Do's and Don'ts Before a race event

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

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..

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

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.

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

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..

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...