run:

1. Music: I have started listening to Trans music now a days, specially while running and working out. Oh, and iPod Shuffle, it is the best iPod to run with. I love the fact that it has a clip and I can clip-on the iPod to my shorts while running.
2. Clothes: Nike Dri Fit T-shirt and Adidas Running Shorts. I used to think that cotton is the best to run with until someone (sorry I forgot who it was) told me otherwise.
3. Shoes: I don’t have the light running day shoes, but I am happy with my Nike Zoom Structure Triax+ 11. They are Motion Control Shoes for over pronators like me.
4. Diet: Pretty much what LifeMojo suggested as Runner’s Diet.
5. Stretching Exercises: All the stretching routines that I had mentioned before and a new one for the shin that Dharmendra suggested.
6. Crowd cheering along the way: I can’t even express in words, the motivation that I got when strangers smiles and clapped as I passed the milestones. It is a great moral booster, especially for the first timer like me.
7. Water: I don’t remember how much water I drank while running, but it was a lot!

It is a great feeling to complete the Half, and I would try to improve my timing next time.

(I am not the right person to take marathon running advice from. I am just sharing what I did to complete my first Half Marathon.)

I was running fine for around 15 days, and then the Knee Pain started. The pain was concentrated on the left side of the right knee and a friend of mine who is a physiotherapist said it is because of the strain on the knees when I run. Here is what I was suggested:

1. I would need to get shoes that suit my feet type. (Motion Control Shoes for me because I over-pronate).
2. I could try doing a few exercises in a gym that would help me make my knees strong.
3. I would have to find a softer surface to run than running on the road.
4. I would need to lose some weight before I can run long distances.

I really want to take up running as a daily exercise so I went ahead and bought a pair of Nike shoes for motion control. I started hitting the gym and did doing the prescribed exercises. For running on a softer surface I would have to travel a few kilometers and would have to switch to running in the mornings which I can’t afford right now. And I am trying my best to lose weight; I would not switch to an unhealthy way to lose weight ever again. (Read about the last time I tried a shortcut to lose weight)

Finally after 12 days on 25th December, I could run again without any pain.