Half way through the FM marathon schedule..

With a fabulous long run at GKVK (by far the best running location in Bangalore specially for long runs) yesterday(Saturday 11th August) in the company of brothers Nari and Vasu I reached the half way point of my 16 weeks FM training on a high note.  This was my first run in  GKVK  in 2012 - the last time was in December 2011 a few weeks before SCMM 2012. We did a total of 32Km+ in two loops of 17Km and 15Km+ - each loop being a mix of trail and road. My Garmin showed 20.15 miles in 2:55. 

At the half way point I feel quite positive and confident - except for a brief hiccup in weeks 7 and 8 the training has been pretty much on target. I had a sprain in lower back/hip twice in 2 weeks due to which I ended up skipping my week 7 long run (13 miles at 8:34 per mile pace). The week 8 tempo run was below par mainly due to the slushy crowded  stretch at EGL in which I ended up walking.  On the other hand I did my PB 5K in 21:51 at the Puma Urban Stampede on 5th August - beating my previous best by over a minute. When I started my formal training in the 2nd week of June my weight was just under 60 Kgs. Now at the end of week 8 the weight has stabilized to about 58Kgs which I feel is my optimal weight. 

Summary of the second month workouts : 

Week of July 16th (#5) 

• 3 x 1600 m  - target : 6:57; actual : 6:48/6:55/6:58
• 3 miles short  tempo run - target :  7:30/mile; actual : 7:24/7:45/7:29
• 18 mile long run - target : 9:04/mile;actual : 8:55/mile
• Cycling 1: 10mins Easy/20mins Tempo/10mins Easy
• Cycling 2: 10mins Easy/15 mins Tempo/10mins Easy

Week of July 23rd(#6)

• 2 x 1200, 4 x 800 m  - target : 5:06,3:20 ; actual : 5:02/5:01/3:22/3:17/3:20/3:20
• 5 miles mid-tempo run - target 7:45/mile ;actual: 7:38/7:42/7:32/7:37
• 20 miles long run - target 9:04/mile; actual : 22.16 miles at 8:53/mile
• Cycling1: 10mins Easy/15mins Tempo/5mins Easy/10 mins Tempo/5 mins Easy

Week of July 30th(#7) 

• 6 x 800 at 3:20 - modified to Yasso's 800 at 3:30 with 3 mins RI;  actual Yasso's 800 at   3:29/3:26/3:25/3:27/3:30/3:28/3:27/3:29/3:27/3:28/3:25
• 6 miles long tempo run - target :  8/mile; actual : 7:55/7:57/7:52/7:46/7:46/7:58
• 13 miles long run at 8:34/mile; Skipped the run due to a sprained side hip/lower back
• 5K at Puma Urban Stampede 2012 in 21:51
• Cycling1: 10mins Easy/20mins Tempo/5mins Easy/10 mins Tempo/5 mins Easy  

Week of August 6th(#8)

• 2 x( 6 x 400 m)  - target : 1:38 ; actual :1:37/1:40/1:37/1:42/1:36/1:35/1:40/1:37/1:40/1:40/1:37/1:40
• 3 miles short tempo run - target 7:30/mile; actual : 7:41/7:21/7:30/7:50 
• 18  miles long run - target 8:49/mile ; actual  20 miles at  8:40/mile 
• Cycling1: 10mins Easy/20mins Tempo/5 mins Easy/10 mins Tempo/5mins Easy 
• Cycling 2: 10 mins Easy/5 x (3mins hard,3mins easy)/10 mins Easy

Puma Urban Stampede 2012 official results and pictures

My net time for the 5K at Urban Stampede 2012 was 21:51 - so I shaved over a minute from my previous best of 22:55 at the Duathlon  in 2010. The team completed in 2:04:33. See results here.

Some pictures from the event:

5K PB at Puma Urban Stampede 2012

Running as the first runner as part of the Alcatel-Lucent CXS/Motive team at Puma Urban Stampede 2012 I managed to complete the 5K in just under 22:05 beating my previous best from Duathalon 2010 by nearly 50 seconds!! My previous best  at Urban Stampede was 24:54 in the 2008 edition!! I was certainly helped by ideal weather conditions and the fast pace set by a number of runners. Considering that till the previous evening I was nursing a sprain in my right lower back I am extremely satisfied with my run. On the other hand skipping my long run (13 miles at 8:34 per mile) on Saturday probably helped me. The other three runners in my team finished in between 30 and 35 minutes for a team time of 2:07 or so. Need to check the exact timings when the results are out later this week.

Riding with Harish, a colleague from Alcatel-Lucent, I left the Domlur signal at 5:10am and reached Clarke's Exotica right at 6am - we were among the first runners to get there. By 6:30am there were lots of runners around.  The holding area  and race start was outside the resort property The race was compered by Atul who is very good at this. The race was flagged off pretty much on time at 7:02 am. I took off at a reasonably good pace and completed the 1st mile in 6:43. The second mile took 7:07 probably due to a gradient just before the U turn point at 2.5Km. I was able to pick up pace in the third mile for a time of 6:59 to keep the overall 5K time just around 22 minutes! The race organisation was great - the runner name and company name in black on a black background on the bibs made it a little difficult for others to read the names. The event itself has come a long way since the 1st edition in 2008 which started with 78 teams. This year saw   participation from over 350 teams!!The top three teams in the men's category were all from Toyota (yet again) with terrific timings. After a sumptuous breakfast and photo shooting on the podium we left the resort at 10am and got home around 11:15am after a highly satisfying morning!! 

FM training details

As mentioned (a few times) in previous  posts  my next marathon Mohawk Hudson River Marathon is on 7th October 2012. I started my 16 weeks training program for this marathon on 18th June using  FIRST's 'Run Less,Run Faster' program with a target time of sub 3:38 to qualify for Boston marathon 2014. The essence of this program is '3Plus2', that is, 3 quality and specific running workouts and 2 cross training workouts. The 3 training workouts are: 1. Interval training  2. Tempo run 3. Long run and the cross-training workout can be either cycling, swimming or rowing or a combination thereof. 

I have been doing 5 or 6 workouts per week and complementing it with strengthening (at  Manipal Hospital Department of Sports Medicine and at home)  and stretching after each workout and a few times in the evening.  The strengthening exercises I do at home are :squats, walking lunges and step-ups. The stretches are mainly for hamstrings,quads,glutes and calves. Before the stretches I try and do exercises on the foam roller for the same areas as well as the ITB.

My best case (or ideal) weekly schedule is as follows. I have  been able to keep to it to a large extent except during travel or when I have evening work related calls/meetings or personal commitments. I would say the morning workouts have been 90%+ to plan; the evening ones have been 70% to plan!

Monday 

morning - 15  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening  - 1 hour strengthening at Manipal; 20 minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

Tuesday

morning - interval training, 20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening -  40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Wednesday

morning -  35 to 45 minutes cycling,  20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Thursday

morning - tempo run,20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Friday

morning - rest or 35 to 45 minutes cycling, 20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 1 hour strengthening at Manipal; 20 minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

Saturday 

morning - long run, 20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Sunday 

morning - rest or short easy run or cycling workout, 20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Interval training was at the tracks at Kanteerava Stadium till last week when Department of Youth Sports and Services(DYSS) which controls access to the stadium decided to restrict access to the stadium for amateur runners. This was a real bummer as I had started enjoying the training at the stadium. Based on the strong suggestion of coach Dharam I did my this week's intervals (Yasso's 800- more on that in the next post) at Cubbon park in the stretch from the central library to the Hudson Circle gate. And surprisingly enjoyed it even more than the tracks at Kanteerva. 

Tempo runs (between 3 and 8 miles) are usually on the Indiranagar-Koramangla Inner Ring road or EGL.

Long runs (13 to 22 miles)  are usually solo at EGL - sometimes I have joined the BHUKMP Dandi at Inner Ring Road.

In the 2nd edition of the 'Run Less, Run Faster'  book (released in April 2012) the cross-training cycling workouts are described in detail and classified as Easy, Tempo and Hard to correspond in intensity with Easy, Tempo and Hard(or interval) runs. My easy cycling workout is usually at 27-30Kmph/75-80 RPM. The Tempo workouts are 30-33Kmph/80-90 RPM and the hard cycling workouts at >  33Kmph and 85+ RPM. Have found it challenge to sustain 5 minutes of hard cycling workout. 

So far I have been able to do at least 4 workouts every week including all the 3 key running workouts. Except this week(week #7) I had to skip the long run (13 miles at 8:34 per mile) due to a strain in my left hip. I am keeping fingers crossed and hoping to keep as close to the above schedule as possible for the rest of 9 weeks of my training!!