Monday, February 3, 2014

It is called "Coaching"!

As I sprinted past that arch, past that mat that beeped, also called the FINISH line of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2014, I looked up to the heavens as I always do, to thank The Almighty. I then looked around and saw my fellow PaceMakers Brojen Baba and Rohit Arjunagi. They both congratulated me on my successful SCMM finish. I looked at my Garmin and realized that I had almost achieved the target given to me by Coach Pani. That's when my eyes looked around to search for that man, the legend, my coach, our coach, the PaceMakers coach! To my extreme joy, I spotted him. I walked slowly behind him and held his shoulders strongly. He turned around and looked at me, with so much excitement in his eyes and smiling from ear to ear he said, "You did great Patrick"! My eyes swelled with tears, those were the exact words that I really desperately wanted to hear at the end of that long race. I gave him a big bear hug and thanked him profusely for his coaching. He asked me to go get my finisher medal and I started my slow walk towards the medal counter with Rohit Arjunagi escorting me there. Euphoria took over me as I finally started realizing what had just happened. A day of many firsts:

1. My first Sub 5 hour Marathon finish - I finished in 04:36:43
2. Didn't give up after hitting the wall at the 37th km
3. No bathroom breaks (saves quite a few minutes, you know!)

Who is this great man? And, what has he made me do? My mind went into a frenzy as the flashback unfolded.

SCMM 2013 was my first ever full marathon. I was a raw runner. No proper and structured training. I did whatever I liked to do. I ran whenever I felt like running. I trained in whatever way I thought was best for me. All that led to bad blisters and a terrible marathon running experience on Jan 20, 2013. I told my running partners that I will definitely come back and conquer the streets of Mumbai. There was just one problem. I had no clue how I was going to do it.

Vaishali Kasture is a senior officer in my company and had been a great mentor to me as well. When she knew about my struggles, she insisted on me getting proper coaching and following the right training schedule. Her only choice for me was to join Coach Pani and the PaceMakers. I also understood that without a structured training schedule, I will badly fail again & again.

All I knew about the PaceMakers was that they were good noise makers at Applause 2013 and won so many awards. As the curtains came down on Applause 2013, Vaishali almost took me by hand and introduced me to Coach Pani over a cup of coffee. Pani Sir, in his usual style asked me to join him at 5:30 am the following Tuesday. I was so excited that I had found a coach. It was Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 that I formally joined the PaceMakers. I recognized a few familiar faces like Bobby and my colleague Vikee that morning. There started an amazing journey. The first thing that really impressed me about Pani Sir was his humility. If I ever compose a dictionary, I would put his name down as an example for that word. Later, I would also know that he has this subtle knack of pushing every student of his very gently to do their best in races.

I tried to be as regular as possible at the PaceMakers training. I wanted to perform well at the TCS 10K 2013, my very first race after becoming a PaceMaker. Pani Sir did not give me a target. He asked me to do my best. I did my best with a 54:33, only to miss the coveted "I am Finisher" Nike T-shirt by 21 seconds. Although it was a Personal Best (PB) timing, I was badly disappointed. But the loss drove me to work hard and follow coach's training schedule more diligently.

The next race was the Dream Runners (DR) HM at Chennai. You may read my Race Report on DRHM here, which was published in one of the RFL Newsletters. This was a wonderful trip to Chennai, in which I had a great opportunity to gel with most of the PaceMakers. I also had the privilege of arranging the accommodation for the PaceMakers at Chennai for the DRHM. I will never forget DRHM as it is the first race in which Coach Pani gave me a time target, and I failed badly. I am not going to give excuses such as the Chennai humidity slowed me down etc. I just was not ready yet. After failing Pani Sir in two consecutive races, I made up my mind to push myself harder & harder in training. Pani Sir also encouraged me to keep training harder. He put me in a faster sub-group that consisted of Shilpa, Ravi Rapolu, Kishore Kumar and Gautham. It was the best thing that happened to me in the PaceMakers training. We became a very close-knit sub-group in the PaceMakers within no time. We unofficially appointed Kishore as a our President (read Time Keeper) and we started pushing each other out of our comfort zones in training regularly. Our trainings included Intervals, tempo runs, fartlek runs, hill training that included Nandi Hills and Pipeline Road.

My third official race as a PaceMaker was the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon (AHM) in Aug 2013. I had signed up for a Full Marathon against Coach Pani's and Bobby's instructions. I also signed up for Udaya Napa's 4:30 bus at AHM. To my credit, I kept up with Udaya for the first one-third distance of the marathon. Then I started falling back and even missed the 5 hour bus. I finished in 05:05. Pani Sir had given me a target of 4:45 at AHM and I failed badly once again in spite of doing a PB for a FM. Lo and behold, Pani Sir was there at the finish line of AHM to give me a big hug and made sure that I stretched properly as well. I felt like a VIP.

During the train journey on our way back to Bangalore from Hyderabad, I had a long chat with Coach Pani. Sir asked me to be consistent and persevere with his coaching and training schedules. He just told me that as I build endurace, my pace would automatically improve. By this time, as a PaceMaker, I had failed in a 10K, a HM and a FM. As they say, I had hit rock bottom.  Pani Sir's advice on consistency and perseverance kept on echoing in my ears. I diligently put that into practice.

The next official race was Mysore HM. I wanted to skip that event and go to the inaugural edition of the Vodafone Coimbatore Marathon (VCM) the following week. But, Pani Sir had other ideas. Being the brand ambassador of the Mysore HM, he literally threatened me to participate. My wife also gave me the green signal and off we went to Mysore. They say third time is charm, but for me it was the fourth time. I was able to finally attain Pani Sir's target for the first time. I managed to do a 01:57 in the Mysore HM. I was delirious. I couldn't control my tears and I cried with tears of joy at the finish line. My fellow PaceMakers felt that I had lost my mind! But I was so happy to turn the corner finally. A week later, I actually bettered my Mysore performance with a 01:56:28, my PB for a HM at the VCM.

Now the PaceMakers' weekend runs had permanently moved to Saturdays and it was really helping me to be consistent, which in turn helped build my endurance. Coach kept on repeating to me to concentrate on building my endurance. He also repeated that endurance will increase my pace. He emphasized that the slow long distance weekend runs are the only way to build endurance. I was skeptical. Although my next race was TWCM 2013, I signed up to pace a long time friend & first time marathoner from start to finish. My aim was to put Coach's instructions into trial. So, I did a slow 5:26 finish at TWCM 2013 pacing my friend from start to finish. This is exactly what they call killing two birds with one stone. And, it worked. Yes, it really worked!

As I returned from my flashback and got back to reality, I once again realized that I had just finished SCMM 2014 in 04:36. It was a 50 minute improvement from TWCM and almost a half-an-hour improvement from AHM. The legend called Pani Sir was right. 35+ years of running experience, and I had the to guts to doubt him. My eyes became wet again (enjoying "tears of joy" after races has now become a habit for me). I had an injury free 2013. I had improved from being a careless runner to a motivated runner. As I received my SCMM 2014 medal, for the first time I felt like I had earned it, truly & sincerely!

If you are looking for a moral of this story, it is just that consistent, disciplined and committed training designed by a dedicated coach will bring out the best in an athlete. Period!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Dream Runners HM - 2013

It all started with a phone call from the Dream Runners group in Chennai to Coach Kothandapani (Pani). Coach Pani is the Coach of the Pacemakers running group in Bangalore. The phone call was to request Coach Pani and the Pacemakers group to participate in the Dream Runners Half Marathon (DRHM) scheduled to be held in Chennai on July 7, 2013. It was just January 2013 and there were still 6 full months to go. Coach Pani was undecided at that point in time. But the Dream Runners were persistent. Whenever a member of the Dream Runners group visited Bangalore, they even stopped by the Pacemakers training to invite them to the DRHM.
  
The Pacemakers running group was formed in early 2012 by a group of runners in Bangalore. This group of runners was better known for their maverick 12M12M challenge in the year 2011. 12M12M stood for 12 Marathons in 12 Months. The group actually did 13 Marathons in 13 Months starting from Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2011 and ending in SCMM 2012. Coach Pani and Thomas Bobby Philip (Bobby) along with experienced runners like Neera Katwal formed the Pacemakers group including the runners that did the 12M12M.
  
The Pacemakers aimed on participating in famous marathons / running events of India such as SCMM in Mumbai, TCS 10K in Bangalore, Celebration Half Marathon in Mysore and the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon. The DRHM was not on the Pacemakers schedule for 2013. But the Dream Runners’ persistence paid off and Coach Pani agreed to field a Pacemakers team at the DRHM 2013.
  
Coach Pani himself took care of the travel reservations and the race registrations. The hotel arrangements were also made. The Pacemakers started training for the DRHM 2013 after their incredible success in the TCS 10K 2013. The Pacemakers training schedule is usually as follows:

- Tuesdays – Interval Trainings at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore

- Thursdays – Tempo Runs at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore

- Weekends – Long runs

- Once a month – Hill Training at Nandi Hills

 July 6, 2013 dawned and the Pacemakers arrived at the Bangalore City railway station to catch the Shatabdi Express to Chennai that departed at 6 AM. In the process, the Pacemakers actually got an extra hour of sleep because Coach Pani’s training usually starts at 5 AM. It was like a college excursion. Every Pacemaker was highly enthusiastic and raring to go to Chennai. Some of the Pacemakers were participating in their maiden Half Marathons.
  
The train ride was filled with laughter and pulling each other’s leg. The train reached Chennai about 45 minutes late, thanks to our efficient Indian Railways. There were 32 runners in total that made the trip to Chennai. It was a challenge to reach the hotel as one group. So, Coach Pani decided for the entire team to take the local train to the hotel. The local train ride turned out to be a very interesting and successful too.
  
The Dream Runners showered the Pacemakers with the best of hospitality. As soon as the Pacemakers reached their hotel rooms, the Dream Runners made arrangements to hand deliver the goody bags, bibs and DRHM 2013 t-shirts at the hotel rooms. This led to the Pacemakers getting really good rest to their feet the afternoon and evening before the race.
  
The hard part of the DRHM 2013 was waking up at 3ish AM on Sunday, July 7, 2013. But, the euphoria pushed the Pacemakers through. Their pre-arranged cabs arrived at their hotel and off they went to the race starting point. Then Coach Pani started leading the Pacemakers in his unique warm up regime. The overnight rains had raised the humidity level a bit in Chennai and the Pacemakers were well warmed up for the DRHM to start at 5 AM.

 There is always a positive difference in running races arranged by a group of runners. The Pacemakers did not fail to notice that all along the 21.1 Km loop of the DRHM route. Firstly, it was fabulous teamwork by the Dream Runners. They proved that they are a close-knit group and it was on full display on the race day. The Dream Runners and their family members that manned the water stations did a
fabulous job. There was no shortage of anything that a marathon runner needed at the water stations. Water, glucose, Band-Aids, bananas, salt, lime and biscuits were at plenty. The Pacemakers were very grateful to the Dream Runners for providing all this support so seamlessly!

 The medical help that one runner from the Pacemakers group received at the finish line was excellent.  The Pacemakers thank the Dream Runners for quickly calling for medical help as soon as this runner collapsed. He doesn't remember anything from the time he collapsed until he came back to his senses. The medical team did an excellent job in restoring this runner back on his feet. It was dehydration that caused this runner to collapse. He had under estimated the Chennai humidity. It was this runner’s maiden HM as well.

The biggest highlight was, Nanjudappa from the Pacemakers team won the flag ship event at the DRHM 2013. That's just a feather on the Pacemakers’ cap, which they will display proudly, forever! Nanjudappa clocked whopping 01:14 hours to win the gold medal among 800 plus runners that ran the DRHM.

The Pacemakers take this opportunity to thank the Dream Runners group for a superbly organized Half Marathon event. Those who have worked on event organizations know that it is hours and hours of hard work to successfully organize a marathon.  Stupendous work from the time the race was announced until the race completed on July 7, 2013! The coordination between the volunteers, the patrol team, the podium team, the water stations, the Chennai Police, the Chennai public and the sponsors was done amazingly well by the Dream Runners team.
  
One pitfall to be mentioned was the "Finish Line". Many thought that the football goal post just before the finish line was the actual finish line and slowed down there. But, the real finish line was about 50 m ahead. That was just an exception!
  

The Pacemakers returned to Bangalore with nothing but praises for everybody in the Dream Runners team. Needless to say, The Pacemakers and Coach Pani will make the DRHM an annual running event on their yearly race schedules and will be training harder to keep excelling in all future DR Half Marathons.

Monday, January 21, 2013

PP's Marathon

The History

In 490 BC...

...the first battle for democracy was fought at the Greek village of Marathon. Though overwhelmingly out numbered by an invading Persian Army, the citizen-soldiers of Athens prevailed and in so doing allowed the first democracy to be established and preserved the classical Greek way of life that became the foundation of western civilization.

Legend has it that, when the battle was won, the Athenian messenger Phidippides ran twenty-four miles to Athens, carrying news of that stunning victory. The modern marathon commemorates this feat.


The Present 

About 2512 years later, a man called Patrick Pitchappa (PP) ran his first Marathon in Mumbai, India. This is his brief story. Let's hear it from the horse's mouth now....

I don't even remember how and when I took interest in the Mumbai Marathon sponsored by Standard Chartered (SCMM). In mid 2011, I registered for SCMM 2012 and did a Half Marathon with a personal best of 02:07 hours on Jan 15, 2012. That inspired me to do 11 other Half Marathons in 2012. 

I have to mention an interesting incident that happened on Jan 14, 2012. It was that day I landed in Mumbai for SCMM 2012 and went to the World Trade Center at Cuffe Parade in Mumbai to collect my bib. I ran into Bib Bala that day and he teased me about not attempting a Full Marathon (FM) yet in my life. I paid no attention to him and replied firmly that I'll only run Half Marathons in my life. Bala's reaction was - "Don't get stuck in 1st grade forever, it is important to move on to higher grades in life"! I laughed and we went our own ways. 

In July 2012, right on the heels of my father's death, when the registrations for SCMM 2013 opened, I quickly registered again for the Half Marathon (HM) without giving much thought. But in October 2012, I realized that Half Marathons were not challenging any more. So, I sent an email to the SCMM organizers requesting them to switch my registration to a Full Marathon and they obliged. 

My training for the Full went well till November 2012. I reached 30 km in training by the end of that month. I wanted to do up to 40 km, if possible, in December 2012. I attempted a 30+ run twice in Dec 2012, but couldn't go past 27 km at all. Once, I had to stop due to a blood stained shirt and the other time, I ran with Alifiya and just didn't have the fuel to go on. 

But the Rock n' Run Half Marathon in Coimbatore on Jan 6, 2013 provided me the much needed confidence to finish my maiden Full Marathon at Mumbai 2 weeks later. Still, I was nervous and my friends kept cheering me all the time. 

Saturday, Jan 19, 2013 dawned and I boarded my flight to Mumbai. There were many runners from Bangalore on that flight and we motivated each other to do the best the next day. After I landed in Mumbai, I went to collect my bib and lo & behold, I ran into Bib Bala once again. This time I told him with confidence that I was going to do a Full Marathon the next day! Bala patted my back and gave me his best wishes.

Alifiya and I had planned to stay the night at her sister's apartment in Mumbai. Alifiya's sister Arwa and her husband Husain were wonderful hosts and very nice people. After a relaxing Saturday, Jan 19th, it was time to face the challenge of the Full Marathon on Jan 20th. We all woke up at 4 am. While Alifiya and I were gearing up for our maiden FM, Arwa was ready for her second FM. Her husband Husain was doing a HM. We reached CST and after leaving our bags at the holding area, we rushed to the start line. I saw Rekha Sudarsan on our way to the start line and wished her the best. I also met my close Dailymile friend Mr. Srinath Nagappa and Barefoot Bobby at the starting line. 

The race started at 5:40 am sharp. And, off we went with a vague idea of the challenge ahead of us. Arwa, Alifiya and I decided to stick together till we crossed the finish line. Our idea was to maintain a pace of 9 km per hour along the way. I was the pacesetter and I kept the 3 of us in check whenever our pace increased. Mumbaikers, as usual, were on the streets cheering us, as we ran along. I saw Radha Rangarajan and shook her hand as we overtook her. My eyes watered when I saw the Indian Naval band cheering us with a wonderful music around the 4th km mark. As we kept running, we could see the first light of dawn peeping at us. We also saw the leaders of the HM running in the opposite direction. 

It was time to get on the Bandra Worli Sea Link (click on the link to know more about the Sea Link) and off we went running on the long sea link. Growing up in the coastal town of Thoothukudi (தூத்துக்குடி), the sea had been a great part of my life. Hence, running over the Arabian Sea gave me a big boost of energy. The sea link was the only stretch where there was nobody to cheer the runners due to restrictions. Nevertheless, we had fun running on the Sea Link. The view of the sunrise from the Worli Sea Link was picture perfect! I met a gentleman from Pune called Raghu on the Sea Link. This was his 14th marathon and he runs barefooted. I saluted the man as he passed us. 

As we got off the Sea Link, we saw the 21 km mark and it was such a psychological boost for us. I had taken a Clif Energy Shot before the start of the race and I took a couple more on the way. By the 23rd km, I felt a painful blister developing on my right sole. This was the first time I had developed such a blister and I just didn't want to focus on that. But by the 29th km, the pain from the blister was increasing. I wanted to remove my shoe and put a band-aid on the blister, but didn't want to open a can of worms by doing so. Hence, I kept going. In hindsight, I should have stopped at a medical station and had the blister treated by a doctor. Lesson Learned, the hard way!

Around the 25th km mark, I met a gentleman from Boston running in Mumbai. His name was David. He had planned his vacation in such a way to run the SCMM 2013. We chatted for a bit and he pulled away. At the 30th km mark, I saw my Chennai friend Shahul Hameed from the Dream Runners group. He was struggling to run as he carried a severe ITB injury. 

The sun was now out, shining so bright on that Sunday morning. The humidity and the heat were still bearable. I emptied a GU gel sachet into my mouth around the 34 km mark and swallowed it quickly. I kept drinking lots of water and energy drinks along the way. The Mumbaikars were so kind enough to offer oranges, bananas, chocolates and biscuits. Salt was also offered along the way. The children cheered the runners so loudly and gave us high fives as well. 

Arwa, Alifiya and I pushed towards the finish line encouraging each other. We walked 100 to 200 m every now and then, but ran for the most part. After the 36th km, the pain from my blister was unbearable and walking made it even worse. So, I decided to slowly run without stopping for the rest of the distance. I had to break my commitment to Arwa and Alifiya in doing so. I pulled away and met both Shahul Hameed and David close to the 38th km mark. We formed a new trio and decided to run together till the finish line. And, that's exactly what we did. Three seasoned runners from various parts of the world encouraged each other and triumphantly crossed the finish line with our arms raised towards the heavens. It was a moment in history to cherish forever! That feeling of - "I finished a FM" was just so incredible and amazing! 

Every marathon runner always has to respect the distance of the marathon. I was mentally well prepared and I never underestimated the marathon distance of 42.2 km (26 miles). Hence I was able to finish decently with a timing of 05:16:34. It may not be the best of maiden marathon timings, but considering the painful 3 inch diameter blister on my right sole that slowed me down considerably for almost 19 km, I think it was a strong finish. Alifiya and Arwa finished closely behind me with a timing of 05:17. 




The Future

My next target is to achieve a sub 5 hour marathon finish soon...! 


Sunday, December 2, 2012

The 12-12-12 Challenge

In December 2011, a co-worker of mine forwarded me an online news article which was titled - "12m12m". It stood for 12 Marathons in 12 Months. As crazy as it sounds, that's what a bunch of runners in Bangalore successfully did in the year 2011! As I was reading the article, the name of one of the runners that did the 12m12m caught my eye. That was Nitin Jain and he is connected to me on DailyMile.com. Nitin's success story instantly provided me an inspiration to start a 12-12-12 challenge. The idea was to do 12 Half Marathons in 12 Months in the year '12. And, there started an interesting journey of Half Marathons.

The first Half Marathon (1 of 12) of the challenge went well and I completed the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on Jan 15, 2012 with a timing of 02:06:58. Mumbai was a breeze. Since we started running down the Worli Sea Link and then ran on flat roads up to CST, it was an easy course to finish! It gave me the confidence of breaking the 2 hour mark.

My next Half Marathon (2 of 12) was at Auroville on Feb 12, 2012. My target was to break the 2 hour mark at Auroville. It was also a reunion event as many of my friends from Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore were also running alongside me at Auroville. I was doing well up to the 17th km. But the humidity of Puducherry got to me at that point. I was severely dehydrated. I somehow finished the race, but my timing was 02:13:00. I threw up after the race and was sick for a few hours before I recovered well.

I also developed a left Achilles tendon injury at Auroville. The injury got worse forcing me to abandon long runs for the next couple of months. I did not do a Half Marathon in March & April 2012. But I kept on running shorter distances, which was a mistake. After every run, I applied ice on my left Achilles tendon and it gave me relief. But the injury did not heal.

I was determined to go ahead with the rest of the 12-12-12 challenge in May 2012 and did an unofficial Half Marathon (3 of 12) in Cubbon Park with my good friend Nagabhushan Puli. I was way behind schedule with my 12-12-12 challenge, as I had done only 3 Half Marathons in 5 months. Having 7 more months to go in 2012, I had enough time to make up for the lost months.

The left Achilles injury flared up again at the TCS 10 K run on May 27, 2012. Although I finished the 10 K in 00:58:31, I knew that I should visit a doctor and get my injury treated properly. An MRI showed no degeneration of the tendon and the doctor advised me a 3 week complete rest. The rest helped me heal completely. I also learnt an important lesson in this process. For any run related injury, rest your feet for a few weeks before you spend huge sums of money on the doctor and a MRI!

I resumed running by the end of June 2012 and did another unofficial Half Marathon (4 of 12) in Bangalore with my friend Nagabhushan again. This was my 4th Half Marathon in 6 months. I was still behind schedule.

July 2012 was a very hard month for me. My beloved dad passed away on July 14, 2012 after a yearlong battle with cancer. I was registered to run at the Dream Runners Half Marathon on July 15, 2012 and had to miss it. So, it was again an unofficial Half Marathon (5 of 12) with some running buddies on July 28, 2012 at Cubbon Park in Bangalore. We all finished it in 02:23 hrs. My friend and co-worker Girish Singh set the pace and I ran along with him. Overall, it was a great group run!

August 2012 was the month to make up for the lost months in 2012. I did 2 Half Marathons in August. The first one was a solo Half Marathon (6 of 12) on Aug 15th, and I named it "The Independence Day Half Marathon" commemorating the Indian Independence Day. I finished it in 02:13. The big event of August 2012 was the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon (6 of 12) on Aug 26, 2012. I was once again aiming for a sub 2 hour finish. You can read all about my AHM experience by clicking here.

September 2012 was a strong month for running. Did 2 more Half Marathons this month. The first one was at the Spirit of Wipro run (7 of 12) on Sept 15, 2012 in Bangalore. I finished close my previous PB with a timing of 02:07:43.

The unofficial Bangalore RoadRunners Sept 2012 Half Marathon (8 of 12) was very special for me. Do you remember Nitin Jain from the first paragraph of this blog? Well, he joined us for the run on Sept 22, 2012 and ran almost 14 km with us. We finished the run in 02:27 hrs.

Then came the first running event for me at Chennai in 2012. It was the CTC Buckingham Canal Marathon on Oct 7, 2012. I did the Half Marathon (9 of 12) at this event and it was also a moment of enlightenment for me. I felt that Half Marathons were not challenging any more. I was finishing Half Marathons without much effort, although the elusive sub 2 hour finish timing was still eluding me. I knew that the only way to conquer the 2 hour mark was to start training for a full marathon. So, I changed my Half Marathon registration at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2013 to a Full Marathon and formally started my FM training.

My first step towards a Full Marathon training was to do a 10x10 challenge from Oct 22 to 31, 2012. This was running 10 km continuously on 10 consecutive days. My 10x10 log is posted here. Please look at row number 73. My successful completion of the 10x10 challenge without any injuries gave me the much needed morale boost to my full marathon training. My running buddies Alifiya and Rubaina accompanied me on and off these 10 days of running.

My target was to achieve running 30 km by end of November 30, 2012. Taking advantage of the November 13th Diwali holiday, I pushed myself to do a 27 km run (10 of 12). And, on Nov 24, 2012 I reached the 30 km mark in running (11 of 12). At that point in time, I had done 11 Half Marathons in 11 months and was well on target! With that confidence, I registered for a Full Marathon at Auroville in Feb 2013.

December 2012 came to pass and it was time for the final big running event of South India of the year 2012. It was The Wipro Chennai Marathon. It would be my 12th HM of my 12-12-12 challenge. It was a much publicized event and 1100+ people had registered for the Half Marathon. It was now or never for me to break the 2 hour mark. Two other running buddies of mine - Srinath and Keerthana were also aiming for the same. December 2, 2012 had dawned but the Sun was not out yet. We formed a trio at the start line and off we went at 5:15 am on a pleasant (no kidding) Sunday morning. The start was strong. We kept chugging along. Half way through the race, Keerthana looked at me and said, "Uncle, there are only 2 women ahead of me and I want to finish on the podium". I needed no more motivation than those words of Keerthana. I pushed Keerthana on and on, and in the process my pace and timing was improving all along. Of the trio, I finished first, Srinath next and Keerthana third... but all 3 of us BROKE THE 2 HOUR MARK! I finished with a Personal Best (PB) timing of 1:56 hrs according to my trusted Garmin 305 watch. More importantly, Keerthana finished 3rd in the Women's category and it was a podium finish for her! The official results of TWCM of Keerthana, Srinath & me can be viewed here. All 3 of us did it, and, it was the best feeling of my running career!

Overall Rank Bib Name Gender Rank Net Time
106 2302 PATRICK PITCHAPPA 104 1:56:30
116 2407 SRINATH JAGANNATHAN 114 1:57:52
119 2735 KEERTHANA SWAMINATHAN 3 1:58:20


As I relax and type this blog, I just realized - it is not how you start that matters, it is how you finish! I am so happy to finish my 12-12-12 challenge so strongly. This feeling is just so amazing!


Monday, August 27, 2012

Friends and Diet

Well, there's really no connection between Friends and Diet. Forgot to mention about my friend and training partner Naga Bhushan in my previous blog. Bhushan and I have been training together for the past few months and looks like this friendship and training would go on for a long time. Bhushan insisted that we drive in his car from Bangalore to Hyderabad. So, we left early in the morning on Aug 25th towards Hyderabad. The highway was immaculate and 2 of Bhushan's relatives also joined us in the drive. Bhushan drove at a very good speed and we reached Anantapur for breakfast. We had breakfast at Bhushan's aunt & uncle's home. Nice hot idlis and upma was the perfect breakfast before a marathon day. We finally reached Hyderabad around 2pm and went straight to the expo to collect our bibs.

Bhushan completed the HM on Aug 26, 2012 in 02:22 hrs!! Well done Bhushan! Right after the marathon, we drove back to Bangalore in Bhushan's car! A smooth Sunday drive on the highway!

Coming to diet, you burn about a 100 calories for every 1 mile (1.6 km) that you run. So, make sure that your calorie intake doesn't outweigh the calorie you burn while running.

What to eat?
  1. Eat carbohydrates. Carbs are very important for producing energy during your run. Complex Carbs should be part of your lunch and/or dinner. 
  2. Add an egg to your diet every day, if possible. 
  3. Proteins are very important. Eat proteins in whatever format you can - veg or non-veg! Seeds and food with seeds are very important. 
  4. Replace snack with fresh fruits like apples, pears, bananas, pomegranates, oranges and grapes. 
  5. Drink a glass of milk everyday. Add cheese, yogurt and curd to your diet. Eat curd rice for lunch or dinner. 
  6. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. 
  7. You need fat to a certain extent. But don't over dose on fat. 
  8. Green Tea or coffee without sugar. 
What to avoid?
  1. Mid meal snacks
  2. Oily & deep fried foods. This includes chips, murukkus (முறுக்கு), bajji (பஜ்ஜி), vadai (வடை) and pooris.
  3. Soda and aerated drinks
  4. Alcohol
  5. Sweets (all kinds).
  6. Fast foods - Pizza, KFC, McDonalds etc. They have no nutritional values. 

On a running day, this could be your diet:

Breakfast: (one of the following)
  1. Idli or Dosai. You may have an egg on the side as an omelette or scrambled. 
  2. A couple of toast and jam sandwiches along with an egg (omelette or scrambled) on the side. 
Lunch: (one of the following)
  1. 3 or 4 chappatis or rotis and a bowl of curd rice. The subzi could be veg or non-veg.
  2. A bowl of rice (boiled or bissibelabath or briyani or pulav) and a bowl of curd rice. Side dish could be veg or non-veg. 
  3. A bowl of pasta and bowl of curd rice. 
  4. A bowl of noodles and bowl of curd rice. 
Dinner: (one of the following)
  1. 3 or 4 rotis or chappatis and a bowl of fresh fruits, followed by a glass of milk.
  2. Pav Bhajji (as much as you can eat) and a bowl of fresh fruits, followed by a glass of milk. .
  3. Steak and a bowl of fresh fruits, followed by a glass of milk.
  4. Fajitas, Tacos, Burritos or Enchiladas and a bowl of fresh fruits, followed by a glass of milk.
On non running days: (only the breakfast menu changes. The lunch and dinner are same as above). 
  1. A bowl of cereal or oat meal or Raagi. 

Note: Ice cream and cakes can be had in moderation. 

Just before you run:
  1. Eat 2 or 3 fully ripe bananas
  2. Drink 1 liter of water. 
  3. If you are running more than 10 km, carry Gatorade with you in your fuel belt or on your hand. 
  4. Try GU for instant energy. You may also eat organes for instant energy. 
  5. Keep hydrating yourself with water or Gatoraade every 15 to 20 minutes. 
Have fun running folks! Write a comment below if you would like to contact me. 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

From Zero to a Half Marathon in 7 Weeks!

One of the new initiatives that I took over in 2012 was to start coaching long distance runners. So, my rookie coaching year started with me coaching my close friend Venkatesh Prabhu (Venky). Venky wanted to take up running and I started coaching him in January 2012. Venky has been regularly working out at the gym for years, hence his stamina was good and he was able to finish the 10K in Auroville (on Feb 12, 2012) in 59 minutes. From there, it's no turning back for Venky and he's enjoying his running. He did the TCS 10K in 53 minutes on May 27, 2012. My first coaching effort was a success!

Speaking of the TCS 10K, I was surprised one day when a young lady at work walked up to my desk and asked me if I was a runner. I said "yes". Her next question was, "Do you religiously run?". I said, "Yes, I religiously run and do at least a 10K every time I run". Then I asked her if I can help her in any way. She told me that she wanted to take up running and that she hadn't run at all in her life. She expressed her desire to finish the TCS 10K in May 2012. We had over 2 months to go when I started coaching Andal and her close friend Preethy for the TCS 10K. I chalked out a training and diet plan for Andal & Preethy. I would pick them up on every running day and all 3 of us would go to Cubbon Park in Bangalore to train. This effort also paid off, and Andal & Preethy completed their very first 10K runs on May 27, 2012 at the TCS 10K running event in Bangalore.

Well, you might be wondering what this "From Zero to a Half Marathon in 7 Weeks" was all about... so, here starts the amazing story of 2 men who had never run in their lives training and completing an official Half Marathon race with just 7 weeks of training!. Yes, S-E-V-E-N weeks!

It all started with a phone call from my high school friend Alexander Vaidhyan (Alex). Alex and I were classmates from Kindergarten to 12th grade! We played basketball together in high school. So, yes, we knew each other very well. When I picked up the phone, we didn't spend too much time catching up, Alex went straight to the point. He paused and asked me, "Patrick, can I also run a Half Marathon?" My immediate response was, "Yes da, you can certainly do it". The Airel Hyderabad Half Marathon was exactly 7 weeks away and I told Alex he should aim for that. Alex promptly registered for the Half and I started an experiment. And, I chose my close childhood friend to experiment on. YEAH!

Here is the training plan that I came up for Alex:


Alex talked his friend Venkat also into training with him for the Half Marathon, and both Alex & Venkat started training religiously for the HM. A couple of weeks into the training Alex called me one day and told me that he was developing some pains on his shin and also a back strain. I asked him if he was landing on his toes while running. He replied affirmative. So, I advised him to present his full foot while running. This took care of his back strain. The shin and calf pains that occur for rookie runners also disappeared for Alex.

After 4 weeks of training, I met Alex in Chennai and we both ran together at the Marina beach in Chennai on Aug 12, 2012. That day I taught Alex the stretching that the Dream Runners' trainer Elango taught me earlier. Alex learnt his stretching exercises and started doing stretches before and after his runs.

On Aug 15th, Alex ran 20 km and was beaming with confidence! Venkat & Alex were raring to go and conquer the Airtel Hyderabad HM.

Meanwhile, I was chosen as a "Running Ambassador" by the AHM Organizers. Please click here to read my Running Ambassador story. Reading my story, Paras Shah from Mumbai emailed me and asked me to help him complete the Airtel  Hyderabad HM on Aug 26th. I never knew Paras before. So, I offered advice and tips to Paras via FB. This was Paras' first ever Half Marathon as well.

The day arrived. It was a chilly and cloudy morning in Hyderabad on Sunday, Aug 26, 2012. Alex, Venkat and I drove to the starting line. Paras met me at the starting line and shook my hands. Our adrenaline was pumping and off we went on one of the toughest marathon courses in India. Rolling hills, fly overs, head winds and to top it all, it started raining as well. I was worried about Alex when I crossed the finish line in 02:12 hrs. When I was stretching with the Dream Runners group from Chennai, my right calf muscle cramped so badly that Elango had to rush to help me. I was still worried about Alex!

A little later Alex's son Felix found me in Gachibowli stadium where we finished the run and told me that his dad Alex was looking for me. I heaved a big sigh of relief. Alex had finished the race and in the crowd I had missed his finishing moment. Nevertheless, he had FINISHED!! And, that's all mattered. I rushed to him and gave him a big bear hug. I also hugged Venkat and congratulated him as well.

I got my breakfast and sat down next to Alex. When I started eating, Alex's wife asked me if my experiment had succeeded! I replied to her, "Since testing on animals in now banned, I chose my close childhood friend for the experiment and I proved to the world that anybody can run a HM with just 7 weeks of training". Then I threw my hands in the air and yelled "EUREKA!!"

Here is a picture of Venkat, Alex and I after our Half Marathon finish!

From Left to Right: Venkat, Patrick and Alex.

I later found out that Paras Shah from Mumbai had also finished the HM in 02:23 hrs. Way to go Paras!!

I am writing this to encourage everybody that reads this story to get off your couches and get on the road, park or trail (you choose) and run! Yes, R-U-N!! Keep running folks, it is such a joy and in a way, "therapy" too!

Meanwhile, I have now completed 2000 km of running since Oct 2010. My next Half Marathon is the Wipro Half Marathon on Saturday, Sept 15, 2012 in Bangalore!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

1000 km and counting!

It all started with a casual conversation with a co-worker. She asked me if I was interested in running in the Sunfeast 10K Race in the 5km Majja Run category back in May 2009. She and a group of other co-workers were running in support of the Hemophilia Society of India. For a charity cause, I thought. So, why not? And, I could lose a few pounds (or kg) as well. I replied to my co-worker that I would run. I paid my registration fee and got a couple of my friends registered as well. My friends and I got to the Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday, May 24, 2009. We were thinking that we would just blaze through the 5km stretch without any problems. I, of course thought that I used to run in the US every now and then, when I used to live there, and it would be easy for me to pick up where I left off. That's when reality struck!

What happened on that Sunday morning was a rude awakening. I was totally out of shape and overweight, that I huffed and puffed before I could see the 1 km marker on the road. I thought I would pass out before I completed the 5 km of running. My friend Biju was running with me and due to his encouragement, I slowly strolled along. Yes, strolled! It wasn't exactly walking, but running, which was slower than my regular walking speed. Ah well, you know what I mean. The sun was up and as we kept going, the 5km mark looked so so far away. We were sweating profusely and kept drinking more and more water, which slowed us down even more. After 3 km, I just couldn't run and chose to walk the next kilometer. Well, they say that the last kilometer of a race is the longest and I literally experienced it. When I crossed the finish line, I was ready for a Caribbean vacation.

The silver lining of that Sunday morning was that it motivated Biju and I to start running in the mornings. So, we took up running. We started to run a few kilometers on the trail around the Ulsoor lake in Bangalore. We did this on and off inconsistently for the rest of 2009. I hardly lost any weight because of the irregular schedule and had no diet control.

On December 26, 2009, my high school classmates and I had our 21st year reunion (yes, we couldn't do a 20th year reunion and it slipped to the 21st year). I traveled to my home town for the reunion and meet some of classmates after almost a decade. To my horror, I found myself to be the fattest and most out of shape when compared to all my classmates. We were all in our mid 30s, but I certainly looked like I was 40+. To say that I was embarrassed was an understatement. I went to my parents' home that night after the reunion dinner and couldn't sleep. I wanted to lose weight, I wanted to get back into shape. I wanted to start physical exercises. Above all, I wanted to take up running. I was a determined man. New Year 2010 was 6 days away and I had the ideal New Years resolution.

I named my 2010 New Years resolution as 10-10-10. It stood for - in the year '10, lose 10 kg (22 lbs) and complete at least one 10 km race. On Jan 1, 2010, I posted my resolution on my Facebook wall. I got lots of encouragement from my FB friends. I also got some caution saying that New Years resolutions generally don't go past January. I actually posted my resolution on FB so that I would be under pressure to succeed. And, it worked.

I came up with a plan to get started. My plan was to get into a daily schedule of walking for at least 40 minutes from January to March 2010. Walking was easy and it helped in starting to lose weight. I weighed 94 kg on 01/01/2010. By the end of Jan '10, I had lost 2 kg. It motivated me so much that I kept walking daily for the next 2 months.

May 2010 was approaching and the Sunfeast Bangalore 10K race was coming up. I wanted to try the 10 km race that year. My brother-in-law introduced me to the Nike Run Club (NRC) in Bangalore. The NRC got me into running. The NRC coach Mr. Beedu was instrumental in helping me get into shape and also taught me some good conditioning exercises. I started running. But still completing a 5 km run was tough. Coach Beedu kept encouraging me. He would pick on me particularly during drills and motivate me. I was determined to complete the 10 km race. Coach told me that completing a 10 km race was more in the mind than on the road. He told me that I should first finish the race in my head. That advice was invaluable and I would hold on to it for the rest of my life.

Exactly a year after I almost passed out running a 5 km run, I was there, on the same starting point, but this time aiming to go double the distance. More importantly, I had set my mind on it as Coach Beedu told me and finished the race in my mind before I started running. So, off I went along with 8000 other runners doing the 10 km race that year. This time I was running, not strolling. I was running alone and did not have any running buddies. I kept going. I was so determined, that I didn't even take a sip of water until I was at the 8 km mark. My mouth was parched, I didn't want to stop. But my body was completely dehydrated. I needed water. I stopped at the water station and gulped down 100 ml of water. I restarted my run and off I went towards the finish line. My only aim was to finish the race. And, I did! I did it. Yes, I did it! I really really did it!! I couldn't believe it. I was amazed and dazed. Many emotions took over me. I had just accomplished half of my 10-10-10 New Years resolution. I completed that 10 km race in 76 minutes.

A neighbor of mine saw me at the finish line and joked, "When you finish your first big race, that's when you get addicted to running"! I really didn't understand his words then. Today I can confidently say, his prophetic words came true. I am addicted. I am addicted to running.

I continued to run 4 or 5 days a week after that 10 km race finish. I was focused on the 2nd half of my 10-10-10 resolution. I was losing weight, but still had long ways to go before I lost 10 kg. So, I kept going. I was a regular at the NRC on Saturday mornings. I was getting back into shape. My dress pants didn't fit me any more. I bought a few new pairs of dress pants with reduced waist size to be worn to work. A friend of mine visiting from the USA got me a new pair of Nike running shoes.

October 2010 was a month that would put my running onto a higher gear. I participated in the Wipro 10K race on Oct 9, 2010 at Bangalore. I completed that race along with my running buddy Selvam in 64 minutes. That was a 12 minute improvement in 5 months. I was pumped up. I wanted to raise the bar. I wanted to run a half marathon. So, I decided to participate in the Auroville Half Marathon on February 13, 2011. Auroville is near Puducherry in Tamil Nadu, South India.

Training for a Half was not easy. It needed a lot of dedication and commitment. My running buddy Selvam and my childhood friend Gopi decided to join me at Auroville. I researched online and came up with a 16 week training plan for the Auroville Half. My friend Selvam and I followed my training schedule diligently. Gopi being a seasoned runner of over a decade did not need a training schedule. I started logging my running time and distance on a website called Daily Mile. Selvam and I did our long runs as part of our training schedules on Sundays. It was fun to increase the running distance every weekend. My cross training was swimming and occasional bicycling.

On February 12, 2011, Gopi and I drove to Auroville. Selvam got there ahead of us. Gopi and I got our running bibs and stayed the night at a dorm in Auroville. It was a different experience all together. Auroville means the "City of Dawn" and we were raring for the arrival of the dawn of February 13, 2011. It was Gopi's 2nd Half Marathon and he was as excited as me as well. The dawn finally arrived. We woke up early and drove to the starting point. The race started at 6 am. We were healthy and full of adrenaline. Selvam met us at the starting point. At 6am sharp, the race started and the three of us started together.

After 3 km, Gopi started pulling away and Selvam started falling back after 10 km. I was left alone in the race at the half way mark. I made the mistake of running without drinking water every 20 minutes. This got me dehydrated at the 12 km mark. At the 12 km mark, I drank 2 paper cups full of water and kept going. My nipples started bleeding as a result of rubbing against my wet dry-fit shirt. Yeah, I know it's an oxymoron. I stopped at a first-aid station and got band-aids for my bleeding nipples. I found a new race-day-running-buddy. His name was Alok and he is a resident of Auroville. He was educated in the USA. I got to know a lot about Auroville as we kept talking for a few kilometers along the way. When I reached the 18.5 km mark, I bid good-bye to Alok and pulled away. I sprinted the last kilometer and finished the first half marathon of my life in 2:18 hours. I almost cried in joy! Gopi finished in 2:08 hours and Selvam in 2:23 hours.

Forgot to mention it, I actually weighed 82 kg on December 31, 2010. For the first time in my life, I had kept and fulfilled a New Years resolution. I finished two 10 km races and reduced my weight by 12 kg in 2010. Success all the way, honey!

My addiction to my running continues in 2011. I got a pair of New Balance as a birthday gift this year from a good friend in the USA. During my business trip to NY in May 2011, I got a runners fuel belt, a Garmin 305 GPS running watch, specialized Therlo men's running socks and a dry-fit sleeveless shirt.

This year, at the TCS Bangalore 10K race on June 5, 2011, I broke the 60 minute mark at an official 10 km race and clocked 56:45 minutes. A 20 minute improvement from May 2009, when my addiction to running started. My neighbor who predicted it has now moved to Mumbai. Gopi lives in Coimbatore. Selvam injured his back and is recovering. This has left me running all alone for the past few months. I currently run an average of 30 km a week, running at least 10 km every time I run.

I continue to log my running time and distance on dailymile.com. The best thing about this website is that it has a plug-in through which it downloads my running distance and time directly from my Garmin Forerunner 305 watch. This helps me log my time and distance accurately. Today is September 18, 2011 and I crossed 1000 km of logging my running on dailymile.com. I humbly look at it as a personal accomplishment and it is a great inspiration to go for many more thousands of miles.

What do these 1001 km mean? Click on the image below to see what it actually means according to Daily Mile -







As I sit on my recliner and type this blog, I look back and my mind goes back to that 5 km majja run that almost sucked the living daylight out of me in May 2009. I've come a long way. Amazing journey so far, isn't it? But as they say, it is not how you start that matters, it is how you finish! At this point in time, all I am looking forward with regards to my running is the next 1000 km and no injuries!

Well, it all really started with a casual conversation!