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Ran after almost 1.5 years. Completely out of shape, aimed for 40 mins. Feels good to finish well under the goal. Hopefully this was first of many more runs to come again.

Alhamdulillah, I got the opportunity to run with my daughter in Toronto Waterfront (Marathon) 5k race. We both had been waiting for this moment for a year and it finally came. She made me carry her for most of the distance. Arms are as tired as the legs. It was worth it. They grow so fast. I just wanted to cherish every moment of it. Really long finish time, but who cares :D

Excellent work by my daughter, Mashallah. Got up and ready, and was at the race for the start time of 8am. Ran through the start, through every cheer station, waved and acknowledged everyone supporting. She would run about 50m every sprint. Ran the last stretch to the finish line. All in the chilly Toronto autumn morning with 8C, feels like 5 and 70% humidity by the lake side. If you have felt Toronto autumn wind chill, you know! Showed great spirit through it all. Her undying spirit was my motivation for the run itself.

Due to road closures, we got dropped off by mommy a little further. Had to walk a km to the start line.

1:10:36, that's close to my 10k time, felt like a HM, I was in 205 position out of 207 for my age group, lol. Also signed up for virtual HM. Let's see how the ranking turns out :)

First swim after a very long time. A relaxing 250m in ~20m. Loved it.

Day 2: 2k on the track.

Keep it going.
So blessed to fast in Ramadan.
So blessed to workout.
So blessed to be a Canadian.

Stay Safe | Stay Active

I was thankful to be able to go out for a run this morning, long before Mr. Sun came up. Quite chilly and windy weather with sub zero temperatures and wind 29-43km/hr. I decided to go out anyways, living my favourite running quote:

One day I won't be able to do this, today is not that day.

Run: 2.5k in 16:09 @ 6:25/km.
The headwind made it feel real cold. Due to continuous melting of snow and refreezing, there was a lot of ice on the paths and the roads, which was even harder to see in the dark. This reduced my speed even further. But I chose to find the safest stretches to run on as much as possible. Perfect way to achieve focus early morning 😀

Find your reason to get out and feel awesome.

Stay Active | Stay Safe | Love Yourself

Did not start the Garmin before the activity?
No one gives a Canadian $HIIT

No matter how many calories you burn, just Get'r'Done.

The only measure is: how pristine is your sidewalk.

Loved the recent snowfall, finally. Ain't no winter without snowy fun.

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Run: 5k in 31:53 @ 6:21/km

I tried to run a zone 2. Couldn't do it. Half of the run still at 3 and only a third in 2. Liked the easier run. It seems the first time I've averaged anything less than 4. This is going to take some practice.

Stay Active | Stay Safe | Love Yourself

Run: 5k in 29:43 at 5:56/km.

Ran a 5k after a massage today. It seems to really help.

Had the best 5k in a while, broke the 30min barrier for the first time since summer :)

Was supposed to take it easy, but when you're feeling this good....
Came close to PB but not quite. Took it a bit easy in the last two kms.

Ekiden: 10k in 1:10. Ran after a long time. This one as part of my Ekiden 2021 relay team.

A group of dedicated runners are destroying the field as they pass the tasuki among our multinational team.
gave the team a lift off, followed by a trumendous speed run by , then my effort, followed by dedicated night time run by .read.rest as soon as the tasuki appeared. Running all stars to go next and to bring us home.

Thank you all for joining in. Can't wait to see the final results of the relay. Go team go!

Based on the route I took, for the most part I got to work through headwind at speed of 24-36 km/h.
Due to UV burns from the summer, I tried out my new Sutro Lite. They worked well, but I still got a little bit of burn on the cheeks right below the glass.
Oh Canada!
It seems that I will have to use sunscreen which I was trying to avoid.

I had to walk for a breather at times in the second half. All in all it was totally worth it. I'm really happy with the time.


.runners

I finished the London Marathon virtually on Sunday Oct 3rd, 2021.
الحمداللہ رب العالمین۔

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who donated to my campaign. I'm feeling blessed to be able to raise funds for such an important cause. We raised £613 so far, out of £4,000 that it costs to build a water well for a village, so we raised 15% of a well. Donations are still open. If you would like to donate post race, please see link in bio or message me.

The marathon itself was an interesting experience. I knew I was in the deep when I signed up, was not able to train as much as I would've liked, but still wanted to finish my first ever marathon. One has to start somewhere.

Looking back, my new year's health resolution was to complete a half marathon in 2021. This goal was beyond expectation given my fitness level on Jan 1st. I achieved the goal in April. I thought that maybe it was a fluke. So I got the opportunity again in London Marathon to see if I could really do a strong half, which I did. The first half I completed in 2:41:43. This was already an improvement from earlier. Then I got cramps and second half I walked/limped to the finish at active time of 7:08:35, and total time of 8:47:10.

Huge thanks to my wife who helped me get it done and also organized the finish line and post run party. Just crossing the line, with my family waiting, made it all worth it.

Thanks to for allowing me to be part of for this race.
Thanks to for supporting a no name fan :)
Thanks to all of my family and friends who supported and believed in me throughout this journey.
And of course, All thanks to the Lord who allowed me to start and achieve my health goal this year.

Flat spread for race day. Expecting Light drizzle throughout the run.
Excitement continues.