It has been 13 months since I have started running. Being a weak runner, my longest run so far has been of 11 km last month into which I had included lots of walking breaks.
Though my progress is very slow, I am happy because since last 3 months I am able to be on legs on more or less regularly. The first half of the year, in contrast, was filled with lots of injury breaks and some due to my laziness. I had a serious stress-related injury,which I am not sure what it was, that left me unable to even walk properly for a month. Under that frustration I also deleted my dailymile account.
I opened a fresh account after getting well. Meanwhile I had completed my M.Tech. at IIT Kharagpur and had got selected for PhD at ICGEB-New Delhi. Free time at IIT actually allowed to develop the habit. I continued running during vacation and actually it was more fun running in hills at home than on the track at college and the plain roads and trails in Delhi nowadays.
As I had deleted my dailymile account, I now have records of my runs/walks from July onwards. Looking at them my overall monthly mileage had been almost constant from August to November (64-76 km/month). Lower mileage in July was due to my freshly healed legs. Howevert the proportion of walks has been decreasing along the passing months.
As of December, 2012, I had my greatest mileage even after taking a full week's gap due to illness. This was pretty much due to my finding of singletrack trail in Sanjay-Van.
Other development was that of shunning barefoot running. I was running barefoot almost every time. I now use a minimal shoe, partly because its useless to have a heel cushion when you don't need it while running and partly because I get cramps on side of my legs if I use my "Power" shoes which have elevated heel. I use that only for walking, which still is useless. However I like those "Power" shoes for their durability. I am thinking of using canvas shoes after I retire my current running shoes.
In the coming year, I would be trying to increase my mileage further. I want to run ultras. Therefore, for a runner of my ability, it would mean to be on legs most of the time walking and strengthening my legs slowly without facing the impact forces of running. For this I already have started to grab every opportunity to walk including running breaks in between.
Today I talked to one of my friends and we both decided to run in Mawana Sugars Marathon this February. I don't know what would happen there, but I will be there at the start line. Later in the year, I would probably run a 50 mile event at Bhati lakes (which my good friends strongly oppose :P) if conditions permit, the major hurdle being finding pacers if they are mandatory.
I also plan to go for a personal fun-run in some mountainous region, most probably to the Valley of Flowers, where I plan to spend a few days running.
I don't know if I would be able to do anything I planned, but I am sure I would be continuing running/ walking all year on daily roads and trails.
All being said, the nearest thing in hand is to try and train for Mawana Sugars Marathon, my first ever Marathon and event of any kind.
