Start of training for SCMM 2013

After a week's break post the 50Km run at the 6th Bangalore Ultra the training for SCMM 2013 on 20th January has started in right earnest. SCMM is the biggest road marathon in India and has been a fixture in my running calendar for the last nine years.  After running the HM in Mumbai in 2004 and 2005 I have been able to run a FM there every year since 2006. The last couple of years I have been striving to improve on my PB for the marathon at this race. And that is the goal for 2013 as well. My target is to better the PB of 3:39:57 I achieved at Mohawk Hudson River Marathon on 7th October by a couple of minutes and try and finish in as close to 3:38 as possible. 

Once again I am using the 'Run Less,Run Faster' training program from FIRST which is based on the philosophy of 3Plus2. That is 3 specific running workouts and 2 cross-training workouts per week for 16 weeks. Based on the time left for the event I re-started my training from week 9 of the program. Having recently gone through the full 16 weeks program I am comfortable tailoring the program a bit based on previous experience and to fit in with the  work and travel schedules over the next few weeks. I have also switched back to training in Kms instead of Miles.It was not bad to do the 2 x (6 x 400m) intervals at Kanteerva after a break of 2 months. In fact all the 3 runs went very well - with the 32K long run at 5:27 per Km(versus goal of 5:30) and the last Km at faster than target marathon pace at 5:08 per Km. Hoping to keep the momentum over the next 7 week in spite of  travel plans (personal) on 3 of those weekends!!

6th Bangalore Ultra : 50K/5:07:31..a great trail, great company..a PB

That pretty much sums up my 50Km run at the 6th Bangalore Ultra on 10th November.  And this was as per my plan. The first half took 2:19:19 at a little over 5:30 per Km. The second half was much slower taking 2:48 at 6:29 per Km.   Enjoyed the new  wider, flatter trail at Hennur road and certainly the 25Km loop was helpful though it meant seeing other runners less frequently. Complete results are available here.I finished 4rth in the senior category and 11th overall. While in 2011 with a timing of 5:24:11 I finished 3rd overall. Shows the quality of the runners in this year's ultra and also the improvement that runners are making over years. 

Ravi Venkatesam and I left Domlur at 430am and reached the venue around 5:20am. After the turn into Hennur road from the ORR there were RFL signs and soon after we were part of a convoy of cars heading to the Ultra. It felt a few degrees cooler as we got off the car and walked to the holding area.  the holding area was well spread out and was buzzing with runners checking in their bags, stretching, catching up with fellow runners. I met Tanvir Kazmi of runinfinity fame targeting a 24 hour run. And several friends from Bangalore : Sunil, Jugy, Vasu, Venky etc.

After brief words from A1 and A2 the race started exactly at 6am. There must have been about 150 runners for the 50Km category. Hari Menon and I decided to run together as he was also targeting a finish between 4:45 and 5 hours.  After the first Km of broken road from the holding area the rest of the route was mud trail mainly through bamboo and eucalyptus forests.  It was great running with Hari and learning more about his running and cycling experiences. I was surprised to learn that he had never run beyond 31Km. However, he had a very strong HM at KTM this year. After about 6Kms into the trail we started to see runners from the longer distances who had started an hour earlier returning back. Between the 10Km and 12 Km mark(BTW - there were no Km markers on the trail which was disappointing and not expected of RFL) my shoe laces came off twice. At this time Hari Menon took off and I could not keep up with him. I decided to run at my own pace - did 12.5Km in 1:08:39. Soon after the turn around point Vasu and Pankaj Rai caught up with me and from then on for quite sometime the three of us ran together.  They are fantastic company and we talked about various topics. After the 35K mark Vasu slowed down while Pankaj pulled a little ahead of me. At the 37.5K turnaround I spent a couple of minutes helping Praveen with the sumo wrestler stretch to help assuage the stress in his groin muscles. Towards the end I caught up with Pankaj and we sprinted the last 200m and crossed the finished line together. Of course, Pankaj finished the race 7 minutes faster than I did as he had started his race late. 

Hari finished his first Ultra(including a first FM distance run) in an incredible 4:23:28 and was awarded second position in the men;s open category. As a result I was awarded the 2nd runner up in the senior category though I actually finished 4rth! Many runners did incredible timings in the 50Km  including Madhu from Egypt who ran her first ultra in 4:35:44. Also many runners including Ravi venkatesam did their 1st ever ultra.

The food was much much better compared to previous ultras as well as KTMs. We left from the venue around 1:45 and reached home a little after 3PM after another wonderful race experience!!

Less than 48 hours to the 6th Bangalore Ultra

With under 2 days to go for the 6th edition of the Bangalore Ultra  the buzz is building up among the running community not just in Bangalore but across the country. The Bangalore Ultra is India's 1st and largest Ultra marathon. The event has grown in leaps and bounds since the first edition in 2007 with not only more number of participants each year but also newer categories as well as other innovations from Runners For Life. After 5 years of the race being at Hesarghatta , this year the venue has moved to the bamboo forest off Hennur road which is something for all the ultra runners to look forward. to. There have been a couple of RFL runs at the Hennur road forest route including one in April 2009 when I did the 9th of my 12 marathons in 12 months. The new route for the ultra seems to be flatter and less uneven apart from being a 25Km loop (12.5Km out and 12.5Km back) instead of 12.5Km loop. From a logistics and organisation perspective it will be challenging for Runners For Life - as there will be no support of a resort. Port-a-potties, changing rooms, large holding area, food, waste management etc will need to be taken care of. With the experience of over 5 years in organising high quality running events behind them I expect RFL to do well and meet the runners expectations. 24 hours run and splitting the event between 2 days are the other changes that have been brought in this year.

Since my last marathon - Mohawhk Hudson River marathon on 7th October - I have been in a dilemma as to whether or not to participate in the ultra this year. Had I met my timing goal of 3:38 the decision would have been easy. However, since I am now targeting this time for the SCMM in January 2013 the advice from my coach Bill Pierce as well as running coach Dharam is to skip the ultra and focus on training for the Mumbai marathon. While my head also says I should focus on training for the Mumbai marathon and not run the 50K I decided to go with my heart. Having been involved as a core team member for the 1st edition of the event and having run 50Km or more every year since then I am keen on continuing the streak as long as I possibly can. I am verye xcited about the new route off  Hennur road and am glad that I decided to register for the race. Hopefully this will not have an adverse impact on my training for SCMM and more importantly on the race itself. Well one will have to hope for the best.

Though I am in a shape to run the 50Km in about 4:45 or so  this year, I am going to try and take it easy and not push myself in order to conserve energies for the next race. My best time for 50Km  was 5:22:24 in 2009. I should be able to beat this time comfortably. By what margin depends on how the race goes. My strategy  will be to do the 1st loop of 25Km in  about  2:18 at an average of 5:30 per Km and try and do the second half in 2:30 at an average of 6 minutes per Km to try and finish around 5 hours. A lot will also depend on the weather on race day - if it rains then this new route is going to be very slushy slowing me down. Very warm weather will also take a toll on the pace in the 2nd half. My main goal with the Bangalore Ultra  is not the target time but as always to enjoy the route, race ambiance and the tremendous comradarie of fellow runners doing 50Km or more -  I understand that nearly 50 runners are doing either 75Kms or 100Kms or the 24 hours category!!