DNS at SPBM

As hundreds of runner friends countdown the last few hours to the Sriram Properties Bengaluru Marathon on 16th October I am brooding over the second DNS(Did Not Start) of my running career to add to the two DNFs (Did Not Finish).  DNS is when one registers and trains for a race and is unable to or decides against participating due to travel or injury etc. DNF is when one starts the race and is unable to complete the targeted/registered distance due to circumstances during the run. 

For the record my other DNS was when I fell sick and missed the Hyderabad marathon in 2009. The two DNFs are my first FM attempt at Pune in December 2002 and the 9th Bangalore Ultra in November 2015.

Participation in SPBM 2016 was ruled out when the right calf hurt during a slow 5K run a little over a week ago. While it is depressing as my training was going very well and I was looking forward to a sub 3:45 at my first FM at this event skipping it will enable to have some decent runs during the rest of this season. With no running since the end of September and probably for another week I downgraded from 75K to 50K at the Bangalore Ultra in November and decided not to run the Goa River marathon. A cascading effect is probably Comrades will need to put off for a couple of years.

While many injured/non-particpating runners like to go the expo and interact with runners and/or volunteer during the event I prefer to just stay away from it. I just don't feel like explaining my injury to other runners -  miss participation just by going through the pre and post run FB updates of friends. Besides I want to keep my record of volunteering only for non-commercial runs.

Tempo training

The tempo run is the the second of the 3 weekly runs prescribed by the FIRST 'Run Less, Run Faster' training program - the other two being interval training and the long run .A tempo run is also known as a lactate-threshold, LT, or  Anaerobic threshold, AT or just threshold run. The tempo run pace is 'comfortably hard' - slower than the pace of interval runs and faster than a long run pace. One rule of thumb is about 15 to 45s slower than 5K race pace depending on the distance of the tempo run. The RLRF program specifies the pace for each of the 15 tempo tempo runs depending on the target marathon pace. 

LT is the point at which lactic acid (a by-product of glucose metabolization) begins to accumulate in muscles. An accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles leads to the fatigue and soreness that runners experience when running hard.  Increasing the LT by doing tempo run can reduce the accumulation of lactic acid which results in an ability to run faster without suffering muscle fatigue. Tempo runs are also helpful for developing the mental toughness and stamina needed for racing.

The lactate-threshold or anaerobic threshold run is for about 40-60 minutes duration at an intensity at which lactic acid accumulates in the blood stream faster than it can be cleared away - this is usually at 80-95% of maximum heart rate. Increasing the anaerobic threshold allows the body to run at faster and faster speeds before fatigue and lactic acid take over.Maintaining a specific and consistent pace is the most important aspect of a tempo run. The RLRF program specifies tempo runs of 3 paces  - short-tempo pace for  5K distance, mid-tempo pace for  up to about 8K  and log-tempo pace for distances up to about 10K. 

The tempo interval is a variation which are tempo runs interspersed at regular (say, 2Km or 10-minute) intervals by 30- to 60-second rest periods. This pattern diminishes the psychological difficulty of the workout while preserving the aerobic benefits, allows greater volume  and may help guard against excessive speed. 

Personally, of the 3 workouts prescribed by the RLRF I used to enjoy the tempo run the most - medium distance at medium intensity (intervals being short distances at very high intensity/effort and long run being long distances at relatively lower intensity) . However, in the current training cycle for the Bangalore marathon I have struggled a bit with the tempo runs specially the mid-tempo pace run - missing the target pace by a few seconds for some of the Kms. 

It strikes again...

The 10 x 400 m interval training and 13Km long tempo pace run in week 12 of the 16 weeks 'Run Less, Run Faster' training for the Bangalore marathon (16th October) went very well increasing my confidence of going sub 3:45 and even perhaps close to 3:40. And then it happened.  Ignoring the slight discomfort in the right calf towards the end of the tempo run I was hoping for a 5:20/Km,32Km to round off the week and start tapering for the race. Was terribly disappointed at having to abandon the run after about (Garmin having died around Km 3.5)  23Km (in 2:08) run due to increasing pain in the right calf.  In hindsight it was good that I 'listened to the body' and resisted the temptation to push on to 32Km. 

After complete rest of 4 days and frequent icing I barely managed a  painful 28 min/3.5Km run/walk clearly indicating that the damage was worse than what I had originally thought. And a visit to Dr. Yash Pandey confirmed that - he advised complete rest from running, cycling and lower body strengthening for another week. The Tier 1(low grade) calf muscle tear is likely to have been caused by overuse/fatigue and/or muscle imbalance. An injury like this builds up over a period of time and and can manifest itself a later time and in a muscle that may not be the weakest one. At the end of a week's rest a decision is to be made whether to attempt a 21-25Km run this weekend and this will help decide between DNS on 16th or an easy long training run or attempt a sub 3:45 ( this is unlikely as it could increase the recurrence of the injury and jeopardise the rest of the season).

While injuries are an integral part of a runners life , each occurrence often causes depression and frustration even for experienced runners who are well aware that it is a passing phase. The mental angst is compounded if it is at the beginning of a season when the training for the first event  has been going well after several seasons hampered by injury!

To minimise the chances of injury one must avoid getting carried away and running  too fast or logging much higher mileage than what the training plan recommends. I have  been guilty of both in this cycle. Strengthening the weaker muscles is extremely important specially so for older runners. When one does get struck with an injury it is important to not run through it , consider consulting a sports doctor sooner than later,  take adequate rest  while maintaining a certain fitness and weight level by cross-training and get back to running distance and pace gradually - all this will, of course, depend considerably on the nature and severity of the injury!!