I wanted to run a race from a long time, but I always get to know about the event when the registrations are closed. But thankfully this time got to know about the event on the last day of registration, it was Bangalore Urban Stampede Run 2016 organised by Runners for Life sponsored by Jabong.

The run was on 7th August and I registered on 1st August for 10K timed run.But I haven't ran a long distance from a quite a long time. I definitely needed some training. Four days before the actual event date started my training to make sure I can run 10K in respectable time.

It was tuesday (2nd August) morning, ran around 3K starting from my place to wilson garden in about 20 minutes. In just 3K my thighs got heavy, didn't tried to push too much as I have to go office after the run. First run was a good eye opener for me. Next day wednesday, ran around 6K starting from my place to agra lake via silk board in 40 minutes. After this run my thighs were in real pain, so didn't run the next day. I was not very sure about the exact distance I was covering, so used Runkeeper android app. From last two runs I got some idea of how to pace the run (don't take a long stride, don't try to run too fast - maintain a steady pace, take control of your breath). I made my mind to run 10K before the actual race, so friday morning ran around 11.85 KM starting from my place to Adobe near Marathahalli in 1 hour 15 minutes. I had never ran such a distance in one go. Runkeeper app helped a lot, after every 5 minutes it tells you how much distance you covered and whats your average speed. Which keeps you motivated and keep track of your run.

After the last run, I knew I can run 10K, now the only thing was to improve the speed to make it under 1 hour, which means less than 6 minutes per kilometer. Didn't run one day prior to the event, gave my legs some rest. On sunday morning left for the actual run early morning, the place for the event was Devanahalli (birth place of Tipu Sultan) which is located at the outskirt of bangalore.

We have to complete the 10K in two laps, I completed my first 5K lap in 29 minutes and finished my 10K run in 58 minutes and I was very happy with that. The great thing was I met with my classmate Anand on the race day after 3 years, he ran 5K corporate run representing Microsoft team. Event was well organised and everyone had lots of fun. Lots of families turned up for the run including children and elders.

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