Halfway towards the Marathon

As I complete 8 weeks of training for the 16 weeks Higdon programme, every weekend is a big challenge. What makes it even more interesting is that during this month of fasting, it adds another level of challenge to the entire experience, and with it another level of motivation which pushes me forward. As I reach 21K long runs in practice, my strategy is to do the long run in the evenings, start an hour before the fast break, break fast, eat some-drink some, do another hour of running, drink some more, and then do the remaining distance. That makes it already very late in the day, so repeating this exercise for 24K and 26K (also in the fasting period, actually the 26K would be Eid) would require some more thinking and planning on how to go about doing it. I also seem to be losing weight pretty fast, down to about 67.5 from the 70kg a couple of weeks back. But just 3 more weeks before I am back to my normal routine.

Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon, 2007

My expectations on the name change of the event from Hutch to Vodafone has finally been realized. TV ads, rebranding of Hutch shops, and now rebranding of the marathon, its all happening in a big way! Here's the new logo.

My story of the HDHM

The people behind the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon are always on a lookout for new ideas. This year, they are accepting runner experiences from previous runs, which can be emailed at my_hdhm_story@indiatimes.com. My story from the 2005 run found itself on the HDHM website, which can be checked out at:

http://hdhm.indiatimes.com/storyarticleshow/2375851.cms

BTW, I managed to get the early bird prize as well. This is the second year running that I am getting this, and I can claim to be one of the earliest registrants whenever they bring their online registration system online. So, whats the probability of getting the early bird prize twice (chosen by lottery)? I guess the people at HDHM just love me!

Invite for Delhi Runners

I am amazed to see the wonderful experiences by two of the well known running groups here in India: Chennai Runners and RFL-Bangalore runners. Whether in terms of organizing runs in the city as buildup for major running events (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai marathons, etc), or regular runs just as a get together or as a means to stay fit, these people have really stood out in a crowd!

I am creating the delhirunners google group with the hope that we can develop this forum for sharing running related info, and for getting together for runs, from maybe a few km runs to anything upto peak training runs for a Marathon. Below is the complete link to this group:

http://groups.google.com/group/delhirunners

If you are into running, from in or around Delhi (Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida, Gurgaon), and would like to be a part of this group, do join in. I will try to do my best in putting up-to-date information on various events, etc, on this google group. Lets try to make this big, gradually.