Tag Archives: running

Health & Fitness

Running with Hoka

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I have been running regularly for almost 2 years now. Below is my experience running with different Hoka shoes.

Hoka Arahi 6

Hoka Arahi 6
Hoka Arahi 6

These were my first “proper” running shoes, recommended by Ashish. Before this, I was running with very cheap shoes and suffering from constant ankle pain. Running with Hoka Arahi 6 completely solved the ankle pain problem.

However, I forgot to replace them in time, ran almost 800 km in them and the ankle pain came back. So I decided to replace them with another Hoka.

Hoka Bondi X

Hoka Bondi X
Hoka Bondi X

My first choice was to buy the same shoe yet again, but then I saw a huge discount on Hoka carbon plated shoes and decided to “upgrade” my shoes.

The first impression of carbon plated shoes is that they are completely stiff and it is impossible to bend them with your hands.

Running with the Hoka Bondi X is an experience in contradiction. Running in carbon plated shoes feels like running downhill; the boost provided by the carbon plate is noticeable instantly.

6K Run Hoka Arahi 66K Run Hoka Bondi X
Hoka Arahi 6 vs Bondi X 6 km stats
Splits with Hoka Arahi 6Splits with Hoka Bondi X
Hoka Arahi 6 vs Bondi X 6 km splits

As you can see, the Bondi X shaved off full 2 minutes from my 6K run, which is nothing to sneeze at.

The other side of the contradiction is that the Bondi X are so soft, it feels like running through molasses. Even 1km into my run, my calves and thighs felt like they were on fire.

Surely, when I do a heart rate comparison between my last Arahi 6 6K run and my first Bondi X 6K run, I see that I spent significantly more time in the upper zones.

Heart Rate 6K Hoka Arahi 6Heart Rate 6K Hoka Bondi X
Hoka Arahi 6 vs Bondi X 6 km heart rate

After a few runs, the shoes became noticeably less soft, but they still remained difficult to run in. Soon, I also started getting soreness in my knees, so just after 100km, I decided to replace them again.

Hoka Clifton 9

Hoka Clifton 9
Hoka Clifton 9

These were my third Hokas. Unlike the Bondi, these immediately felt more responsive while running, but not as much as the Arahi. I did miss the boost provided by the carbon plate, but the burning in my calves caused by the Bondi was gone. And the good part is, they have been holding up and not degrading over the past few months.

6K Run Hoka Clifton 9
6K Run Hoka Clifton 9
Splits with Hoka Clifton 9
Splits with Hoka Clifton 9

It couldn’t match the lap times of the Bondi-X but at least I didn’t feel like I should stop running, anymore.

Health & Fitness, Rant

Sleep Deprivation Log

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A few weeks ago, I had an epic sleep deprivation experience that I felt worth logging. Owing to a combination of some personal issues and the iPad conundrum, I just couldn’t fall asleep. I have been sleep deprived many times, but this is perhaps the first time I didn’t sleep a minute all night.

Here’s an hour-by-hour log of what happened

The Experience

Time RangeLog
22:00-00:00Tossing and turning without being able to fall asleep.
00:00-01:00Walked around, did some laundry folding.
01:00-03:00Tossing and turning without being able to fall asleep.
03:00-04:00Doomscrolled Reddit, Artifact.
04:00-05:30Gave up trying to sleep, got up and had the first coffee of the day.
05:30-06:30Had the most amazing run ever. It felt as if the kms were flying by in a blur and my pace throughout was the best it has ever been in recent years.
06:30-07:00Cool down and shower
07:00-08:00Second coffee of the day
08:00-09:30No recollection of what I did. Completely wiped from memory
09:30-10:30Went grocery shopping with the wife, had my third coffee of the day.
10:30-11:00Came back home and had lunch. Around this time, I started feeling the shakes in my hands. From too much caffeine, rather than from sleep deprivation, I reckon. Also started feeling bouts of irritability.
11:00-14:30Watched Munich. Again, I only remember this part in bits and pieces. Not sure why it took so long to finish the movie or what I did in between.
14:30-15:30No recollection of what I did. Completely wiped from memory
15:30-16:30Sudden feeling of euphoria. Became very happy and wanted to enjoy life. Started writing this post.
16:30-19:00Went out with my family to an open mall for dinner. Had a beer, but didn’t feel anything. Was unusually happy throughout. My memory from this trip has lapses.
19:00-20:00No recollection of what I did. Completely wiped from memory
20:00-09:00Slept for 13 hours, took 2 coffees to get rid of the grogginess. Still felt sleepy all day.
Sleep Deprivation Log

Overall, the experience was quite similar to one of my marijuana benders, which is to say, not pleasant. Next time I can’t sleep, I will bite the bullet and swallow a pill.

Health & Fitness

Running Part-3

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This is Part 3 in continuation to my last post about running. The good news is, I have been able to follow my running schedule religiously over more than a year now. The only time I took a break was for a few days when I had the flu.

I have been able to increase my distance a bit since I started and am running around 18km a week.

My VO2 max has continued its upward trend, but still not reached 2021 levels and probably never will, because of age.

VO2 max from running
1 year VO2 max trend

I recently ran my first formal 10k in Bangkok, which was an exhilarating experience.

The only problem with participating in marathons in Bangkok is that they start very early (approx 2 AM for full, 4 AM for half and 5 AM for 10k). However, the atmosphere is electric, even early in the morning. There are mascots dancing, drones buzzing overhead and a live band playing.

Amazing Thailand Bangkok Marathon 2023 medal
Finisher’s medal
Amazing Thailand Bangkok Marathon 2023 medal
Finisher’s medal

Running among hundreds of people is a completely different experience compared to running alone. The distance goes by very fast and before you know it, the race is over.

Health & Fitness

Running Part-2

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This post is a continuation of my last post about running, back in 2020. After I moved to Bangkok, I stopped exercising. For a few months last year, I started going to the gym, but couldn’t sustain it long enough, as it was too time-consuming. Looking to get some exercise while not spending too much time, I started running again. In the beginning, it felt difficult due to the heat and humidity, but I was able to get used to it soon.

After doing it for a few months, I developed severe ankle pain. In the beginning, I would recover during my rest days, but then it continued to extend over my rest days to the next workouts, too.

The cryptmaster kindly educated me on the importance of good shoes. Turns out, my running shoes were dirt-cheap and 8 years old. And that was not acceptable. I promptly ordered some new shoes. Thankfully, my ankle pain reduced considerably, thereafter.

Running Pace
Running Pace
Running Heart Rate Zones
Running Heart Rate Zones

I have now been continuing my runs 4 days a week, 4km each time for more than 6 months now. Although I have steadily made progress with my pace, unfortunately, my VO2 max has plateaued. Try what I may, I am not able to reach my VO2 max levels from 2021.

VO2 max in 2021
VO2 max in 2021
VO2 Max
VO2 Max plateaued

Overall, though, I am very happy that I am keeping healthy and exercising is definitely a great mood elevator for me. It boosts the mood for the rest of the day. The only problem is, I have been losing weight consistently and need to improve my diet to make up for lost calories.

Weight Loss
Weight Loss
Rant

The Lockdown finally got me running

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The first few weeks of the lockdown felt awesome. No need to go to work & lot of time freed up from the daily commute. I spent most of this time drinking and lying around. However, eventually the lying around became quite tiring physically.

Things were so bad, I went through most days with less than 200 steps. The less I moved, the more tired I felt. Eventually, I was always tired and even getting out of the bed seemed a huge challenge. I knew I needed some exercise. I tried Darebee’s daily workout for a few days, but I didn’t find it motivating and couldn’t sustain it long enough. What I needed was to go out and run, but with the lockdown, that was out of the question.

By the end of the lockdown, I was so eager to go out and run that when we were allowed to go out, I started running immediately and fortunately, was able to maintain the habit over many months.

My energy levels came back up, I felt much better after the workouts, I could focus more at work and I slept better. I also started watching my diet and limiting what I eat on weekdays.

  • Body Fat
  • Weight
  • VO2 Max
  • Resting Heart rate

Some other quantifiable gains over these 3 months of daily running

  • Weight came down from 70.4kgs to 64.5kgs
  • Body fat % came down from 14.5 to 11.7
  • VO2 Max went up from 39.3 to 46.8
  • Resting heart rate went down from 65 to 55

It’s not that I am fanatic about running. Since I can spare only 15-20 minutes daily between meetings, I run only 2km each time. But I do this with consistent pace and do it regularly without skipping days. Whenever I feel like skipping a day, I think about how lucky I am to be able to go out at all.

Schedule

I hope I am able to keep up the cadence, at least till the air quality here goes to shit, like it does each year and going out becomes impossible.