Kudithipudi.Org

November 8, 2010

Last run for 2010?

Filed under: Running,Sports — Vinay @ 9:54 pm

Jhanvi and I ran the 2010 Hot Chocolate 15K last Saturday (11/6/2010). I don’t know why I keep doing this.. but I don’t seem to realize that I am not a superman :) and cannot run races efficiently without practicing. Anyways, here is what happens when you run a race without ANY training..

My Results

I was aiming to be the last in everything :) .. but looks like some people still beat me..

Jhanvi’s Results

Thx to Jhanvi for making me run the race… I wanted to run the 5K and call it a day :) (and no. it is not called cheating when it is 27 degrees and you are freezing your butt off!! :) ).. but she encouraged me to run the 15K. Clearly not my best time.. but I am proud I completed it never the less.

August 1, 2010

2010 First Half Marathon

Filed under: 2010 : Half Marathons,Running — Vinay @ 5:49 pm

Guess what happens, when one runs a half marathon without any training? You break all records for finishing late :) . Jhanvi and I ran the 2010 Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Chicago today. It was hot and humid.. but we managed to finish the run. Am so proud of Jhanvi for finished faster than me.. She just started running last year and I think she is a natural.

2010 August : Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon

April 5, 2010

First run of 2010

Filed under: Running,Sports — Vinay @ 9:18 am

I kicked off the 2010 running season with the Shamrock shuffle held on March 21st. Jhanvi was going to run it with me, but was not able to due to health restrictions. She is planning on joining me for a couple of half marathons this year :) . Hopefully, she won’t beat me as she did last year :) .

I finished the 8K (5.1 miles) a couple seconds short of 1 hour :) . Official chip time was 0:59:51. Results are published here. Looks like I am going to settle in the 12min/mile pace. That has been my pace for the last couple of races.

November 3, 2009

I ran for Chocolate!!

Filed under: Running,Sports — Vinay @ 11:48 pm

Jhanvi and I successfully finished the 2009 Hot Chocolate 15K, held on the lake shore of Chicago last weekend. Not a surprise that Jhanvi beat me by 1 second :) . Her finish time was 1:46:27 and mine was 1:46:28. It was a chilly day, but after a couple of miles we fell into the rhythm and enjoyed the race. The only disappointing portion of the race was the watery hot chocolate that was provided at the end of the race. I am not sure if it was a case of the organizers underestimating the crowd or if they were being cheap, the hot chocolate (which was supposed to be the attraction of the race) was pretty watery.

Yes.. people do run ~9 miles to get a cup of hot chocolate :) .

October 26, 2009

Last half marathon of 2009

Filed under: 2009 : Half Marathons,Fun,Running,Sports — Vinay @ 11:08 pm

I ran the last (at least for now) half marathon of 2009 this weekend along with Jahnavi and Sri. We ran the Northface Endurance Challenge Half Marathon. The Northface Endurance Challenges are a collection of races which take place in the wilderness across the US throughout the year. The race in Wisconsin, held each October, is the easiest out of them. I ran this race last year and wanted to make this of my annual races.

My official time for the race was 3:01:09 (~31 minutes slower than my time from last year). So this makes it my slowest half marathon ever. How do I continue to keep breaking these slow records? :) Well, by not practicing :) .

While the run itself was painful (reminder for self.. never ever run a half marathon in the woods without practicing!!), it was fun to have Jahnavi accompany me on her first half marathon. She was a real trooper and kept me company throughout the race. I also took some videos of the race (that again tells you how poorly I prepared for the race :) ). Here is a snippet from my last mile, I was delusional by this point :)

The obligatory pre and post race pictures :)

Pre Race

Post Race

September 20, 2009

I guess I am a superman :)

Filed under: 2009 : Half Marathons,Running,Sports — Vinay @ 2:52 am

I successfully completed the Chicago Half Marathon held on 9/13 in 2 hours and 44 minutes. I know that is nothing to brag about :) (in fact my worst time so far for a half marathon).. but considering that I didn’t train for it at all and had a couple shots of tequila and some beer the night before, I think I did OK. But boy was I hurting at the end.

I ran the race with my friend Sri and his friend Rama Krishna. Obviously, I was the late finisher in the team.

Here is our pre-race picture

p.s : Please don’t take this as advice to start drinking before embarking on a long run :) .

March 30, 2009

First race of 2009..

Filed under: Running,Sports — Vinay @ 12:20 pm

It was cold (35 F), Windy (30 mph) and snowing (3 inches) for the Shamrock Shuffle 8K race yesterday…. But I was determined not to miss yet another race this year. Thx to Sri for pushing me during the race, I finished it in 51:28 minutes. Thats an average of 10:22/mile.

[Photo Credit : Kieffer]

This is how the course looked like. The road was so slushly that my feet were frozen and I couldn’t feel them till the 2nd mile.

[ I have to make fun of Sri's new moustache :) ]

October 31, 2008

Official time for the 2008 North Face Endurance Challenge

Filed under: Running,Sports — Vinay @ 9:49 pm

The results are in for the 2008 North Face Endurance Challenge, which I ran last weekend. My official time was

2:28:24.5

Not bad for a first cross country half marathon. At least thats what I am going to think :-) .

Full list of results can be found here http://results.sportstats.ca/res2008/madison21k.htm

October 26, 2008

First half marathon of 2008

Filed under: Running,Sports — Vinay @ 11:54 am

I succesfully completed my first half marathon of 2008 yesterday. And to top it off, it was my first official cross country trail race. Although I signed up for multiple half marathons this year, as part of training for the Chicago Marathon, I was not able to run any of them due to conflicts with work.

Sri and I signed up for the North Face Endurance Challenge on a whim a couple of months ago. Looking back, it sounds crazy :-) . Why would anyone want to run a half marathon, 2 weeks after running a marathon and that too in the woods. But I am so glad we did it and that I got to finish it.

Sri, Hafsa and Joy came along with me to cheer me on during race. We took off at ~6:00 AM in the morning and had breakfast at a small diner along the way. The drive to Kettle Moraine state Forest, where the race was held, was senic. Esp with the fall colors. I never realized that Wisconsin was such a beautiful state. I guess that is what happens, when the only places you visit in a state are the touristy places (Wisconsin Dells).

The weather was perfect for the run (~40 degrees) and I got time before the run to warm up. Joy ran the first 1.7 miles with me to the first aid station. The first mile had a killer hill. We had to elevate ~1000 feet in a matter of 200 meters. We started off strong up the hill, but then got our senses and walked the second half of the hill :-) .

The race had two loops of ~4.9 miles. The first loop was not as hilly as I expected (or maybe I wasn’t as tired :-) ), but was slushy and had a lot of barriers. The second loop was a lot more hilly. I never trained in the trails or hills this year. So this was a new experience. But the beautiful scenery around me kept me distracted and moving forward.

Joy joined me again for the last mile. I switched to “Supreme Hero.. Sweet Heart” :-) for the last half mile on my iPod and sprinted to the final. It was a photo finish ..

Some pictures from the race

Warm up

Take Off

The easy part of the trail

Fall Colors

More pictures can be found here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kudithipudi/sets/72157608376845295/)

P.S : I came first in the race. i.e. in the desi category :-) .

October 13, 2008

I realized that I am not superman!!

Filed under: 2008 : Marathon,Running,Sports — Vinay @ 6:15 pm

I successfull completed the 2008 Chicago Marathon in 6 hours and 57 seconds. My worst time so far (2004 was  04:46:01 and 2005 was 05:14:41), but boy am I so glad to finish it. It was hot (lower 80s) and humid, two things that I cannot stand. Despite my lack of consistant training, I thought I could finish the marathon in < 5 hours. By the time, I got to the 14th mile, I realized that I wasn’t superman and had to start walking :-) . It was all downhill from there.. my walks got longer and my runs got shorter. By the time, I got to mile 22, I was ready to give up.. but then I remembered why I was running the marathon and picked myself up. Not to mention, my personal cheering squad (my sis, brother-in-law, Sri, Hafsa, Ravi, Deepthi, Achi, Madhavi, Sujana, Byna and Joy) were there to keep me going.

Thanks to everyone that supported my cause and provided moral support. You guys are the BEST!!!

Although I might have come 28472 out of 45000 people that ran the marathon, I was the ONLY guy (as far as I could tell) who ran with the Indian flag :) .

I have to thank the wonderful folks at Team Asha, for putting together a great program for a worthy cause.

Finally, thanks to the folks at CARA for running a great training program. I was confused througout the program on what my pace group was, I kept jumping from 12 to 11:30 to 11:00 to 12 to 11:30 :) .. but that was my issue :) .

This is how a grown man cries in pain after running 26.2 miles!! :)

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