Category Archives: Uncategorized

08.11.12
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How important is Strength Training for Runners ?

I had been away from the trails for close to a year, because of plantar fasciitis. I seriously used that time for swimming, biking, and strength-training. Both activities are tremendously helpful to increase your cardio-vascular strengths.

 

 

For swimming, it increases cardio-vascular strength, endurance, posture, and flexibility all at the same time.

 

 

“Unlike high-impact sports such as running, which stresses your joints, swimming is a no-impact sport unlikely to cause or aggravate joint injuries.”

 

 

For biking, it strengthens your lungs, improves core, and definitely creates stronger legs.

 

 

Since last 4 months, I have been regularly hitting the gym, doing some serious weight training. I always do circuit training for an hour to hour-and a half. All most all sports have strength training as part of training regime.

 

 

Strength training is quite different from weight training. Weight training focusses on the amount of weight you can lift, while strength training focusses on body strengthening while lifting weights.

 

 

Strength training, helps you condition your body, improve the posture, with various lifts involving kettle balls, barbell, dumb-bells. What I do is-

English: an exercise of shoulders

Barbell: pick and lift it up the shoulder

 

  1. Place a 2 ft table, and jump on-off the table, doing 10-12 reps. Increases the heart rate. [total 8 sets]
  2. Go for pull-ups, do 10 reps. In subsequent sets, the reps go down :(. [Total 3 sets]
  3. Go for push-ups, all variations, totaling 60-65, in sets of 25/20/15/10.
  4. Start with barbell, do a snatch lift. 5-7 reps, in total 6 sets with weights of 90/80 Kgs. This strengthens my legs, hamstrings, back, core, and complete upper body. A very powerful exercise.
  5. I also add kettle ball, swings, lifts, shrugs as variation to my strengthening.
  6. In addition to the above I focus on the shoulders, and chest workouts, by using the resistance band and machines.

By using weights, I am able to burn the fat, even when I am sitting in the office. Weights add muscle mass to your body and burn fat on a regular basis, even when the body is idle.

 

 

Now when I have started running, I see a great change in my running. Surprisingly, I am not that tired as I used to be, while running the uphills.

 

 

Look out for my next blogpost, on the change in my diet.

 

 

01.29.12
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Long time…. what was the runner doing ??

Hey guys,

Its been long that I posted on Wordpress. I had been fighting hard to get on to the trail, and hit the pavement.

Doc had prescribed me a boot cast. Was hopping around with that for couple of weeks, before heading for a vacation.

Could not resist myself from walks and moving around, without the cast.

The pain aggravated to the extent that it was changing my gait, followed up with the doctor, and he made me fall back to wearing the boot again.

So now I am back to limping with the boot cast, biking and weights at the gym. Swimming is another, but I am scared of the cold.

REMEMBER- Always always pay heed to your injuries. Baby the injured area, literally baby it…..

more coming up on my biking soon………..

10.16.11
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100 year old ‘DUDE’ .. rockstar .. ‘THE MAN’ .. ‘SINGH’

First of all HANDS down to the warrior.. with utmost respect I salute his marathon completion at the age of 100 years with a timing of 8:25:17.  At around 30Km mark, he was in bad pain, and it felt that he may drop off the event, may not complete it.. but he shocked the world, when his utter determination and mental stamina.. brought him to the finish line… If you check the video out, you can see him crossing the finish line.. event organizers were almost packing up, when the awesome dude completed his run…

His half marathon timing may shock you, at age 96, he has a sub 2:30 timing. He had set up a world record for age 90+ at the Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon 2004: 2:29:59. Damn lot of novice runners in 20’s target this time. I am spellbound ….

check his wikipedia.

This post is just too small to talk about the personality, who has stood alongside David Beckham and Muhammed Ali as the Adidas brand ambassador. Adidas signed him up for their advertising campaign ‘Nothing is Impossible’ .. And the dude, just proved it.. @100 yrs, 26.2 miles, under 8:30 is unbelievable.

Fauja had blood tests and a bone density test when the runner was 99. Doctors, kept blind to the identity of their subjects, felt they were dealing with a 40-year-old in the blood tests. On bone density, Singh’s left leg was found to be comparable to that of a 35-year-old; his right leg had that of a 25-year-old.

“His response was, ‘I knew my left leg was weaker,’” said Alan Brookes, race director for Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2011.

even the Adidas billboard warns the Marathon runners from Kenya: “The Kenyans had better watch out for him when he hits 100”.  lolz!!!

To read more on the great man, his humbleness, and sarcasm, read it at SikhiWiki

Hats Off to you … DUDE !! 🙂

09.18.11
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Sikh strides with Pride

So it was my first 5K. Running for one’s own identity and own pride is such an awesome feeling. The race was organized by SikhCoalition, a non-profit organisation who fights for the legal rights of the minority groups in US.

Since 9/11, there have been lot of hate crimes, and discrimination against the Sikhs, because of their identity. This was a fund-raising 5K race. Money raised through the effort, goes into running the SikhCoalition.

Now to the race part. This was a flat quick race. Challenged strongly by a bunch of high school kids, and freshmen, I believe I ran my fastest and strongest 5K ever. The kids were awesomely good, and paced hard throughout the distance. Coming back from a 13 mile run the previous day, and lot of icing, I maintained a constant speed throughout the run. Keeping a close tab on my strides, ensuring that the landing happens on the foot / mid-foot and the turnover remains quick.

Honestly, it was so exciting to be in the lead pack for around 4K, till I slowed down a bit, and two runners passed me. I enjoyed every moment of the crowd cheer, as I ran my way back from the half mark, being the fourth runner in the lead, rest all being high school kids and freshmen.

But it was so much fun to run a fast race. Overall, this was one of the best runs I ever experienced.

For details on SikhCoalition visit their website at SikhCoalition

09.14.11
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Getting out of the cradle

4 weeks of rest to the sore heels, popping in ibuprofen’s lot of stretching and icing… and NO RUNNING…

Since last Monday I did not get the pain in my foot, so an extra day of rest, and thought I should hit the pavement…

The run today was easy, with change in the stride. Made quick turnovers, by keeping shorter strides. Shorter strides helped me in a faster run, and less impact on the heels. Landing was more on the toes, and mid-foot. Though it always feels to run more after a long lay over period, but it is good intelligence not to. Start slow and steady, and build it up with strength.

Ofcourse one does not loose the stamina and lungs are still as strong as they were before, because swimming or biking or any other form of cross training keeps them in shape.

Anyways, I hope that the heel pain doesn’t come back during the day, have taken anti-inflammatory, and am icing while writing this post.

For readers, here is an article on Running Form- http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267-268-8210-0,00.html

as far as strides are concerned, there is no sacred stride 🙂

till I post again painless running !!