Raju Vusirikala First Marathon Blog

The Relay (199 Mile) - Checklist for the run

2010-05-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Since The Relay spans for 36 hours or so, it calls for special preparation unlike other marathon runs. Here is the checklist of things to do, carry for the run. This is compiled by TeamILP.

RUNNER EQUIPMENT - REQUIRED LIST

• Cash, credit card
• Driver’s license (required if you are driving, good idea to have even if you are not driving)
• Leg maps of your legs in a sandwich size ziploc bag (protect from elements)
• Safety pins to pin your map to your shirt (we will get some from the organizers - but inevitably we will drop them, lose them, etc.)
• Sleeping bag
• Plastic bags for wet clothes, icing injuries, trash
• Running shoes (2 pairs if you are doing leg 8, 10, 17) – may be muddy
• 3-4 t-shirts (wicking layers preferred),
• Shorts
• Socks (several pairs)
• Personal toiletries - Shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, towel
• Reflective and warm clothing; Several legs may be cold this weekend
o Bring 1-2 fleece jacket/pullovers & track pants + sweater to keep warm inside the van)

RUNNER EQUIPMENT - RECOMMENDED LIST

• Head lamp (team provides 1-2 per team)
• Protective aids: pepper spray, phone, whistle – especially if you are running a leg in the dark and the van and the runner are on different routes
• Foot care aids (moleskin, blister band aid, foot spray, etc.)
• Hat or visor to reduce glare of headlights
• Sunglasses, sunscreen, hat
• Camera (Bring your own) – or we can decide amongst each van to have 1 or 2.
• Driver license, ID (Recommended even if you are not one of the planned drivers)
• Food, drinks (Any personal preference)
• Sandals for casual wear between run
• Gloves, Ski Caps etc. to keep warm
• Body Glide /Vaseline (to avoid chaffing)
• Party music - CDs :)
• Did I mention - Party music – iPod, etc.

MY TEAM WILL PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING PER TEAM

• Nutrition Bars – Promax (if you like anything else specific, let your captain know NOW)
• Gatorade, Bottled Water
• Fruits and snacks
• 2 headlamps with extra batteries
• 4 reflective vests
• 2 vehicle signs “CAUTION—RUNNER ON ROAD" signs
• 2 vans!
• Clipboard for Team Time Record & time sheets
• Safety pins for race numbers
• Trash bags
• First aid kit (including mole skin) (2)
• AAA Maps (2)
• Entire Route Relay Map (2)
• Markers, pens, pencils, paper
• Decorative Paint
• Paper towels
• Toilet Paper
• Small cooler with ice / ice packs
• Hand sanitizer
• Relay Team clock
• Spreadsheet with: runner names, legs, expected time etc.
• Waiver forms – need these signed and into your van captain before Friday evening

The Relay (199 Mile) - Run for Literacy..

2010-04-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

The relay is starting this week-end from Calistoga to Santacruz. I am part of the TeamILP-Literally Running team. Excitement is building up for the event. Little bit about relay..

COURSE TRIVIA
The course is divided into 36 segments called "Legs" with 76 turns (39 left, 37 right). Legs vary in length (3-8.9 miles) and difficulty ("Easy" to "Very Hard"). Runners travel 191 miles on shoulders of roads, 4 miles on five bicycle paths (Legs 6, 17, 21, 26), 3 miles through two vineyards (Leg 8), 1 mile across a ranch (Leg 10) and 1 mile through a quarry (Leg 35). Eight legs have ocean views (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 31, 36) and five legs border reservoirs (13, 22, 23, 24, 28). The date of The Relay varies each year to provide moonlight for course lighting and this year it is on May1st & May2nd 2010.

RELAY LOGISTICS
It is a 199 mile relay. Each relay team consists of 12 runners and about 200 teams participating in the event. This 199 miles are divided into 36 legs divided into 6 segments of 6 legs. Each team is divided into two subteams who will be in two seperate vans: Van1 & Van2. I am part of the Van2 and rach runner will have to run 3 legs in three segments.

Course Maps: http://www.therelay.com/co_maps.htm

TeamILP

TeamILP is representing 8 teams i.e., 96 runners total. My team name is "Literally Running" consists of 9 first time relay runners, 3 veterans. I joined the team pretty late in the training as one of the members dropped out of the team. I had hardly 4 weeks of training under my belt for this relay. Hoping that I can make it without any issues.

My Runner page is: http://ilprelay.ning.com/profile/RajuVusirikala

Generously contribute to this great cause..

I will update you with my race report next week..

2010 season started with spring run followed by half marathon, 199 mile team relay

2010-04-04T22:07:00.001-07:00

Unlike last year, this year I wanted to spread my yearly minimum target of running 2 half marathons. With that in mind, started this season with 10K kickoff spring run organized by my Alumni Team Asha. Weather co-operated nicely and end up finishing the run strong.

Signed up for Santacruz half marathon going to be held at Santacruz on April 11th. Started training slowly for the same. Longest run so far was 8 miles and I am hoping that I can do the half marathon with a decent pace.

Today, I had signed up myself to run in 199 mile relay as part of Team ILP as a replacement for one dropped runner. Will publish a seperate post on this run later. This relay seems to quite involved and it is going to be a different experience to my running career as well.

My Run Stats from various run events

2010-03-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

I want to have this blog entry up-to-date by keeping all my long runs, race result entries here.

Before joining Asha Marathon program this year, I ran few Bay to breakers, few other 5K, 10K runs from 1999-2003. Stopped running altogether since then. Here are the stats from my previous long runs..
1. CRY Walk '99 - Oct 10, 1999 at Vasona County Park, Las Gatos. I have done 10km walk. Raised about $250.
2. Bay to Breakers 2000 - First long distance race particiapated. Finished the distance of 12km (7.46m) in 100 minute (13.4min/mi) . Bib#13894,Timing 1:40:50, Rank is 14271.
3. Wharf to Wharf 2000 - July 23, 2000. Finished the distance of 10km (6.25m) in 70 minute (11.2min/mi) continuously running without a single stop!!!
4. Walk for 5H - March 11th, 2001. It is a 10Km walk in golden gate park, SFO. Aishu joined me. Funds raised for the Gujarat earthquake victims.
5. Bay to Breakers 2001 (Bib#24137, Rank#13992)- Finished the distance of 12km (7.46m) in 105.43 minute (14.13min/mi)
6. Wharf to Wharf 2001 - July 22nd, 2001. Finished the distance of 10km (6.25m).
7. Oracle 11th Annual Fun run/walk 5km (3.125m) in June 2002 in 39:11 minutes (12.36min/m). Rank was 187. Bib#1315.
8. ILP: Run for Literacy 10K Results 2003 Finished in 82 minutes (13.12min/m). Raised about $520 and Oracle matched equal amount.
9. Bay to Breakers 2003 - May 18th, 2003. Finished the distance of 12km (7.46m) in 93 minutes (12.46min/mi). Not much tiring this time!
10. Oracle 12th Annual Fun Run in the Sun June19th, 2003. Bib#1758. 5KM (3.125m) in 33.46minutes (10.70min/mi). Not tired at all. Surprised to see my timing. Ranked 211.
11. Vibha - Run/Walk 2003. Third annual event at vasona park. finished walking 5km in 46.10 minutes (14.752 min/mi).
12. JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge - Participated in 2006 representing Salesforce.com. Finished 3.5m in 40 mins with 11:25mpm pace.
13. San Francisco Marathon - Completed my first half marathon (13.1m) in San Francisco on Aug 3rd, 2008. Finished 13.1m in 2:45:45. Pace 12:39 per mile.
14. Sankara iwalk 2008 - Completed 2nd half marathon at Shoreline park, mountain view on Aug 23rd, 2008. Finished 13.1 miles 2:24. Pace 10:59 per mile.
15. Chicago Marathon - My first marathon run. Completed running 26.2 miles in 5:48:27 and ranked 27214. Average pace 13:17 per mile. Half marathon distance covered in 2:36:15 (11:54mpm). Raised about 9000 dollars for Asha.
16. Lake Merritt Half Day - Ran 9.5 miles in 2 hours. Average pace 12:38 per mile.
17. San Jose rock n roll 2009 - Finished in 2:48:01.
18. Silicon Valley Marathon 2009 - Finished in 2:45:05.
19. Asha Spring Run 2010 (10k): Finished 10K in 1:15:22 (12 min per mile). Ranked 104 out of 140 runners.
20. Santa cruz Half Marathon 2010 - Finished in 2:45:39 with 12:39 per mile pace. Ranked 1982 out of 2200 overall runners. 776 out of 815 male runners. 270 in division. Bib#2615.
21. The Relay 2010 - Part of the relay team to run 200 miles from napa to santacruz. I had to run three legs (leg7, leg19, leg31). Our team # 236.
22. ILP Race for Literacy 2010 at shoreline - Finished 10K in 1:09 with 11:15 per mile pace. Bib# 1175. Run map: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33581648
23. Runners for life 10K Runs June 12th, 2011 - Finished 10K in 1:25 with 13:36 per mile page. Bib#896.

Great running related articles for all time reference

2010-03-18T12:34:00.001-07:00

4 WAYS TO AVOID OVERUSE INJURIES
Dust off your running shoes and spring your training forward with these tips to stay healthy and injury-free.
Key Takeways: (1) Limit your increases in both intensity and duration of your conditioning program to no more than ten percent per week. (2) Recognize the Symptoms of Overuse Injuries - covered the way to recognize.

2009 Ended with three race events including 2 half marathons

2009-12-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

I have started with a new year resolution in Jan-09 that I should enroll at least into two running events (1/2marathon or more) a year going forward. This way, I will always be in touch with running and keep my love affair with running fresh through the years. In this process, I want to get better year over year.

First few months of the year passed pretty quickly without enrolling into any events. In June, did a 9.5 mile run at lake merritt with fellow asha runners. Months passing by but couldn't enroll into any event.

Finally, in the month of october, enrolled into two half marathons with 2 weeks apart. Was little skeptical whether I could finish well or not. First one was San Jose Rock-n-roll half marathon. Enjoyed the event listening to various music bands along the way. It was bit painful towards the end.

Results
Race date:
Garmin Map: Here
Mileage: 13.1 miles
Duration: 2:48:01

Second one was the Silicon Valley Marathon. Registered for half marathon run in this event. Team Asha has big presence for this event by manning two water stops, lots of encouragement etc. Enjoyed this run thoroughly. Finished strong this event.

Results
Race date:
Garmin map: Here
Mileage: 13.1 miles
Duration: 2:45:05

TeamAsha SV 2009 Final Party - Fitting Finale for the season..

2009-11-08T18:51:00.000-08:00

I am fortunate to be part of the Team Asha Silicon Valley 2009 marathon program by being one of the Fundraising Team members. We had a terrific season, all the runners finished strong at the TA offered marathons (SF Half, Twin Cities, Chicago, SJ RocknRoll, Silicon Valley). Like every year, we celebrate this by having a party. Nice to see runners in non-running attire.

Party was a blast. It started off with couple of songs from Bharath, Megha & Satyan. Followed by Coaches speeches, award ceremony with trophies to runners, special thank-you for Coach Tony Fong being with Team Asha for the last 10 years, FR presentation by FR team, Co-ords introduction in a special way, couple of more songs, Bollywood dance numbers choreographed & performed by runners, open to dance floor.

Here some videos from the party..
Double click on videos to view in wider mode. It is currently chopping the sides. Increasing width parameter is not working. Need to figure that out.

My Camera: Announcing Prizes, Co-ord Intro, Dance1, Dance2, Rehearsal Video:

Sahana's Camera: Co-ord Intro, Dance1, Dance2

FR Presentation: This year, our team exceeded the FR goal by 50K dollars inspite of recession. This shows the quality, discipline and cause of the Team Asha marathon program & Asha. Here is the FR Presentation Deck.

Co-ords introduction: This video was composed & choreographed by Mousumi & Sahana. We had some rehearsals night before to show up crisply. It was well received by the audience. This is something different & fun way to introduce team.

Bollywood Dance1
Dance Pe Chance & Marjani. I was part of this dance. Mousumi & Sahana made us learn all the steps in just 7 days to come out synchronously. We had fun rehearsing & presenting at the final party.
Dancers are: Left-Right: Girls - Mona, Sahana, Chandrika, Sona, Mousumi
Boys - Madhu, Gaurav, Ritesh and Raju

Bollywood Dance2 - Kambaqht Ishq & Twist. This dance was choreographed by Anand & Sonie.
Dancers are: Left-Right: Girls - Sonie, Jayasree, Sudha, Sangeetha, Esther &
Boys - Sarat, Sandeep, Murali, Balu & Karthik.

Rocking the Dance floor:

Rehearsal Video:
All co-ords meet up at Mousumi's place night before the party to do a quick rehearsal. Enjoy the video..

Videos from Sahana's Camera
The following videos cover the entire portion of the dances & co-ords introduction.

Co-ord Intro
Co-ords introduction

Dance1
Dance1

Dance2

Dance2

Better video links from Sahana posted in Facebook:
Co-ords Intro,
Dance1,
Dance2.

Now, the running season is officially over for team asha. There is some pending work to do for FR team & treasury team to do some collections, recociling etc.. We will get over with it soon.

Go Asha! Go Team Asha!

Marathon Checklist..

2009-09-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

I have been keeping a mental checklist for any race events and thought I would put them in writing here..

Here you go:

- Shoes
- Shorts
- Race number/Bib
- Hydration Belt
- Energy Bars and Gels
- Socks
- Bodyglide
- Sun screen/Lip Balm
- Sunglasses
- Hat
- Watch & Heart Rate Monitor
- Directions to Start
- Warm up clothes
- Gloves
- Tissues
- Gear Check Bag
- Pins to tie bib
- Timing Chip
- Post race clothes
- Cash for Ride home/post race activities
- Drivers license
- ATM Card & Credit Card
- Camera
- Cell Phone
- Nip guards, band aid
- Map/directions to the place

Team Asha Silicon Valley 09 Final Long Run together before marathon season

2009-09-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

Finally I made it to the last long run of the season with all the Team Asha Silicon Valley 09 runners running together. Run was at Los Gatos Creek Trail, Cambell, CA.

I tried to capture various things take place during a typical long run like co-ords setting up the tables with food, warm up run, stretching, run start, water stops, hills and post run loading.

Assembling for the long run

Warm up run before the long run

Stretching before the long run

Startline for the long run

HIlly part of the long run

Waterstop1 for the long run

Waterstop2 for the long run

Postrun for the long run

Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)

2009-07-20T14:26:00.001-07:00

Here is a nice article explaining about Maximum Heart Rate. I can measure it more accurately with my new Garmin Forerunner 305 Watch ..

http://www.sportsdoctor.com/articles/heart_rate.html

Q: I do aerobic dance and have often heard my instructors say that if your heart rate goes over your maximum training rate - 90 percent of your maximum heart rate - you start burning heart muscle. What does this really mean, and what are the short- and long-term effects of this happening?

Also, on occasion, someone will exceed what is supposed to be their maximum heart rate, to which the automatic response is "you're dead." What does "maximum heart rate" really mean, how can a person go over their maximum (without dying!), and what are the implications of going over? C.B. Minneapolis, MN

A: It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to damage a healthy heart with exercise. You do not burn or otherwise damage healthy heart muscle by exceeding 90 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate (MHR). Otherwise, there would be many more elite athletes, who daily push their heart rate to extremes, suffering heart damage.

Your true MHR is the highest pulse rate you can attain during all-out effort, so by definition, it is impossible to exceed this limit. Your MHR is most accurately determined during an exercise stress test, when you run on a treadmill and are connected to an electrocardiogram that measures your pulse during maximal exertion, The easy way to estimate your MHR is to subtract your age from 220.

But this is only an estimate. Because we are all unique human beings of different ages and levels of fitness, our maximum heart rates can vary considerably. As we get older, our maximum heart rate slows down.

Also, regular training has the effect of lowering your maximum heart rate, as well as your resting heart rate. This is because your heart, like other muscles you exercise, becomes stronger and more efficient, pumping a greater volume of blood with each beat.

How can you effectively improve your cardiovascular fitness?

Exercise also increases blood flow and develops the arterial supply to the heart. Because heart attacks are caused by inadequate blood flow to the heart muscle, regular exercise of a healthy heart is almost a sure preventive of a heart attack.

To effectively improve your cardiovascular fitness you must exercise a minimum of three times a week, 30 minutes a day at 60 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate.

This is the basic fundamental of aerobic conditioning. The maximum heart rate you are checking for in your class is the maximum training heart rate, recommended by most experts to be no higher than 90 percent of your maximum heart rate.

People beginning exercise have higher heart rates until they get trained. They also feel more breathless and should exercise at a lower percentage of their target heart rate until they are comfortable.

Exercising above 90 percent of your MHR moves your body from aerobic exercise (with oxygen) into anaerobic exercise (without oxygen).

Anaerobic exercise mainly depends on glycogen stored in the muscle for fuel instead of burning more efficient oxygen supplied by the bloodstream. Waste products build up quickly and the blood flow is inadequate to remove them. Hence the fatigue that quickly develops when you sprint or do your aerobics at a anaerobic level.

A few minutes rest allows the blood flow to remove the built-up wastes and you can continue your exercise. Anaerobic exercise, or "speed-work," can be an important part of any healthy woman's workout without fear of suffering a heart attack.

Taking your own pulse while exercising is a lot trickier than it sounds, and getting an accurate pulse rate under these circumstances is very difficult.

Why is it so difficult to take your heart rate?

Your pulse rate drops quickly when you stop exercising. It may take you time to find it, by which time the heart rate has decreased. It should be taken within ten seconds of stopping.

Often people make the mistake of starting the count when "zero" appears on their digital watches, and stopping when the "seven" appears. This may account for some of the high pulse rates in your class. You must stop counting as soon as the "six" appears.

After all, if you start at "zero," when the "one" appears, one second has elapsed. So when the "six" first appears your six seconds are up. Some classes take the pulse for 10 seconds, which increases the accuracy.

Other reasons your heart rate may be too high are dehydration, fatigue, infection with or without fever, anemia, obesity, or use of certain drugs, including diet pills, decongestants, caffeine, manjuana, or cocaine.

It is theoretically possible that exercising with a fever can cause some damage to the heart muscle, so never exercise aerobically when you are sick.

Everyone is an individual, and has different tolerance for exercise and endurance. Using your pulse rate as the sole determinant of your exercise level is best done in the early stages of your conditioning program to make sure that you are getting into the target training zone.

Once you are confident of your stamina and have learned how your body feels during and after workouts of specific times and distance, there is not much benefit in stopping your exercise to take your pulse.

Try to develop a more holistic appreciation of your exercise, taking into consideration if your legs feel wobbly, your lungs are burning, or if you feel dizzy or nauseous. These are also indications that you are overdoing it and need to slow down.

About the authors: Carol L. Otis, M.D., is Chief Medical Advisor to the Sanex WTA and a UCLA student health physician. Roger Goldingay is a former professional soccer player. They are married and the co-authors of The Athletic Woman's Survival Guide.

My new running tool.. Garmin 305..

2009-07-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

User Manual from Garmin Site

Bought Garmin 305 watch to keep track of my runs, heart rate, speed and most of all mileage & map info. I am loving this watch.

Check out this link to see my Silicon Valley Half Marathon 2009 and how it mapped the data.

Longest run after my first marathon at Lake Merriott (9.5miles in 2 hours)

2009-06-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Participated in Lake Merritt Half Day Running event. Ran 9.5 miles without much practice. Ran with few of the fellow asha mates and I could do it without issues. Ran three rounds surrounding the lake with a decent pace.

Results are published here.

Race date: 13th June 2009
Mileage: 9.5
Duration: ~120 minutes

Mile Time Trials -- New PR for one mile 8:19.. Improved by 1.5 minutes from last year

2009-05-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

Mile time trials is a way to test your fitness level. After a warm up, runners run a mile as fast as they can handle and time that mile. It is called MileTimeTrial (MTT). This is short enough distance to test the speed and long enough to test the strength.

I participated in the mile time trials conducted by Team Asha 09. I am happy to note that my timing was improved from last year by 1.5 minutes. Last year it was at 9:47 and now I complete the mile in 8:19.

Bike to Work (Mountain view to Menlo park) 11+ miles

2009-05-27T09:56:00.001-07:00

I have been planning on doing the bike to work ever since our office moved from Mountain View to Menlo park. I talked to few folks from work to get an idea on the route options and finally got one good route from Matt Foist (who commutes by bike to work whenever he misses caltrain). He offered to ride with me one day to show me the route. Finally, we did it on wednesday 5/27/09. I joined him at Rengstroff/Central. It took us total 70 minutes to cover closer to 11 miles. Left the bike at work that night and next day, we rode back on the same route to home. It was very fun, relaxing and enjoyable ride. Thanks Matt for giving me company and I didn't feel any boredom or tiredness during the ride.

I drew the route using a great site bikely. It has nice to drawing tools and calculates the distance for every point. If you haven't tried it yet, check it out at www.bikely.com.

Here is the route textual description:
Started from Ferguson/Central -> Ride until Santonio Road -> Pass Sanantonio -> Take the first right turn -> get through that street, take left on MacKay Dr -> At the end of that street, right right at Shasta Dr -> it curves & become Nelson Dr -> Left At creekside -> Pass the creek -> Get on to Duncan Plaza -> It touches Charleston -> Cross that st, get on to Carlson Ct -> take right at Redwood Circle -> Ride on that a bit to see Bryant St -> Get on Bryant St, ride about 5 miles. it goes via palo alto neighborhood, pretty safe street -> Cross main streets like Oregon Express way, Embarcadero Rd, University Ave -> It dead ends at Palo Alto Ave -> On right, there is a bridge, get on that bridge to cross the creek -> Get on to Willow Road -> Take right at willow -> Left at Middlefield Road -> Right at Ringwood Ave -> Go all the way to end of ringwood ave -> See overpass to cross 101 -> Cross that to get on to market pl -> left at market pl -> at deadend, right at Del Norte Ave -> Left at Terminal Ave -> Cross the tracks to get to the campus..

Link and Picture:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Whisman-to-Menlo-Park-Intuit-Campus

Fundraising Clinic for Team Asha 09

2009-05-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Mahesh and myself organized the fundraising clinic for Team Asha 09 team with the help of Anup. As this was done in a park, we decided to present the material in a skit form rather than powerpoint slides. Despite some initial audio challenges, it went fine.

Here is the video clipping of the clinic for the people who missed it..

Key Messages & topics covered:
1. Raise funds by forming teams of max four runners
2. Submit the recommittment forms by May-31st with your marathon selection, health history etc.
3. Start Early.. Ask your prospective donors before they committ to other charities for this year
4. Create awareness for Asha using blogs, emails etc. Use the templates provided to jump start this campaign.
5. Why donate to Asha? does all funds raised goto asha?
6. How to choose a project of your choice?
7. Touched on the company matching etc..

All the material covered is kept in a FAQ format in the teamasha 09 groups site.

1. Fundraising FAQ -This will answer most of the common questions you have.

2. Recommitment form - Please complete this form and submit it by 31st
May to Team Asha 09 coords

3. Runnernet user guide - Instructions on how to use runnernet -
create blog, log funds etc.

4. Company Matching instructions - List of companies known to match
donations for Asha and instructions on how to obtain matching from
some companies. If your company has employee donation matching program
and Asha is not one of the supported charities, then please email
fundraising@sv.team-asha.org. We will work with your company to add
Asha as a supported charity.

5. Email and Blog templates - Email templates to be sent to
prospective donors. Ex runner, Raju's blog.

6. Quotes from Ex - Runners - Fundraising experience of ex-runners.

Contact Fundraising Team for any questions, concerns related to Fund raising for teamasha 09.

Coach Raman's tips on Runners dieting especially for vegetarians

2009-04-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

A number of factors come into play when training for, and running, a marathon. While long-runs are credited for getting you to the finish line, there are other important components that complement your training.

Stretching: to help with improved running form (and injury-prevention)
Long runs: build endurance for your marathon
Cross-training: prevent overuse injuries
Nutrition: To keep your muscles fueled for all your workouts

Since the program (and the coaches) will spend a lot of time on the first 3 items, it is this fourth aspect of training that I would like to focus on in this section. Let’s take a moment to understand what nutrition means in light of endurance training.

Simply put, the longer the event, the more important it is to store up on adequate amounts of fuel. The question then, is what to eat and when (before, during, and after exercise) for optimum performance.

Try and eat a small meal 1.5 - 2 hours before your workout.

Before you run: Consume a small meal consisting of complex carbs.
Examples would include:
- bowl of oatmeal
- banana
- bagel (no cheese)
- Avoid simple carbs, such as sugars

During your run: Since the body burns carbs rapidly, you need replenishment if the event is longer than an hour
Re-fuel with sports drinks that will replace carbs (and salts you may have lost on a hot day). On a longer run (more than 90 – 120 minutes), you want to use energy gels, or bananas (which are easy to digest)

After you run: Try and re-fuel as soon as possible after a workout with a protein-carb meal. The protein will help re-build muscles, and the carbs will replenish depleted stores and aid in quicker recovery. This does need to be loaded with protein - actually a 5:1 or 6:1 ration in favor of carbs is adequate.
Examples would include:
Yogurt with granola and fresh fruit (strawberries, bananas, etc)
Smoothie made with fresh fruit and soy protein powder (1 cup Orange juice, with 1 banana, 4-5 strawberries works great. I add blueberries, mango or pineapple at times)
Later in the day, you want a “complementary” carb-protein meal. Whole grain lentils and rice are considered complementary protein-carbs
- Rajmah-chawal, or chane-chawal work well (I am a vegetarian; non-vegetarians can substitute chicken)

There is one food that can be consumed before, during, and after, a run – the BANANA.

A banana is a miracle food for runners

When you compare it to an apple, it has twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

- Bananas are a good source of vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber.
- Bananas also contain a rich supply of vitamin B6, providing 20% of the Recommended Daily Allowance of B6. Vitamin B6 is significant in the synthesis of antibodies in the immune system. It also helps in protein metabolism, red blood cell formation and functioning of the central nervous system.
- The vitamin C in bananas helps your body to heal and defend against infections. Vitamin C also is valuable in the absorption of iron, synthesis of connective tissue, and blood formation.
- The good source of potassium from bananas is helpful for your body to maintain the fluid balance in blood and tissue cells. Potassium is also an essential mineral for protein synthesis and the building of muscle because it stimulates nerve impulses for muscle contraction.
- Bananas contain more digestible carbohydrates than any other fruit.

Great for Long runs: Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

So, start consuming bananas today. Some ways to incorporate bananas into your diet:

Breakfast:
Add sliced bananas to cold cereal; make banana pancakes or banana muffins; make a banana and yogurt shake; add bananas to a bowl of mixed fruit; mix with low fat yogurt.
Lunch:
Eat a banana with your lunch; add sliced bananas to a fruit salad; make a banana and peanut butter sandwich.
Snack:
Eat a banana! Make a smoothie.
Dessert:
Top low fat yogurt or low fat ice cream with sliced bananas; make a low fat banana milk shake.

A few healthy food choices for runners are listed below:

Carbs/protein – Healthy grains include whole wheat, brown rice, oatmeal. If you want bread, get 12-grain or 15-grain bread.
Avoid refined foods such as white breads, pastas (unless it’s wheat or whole grain), breakfast cereals, tortillas.
Vitamins – You can get adequate quantities of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from veggies. Dark green and orange vegetables, from broccoli, kale and mustard greens to red and orange bell peppers.
Proteins - Dried beans and peas, such as black beans, kidney beans and tofu, are great sources of protein.
Yogurt and dairy products provide a good source of calcium (for healthy bones) and protein
Nuts and seeds are a great source, but also high in calories (Watch out for the quantities)
Fish, poultry and eggs are a ready source without a lot of saturated fats.
Carohydrates – Consume a variety of fresh fruit and make smoothies with frozen berries, etc. (Apples, bananas, oranges, peaches, pears and plums, mangoes, blackberries, papayas
Avoid juices that contain too much sugar.

Substitutes:

For people who are lactose intolerant (or vegans), and don’t enjoy soymilk here is an alternative. Try Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze – it’s rich, creamy, and tastes great with cereals.
A good post-run breakfast for vegetarians can include soy sausages with a chilled fruit smoothie.

In general, try and consume natural foods – fruits, nuts, whole grains. They will provide you with all the nutrients you need. Your body will thank you as you step into your longer runs.

TeamAsha 2009 Season Kickoff

2009-04-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

TeamAsha 2009 season started with much fanfare and kickoff session was held at Sportsbasement sunnyvale on April 19th 2009. It was a jam pack session with about 200 folks attending. Coaches, previous runners and 2009 co-ords spoke about the marathon program, Asha orgranization, fund raising and other related topics. I was asked to do a presentation focused on fund raising. My presentation was well received and hear it for yourself here::

Overall, kickoff event was a great success. Looking forward for a great 10th running year for Team Asha.

My Season2 with TeamAsha Started

2009-04-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

I am glad to complete a full marathon last year and made running as my lifestyle now. I have been running occasionally all these months and not able to stick to a schedule. I debated myself whether to join Team Asha this year as it needs lot of time committment for more than 4 months. At the same time, I didn't want to leave Team Asha family. Finally, decided to join TeamAsha09 co-ords team as a member of Fund Raising team. Duties would include helping runners with their fund raising efforts, answer their on going questions related to fund raising, keep track of dead lines, collecting checks, company match forms from the runners etc.

I might be running half marathons this year by practicing on my own. Currently targeting for SF Half on July 26, 2009 and Rock & Roll on Oct 4, 2009.

I will use this same blog for experiences with Team Asha and running.

500 miles of running in one year.. Mission Accomplished!

2009-01-19T23:43:00.000-08:00

Just tallied up the miles I ran in year 2008. 500 miles.. It was unthinkable for me until beginning of 2008 and now it is done deal. I am trying to preserve the fitness levels I achieved through my first marathon training. Running 2-3 times a week with 4-5 miles per session. I would like to do more when time permits.

Apart from running, I am trying to finish the 100 pushup program. Check this out at: http://hundredpushups.com/.

I am thinking of winding up this blog as my mission of running a marathon accomplished. Overall, my journey towards the first marathon gave me sense of accomplishment, satisfaction of making a difference in someone's life, increased my fitness levels, started enjoying the act of running.

Thanks to friends, family, fellow asha runners to make this journey a memorable one..

Our Bollywood Dance at TeamAsha Final Party Hit or Miss? Polls say, it was a HIT..What do you think?

2008-11-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

After finishing my first marathon at Chicago on Oct-12th, took a week to recover. Suddenly, having lot of time for myself as there were no training sessions to attend. My legs were itching to do more action and thats when I saw mail from team asha co-ord Gargi calling for dancers to participate in bollywood dance for final teamasha party. I never danced on stage in my life ever. Gargi mentioned that we don't need prior dance experience. So, I jumped in without much doubts with rest of 9 other 08 runners. First practice started with full enthu at Gargi's house last Sunday under the guidance of Sonie & Anand. All of us aggreed that we needed lot of practice in the following week to put up a good show in a week. We met almost every day following that Sunday at Sahana's place, Reena's apartment studio, Mousumi's house to bring our dance to a viewable state by our audience. One day, all of us felt like doing a half marathon as practice went for more than 3 hours. Check out the following videos to see our practice sessions in action.

Cast:
Gals: Mousumi, Sahana, Bhanu, Sandhya, Neelima, Reena and Gargi
Guys: Rajesh, Navneeth, Roopesh, Vikas (had to drop out), Anup, Raju
Choreographers: Sonie & Anand
Songs: Jee Karda from Singh is King & Bachna Ae Hasseno

Practice at Sahana's place after finalizing all the steps for Bachna Ae Hasseno

Final Practice Dance Few hours before the party at Mousumi's Residence - Some of the dancers couldn't make it to the session as we had half-marathon like practice night before

I was not able to get the video of the final show. Anyways, that was all for the audience. From the initial poll at the party, got a good feedback that it went well. We, the dancers had a blast participating in it. Special thanks to Sonie & Anand to push us to our limits (like our coaches :-)) to get a best show out of us. I guess, it paid off.. What do you think about it? Drop your comments

Here are couple of videos from the dance party.. sorry they came bit dark. enjoy by increasing your screen brightness :-(

Some Photo Albums featuring pics from the party
Team Asha Fotki Album

TEAM ASHA REALLY ROCKS not only AT THE TRACKS, RACES but also ON THE DANCE FLOOR!!!

This is the closure of the '08 activities and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Team Asha..

My First Marathon Race Journey is Awesome! Thanks to all my supporters!!

2008-10-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Race Date: 2008-10-12
Race Name: Chicago Marathon
Race Distance: 26.2 miles
Finish Time (hh:mm:ss): 05:48:27 (Fast mile is 1st mile @11:01, Slowest mile is 24th massage mile @16:11, Average pace: 13:17)

Here is the account of my first marathon training, preparations for the race, feelings I have gone through before, during and after Chicago Marathon. through this race report. If you are a person who likes to watch than read, go to my video version of the race report.

Photo Slideshow of the Chicago race

My First Marathon By the numbers
5 months of training
81 running sessions including 2 half marathon races, 18 Long runs, 19 Track workouts
8 pounds of weight-loss, 2 inches trimmed from waist
25 Gallons of gatorade drinking, 70 gu gel packets consumption, loads of pasta eating
427 miles of pure running, making 2 pairs of shoes worn out
170+ friends, colleagues, well-wishers were contacted to create awareness of Asha\'s mission
9 thousand+ dollars funds raised from 80+ donors, 6 companies matched funds
4 nights, 5 days away from family to run the actual marathon in Chicago
1.5 million spectators/cheering crowd watching the Chicago race
33,000 finishers out of 45,000+ registered runners and one of the proud finisher
200+ member TeamAsha 08 family including 4 coaches, 20 mentors, 10+ co-ords
ONE Final Full Marathon Race at Chicago Marathon 08 that is 26.2 miles in 5:48
SINGLE Mission of running a marathon by creating awareness & raising funds to under-priviledged kids in india
Getting into the TeamAsha Program
Just about six months back, met my old friend & boston marathon finisher Raghavan who put a seed in my mind to run for a marathon by taking TeamAsha training. I checked out Team Asha website, their training program and their mission. I liked their concept of Train-Run-Educate and immediately registered for the program just by trusting my friend\'s words & team asha without completely visualizing what is involved in it. Now, I have signed up for the program, I have no choice but to follow the program to the dot.
Training for the marathon race
Joined the Team Asha program 3 weeks after they launched this year\'s program. Talked to mentors Krishna, Deepu & Simmy and they all mentioned that I have enough time to cover this up. I used to attend all the weekday (mon, thurs) short runs, track work outs on tuesdays and long runs on Saturday mornings. Doing the warm up runs, stretching, run and stretches after the run, ice-baths after long runs became a routine for the last four months. I enjoyed all the long runs and constantly amazed by the dedication of our coordinators to give selfless support to runners. They picked nice trails like Sawyer camp trail, Crissey field trail, Las gatos creek trail, Helleyer Park, Shoreline Park, Oracle Trails for our long runs and made food/water arrangements through out the course. I have started to realize that running is lot of fun. Most of us ran SF Half marathon 2 months into the training and it gave experience on what to expect in prep for race & race day experience. Confidence started building up as I ran 16 miles, 18 miles, 19 miles, 21 miles (max during the training) and mentally prepared me to go for the race. Thanks to coaches & mentors for their 1-1 advise & tips during the training and I was happy to complete the training without any injuries. Was just hoping to finish the marathon run strongly without any injuries.

During this training, I ran with Shoreline group, Baylands Morning Group and Rancho Early Morning Group. Had fun running under moonlit, starry nights. I made some good friends, found entertaining running buddies in the process and get to know more about Asha & Team Asha.
Five months passed just like that and October has finally arrived.
Tapering Days
Our tapering days started. Last two weeks are supposed to be tapering weeks. Especially, last week was real slow week. Excitement was building up to run the race and at the same time we were not running much. Mind & body are behaving bit weird and checked with Coaches. They said that it happens that way, just take it easy and enjoy the taper. I had been religiously drinking liters of water/gatorade, eating carbs where possible.
Days before the race
Counting the days to go to Chicago, Excitement is building up, Reading all sorts of articles on marathon prep etc, Doing my final days of fund raising thinking that it is hard to get funds after the race completion. Along with Vivek, Chinmaya and Laxman, went to Chicago in AA flight Friday before the race. My cousin Udai came to the airport to pick me up. Plan is to join the Team for carbo load dinner and stay in hotel with them Satuday night. Saturday was a jam pack day. Morning, visited my friend in Chicago suburbs and went to Aurora temple to get blesssings from Lord Venkateswara for a great race.
Cousin drove me to the Marathon Expo happening at McCarmick center in Chicago downtown for race packet pick up. It was such a huge event and hundreds of people flooding the booths etc. Got my bib, checked the timing chip is working, get some goodies from booths, took some pictures and left the place to go to hotel. Reached hotel just in time for Carbo load and told my cousin to show up without fail for cheering me at the race. Met the whole team for the first time there and everybody is in good moods. We went to D\'s Little Italy restaurant by Yellow school bus. While waiting for the food, coaches Char & Raman gave some final words of wisdom for tomorrow\'s race. We have been watching the Chicago raceday temperature for almost 10 days and it has been continuously raising from 68-80+. As coaches mentioned, I am just counting on the training I had gone through and I am in full spirits & high confidence that I would do good. After the pasta load, we came back to hotel, arranged the stuff for tomorrow\'s race. Hit the beds early after having chit-chat with my roomie Ganesh.
Pre-race
Got up at 4am, get ready quickly and joined the team for breakfast at the downstairs. After hearing about other runners experiences about the cramps during the long races, I had decided to carry some salt tablets with me. Balu was kind enough to offer me few. I didn’t know at that time that I will be using during the race. Bus promptly started at 5:30 from the hotel and driver dropped us closer the Charity Village (place where all the charities set up their tents and it has exclusive access to the runners running for these charities). It is amazing to see how many charities, runners running for a cause. Asha Chicago chapter setup a nice tent with all the amenities for the runners. We could drop of our sweat bags in the tent itself.
All of us did a warm up run, stretching routine, multiple photo sessions. Coach Raman was keep on saying adjust your pace at the start as temperatures were going to raise during the day. I decided to listen to his advice as I always did during the training.

We started walking towards the start line.. You should see the crowds.. Thousands & thousands everywhere.. My excitement is building up.. As wisemen once said, if you had make it to the start line, you will finish it. Now, I made it this far.. I should finish this off. I have been thinking positively and not giving a chance to bring any negative thoughts. National anthem was played before the run.. Along with Praveen, Swamy, Durgesh and Ganesh, stood bit closer to the start line even though we know we can’t run at the pace mentioned over there.

During the race
Exactly at 8am, race started. By the time, we reached the start line, it was 13 minutes late. Praveen told me that he will run with me for some time and follow my run-walk strategy.
Even though, I try to slow down in the first mile, crowd kind of pushed me to run at 11 minute pace. We moved to the right lanes (like traffic) to slow down a bit. Next 5-6 miles, I ran with Praveen and we got lot of good comments on our Asha T-shirt. Cheering crowd was simply superb and I was confidant that crowd will make me finish the race. This is one of the reasons, I picked Chicago Marathon as my target race.
Running very strong just under 12 minute pace. Crossed the half marathon mark at 2:36 (9 minutes faster than SFM) and feeling happy about it. I am trying to talk to the fellow runners on the way, giving high-5\'s to the spectators, reading the nice banners they put up. Whenever I see, \'run daddy run\', it was reminding me about my kids and giving me more energy to run.

I have seen people stretching on the way and I thought of following them. That was a mistake. I never stretched in the middle of my training runs. My muscles started pulling a bit and decided not to continue. Moved forward. After running a mile or so, around 16th mile, I started noticing mild cramps in my quads. During the last 5 months of training, I didn’t experience any cramps myself other than listening about them. I feel like talking to somebody I know at that time. I didn’t want to mess up my first/last(?) marathon. Still 10 more miles to go and I don’t want to push myself with that pain. Before cramps get worse, I used my weapon in store \'salt tablet\' (thanks a ton Balu for sharing them in the morning, it saved my race) and praying that they will go away. Walah.. Pain disappeard in 5-10 minutes. Started running strong for the 3 miles or so. I had only 2 left and thought of using them wisely for the next couple of hours. I started feeling the mild cramps again and decided to take another salt-tablet. I started experiencing some shoulder aches and as Coach Tony said, adjusted my posture to take deep breaths. At that time, my cousin called me and told me that he is waiting for me at Mile 23. That gave me some strength & hope to have a shoulder massage from him there.
Temperatures were raising and Event Alert System changed the color from Yellow to Red (means potentially dangerous, slowdown and just listen to your body). I am trying to recollect all the great time I had during the training, the impact I am making by doing this marathon to kids in india, all the support I got from my frineds, donors, personal satisfaction, becoming a role model to my kids etc and kept running.
Arrangements through out the course were great and they over prepared compared to last year. I heard that they (chicago) don’t want any hiccups in the arrangements as they are bidding for Olympics in 2016. What ever is the reason, we are enjoying all of it. Stopping at every water/gatorade stop and pouring water on my head & body. After certain point, we were getting ice cubes as well. I put some of them under my cap to get some extra cooling effect. Loud music was playing at the water stops, there were some live stage shows through out the course. Whole race covered 27 neighborhoods in Chicago and even some of the long time resident friends didn’t see some areas. Lion dance was being performed near china town. I have been trying to capture these moments in my tiny video cam.
Finally, reached the 23 mile mark and so happy to see my cousin Udai, his wife Meena waiting for me with bottles of water. First thing I asked him is to give me a quick massage to my shoulder muscles. That gave a huge relief. He ran with me for quarter mile or so and I told him to wait for me at the finish line.

I am almost there. Final three miles to go. Good that buildings were blocking the sun a bit and I could run under the shade where possible. I saw Gurpreeth at 25th mile mark and he ran for half a mile or so with me. It gave positive boost to my final mile.
Final yards.. This is it.. I am finishing my first marathon.. Strong.. Feel like having my olympic/climb-everest moment.. Crowd was cheering.. Goose-bums are coming up.. Crossed the finish line with a big smile on my face.. Wow.. What a joy.. It is something that money can\'t buy.. need to be earned..
I AM A PROUD, HAPPY, STRONG FIRST TIME MARATHON FINSHER!
Post race
Got some flowers from Meena congratulating. Happiness everywhere. Took my finisher picture at the booth, had a mist shower at the giant fan blowing water. Met my cousin & his wife after walking another quarter mile or so. Found out that we need to walk another half a mile or so to get to charity village. No choice but to walk.
Reached our Asha tent. Most of the runners finished by then. Had food at the tent (everything is tasty except gatorade), took pictures, gave/got hugs from my team mates, got a nice massage. Excited to see my old college friend who ran through Asha Chicago Chapter. Thanks a ton for Chicago Asha folks for the arrangements.

Final words
It was wonderful experience to get trained thought Team Asha to run my first ever marathon. This 5 month journey brought me some great friendships, realization of my own strengths, memorable moments, happiness in giving back a bit to community.
Thanks a ton for the coaches, mentors, co-ordinators, fellow teamasha-08 runners, my friends, my donors and my family to make my first marathon a success. Without your constant support, encouragement, advice this would not have been possible.

Team Asha folks in action at Silicon Valley Marathon (Video & Pics)

2008-10-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Team Asha Silicon Valley Chapter had the finale marathon race at our home turf Silicon Valley. It happened on October 26th 2008 and all the team asha participants finished strong. Team asha took over two water stops to completely man them during the race. Lot of team asha volunteers including marathoners from Portland, Chicago races actively participated with wearing constumes, cheering the runners relentlessly. Check out this blog for some videos & photos slideshows.

Team Asha Volunteer Action at Water Stop1

More Water Stop1 action at Silicon valley Marathon - manned by Team Asha

Second Waterstop by Team Asha at SV marathon 08

Photo Albums from Team Asha folks
Team asha official picture site
Parag's Album
Rajeev Shankar Album
Kiron Album
Durgesh Album
Tanu's Album

Video Blog of my first Marathon Experience

2008-10-13T22:31:00.001-07:00

I have captured some of the moments of my first full marathon at Chicago. You can watch all videos from starting to end or you can go directly to the particular videos by clicking on the links here: Team Asha Pumped up for the race, Coach Char talk, Coach Raman talk, Getting off the shuttle, Scene from charity village, warm up runs, go asha, group photo session, national anthem before the race, walking towards start line, 12th mile run, run on lakeshore drive, music through the course, lion dance, raju at 23rd mile, finish line, asha tent scene, raju after the run

Enjoy the video show..

All of us are pumped up for the race

Coach Char Delivered his words of wisdom before our carbo load dinner

Coach Raman Advise

Getting Off bus

Scene From Charity Village

Warmup run and stretching inside the charity village behind Asha Tent

Getting ready for group photo session in front of Chicago city line

Playing National Anthem before marathon start

Walking towards Start Line

Running through the 12th mile while crowd cheering the runners

Run on Lakeshore Drive (Praveen is running in front me)

Music and waterstops are through out the course

Lion Dance at China town area

Raju running towards Mile 23

Raju running through the finish line and making celebration move

Post race scene at Asha Tent

Raju after the race

All About Chicago Marathon Race 2008

2008-10-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Race Date: 12th Oct 2008 8am
Distance: 26.2 Miles
Website: chicagomarathon.com
Course Map: ClickHere
My Bib Number: 35446
Track me here: Click Here
Recorded TV Coverage: Click Here

Chicago Marathon Course Video

Here's some interesting stats for the marathon:
10) 45,000 participants in the race!
9) Awesome expo at McCormick Convention Center
8) Marathon start at 8AM.....even later than the long runs!
7) Historic Average High: 66 Fahrenheit / 18 Celsius; Average Low: 48
Fahrenheit / 8 Celsius
6) Chicago Marathon course offers a scenic tour of Chicago as it
weaves through culturally diverse neighborhoods, famous architecture,
historic landmarks and some of the best dining locations in the
world.....don't forget to carry the cash.
5) The 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon has a required maximum
net finish time of 6 hours and 30 minutes (h:mm:ss / 6:30:59).
4) Enormous cheerleaders and spectators.
3) Live coverage by NBC.......smile for the camera!
2) Chicago's hottest attractions, Architectural tour, Hancock
Observatory, Sear's Tower, Planetarium and Museums.
1) 109 ASHA runners from all over the country......

Things to Consider for Chicago Marathon Event

2008-10-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

* Pay attention to the most up-to-date weather forecast and dress for the appropriate weather conditions.
* Be prepared for warmer temperatures throughout the day and do not overdress. Keep in mind that you can always shed a layer as your body and the day warms up.
* Avoid heavy cotton fabrics that absorb and retain moisture; opt for lightweight technical fabrics that shed moisture and wick sweat away from the body.
* Wear sunglasses and waterproof sunscreen. With the amount of time you will be on the course, you want to protect your skin and eyes.
* Study the course and be aware of the locations of Aid Stations. Each Aid Station has water, Gatorade, toilets, medical facilities and access to runner drop-out vehicles
* Utilize both water and sports drinks (Gatorade) to stay hydrated and maintain sodium levels.
* Start out at a conservative pace, particularly in warmer weather which requires more of your body's resources to maintain normal function. Conserve your energy for the latter stages of the race.
* Listen to your body. If at any time during the race your body gives you signals to slow down or to stop, abide by them. Be aware of your heart rate, body temperature and hydration levels.
* Do not immediately stop moving when you cross the finish line. Rather, walk or slowly jog as you move through the finish area. This will allow your muscles to relax and your body to acclimate. It is not uncommon for runners to collapse beyond the finish line due to the sudden change in activity.
* For participants who require such assistance after the race, the Main Medical facility is located just beyond the finish line, as is an Ice Tent and Podiatry Tent.
* Hydration: Drink enough fluids to maintain your baseline body weight, but be aware of over-hydration. If you begin to gain weight above your baseline body weight, you are drinking too much water and depleting your sodium level. (A condition known as "Hyponatremia" can occur when there is a lower than normal concentration of sodium in the blood. Sodium is a critical electrolyte that aids nerve and muscle function, and helps to maintain blood pressure.)

TeamAsha Rocks! It made me run my longest training run (21 miler)!!

2008-10-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that I joined Team Asha. I ran 21 (that is two & one.. twenty one) miles and finished the last mile very strong (2.5 minutes less than my avg pace). It is like dream coming true and just one step away from running the full marathon. Thanks to Run/Walk strategy that I started just recently. For the people who haven't tried it yet, this is the best thing to try out. It is not going to reduce your timing by any means and in fact you can complete it very strong with less aches. Special thanks to Reshu for giving a nice brain wash on Run/Walk during one of those very early morning (5:30am) runs at Ranchos.

I can't believe how much I am excited and confidant to run my first ever marathon after last saturday's run. Team Asha simply rocks. I feel so happy to be surrounded by folks who wanted to do self-less service to make this program successful. Hats of to you all! Without your support, I would not have come this far in the training. I will keep the rest of my thoughts to my final race report. Keep up the good work and looking forward to more exciting runs.

Another note is that I have been running at Ranchos for my weekday runs at 5:30 wearing headlights. Running under moon (not sun) light & stars is so much fun & exciting. Today was one of the beautiful days to run at Ranchos. You should try it out. I never thought that running can be this much fun. Thanks coaches & mentors for your timely advice on my achies before they became any major injuries. I finally tried our coach Raman's "ginger hopper" at home and i think it worked on my early shin splints. It didnt taste that great though :-)

We celebrated our awesome co-ordinator Esther's birthday cake cutting video and count how many asha runners have been captured in it :-).

Running Stats: 21 Miles Distance in 4:23' with 12:31 mpm. Best Mile: 10:23(last mile), Worst Mile: 15:18 (6th mile hill mile)

Run/Walk seems like a best strategy to go for longer miles with good timing

2008-09-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

After running with greater difficulty through last couple of miles during the last 19 miler, I reassessed my running plan for long runs. There is no point trying to run all the distance without walking at all. Couple of disadvantages with it: I am not able to finish is strong at the end and timing is also getting affected as I end up walking more minutes final few miles. I started talking about it with my mentor Reshu during my weekday at Rancho Park.

Tried it out during the Oracle Trail run for 12 miles and end up finishing strong. I am going to stick to it.

Crossed milestone of running for 4 hours continuously and finishing 19 miles

2008-09-06T23:06:00.000-07:00

Today's long run is at Sawyer Camp trail again. We had to run 19 miles. Since I did run 18 miles week before, I didn't feel that it is going to be a problem. Initial few miles went fine as I had company of my runner mates. At mile 4 or so, while talking to fellow asha runner Angelina and figured out that she is running almost same pace as mine & training for Chicago marathon as well. We decided to run together the whole distance. First 13 miles were fine. After that heat was showing the effect on me and running was getting harder. Miles 17, 18 and 19, I end up walking 2 minutes or so. Feeling thirsty quite often and started seeing a bit tightness in my calf muscles every now and then. Some how, managed to complete 19 miles and would want to do better than this.

Talked to coach Char after the run and he mentioned that don't judge your training with this run. Course is hilly & weather was hot. On my way to home, I was remembering how I finished my 19 miles and felt so good.

I can't believe I did 19 miles of running now. This definitely gave another confidence boost towards marathon run. I had my ice-bath at home after the run and it gave me more relief.

Running Stats: 19 Miles Distance in 4:07':14'' with 13 mpm. Best Mile: 11:17(1st mile), Worst Mile: 16:01(18th mile)

My confidence to finish marathon got boosted after running my first 18 miler..

2008-08-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

I crossed my personal best for longest run today 08/30/08 once again. This time it is 18 miles (2 miles more than my longest run). Run was in a rather flat course at Los Gatos Creek trail in Campbell. It goes via Vasona park. Weather was bit hot and had to hydrate myself at every water stop. Used up 3 power gels during my 3:45 run. After crossing 14 miles or so, my legs were not co operating to run. I realized that it may be due to loss of sugar and had my third power gel. It did the trick and I was able to finish the remaining miles strong. First 10 miles, I had company of Raj, Prakash & Mousumi. That made lot of difference as I haven't felt the time, tiredness during that time. Best part was the cold shower at the finish line after the run.

Overall, this run boosted my confidence level to finish my first ever full marathon strong.

Running Stats: 18 Miles Distance in 3:48':14'' with 12:40 mpm. Best Mile: 11:19(18thmile), Worst Mile: 15:54(10th mile)

Second Half Marathon Race on the way to my first Full Marathon and broke my earlier PR. Under 11min/mile for 13.1 miles..

2008-08-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

Bunch of Asha runners decided to run Half marathon organized by Sankara Eye Foundation and I joined them. This race was held at local shoreline park, mountain view and named as iWalk 2008. Funds gathered during the race will go towards building more eye hospitals in India to achieve 20/20 Vision in India by year 2020. I am glad that I am running in a race that has such a noble cause.

This is my second official half marathon race event on my way to run my first marathon. I haven't prepared as much as I did for my SF half marathon. But, took basic precautions like eating carbs day before and had proper sleep night before. Race course was pretty flat and couple of hundred runners participated for half marathon. There were more folks in 5K/10k Walk/Run. I started the race strong by running my first mile around 10min/mile as I had company of Raghavan & Mandar. It was 2 minutes faster than my usual pace. Then, I decided to slow down and let rag & mandar run pass by me. Organizes arranged frequent water stops through out the course and it helped me not to use stuff from my fuel belt. We started at 8:25am, and weather was cloudy during first two hours which made us run comfortably. I was running most of the miles around 11 minutes and I was not believing myself. On my way back, I ran past Mandar and finished my run little under 11 min pace (10.59mpm). Just broke my PR for half marathon and new PR is 2:24. They gave nice medal for finishing the half marathon. Something to carry home happily. At the end of the race, Dosa place sponsored pongal, upma, idly & bisbela bath. Relished them while having chat with my fellow asha friends (krishna, deepu, chakri, sahana, ullas, arnav, mousumi, simmy). Came home around noon and had my ice bath to give some relief to my sore muscles.

Running stats: 13.1 miles in 2:24 with 10:59mpm pace.

Half marathon distance is kind of norm these days.. two weeks in a row >13.1 miles..Crossed 3hour mark..

2008-08-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Just two weeks back, I finished the half-marathon (13.1) miles at San Franciscon Marathon event and got a medal for finishing it up. Celebrated and talked about for few days. As usual, saturday came again and it was the long run again. We are advised to run 15 miles at Cambell park. Main difference this time is that there is no special diet, no special prep and no medal & no cheering crowd. It was like business as usual eventhough we ran more than half marathon distance. It took me few moments to get over that feeling and realizing that running >13.1 miles is going be a norm in the upcoming weeks.

Running Stats: 15 miles in 3:02 with best mile being 11:16 and avg is 12:13

Weekday runs also became longer now and we are running 5 miles on mondays, thursdays. I switched back to my shoreline team. Again another Saturday (08/16)..another long run. This time it is at TeamAsha's favorite trail, Sawyer Camp Trail at San mateo. We are supposed to run 16 miles this time. I was bit worried as I couldn't sleep my usual 7-8 hours before the long run days. Got up reluctantly and rushed to Lucky's to carpool with my shoreline running buddies. We had a awesome drive by Tanu in her beemer. She touched 105 at one point. We reached the trail safely just on time. Had our usual warm up run, stretches. This time, ran with Rajesh, Mousumi most of the trail. Atul joined us in between. It was LOT different & easier to run with someone. Finished strong 16 miles and enjoyed the trail as weather was pleasant.

Running Stats: 16 Miles in 3:25 with best mile being 11:14 and avg is 12:82.

Longest Run Ever and Beautiful course Ever - San Francisco Half Marathon

2008-08-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

Longest Run Ever and Beautiful course Ever
Run Stats: 13.1 miles in 2:45':45''

I intent to capture some of the feelings I have gone through before, during and after San Francisco Half Marathon through this race report.

Before the race:
It is been more than 2 months since I joined Team Asha marathon training program. I see my progress from hardly running a mile to running 11 miles in Crissy field training run. I felt so confident to finish the half marathon (13.1 miles) when I ran my first double digit miles during the Crissy field training run two weeks before the sfm. All along, I was following coaches & mentors advise to the dot to avoid any injuries during the training. As usual, followed the coaches advice not to run long distances 1 week prior to the event. By saturday, I started feeling a bit rusted and wondering how I am going to fare at the actual race. Mentor madhavi mentioned that she had the same feeling during her first race and that gave a bit of relief.

Saturday before the race:
I asked Prakash to pick up my bib from SF on saturday. Missed the corbo lunch and got it replaced with my wife's delicious home made pasta for dinner. Night before, kept all my race gear at one place after putting the bib on my asha t-shirt. I asked my wife & kids to come to the finish line and they aggreed to come there when one of my friend Madhu offered accompanying her. Thanks Madhu! Checked with Praveen on where to park car for the family visiting me. I slept at 10ish after putting alarms on my cell phone(2:30), wrist watch(2:35), clock radio(2:40am).

Race Day:
Got up at 2:40 after my third alarm rang. Took a warm shower, had some breakfast and put on my marathon gear. Ready for the race. Rushed to the train station exactly at 3:45 and people were still arriving at the station. Got in the second bus. Co-ords arranged for banana & bagel in the bus. Reached SF around 5:15am. Happy to see the excitement among asha runners. Everybody is Looking Good! Luckily, whether was not that cold. After sweats check in at the startline, did some stretching along with Satish, Naren & Praveen. Praveen suggested us to go in the Wave 6 even though ours says Wave 8. We lined up at Wave 6 and happened to see most of Shoreline running buddies. Satish took lot of pictures for us during the wait. Finally, we started at 6:05 from the start line.

During the Race:
At the start line, Tanu and myself decided to run together as much as possible. First couple of miles was a breeze going thru Embarcadero, Pier 39. Feeling so strong (partly due to rest week). We hit the first hill at Fort Mason and I ran past it. Our Ranchos hill training really helped here. Running through Crissy field and approached the second hill near the Golden gate bridge. Ran this hill as well. Just after the hill, we were delighted to see Krishna, Deepu and couple of asha co-ords. They cheers made us run quicker on the golden gate bridge. Thanks guys for showing up so early in the morning. Finished 1 hour of running by this point and drank/ate my first gu gel. For a change, GG bridge was visible and it was looking so beautiful. Nice to see so many runners on the bridge not on the side-walk. We missed the mile 6 mark to mark time in my watch & went past that. Realized it after seeing the mile 7 mark. That's when, I felt the difference of running with somebody. Thanks to Tanu for sticking to me until this point and our paces were matching. Finished the 4 miles running to & fro on the bridge. This reminded me of my run on the bridge 9 years back during my bachelor days. We made a big deal for doing that then. Now, I am at the 9th mile mark. Krishna & Deepu joined us to run the last 4 miles with us. The biggest hill has hit us now and ran past it as we were indulged in talking with each other. Finished the 10 miles and 3 more to go. Tanu started feeling some pain in the calf and she slowed down. I went ahead and Mousumi & Krishna joined me during the numerous rolling hills phase. Successfully managed to run through them and entered the golden gate park. We were welcomed by loud music at 12th mile. Did my slow motion run for brief duration while enjoying the music. I started seeing runners walking back from the finish lines with their medal & shinny shawls on.

Finishing:
Final mile went very quick and finish line suddenly appeared in our vicinity. Krishna accompanied me in sprinting the last few yards towards the finish. That's it! I finished the half-marathon longer run of my life in 2:45:45.

I was eagerly looking for my family and then I heard my wife shouting my name. I turned towards them and my two kids located me & started chanting DADDY.. I was so happy to see them there. I got my medal & shawl. Both of my kids wanted one each. I requested the folks to give me one more medal and got an extra one.

Then, I met fellow asha runners and mentors. Had some pictures taken. Exchanged hi5's and shared the timings. I didn't go to the Asha tent and hit back home to attend a lunch party at Mountain House.

Without the traning, support from Coaches, Mentors, Co-ords, running buddies, I wouldn't have finished strong my longest run ever. Thanks a million to all of you to help me navigate through the half of journey towards Chicago marathon.

This fist ever endurance running race is etched in my memory and savor the experience for sometime.

Do's and Don'ts Before a race event

2008-07-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

As I am getting ready for my first long running race event (SF Half Marathon), I thought of compiling Do's and Don'ts 1week, 1day before running a race. Hoping to follow most of it.

Do's:
* Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate. Drink at least 64 oz of water each day.
*Rest. Sleep well on Thursday night and Friday night. Since we have to wake up in the wee hours of Sunday and it's difficult to get good amount of sleep on Saturday night.
* Eat Well. Complex carbs are good. But Don't eat so much that you gain 20 or 30 Lbs in next 3 days.
* Remember to clip your toe nails 3 - 4 days before your race. (Nail polish is optional :-)

Don'ts:
* Don't do any running or cross training after Thursday. Even if you miss one of the weekday runs this week that's ok.
* Since most of the people are planning to go to Expo make sure you collect your race packet and come. Even though there are lot of stalls and they give free stuff don't spend too much time walking in the expo and visiting all stalls.
* If possible avoid stairs.
* If possible avoid Alcohol.
* Don't try any new stretches or strengthening exercises last week before the race.

Saturday before the race:
It's important to stay off your feet as much as possible on Saturday. Once you got your race packet make sure you arrange everything needed for race on Saturday evening before you go to bed.

* Make sure you put your bib to the coolmax shirt or your running shorts you will be wearing. After putting the bib wear the shirt or shorts/pants and make sure pins are not in the odd place and won't cause any chaffing.

* Put your time chip on your shoe. I usually tie it with my shoe laces.

* Fill your fuel belt bottles with electrolyte drink/water. make sure you have Gu or energy gel that you have been using in the long runs.

* What to wear: Wear layers. If you have old cotton T-shirt or sweat shirt wear it on top of your coolmax shirt. After a mile or so you can throw the cotton shirt. If you don't have or don't want to throw away your cotton shirt take a trash bag and make 3 holes (one in the middle and one on each side wear it as a layer.

* SF is going to be cool early in the morning. So bring gloves. You can get Cheap cotton gloves in walmart garden section. You can throw them after 2 or 3 miles.

* Take proper care to avoid chafing. Use body glide or Vaseline..... Especially Guys consider using nipguard. http://www.nipguards.com/info.asp

* Since we have to come back from SF on our own don't forget to get some cash. Take a small ziplock plastic bag and put cash in it (That way it bills won't get wet). If you have a pouch in your fuel belt you can put cash in it.

* Make sure you are getting car key only. You don't need to carry entire key bunch with you. Most of the running shorts have small pocket in side of the waist line. Otherwise you can tie the key to your shoe with the show lace.

* At the expo they will give you all items in a plastic bag with your bib no written on it. You can use that bag and take cloths to change after the race. For more details check
http://www.runsfm.com/events/1st-half-marathon.html#sweats and
http://www.runsfm.com/events/2nd-half-marathon.html#sweats

Race day morning
* Wake up early, have a warm shower and have a light breakfast. You will get some fruits on the bus so if it is too early to eat at home for you, have a fruit or two on the bus.
* It's very important to eat something 1 hr before the race. If you are used to eat bagel or banana before the long run bring them along. Since we start around 3:30 in the morning we can have our breakfast in bus.
* Stay with the group, it is more fun. You can warm up and stretch together before the start. Look for the Porta Johns (toilets) get in line early, these can get pretty crowded closer to the start. (HOT TIP: The earlier you go the cleaner they are!)

In the Race :
* It's very easy to get excited by looking at the crowd and mistake most of the runners do is try to run fast with the crowd. Make sure you maintain your comfort pace and run very slow in the first few miles. Make sure you slowdown or walk near the uphills. Downhills are more dangerous than uphills. If you run fast in the down hills you are more prone to knee injuries. So SLOWDOWN. The course is really beautiful. So Run slow and enjoy the views. Don't worry about the time.
* Don't miss a water stop / keep hydrating. Thank the volunteers - enjoy the supportive crowd, smile, cheer and HAVE FUN.

What to Carry
* Gels, fuel belt, light jacket, light cotton gloves (optional), ear muffs (optional), old sweatshirt or full sleeve t-shirt, track pants, extra t-shirt for after the run. You can drop your jacket, tracks and extra t-shirt at the drop bag at the start, you will collect this after you finish. You can wear the old sweatshirt/t-shirt during the run, once you warm up tie it around your waist (try not to throw it as it can get cold again during the run especially over the bridge.) If you dress in 2-3 light layers you can take them off / put them back on as needed. Cap/visor, sun glasses. Sun block (for the people running the second half)

After the race
* Write race report with your experience and it is very important part of running

FAQ about My marathon running, Fund raising and Asha for Education

2008-07-25T16:14:00.001-07:00

Why run a marathon?

Everyone has their own reason to run. But everyone agrees that a marathon symbolizes and demands endurance, discipline, dedication, and the challenge of intense sustained activity that a human body is not used to. All of these are hard to pursue for an extended period of time unless (1) one thinks of it as a lifestyle and/or (2) there is a cause that is driving one to take it up. In my case, it is the second one. . I am running to raise awareness and financial support Asha's mission, educating under privileged kids in India.

What marathons are you running?
I am currently training for the San Francisco Half Marathon (august-3rd, 2008) and Chicago Full Marathon (October-12th, 2008)

What does the training involve?

The training with Team Asha is a well planned and structured program. With four very experienced coaches and many mentors, each runner gets good guidance to embark on the mission.
Training routine (~10 hrs/week) :
Weekday maintenance runs - 2 days a week (~3-5 miles + stretching + strengthening)
Track workout - to improve stamina, speed - Once a week (3-4 miles)
Weekend run - Once a week improving upon the previous week's mileage
Stretching and strengthening exercises are a part and parcel of every run. With 200+ runners and a great team of coaches & mentors, marathon training is nothing short of fun.

What does it take to run?
From the experience that I have had till now, all it takes to run is
[1] sheer dedication,
[2] will power and
[3] belief in the cause.

The reason why I say the above is because:
* The time invested in building one's strength, stamina and long-distance running capability is ~250 hrs.
* Of the need to resolve to stretch perceived physical limits
* Of the determination required to overcome pain & injury and stay focussed

All of the above are made possible because of the belief that every stride I take is going towards bringing hope (Asha) to a child's life.

What is the organization you are raising funds for?

* Asha for Education is dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged sections of society, by funding and supporting their fundamental educational needs.
* Charity Navigator, America's leading independent charity evaluator, ranked Asha as the No.1 charity organization operating on less than $2 million a year, with a total score of 69.82 (out of 70) in the field of International Relief and Development.
* India has a literacy rate of ~65% and ~72% of the population resides in rural areas. The access to primary education is minimal and heavily underfunded. Asha believes that Literacy and Education should be any child's birthright and targets its projects towards the underprivileged children and youth of India.

Why Asha?

Asha for Education is a secular organization dedicated to change in India by focusing on basic education in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. Till date, Asha has supported more than 385 different child education projects spanning 24 states in India. In terms of project funding, almost $4,000,000 has been disbursed to these projects since Asha's inception. In 2002 alone, Asha chapters raised and disbursed more than $1,000,000 to over 200 projects. To learn more about Asha For Education, Silicon Valley Chapter and the projects it undertakes, please visit their projects page

What is the state of basic education in India?

While India boasts of good institutions for advanced education like IIT, IIM, AIIMS, etc., the state of basic education in both sub-urban and rural areas beg for attention.
According to the PROBE survey,
* 63 per cent of the government schools have leaking roofs
* 27 per cent have no blackboards * 58 per cent have no drinking water
* 89 per cent have no functioning toilet
* 52 per cent have no playground
* Only 2 per cent had all the facilities while 8 per cent have none at all
The annual cost of sending a child to a government school is not more than Rs.2,500 (~$60) It has been found that one half to one third (56-70 million of a total of 170 million) of the children between the age group of 6-14 years drop out of school because of the economic situation in the family.

What are the specific projects my money is going towards?
All the funds raised will go to one of the projects undertaken by Silicon Valley Chapter of Asha.

How can I contribute?

You can contribute via cash/check/credit card.

1) For checks: Payable to "ASHA for Education" and in the memo field, put my name & runnerid: "Raju Vusirikala Runner ID: 2008TASV1246". Mail the checks to my home address: Raju Vusirikala, 459 Whisman Park Dr, Mountain View, CA 94043.
2) For Credit Card: Use the button "Donate" on my runnernet page.
3) Matching Contributions from your employer:
SalesforceSteps, IntuitSteps, OracleSteps
AMD, CISCO, Ebay, Synopsis, Yahoo, Adobe, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Sun, Wachovia

Contact me for exact steps to do to get a match from your employer other than the ones mentioned above.

Suggested Contribution: 25/50/100/Any
Please donate generously. All donations are 100% tax deductible (Tax Id 770 45 9884)

Crissey Field Training Run: Ran 11miles and getting ready for teens..

2008-07-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

July 19th, Saturday - This is a special day for Asha runners. Coordinators were planning for a long run at SFO before SF half marathon event so that runners can get a feel of the course. It is worth doing it. Thanks to the coordinators and volunteers to make it a memorable run for all us. It was a cloudy day. Seven of us van-pooled in my nissan van and didn't feel the drive at all.

Drill was same. After short warm-up & stretching, we did run 11 (eleven) miles. At Fort Mason, we have to climb a small hill too. It was a good practice run for the SF-half. After the run, we had excellent vegie burgers from food team. At the end, we felt bit cold. This is a warning that we need to better prepare for colder SF marathon start.

Fund raising committee had a contest for a best runner net page. Winners are:
1. Vamsi gadey ($100 gift certificate from Sports Basement) - Excellent page. Deserves the prize.

2. Balaji Srinivasan ($75 gift certificate from Sports Basement) - 10 reasons to donate for him

3. Raghavan ramadoss ($50 gift certificate from Sports Basement)

My target marathons..Chicago Full and SF Half

2008-07-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

After debating which target marathon to choose from the Asha's list (Portland, Chicago or SiliconValley), went ahead with Chicago. It is on Sunday October 12, 2008. Heard that for the first timers, it is going to be a great experience at Chicago with 45,000 runners and 1million+ spectators cheering us. I am very much looking forward to the same. I booked my tickets to Chicago and yet to book for my family.

Here is the chicago marathon site

As a training run, I registered into SF Half Marathon which is going to be on August 3rd, 2008. Heard that SF course is beautiful. Going on

SF Marathon office site: http://www.runsfm.com/
Half marathon video

Entered into double digit miles.. Ran 10 miles last saturday in 2 hours.

2008-07-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

July 5th, 2008 will be marked in my books as one of the special days. I ran 10 miles (TEN MILES, double digits) continuously without much pain. I can't believe myself that I ran this much. It is giving me lot of confidence now to to half marathon in San Francisco coming up in August.

I carpooled with my fellow ASHA runner Tanu to Sawyer Camp Trail. Trail is amazingly beautiful and weather was perfect for long run. Had a bagel, orange before the run. Drank some water and gatorade at water stops.

Timing was better than expected. I finished TEN miles in little over 2 hours (2hr4'23') with an average of 12'24'' per mile. Here is the breakdown: 11.05, 12.26(), 11.37(), 12.07 (47.16), 12.52 (1.00), 14.15 (1.14), 12.16 (1.26). 13.42 (1.40), 13.04 (1.53), 10.56 (2.04).

I felt soooo good after the run. Two hours of running was not in my dreams before. Another step towards the marathon..

Little Rani Wants to Play -- Poem by fellow ASHA Runner

2008-07-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

Little Rani wants to play
yet she sits, kneading sulphur clay

For as the sun glares down, on this dusty town
Fireworks from here, get shipped all around

And by Rani's hands tiny, are these fireworks made,
bought by the rich, at festival's trade.

Little Rani wants to play
yet she sits, kneading sulphur clay

what she needs, at all costs and no delay
Is an education, to make sure she doesnt fritter away

For great ideas and a world full of delights,
await Little Rani, if only she can read and write.

Little Rani wants to play
yet she sits, kneading sulphur clay

So here we jog, in the morning fog
clenching fists hoping they will defrost

and as Team Asha, we run, mile upon mile,
with indomitable spirit, at times cracking jokes purile

for when we hit that mark, at 26.2, in all that melee
we silently know, that one day will Little Rani play.

-- By Arjun.

Beautiful poem indeed and thought of putting here..

My longest run ever.. 9 miles without stop..

2008-07-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

Last saturday (06/28/09), I beat my own record for running continuously. Earlier, I did 12k (7.5miles) in baytobreakers with much pain. Now, it is 9 miles without any stop. I feel so good and my confidence is building up to do the marathon. I finished this run in 1hr48'49'' with an average of 12.11mpm. Weather was cloudy and that helped me a bit. Huge improvement from the day I joined the training program.

Earlier in the month:
Ran 6 miles in 74min with an avg of 12.33mpm
Ran 7 miles in 94min with an avg of 13.43mpm

Looking forward to beat this next week as I run 10 miles...

Useful Links related to Marathon Training

2008-06-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

Stretching Exercises Doc prepared by Asha

Strengthening Exercises Doc

Strengthening and Stretching

Running Drills 101 - To increase efficiency of the run, practice these drills. Covers high knee running, butt kickers, pull thoughts, bounding.

Injury Prevention Exercise Videos from Runnerworld

Injury Prevention Guides from SMI

Don't Stretch :-)

Abs Exercises

Marathon training link for Beginners: This page mentions the basics of running marathon like Motivation, Gear, Nutrition, Recovery, Hydration, Avoiding injuries etc.

Custom Tie your Running Shoes

Marathon By Jeff Galloway - First book bought for marathon training. Interesting read.

Articles Read & Useful for reference

Lose Fat - Gain Strength - A Few Diet and Exercise Tips for Distance Runners

Avoid Hitting the Wall

Stretching and Strengthening exercises gathered from Net

Calf muscle tightness and some solutions suggested in forum

Marathon preparation (week, day before, on the day of the race, post race)

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/aimee_mullins_on_running.html - She is so funny, cheerful and inspirational – if this 20 mins does not get people off their feet and exercising…nothing will.

Recipes for Marathon Prep..

2008-06-19T15:56:00.001-07:00

Home Made Electrolyte Juice:
2 Oranges
4 Lemons
2 Tablespoons honey
Pinch of salt
2 Quarts of water
Experiment with a tiny amount of salt – it is always easier to add more later. If the blender is unable to make it completely “liquid”, you may want to use a strainer.

Ginger Hopper: This drink helps in reducing internal swelling and helps the healing process. Of course, you need a juicer to make it.
i.Take 5-6 carrots, 1 apple, and a ¾ inch piece of ginger root
ii. Juice the apple first, then the ginger, and finally the carrots
iii. Drink immediately after juicing to take advantage of the active nutrients.

Recovery from Shin Splits..

2008-06-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

What is Shin Split?An injury to the lower leg that causes the muscle to detach from the bone. Running incorrectly or using the wrong type of shoes can result in a shin split.

Recover as per our Coach Raman:

1. Recovery:
a. RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
i. Get off your feet and give your legs a break. Go for a swim instead.
ii. Ice the shins. Instead of applying a cold pack, try Friction Icing

1.Take a foam (coffee) cup and fill to the rim with water; Put it in the freezer
2. After freezing, take cup and peel a little of the foam from the top
3. Massage the shins by moving the ice surface across the shins from below the knee towards the foot
4. You will feel cold initially; then burning; then the area will go numb.
5. When it goes numb, lay down the cup, and GENTLY massage the shins in a downward motion (towards foot) with your thumbs
6. Once you get feeling back in your leg, repeat the process (a-e) one more time.
a. The icing reduces the swelling
b. The friction removes scar tissue
c. The massage improves blood circulation to speed up the healing process.

iii. Use a shin or calf support to provide support and compression to the lower leg, thus reducing strain on the muscles

iv. Elevate your legs as often as possible so that they are above your heart. (Added bonus: Gives you an excuse to tell your boss you are recovering from shin splints, when you have your feet on your deskJ)

b. Medication: Take anti-inflammatory pills (after consulting a physician) to reduce pain and swelling.

c. Stretching: Stretch the calf muscles to aid in recovery, and prevent recurrence

d. Ginger Hopper: This drink helps in reducing internal swelling and helps the healing process. Of course, you need a juicer to make it.
i.Take 5-6 carrots, 1 apple, and a ¾ inch piece of ginger root
ii. Juice the apple first, then the ginger, and finally the carrots
iii. Drink immediately after juicing to take advantage of the active nutrients.

Of course, you want to take a look at your shoes to ensure they are not worn out. Also, avoid running on hard surfaces and take it easy (no sprinting!)

Relevant Links:
http://www.footsmart.com/Shin-Splints-Shin-Splint-Treatment.aspx

My Weekday Running Group.. sunset runners..

2008-06-18T16:49:00.001-07:00

It is fun to run with my running group led by great mentors Krishna & Deepu.

Regular members are Arnav, Tanu, Prakash, Sahana, Shikha, Ullas, Zainab, Rajesh

Occasional visitors are Mousumi, Mayank..

We start the warm run from Kite flying area at Shoreline Park in Mountain View, CA for 0.5 miles. Do some stretches after the warm up run and go for 2-3 mile run. After that, finish with stretching and strengthening exercises. We meet Mondays, Thursdays Evenings.

Stretching is helping a LOT and not getting much pains after the runs these days. New shoes with more wiggle room at the toes is helping a lot as well.

My Running Gear..

2008-06-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

I was advised most of the mentors & coaches from ASHA to get proper running gear (mainly shoes, sox, running shorts, shirts). On 5/29, I made a trip to Sports Basement during the non busy hours and got my gait analysis done by the rep. He suggested couple of models. I went with New Balance M-858 shoe (bought two pairs of it), bought 3 pairs of running sox, short.

Yet to buy foam roller, gloves, running cap, runners watch, t-shirts..

First Long Run..

2008-06-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

I have recommitted for the Marathon training program on May 24th, 2008 during my 1st saturday long run.

Run was at "Campbell Park (Los Gatos Creek Trail), Campbell, CA". People who are training for Chicago Marathon need to run 4 miles that day. With proper stretching, I was able to run most of it. Post run, there were stretches & strengthening exercises as well. I finished 4 miles under 1 hour.

I am slowly liking the stretch routines. I complained to the coaches about my foot pains and all of them gave great suggestion to alleviate the pain. Tried them out at home and it really worked.

Here are some of the tips:

- Ice after the long run under the foot
- Walk barefoot after runs to get foot massaged
- Throw a tovel on the ground and using the foot keep pulling in.
- After getting up from bed, squeeze the calf muscles and press the foot muscles etc.

Decision of Running Marathon & Asha..

2008-06-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

My name is Raju Vusirikala. I have been thinking of running a marathon for years. Never had time and courage to do it. Attempted to do it 8 years back in 1999 and started with smaller runs like BayToBreakers, WharfToWharf etc. Completing those 10k, 12k runs was big deal. Running marathon seems like a dream.

Then, I met my old room-mate Raghavan who completed 5-6 marathons including the Boston Marathon. He inspired me and encouraged me to pursue my dream. Talked briefly about ASHA Organization & their involvement in educating the under privileged kids in India, how they successfully executed various project in that front. It immediately brought my childhood memories back where I saw how many children in India doesn't have basic privileges to learn read/write. We are fortunate enough to have that and I strongly feel like contributing to this noble ASHA cause.

Main source for ASHA projects come through the fund raising done by Marathon runners being trained by ASHA. I am up for this cause and ready to raise funds & finish my first marathon.

Thought of blogging my preparations, experience in training for this first marathon. I will be posting entries here regularly. Come back here to check them out.

Enrolled into the training program on May5th 2008 and first training run was on May 22nd, 2008 under the mentorship of the couple Krishna & Deepu.