Happy New Running Year

2013 was the Year of the Snake per the Chinese calendar.

For me, 2013 was the year of breaking new grounds, discovering new limits and testing the power of will over and over again.

On and before December 31, 2012, running was a way to stay healthy and to fight off those extra pounds that my body magically piles on as soon as I try anything that is not a fruit or a vegetable. January 1st, 2013 started out as a day full of nervousness. I had just signed up for 2013 Hyannis Marathon knowing well that I was not ready to run 26.2 miles let alone 15 miles. The longest I had ever run until that point was 13.1 miles, which itself was challenging at the time of running it. It was an impulsive decision. I had less than 2 months to train and did not know what to do. I was a person experiencing the "deer in the headlights" syndrome. I was in the middle of the winter. Freezing temperatures were the norm and snow storms were expected as a normal occurrence. My goal was to train for a 26.2 mile marathon in less than nine weeks. We (my buddies and I) stayed with the basics and on February 24, 2013, we ran our first marathon in sub 20 degree (F) temperatures, high winds, heavy rain and sleet. It was not easy running that marathon but it is not the struggles that I remember. What I remember is the overwhelming sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing a marathon. This sense of accomplishment is similar to acing a long and a tough exam that someone has been preparing for a while. I tasted the joy of finishing a marathon. Running was no longer about staying healthy. I was now addicted to the drug called "the finish line".

2013 was a year full of experimentation with runs, excitement of the next race, many missed running goals and many new earned run records. It was a good year. I learned from training for each race and from running each marathon.

• From the Hyannis Marathon, I learnt the importance of preparing mentally for a marathon, not just physically.
• From the Vermont City Marathon, I learnt the importance of staying disciplined while running every mile and not getting caught up in the moment.
• From the Quebec City Marathon, I learnt the importance of tapering well before a marathon.
• From the Lowell City Marathon, I learnt that my body has a tendency to cramp painfully when it is pushed after being drained of essential electrolytes.
• From the Honolulu Marathon, I learnt to respect running in high heat and humidity.

All of these lessons will make me a better runner for my next race. I am smarter and now more experienced because of 2013.

When thinking of 2014, I think of a popular doha from Kabir (a mystic poet and a saint of India)

Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ub, Pal Mein Pralaya Hoyegi, Bahuri Karoge Kub

When translated in english, this means:

Do Tomorrow's work Today, Do Today's work Now. If the Moment is Lost, How will You do the work

The year 2014 is already upon us. We know that resolutions are meant to be broken. New York Times in its article claims that 4 out of 5 people will eventually break their resolution. I don't truly have a resolution for 2014. For me, a new year has always meant reenergizing myself and adding an extra Oooomph to the energy that is needed to accomplish set goals.

In 2013, I logged:

• 1151.49 miles
• 188:47:05 of running hours
• 1,36,380 calories
• Five marathons
• One 5 k
• One 3.2 k
• One 16.1k Trail Run

Year 2014 will be more aggressive.

• I have already signed up for a couple races in 2014 (Hyannis Half Marathon & Cox Sports Providence Marathon). 
• My buddies (Rahul, Stanley and Pavan) and I have already set a pact to create a streak of running a mile (at a minimum) every day of this month (January).
• I plan to strengthen my core and gain more upper body strength that can last me more than 26.2 miles
• I plan to run at least one ultra marathon and multiple trails and short races. 

The first half of 2014 is already planned out.

It is now time to run and make new history in 2014.

Honolulu Marathon - 12/8/13

It was 3:30am on December 8th, 2013. It was still night out at the Waikiki Beach area, but the streets that led to the start line of the 2013 Honolulu Marathon were full of life and energy. I started walking over to a nearby 24/7 diner (Wailana Coffee House) to grab a couple of pancakes. This diner served me delicious pancakes and the manager took care of me as soon as he noticed that I was participating in the Honolulu Marathon. After a satisfying breakfast, I walked over to the Ala Moana Beach Park, where the 2013 Honolulu Marathon was going to start. There were plenty of announcements happening throughout the park. I heard one of the announcer say that there were more than 30,000 runners expected to run the Honolulu Marathon on this day. 


My wife and I had been talking about a Hawaii vacation for a long time. We always settled for another warmer climate with an inviting beach. This year was different. I had just run my second marathon in Burlington, VT and I was looking to run more. While discussing potential options, Honolulu Marathon came up as an option. It was a crazy idea at the time. But, the more we thought about it, the more excited we got. We had to come up with a destination. So we thought, why not make it Hawaii and then spice it up with running a marathon.


We made our reservations in September and I officially registered to run the 2013 Honolulu Marathon. We planned to visit two islands during our trip (Big Island and Oahu). Big Island was going to be a vacation full of rainforest hikes, waterfalls, tropical fruits, beaches, desserts, lava fields and volcanic action while Oahu was going to be a vacation on the beach with sun and the Honolulu Marathon. We planned it well.


We landed on the Big Island on November 29th morning. It was raining heavily when we got out of the airport. We drove up to our rental house in the city of Volcano. This city was named appropriately for its active volcano.  After a full day of sightseeing, we slept well. I got up early the next morning and decided to go out for a scenic run. I didn't enjoy that run. While running, all I could think of was a note that was left in the kitchen, above the sink, by the house owners:


"Please close the outside gates to keep the pigs out"


I had never run in rural areas or roads surrounded by a tropical jungle or anywhere in Hawaii. I did not know the rules of running in such places. I was not sure what would come out of the tropical jungle around me.

I was not sure if folks were used to tying up their pigs or dogs or other pets in Hawaii. Safety from untamed or unleashed animals was bothering me. I only ran approximately 3 miles that morning.  It was a slow and a cautious run. It was also an uneventful and a quite run on a very crispy morning in Hawaii. Once I got back to the house, I felt relieved and more comfortable of my surroundings. The next morning, I ran my fastest 6.95 miles.  I wanted to know if I could do 7 miles in an hour. That run confirmed it for me. After an adventure filled stay at the Big Island, we traveled to Honolulu (Oahu) on December 3, 2013. 


At Honolulu, we stayed at the official Honolulu Marathon Hotel (The Outrigger Reef on the Beach). I met a few of the elite runners, as they were getting ready for their big day. I also met other runners that had participated in this marathon before. They warned me of the high heat and humidity during the race and that it was critical to be prepared for cramps and heat during the run. They had run this marathon before so I took their advice very seriously.


The hotel was a bit more than a mile away from the start line. The marathon was scheduled to start at 5am. I planned to get up at 3am, head out for breakfast and then be ready at the start line to run 26.2 miles in Hawaii.


On the day of the marathon, all went per plan and I was at the start line by 4:20am. The walk to the start line was interesting. I had read a lot about the Honolulu Marathon and its affiliation with Big Japanese sponsors such as Japan Airlines, MUFG CARD and others like adidas and more. I was expecting a lot of Japanese runners. But I was not expecting almost all the runners to be Japanese. Looking at all the runners in the Ala Moana Beach Park, I felt as if I was the only non-Japanese runner running in this marathon. The marathon officials were expecting a bit over 30,000 runners. That is a lot of Japanese runners that I was going to run with. It was a new experience and I was looking forward to it. I spoke to one of the Japanese runner about this marathon. It turns out that there are several Japanese sports clubs that sell a Hawaiian vacation as part of a package that includes training and readiness for the Honolulu marathon. I had never had any official marathon training or did any serious training for any of my marathons. I was nervous of underperforming today amongst all the trained runners. Each club had their own area setup where runners were warming up and being motivated by their trainers.

We even had the Big Bird for a trombone with japanese words on them.

The water cups were stacked up high and ready for the runners.

The marathon officially started at 5am with fireworks. It was about 2-3 minutes of fireworks that lit up the sky. 

Approximately 30,000 runners took a while to cross the start line. It took me about 6 minutes to cross the start line. 

I started out slow to get my legs and body warmed up. I had my Runtastic app turned on, so I could reliably predict my pace. I started at a 9:50 pace and stayed at that pace for a couple of miles. Running with 30,000 runners is not easy. It gets really hot to run in a crowd when the night is already warm. I was already sweating when I hit my third mile. I knew that I would not be able to make it to mile 26.2 if I kept sweating this way. So I took off my t-shirt, while running, and that immediately cooled me off. I was not sweating anymore and the wind touching me felt good. I also started to eat 1/4th of a NUUN Active Hydration Tablet every 30 minutes to prevent cramps that were very likely to start for me, given my history with cramps. 


My pace felt good and my body felt good. We started out on the Ala Moana Boulevard and then ran through Honolulu Downtown. The downtown was decorated with lights for Christmas. It was beautiful. We soon hit Kalakaua Avenue. During the day, Kalakaua is loud and active with shoppers out and about at some of the biggest brand names around. But today at around 5:40 am, the streets were lined up with volunteers, supporters, Japanese sports clubs and sponsors motivating their runners in Japanese. Although I did not understand most of what the signs or what the crowd was saying, I knew that they meant good and were motivating us with positive messages. 


Soon, we hit the Kapiolani Park area and an uphill climb that circles the Diamond Head, an extinct volcanic crater.  Now, it was just I and the other runners. The uphill climb was a bit more than a mile long before we hit a decline. I made up for my slow sleep while climbing up the hill, by running fast through the decline. We soon hit the Kilauea Avenue and I started to see the sun come up. I could feel the day getting hotter. I must have been around 70 at this time. All the runners around me and the sun made it for a heck of a run at this time. It was HOT.


We went around Hawaii Kai Drive, which is an upscale neighborhood in Honolulu. Folks came out and supported us. Now I was seeing a mix of Japanese and English signs. It felt good reading some of the quotes to keep myself mentally busy. I was at the 17th mile now and the sun was directly on me. The heat was intense. I was still feeling good. The NUUN Active Hydration Tablet  and the GU energy gel kept me going strong. I started to feel my teeth getting sensitive to anything that I put in my mouth. I couldn't figure out why my teeth were getting sensitive. Now that I have had a chance to reflect on it, it was the NUUN Active Hydration Tablet in my mouth for the last 2.5 hours that was eating away at my enamels while I was running. I needed the NUUN Active Hydration Tablet so I just kept eating and running through the pain in my enamels.


I was at my 22nd mile, when the sun started to really disturb me and I could feel my heart rate getting higher. I started to look for shady areas to run on. I wanted to get away from the sun. I was starting to get nauseous due to my very high heart rate. I started to slow down. I had a Diamond Head climb coming up at 24th mile. I had to be smart about it. I slowed down my pace and got through Diamond Head climb. On my way up to Diamond Head, I saw a lot of cramped runners stretching and taking a break. NUUN Active Hydration Tablet kept me cramp free and I was able to run the last mile with all the energy I had left and the sun directly on me. 


This marathon was a great ending to an amazing year. I started my year by running my first ever marathon in freezing temperatures, freezing rain and high winds. I ended my year running the hottest marathon to-date. I enjoyed them both and now look forward to running more next year.

I finished the 2013 Honolulu Marathon in 4:16:24. 

More results are at: 2013 Honolulu Marathon Results

I have hit a runner's rut

It is getting harder and harder to run every day now. I do not have that runner's high anymore. My alarm clock is still set for 5:50am. But, these days, I get up, walk over and then press the snooze button. As I hit the snooze button, my mind is thinking that I will run tomorrow. The thought of running on the weekend is also now becoming a bit of a chore.

On the internet, there are several topics that discuss these symptoms. My symptoms indicate a condition that some call a runner's rut. It turns out that every runner goes through this phase in their running. This is very common.

I have run a lot this year. At the time of writing this blog, I have already run 1039 miles or spent 270:33:34 hours running this year. I have also lost 196357 kilo-calories. This is a lot of running for a guy who just started running seriously late last year.

There are many reasons why a runner will eventually hit a runner's rut:

1. Burnout of the mind and the body with everyday or very frequent running

2. Not resting enough between runs

3. Not resting enough between work, life and runs. 

4. Running the same or similar routes frequently 

5. Not giving enough time for the body to recover from a strenuous run

My rut is due to a little bit of all of the above.

Now, if you google the words "runner's rut", you will come across several articles that describe this and provide recommendations. Essentially, the recommendations are consistently along the lines of:
- Rest
- Recover
- Refuel

This rut hit me at a good time. It hit me at a time, when I need to taper for my Honolulu Marathon. The next two weeks, I will be vacationing, relaxing, refueling and recovering from all the running this year. I am hoping that by the time I get to the starting line of Honolulu Marathon, I am well rested and ready for a good race.

Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro - Review

It took me a while to research and purchase my first headphones for running: Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro.

Purchasing headphones for running was not as easy as I had thought. Being new to running at the time (April 2013), I was still discovering this sport and its needs. I had just run my first marathon in February and had 4 more to go before the year-end. The Hyannis Marathon destroyed my old phillips headphones, which were never meant for running, but I still used it and paid the price. I needed new headphones. I wanted a reliable and an entertaining partner for my ear, for the long run.

As I was researching my options, I started to understand my requirements as a runner. Every runner is unique. My unique requirements were:

• Ambient noise must be heard. Any headphone that insulates external noise is too dangerous to wear for a runner. If I am going to run with headphones, I wanted to hear every dog bark, every pleasant remark by a bystander or every car that is anywhere close to me while I am running.
• Deliver rich and premium sound without giving me headaches during a long run, even during the most exhaustive of a run.
• Headphones that are tuned and made for runners and not audio-philes.
• Headphones should stick to the ears for as long as I am running. It is critical that I forget about the headphones in my ear when wearing them for a run. 
• They should not be very expensive. $50-$75 is a good range

I found a lot of headphones that met some of the above requirements, but not all. Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro met all of the above requirements.

Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro comes well packaged in a box. A Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro purchase includes a sport pouch for carrying your headphones in any weather, a clip, two neoprene adapters that twist and lock the headphones in your ear and the headphones.

I have now worn these Yurbuds for more than 600 miles. I have worn them during high heat, high sweat, long runs, short runs, tempo runs, cold runs and during many races including marathons (2 marathons as of the day of this writing) etc. So far, I love them. They are totally worth the price ($42.37) that I paid for them.

They are simple to operate. First find the adapter that fits your ear. Yurbuds provides two sizes. One of the adapter is smaller while the other is larger. Larger size works well for me. Once, the adapter is attached to the headphones, I put them in my ear. I twist to lock them in my ear. I click on the attached 3-button control with a mic and the music starts to play. If I want to forward to the next song, I double-click on this 3 button control. To move backwards, I triple-click. If I get a phone call, I simply click on the 3 button control once and pick up the phone call. It is very easy to operate.

The Yurbuds customer service is also excellent. After getting the headphones, I reached out to them with a simple question through email. They promptly wrote back to me and resolved the issue.

But, these headphones are not without issues. The Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro are made out of cloth-coated wires. Even though these cloth-coated wires help with the issue of tangled wires, it makes a constant noise when rubbing against anything. In my case, it rubs against my technical shirt. I would prefer not to hear this noise. But, it doesn't really bother me during my runs as it quickly becomes part of the ambient noise as soon as I start running and the music starts to play.

I would recommend the Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro to any runner that is looking to buy quality headphones that are not too expensive. Yurbuds sells really expensive ones as well, if price is not an issue.

BayState Marathon - 10.20.13

Pinky: Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?
Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!

This quote is from an animated Animaniacs series Pinky & The Brain. This quote is in many ways similar to the conversation that my brain has with me before starting each marathon.

Harsh: Gee, Brain, what are we going to do in this marathon?
Brain: the same thing we try to do in every marathon, Harsh - try to run 26.2 miles in less than or equal to 4 hours!!

Running a marathon is no longer about answering the question: Can I run a marathon? 
Running a marathon is now about: How fast can I run a marathon?

Last year, I ran my first race right here in Lowell. BayState Half Marathon on 10.21.12. Running a half marathon distance was a crazy idea back then. Now, it is fun to run any.

After the Quebec City Marathon, I was looking forward to running in Lowell again. I was running with my buddies (Stanley, Rahul, Pavan and Arjun). Stanley and I were going to run the full while Rahul, Pavan and Arjun planned for a half. Our collective reason for doing this race was to set new PRs, regardless of the distance. Distance is no longer a question for us. Now, it is all about the PR. 

I did not train well for this marathon. I was a bit lazy and I think in some ways, my body was burnt out from running so much. I took it easy and focused on having fun while running and not training hard.

BayState Marathon is considered a flat marathon. It is scheduled when the New England weather is generally perfect for running. It has a good organization and it also starts 5 miles from where I live.

I tapered well for this marathon. I should have run a few miles during my tapering week, but I preferred rest over running during that week. The night before the marathon, my buddies and our families had an excellent pasta dinner at IL Forno. I had capellini pasta with broccolli and sausage. It was done right. We got home around 10:30pm. I went to sleep at 11pm. I slept well. 

On 10.20.13 (marathon day), I was up at 5:50am. I made a large pancake for myself. Pancake is a good source of carbohydrates. I was getting ready when Rahul called at 6am. He was running a fever.  I was bummed to hear that news. This was unfortunate. We, the runners, prepare ourselves (physically and mentally) for weeks and we are often one injury or sickness away from running our best on the day of the race. I left with Stanley at 7am for the BayState Marathon in Lowell. The commute was relatively short with spots of traffic congestion mixed in. 

It was a chilly morning. We were shivering as we climbed out of the car and walked towards the starting line.  The park close to the starting line had a lot of port-a-john's lined up for runners to use. We spent 20 minutes waiting in the line, while waiting for our turn to use one. 

It was now 7:50am. We started to walk up to the starting line. The energy around us was amazing.

Folks were busy getting their electronics ready for race-tracking, music or what ever their electronic device could help them with. Some marathoners were stretching. But overall, it felt awesome looking at yet another crowd of runners who had only one goal in their minds. Beat their PR and qualify for Boston. 

 BayState Marathon is often used by runners to qualify for Boston. Boston Marathon is the gold standard for all marathons. There are runners that have been trying all their running life to qualify for Boston marathon. Today. I just wanted to run in 4 hours or less.

There were 1344 marathon runners and 1557 half marathoners participating in BayState Marathon. This was a large crowd and was all piled up in very small area.





The gun went off at 8:00am. The race was on. 

I started out cautiously. I was running at a 10min pace. I was very slow any everyone was constantly passing me by. After about two miles, I kicked my pace up to a 9:30 pace. As soon as I saw the 6th mile marker, I dialed my pace up to an 8:30 pace. I was going to stay with this pace as long as I could. 

Our marathon route was beautiful. Foilage is generally at its peak in the beginning of October around here. This year, we had pockets of foliage peaking in the beginning of october while the rest was peaking when we were running. The route had beautiful bridges, a sweet river view with a foilage background, curved roads with New England homes that were all situated right across the river, golf courses, apartment complexes, parks etc.. The BayState Marathon is a beautiful course.

I was able to keep my 8:30 pace for a while. I was feeling great running at this pace. I was very surprised when I didn't hit my wall at the 18th mile marker. My mind and body felt surprisingly fresh. This is when, I got greedy and dialed it up. Now i was doing a 8 or may be a 7:50 pace. I know this because now I was passing everyone that was ahead of me. 






I hit the 20mile marker and its amazing art work of a shattered wall. I smiled, when i looked at it.

I shattered my wall today. The wall did not exist for me in this race. 

At around the 22nd mile marker, I was in in the middle of two crowds. The crowd that I had already passed and the crowd that I wanted to pass. I kept my pace. All of a sudden, this girl came out of nowhere and pulled ahead of me. I did not see her coming. She took me by surprise. It now became a real race for me. I dialed it up again and now I was doing a 7:30pace. I  exchanging leads with her several times for about a mile or so. At around the 23rd mile, I started to cramp. I realized my mistake. By the time, i realized it, the girl was way ahead of me and I had no shot of catching up with her. 

I am a heavy sweater, so I have a tendency to loose a lot of sodium and potassium when I sweat. It was getting warmer and I had dialed up the speed after running for a while. This was a perfect recepie for a cramp. I gained a minute by racing with her but then lost a lot in the next 3.2 miles, Now, i was really slow as I did not want to stop for a stretch or walk. I was going to will my way through the cramps. When I saw the 26th mile marker, I told myself that I am going to give it all I had, regardless of the cramps. I dialed up my speed and now I was running at 6 min pace. My son saw me 100 feet before the finish line. He somehow got inside the track and ran the last 100ft with me to the finish line. After I crossed the finish line, I gave him a big hug and we walked over together to get the medal and then the food area to meet up with my wife and my younger son. 

My Official timings were:

• 8.5 Mile:1:21:45   
• Halfway: 2:03:05  
• 30K: 2:58:32 
• 26.2 Mile: 4:16:42 

Overall, this was a good marathon for me. I now understand what I need to do, to finally run a marathon distance in 4hr or less time. I am now more optimistic than ever that my next marathon will be a 4hr marathon or a less.