Recently we as family took a vacation to the Pacific North West in the US/Canada region. In short an incredible place to go and visit particularly if you are a nature lover. Our Travel Itinerary: • Fly in to Seattle • Rent car to drive to canada and back • Seattle ->Vancouver->Whistler->Victoria->Port Angeles->Olympic National Park->Seattle • Total Days: 8 (4 days in whistler) and a night each in other places Summary of the trip: Vancouver/Whistler is a very beautiful area to visit. If mountains and nature are you thing, this will be in your bulls eye! Whistler is like the Switzerland of North America. A very popular destination for Ski during the winter and trails/golf during summer! Whistler was also the destination for winter olympics. So very well developed village area, tons of amazing restaurants, superb trails to do runs/walk etc. Things we did and liked: • Run/Walk along the marina region in Vancouver. Very very beautiful and amazing restaurants • Defnly check out 'Fly Over Canada' show in Vancouver. Boy it was an incredible 4D experience. Those who have done the harry potter ride in Disney orlando will know what this is.. super immersive experience where you sit on a chair controlled by robotic arms and immersed in an IMAX screen theatre and you literally fly over Canada's beautiful landscapes. BREATHTAKING!. We liked it so much that we did it twice! • Drive to Whistler from Vancouver itself was so beautiful. Remember the iconic scene in Basic instinct where the hero drives his car in this beautiful highway right next to pacific!.. Well you will get miles and miles of this experience! • Whistler: Gondola ride upto the Whistler peak, with sky bridge and a winch ride from one peak to another! Boy breathtaking..If you have never experienced what it looks like at 7k feet summit surrounded by ice capped mountains 360deg view, this is it! • There are tons of amazing restaurants in the Whistler village. We checked out an Italian restaurant with out of the world food (IL Caminato) • Talking of food, Vancouver has some amazing desi restaurants as well!.. Check out 'Tasty Bistro' (high end indian restaurant) and Satya Asha (Authentic panjabi food) for some super delicious Desi food • Whistler also provides tons of trails to explore and i did a destination run in one of the trail and boy it was SOOO good • Victoria is the capital of British Colombia. It is about 5 hours travel time from Whister. It includes a Ferry ride that is beautiful in itself. Plan/book in advance. We did not and had to wait an extra hour. We stayed only for a night.. but Victoria itself can easily provide for many recreational activities. 2 days would have been ideal • On our way back we took a ferry to mainland US (Port Angeles in North Washington) and boy we got an amazing surprise. Port angeles sits at the cusp of Olympic National Park and we decided to drive through the national park enroute to Seattle • Olympic National park is another jewel of the Pacific north west. The landscapes, the lakes, the beaches, the rain forest, hot springs.. Things that one can do in this national park alone will need a week!.. We managed to drive through it... checked out lake Crescent and few beaches. about 6 hours drive from Port Angeles to Seattle Tacoma Airport through the national park with stops etc • Finally played two rounds of Golf in one of the most beautiful mountain golf courses at Whistler! Golfers cant miss this Items we could have done better: • Plan for ferry rides in advance and book tickets. (Seattle to Bainbridge island, Vancouver to Victoria Island, Victoria Island to Port Angeles) • Given we had only 8 days, maybe it would have been better if we had done 2 days vancouver, 4 days whistler and 2 days Olympic national park. (essentially cut out Victoria) Destination Runs You Should Consider: Check out this awesome 5 mile run in Vancouver marina area. Check out this incredible trail run in Whistler Some pics for your viewing pleasure: Trail Run @Whistler Whistler Golf Course, Surrounded by Snow capped mountains At Whistler Summit (7K feet) Whister is the winter olympics spot! A beautiful hole at Golf course with mountains at the background Glacier melt river Victoria Marina Beach at Olymic National Park. Mountains and Beach right next to each other like Hawaii Parliment House in Victoria Lake at Top of Whister Summit Huge Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park At Sky Bridge in Whistler Summit. INCREDIBLE! View from the top! Photo doesnt do justice Drive through Olympic National Park

From @Akash Bhate Here are a few strategies that help me stay focused. #5 is most important. Practice mindfulness, stay in the moment. 1. Have specific goals: could be - 10k or HM or reduce 10 mins and get PR. Point is - have it. Having a clear goal in mind can help you stay motivated and focused during your training. 2. Find a running buddy such as, within RHWB local run partners during weekend runs. Buddy can help to keep you on track and motivated. 3. FS not just app, talk to coach. Get involved. Running app like Final Serge have features that can help you stay on track with your training and monitor progress with your coach. Talk to coach about small or minor improvements such as getting to know what cadence is and get your in place. 4. Find a distraction-free environment: If possible, try to find a place to run where you won't be easily distracted. This could be a quiet neighborhood, a local park, or a trail like Greenway. 5. Practice mindfulness: Try to bring your attention to the present moment while you're running. Focus on your breath, your body, and your surroundings. This can help you stay in the moment and avoid getting distracted. 6. Use music or audio books: Listening to music or an audio book can help take your mind off of any distractions and keep you focused on your run. You may wonder with this I must have sub 2. Nah, i ran last HM at 3:20! Rumor rather jog. However, I am improving. From ACL injury where Doc says don’t walk more than 2 mile, I am at running HM. Your goal matters and it is your goal!

Hello Everyone First up welcome to the RHWB Lite program. Congrats on taking that first big step .. Successfully signing up for this program! Remember, this is a self serve program and for you to get the best out of it, you should make sure you have understood the orientation video well and have prepared to get the most out of it. Before we start the season, take some time to click on each of the links below to get yourself acquainted on the program and set yourself up for success Here is a quick checklist of items you need to be on top of before the season starts: Ensure you have downloaded the Final Surge App on your phone and set it up. (Watch this Final Surge Tutorial video , watch this video on how to check your assigned workouts in Final Surge) Connect your running watch to the final surge so that your runs are recorded against each of the activities in the training plan (Watch how to for IWatch here or Garmin here) Understand your watch functionalities and ensure you know how to operate it. (Check this video on how to record runs) Your training program will have runs as well as strength training exercises. Understand how to record strength training in your Final Surge (Check this video here) It is very important you have the right shoes and gears when you run. Check the orientation video again on this. Go through our resources page to properly prep yourself. Sign up for RHWB Website (www.runnershighwithbala.com) so that you can get access to weekly messages that I will be posting there. (Weekly Messages here, Podcast with runners here) When in doubt you should look at our FAQ page to get answers to your question Feel free to use our discussion boards and post your questions.. one of us will answer Going fwd.. time to time all my comms will be through Final Surge only. So ensure you are good on #1 Finally if you want to watch the orientation video again .. check in this forum for the thread To reiterate, this is a self serve program. That means you will not get access to regular coach feedback etc. To gain success in this program you should invest time and dedication. Follow all the weekend messages, training plan and dedicate yourself to it. I guarantee you will soon get into a positive spiral of self discovery and enrichment. As we move through the program if you are consistent, we will upgrade you to a Coach managed program as and when we get any cancellations in the main program Finally you all have a chance to get into the pro version as well. We normally see upto 15% attrition in the main program during the training. As and when that happens we will port you from Lite to pro version where you will get a dedicated coach for no extra $$. All you have to do is to ensure you follow the program and log activities in Final Surge. Priority will be given to those who are committed and dedicated to the program. If you are selected for this upgrade we will communicate to you through Final Surge on next steps Good luck Bala Head Coach, RHWB

Here you go folks.. click on the link (Remember desktop is lot better experience) to access the orientation video Also do not forget to check out the FAQ page.. lot of your questions are addressed there https://www.runnershighwithbala.com/faq

This is all about managing your in mile energy and enthusiasm.. One way to think about CP runs and long runs is Banked runs. All my runs including the race is banked runs only. So i run a bit higher than CP and bring the mile splits to CP by banking it last 0.1mile. Mentally it gives me bit of rest, time to check my phone and send messages, take pictures, tweet.. all that good stuff 🙂 We dont have to over think here on this..initially the goal is to have a break at the end of every mile.. that is your banked run strategy. So have a target in mind in terms of your splits and try running a little faster than that till say 0.9 miles and walk for 0.1 mile see where you end up against the target and how you feel.. work your way from there.. missed target split.. then you either run a bit faster or stop later or have a higher target splits. As simple as that