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Asha for Education is a secular organization dedicated to change
in India by focusing on basic education in the belief that education
is a critical requisite for socio-economic change.
Asha has supported more than 385 different child education
projects spanning 24 states in India. Since inception, Asha has disbursed
nearly $4,000,000 to projects. In 2002 alone, Asha chapters raised and disbursed more
than $1,000,000 to over 200 projects. To learn more about Asha For Education and the the specific projects it undertakes,
please visit: http://www.ashanet.org
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WE DID IT!!! Our goal was to finish, and we did! Total time: 5:45, or about 13.20 avg per mile. Our first 20 we averaged 11 min miles. Race breakdown: ran to mile 18, walked a few minutes, ran again to mile 20 where we decided to start walking b/c I had an aching knee and Leah's ankles were hurting. Luckily for our spirits our coach Srin met us at mile 21 and walked the rest of the way with us where our other coach Mamta was there (with friends!) to cheer us across the finish line. Thanks to everyone who helped us achieve our goal!!!
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I run with Asha for a couple of reasons. The first is because they do good work. Like many other first generation immigrants, my parents encouraged me to get an education because whatever happened, it's the one thing that could never be taken away. I'd add that education is ultimately what improves us as individuals. Asha exemplifies this philosophy and extends it to those who might otherwise never receive the chance.
The second reason I run is personal. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with a rare, untreatable but manageable disease (Behcet's). After a couple of false starts, I'm happy to report that I'm finally getting the hang of living my new life. As proof, I want to finish the Atlanta Marathon - a physically demanding task.
An added bonus is that fully 100% of all money raised goes directly to Asha's programs. Asha's local chapter was able to get generous donors to sponsor ALL of our race and training costs for the ENTIRE team. Please consider joining our effort by donating to Asha.
Online is easy - just click the button to the right of my name. If you'd rather not donate online, send me an email - we'll definitely work it out. Any financial contribution you are able to give to Asha will be greatly appreciated.
A final word of thanks to all of you who have supported me with kind words and a genuine interest in what I'm doing - it makes me feel happy & loved.
Jyotsna
If you're interested in my progress, visit this site again - training updates will be posted weekly.
Week ending 11/19: Well this is the last post before the race and our training has come to an end. As usual, Leah & I headed to the hill trail off McConnell for what has become for us the solid, steady Tues run. Thu we hit the streets - new route on Freedom Pkwy - for an 8 mile slow and steady. Mostly we used this run to talk about the "what ifs" on race day. In the end we came up with a simple strategy: finish, and finish together, barring injury. Re-met Team Asha on Sat back where it all started for a quick 4 mile run. This time we didn't look at the clock just ran and aimed to finish about 11 to 11:20 miles - at that pace we could finish within the 5hr race day limit. Glad to report we ran normal & met our target time.
Everyone's wished me luck and I'm going to do my best to live up to your confidence in me & to earn the funds you've given to Asha. I can't say it enough - thanks Leah, thanks Team Asha & thanks to all my family & friends for your enthusiastic and generous support. This has been an incredible experience.
Week ending 11/12: Rainy Tue = road run - Druid Hills/Emory Campus. Used a windbreaker that was the equivalent of being inside a tropical rain-forest. Nothing like having sweat pooling inside of your clothing. Disgusting. Thu we went back to Sweetwater for our 20miler. Every step past 15 miles was farther than any we'd either done before - thrilling when we finally finished the 20. Slow going, and we learned a lot of things to NOT do/do for race day. We are really excited!!!
Week ending 11/5: This was a great week in our training. Tues started slow for me, but LC & I did a full 55 min on the hill course. For Thu's LR we went to Sweetwater Creek State Park. 15 miles on the Blue & White trails averaging about 12.45 min a mile. New skill learned: eating during the run. Weekend pleasantly interrupted by out of town company; sometimes it's nice to take a break. Beautiful weather beckoned on Sun and the need to stay limber resulted in a breezy 5.5 Druid Hills/Fernbank loop. T minus 16...
Week ending 10/28: So after stuffing my face last week the challenge became waddling away from the table and back out to the street. Tues found Leah & I at our hill trail where we had one of our best runs so far. We ran for 1:08 and we could have run longer, but alas, we had to go to work. On Thurs we improvised our own long run: 4.5 miles around Lullwater, and then another 8 through Druid Hills, Oak Hurst, Fernbank & Candler Park. Not bad for knees recently out of recovery. Also on Thurs we decided to buy new shoes so off to Phidippides we went (they're supporting Asha too!) Funny thing we both ended up with Saucony shoes - they're huge - we look so odd - petite frames with these giant clodhoppers where our feet ought to be. Doesn't matter though: when I run, I don't really think about how I look, if I did, well I'd have stopped a long time back ;-) This week looks like it's going to be just great for running. It's getting closer!!!
Week ending 10/22: This week I wondered if I was physically capable of reaching my goal. Dropped 4lbs in 4 days so wasn't feeling too energetic. Tue AM run rained out. Thu we decided to do our long run on a route between our houses. Great going the first leg of 4 miles, ok going the second leg, and no go once I hit mile 10. Completely out of energy. Fri night, I got back out there and felt great! 4.1 in 43 min - the difference? Food, food and more food.
Week ending 10/15: We had to switch up our game plan this week b/c my knees started aching. Tues found us back on the trail for about 50 minutes and Thu we hit the streets for an easy 40 min run - no sprints. Couldn't meet the group on Sat so we did our long run on Friday night. What a different experience to run in the evening. We managed 10 miles before I called it quits - wanted to be careful of my knees. All in all, an ok week of training.
Week ending 10/8: New runner joined our group - Welcome Stuart!!! LC & I went back to the woods on Tue for 60 min of non-stop almost-tumbles. Thu we decided to try sprints. Really easy series: 1 min dash-2 min recovery. End result was in a word, PATHETIC. We did three repetitions before we had to go back to regular running. On Sat we had to run separately from the group - surprisingly for us it was the best run yet - 14 10min miles! 6.5 weeks to go!
Week ending 10/1: Tues we sprinted the hill trail. 28min of hard ups/downs. Thu was the Oakhurst -Decatur-Agnes Scott-morning school bus route. Good run, but was sick for the next two days with a mini-Behcet's episode. Not confident going into Sat's Silver Comet long run, but consistent training does have its benefits and we had a solid, though slow, run. 12.4 miles - overall, still ok with the progress, especially given the Thu/Fri setback.
Week ending 9/24: we're getting faster, sort of a speedy-turtle if you will. Tues/Thu really good. Sat was great through mile 10.5 then I had to slow to a walk-run for the last 1.5 miles. I was surprised to see that at the time that I stopped, I'd done 11 min miles! I like the speedy-turtle!
Week ending 9/17: Tues hill run was excellent - only one stumble, Thu was fast, especially since I mis-timed us! Weekend run was a disaster. Just 4 miles on Fri night, travelled all weekend & was ill. This is a new week though, and cross training will make it all better.
Week ending Sun 9/10: Ran 11.3 miles with trusty running partner Leah C through Buckhead - beautiful & not too hot but definitely some challenging hills on the course. Abdominal cramps slowed me to a walk for the last .7 miles, but up until then we kept a 11.45 pace! Woohoo! Hilly trail run on Tues and a fast flat course on Thu.
Running History
Anyone who's known me for any length of time knows I HATE running as it requires discipline and patience. No surprise then that before this experience, my running was limited to a couple of miles 2x a week for a few months last year.
Starting point this year: ~50 min to run 3 miles - that was mid July. Ugh.
Contact
Email : j.vanapalli@emory.edu
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