2013 year end musings

The 32Km/2:48 run on 29th December being the last long run of the year  it is time for the annual year end musings. Like  last year, in 2013 also I limited myself to  a few select events : 2FMs, 1HM, a 50K and a 10K race. Update on these races against the 2013 goals set in Dec 2012 : 

1. Sub 3:38 at SCMM  in January  - 3:37:20 

2. Sub 1:43 HM at Auroville in February - met the goal but official time is 1:44 as I ended up running about 900m extra towards the end

3. Sub 45 10K at TCS world 10K in May - 46:56  - both calves injured before the race and tear in the right calf during the race

3. Register for Boston 2014- of course this is not completely under my control - got confirmation of registration on September 25th 

4. 50K/75K/100K at Bangalore Ultra - ran 50K in PB time of 4:52:22

5. In addition I ran the Airtel Hyderabad marathon in 3:46:20 - my PB for that event 

Overall I ran about 2000Kms (mostly outdoors) and cycled 2100Kms(all in the gym) The year started very well with a PB at SCMM 2013 which eventually enabled me to beat the cut-off for Boston 2014 by over a minute. This was definitely the year's highlight. The injury to the calves before TCS 10K and the strain in the left glutes/hamstring/calf disrupting  the training for SCMM 2014 have been the bummers of the year! Otherwise it has been a satisfactory year.  I would personally consider 2013 as the year of inflection in the history of running in India. The number of running events has mushroomed all over the country and during the 4Q of 2013 runners were spoilt  for choice with a race almost every weekend and sometimes multiple races in the same weekend. I plan to stay with limited races in 2014 as well. I might consider doing the 75K at Bangalore Ultra if I decide to run Comrades in May 2015. After participating for 5 straight years I will skip the Auroville marathon in 2014. I might consider running one or two fast HMs. Of course, the key events for the year are SCMM on 19th January and Boston marathon on 21st April. 

2014 Goals:

1. Sub 3:37 at SCMM - this one may get changed to a sub 4 based on how the left glutes/hamstring/calf behaves in the next 3 weeks

2. Sub 3:40 at Boston 2014

3. Sub 45m 10K in TCS world 10K 

4. Sub 3:45 at Hyderabad marathon in August

5. 75K at the Bangalore Ultra

And above all to try and avoid major down time due to injuries  and continue enjoying the running. Here's wishing all friends a fantastic, healthy, injury free year!!!!

Injury impact on marathon (SCMM 2014 )training

This is not an uncommon occurrence with regular runners training for an event. All the workouts are going well, one is feeling quite confident of achieving the race goal and then suddenly the whole flow is disrupted due to an injury. Few things can be more frustrating for a runner. The workouts of week 8/16 had gone very well including a 32Km/2:48 long run. However, I had a severe strain in my left glutes and left calf during the week 7/16 intervals (3 x (2 x 1200m) in Kanteerva stadium. And for the first time since May 2013 I did not complete my planned workout and decided to abort  the training   after pushing through the 5th interval. Since then the training has been irregular punctuated by interactions with Dr. Gladson of Attitudeprime.  Of course I am down  both physically and mentally . SCMM is one of the most important events in my running calendar - not least because I have been running it every year since it started in 2004. It is well organised event with fantastic spectator support and I have been lucky enough to improve my FM timing every year. The PB of 3:37:20 in last year's edition got me a place in Boston 2014. The way my training was going  I was looking forward to matching or slightly bettering last year's time (3:35). Now the last few weeks I was not even sure whether I would make it to the starting line. 

I am not able to figure out the cause for this injury. It could be a combination of one or more of the following:

• Muscle fatigue due to doing a tempo run and a fast long run(21K/1:45) within a week of the fastish 50Km at the Bangalore Ultra
• Lack of flexibility due to inadequate and/or incorrect stretching post the workout
• Lack of strength - it has been 8 months since I stopped the strengthening sessions at Manipal hospital(though I am doing  leg curls, leg press and calf press in my apartment complex gym apart from squats and lunges)
• Change of shoes  - I switched to a new Brooks Defyance5 after the ultra - the previous one having put in nearly 1500Kms
• Fatigue due to back to back workouts without adequate rest for recovery - due to travel schedule I ran a 12K tempo run on 1st Dec afternoon within 36 hours of running a fairly fast 32Km on 30th morning

Following is the summary of my workouts the past 3 weeks:

Week 7 of 16

Dec 1  - 12Km/60 mins  tempo run

Dec 3  - 26.5Kms/50 mins cycling

Dec 4 - 5 x 1200m intervals

No long run

Week 6 of 16

Dec 9  - 9Km Tempo run

Dec 10 - 23.38K/45 mins cycling

Dec 12 - 23.4K/45 mins cycling

Dec 15 - 21.2K/1:50 long run (goal was to do 32Km but had to stop due to pain in glutes,hamstring and numbness in sole - all on the left side)

No intervals

Week 5 of 16

Dec 16 23.56Km/45 mins cycling

Dec 19 5k/30 mins easy run

Dec 22 16Km Tempo run

No long run

No intervals

Based on discussions with Dr. Gladson I have decided not to do any more interval training. Though the glutes are better now the left side l does not feel normal and I dont want to take any chances. For the remaining 3 weeks I am going to stay with a tempo run, an easy run and a long run and 1 or 2 cycling workouts. The 32Km long run this weekend , probably on 29th Dec, will be the most crucial run to determine my readiness for Mumbai. I will determine my strategy for the race based on how that goes. In any case I am keen on not missing Mumbai - in the worst case I will not race and will run to finish around 4 hours or so - keeping fingers crossed!

50K PB at the 7th Bangalore Ultra

A fastish first half ,a fall between km 29 and km 30, a PB time of 4:52:22, a 2nd place finish in the senior category (and fifth overall) sums up my 7th consecutive 50Km+ finish at the Bangalore Ultra on 9th November 2013. Though I felt that I could perhaps have managed a  sub 4:45 finish if I had not  lost time due to the fall around 29Km ,overall I was very satisfied with the outcome and the experience. In a way it was probably a blessing in disguise that the fall forced me to slow down as I was running at a faster pace than I had planned to. Having done my regular interval and tempo workouts as per my 'Run Less,Run Faster' based FIRST training program pushing harder on a 50Km run could potentially have increased the risk of injury and fatigue and disrupted the rest of my training for SCMM 2014. The good thing was the bruises due to the fall were minor and my recovery was quite fast. Most of the soreness was gone within 36 hours after the run and I was even able to climb up and down staircases quite comfortably. It usually takes me 3 days before I am able to do that. As a precaution I skipped the scheduled  interval training workout of the week following the race. However, I was able to do a 10K tempo run and 21K long run at the targeted paces fairly easily. 

Waking up at 3:35 after about 4.5 hours of sleep I had 2 small bananas and some walnuts and salted pecans before leaving home at 4:20 am.  As in 2012 I left Domlur around 4:35 am  - with Shilpi Sahu and Shilpa Deo riding in my car(I ended up waking up Naveen who was also supposed to come with us and had overslept. He nevertheless made it to the race start on time !). We waited at the ORR/Hennur road junction for a fellow runner Rajesh Swaminathan's car to join us. Following the well laid out RFL banner directions from the point of right turn from Hennur road we reached the start point at Kingston county just after 530am. After warming up, checking in a bag and using the port-a-loo I was at the starting line by 545am. As usual met up and chatted with a number of familiar runners from around the country while warming up - it was quite a nippy morning.  Post the  customary announcements regarding the race, route, aid stations etc by A1 and A2 the 50K run was flagged off ,on the dot, at 6am, by Rev. Samuel Reddy - a 11 times finisher of the gruelling Comrades marathon.

I started  at about 5:20/Km pace and was joined by Pani around the 2nd Km. We ran the 1st half of the race pretty much together. As a result  I ran faster than planned - completing the 1st 25Km in about 2:12 at an average pace of 5:17/Km versus a goal of 2:20 or so. I had the (Powerbar) energy bar in two installments : at about 18Km and then 27Km. After picking up some water at the aid station at Km 27 I was chatting about my race strategy while running along with a fellow runner bicycling the trail when I tripped on a stone and fell down quite hard. In the process  I scraped both my knees and  my left palm(lesson: never take your eyes of the route specially on a trail where stones, roots and generally uneven terrain is part of the course).Getting up after a couple of minutes I slowly continued my run with blood streaming down both my knees. At the next aid station I washed my knees and hands and with the help of Jaggi sprayed relispray in all the bruised areas. Though I felt much better after a few minutes I decided not to push myself and continued at between 5:30 and 6:45/Km pace. I stopped at every aid station to have water,enerzol and some salted peanuts. I also took a couple of short walk breaks in the 2nd lap. I sensed that I would comfortably better my Ultra 2012 timing of 5:07:31 and if I remained steady do a sub 5. I managed that easily with 6:01 and 5:49 in Kms 49 and 50 finishing 2nd in the senior category behind Pani!

Though it became quite warm towards the end of the 2nd loop it was not very hot. In fact my hands and finger tips were cold till the end of the 1st lap. Another unusual thing about this run was I stopped for a loo break 3 times - in the past it has been once for sure and sometimes twice in the ultra. 

A number of friends did their best times and/or longest distances - though the number of true ultra runners is still much smaller than the non-ultra distance runners in this event the Bangalore Ultra has certainly helped a number of runners achieve distances much beyond their imagination a few years ago!!

I left Kingston county at about 12 after lunch and got back home by 1PM.

The video of the event shot by Runners for Life is available here.

PS. This race report is very late - I started it about 2 weeks ago but could not complete it due to travel over consecutive weekends. 

Phasing out..phasing in..shoes

It is generally recommended for runners to change their shoes after about 400-600 miles or 700 to 1000 Kms of running. I have done over 1500 Kms in my Brooks Defyance 5 - a shoe I switched to in September 2012 after using the Adidas supernova Cushion family of shoes for nearly ten years. Being a neutral runner my shoes wear out fairly evenly. I have used my current pair of shoes (shown below) for 3 full marathons and one half marathon : Mohawk Hudson River marathon in October 2012, SCMM in January 2013, AHM 2013 in August 2013 and Auroville Marathon in February 2013.

The Bangalore Ultra on 9th November 2013 will be the last race with this pair of shoes. In preparation for the two most important races of this running season(perhaps of my running career) I started breaking into a new pair of Brooks Defyance 5 last week. I will be running the Mumbai marathon on 19th January 2014 and Boston marathon on 21st April 2014 with this pair shown below.

Having done one tempo+cool down run of 9Km and a longish run of 27Km with the new pair of shoes it seems quite comfortable. Plan to switch to it completely after the Ultra next week.

Some more posts giving guidelines for changing shoes:
When to retire a running shoe
How often should I replace my running shoes?
How often should you change your running shoes

Less than a week to the 7th Bangalore Ultra

Looking forward to completing  my 7th consecutive year of 50Km or longer run at the Bangalore Ultra on Saturday 9th November 2013. SCMM in Mumbai ,the 10K in Bangalore and the Bangalore Ultra are three events that I have run every edition.  The first five editions of Bangalore Ultra were held in a trail at Hesarghatta . In 2012 the race moved to a new route in the bamboo forest off Hennur road. The first edition in 2007 was an out and back loop of 6.5Km  each way- so runners ran multiples of 13Km. The ultra runners ran 4 loops to do 52Km. In subsequent years at Hesarghatta the route was standardised to an out and back loop of 6.25Km each way so that participants ran multiples of 12Km. And then from 2012 the new route at Hesarghatta is 12.5Km out and back for a loop of 25Km. 

As in the past I do not plan to race at the ultra. That is, I plan to run at a moderate pace without pushing myself too much. The intent is to reduce chances of injury and conserve energy for the two important races of the season , that is, SCMM on January 19th  2014 and the Boston marathon on April 21st 2014. Depending on how it goes in first half of the race my goal would be to do better than the time of 5:07:31 in 2012 - in any case keep it below 5:25; My 50Km timings over the years has been  5:50 in 2008, 5:22:29 in 2009 and 5:24:17 in 2011.

My strategy will be run at an average pace of under 5:30/Km to complete the 1st 25Km in under 2:30 and then pace myself comfortably to try and finish in around 5 hours. Followed the same last year and did the first 25Km in 2:19:19; however slowed down considerably in the second half . This was due to the lingering fatigue from my first sub 3:40 race at Mohawk Hudson River marathon on 7th  October 2012 just 5 weeks before the ultra. This year the gap between my last FM at Hyderabad and the Ultra is much more (11 weeks) so I hope to achieve a timing of just under 5 hours.

The 50Km at the Ultra  will replace the 2nd of the five 32Km long runs that are part of my 16 weeks 'Run Less,Run Faster'  training program from FIRST for SCMM on 19th January 2014 -  I anyway convert one of the five  32Km  runs (usually the last one)  into a longer one of 36Km

Boston 2014 Registration Process

The dynamics for Boston 2014 changed due to the bomb blasts at the finish line of Boston 2013. The interest among runners to qualify and run in Boston 2014 went up significantly. Many runners who were not intending to run Boston 2014 were now motivated to show solidarity with BAA, city of Boston  and the running movement  in general. As a result the number of registrations for  marathons in the US between May and September saw a definite uptick On May 16th B.A.A. announced  that the 5,633 official entrants who had passed the halfway point but were unable to finish will be guaranteed entry into next year's marathon. As per their press release these entrants would not need to qualify again but will need to pay the  registration fee.(These runners were eventually invited to register between August 1 and August 29th - nearly 5000 of them registered). After some speculation BAA finally announced an increase of the field size by 9000 from 27,000 to 36,000 runners. Nevertheless  there was a lot of discussion whether all BQ runners would get in. Here's another report on this. Once the registrations opened on September 9th there were discussions on many forums as to the number of spots that would be left for the 2nd week (for all BQ runners) and where the cut-off would be as it was pretty much certain that even with the increased field size not all runners would get in. 

Finally notifications to the runners who registered during the week of September 16th were sent out on September 25th and it turned out that the cut-off was BQ- 1:38 and unfortunately 2976 runners who BQ'ed and registered did not make it.

There was also a lot of discussion as to why the number of slots for qualifiers was only 500 when the field size was increased by 9000. The thinking was that maybe the no. of charity slots was increased by a large number which of course did not go well with the BQ'ed runners who had applied for registration. BAA clarified that this was not the case. 

The following from the BAA website provides details of the applications received and the cut-offs by category :

Registration for runners who met the B.A.A.’s Qualifying Standards for the 2014 Boston Marathon began on Monday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m. ET using a “rolling admission” schedule and continued through Saturday, September 14 at 10:00 p.m. ET. Registration re-opened on Monday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m. and application submissions were received through Friday, September 20 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

• 25,654 applications were received during the two weeks of registration (September 9, 2013 through September 20, 2013).
• 22,679 applicants have been accepted or are in the process of being accepted, pending verification of their qualifying performance (17,229 from Week One; 5,450 from Week Two). 
• Details of the B.A.A.’s two-week registration process for Qualifiers can be found on the following web page:
  http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/athlete-registration/registration-information.aspx
• 2,976 applicants were unable to be accepted due to the large number of eligible qualifiers who submitted an application for entry combined with field size limitations.
• During Week One, when the fastest of all Qualifiers submitted their application for entry:
  4,484 Qualifiers accepted met their qualifying time by 20 minutes, 00 seconds or faster;
  6,866 Qualifiers accepted met their qualifying time by 10 minutes, 00 seconds or faster;
  5,879 Qualifiers accepted met their qualifying time by 05 minutes, 00 seconds or faster.
• From Week Two, 5,450 Qualifiers were accepted.  These were Qualifiers who were one minute, 38 seconds or faster than the Qualifying time for their age group and gender.
• An additional 5,625 runners who were 2013 Boston Marathon starters who reached the half marathon checkpoint or later but did not have the opportunity to cross the finish line on Boylston Street on April 15  were invited to participate in the 2014 race, some of whom were qualified. Of those runners, 4,615 registered for 2014, 1,649 of whom were Qualifiers.
• In addition, 402 Qualifiers who have an active streak of ten or more consecutive Boston Marathon completions also entered during a pre-registration period in August and have been accepted. 

Those who submitted a verified qualifying performance that was one minute, 38 seconds (1:38) or more under the qualifying standard for their age and gender have been accepted into the race. Qualifying performances for the 2014 Boston Marathon must have been run between September 22, 2012 and September 20, 2013.  Notices via email to those accepted will be issued by the B.A.A. beginning today.

The names of those runners who have been accepted will be posted on the “Entrants” page of the B.A.A.’s web site: http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/entrants.aspx

Some of those entrants who ultimately will be accepted will not be notified of their acceptance or have their name appear because validation of qualifying performances is ongoing. The amount of time to verify the performance of qualifiers can vary from race to race.

 2014 Boston Marathon: Men’s Qualifying Standards and Accepted Times

AGE GROUP	STANDARD ELIGIBLE TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION	QUALIFICATION TIMES ACCEPTED FASTER THAN AND INCLUDING
18-34	3hrs 05min 00sec	3hrs 03min 22sec
35-39	3hrs 10min 00sec	3hrs 08min 22sec
40-44	3hrs 15min 00sec	3hrs 13min 22sec
45-49	3hrs 25min 00sec	3hrs 23min 22sec
50-54	3hrs 30min 00sec	3hrs 28min 22sec
55-59	3hrs 40min 00sec	3hrs 38min 22sec
60-64	3hrs 55min 00sec	3hrs 53min 22sec
65-69	4hrs 10min 00sec	4hrs 08min 22sec
70-74	4hrs 25min 00sec	4hrs 23min 22sec
75-79	4hrs 40min 00sec	4hrs 38min 22sec
80 and over	4hrs 55min 00sec	4hrs 53min 22sec

2014 Boston Marathon: Women’s Qualifying Standards and Accepted Times

AGE GROUP	STANDARD ELIGIBLE TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION	QUALIFICATION TIMES ACCEPTED FASTER THAN AND INCLUDING
18-34	3hrs 35min 00sec	3hrs 33min 22sec
35-39	3hrs 40min 00sec	3hrs 38min 22sec
40-44	3hrs 45min 00sec	3hrs 43min 22sec
45-49	3hrs 55min 00sec	3hrs 53min 22sec
50-54	4hrs 00min 00sec	3hrs 58min 22sec
55-59	4hrs 10min 00sec	4hrs 08min 22sec
60-64	4hrs 25min 00sec	4hrs 23min 22sec
65-69	4hrs 40min 00sec	4hrs 38min 22sec
70-74	4hrs 55min 00sec	4hrs 53min 22sec
75-79	5hrs 10min 00sec	5hrs 08min 22sec
80 and over	5hrs 25min 00sec	5hrs 23min 22sec

“While 2013 has been challenging, we appreciate and acknowledge the outpouring of support which we have received and to which we have been witness,” said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. Executive Director.  “For 2014 and with a larger field size, we wanted to achieve the correct balance among the field of participants by accepting as many qualifiers as possible, accommodating those who were prevented from crossing the finish line in 2013, and recognizing some who were directly involved in 2013. While we would like to accept all qualified runners, field size limits are in place to ensure the best possible experience for all runners in the field.  We will next address the allocation of remaining slots in as fair a fashion as we can across people and groups who are or represent those most affected by the events of April 15.”

Notices to those who submitted an application for entry but who were not accepted were also issued today.

In cooperation with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the eight cities and towns along the Boston Marathon route, the B.A.A. has set the field size for the 2014 Boston Marathon at 36,000 official entrants. At least seventy percent of the field will be comprised of athletes who have met the qualifying standards. The balance will consist of invitational entrants,many of whom run for local charitable organizations. Since 1989, between the B.A.A.’s Official Charity Program and principal sponsor John Hancock Financial’s Non-Profit Bib Program for the Boston Marathon, more than $170 million has been raised for charity.  

My 3rd Garmin unit is a Garmin 310 XT..

When I took to long distance running in 2001 I used a regular stop watch to track the run time. I used my car to measure the training route for distance. Based on the advice from Dr. Rajat Chauhan that a Heart rate monitor would help me achieve my potential as a runner both in terms of distance and pace I acquired the  Garmin  Forerunner 305 in July 2007.  Once I started using the device I got addicted to it. While I stopped using the HRM after a couple of years I used the average pace and current pace settings of the device to pace my runs and achieve the timing targets. The first unit lasted a little under 3 years before the buttons wore out and the unit split into two in April 2010. I acquired my second Garmin 305 unit in July 2010. In July 2013,exactly 3 years later, the battery of the device started to die in about 2 hrs 15 minutes. Soon after within a few weeks the battery life reduced to an hour. I trained for the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon 2013 using a Garmin 305 borrowed from Ravi Venkatesam and raced with the same unit.

 The Garmin 305 had been discontinued so I researched on the other Garmin units and narrowed it to either   a Garmin 310XT or  Garmin 610. After looking at the detailed reviews of DCRainmaker and the relative prices (US $ 230 versus US $399) I decided to go with the Garmin 310XT. Its similarity to the FR 305 and the 20 hour battery life was also attractive.Having used it for about 6 weeks now, since August 28th 2013, I am quite happy with it. It does seem to link with the GPS satellite faster than the Garmin 305. The setup was fairly straightforward very similar to the 305.  Being able to specify lap distances in fraction of Kms is a very useful feature for interval training - in the 305 the lap distance can be either 1 Km or 1 mile only. The transfer of data from the Garmin unit to Garmin Training center or Garmin Connect using the  ANT USB mini stick has been a bit of a struggle. I had to download the appropriate driver and install it on my PC. Even then the ANT agent often did not detect the Garmin device and I am having to exit the agent and/or switch the device on/off for the data to be transferred. This seems to be a known issue with the device. I am hoping the device was last for at least 3 years and the battery life will stay over 15 hours as I turn my focus to ultras after Boston 2014.

Marathon Trivia

Most marathon runners are aware that the the event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens.The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought), which took place in August or September, 490 BC. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "We wοn", before collapsing and dying.

A lesser known fact which I discovered recently is that the word Marathon or Marathos is the Greek name for Fennel(saunf)  plant - a herb that was indigenous to the shores of the Mediterraneans. The town of Marathon from which Pheidippedes ran to Athens was named for its fields of  fennels.

Treadmill Phobia

I suffer from the  fear of running on treadmills(Treadmilobia?). I have always been an outdoor runner since taking up jogging for fitness over 30 years ago and after moving to distance running in 2001. I have run on treadmills only when I absolutely needed to while travelling either due to bad weather or not being aware of a running route in the neighbourhood. However, ever since the experiences of a couple of years ago, when one time the treadmill I was running on changed  speed upwards on its own and another time it came to a complete stop quite  suddenly, I have developed a mental block against treadmills. I use then only when I have no other choice - I prefer the cycle or the cross-trainer or the rowing machine for a workout in the gym rather than a treadmill. Recently when I was out of Bangalore on vacation and needed to do a 8Km tempo run at 4:54/Km as part of my 16 weeks marathon training program I pysched myself up since the previous evening calculating and re-calculating the setting for the speed(12.3 Km/hr). However, when I got onto the treadmill I felt scared going beyond 11Km/hour. I somehow inched up to 11.3 Km/hr but felt uncomfortable and scared going beyond that. I ended up doing a 30 minutes run at a modest pace of 5:36/Km. I know of some running friends who do their tempo and even interval training runs on treadmills. I will never be able to do that. On googling I found that a lot of people dislike running on the treadmill mainly due to the boredoom; however there are a quite a few runners who are scared as well like me.

A major milestone accomplished..acceptance into Boston 2014...

The registrations for Boston marathon 2014 opened on 9th September 2013 following the same 'rolling admission' schedule as the previous year. As per this process  I was able to register on the evening of Monday 16th September - one of over 8000 runners who registered during that week for 5000 spots. After 10 long days of excruciating waiting, filled with countless visits to BAA website, BAA Facebook page and Runners World discussion forums speculating the cut-off time, I was thrilled to make it to Boston 2014. I got the acceptance mail from BAA on 25th September around 11:15PM. Unfortunately, nearly 3000 runners who BQ'ed and applied missed out due to the cut-off of BQ-1:38.  I squeaked a BQ by just 3 seconds at the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon in October 2012. Fortunately I was able to better this at SCMM in January 2013 with a time of 3:37:20. 

I was focused on getting an entry into Boston marathon since July 2011 and my training and choice of running events has been focused around this goal for the last 2 years. Having achieved this there is now a temporary feeling of vacuum. I plan to run in two events before Boston 2014 ( Bangalore Ultra on 9th November and SCMM on 19th January 2014) and the goal now is to arrive at the start line in Hopkington on 21st April 2014 injury free and well trained! 

PS. Hope to write details of the Boston 2014 registraion process, field size, cut-off speculations and discussions around these in a future post

Vanquished by the hilly terrain at Airtel Hyderabad Marathon 2013

Failing to conquer the hilly course of my first Full marathon of the season I missed the  aggressive target I had set  for Airtel Hyderabad Marathon by over 10 minutes. While the first half was pretty much as per plan I lost so much pace in the second half that I failed to even finish in sub 3:40. Somewhere between 27Km and 37Km I lost it  both physically and mentally and was disappointed with the race; Though it was my best time on this course beating my time in Airtel Hyderabad marathon 2011 by over 5 minutes and my third best time ever after MHRM in October 2012 and SCMM in January 2013. And I ended up coming first in the Senior or super veteran age category - this being my first race after graduating to that age group.

As usual I reached Hyderabad on Friday,23rd August evening. This time I went for the Bib pickup on Saturday afternoon around 3:30 PM  instead of the morning and decided to stay Saturday night with other runners at Nizam club(rather than at the in-laws place in Domalguda). The expo at Hitex exhibition hall was spacious and well organised - though the location itself was quite out of the way and not easily accessible. At the expo I met Ashish Shah of Zendurance - which organises niche endurance events. Jugy and I joined Partha(with whom I was room-ming)  and other runners at Nizam club around 6 PM. The room there was clean and comfortable. While most other runners decided to walk up to the start point about 1.5 Kms away I relaxed in the room after pinning up my racing bib and laying out all the accessories for the race - shoes, socks,cap, towel, Garmin etc. Between 8 and 9 PM we had a relaxing dinner of Rava idlis and curd rice at a Kamat restaurant few hundred meters away.  I went to bed at 9:45 PM and dozed off quite quickly. As usual I woke up a few minutes before my alarm was to go at 3:35 AM. After 2 bananas and some almonds and walnuts I was out of the room by 4:15 AM. Naresh, Ravi and I took a brisk walk to the starting point at People's Plaza and were there by 4:35 or so. After unloading my bladder in the open(the queue for the port-a-potty was too long) and some warming up I checked in my bag and headed to the start line around 4:50am bumping into numerous familiar runners along the way. 

At 5:01 AM, as per my Garmin, we were on our way. I ran mostly alone and was not able to get into a good rhythm. Due to early morning rains the humidity seemed to be a bit high. Runners like Siddesha and Neera were a few meters ahead. There was a small stretch of about 500m around the lake where it was compeltely dark and the road was uneven. Fortunately there was no mis-step. I reached the 10Km mark after the Khairatabad(1st) flyover on target in about 49 minutes. 

Just before entering the Panjagutta (2nd) flyover I went past Pankaj Rai. Lost bit of pace in the climb in Banjara Hills - I realised I was not able to completely  make up for the lost time in the downhill stretches. Nevertheless, I got to the 21K mark in a little over 1:45 at an average pace of 5 mins/Km. However after the Gachibowli (3rd) flyover the pace started to drop. I started getting light cramps in both my hamstrings due to which I was unable to push myself. Somehow in this part of the race I was not as mentally strong as I have been in the recent past. And the average pace began to steadily climb. By the 31Km mark I knew that sub 3:35 was not achievable - even sub 3:40 started to look challenging. My goal was to hit 34K between 2:50 and 2:53- it was 2:57+ when I got there. Now the hamstrings cramps got worse. I stopped at the medical station at around the 35Km marked and sprayed them generously with volini. I repeated the same around the 38K mark inside the Hyderabad university campus. At this point I found even the slightest of gradients quite challenging to negotiate. Though the goal was to keep the pace as close to 5:30 as possible in the last 8Kms my pace varied between 5:05 to 6:23! I felt a bit better in the last 2 Kms and should have pushed a bit harder to stay sub 3:45. Around the 40Km marke Neera went past me - she also seemed to be struggling a bit. But the stretch inside the stadium seemed to go on forever and though I sprinted the last couple of hundred meters on the tracks I crossed the finish line in a net time of 3:46:20 a minute or so behind Neera and Siddesha. I was tired and a bit down mentally but not completely exhausted. My training had been quite ok -  I probably over trained a bit. Maybe the slight cold and sore throat was a factor or the fact that BAA had responded that the Hyderabad marathon course was not recognised for BQ time was playing on my mind. It maybe a combination of this but the bottom line probably  is that I am not cut out for hill running!!

I hung around with other runners from Bangalore for a bit. The snack box was ok - though lot of runners seemed to have thought it was not good. 

This time I watched out for  the award ceremony and  collected the age category winner plaque.

I was back at Nizam club by about 11:30 AM and Domalguda by 12:30 PM. Overall the race was well organised. The traffic control and volunteer support in the village stretch between 26K and 30K could have been better. Asking finishers to climb up the steps to collect the snack box did not seem right.

A sore throat and running nose(had slight symptoms of these before the race) from the evening of the race dampened my recovery from the race. Did just one 4Km run the week after the race. This week went back up to 32Km over 3 easy runs . I will be taking September easy before starting training for SCMM 2014 from 30th September. 

Challenge of Airtel Hyderabad Marathon 2013 beckons

The Airtel Hyderabad Marathon is arguably the most challenging road marathon in the country. With three flyovers at the 9th,13th and 24rth Km respectively , rolling hills specially in the Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills areas and a gentle uphill between 38th and 41st Km the route is testing both physically and mentally. 

I have run the Hyderabad marathon twice before and both times my experience has been very good  in terms of race organisation and experience and my race timing. Though tough on the legs the rolling hills has helped me do well there. The route this year and last year is fairly similar to the route of the earlier years with some small modifications. Being organised by Hyderabad Runners , one of the largest and most vibrant running communities in the country, the event is very very runner friendly. As the first of my 12 marathons in 12 months in  I thoroughly enjoyed the first edition of the run in August 2008. I had to miss the run in August 2009 after registering for it due to sickness - the only DNS of my running career so far. The event did not happen in 2010. In its new incarnation as Airtel Hyderabad marathon in 2011 the event was much bigger and established itself as one of the 'must do' road marathons in India. Though hit by severe cramps around the 34Km mark I managed a PB in that race. Being away from  India I gave the  2012 edition  a miss; as  this report from a good friend and ace runner testifies  it was once again very well organised and a resounding success! So without a thought I registered for Airtel Hyderabad marathon 2013 on the day registrations opened - had already  booked my travel even earlier when airlines were offering discounts in February 2013!

Race goal and pacing strategy

I have trained for 10 weeks using the 'Run Less, Run Faster' program of FIRST for a target goal of 3:35. While the training has gone off well I am aware that this is very ambitious considering the challenging course and that my all time PB is 3:37:20 in SCMM 2013 and my PB in Hyderabad is a good 17 minutes slower!. I will start the race with this goal and tune it depending on how it goes.How the legs hold up to the hills and the temperature, winds and rain(if any) will influence my race strategy. I hope to at least beat my PB failing which my next goal would be to keep my time sub 3:40. 

My pacing strategy for a FM has generally been 30-50-20 ie about 5-10 secs per Km faster than target goal for the first 30% distance ie upto 12 kms or so, close to target pace for the next 50% distance ie up to 34Km and then push as hard as possible for the remaining 20% distance. My target pace being 5:05/Km the intent is to hit 34Km between 2:50 and 2:53. I intend to follow the same strategy in this race expecting to lose about 15-20 secs /km in the flyover/uphill stretches and hoping to gain the same in the downhills. 

So the following are my interim timing targets:

10Km  49mins (4:55 mins/Km pace) - this would be towards the end of the 1st flyover

21Km  1:45     (5mins/Km pace)

34Km   2:50 to 2:53 (between 5 and 5:05/Km pace)

Though this will be my 38th race of FM or longer distance(including the 6 unofficial RFL runs in 2008-09) it has been the usual nervy period of ten days leading up to the race. Now with  less than 2 days to go, I am looking forward to the first FM of the season - hoping to enjoy the experience and catching up with runner friends from around the country!!

Marathon training post injury lay-off

Injury is a bane of all experienced/regular runners - having to stay away from something that one is passionate about due to injury of all things is a dreadful phase for a runner to go through. But injuries are a fact of life for runners. There are various statistics floating around about running injuries. One popular one is that 70% of runners will get injured in a given year. Of course this is too vague as both the definition of runner and injury can vary. Another way of looking at it is that in most cases there may not be a strict line between being injured or not. The closest a runner(specially one doing Half marathon and longer distances regularly) maybe to being 'injury-free' is when he/she is able to run freely without pain and even then the runner maybe balancing several weaknesses,imbalances, scar tissues etc.

Fortunately I have  not to be laid of weeks together due to a running related injury since I did my 2nd Full marathon in 2005. Though I have had breaks from running due tom sickness, travel and even just to give my legs and body some rest. However the 2013-14 running season started with injury woes.. While training for TCS 10K 2013 using the 'Run Less, Run Faster' training program from FIRST I got hit with pain in my left calf/ankle   and I had to consult a sports physio and adjust my goal for the race. A week before the race my right calf got hurt so bad that  I had to abandon my medium pace  training run after 2 Km or so and almost decided to skip the TCS 10K. However, I ended up running the race and while trying to push for around 45 minutes time I tore  a muscle in my right calf. Based on the Physio's advice I took 3 weeks completely off from running- doing light cycling, rowing and stretching to keep myself fit. After the TCS 10K race on 19th of May my next run was a slow 10K as part of the Mother Earth run on 9th June!!

Getting back to training after an injury layoff is quite tricky.One should pick up the pace and distance very gradually however much there is temptation to do otherwise due to the eagerness to catch up on lost training time. If the stressing demands of running are introduced at a rate and volume that the body is not ready for—especially after time off after an injury—it makes recovery difficult and makes the body vulnerable to new injuries due to compromised form. The key for a successful return is allowing the soft tissues to have the chance to adapt. More in this article in Competitor - a great online resource for running. As another article in the same site states:

A  running plan post an injury should be formed strategically based on  the following five factors:

1. 1. The severity of the injury—a stress fracture or injury that required surgery differs vastly from tendonitis.
2. 2. How long one was  sidelined from running.
3. 3. One's  fitness level prior to getting injured.
4. 4. How many years of experience one  have as a runner.
5. 5. Whether one  could cross-train during the  layoff.

Here's another nice perspective - this one from RunnesConnect on how to get back to training after injury,sickness or missing training.

In my  case after some nice easy runs during the week of 10th June to build mileage I started my training for Airtel Hyderabad marathon 2013 with 6 x 800m intervals at Kanteerva stadium on 19th June jumping into week 10 of the 16 weeks 'Run Less, Run Faster' training program. I did not push myself during the intervals which I was doing after a break of over 2 months. The 33Km slow run up and down Nandi hills on June 23rd was the longest run since SCMM in January 2013. Though exhausted at the end of the run there was no pain in either calf - so my injury seemed to have fully healed.

The next 8 weeks of training went off quite well. Was able to do most of the workouts - skipped a couple of tempo runs and a couple of cycling workouts due to travel. Most of the running workouts went well specially the long runs. Also managed to get in two 33Km runs and one 36Km run. And work out for about 15 minutes on the foam roller and do about 45 minutes of stretching at least once a day while not travelling. This was complimented by strength training - rowing, leg press, calf press, leg raises, squats, lunges, step ups 2 days a week.  My weight varied in the range 118 lbs to 123 lbs and body fat dipped just under 10% for the first time ever. Except during the tapering fortnight , when I am going through the usual jitters, doubts, aches and pains, overall I feel well trained , fitter than ever before and ready for my first marathon of the season!! .

TCS 10K 2013 : Decent run despite a torn right calf muscle

Considering that a week before the run on 19th May 2013 I was unsure of making it to the starting line due to a right calf injury, I am satisfied with my 46:56 performance  (bib# 578) in the race with an overall ranking of 189 out of 8137 finishers. The icing was the 3rd place finish out of 191 runners in the 51 to 60 eyars category behind awesome runners Pani and Sid. Running through right calf pain for the last 2 Kms was quite tough. The wonderful capture below around the 9th Km by  Shantanu Singh shows this well.

I literally limped over the finish line with severe right calf pain - thanks to friend and fellow runner Ravi Venkatesam for getting the volini spray from the medical tent in the finish area. After spraying that generously the calf felt much better. 

Ravi and I left Domlur Layout at 6am by car and after parking at UB city we reached Kanteerva stadium by 620am. There were hardly a handful of runners in the category A section(finisher in less than 50 mins within the previous 2 years) at that time. At 630am the World 10K men racers took off at a blistering pace. Soon thereafter the area was buzzing with runners - many of them familiar. After using the restroom one more time I went down the steps to a position close to the gate to the tracks. At about about 7:19am (by my Garmin) the gate was opened and all runners rushed out tot he start line. The pushing and jostling was much less compared to the previous two years - though it was still there specially with the corporate challenge runners also joining the category A runners at the same time. (I understand it was much worse for the category B and Category C runners - their gates were opened a few seconds later). The race started at 7:21 within a few seconds of my getting to the start line. I was able to get a good start and clocked the 1st Km in 4:07 much faster than planned. Ran at a good pace till Km 4  clocking an average of 4:16/Km - the gradient after the turnaround at Ulsoor slowed me down considerably and the pace gradually fell. By the half way mark I knew that sub 45 was not going to be possible and soon thereafter also vanished any thoughts of a beating my previous PB of 2011. The last 4 Kms were really tough as the right calf pain steadily increased. Surprisingly, my usual left calf and left glutes niggle did not show up this time. I have always found it difficult to sustain a fast pace in the shorter races - My goal was to ensure that I finished sub 50 and as close to 47 mins as possible. I was doubly relieved to cross the finish line around the 47 min mark. As has been my practice at the 10K race I consumed water 3 times during the run all in the 2nd half. I felt the weather was quite ok.

After hanging around in the finish line a bit - stretching and getting photographed - drove to Konark for the wonderful breakfast hosted by Nagaraj Adiga (aka 'godfather'). It was great to exchange thoughts with fellow runners and also an opportunity for more pictures. Got back home around quarter past 10am - well fed but a bit worried about the right calf.

A day after the race I discovered that the right calf had swollen quite a bit. In general the right leg was quite sore even more so than after a typical marathon. Next day when I found some internal bleeding below the ankle it had me really worried. The ultrasound scan of the calf area (recommended by Doc Gladson of Attitide Prime) revealed ' a partial tear of the proximal muscle fibres of soleus with associated hematoma'. The soleus is one of the 3 muscles that form the calf muscles. A hematoma is defined as a collection of blood or a clot that has accumulated outside of a blood vessel. The blood has leaked from a ruptured artery, vein, or capillary and then seeps into the surrounding tissue. 

The only solution for such an injury is to ice the area and stretch lightly frequently and stay off from running for a few weeks. After a complete break for 5 days I did some cycling over the weekend. After a week the swelling in the ankle has gone but there is still a dull pain while walking or going down the steps. Depending on how it goes I hope to restart running the week of 3rd June and after a couple of weeks of light training start the formal training for Hyderabad marathon towards the end of the month!!

TCS 10K 2013?

I am quite under-prepared,physically and mentally for the 6th edition of  Bangalore's  world 10K run that is less than a week away . With just 4 running workouts since 18th April training has been minimal. While the usual stress in the left glutes,calf and sole has been nagging me for the last few weeks I have also been having a problem with my right calf since the 1st of May. On 5th May I had to abandon my  fastish 16K run after a 48mins/10Km with stress in both the calves. I literally limped back home. This is the first time ever that I had an issue with my right calf. When I had to give up on the  medium pace  run yesterday that I was doing after a break of 5 days after a Km or so with acute pain in the upper right calf I was completely shattered. It looked like it would be prudent to skip this year's 10K and train for the Hyderabad marathon after recovering from the injury. An injury like this at the beginning of a running season is a real dampener - I have been unable to avoid being depressed the last couple of weeks. Not being able to run the 10K to plan was bad enough, the possibility of the injury impacting the marathons targeted for the season and that beating my BQ time by 2:40 may not be sufficient to get me a place in Boston 2014 made it much worse.

Despite  uncertainty of whether I would make it to the start line on 19th May I collected my running bib from Koramangla indoor stadium on 11th May morning. And then went to show my right calf to Dr. Gladson of Attitude Prime. It looks like the calf pain may be due to a weak plantar fascia not being able to strain of my running pace. As per Gladson it is not Planatar Fasciitis - a very common injury among runners. And I should be in a reasonable shape to run the 10K after exercising the plantar using a  golf ball  a few times a day for the next few days.

Hope to make it to the starting on line on 19th May and keep my streak of running the world 10K if the easy  training runs on 14th and 16th May go well.While I had changed my goal to Sub-45 or to at least beat my 2011 PB of 45:57 now I will be satisfied if I can keep it below 50 minutes though I know I am in shape to do sub 45. My strategy will be to get a good start(a challenge by itself considering 11,000 runners are expected to participate and the organisers have been unable to enforce discipline in the starting area to have runners assemble and start based on their previous finish times) and try and sustain  sub 4:30 minutes Kms as long as possible. 

More on Boston 2013.. and some thoughts on 2014 too

Three weeks since the dastardly event at this year's Boston marathon while the perpetrators have been identified the motivation behind this is still unclear. And those directly impacted by the blasts are still trying to cope with it. The week of 16th April was a a horrible week for the running world and runners worldwide. While I was relieved to know that runners from India (a couple of whom I knew personally) were safe I went about my work almost like a zombie - some colleagues at work wondered why was I was off-colour and distraught. Among the several reflections  about Boston 2013 here are some that I found interesting:

We should simply come out and play more

Boston, from one citizen of the world who calls himself a runner

Let the healing begin: running still matters

One aftermath of Boston 2013 is that there is huge interest in qualifying for Boston 2014 - apparently the interest is about 15 to 20 times higher than at any point since 2008.The 118^th Boston Marathon is slated for Monday, April 21, 2014. Quoting from this article: 'In recent years, about 27,000 people have been granted entry to the race (through qualified entries, charity entries and sponsor’s exempt entries), but only 22,000 typically start the race. But several thousand are also turned away each year once the race reaches its capacity.'

So there is expected to be  a surge in marathon entries over the next several months as runners try to register a 2014 qualifying time before registration opens in early September.As per the analysis here Of the 17,580 finishers of Boston 2013 , according to MarathonGuide.com, 10,391 runners, or 59.1%, qualified for Boston 2014.  And a large number of these qualifiers would likely want to come back and run Boston 2014. Also BAA needs to decide how to handle the 4,496 runners who were unable to complete the race due to the blasts. With a time of 2 minutes 40 seconds under the qualifying time of 3:40 (achieved in SCMM 2013) my chances of getting through in the registration process in September 2013 now looks quite challenging. Unless BAA decides to expand the field of runners in 2014 - which they did before for the 100th anniversary run. I am hoping and praying that they do this. It will be very disappointing if I am unable to make it for Boston 2014. The Hyderabad marathon at the end of August is the only one I plan to run before September  and it is highly unlikely that I will be able to better my 3:37:20 on that course. Anxiously counting down the next four months...