Moklumme 50 miles - April 18, 2015

Couple of weeks after running 50 miles, Shavi did another 50-miles at Moklumme for the second time. Shavi had enjoyed the race last year. It is a bit of drive to get there (around 1.5 hours) but the course is great (and tough) and the aid stations are ok. The race started a bit late as the race director got there late!! They have a half marathon and 50K race as well and the course for both do not seem to be easy.

AR 50 - April 4, 2015

Shavi ran AR50 yet again. Perfect time for running 50 miles when you are training for a 100-mile race. The aid stations were good as always but the only issue was the start. Runners had to get into a state park for the start line which was to close one hour before the race start. Basically, runners had to get inside by 5am which was a torture. What do you really do for that long? Sleep in the car maybe! I only went to see him at mile 26 (Beals point). Lot of people out there at Beals point. Parking is easy and getting inside the state park costs $12 unless you have a poppy pass. Then I went to the finish line. Shavi had to drive to San Francisco aiport to pick a friend after being up since 3.30am and running 50 miles in the hot weather. He did good on the run and finished in 9 hours and 27 mins.

Way Too Cool 50K

Shavi did another 50K on March 7, 2015, within couple of weeks of his first 50K this year. Is that insane or what! Way Too Cool 50K is a pretty popular race and Shavi has been doing it since the past few years.

It was a hot day and Shavi wanted to do this race as another training run for his 100-miler in June. He had a good time and so did we at the finish line, enjoying the post-race festivities. He completed the race in 5 hours 41 minutes.

FOURmidable 50K - Here begins the ultra season!!

Shavi's first ultra race this season on Feb 21, 2015. This 50K race was to start at 6.30am but apparently it was delayed by 30 mins since the race director did not reach the start line on time!!! The aid stations were not impressive and had only packaged food. The course was harder and more challenging than Way Too Cool 50K. The race started and finished from Cool Fire Station, CA. Quite few people rav this race since it is not too popular.

The race has a half marathon and 100K distance as well.

Western States 100-miles - June 27-28, 2015 - coming up yet again!

Shavi is in yet again - WS 100 - the 100-mile trail race which is so hard to get in. Second consecutive year for Shavi to be running this race and his third 100-miler. We learned about this in Dec 2014 and he has started training for it on his own now in mid-Jan. Wishing him safe training runs and a great race ahead!

CIM - my first marathon - sub-5 hours

I swear I could not have run this without Shavi pacing me. Shavi who was himself injured due to a severe bad spasm couple of weeks ago decided to still pace me with the injury. It was tough on him but with my bad IT band and shin injuries, he knew I might not be able to complete the marathon in my goal time of sub-5 hours. I cannot be thankful enough to him for making me achieve my goal. I completed the race in 4 hours 57 mins. I was hurting bad during the race but after finishing, I was fine. Shavi had a hard time after the race because of his injury. Took him a few days to recover.

California International Marathon - CIM (runcim.org) is one of the very famous races in the US with a great course. So many local people are out on the streets in that cold morning to cheer the runners. The weather was good this time. It was not chilling cold or even cold, I should say. Little bit of sun and some clouds made it great. A bit colder and more clouds would have made it perfect for me :) There are around 8000 + runners running this race every year in December. This includes the relay runners also. It is an epic race and a fun family event in Sacramento.

I had trained for this race with Fleet Feet Fair Oaks where Shavi was coaching. Training is the hard part. I did several boot camp classes to build my core, way too early in the morning before the baby would wake up. It sure was not easy with non-flexible working hours and a baby. During the running training, I did a 21-mile training run after which I got injured. I had an IT band injury which restricted my movement. I was already having right shin issues for which I had been wearing the shin cap and running. The IT band injury starts from the side hip and goes down to the knee. It feels like the knee is also hurting but it is the IT band. Running uphill seems easier than downhill with the pain. I did everything that coach Shavi recommended after I got injured to recover - lot of foam rolling and stretching, less running and slow running, raising the feet, having ibuprofen to reduce inflammation, standing in chilled water of the pool for 20 mins, painful sports massages. It would feel better at times and worse most of the times. I thought I would never be able to run the marathon. From one of the running coaches, came another advise which helped me. I tried this before hand to make sure it will work on race day - 1 Slow release Tylenol + 2 advil - helped with the pain. I could not do my 2 more long training runs with the Fleet Feet group, making me more skeptical of doing the marathon. But as Shavi said - it is all in the brain. If I have done one long training run, means I know what to expect and so I should be fine and I was :)

During the race, there was no question of backing out even when it was hurting bad - the only question was if I will do it sub-5 hours. I will repeat my words - I swear I could not have done the sub-5 finish without Shavi. Thanks Honey! Last but not the least - thanks to my parents and in-laws for watching the baby when both of us were doing our training runs and the race.

Race for Arts 5K - PR for me: 27 mins 50 secs and for Shavi: 22 mins 55 secs

Race for Arts 5K on Aug 23, 2014 in William Land Park, Sacramento - Great race, well organized and very family friendly. We loved it and plan to do this race in Sacramento every year.

This was Shavi's first 5K. So, no matter what he PR'ed by completing it in 22 mins and 55 secs. He had not trained for it. Hope he can do close to 20 mins some day soon!! I am happy with my PR of 27 mins 50 secs. Even though running experts keep saying that the first mile should be slow and then keep increasing gradually, I somehow cannot do that - my strategy is different. My first two miles are faster than the third one because I am so energetic in the first few miles and then I sprint for the last few minutes on the 3rd mile. But thanks to Shavi for helping me train for fast running. Coming down to 27 mins 50 secs from 30 mins 30 secs after having the baby is great for me!