Cardio Vascular Disease

My father passed away on September 19, 2011. he was diabetic and had his first heart attack on July 11, 2011. The doctors recommended that we do a by-pass surgery. Before he could get his body in shape to do the surgery he had 2 more attacks. He was rushed into surgery they found 6 major blocks in his artery and his heart was functioning only at about 30% capacity. His internal organs were very badly damaged, he fought for 19 days in the intensive care but finally his kidneys gave up. I stopped running regularly since my father’s incident. Althought I have been doing some runs just don’t have the motivation to get started again seriously. My plans to run the Chicago Marathon in 2011 did not happen as I was preoccupied with my Dad’s passing. While I was visiting my dad every day in the IC unit, we got to talk to the doctor about why he had this problem of course there were many reasons he was diabetic and the doctors felt that he had Cardio Vascular Disease which is basically cholesterol build up on the veins and arteries that blocks blood flow in your body. It happens due to many reasons, like smoking (my dad did not smoke), heavy drinking (my dad was a teetotaler), bad food habits (my dad was very disciplined did not take sugar or eat rice since he found out he was diabetic), overweight (he was once again not overweight – 70 kgs for a 6 foot frame) etc. The main reason I felt that we could not save him was the fact that we did not detect the problem early enough.

I got myself tested with a CT Scan on my veins, arteries and my heart, much to the surprise of my doctor and myself, there was some narrowing of my arteries. The doctor initially told me that we don’t need to do a stress test but now I am on a cholesterol lowering drug and I plan to take a stress test on January 18. I have been tracking my heart rate during all my runs and this data should give more insights into my condition. I feel fine though the holiday diet has not been very helpful but I plan to get on the running trail quite soon and give a good fight to my condition.

Chicago Marathon 2009: 3:33:54 PB

I ran and finished the Chicago Marathon 2009 in 3 hours 33 minutes and 54 seconds, this was an improvement of 31 minutes and 26 seconds from my previous personal best.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/416421194

We arrived in Chicago on the 9th and the day we were leaving Reykjavik the weather was interesting, we had winds of about 40 m/sec. There was some doubt whether the flight to chicago will leave on time but all of that uncertainty was put to rest when the plane took off on time and my buddies Villi and Joi were on the same flight and they were running the marathon as well. We reached our hotel at around 12am on Oct 10th, we stayed at the Westin Michigan Avenue, it was a great location for shopping right next to the John Hancock Building, Bloomingdales and Macy’s. Our daughter has been so well trained to travel that she took everything in and she was having fun as well inspite of the jet lag and all the shuttling between airports.

Villi, Joi and I went to the Marathon expo center and got our bibs and running chip on the 10th, spent some time looking at all the running stuff. I bought myself 2 pairs of ASICS shoes, Performance Trainer and a Kayano. The Kayano felt like a massage for my feet. In addition, got all the Nike Chicago Marathon memerobilia. Did some serious damage to the wallet, hey what the heck its not like I am going to run the 2009 Chicago Marathon again.

In the evening we went to Carmine’s an Italian restaurant ate some spaghetti with meat balls, this time around I did not over eat just enough to feel full and satiated. Since the race was starting at 7:30 the next morning we hit the bed. I woke up at 3:00 am as I could not sleep after that, read the book The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown, got some granola with yogurt, nuts and dates my typical Marathon breakfast.

The weather was cold, at 3:00 am the temperature was -1°C. We left the hotel at 6:10 and walked the 2 miles to the start. It was amazing to feel the energy of everyone getting ready to start the run. Villi, Joi and I found our spot near the fountain in the park. I was planning to run with my wind jacket and had my bib pinned to that, Villi and Joi advised me to run without the jacket based on their experience in Boston which was cold to start with but got warmer during the day and Joi had to throw away his jacket. That was slight change of plans, never the less I decided to run with the official Chicago Marathon T-Shirt on-top of my CWX cold top. We deposited our bags and squeezed our way to the front of the pack, we jumped over a fence to reach the 3:50 pace setting group. It was exhilarating to hear the start of the race, 33,608 runners ready to hit the road.

I started sprinting right away, my strategy was to push hard and keep at it until the finish. I think I was running at a pretty good pace at the start and caught up with many runners in the 3:30 pace and ran with them until the end of the race. I was expecting to see my wife and daughter in the half marathon stage but could not find them in the crowd and I slowed down a bit to find them. Never the less, kept on chugging. The weather was still cold and it never got warmer, I started feeling the strain around 27th km, slowed down a bit and walked during the drink stations. I think the saving grace for my run was the initial push that I did in the first half of the marathon, I ran 20km in 1:34:15. There were several instances where my body was ready to give up but I never gave up and kept running and I was delighted to finish in 3:33:54.

The next goal is to qualify for Boston Marathon, i.e. shaving 18+ minutes from this run!

Speed work 4X1600, Cold, Cough and Icelandic Weather

Did my speed work on thursday, I was starting to feel a tickle on my throat usually a symptom of me getting sick with a cold and flu. But never the less completed the training run: here is the summary of the run, it was hard and I think my feeling under the weather must have made it worse… but I did the speed runs at a pretty good pace.

As can be seen my first mile (1600m) time was 6:18 pace, followed by 6:34, 6:48 and 6:42. I would say the average speed for the speed runs were 6:35. This gives me a little bit more confidence that I can sustain a pace of 6:45 for a extended period of time.

I had to miss my long run this weekend as I am down with cold, cough and body joint aches. Friday I left work at noon and slept maybe 8 hours and continued to sleep on Saturday. I think this has been the longest sleep bouts I have had for some time. I woke on Saturday with a back ache due to lying in bed for an extended period of time. Anyway, I think I am feeling a little bit better today, took the dog out for a 6 km walk in the hale and wind. I have already started counting down the days till the Chicago Marathon on October 11.

Reykjavik Half Marathon 2009 in 1:36:10 PB

I had decided that I would run the half marathon in Reykjavik in 1:45:00 which is 5 minute pace. The day started very early as I got a call from India at 5:45am and I had my alarm at 6:45. Never the less, got ready, Alok and An our friends from Amsterdam had come to visit us and also to participate in the Marathon. Alok was running the half marathon and An was running the 10k. We took a cab from our house to the start line, got there about 40 minutes before the start warmed up by running around the lake in downtown Reykjavik.

I started out a brisk pace and kept at it till the finish, I felt very good all through the way and actually I pushed myself to run hard at the end of the run. The strategy seem to work well and I ran the race in 1:36:10, which is my personal best and this was the fastest average pace that I have ever run even taking my practice runs into account. Here is the official result

The average pace was 4:32/km, I am very happy that the hard training is starting to kick in but the ultimate goal is Chicago Marathon and Boston qualification. I need to keep this above pace if I want to qualify for Boston. It is going to be hard but I feel confident that I can train hard for the next month and be best prepared for the marathon in Chicago.

11 week – Runners World Training Schedule

Here’s your individualized training program:

Your current race time is: 0:46:03 for a 10 K
Your distance training goal is: Marathon
You currently train: 41 – 48 km/week
How hard you want to train: Hard
Your long-run day: Sunday
Your training program Starts: Monday, 7/20/2009 Ends: Sunday, 10/4/2009
Length of your training schedule: 11 weeks

{var sched = getScheduler(); var pacer = getPacerFromPR(); var allWeeks = getFullProgram(sched); {var pcob = getRaceDistDict();var s = “”;for(var raceCode in pcob){var rDist = pcob[raceCode];var pCoef = logRegressionPaceCoef(rDist);s += (raceCode + “=” + rDist + “=” + pCoef + “n”);}//alert(s);}checkWarning(allWeeks);if(startDate!=null){var curDate = new Date(startDate.getTime()); }for(var i = 0; i < allWeeks.length; i++){ var relInd = i; if(getDiffCode(prParams["diff"]) == 0){ relInd = i % 4; } var wo = allWeeks[relInd]; var dateS1 = shortDate(curDate); var dateS2 = shortDate(new Date(curDate.getTime() + 6*24*60*60*1000)); dw("

“); dw(“

“); // Last week of program has pace that reverts to first week’s pace. var targPaceWeek = (i == allWeeks.length-1) ? 0 : i; for(var j = 0; j < 7; j++) { var xj = (j+1) % 7; dw("

“); } dw(“

“); dw(“

“); curDate.setTime(curDate.getTime() + 7*24*60*60*1000); } }

Wk	Dat	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
” + (i+1) + “	” + dateS1 + “” + dateS2 + “	” + wo.days[xj].getDescLine(0) + ““); var toD = wo.days[xj].getDescLine(1); if(wo.days[xj].cde == “race”) { // don’t use targPaceWeek here, because want to run fast! toD = toD.replace(/xpacex/, pacer.getRacePace(isMetric(), i)); toD = toD.replace(/xtimex/, pacer.getRaceTime(isMetric(), i)); }else { toD = toD.replace(/xpacex/, pacer.getPaceString(wo.days[xj], isMetric(), targPaceWeek)); } dw(toD + “	” + wo.totalDistDisp(isMetric()) + “
1	7/20 7/26	Rest/XT	Easy Run Dist: 10 km @5:41	Rest/XT	Tempo Run Dist: 8 km, inc Warm; 5 km @ 4:45; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 8 km @5:41	Rest/XT	Long Run Dist: 16 km @5:41	42 km
2	7/27 8/2	Rest/XT	Easy Run Dist: 10 km @5:41	Rest/XT	Speedwork Dist: 8 km, inc Warm; 2×1600 in 7:14 w/800 jogs; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 8 km @5:41	Rest/XT	Long Run Dist: 19 km @5:41	45 km
3	8/3 8/9	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 8 km @5:41	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 8 km, inc Warm; 5 km @ 4:45; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 8 km @5:41	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 22 km @5:41	46 km
4	8/10 8/16	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 8 km @5:41	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 10 km, inc Warm; 6 km @ 4:48; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 6 km @5:41	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 26 km @5:41	50 km
5	8/17 8/23	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 10 km @5:37	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 10 km @5:37	Easy Run Dist: 10 km @5:37	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 10 km @5:37	40 km
6	8/24 8/30	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 6 km @5:37	Rest / XT	Speedwork Dist: 11 km, inc Warm; 3×1600 in 7:09 w/800 jogs; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 5 km @5:37	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 29 km @5:37	51 km
7	8/31 9/6	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 6 km @5:37	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 10 km, inc Warm; 6 km @ 4:45; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 6 km @5:37	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 32 km @5:37	54 km
8	9/7 9/13	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 10 km @5:37	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 11 km, inc Warm; 8 km @ 4:48; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 10 km @5:37	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 26 km @5:37	57 km
9	9/14 9/20	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 8 km @5:34	Rest / XT	Speedwork Dist: 13 km, inc Warm; 4×1600 in 7:05 w/800 jogs; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 6 km @5:34	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 32 km @5:34	59 km
10	9/21 9/27	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 5 km @5:34	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 8 km, inc Warm; 5 km @ 4:40; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 5 km @5:34	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 13 km @5:34	31 km
11	9/28 10/4	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 5 km @5:41	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 8 km, inc Warm; 5 km @ 4:45; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 5 km @5:41	Rest / XT	Marathon Race Day 26.2 miles @5:04 Time: 3:34:26	60 km

Example	What it Means
Legend
Easy Run Dist: 3km @8:00	Run a total distance of 3 kilometers at a pace of 8 minutes per kilometer.

Speedwork Dist: 8km, inc Warm; 3×800 in 4:00 w/400 jogs; Cool	Run a total distance of 8 kilometers. Your run should include: – a warmup of about 1.5km – 3 repeats of 800 meters each; each repeat should take 4 minutes – a 400-meter recovery jog after each repeat – a cooldown of about 1.5 km Note: Warmups and cooldowns are generally 1.5 km each. But on some days, you’ll need to make them longer to reach the total distance for your run.

Rest /XT	Take a rest day, or do moderate cross-training activity.

Race Day Dist: 5K @5:00 Time: 20:00	On a race day, run your 5K at a 5-minute per kilometer pace. Your time will be 25:00.

11.45km run after a break

I wanted to work on a Yasso 800 speed workout on the track but met with some of my friends and ended up running 11.45km in 1:04 hours at an average pace of 5:39/km. It was an ok run given my Heart Rate was around 150 BPM and I was running quite easily the pace. Finished the run with some weight training and some core workout. So net net a good start after the one week break. The goal for this month is 180 km and I plan to do 40km this weekend. Here is the run details:

Cough and wife… stopping me from my 40k

Image via Wikipedia

Ok, thats a lousy excuse… but I have been coughing and not feeling 100% to go out for a 40k run. My wife has been threatening me with a divorse if I went out and did the run anyway! I figured it is better for me to take a short break and maybe do it next weekend. I wanted to do some research on distance that can be run as part of the training for the marathon:

1. Here is what Patric McCrann, author of the Irondistance Run Training eBook and a seven-time Ironman finisher and avid endurance runner had to say: 3 hour is the limit if you run for more than 3 hours then you are doing more damage to your body than train it.

2. Marathon Training says DO NOT run the whole marathon distance! I wonder why… the longest they recommend is 23 miles!

3. Greg McMillan has a very interesting strategy about long runs, he splits the goal of the long run into two

a) Long, Slow Distance Long run with the following objectives

Burn fat
Strengthen legs
Deal with mental and physical fatigue

b) Fast finish, Long run

Practise marathon goal pace
Practise equipment, nutrition, pre-race routine
Learn to run fast when tired

I like the second set of goals and here are the guidelines

Start easy but finish with last 30-90 minutes averaging marathon goal pace
Run last 1 to 3 miles as fast as you can
Complete 3 to 5 times before the actual race

My first Yasso 800 track work

I followed up on the plan and did my first Yasso 800 speed work this afternoon and here is the result:

As can be seen I did 800 meters in

3 min 15 sec

3 min 12 sec

3 min 18 sec

which tells me if I can continue on this form and run the 800 meters in similar time when I repeat the Yasso runs with 5 laps and 10 laps, I should look for a finish time of 3 hours and 15 min for the marathon!

If I can accomplish that I can qualify for the Boston Marathon! Lets see how my training progresses… lots of “Ifs” 🙂

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