If

If is an inspiring poem by Rudyard Kipling that I came across while reading A Life Without Limits.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son! 

Paris Marathon 2013: On setting a PR and enjoying every single stride along the way!

This is kind of a long-awaited post. I had to post it a few days after the race (Which was on 7 April). But better late than never here it is: 

I arrived in Paris on Friday and went straight to the running expo. Getting the bib number and race bag took only a few minutes. I spent a couple of hours hanging around the expo and had a meal at rice party. Everything looked perfectly organised. From the sponsors stands to running products and marathon booths.

Saturday spent hanging around with some friends and visiting a couple f museums. I had a suspicious pain in my hamstrings which was worrying me a bit. Kind of those little pains that you don't usually pay attention to during your training can make you quite nervous before a marathon.

It was quite cold on Sunday morning. The race was due to start at 8:45. I took the metro at around 8 and got to the nearest station in 20 minutes. From there though it took us around 15 minutes to get out of the station as it was too busy. Then I had to drop my bag somewhere between the start and finish line. And it turned out to be farther that I thought. So I ran to baggage drop area and came back to the start line just in-time. That turned out to be a great warm up! Here is a little tip for anyone who participating in such massive events: Give yourself plenty of time! I had to stand there for quite a while before the race starts for our group. I belonged to 3:45 group which turned out to be one of the largest groups. We started moving through the start line, and when I crossed the official start line the race stopwatch was already showing 31 minutes!

Heading to the start 

Crowd at the metro station

50000 runners!

50000 people were running that day. There was literally no time that I could not see a massive number of runners in front of me. And from my position it shows that I could only see one third of the runners and the rest were behind me. The whole atmosphere was kind of surreal. You feel absolutely small being among some 50000 like-minded people running in the streets of Paris.

When I woke up in the morning I still had that pain in my hamstrings but after running around 10 km it faded away just the way I was expecting it to be. I was running almost effortlessly and was trying to pace myself not to run too fast. You are quite likely to go too fast, too soon in events like this. There is a massive rush of adrenaline and a great vibe. You need to control yourself and conserve your energy.

Around 5K. Could hardly feet better!

Somewhere around 25k I suppose

The refreshments were something you could only find in Paris: water, bananas, oranges, raisins and sugar cubes every 5k and sport drinks only at one station after half-way mark. It was very well organised but because of the mass of runners it often gets a bit difficult to reach for a drink and you had to walk for a few steps. As a part of their sustainable strategy they had provided some bins to drop your empty water bottles for recycling. But the bins were so close to the refreshment stations (around 50-100 meters) that you wouldn't have enough time to drink up and bin your bottle. So the water bottles ended up along the kerb.

I had trained quite hard for this marathon and I was expecting a PR. But the whole thing went really smoothly and that kind of surprised me. For the first time in a marathon, I had a strategy. That was sticking to a comfortable pace until 35km and from there speed up and finish strong. If I want to compare Paris marathon to Frankfurt - When I hit the wall - I ran the first half almost 2 minutes slower than Frankfurt marathon but this time I managed to run the second half of the race only one minute slower than the first half. Finally I crossed the finish line in 3:49:56 and was absolutely chuffed!

Now it was time to recover and get ready for the next challenge!

A few videos worth sharing

This might make you laugh


When you are in need of motivation



A conversation within every runner. I've had it many times!

Paris Marathon Done!

Paris Marathon done in 3:50. And what a day it was! Full report coming in a few days.

No more weekly training reports. Time for some changes!

Well, I am still training and pretty much on target. I did miss a few workouts since I started my training plan, but I am pretty much ready for my next marathon.

Sticking to a routine is boring. Writing training plans is no exception. I believe you are not here to check how far I've run last week. You might be here seeking motivation or you are just wondering if I still run.

After publishing almost 100 posts (well, this is the 98th) this blog has been viewed many times. But I have hardly received any comments from you guys. What I'd like to know is if you check this page regularly. Do you find it inspirational at all? Has it ever encouraged you to go for a run? Have you got any favourite post? Is there anything else you want me to write about?

I am going to write and answer some FAQ's and NAQ's (Never Asked Questions). So do leave a comment or drop me a line. I'm going to answer them all.

Paris Marathon 2013, Three weeks to go!

I will be running the Paris Marathon on 7 April. And I just cannot wait for that.

Photo taken from here

Training report, week 4: On missing workouts and flexible training

Still "almost" on target. Missed my first workout!


Distance: 55 km
Distance planned: 65 km
Long run: 25 km

Missed a 10km run on Sunday. 

I was traveling the first three days. I had planned an easy 8k and 12k interval training for those days. But I was in Ankara and I decided to alter my training plan to get the most of that hilly city. I couldn't easily find a flat road for my interval training. So I had a couple of hill sessions. 8k easy on the first day and a more challenging 14k the day after. 

14km run in hilly Ankara

Now I am in the middle of my 5th training week. Sometimes you have to change your training plan depending on your situation. What I have learned about training is there is no training plan that suits everyone. You need to listen to your body, see your progress and alter your training plan accordingly.

This Monday I had to go for a 5k hill session, and I also planned to swim. I only had time to go to the gym to do the both workouts. Treadmill running is not my cup of tea and I only run on treadmills occasionally when I have to. Anyway the treadmills were down so I decided to do some weight training. I had a fairly short but quite intense weight sessions to work on those quads, glutes and calves. Weighted squads, weighted alternative jump lunges and weighted calf rises. It was definitely more intense than that hill session and I could feel those quads during 12k run on Tuesday! 

Sometimes it makes more sense to alter your plan and go for a shorter run or cross train rather than missing your workout altogether. So this week - after that weight training and fairly fast 12km - I am going to take it easy for a couple of days and get ready for Friday's long run.

Stay tuned guys!

The greatest way to start a day

I have never experienced a bad run. You always - no matter how down you are or how badly you want to find an excuse not to run - feel better after a run.

Running usually makes you feel good, sometimes it's better and occasionally it's extraordinary. Today was definitely one of those occasions.

Training report, week 3

Still on track

Distance: 59 km
Distance planned: 59 km
Long run: 32 km
Plyometrics: None!
Weight training: One session
Swimming: half an hour

Need to get cross training more seriously!

Still on target

I was away for a few days and didn't have a chance to update this page. But I did go for a couple of runs one of which was quite challenging.
So if you checked this page on Monday looking for last week's training report I have to say I'm still on my target. If I haven't post the report that doesn't mean I haven't run!

Long runs and the city; Exploring Tehran

Tehran is definitely not the best city to run in. With its busy streets and air pollution you need to chose appropriate time and place for a run. I do have several favourite running routes in Tehran but if you want to go for a long run, the best time is Friday morning. Get up no later than 5am, lace up your running shoes and head out. Then you are free to take any roads, parks or even highways. You even don't need to plan your route in advance. As an architect I'd always like to explore different neighbourhoods of Tehran and running -in addition to all the great stuff brought to my life - is now helping me on doing so.

Here you can see three different routes I took the last couple of weeks. The blue one is 16-kilometre long, the orange one covers 32 km and the yellow one is exactly 25 km. All took me to some parts of the city I had never walked in before. For my next long run, I'm going to take another new route, to explore more of the city I live in.

Training report, week 2

So far, so good

Distance: 53 km
Distance planned: 53 km
Long run: 25 km
Plyometrics: One session (Stairs)

Training report, week 1

Following my previous post, I've started my training plan and I am going to post weekly reports here. A series of quick updates to let you know how I am getting on.

So here it is for week 1

Distance: 46 km
Distance planned: 46km
Long run: 16km ( It was supposed to be 18km but I had to stop when I twisted my ankle. Nothing serious!)
Weight training: One session
Plyometrics: One session (25 minutes)


You can also check out my latest workouts on Movescount through the link in the right sidebar.

A quick update on training

I did put my feet up for the first couple of weeks after Dubai marathon. Didn't run the first week and had a couple of easy runs the week after. That gave me the chance to recover completely and set a training plan.

What I ended up with was a 24-week long training plan made to help myself achieving my ambitious goals for 2013. Running three marathons and my first ultra in less than six months. The plan is made to be adaptive. So by the end of each week I am going to review my progress and alter the next week plan regarding my condition. 

What I like the most about my new training plan is its diversity. It consists of long runs, easy runs, intervals, fartleks and tempo runs along with some plyometrics and strength workout. I have planned quite a few hill sessions and running at high altitudes. 

This is gonna be exciting. Stay tuned guys.

PS. If you are looking for a website to plan your training you might find RunningAhead useful. I have tried a few of those in the past and this one works perfectly for me.

Dubai Marathon 2013

Despite the lack of training, I headed to Dubai last Wednesday to run the Dubai Marathon. First task was collecting the race number from the race official hotel which was quite posh. It was well organized and collecting all the stuff took only a few minutes. I was expecting to see many runners there but there were no expo to look at the latest running products and socialize with other runners.

Collecting race number, JW Marriot Hotel

The couple of days before the race spent chilling out, hanging around with my family and of course carb-loading!

On race day it was not easy to get to the start line as metro was not working untill 2pm! And almost everyone had to take a taxi or drive there. The taxi drop-off point was quite far from the start line but I had more than enough time to get there in time. It was quite chilly with a fairly intense fog which remained for a couple of hours.

The course route recorded by my gps watch

Marathon started at 0700 hrs. And probably because there were not too many runners (around 2500) everyone started at the same time and in a single group with the elite athletes in front. The Course is  out-and-back, flat and boring. When you pass the 8km mark the course continues on a straight road and you don't leave that very road until 34km. On Friday's hazy weather you couldn't see much farther and it did help a lot. 

Somewhere between 10-15 km. 

Overstriding! That's not a good running form

I ran the first half of the race in a very good pace (5:15 min/km). With lack of training for this marathon that was quite fast, but once again I was feeling great and had no reason to slow down. The race was farily well organised with supplies of water, Sport drinks and sponges. I would prefer to see some bananas and energy bars as well. 

The second half 

Getting close to the finish line

 It was after 28th km that I had cramps on my quads. I was indeed waiting for the pain, I knew it will come at any minute, I knew I hadn't trained hard for this and now it's time to pay for it. From that point to the finish line my pace dropped and I was running at a slower pace and had to walk several times (less than a minute each time) every time that I had cramps. It was probably due to the lack of magnesium. I just didn't have enough of that before the race. 

After 38 km almost everyone was struggling and there were words of encouragement coming from spectators (who were cheering along the way but mainly in last 6 kilometers) and mainly from the other runners. There were also some 10k runners who had finished their race and came back to cheer for marathoner. This is the part of a marathon that you know you've made it. You know no matter how bad you feel you must go on. And on this marathon I also had my family waiting for me at the finish line. So I had every reason to give it my best. I dragged myself to the 41km mark and speed up from there to finish strong. Finally crossed the finish line in 04:05:37. 

Another marathon is done. Looking forward to the next one.

Ps. You can check out the route, pace, heart rate, etc here