One8 Bengaluru Run

 Race Category: 10K

Timing: 00:56:46

One8 Run is the race organized by Virat Kohli's brand and I did get a chance to see him as he flagged off the event.

This was organized on the same NICE road where the Bengaluru 10K (Tougher 10K) happens annually. 

I had a wonderful run and very satisfied with my performance. I went in with a target of 56:59 target considering the 10K practice run I had just a week ago. And guess what, I was able to achieve this and clocked 56:46 which is my new official Personal Best now! I improved it by about 01 min 41 sec!!

Since my previous PB was also at the same route last year, I knew the 6 to 7 KM stretch has a good elevation, I had only one plan here: to run steadily and clock around 6 mins 45 secs for this 1KM. And I guess, I ran at 6:50 here in this tough section and due to which the subsequent result was very satisfactorily.

This gives me confidence to keep working on it and keep improving on the results as well.

10K race summary over the years.

TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2018

Race Category: 10K
Timing: 01:03:27

Disappointed! That's all I can say after the race.
With the past few week's practice and last week's Adidas training run's timing of 62 mins, I had set the target of under 60 mins for this race. But when I crossed the finish line, I realized I had finished it in about 63 mins, I was hugely disappointed.
I ran first 5 km faster than my usual pace and covered in about 28 mins. What I feel is that due to this faster pace during initial stage, I was unable to finish strong and hence the slower final timing.

Here is the result:

And since this was the only 10k I've planned for this year, the desire to complete in < 60 mins was stronger. Anyways, there is always next time.

BTW, I have registered for a Full Marathon scheduled for Oct'18. This will be my first FM and I'm eagerly looking forward to it. And I'm aware my training needs to be up to the mark to ensure a good run.

Bengaluru Marathon 2017

Race Category: Half Marathon (21.1 km)
Timing: 02:27:47

Bengaluru Marathon 2017 was my first Half marathon and it was a great experience. I would be lying if I said it wasn't tough. What unsettled me was the fact that it turned out to be little tougher than what I had anticipated. Believe me, I had practice runs of around 17 kms before the race and I was fairly well prepared for the event. Apparently that wasn't sufficient I suppose.

Just a day before the race day, Bengaluru witnessed good amount of rainfall and the weather was good on the race day with little humidity I can say. The race started entertaining the huge crowd with right amount of pomp. I started little slower as per the plan and besides the rush at the start line wouldn't allow even if I had any other plans.

For about 13-14 kms, I was in good rhythm and content that I might finish the race in my target time of 2 hrs 15 mins. But it started getting tougher, my legs slowed down but I continued to run, a little slower though. At 17 km mark, I got tired and I started walking despite all my motivational talk in head. I started asking, "Why the hell am I running a half marathon?!".

I resumed my run after a minute or two. As I approached the finish line, I gathered all my energy and will power to run faster. I finished stronger.

After the race, the tired thoughts disappeared suddenly and all I was thinking was how to improve my performance in my next race.

Though the timing of 2:27:47 didn't really excite me but I am thoroughly satisfied with the race and my performance.

Cult.fit 10K run

Race category: 10K
Timing: 01:06:02

In search of a better 10K timing, I registered for the 10K arranged by Cult. The race was conducted systematically and the runners found comfortable wih the race course and also the arrangements. I found myself in a nice space just before the race and felt I could better my previous timing quite easily. But to my disappointment, I couldn't.
I set a target of 62 minutes considering my previous run in Midnight Marathon in ~65 minutes. I didn't even come close to the mark. In fact, finished it in 66 minutes as per the official timing. However, my phone app recorded the race and shows it ~64 minutes. Either way, I wasn't happy.

Anyways, this gives me an opportunity to relook at my regular weekly workouts and type of runs. I will be doing few changes in the regime and hope to get things better. I seek to run more, run fast and run comfortably and eventually get my target of < 60 minutes target for 10k and similarly better timing for coming half marathons (21K).

BTW, yes, I got a chance to meet Milind Soman at the start of the race. He flagged off the race and it was a delight seeing him there. Later, I was mentioned, he too joined running.

Long evening run

Sunday long run: 69 mins

Summer's here and the sun rises are early. Not quite a comfortable situation if you plan to have a long run in the morning. Sun's already up at 6:30am and you need to be faster than the sun at least by an hour to avoid running in hot sun.

The lazy part of me won today as I wasn't able to wake up at 5:45am. I immediately procrastinated for evening run around the lake as usual. 

The plan was to run for an hour without any stops at conversational pace. From past couple of weeks I accomplished running more than 5Ks quite easily. Hence I decided to stretch myself with an hour run this time.

I generally start at easy pace but as I cover 1 KM, I tend to increase my pace automatically. I realized the faster pace a little past 2KMs mark, so I reduced it immediately. I covered around 3KMs with easy breathing with only my nose doing the job. Later, it became harder due to which I had to start breathing through my mouth to ease the load. After a solid 7KMs mark, the breathing was in rhythm and I decided to give my lungs further load by breathing only through my nose. I reached my goal of 1 hour run and I still wanted to run more. I continued for 5 more minutes and before stopping I checked the distance covered and it read 9.3 KMs and that's when I decided to close it with a round figure of 10KMs. I finished my workout of 10KMs in ~69 mins and it was indeed satisfying. It always feels good to run more than the planned distance giving a little extra at the end, pushing the limits.

I had started my run a few minutes before dusk and by the time I finished, it was already dark and the security personnel was waiting for all the people to finish up so that he can lock the gate and call it a day.

Plan is to up the ante with combination of tempo, interval and long runs in the following weeks.

Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016

Run category: 10K
Timing: 01:04:57

It was time to up the ante so I decided to register for a 10K as I've been piling up lot of miles lately.
Initially, I planned to register for Goa River Run but later decided to avoid out-of-town runs to reduce travel. I've recently traveled around quite a bit so decided to checkout any 10Ks in the city itself. Bengaluru Midnight Marathon, consisting of full, half, 10K & 5K marathons, was also scheduled at exactly the same time of Goa run, so got registered immediately.
Last Sunday, I had a long run of 10K at easy pace and I could finish it in 70 mins. Based on that, I set a target of 65 mins or lesser. I would love to finish sub-60 mins but achieving this target would be very difficult with the given preparation.

Bengaluru Midnight Marathon was conducted in the Whitefield area of Bengaluru city. Mary Kom graced the occasion and it was conducted quite nicely. The 10K race started at 10PM and as planned I ran the whole 9K with consistent pace and left some energy to finish off strongly in the last kilometer. I finished in 64 mins 57 seconds and was quite satisfied with it. With that I've got the confidence I can improve that timing further in coming runs.

I saw good participation with good arrangements. Reaching the venue caused some issue due to traffic jams as it was Saturday late evening. One thing which the organizers can improve is to have full road for one way route instead of dividing it for two-way with a U-turn at the end. This caused little congestion at certain phases. I understand, this would make extra roads to be blocked for the event. Anyways, organizers would have got first hand info and would have already noted.

Looking forward for more running in coming days.

TCS World 10K marathon Bangalore 2011

Race Category: 10K
Timing: 01:08:59

Update[09/04/2018]:
This 10K details somehow was missed out being posted, which I'm doing it now :) While cleaning my old items, I found the 2011 medal and the BIB. And when I checked my blog, this 2011 edition was missing and hence this late post.