I missed the Prom !!!!

So I missed the SCMM this year. I wrote earlier, life has been busy and so with no training, the decision to call off the annual pilgrimage to Mumbai seemed sensible. It was heartening to see many of my friends get their PBs or run a strong race coming back from layoffs due to injuries. The FB posts started coming in as soon as the race got over with updates on how the race went and were soon followed by post on the celebrations – which have now become a ritual and performed religiously. And they kept flowing in and continue to flow in even after a week. So much so that I felt like a high schooler who had missed the Prom party and had to make do with picking up the juicy details and all the fun stuff in the school corridors. I have missed races before – not turning up after registering and sometimes even after picking up the bibs but never missed a race so much.

Ofcourse, no training has had its benefits
- The toe nails are all back with full growth and despite two permanently blackened toe-nails, the feet look nice.
- Can go without washing my hair for 3 days and it’s a blessing in the winters
- Sleeping in till late has been fun
- I am an obsessive run logger so no run logs to be uploaded / updated
- Kids have been happy to see me home on weekend mornings when they wake up
- Laundry piles have gone down :)

But heck I miss my runs !!

Those SCMM FB posts reminded me how much I have missed the runs and the accompanied running banter with the group. And so with the Saturday off this week, I have made a plan to do back-to-back HMs on the weekend. We will see how it goes – at this moment I just want to be able to get out on the road for a run. There is no pace or time target but just to run at an easy fun pace. I just hope the body co-operates and if it doesn’t then the mind will have to take over. 

And ..... I just hope I remember to charge my Garmin !!!!!

See you on the other side of the weekend with my report on how the runs went.

Whats your excuse ??

I was supposed to put out a post on January 1st - “My running resolutions for 2016”. I did have a good start writing my fitness goals for the year – and I do have some serious running goals. But work kept me busy and I just couldn’t get myself to finish the post in the first week and so never posted it. Two weeks into the new year and I decided to do a stock check. Here goes - no-show at SCMM, missed training runs, training plan misplaced and worse- I haven’t even registered for my next running event – one of the goals for 2016. But trust me I have reasons. Seriously, enough reasons – valid genuine reasons to skip the run yesterday and day before and for tomorrow and….

And in this, I know, I am not alone. We all do it - Come up with reasons or EXCUSES to miss a run. Here is a list of the ones that I use very often. And if these are the ones that you also use then I have a sound advice for you !!!

1. Too tired – Late nights, travel – that’s understood. So get a good night’s sleep, go for a late run and for that one day make the run your priority. 

2. I don’t feel like it – Now this is one where I just don’t know what to do. Ofcourse, one can say – If you don’t “feel like it” now, how did you “feel like” signing up for the race? 

3. Have a busy day at work – Get the endorphins and the runners high early on, to keep you going through the day

4. Todays run in the plan looks difficult, I won’t be able to run the distance / the pace – Get out and give it a try !!

5. Another day off won’t hurt, Tomorrow for sure – Tomorrow never comes !!

6. No one from the group confirmed, its not a good day to run – Its your run, you go get it done. 

And the best,

7. Training is anyways ruined, have skipped too many runs – break the dry spell, its tough but start slow, start small, get going.

Sometimes, we genuinely have a good reason to skip a run – injury, exhaustion, fatigue – and it makes sense to take a break. But when there’s an excuse each time you have a run, something different is needed. I have suffered from the excuse syndrome in the past as well and here’s what I have done to break the bad habit 

1. Set a 5 / 10 day target – Start small. Put the training plan aside and just focus on the short term goal. I have done 10X10s, I have done 15 days running streaks. And by the end of it, I had the rhythm back. 

2. Get your running partner / group to get you out – If you run with a group, nothing better than getting your group to force you out. Seek help. It works.

3. Social media – My FB list is almost 70-80% running friends. I spend a little extra time on FB reading what others are upto and that is sure shot motivation. Look at your own running pictures - Remind yourself of what you are capable of, of your past accomplishments and the high that accompanied them!! 

4. Read a motivational blog, a book and be inspired.

And I know that I need to do one or more of the above soon and get my running life back!!

 

The race that was meant to be and then ....

It’s the night before the race,  the night before the annual running mela, the maa of all races in India – SCMM 2016. I have a bib number but I haven’t collected my bib. I am not carb loading or getting my running gear ready. Infact I am not in Mumbai. But at home writing this and will miss this year’s turbo charged SCMM. I have been at the start line of SCMM for the last 5 years – first 2 for a HM distance and last 3 for FM. I had all plans to run this edition too. But there I was, flying out of Mumbai on a Friday before the SCMM, when all my friends were flying in to Mumbai that same day, very well aware of all the fun and excitement of the weekend that I was leaving behind.

The countdown to SCMM, like all previous years, began in August last year when I did the registration for the race in the very first week. I even got D to register for the HM, this year. The hotel and air tickets were booked in September / October. In October, I started training for ADHM and the plan was to build it to a FM training post the ADHM. ADHM came and though not a strong performance but I was happy with the results with whatever little training I could manage – you reap what you sow !!! I got hold of a training plan which was to help me train for SCMM in January and a faster HM in February. And then…………..Life got in the way !!!!! What started as one missed training run, soon became two, three and before I realized I had a long list of excuses for missing all my runs!!

And it was with a heavy heart that I cancelled my tickets and the hotel booking end of December when I for sure knew that I was in no shape to run a FM distance in January.

I have always enjoyed my SCMM outings - despite the weather and the dreadful inclines at Peddar Road and Sea Link. I don’t know if it is the Mumbaikars who come out in big numbers to support the runners and are there all through the 42.2 km of the race, or meeting the running junta from all over India or the thrill of running on the Sea Link or that mixed feeling of joy and anxiety when you reach Marine Drive or the after race party at Leopold – and the party is always fun whether you have had a good race or a bad one – SCMM remains a very special running event.

Tomorrow as all you people – my special runner friends – run the streets of Mumbai, I will cheer for you from here, pray for you to have a strong and an enjoyable run and you in turn have an extra pint on my behalf at Leopold !!!

I, in the meanwhile, will get down to getting my life, I mean- excuses out of the way !!!!!!