I’ve been struggling, for almost a month now, with the training schedules. It never seems to work because being summer, there is always something else (more fun) to do, viz camping, street festivals, cycling or family/friend visits. So after factoring all those unpredictable clauses, I think I was able to arrive at a training schedule that has a good potential to work.

Monday: Afternoon/Evening – 2 hours in gym. Right now I am at 8 km, but I plan to increase this to 15 km in 4 weeks.
Tuesday: Morning – Yoga, rest
Wednesday: Evening – 2 hours with the running group. Last time I barely did 6 km, it has to increase.
Thursday: Morning – Yoga, rest
Friday: Afternoon – 1 hour in gym for 8 km
Saturday and Sunday: Rest

The goal is to clock 25-30 km each week for the next 3 weeks, and then increase it to 35 km.

I already had my yoga class this morning. Its a new gym and a new 7am class, probably that may explain why I was the only one today.

Here are some pictures from the park from my trip back in 2007.
Photo Gallery – Algonquin Provincial Park

While gym training is useful to build endurance and train regardless of the weather conditions, it’s no match for training outdoors. Last night, I ran with a group of marathoners and one could easily tell the novice in the pack.

My score last night was 5.7km in 45 minutes. At the end of it, I was exhausted while others were acting as if they just got back from a casual stroll in the park. This just shows how much I have to do in next 80 days.

The weather was funny too. It was dry for the first 10 minutes. Then it started to drizzle a bit, followed by some thunder and lightning and the last 15 minutes were fully wet. My t-shirt which was initially wet from my sweat, was now drenched in the rain. Being in downtown, it was kinda funny to navigate between puddles, avoid getting poked in the eye by people’s umbrellas and stay alert of people running across the footpath trying to find cover.

Today is going to be a rest day, which means nothing more than a total of 11.5km bike ride to and from work.

Last night, I covered a distance of about 8.2km, running for 80 minutes straight with two 1.5 minute breaks. At the end of it, I was still feeling fresh, with no noticeable ache in knees, ankles or legs, which looks like a good sign. But since this was inside the cosy confines of a gym, I am not sure how that would translate to the real world.

I can check that tonight. I’m going to run 5K with a group, in a weekly event organised by the Running Room. They say that a marathon must be run at a speed which at which one can have a comfortable conversation with fellow runners. But does that mean I should actually be conversing with fellow runners? Interesting, I will know that tonight.

That’s because I, after much thinking and debating, signed up for a gym membership. You might have read earlier that I had a 10-day trial pass. Well, that expired and I started looking for something new by visiting few gyms.

Gym#1:

“Hi, I would like to know about new memberships”
“Let me give you a tour of the place, then we can talk.”
I got a brief tour of the facilities of that gym.
“I like the gym, but I don’t see myself using all these equipments or benefiting from your night classes”
“Sure, in that case, we can offer a special discount. How about $X per month”
“Umm.. sorry man, my budget is only $X/2″
“Okay we can work something out, why don’t you come tomorrow and I’ll talk to my manager meanwhile?”

Gym#2:

“Hi, I would like to know about new memberships”
“Our monthly price is $1.5X, if you signup for a year, it is $1.4X”
Usually one can tell if the other person is not open to negotiations.
“Okay, thank you for the information”

Gym#3:

“Hi, I would like to know about new memberships”
“Let me give you a tour of the place, then we can talk.”
I got a brief tour of the facilities of that gym.
“Its great, and its close to my place. But I don’t think I could come in everyday. Do you have a scheme for 3 times a week or something like that”
“Sure we can find a deal for you – X/3 per month and you could come in for 3 days a week.”
It took few minutes of negotiations to arrive at that.
“Great, can I come tomorrow and signup?”

I prefered Gym#1 since it was close to work, but Gym#3 was cheaper. Both offered comparable facilities, but the former one was a newer place, with few customers while the later one was one of those evil, as my leftist friend would put it, corporate chains.

This morning, I called Gym#1 and apologised for not being able to take their membership.
“What if we match the offer from Gym#3?”
“Oh can you do that? I’m definitely more interested in your place!”

And thus, I got a membership at Gym#1. It’s a very nice and cosy place, very close to work, new equipment, not crowded at all, and, if it matters, a predominantly homosexual clientele. I don’t have to worry about the unpredictable weather anymore. I’m just hoping that I will use the gym regularly!

Moral of the story: One doesn’t get what one doesn’t ask for! (in this case, it was the discounts.)

It is interesting to see how human body adapts to change and challenge. I am following a 13 week training program and eventually I’m supposed to clock over 40km per week at a much better speed. I’m curious to discover how that happens!

Until last week, I had been to the gym maybe twice or thrice in my life. However, last week I got a 10-day free trial membership at a big gym in downtown Toronto. The reason? To try the shoes I was going to buy.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I still haven’t found the perfect shoe. The shoe store lets me try their product for 30 days and I can return or exchange the shoes if they don’t suit me well – provided I keep them in mint condition. So, it was important to try the shoes in an indoor setting, and hence the gym.

Getting a 10-day free trial membership at Extreme Fitness is not a task for the soft bargainers. I had to sit through almost 20-30 minutes of discussions and negotiations. The sales guy called his manager because I wouldn’t budge. Their membership costs $85 per month and by the end of the negotiations, the sales manager offered me a discounted price of $60. All memberships have an annual contract, so I’d be set back by $720 per year. I understand that people have different resources, needs and goals in life, but this was an exorbitant cost for me. All I wanted, for selfish reasons of course, was the free 10-day pass, which they advertise everywhere.

Finally, after the manager got convinced that I will not, under any circumstances, commit to a marriage before dating, he gave me a free 10-day trial.

I admit I do feel slightly brainwashed by the institution. I can see the benefits of a gym membership, especially given the Northern winters and generally unpredictable weather.

So I am recalculating my financial forecasts to incorporate the potential risk of higher healthcare costs, and identify another expenditure area to compensate it from (can you tell I work in the government?).

Tonight I am going to socialize with other runners. Running Room , a sports store that specialises in running equipment, is organising a 20-minute challenge. It’s for everyone – those who run to exercise and those (like me) who are preparing for a race. I am told that these 20-minute thingies get pretty crowded. At the end, everyone gets a free hat for participating.. hehe.

I think I can comfortably do the 20 minute thing. I’ve been running for 60-90 minutes for the last two days consecutively and today might be a pleasant break. I still haven’t decided on the shoes btw. Hopefully I’ll be able to finalise by this weekend and return the pair that I like less.

It’s been a week since I started my shoe research. After visiting few stores, doing some tests and reading materials online, I think I have short listed the two finalists.

Back in 2003 when I was young and reckless, and biked from Goa to Bombay, I ended up injuring my right knee. It doesn’t hurt except when I bike continuously for more than 40km. In retrospect, I could easily have taken better care of myself on that particular cycling expedition, but such things happen. Also, I have bowed legs, due to which my feet pronate a lot and I can feel it all the time. The tests confirmed that I have high (but not unusual) degree of pronation and may need some correction in the future. Since I don’t have insurance to cover that, I’m not going to do anything right now.

So I ended up settling on two pairs – Mizuno and Asics. Both are Japanese brands, one uses plastic and the other uses gel for cushioning and support. Mizuno is lighter but Asics has better cocooning for my feet. I am going to the gym tonight and will test run in each pair for 3km before settling on one.

For someone who hasn’t blogged since March 17 (that’s a gap of 124 days), this title might seem odd. Lot of things have happened since I posted last, but there was nothing unusual. Spring has turned into summer, with scorching heat and Mumbai-like heat and humidity. My mother visited me for 3.5 weeks and was content with everything (pheww!). And so on.

The reason for this post is to announce that I have registered for the Toronto ‘Half’ Marathon which is going to be held on October 17, 2010. The Marathon is 42.2km (as usual) and I will be running half of it, i.e. 21.1km.

This blog, with daily updates, is just another mechanism to keep me motivated. I’ll be posting my daily progress, race plans, and share any information that I gather from devouring tons of reading material.

Why?

For the past few months, I was increasingly feeling like I haven’t ‘done’ something for a while, be it travel or adventure or both. Back in 2003, I biked 650km (6 days) from Goa to Mumbai. In 2005, I went on a trek in the Himalayas and saw glaciers and snow (which is not so interesting anymore!) In 2006, I biked in the Himalayas (8 days). 2007 was an exciting year of moving to Canada, followed by a trip to Israel, Peru, Russia and Bhutan in the next year.

Last year and half were low-key, I was busy ‘settling down’. Hence, it was important to do something interesting this year. The thought of running a Marathon occurred to me one day and before my dominant rational-self interfered in the decision making, I spontaneously signed up.

So, here I am, soon to be a half-Marathoner!