Kaiser Half Marathon - Feb 1, 2009

I had fond memories of the Kaiser half. This was the race where I broke the 2 hour barrier in 2008 and had decided to use it as a checkpoint/pace run with a month to go for Napa. I was also experimenting with a different taper strategy this time. I had run a 24 miler on Jan 24th (5 weeks to Napa), and would do 13.1 at Kaiser on Feb 1. This would be followed by a 18 miler on Feb 7th and then 13 and 6.

I had decided not to run Kaiser too hard (i.e. go for a PR) but instead run a consistent pace at marathon goal pace. Ram from the Rancho Rockers was also running this race (after his on-off hibernation in the winter). So, the three of us (Ram, Shyamala his wife, and me) left around 6 am to get to the start.

After a fairly uneventful ride up, we arrived at Great Highway (having decided to park near the finish line). We took the shuttle bus to the start and arrived around 7:15 or so (start was at 8 am). Ran into some other Asha runners there including Coach Tony who gave us a quick pep talk. It was pretty chilly and I had decided to keep 2 layers on and also thankfully had my gloves. We did a short warm up run and some quick stretching. Then we moved towards the start and I lined up between the 8 min/mile and 9 min/mile groups. After the national anthem, the gun sounded and we were off.

This was my first race with the Garmin 305 and I had set it on auto-lap every 1 mile (and also to show current, last lap, and average lap pace). I tried my best to rein in the adrenaline and kept to a 8:30 pace the first few miles. It took a while to get warmed up so I made sure I did not run too fast. After a few miles, Rajeev and Raj passed me and were looking strong (and turns out had really good runs). We went around the Golden Gate park and looped back to the start. Legs felt ok but a little tired.

We crossed the start area again around mile 6 or so and then ran towards the Great highway (which we reached around mile 7/8). I was still keeping an 8:35ish pace overall. We reached the Great Highway and I remembered last year's race where the rain and wind played havoc. Thankfully, this year had sunny skies and it was warming up nicely. I was making sure I took electrolytes at most water stops but I could feel myself starting to tire a bit. The 24 miler the previous weekend (Jan 24) had taken a toll, and I decided to pull back to around a 8:40-8:45 pace.

Reached the turnaround point on the Great Highway and headed back - 3 miles or so to go. The one thing I had noticed consistently was that the Garmin was off by around 0.1-0.2 miles by now (10.2 instead of 10 at the 10 mile marker). I kept plugging along, passing some people, and being passed by others :-) Finally passed mile 12 and tried to pick up the pace a bit. I was still averaging around 8:38 or so per mile.

We turned onto Fulton and up the small hill and finally within sight of the finish. Picked up the pace to around 7:30 and went past the finish line in 1:53:02 (PR was 1:51:30). The Garmin showed 13.32 miles! (off by 0.22 miles!). Turns out that several other people observed the same thing. So, this was either a mass co-ordinated Garmin malfunction, or the race organizers messing up!

Anyhoo, kept walking to the food area and picked up some Cliff Bars and water. Met up with Rajeev, Raj and others and chatted for a bit. Waited for Ram to finish and he did so in a new personal best! Picked up our sweat bags and walked back towards the parking area where Shyamala was waitng patiently - many thanks to her!

All in all, a good race and met my goal of treating this as a fast long run. The T-shirt this year was black (better than last year), but I guess the medal fell victim to the recession (no medal this year!).

Que Sera Sera (AKA the CIM relay)

Having skipped the CIM relay in 2007 due to the birth of our son (now that would have been quite a scene - me running CIM when my wife went into labor; would have led to my permanent banishment to the garage :-)), I thought I would run it this year. Adding to the motivation was my dad and brother visiting us during that time. Since my dad had never seen me run a race before, I thought it would be good idea. So, I decided to team up with Navneet and run the relay as a 2 person race (half-marathon each).

We left for Sacramento on Saturday morning with Vikranth and Ram (who had kindly offered us a ride). It was a fun trip though Ram was feeling a little under the weather (no doubt due to a Friday night party and subsequent lack of sleep). We reached the expo, picked up our stuff, and were then met there by my brother (who had arrived earlier to visit some of his wife's relatives). My dad and I went along with my brother having made plans to meet the others for dinner that night. Only Ram and Vikranth showed up and my dad and I had dinner with them at an Indian restaurant. I then chatted with Navneet and made plans to pass the chip on to him through Ram (since Navneet was running the first 2 legs and I would run the last 2).

The next morning dawned bright and clear - little did I know what was in store :-) We had arranged to have my brother pick us up at 7 am and drive us to the halfway exchange point. As we got closer, we discovered that they had shut down all of the streets leading to the exchange point. As we drove around in circles (aided by a dysfunctional GPS system that kept telling us to take the same route back again and again), my blood pressure started to rise significantly. Some frantic phone conversations ensued with Kanaka (Navneet's wife), and she mentioned he was getting closer to the exchange point.

After driving around and taking the freeway and getting off a couple of exits later, I decided enough was enough. Navneet had already reached the halfway point. I got off and told my dad and brother to wait at the finish. I asked around and discovered (much to my chagrin) that I was at the 18 mile marker!!! So, I decided to start running against the flow of runner traffic back to the 13 mile marker. Of course, this meant that I undertook some good natured ribbing from the other runners - 'Dude, you're going the wrong way!!', and 'Hey Man - lost your bearings' etc. etc.
I had my cell phone with me and was in constant conversation with Navneet. Finally managed to meet and get a hold of the timing chip. Stopped for a second to put it on - by now, we had lost over 40 minutes and I was pretty steamed. Navneet had run his 13.1 in just under 2 hours and this fiasco had cost us.

I took out my frustration on the pavement - I ran as hard as I could. Shortly after I started, I saw that I had caught up with the 5 hour pace group. I kept pounding the turf into submission and passed wave after wave of runners. The 4:50 pace group, 4:40, then 4:30. I was tiring a little but I kept going (fueled mostly by frustration at this point :-)). I finally rounded the bend and crossed the finish line in 4 hrs 25 mins and change. This meant I had run my 13 miles in 1 hr 45 mins or so (not counting the 5 miles that I ran in the other direction :-)). I looked around for my dad and brother and finally found them a bit further along with the crowd. If not for the delays, we would have finished in around 3:45!

Anyway, a lesson learned the hard way. Next time, I plan to stay in Sacramento (we stayed in Folsom near the start this time) as they have shuttles from Sacramento to the relay interchange points and the start. We had a nice lunch and then headed back that evening.

All in all a fun race - just need to be more aware of road closures next time. It turns out that most of the other Asha teams also had similar problems....

SF Half Marathon – Part Deux – The Revenge of the Geek Runners!

Starring: Team Asha 2008 runners, Coaches, Ops folks, cheerleaders

Also Starring: City of San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Weather

Co-Starring: Malati Gadgil

Also Ran: Bharath Prabhakaran

Logline (for the busy moguls, those with ADD etc.):

Team Asha 2008 with its army of geek runners descends on the City of San Francisco during the early dawn hours. After several hours of ferocious battle, pavement pounded by feet, bridges trespassed, hills captured and surpassed, paper cups being flung about, and general mayhem, the city proves no match as Team Asha 2008 returns victorious after having captured the dangling gold (like) medallions J

Rating:

Karnazes and Galloway give this film ‘Two ITBs up’ !!!

Details:

Aug 3 2008 dawned like any other day in the San Francisco Bay area. The weather was not as cold as usual, the fog mostly dissipated – there was an aura of calmness – almost like the calm preceding a storm! Little did the City of San Francisco know what was about to hit it. For unbeknownst to the city by the bay, a band of finely trained men and women (pretending to be engineers and accountants as their cover) was about to descend on it with the goal of conquering its hills and bridges and returning to their homes with the gold(plated!) medallions as loot. And this band of warriors was unlike any the city had seen – they were finely trained (by a group of excellent coaches and trainers with a great supporting staff) running machines (well with a few rickety parts J) - committed and driven by the noble desire to make a difference to the lives of underprivileged children. It was a heated battle between two worthy adversaries and like with any story, multiple accounts exist (without this concept, Bollywood would have to stop releasing films with the same storyline over and over again!). The following is the narrative in the words Geek Runner 10126 – an also ran called Bharath Prabhakaran (who only managed to get into the movie because he was able to survive weeks of rigor at Sergeant Tony Patel’s Tracks Group 1 boot camp, bribe Coach Raman with Samosas and Lassis, hold Coach Martina’s bib at ransom, and dutifully following Coach Char’s injury rehab strategies!). No names have been changed to protect the guilty parties – any resemblance to characters living or otherwise is purely intentional (who cares about litigation - lawsuits filed against the zero overhead non-profit Team Asha will yield absolutely nothing J)

Geek Runner (GR)10126’s log on that fateful day:

Aug 2, 2008 – 2000 hours

• Military rations consumed (a concoction consisting of gruel, beans, rice)

Aug 2, 2008 – 2130 hours

• Combat fatigues neatly laid out
• Location sensor detached from number-tag and attached to combat boots
• Number tag (for GR 10126) attached to Team Asha uniform with clasping devices
• Hit the Hay early to get 5 hours of shut-eye
• Failover mechanisms in place – alarm on cell phone, clock radio, electrodes strapped to temple wired to deliver stimulus at precisely 0230 hours!

Aug 2, 2008 – 2230 hours

• Sheep counting currently stalled at 22,264
• Sandman visit awaited
• Neurons still firing contemplating attack strategies

Aug 2, 2008 – some point later

• System shutdown

Aug 3, 2008 – 0228 hours

• Ocular systems fired up and open
• Electro-shock stimulus not needed J
• Preparation rituals completed (further details censored to avoid court-martial J)

Aug 3, 2008 – 0315 hours

• Frantic cellular communication with Comrade Venu regarding delayed arrival at pre-arranged meeting point for transportation to base camp

Aug 3, 2008 – 0325 hours

• Comrade Venu arrives – finally! Has been engaged in own pre-race preparation (some obscure technique called Yoga – note to self – needs further research – is it a performance enhancing drug?!)
• Rapid (and I mean rapid – 60 mph on city streets!) progress to pick up Comrade Preeti from her quarters

Aug 3, 2008 – 0340 hours

• Arrive at base camp (aka Sunnyvale Caltrain station) – brilliant strategy I might add – launch an attack from a location 40 miles away!
• Commander Gurpreet is standing on steps of transport (looks remarkably like a bus) screening the recruits (apparently entry into the transport vehicle required some sort of pre-payment of $15 J)
• Commander spots me and assigns my chores – pick-up Bananas, bagels, and nutrition sachet (aka formula – GU) from his luxury vehicle and lug them over to the bus for distribution to the troops
• Excellent arrangements as always by Operations Commanders (Esther, Srini, Asif, Jaya and others) to ensure ideal preparation
• Have also been assigned duties to distribute rations to troops on board the bus – need to lead them well fed to battle!

Aug 3, 2008 – 0400 hours

• Screeching tires shatter the deafening silence as several GRs scramble to reach base camp.
• First busload of soldiers dispatched (with a planned pit-stop to pick up several more at Camp Belmont).

Aug 3, 2008 – 0415 hours

• Second bus-load (with self on board) leaves for battle

Aug 3, 2008 – 0415 hours to 0510 hours

• Atmosphere aboard bus strangely subdued (compared to expedition in 2007) – I guess we need a shot of Comrade Mehul singing the battle cry ‘Ek Chatur Naar’ to rally the troops!
• Nervous energy abounds though. Hushed conversations taking place discussing strategy, offering reassurance and motivation; several catching a few extra winks to recharge.
• Proceed with assigned task along with Comrade Vivek for assistance (having interrupted his secret routine of placing bullet-proof armor on chest to avoid chafing of chest protrusions which can result in the ‘shot-in-the-chest’ look post combat!).
• Distribute bagels, bananas, and nutrition sachet. Receive mumbled words of thanks.
• Warriors appear well fed and ready.
• Sit with Rancho training division for last minute strategy briefings.

Aug 3, 2008 – 0510 hours

• Arrive at destination
• Team Asha 2008 Army congregates at Start area
• Shout words of encouragement to rally the troops
• Amazed at number of warriors from other divisions who have apparently descended on the City on the same mission!
• Take a quick survey of the location – great views of the Bay, weather appears warmer than expected. Decide to discard outer-covering Kevlar jacket.

Aug 3, 2008 – 0515 hours

• Troops start walking to Location C – ‘Sweats Check’ – to deposit protective equipment to be claimed after combat has ceased.
• On the way, see large lines waiting to jump into large green objects (codenamed Port-a-Potty - some of these appear to be shaking – what’s up with that?!)
• Get into one of these lines to avoid delays during mission

Aug 3, 2008 – 0535 hours

• Still in line to attack the large Green monsters
• Pre-mission plans going awry – inadequate time to warm-up and stretch; Team Asha soldiers going in all different directions! Chaos already!!

Aug 3, 2008 – 0545 hours

• Two waves of combatants have already set off on their odyssey
• Get into pre-assigned ‘Wave 3’ to begin combat
• Frantically look for Comrades Kiron, Saumil, and Malati (who were supposed to be in my platoon!) Finally sight Comrade Malati just as the gun goes off

Aug 3, 2008 – 0545 hours to 0737 hours

• Initial foray – the thundering herd charges onto the streets – pounding pavement into submission
• Try not to get caught up in the initial excitement – keep to a 9 minute pace over the first mile
• Resistance is futile – miles 2 and 3 are around 8:20 pace (pre-mission target it 8:30 pace)
• Take in scenic views along Fishermen’s wharf and other landmarks
• Start to turn into East Beach en-route to first hill capture. Pace remains consistent.
• Arrive at first hill-test – months of hill training over previous winter with Coaches Raman and Martina have been mostly forgotten J - ITB issues and reduced hill running have made this a worthy challenge.
• Push up the slopes – amazed to watch Comrade Malati glide over the hill as if non-existent. Comrade Malati is a finely tuned running machine! (note to self – need to get rid of a further 10-20 lbs of excess baggage – mostly around abdominal region in order to attain optimal performance).
• Slightly labored breathing as this hill is conquered. The good thing about up hills – there is usually a downhill following it (well except at Big Sur where it seems to be all uphill!).
• Arrive at familiar surroundings in Crissy field – pre-mission war-games there have left us perfectly prepared.
• Breeze past laboring combatants (who were not as well coached!) – approaching obstacle 2 – big hill before Golden Gate – drop the pace a bit and make the climb – Comrade Malati as usual gets ahead and I work to catch up.
• Arrive at base of Golden Gate bridge – last year’s recon did not yield anything due to the fog cover. Marvel in beauty of the bridge with the clearer weather! Glad to see Comrades Arun and Anu on photo-recon mission and wave to them as they cheer us on!
• Run across the bridge taking in the views and keeping good pace.
• Arrive at turn-around point and pick up refreshments (have been partaking of liquid refreshments at all re-fueling stations – liquid called Cytomax not as palatable as Team Asha offering ‘Gatorade’!)
• Cross mat and hear beeping noises all over the place – aha – the enemies are tracking our every move – attempts to short-circuit the course will be rendered futile!
• Head back across the bridge and left hamstring starts acting up again – this is what happens when pre-mission routines are not adhered to.
• Keep motoring along despite discomfort – meanwhile Comrade Malati is striding along smoothly like a gazelle!
• Pass the bridge and accomplish second objective.
• Having been part of prior year’s mission, know that battle is not complete and there is more danger in store. Warn Comrade Malati to slow down a bit.
• Reach Mile 10 marker at about 8:40 pace. Need to pick it up a bit to reach target.
• Speed up a bit on downhill leg but have to back off almost immediately due to the rolling hills – a worthy adversary indeed!
• Somehow make it through miles 11 and 12 – hamstring tissue sending stronger signals – need to pay close attention post-mission!
• Finally the last half-mile – really pick up the pace here – goal in sight – pumping arms, furious feet fly all over the place – notice that fellow warriors also doing the same (with varying degrees of success).
• Finally arrive at destination side-by-side with Comrade Malati! Timing device on hand that says ‘1:51:31’ – Mission Accomplished! (for real this time J)

Aug 3, 2008 – 0740 hours to 0940 hours

• To the victors go the spoils – pillage for loot and pick up shiny round object, and raid the refreshment area – already long lines here!
• Meet Comrades ‘Fly-Boy’ Sandeep Borle, and ‘Running Machine’ Raj to exchange congratulations.
• Comrade Malati decides to step away to share news of conquest with significant other.
• Spend next 2 hours close to finish line cheering and watching Team Asha combatants arriving at goal after having vanquished the demons (both physical and mental).
• See Rancho gang – Anup, Vikranth, Ram, Venu, Arvind, Narinder, Preeti, Ruchi come in and finish – the expressions of joy, relief, and excitement fill me with joy and pride and make the 3 month journey training hard at Rancho worth all the effort!
• Would like to linger on and await the few remaining Rancho ‘mentees’ but the last shuttle to the starting point where Team Asha has set up a victory camp and party is to leave shortly – so trudge off.

Aug 3, 2008 – 1030 hours to 1215 hours

• Reach Asha victory camp with Comrades Venu and Preeti who sight the tent where the victors are enjoying massages from the vanquished –they immediately decide to partake in the festivities
• Reach Asha tent and sight Coach Tony and several others who have come earlier after finishing – high-fives are exchanged and stories shared.
• As always, the excellent Team Asha Ops squadron has arranged a lavish spread (including the secret weapon codenamed ‘Samosa’). Wolf down some nourishment – ahh the sweet (or should it be spicy and tangy J)taste of victory!
• Talk to several fresh recruits on their first missions and share in their excitement and offer words of congratulations! Lots of hooting, whooping, and hollering happening!
• Official photographers (and several unofficial ones) come by and several group pictures are taken to record the victory for posterity
• Finally all the Rancho crowd (including Sumita, Aditi, Commander Gurpreet, and Kiran) come in and we all huddle together for a mini-victory huddle and group picture!
• Stand by, watch, and enjoy the looks on the faces of the first-timers, and the expressions of pride on the faces of the Coaches (Tony, Martina, and Raman).
• Congratulate the heroes who undertook the 26.2 mile mission – Coach Raman, Rajeev, Reshu, Vivek etc. – they have truly slain the beast!
• Think about leaving for transportation back to base (Caltrain) – but kindly Rancho group family members (Saket, Mahalakshmi, Payal etc.) and injured comrade Arjun offer to provide transport for us (no doubt moved by the sight of the walking wounded J).
• Make our ways back to base with plans for further celebration at Comrade Anup’s house at 1900 hours)

Epilogue:

Aug 3, 2008 – 1900 hours onwards

• Wild scenes of celebration at Comrade Anup’s house
• Traditional Marathi cuisine is served up thanks to Anup’s mom!
• The wine and beer are flowing freely (and for once I sit back and abstain from stopping them in my role as Gestapo!).
• Stories are shared, a few tears shed, friendships formed and bonds forged and strengthened by fire!

This in a microcosm defines Team Asha – where the spirit is strong with further conquests to follow!

Coming soon this fall (straight to DVD J):

• Team Asha conquers Portland!
• Team Asha does Chicago!
• Team Asha decimates Silicon Valley!

Run like the Wind! Run Forrest Run :-)

Well, first off, it's amazing how having 2 kids (with one being an infant) puts a big dent into your aspirations of being a rock-star blogger :-) With everything else that's going on, I guess I had to choose between allocating time to running versus just blogging about it :-)

Anyhoo, I am happy to report that I have been keeping up as best I can with the Big Sur training schedule (laid out by uber-mentor and motivator Chakri). Given that I live right next to Rancho San Antonio Park (and the double-bonus of it having a lot of hilly terrain), I have been running pretty much exclusively there for the past couple of months (weekdays, long runs etc.). Thanks to Coaches Martina and Raman, I now have an intimate knowledge of Black Mountain, Upper Wildcat, and several other trails at Rancho (including a totally undiscovered one which was the result of Coach Martina wanting to help us get a few more miles in while waiting for some runners to catch up).

So, given that Big Sur marathon is run on asphalt, I figured I needed to get some runs in on that turf. I decided to sign up (last minute) for the 'Run like the Wind' half marathon in San Ramon (which was on roads and also had rolling hills - perfect Big Sur training).

I woke up bright and early on March 30th (Sunday) - hey I got to sleep in on Saturday didn't I :-) - and drove the 40 or so miles to get to San Ramon (I know I know - driving 40 miles to run 13.1 - must be insane (I'm sure we runners get this all the time!)). It was pretty chilly so decided to stay in the car for a bit. Soon it was time for the start - I was actually pleasantly surprised by the turnout - for a small city event, there sure were a lof of people!

There were 2 other runners (Satyan and Venkaiah) from the ASHA gang and I met up with them at the start. I did not really have any goals for the race except to get a good run in.

We were off and running and much as I had planned to take it easy and not run too hard (and get injured), I guess being in a race gets the adrenaline going. I started off at a 9 min pace and kept that up for the most part (with 8:20 or so being the fastest). The hill training at Rancho really kicked in and I did not slow down too much on the rolling hills (slowest was a 9:40 mile).
I was glad I was carrying a fuel belt though - the race, though well organized with water stops, did not have any Gatorade :-)

I reached the last few miles and was close to or under my PR pace - again, pre-race plans to take it easy somehow flew out the window! I began pushing it (especially the last mile) and finished in 1:55:43 - a new PR :-)

Stayed on at the end to watch some of the award presentations and was amazed by some of the times (1:30 or under in the 60 year age group :-) - I would be happy just to be running when I am 60)).

All in all, a good experience (barring a sore ITB on the left side - nothing some RICE won't fix :-)).

NEWS FLASH - Finished Kaiser Half in SF

On a cold, rainy, and windy day, I am happy to report that I met my stretch goal for the Kaiser Half (sub 2 hour race)! Here are the results:

Finish time: 1 hour 57 mins 05 secs (just under 9 min pace)
Gun time: 1:59:59

Woohoo!