SCMM 2016

The much anticipated race on 17th January 2016 went well - I comfortably achieved my goal of a sub 3:50 finishing in 3:47:15 - 6th in my age category. Really thrilled with the (negative) splits of 1:53:59 and 1:53:16 - first time ever in a FM!. Though a bit fatigued at the end I was able to maintain my pace in the last 10Kms - my slowest Km was 5:27 (apart from 5:33 in the 1st Km) which included the Peddar road flyover stretch on the return. In fact, I was in such a state that I did not even realise when I crossed the flyover. I got quite energised after turning from Marine drive towards Churchgate and ran the last 2 Kms at 5:15.

Few minutes after crossing the finish line

After hanging around the finish line with other runners went into the Azad maidan (and unlike last year one did not have to climb up crowded steps to get in) to collect the checked-in baggage, medal and refreshments which was'nt great. 

The anxiety level really shot up the afternoon/evening of the day before the race  - ate quite a bit of myriad food - almonds,pecans, biscuits, salted peanuts etc. Had a hearty dinner of 4 phulkas and curd race and went to sleep by 10PM. And as always  woke up at 3am a few minutes before the alarm went off.  Like last year Amit Joshi's father dropped us at Chembur station just before 4am and we took the 4:17 train to CST. We were joined by Bharath another Bangalore runner.

with Amit and Bharath enroute to CST from Chembur

After 2 levels of security checks we were in Azad maidan by about 5:10 or so. After checking in my bag, warming up a bit and going to the loo reached  Zone A of the starting line about 10 minutes before start of the race.  Met Ashok and a few other runners at the start point. A few minutes after the start Satish and I were together. Did the first Km quite slowly in 5:33. We ran together till the sea link which started around the 15th Km this year due to some tweaking in the route. We hit the 10K mark in about 54 minutes and ran most of the sealink stretch together (the sealink was from Km 15 to 19 this year due to some tweaking of the route) at a steady pace. However, I lost S towards the end of the sealink and ran the rest of the race pretty much alone. I ate my first date cake around Km 11 and the second one around Km 25. The litter bins after every aid station was a good improvement - also saw lot of volunteers collecting litter along the route. As always the spirited support and cheering of the crowds was amazing - one of the unique attributes of SCMM which motivates runners to come back year after year. And Mumbai police did a fabulous job in managing the traffic. The organisers ensured that the HM or dream run runners did not hamper the FM runners in their home stretch. I crossed the finish line with my Garmin reading 42.85Km - so in a sense I did a sub 3:45 FM. 

Runners had varying views of the weather this year. Personally I thought it was not as cold as last year at the start and not too warm or humid when I finished - the weather was pretty much flat. In hindsight, I could have a pushed a little harder in the last 5Kms. Anyway no regrets. Considering where I was at the start of this season - having not run any FM since Jan 2015, no interval or tempo training since March 2014  and with only a couple of serious 32Km+ runs in November/December I am very satisfied with the time and look forward to a much better, injury free season ahead!!. 

Turn around at SCMM 2016 ??

With just about 12 hours to go for my 11th FM at Mumbai , as usual, the anxiety level is going up. As per my family members I was extremely tense all day before taking the flight to  Mumbai on Friday evening. This is an event that I have always aspired to do well. And have been fortunate enough to have my timing improve Y-O-Y from 4:42:38 in my first FM at Mumbai in 2006 to my PB of 3:37:20 in the 2013 edition. After that race I have run 4 FMs and all of them have been slower than 3:45 with the last two being slower than 3:50.  The anxiety is compounded by the fact that for the first time in 10 years I have not run a FM for 12 months , that is, SCMM 2016 will be my first FM since SCMM 2015. 

Nevertheless, I feel fitter and more confident compared to last year. With a couple of decent 35KM+ runs and a fastish HM(sub 1:51) in a hilly terrain 2 weeks ago I feel that a sub 3:50 should definitely be possible unless something goes terribly wrong tomorrow. And if everything goes 'perfectly' well then even a sub 3:45 may be possible. Anything slower than 3:52 would be very disappointing. To have a high chance of achieving 3:50 I am going to try an keep an average pace of between 5:22/Km and  5:25/Km to get to 21.1Km mark between 1:53 and 1:54. And the 35Km mark in about 3:08 and then push as hard as the body and mind will allow for the last 7Km!! 

The Bib collection process today was a bit of a bummer. After standing in a Q for over 15 minutes my bib could not be found and I was directed to a back office guy who in turn directed me to the separate Q for 'enduranz club' members. My bib states 8Y and running for having done at least 8 FMs in a row. I was quite unhappy as it should have said 10Y instead of 8- apparently Procam does not have data going that far back which is a pathetic excuse.

Here's wishing favourable  conditions for all running friends to have a fantastic run tomorrow.