Running in late 20s

I shot a few movies while running the Swissalpine marathon. Stitched them together and came up with this. Sorry for poor quality and shaking images. It was my first time ever using a camera while running.

I was suffering from a severe headache for last few days. It just faded away after this run. 17km trail run (and walk)  ascending and descending more than 900 meters. Training in high altitude!  The route A view of Tehran    The trail 

In last few weeks before my first marathon, I hardly missed any training sessions. I did all the right things I knew during my tapering period. And give it my best on the race day. What I really ignored was post-marathon recovery. I was on holiday and visiting different places. The day after the marathon I was suffering from runner's knee which required some rest. But I decided to give paragliding a try! In the fourth day I went for a 5 km run and ran another 8km the day after. What I ended up was a sore knee which I could not run on for a week or so (That doesn't mean that I didn't try.) Now the pain is over and the new training is due to start tomorrow. Stay tuned.  

went for a 5k run in Vibram FiveFingers this evening. The experience is different from any other shoes (well, if you could call them shoes). Vibram Bikila LS  I have been working on forefoot strike for a few months. And when you wear a pair of these you have to run with a correct form; Landing close under the body, landing on your forefoot, gently touching the ground and lean slightly forward.But the most enjoyable part of wearing these "shoes" is the feeling you get from touching the ground.  As you run, you receive different signals from surfaces you touch such as rocks, grass and asphalt in the most natural way.  I am definitely going to wear these guys every now and then to correct my running form and experience the pure joy of barefoot running. 

I was looking for Swissalpine marathon report on their facebook page and I came across a report  in German by Sven Bladt. Surprisingly I spotted myself in one of his photos. And the caption was "Excited, Nervous?"  This is taken in the first few minutes of the race. I remember being really excited at that point, but looking at this photo it seems that I was also concerned about something. This is pretty much what happens during a marathon (Well, at least it did happen during my first marathon). Distance running is a physical activity that is often driven by mind. You need to be focused to be able to carry on.  Jacqueline Gareau once said    "The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed."

This might give you an impression of Swissalpine 2012. Do yourself a favour and run the Swissalpine next year.

What a night it was for athletics. First, Mo Farah of Great Britain won the gold medal in 5k. And then in the most spectacular event of 2012 Olympics, Jamaican Team of Usain Bolt,Yohan Blake, Nesta Carter, and Michael Frater smashed the world record by 0.2 seconds and won the gold medal in 4x100 meter relay.  All photos taken from official Olympic website :  http://www.london2012.com These are kind of stuff everyone wants to see. Absolutely inspiring. Men's marathon in a few hours.

" If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon."   Emil Zatopek As many of you know by now, after almost two years of running, I went all the way to Davos, Switzerland to run my first marathon in late July.  Davos is the highest city of Europe. The population is just around 13000. It is among the most popular destinations for skiing  in winters. Swissalpine consisting of several different races is a major event gathering some 5000 runners from all around the world in late July. K78, C42 and K30 races start at Davos Stadium at 7am. I arrived there at 6:30, run for a few minutes to warm up and made my way to the starting line a few minutes before 7. Standing at the start line of my first marathon with almost 1500 other runners was a unique experience. The race started at precise 0700 hrs. The first 5 kilometers was a loop through Davos. People were standing on pavement and cheering for runners by ringing bells an