The colony half 2021 was today. I ran it in memory of my eldest brother who passed away five years ago due to sudden heart attack. I wish he had taken better care of his health and medical system in India had not failed him.
My main goal for the colony half was to see if my knee inflammation for half marathon distance is significantly less with Vibrams barefoot shoes when compared to normal heavy cushioning shoes (Asics GT 2000v8 in my case). This will pave the road for me to later run a full marathon in Vibrams barefoot shoes or any other barefoot shoes I take fancy too.
Earlier this year in March, I ran a marathon. I was woefully unprepared. But regardless, after first half my knees were so inflamed that I ended up walking the second half. I still completed the marathon in 6 hours 20 minutes but I was not the happy camper. I had started the marathon with the goal of running it in 5 hour 30 minutes. I was with the 5 hour 30 minute pacing team for the first half and we completed it in 2 hour 45 minutes. I asked The 59 year old gentleman who was our pacer if his knees were inflamed and his answer was negative.
In the colony half marathon, about 8 out of 13.1 miles are on a gravel trail, rest are on paved road. Vibrams sole is quite thin so on gravel you get some acupressure kind of feeling, so I thought that can’t be too bad. Though I can’t be real judge of that because I do not have any experience with acupressure. However, I watched for any sharp stones on the gravel trail in order to avoid landing directly on them.
My typical running routine is to run 6.1 miles every other day. My last 6.1 miles was on Thursday. So it was perfect as I could use Friday to do carbo-loading, rest and some strength training exercises.
Day Before Race
I also do Time Restricted Fasting (TRF) which in my case means that I try to eat only between 10am and 6pm. The day before race, I was going to make exception in the evening.
For breakfast, I ate lot of pasta around 10:30am. On a typical day, it would serve as brunch.
For lunch, I had mixed beans dosa. Every two weeks, I take two cups mixed beans and soak them overnight. Then I crush them in blender with lots of spices that form Indian seasoning mix called “garam masala” which literally means hot spices. This mixed beans dosa better is typically sitting in my refrigerator, so I can…
