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| Impressions from the 38th Silvesterlauf, Zürich |
The 38th edition of the annual Silvesterlauf (Silvester run)
came to an end last Sunday in Zürich. Among the 21,643 runners who registered
for the event, I too was one of them. This was my first run in conditions which
were below 5 degrees. Unlike my other runs in the past few years, this was
different weather wise while in running terms, I did not feel a strain since
preparing well in advance helped me getting used to running in such conditions.
Well, in all fairness I have ran at the races without
preparation (including a half-marathon) and as a result I have also suffered from
those body aches, niggles and other small bodily discomforts. I didn't want any
of this and moreover I wanted this run to be like a normal run, a feeling of
routine from my daily life. This was my goal and I am happy I was able to
achieve this small milestone.
THE CHALLENGE
For a long duration in my life I have spent winters that
hovered around 15-20 degrees. Yes, it is a paradise by the looks of it and
hence my breathing and tolerance to cold weather and sub-zero climates had to
be adaptive. One of the best methods to adapt to colder conditions is to face
them, train in them and giving the body an incremental challenge to get used to
the surroundings. Last year, I could not manage to take part in the 'Silvesterlauf'
and this year, I was determined to take part if I were to be in Zürich.
TRAINING
Kept it simple - just made it a point to spend time outside
with relatively less warm clothes by jogging, and running. This time the
weather leading up to the race helped me train better. There were many days
late in the evening where temperatures were below 10°C consistently and on few days it hovered around
5°C and less. I
spent anywhere between 15 minutes to 40 minutes training depending on the time
and I managed to complete the full-distance at least twice a week, if not more.
This gave me the confidence early on - that I could finish the distance without
grasping for breath and in relatively quick time!
I prefer variety over mundane training and this included the
route I chose each day. I measured a lot of distances within my town and the
neighbouring two towns and came up with a lot of options. For a given distance,
I had close to 5-6 route variations to choose from and this helped me a lot!
Maybe, it is me and something to do with personal preference and my curiosity
to explore more 'routes' within the distance I wanted to achieve.
THE RACE DAY
The race day was a Sunday and I treated it just like 'any given Sunday'. Like I mentioned
in my earlier posts, to me short-distance running is an extension of my
lifestyle and not something I have to spend a lot of time. My race was
scheduled at 18:35 and the weather conditions were not too bad or that was how
I felt, minutes before the start. The beauty of Zürich Silvesterlauf is - that
you get to run around the busiest parts of the city which on any other day or
time is impossible. And once on the run, it was auto-pilot in action and I ran at
my own pace without bothering what was happening around me, while soaking up
the carnival atmosphere and managed to complete the race well within my target.
NOW WHAT
A day's rest and the usual routine starts. Though there are
no runs scheduled till the Spring time, I will use this time to get used to
training in sub-zero temperatures and explore more on adapting to colder
conditions.
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