‘Fast’ is a relative word when it comes to amateur long distance running or probably everything else in life. I did my first half marathon in 2010 in 2:55! And the next one in 2:28, before I had to take a break for 2 years. But I came back stronger; my timings have only been improving in the last two years, from 2:09 at ADHM in 2013, 2:03 in 2014 to 1:50 in 2015. I have been getting better even though I’m running lesser, way lesser than I used to. I was thinking of certain things that I did differently (accidentally) to improve and it’s only fair that I share it on my blog –
1) I have accepted that with the kind of erratic work schedule, I probably can’t follow a routine. Earlier I would miss out on my workout if I missed out on a certain fixed time I had decided for it. Now I fit in a work out whenever I get time through the day. It could mean doing the planks in the morning post dropping my son to school and doing the calf raises in the afternoon when taking a 10 minute break from work.
2) For the last six months, I have been doing (or try) 3 reps of planks (45 seconds each) 4 days a week.
3) I spend 10 minutes on doing basic weight training for upper body 3 times a week.
4) I have been doing calf strengthening and sitting squats whenever I can (3 times a week). Click here to see the videos. I will be adding more.
5) Once a week I run 5 kms as fast as I can. I never time myself as I don’t want it to stress me out.
6) I concentrated on improving my timing for 10 kms rather than for long runs.
7) I get massage done for my legs once a week. But I don’t do the fancy ones as I find them too expensive. A simple massage by a girl who comes home and does it, works for me.
8) I consume one gel before the start and one during the half marathon.
9) I was lucky to have figured the shoes which suit me the best. Boston Boost it is for now.
10) During warm days drinking electrals/ORS during the runs instead of any other drink has made a huge difference in recovery. Recently, I tried Recover (post my runs) by FastandUp which worked wonders as well.
11) Post run stretching by way of basic yoga poses – Warrior pose, Downward Doggie, Dhanurasna, boat pose, reverse boat pose and Viparita Karani.
I hope this helps. Do share what works and what doesn’t work for you.
17 Comments
Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s a great learning…
KeepWriting KeepInspiring
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Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks for sharing. You are on a roll. Wishing you improvements everytime. Cheers!
Thanks for sharing this. I have also gone through the same transition from DNF to 1:50 in last 3 years. What i feel from my case is we often underestimate and did not utilize our body fully. There is a some thoughts going on back of head will I be able to sustain this pace for 21k/42k which sometime makes you slow down. I think our practice runs help us in overcoming this and making us believe yes, we will make it. but sill challenge lies in knowing your limits wish we had some scientific way of knowing it so that we can give our PB in every run but then that would take all fun out of run 🙂
This is truly inspiring! What an amazing runner you are! The only girl that I know who has done an HM in a mindblowing sub-2!
Interestingly I have almost the same improvement graph as yours (but with the luxury of bachelorhood)!
Keep it up, Anupriya… I’m following your posts for sure… 🙂
Very inspiring indeed Anupriya! Can only think of trying out this after I manage to run a fast 10K. BTW, you also need to give us a demo of those deadly yoga poses.
Beautifully expressed and truly inspiring .. Anupriya you make it sound so simple . Can totally relate to an erratic schedule but am feeling all charged up to religiously follow this regimen.
Your post once again reaffirms the truth about running and life.
It inspires slow runners and shows that persistence and discipline will pay off in the end.
Thanks for sharing. Sounds like quality rather than. Quantity worked for you. Great going. All the best for future runs.
It was great to read your post . I have been struggling to improve for sometime,then made peace with timing and am happy with just enjoying my run. What you have described is a huge improvement. Nice tips …will try them ☺. And I like the blog name .
Once again INSPIRED! Im gonna start running soon. Currently working on strengthening those muscles, weight loss…. Thanks a lot for sharing dear Anupriya. You have no idea how helpful and insightful your experience can be to someone like me.
Love and regards
Thanks for sharing. Very useful and practical tips and I can relate to most of them.
I have also improved on timing/distance over the past year with more strength training and switching to electrals during the runs.
I am not able to follow the standard marathon training plans due to time constraints but as long as I can squeeze in one long run, one sprint run and one strength training session in a week, I stay in good shape.
Wow what a delightful read it was ! Keep it up Anupriya.
Thanks…I have bad knee pain after I did 10k trail run…can you also let me know a few knee excersise? So that the knee pain goes away and I can start running again
Hey sure will make videos of knee strengthening too. Do foam rolling as well and icing in the meanwhile. If pain persists for more 3-4 days, do see a physio.
Good job done in sharing the basics. A good reminder. My two anas worth of contribution: try to add kapal bhati and anlom vilom to the routine. It helps in increasing the lung capacity. Essential for short distances because we run fast.
Awesome advise, will try for sure. Thank you 🙂