2013 unwinds ...

Well .. Yesterday was New Year and today, January is nearly gone. Atleast thats what it feels like to me - this month has just gone whizzing by. And I sure do hope that the start i have had for 2013 is a sign of things to come for the rest of the year.

January has gone largely according to my training plan and i am quite happy to have found the wherewithal to follow through with it. I slowly ramped up mileage from my Dec resurrection for 3 weeks, followed by 1 cutback week before ramping it up again for 2 more weeks prior to my taper down over the next 3 weeks until race day. I have been running consistently, have been running different routes (although the Bishan PCN is like a default option), had fun running, experienced some very low lows and many enjoyable highs. With 2 days to go in the month, i have already covered 245kms and remained injury-free in doing so, thanks to my largely easy pace running. Speed is something that i have just not been able to train for much but once Tokyo is done, i will start to incorporate more speed workouts during the week as i train for Comrades on June 2nd.

Generally, i alternate my recovery runs with every other type of run i do - so that i dont continuously build stress in the body which may cause injuries later. Also, for my longer runs, i have diligently had either a whey protein drink or a recovery drink, both of which help get back to normal faster after a hard effort and which makes preparation for the next run that much easier. The only thing about whey protein is that it is keeping me away from my weight loss goals i had set for myself before the start of the new year (that is to be at a racing weight of 71kgs).

4 weekends from now, i will put my training to the test. The hope is that even if i have a bad day at the race, i can come under 4:15 and if i have a good day, come close to 4. We shall see what the future has in store ......

Just remembered ... on one of those rare occasions that i was running on a treadmill, last Monday, in a hotel in Osaka, i crossed 5000 kms in career mileage .. yippeee !!!!!!

2012 is now a thing of the past .. and with it, my running during those 365 days. Its been such a mixed bag for me that i am wary of describing the entire year with just a single adjective ... i came off a slump in end 2011 with no running and 4kgs overweight in Nov 2011 after Deepavali. I started a 3 month training plan in Dec 2011 to run the Tokyo Marathon in Feb 2012 and miraculously ran a sub-4 on just those 3 months of training. With the beggar hitting the lottery jackpot, the fall from grace was swift with the next 4-5 months of complete slacking and doing very little running before finding the groove again in August where i clocked 230+kms and probably that was too much too soon and again the familiar pattern of a drop in mileage happened to no running in Sept-Oct-Nov whence i lined up for the Osaka marathon and crawled to a 5:52 finish. I decided to change this totally erratic running behavior starting Dec where i found myself in the same place as i had been in 2011 - no running and 4 kgs overweight.

 So my plan for Dec 2012 was to just run consistently and easy and get out of the door often enough. That has happened and i have run 175kms in Dec mostly very easy (my slowest monthly pace for the entire year i think).

The New Year is now upon us and i have tried to keep my running objectives very simple:-

1. Run consistently (week after week, month after month): This has been the biggest bane of my life and where i have maximum room for improvement. No matter what, i should be running a minimum of 45 kms every week.

2. Run variety: I need to add some mix to both terrain and workout type to what i am doing currently. My current routes are restricted to Bishan PCN, McRitchie and Home Slopes (some slopes near my place). I want to actively add Mount Faber, Bukit Timah Hill, Old Upper Thomson Road and ECP (for LSDs) to the mix.

3. Lose weight and never binge: My weight has largely been in line with my erratic running. I run, i lose weight.  I slack, i gain it back. I want to as a first goal, get down to 71kgs and stay there for a while before trying to go down to 68kgs.

4. Have fun running: A constant in all my years of running (i will be entering my 4th year of reasonably regular running).

5. Travel to Run: This is more of a wish than an objective. First up i hope to line up again at Tokyo end Feb.

I hope this blog helps to crystallize my objectives in mind as well - to an extent, that it becomes second nature for me to execute the training plan i have put together for each of the upcoming races. I will write-in again at the end of this month to see how the first month has been.