Two personal bests in one week

So, last week turned out to be a great running week. I was able to log two personal bests. I ran my fastest 5K and also my fastest mile and I'm pretty happy about it.

I usually try to run every single day. There is this initiative called 100 days of running which is organized every year between april and august. The rules of the event are that one has to run a minimum of 2 Kms per day for 100 days straight. The runs can be logged using an app called strava in which case the run logs are automatically synced to the 100 days of running website or we can also manually enter the details using any other run logging apps like Nike Running Plus or Gamin Connect or any of the hundreds of other running apps available.

I personally use Strava because the watch I use, the Garmin Fenix 3 (long term review coming soon) and the underlying Garmin Connect app automatically syncs my runs to Strava and I find it extremely convenient to use this.

This 100 days of running event is a great motivation to start running and to prepare ourselves for all the running events which happen during the later part of the year. I've tried this for two consecutive years now and I found it to be very motivating and helpful. I couldn't run for all the 100 days but I did better than last year. Last year I could only run for around 50 of the 100 days but this time I did more than 70 days. I missed runs usually because I was travelling. I tried to push in a run in between my vacation as well which is why I was able to do 20 days more than last year.

These runs helped me a great deal in preparing myself for Hyderabads biggest running event, the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon. I had some very very hectic work weeks before the actual event and I couldn't practice much, but the running I did before helped me and I could finish the 10K easily. The lack of practice showed a little but overall it was pretty good.

Like I said in my previous blog, I recently enrolled into a fancy gym and my runs are getting a lot more consistent now. I paid relatively more as membership for this gym which is my motivation to go every single day and make the most of it. I am running in a controlled environment now on a treadmill which makes these runs relatively easier but it doesn't take away the fact that I still run for 25-40 mins straight maintaining a heart rate of about 160bpm.

A lot more events are coming up. My next event is going to be the Hyderabad 10K which will be held in November. I will do a few more events before that and in the process I hope to break a lot more of my personal records.

Running is very good for health and I personally would encourage everyone to run. It works as a stress buster and also helps keep your weight under control. It also increases your stamina making it easier to climb stairs and keeps you physically fit. It helps more if you keep a track of your runs and to see that there are improvements as time passes.

On to my next record now. Keep running!!

80% diet and 20% exercise

I've had issues with weight since as long as I can remember. I am not fat and I don't have trouble doing any kind of strenuous physical activity, on the contrary I am extremely active, I run everyday, participate in different running events all around the city, play a lot of sports and all that. Its just that my BMI (Body Mass Index) calculated as kg/m2 where kg is a person’s weight in kilograms and m2 is their height in metres squared as per this website, falls in the obese category and I am working my ass of to get below the obese level.

When I was abroad, I got hooked on to this sport called crossfit. Its an amazing sport which combines functional movements and Olympic weight lifting which helps in overall well-being and keeps you physically prepared to do anything. It is considered to be one of the toughest things to do and being the active guy that I was, I gave it a shot. I got very good at it eventually. I was the only Indian in that group and the coach used to call me the Indian tiger. I had been going to a normal gym prior to crossfit but it wasn't helping me much to achieve my goal. I read somewhere that the body has to burn more calories to sustain muscle, so I thought crossfit would be my opportunity to build that muscle which would eventually help me burn away all the fat but for some strange reason it worked against me. I gained muscle alright, but it looked like all my muscle was being build on top or just underneath the layer of fat and because of that, instead of me looking leaner, I looked much more beefier.

I did crossfit for 3 years with hardly any weight loss. In fact I put on a lot of muscle mass which showed on the weight scale. Eventually when I came back to India I completely stopped crossfit, took some time off and then started hitting the regular gym. Crossfit involves a lot of squats (both free and weighted) and that made my legs heavy as my quads had become stronger and I started having difficulties running. I used to feel like I had something really heavy strapped on to my legs when I used to go on runs. If you didn't know already, running is my second most favorite thing to do and so I had to do something about it.

I started working out at my office gym but I was so used to crossfit that I just couldn't stop doing it. I made a few friends there who were also into crossfit and I was back at it full fledged. There was no dress code in that office, so I looked pretty normal in my jeans and T-shirts. I realized how big I had gotten only after I changed my company where I had to wear formals. I started looking like a bouncer and I couldn't stand it. I again joined the office gym and this time instead of lifting any heavy weights, I started running and doing a lot of cardio. After a couple of months I started noticing differences and now I am slowly but steadily on my way down and here I am now, visibly thinner (not leaner) but my struggle still goes on.

As the title of my blog says, its 80% diet and that's where I am faltering big time. I kept a tight reign on what I ate all of last week but today everything went down the drain again. Maybe I can consider this as my cheat day. The good thing is that I will be hitting the gym tomorrow morning and I will surely burn off all of what I ate today.

I paid a 6 months membership at this fancy gym. I hope to do the 80% of my work properly and let the other 20% actually take effect.

Wish me luck!!

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