The Zeal To Grow

This is the second time I'm doing a Full Marathon (FM). And when compared to the first one , this is way less dramatic (only 2 months training compared to 4 months and no injury scares/doubt of participation) and hence the post itself is much smaller. Marathon Thoughts It is October. I guess the registration for SPCM 2020 has started. I'm thinking. It's been around 2 years since I did my first FM. I did a Half Marathon (HM) in July (DRHM 2019) and achieved a respectable timing of 2.04 hours. Should I improve my HM timing or do a second FM ? I did my first FM in 5.15 and I thought there is definitely good scope of improving that time. Panneer (friend of mine and an ultra runner) was also pushing me to do FM in SPCM 2020. Okay, I I will do another FM and probably bring my time  under 5 hours.  But the training needed for FM is too long and much difficult when compared to HM.  By Googling, I found a short 8 week (2 month) training plan for FM . I made slight modi

Prelude Well, it all started with the Marathon training last year. I had training runs every Sunday for a marathon I had registered. The runs used to start at around 5 in the morning. It means waking up in the wee hours of a holiday, driving for about 20 km(up and down) and then running for around 2.5 hours. So, what bliss in the world are we talking about? During the 4 hour time frame from around 5-9, I indulge myself in various experiences that forms the essence of the bliss. Running, relaxing at the beach, breakfast after the run and driving.  Stage 1 - Running Without a doubt, I can say that running is a passion of mine. Running takes my mind to a different level all together. It gives me so much of peace, clarity of mind, contentment and of course the physical fitness. Put on some music while running and heaven will be in sight. Earlier I used to run a lot, but these days I have reduced the mileage to prevent injuries and to squeeze in more strength training. Still I

                      VS  Both swimming and running are excellent forms of exercise. It is very difficult to pick one of the two. People usually do a mix of both or pick one based on their preference or goals. Comparison: Effect - Swimming is a full body exercise. In addition to leg kicking, upper body(arms and shoulders) also needs to work hard to drive forward. Running is more of a lower body exercise. Core needs to be strong to have a good running form. But while running, upper body is less used compared to lower body. Injury - Running is more injury prone. Gravity takes its toll while running. Every step during running, creates a reaction force from the ground which travels up the body and can lead to injuries. Depending on the running speed, the force can be up-to 4G (4 times the body weight). And for the same reason, lots of strength training should go with running. But while swimming, because of the buoyancy of water, gravity won’t cause any trouble. Hence swimmin

Marathon Thoughts It was the first week of August 2017. My last run was on January 2017 after which I had knee pain and was diagnosed with meniscus strain. So I was mostly on rest since then, in the sense I did no running and very less badminton. I t was towards the end of July when I saw a youtube video of David Goggins . He was a navy seal and he explains how he had to do a 24 hour 100 mile run with shin splits and stress fractures in the last 20 miles of the race. It was appalling to me the way he pushed himself that last 20 miles. I had always dreamt of running a full marathon after having done 5 half marathons. David Goggins was doing 100 miles while a full marathon is just 26.2 miles. Am I not strong enough to do a full marathon? I had thought myself to be a tough person and running the marathon would be a good enough test. So the motivational talk by David Goggins was a good reason, that implanted in me the idea of running the Wipro Chennai Marathon 2017 . Another re