YMCA Nandanam Run

I got back to town at 5:00 am this morning and reached YMCA Nandanam for a run at 5:45 am. Venkatesh and I planned on a road run and the the idea was for him to push me as much as possible to do the 8.2 km run in 35 minutes. We stretched intensely for 15 minutes and started the run at 6:30 am. We pulled as much as we could for the first 3kms and then continued a good pace until the 7 th km. Venkatesh shouted out long which means long strides but not too fast for the next 600 mts and then we raced the rest of the distance to finish in 37 minutes.

Venkatesh is a YMCA nandanam celebrity. He is 48 years old and he races like a 22 year old. His fastest 10 k timing earlier last year was 35 minutes which is world class. He practically knows every possible athlete walking into YMCA. I even got introduced to Anu Hassan who hosts Coffee with Anu on Sun Tv. My parents love that show. I think thats because she talks and smiles like a cousin of mine.