Forgettable year of injuries and missed goals

With consistent training post a decent50K(+10K) run at the Malanad ultra in Oct 2018 I was hoping to end the 18-19 season and start the 2019 calendar year with a BQ at TMM 2019.  It was very disappointing to miss it by about 3 minutes despite being on target in the first half of the race. That set the trend for the 19-20 season and 2019 calendar year. 

Event                                          Goal                 Actual

TMM 2019                                   3:48                  3:50:47

Bengaluru 10K Challenge            0:48                   49:45

Mysuru celebration HM               1:48                  1:50:46

Spice Coast Marathon                   3:47                  DNS

The niggle with the left quads and left sole has been bothersome throughout the year. At times the right quads also hurt specially while running up gradients.  However, it was not bad enough for me to stop training. However, the peroneal tendonitis in the right ankle changed that forcing me to take a break of 3 weeks+ from running and cycling. As it is I was struggling with my endurance runs for TMM 2020 though the intervals went well and tempo runs were mostly ok.  So, yet again, like the year 2018, I plan to run TMM , which is just over 3 weeks away, with no real time target . It would be an achievement to complete in sub 4; Sub 4:30 will still be satisfying. Depending on how the left sole, the quads and the right ankle I may be happy just crossing the finish line for the 15th year in a row!! Will need to focus once again on strengthening and rehabilitation post TMM and only then plan for the 2020-21 season. 

  

Run, walk or crawl at TMM 2020?

TMM 2020, my annual must do FM ,is just about 7 weeks away and I have been off running or any form of excercise since abandoning my last run on 10th November. This is turning out to be the worst ever running season causing severe angst and  depression to even a seasoned runner who has been constantly in and out of injuries for the last decade. Have been pretty much taking rest from excercise after deciding to not run the Spice Coast Marathon in Cochin on 1st Dec - the third DNS of my career. While the ankle is much better it does not seem to be have healed fully as it is still hurting  around the bone on and off. Prolonged the break from 2 to 3 weeks and now in a dilemma whether to prolong one more week or try out a short easy run in the next day or two. Either way I will, at best, have time to do no more than two 25Km+ runs so maybe better to give it one more rest. Will probably take a call early in the coming week.  I am now mentally reconciled to the fact that, barring a miracle, this will likely be my slowest ever FM at Mumbai. Whether I should set any timing goal will depend on  how it goes once I resume running. Nevertheless,  I am determined to run, walk or crawl to complete the race within the stipulated 6.5 hrs time to keep my streak at Mumbai alive and also to complete at least one FM event for the 2019-20 season. 

Forced break..another washed out season

After struggling to a below par 3:14/33K in the most critical training run, on 3rd November, for Spice Coast Marathon I was anyway on the verge of backing out from the event. I did not see a point in incurring travel and stay costs to either run a 4h+ FM or run just a HM. However, postponed the decision till after the next two long runs , that is, 25K on 10th November and 32K on 17th November.

When I stopped after just 3K of the 25K run due to niggle in the left quads, pain in the right ankle and super negative thoughts in the mind it was game over for the Cochin event. The mind started looking for reasons to justify the struggles with long runs including the switch to vegan diet.   The last straw was when Dr. Basavaraj, an ortho at BGS hospital, whom I consulted due to increased pain, tenderness and swelling in the right ankle, diagnosed it as peroneal tendonitis and advised rest from any physical activity of the lower limbs for 3-4 weeks! In a way it was a blessing in disguise as my long training runs were among the worst ever and I would have probably struggled to do a sub 4 hr marathon even on a flat surface. This would have further hurt my confidence in my ability to do a sub 3:47 ever again.  However, now targeting a time goal for even the Mumbai marathon on 19th January 2020 looks futile. As I will be left with just 5 weeks of training assuming I can restart running from 1st Dec. This means the 2019-20 is another washed out season - the 4rth one in last 5 years.

Well such is a runners life : injuries popping up at the most unexpected of times and derailing plans for the season. Given how the last few seasons have gone  I need to seriously introspect as to whether I should:

A) give up on timing goals for FMs and just run for completion and maybe switch to slow ultras(albeit flat, road runs)  OR g

B)  stop running marathons/ultra marathons and stay with easy runs of shorter distances

While I very well know B) is sufficient from a health and fitness perspective andis probably the logical thing to do it is unlikely the heart will allow me to stop making attempts at FM timing goals for a few more years!!

A make or break month - November 2019

In my long distance running career,  that started sometime in 2001, I hit peak form between June 2011 to August 2013 achieving PBs in 10K, HM and FM distances and qualifying for the Boston marathon. Since then it has been a steady downhill with perennial niggles in the left glutes and left sole hitting the nadir in 2017.  While I continued to enjoy my running  and be fit and healthy for my age , it was a disappointing realisation that the days of setting time targets and achieving them were over.  With minimal running and focused strength training  from mid 2017 to mid 2018 (including a personal strength trainer for the first time ever) it looked like the niggles had been overcome and I had a decent run at the challenging course of The Malnad Ultra in Oct 2018. Then I narrowly missed my goal at TMM 2019 in spite of training well for it. And it has been back to square one or actualy square minus one since then.  The niggle in the left glutes has been replaced by one in the left quads/IT Band with the numbness in the sole showing up on almost all longish runs specially on gradients.Unable to put the right finger on the issue to get it fixed has been very frustrating and demotivating.

Nevertheless, I decided to make another attempt at sub 3:48 FM (and  BQ ) at , the flat as a pancake, course of  Spice Coast marathon  in Cochin on 1st December 2019 . The ten weeks training post the Mysore celebration half on 22nd September has not been going well. There has not yet been a single week when all 3 training runs(interval, tempo and long run) have gone as per target pace. The intervals have been by and large fine(except the one this week which I ran the day after a 13K at MP).  The tempo runs are going ok. The strange thing is the mental and physical struggle in completing the long runs when in the past I have usually completed 32K or even 36K training runs well within the target time.  This is playing on my mind to such an extent that, for the first time in 18 years of distance running, I am no longer enjoying the long runs. In fact I am starting to dread them and the thought of sticking to shorter distances and giving up on racing has crossed my mind more than once.  This does not seem to be just due to the stress in the quads and left sole which increases even with a few meters of elevation. The increasing dogs, dust and traffic on my usual running routes as well as higher than optimal weight and slightly worn out shoes are probably playing their role. Also the frequency of the strain in my right hip/abdoemen has increased- it occurred this week for the 3rd time in the past year or so.

With just about 7 targeted training runs left, before the Spice coast marathon,  the next 4 weeks is critical not just for achieving the FM timing goal but to determine the psyche and course of my future running career.  Am giving it all I can by running the two remaining  long runs (35K on 3rd November and 32K on 17th Nov) on relatively flat courses, dilgently working on strengthening of glutes, quads and calves, recovering through weekly workouts in the swimming pool and taking it easy two days  before the long runs. In spite of this if the long runs and/or race on 1st Dec goes badly or is not enjoyable then a serious introspection on future running plans and goals will be in order.

Disappointing HM at Celebration Mysuru marathon 2019

As a step towards building up pace to hit a sub 3:48 FM this season I decided to race a HM after a gap of 6 years. Rather than the flat, fast course of ADH in October that I was considering, I decided to run the Life is Calling Mysuru marathon on 22nd September - a race that I had PB'ed in at the 1st edition in 2011. The ten weeks training, (post the Bengaluru 10 K challenge on 7th July), using the RLRF training plan for 1:48 HM, went pretty much as per target despite struggling to hit time targets in a few tempo runs and missing the last long run due to a sprained hip. The left calf hurt a bit on and off during the long runs. Surprisingly, almost all the interval runs were on target. The route for the HM was made available by the organisers less than a week before the race. Unfortunately, elevation map, which was the main thing of interest to me, was unreadable. The lack of response in spite of repeated communications to the organisers to get information on the elevation profile of the route(as my preference now is to run flat courses as my quads find it stressful to navigate gradients) was disappointing.  From what I could make out the course was not as flat as I had expected. It seemed to have rolling hills with long but not very steep gradients throughout the route. Also, there seemed to be too many turns and loopbacks in the route.This was the start of the negativity towards the race which probably contributed in large measure to my not hitting my timing goal. The usual phantom pains and bouts of nervousness in the days leading up to the race could not be avoided. My plan was to get to 11Kms in as close to 55 minutes as possible with 53 minutes or so for the remaining 10Km.

Just before heading out from the hotel room

My brother C and I took a 1:50PM  train from Kengeri on 21st afternoon and reached Mysuru around 4:30PM. The bib collection process at Decathlon was smooth - there was no expo to speak about. We walked the 750m from our hotel(Siddarth) to the race start point in the evening in search of bananas. After an early dinner we went to bed before 10PM. Woke up around 4:20 am and reached the start point by 5:30. Saw the flag off the 30K race at 5:45 before lining up around 5:50. There were  probably less than 1000 runners - a surprisingly low number for a city race in its 9th edition.  

I took off from the the front when the race started at 6 am and covered the first 7 Kms in a little over 35 minutes. After that the turns and the loopbacks and the lack of clear Km markers put me off mentally and my pace began to drop. Also, the left calf strain and heaviness in the left sole constrained me from pushing physically. The city route was not great(excepts for the part inside the college campus and around it) and it was made worse by unclear and insufficient Km markers specifically for HM. This was compounded due to  the 30Km and FM being added for the first time this year  creating loopbacks and partial route overlaps for different distances. The volunteers were not proactive in directing the runners and more than once I had to almost stop to check the route with a volunteer. There were quite a few segments where one was running along with the traffice which is never enjoyable in a race and around the 17Km mark one had to cross a road with traffic flowing in both directions with no volunteer to manage the traffic. There were aid stations every 2-3 Kms and adequately stocked for my needs which is only water. Nevertheless,  I  felt hungrier and thirstier than  I usually do in a race probably due to below par pre-race nutrition. In summary I did not enjoy the race experience -  both the organisation and my performance was a let down.  I was so cheesed off by the 13Km mark that I could muster only betwen 5:15 and 5:30 pace for the last 8 Kms for a finish in 1:50:46. The finish area was also not clearly marked and I almost sprinted towards the wrong arch. 

 There was limited breakfast both in terms of items and quantity. After breakfast we hung around for a while till the HM results were announced.The participation level was so uncompetitive that I ended being the first of eight finishers in the 61Y+ age category despite missing my goal by 3 minutes.

With Sumant in the finish areawhom we met on the train

We were back at the hotel by 10am and in Bangalore by 530pm.

Travails(&rants) of an aging runner

Despite all the advances in medical science and cosmetology, aging is(at least for now) an inevitable reality of life. And the ensuing degradation of phyiscal and mental abilities. Nevertheless, I am considerably surprised and terribly disappointed at the recurrence of aches and pains in the past few months  and the alarmingly fast regression in my ability to maintain pace during training runs . I was reasonably able to meet my target paces in the tempo and long runs as recently as 4rth quarter of  2018 while training for a 3:48  TMM 2019 ( a goal I missed by about 3 minutes!).  So minor depression is setting in trying to reconcile with the fact that currently I am struggling to sustain pace in any of the 3 weekly runs - Fartlek, Tempo or Long run. While the run starts off close to the goal pace, the quads(specially the left one) start hurting  and  screaming  within a few kms specially if I hit an elevation of even a couple of metres (the area I run in nowadays -Doddaladamara road and its side roads is full of rolling gradients).  Subsequently the other irritants such as increasing truck traffic  due to construction on Mysore road  and boom in real estate development, rising dust and pollution and  encounters with agressive stray dogs are all getting magnified in the mind  resulting in lower enjoyment of the runs and causing a dip in motivation and enjoyment - for the first time ever since taking to long distance running over 17 years ago.  Apart from the physical pain in the quads  I have , of late, lacked the mental toughness to push through pain and tended to give up fairly quickly. I am hoping to draw some inspiration from Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Endurance that I am currently reading.

Pain in the left butt, due to piroformis syndrome,  when running long or fast, has been my bugbear for over 10 years now. This was compounded by numbness in the left sole since 2014 or so. With  focused strengthening and stretching the glutes pain is under control at least for now. However, the pain now seems to have transferred to the quads. The pain almost completely disappears once I stop running and does not bother me much in my day to day life. Except when I am sitting in a certain position for a long time eg a long drive.  As per the sports physios that I have consulted the glutes,quads, core etc require strengthening. Which  I have been religously doing 2-3 days a week irrrespective of whether I am training for an event or not.  Hence it is really frustrating that the muscles are not getting stronger - on the contrary to me they appear to be detoriating rapidly.  This is similar to the rapid slowdown in movement and strength that I have observed in my dad after he crossed 85 years of age.  Knowing how strong and active he was even in his late 70s, I feel angry and at the same time sorry for him. Need to research to see whether there is spike in muscle dystrophy at specific ages such as 35, 60, 85, that is, every 25 years or so! Of course, different people age differently and there are numerous examples ,including among my  friends, of runners improving their time well into their 50s and even 60s.

During 2012-13 when I was regularly running intervals  at Kanteerva stadium as part of improving pace to try and BQ , both athletic coach Bidu and running coach Pani remarked that I was landing too hard on my left foot and that could cause injuries. At that time I did not pay attention to their remarks and succeeded in hitting my FM timing goal to qualify for Boston. However , in hindsight, it looks like they were bang on and I should have paid more attention to my running form and how my feet were landing during faster runs.  Landing hard on the left foot may have damaged a nerve or two causing the various issues on the left side that I am experiencing. My cadence even in tempo runs is in the mid to high 150s versus ideal cadence in the 170s. Which means I tend to over stride when I try to run fast.  A few weeks of effort to up the cadence using a metronome has not worked.  Hoping to use a borrowed cadence sensor to give it another shot in the next few weeks. 

The quads pain and numbness in the sole is less of an issue in easy slow runs.   However, I am still quite obessessed with a FM timing goal - targeting a sub 3:48 FM to try and qualify for Boston . Whether or not I actually run the Boston marathon again I was targeting to qualify every 5 years or so.  The reasons being to maintain a certain level of cardiac fitness as one ages and also to prove(to myself) that the qualification in January 2013 was not a one-time.  I missed the timing goal at TMM 2019 despite training well. The plan for the next attempt is nowon the flat course in Delhi at the  NEBS event in February 2020. However, based on the struggles of the last two months , the physical and mental strength to just complete another FM looks like a huge challenge - achieving a BQ timing seems impossible. Nevertheless, I have not given up yet and have decided to focus the next few months on improving strength(have hired a personal trainer again after a gap of 10m) and pace and not worry about distance for now.

 Other changes I am contemplating are:
- to increase the duration of the pre-run warm up routine from 10m to 20m
- Keep the weekly mileage to below 40Km for now ( My weekly mileage across the 3 runs even when training for a marathon rarely exceeds 55Km)
- And give more time for the body to recover between runs by cutting down on the cycling for cross training between runs as part of the FIRST 3 plus 2 training method

Before starting the 16 week training for a  3:48 FM in October,  I would like  to hit a  10K time of about 48:30 and  HM time of 1:47.  Was hoping to get close to the former at the Bangalore 10K challenge in couple of weeks from now. However, that is  improbable after this morning's run where I was unable to sustain a 5:05 pace for more than 3 Kms. I would be happy if , on 7th July, I  manage a timing similar to the sub 51m at the 3rd anniversary run of Runaddicts (on 9th June) - a vibrant running group in the RR Nagar area that I discovered recently.

If I am unable to achieve these goals during this season then I will give up on pace(and BQ'ing ever again!) and focus on LSDs and enjoying my runs before I become so demotivated that I give up on running altogether!!. The longer term plan is to run  TMM and a couple of ultras every season.

Building the base for season 2019-20

March 19th marked the start of the new running season for me as I restarted the process of building  base mileage after a complete break of 3 weeks - mainly to give the body some rest.  The goal is to build up to a weekly mileage of 45-50Km by April end and then embark on a 12 week training for  a full marathon in August (most likely the Airtel Hyderabad marathon on 25th August). Unlike the 2018-19 season in which I ran just one race , namely, Tata Mumbai marathon the plan for this season is to run several races - the 10K challenge in Bangalore, a couple of halfs(TRORT and Delhi) and three fulls (Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi). Of course, it all depends upon how the body holds up.  As I have been doing for several years now I will not run the TCS 10K, the traditional season opening race in Bangalore, which is on 10th May. 

One key goal of this phase to break into a new pair of Brooks Ghost 11 - my first ever pair of shoes with a wider toe box. Though the same size as my previous Brooks Ghost (9) it seems to be fairly longer based on the space available between the toes and the front of the shoe. The heaviness/numbness in the left toes has manifested itself even during a slow 21K. Plan to attempt a slightly longer and faster 25Km this week to help decide whether to continue using this shoe or not. It has been a challenge to find the right shoes after the Adidas Supernova cushion that I had used for 10 years stopped working for me 3 years ago. Maybe I should go back and check their latest model.

Another goal for April (and May) is to bring the weight back from a little over 57Kgs to a little under 55 Kgs.  And the final goal is to assess the impact, if any, of the diet changes. From 1st March have been on largely vegan diet and have stayed off deserts and alcohol. 

Hoping for a good season ahead -   a sub 48 min 10K, a sub 1:44 HM and a sub 3:37 FM would be perfect!!

Dandi Salt Challenge 2019 .. a unique event that was not to be

The Dandi Salt challenge event interested me from the time I heard about it in the middle of 2018. It seemed like a unique concept to run/cycle/walk the entire 401Km historic route from Sabarmati ashram to Dandi beach. I also saw this as an opportunity to participate in my 1st multi-day event - specially as the race director was good friend and wonderful runner and coach Dan Zico from Mumbai. Having decided to make a call after TMM 2019 I was keen on participating in DSC to put the disappointment of my timing there behind me.  

However, I did not want to risk injury by attempting the 19 HMs solo. Therefore, within two weeks of TMM I started looking for 1-2 team mates and also test out my body's ability to do at least 7 consecutive HMs. I spread the word for team mates in various running groups in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad and also registered with the organisers in case there were other runners who had contacted them looking for team mates.  As far as training is concerned , I ran a HM everyday from Tuesday 5th February to Monday 11th February hitting my highest ever mileage in a 7 day period by a huge margin. Of course, I ran consciously slow. In fact, my goal was to run between 2:30 and 3hrs. However, I ended up with timings of 2:15, 2:17, 2:19,2:22,2:21, 2:30 and 2:23. That is, I found it quite challenging keep my pace to finish close to 2:30. While I was fairly fatigued by the 6th day I still could not run at 2:45 pace. A couple of learnings for me were:

a) confirmation that my body is unlikely to handle two HMs a day 12 hours apart thereby ruling out participation as a solo runner

b) The body should be able to handle 10 or even more consecutive HMs if done at between 2:30 and 2:45 pace with adequate time spent on foam rolling and stretching every day

With two runners from Hyderabad confirming their interest in participation I was very excitedly looking forward to the event and planning my travel. Fortunately, I deferred booking the travel tickets to the week of Feb 25th. However, before that , due to the unfortunate events in J&K and the ensuing climate in the country, the organisers rightfully decided to cancel the event for this year. While being extremely disappointed with this I do empathise with Dan and his organising team  - they have a spent considerable effort and money in putting this together and must be quite heartbroken. Hopefully, the event does take place next year and I am able to participate.

Meanwhile, I have decided to take a  break from running during the month of March while replanning my goals and events for the year culminating in another shot at BQ in Jan/Feb 2020!! . 

Disappointing TMM 2019

After a very good 1st half and being reasonably on target till 32K( as per my Garmin)  the toes of the left sole started acting up making it challenging to move the legs. A short walk break just before the Peddar road flyover gave second wind enabling me to run a few kms. However, I bonked around Km 38 and thereafter it was a real struggle both physical and mental to continue running. With sub 3:48 out of the window and sub 3:50 looking tough I tried to press on but it tuned out to be one of those days when the mind and the left leg just did not co-operate. So I ended up crossing the finish line just under 3:51. Finishing 4rth in my age category and 404th out of 6700 runners is certainly nothing to sneeze about ;however having trained well for and being in sub 3:48 shape and not achieving it was disappointing. Given that the left sole felt pretty much normal just half an hour after finish,  I will carry the thought that perhaps I should have tried harder in the last 5Kms till TMM 2020!

For the first time in 16 years I arrived in Mumbai on Saturday morning (rather than Friday evening) . 

I drove to the airport (picking up Pankaj at Cubbon park) and parked my car there - also a first for me. The flight from Bangalore was delayed by a couple of hours due to weather. After landing around 12 , Patil and I went to the expo in KBC(spent quite some time locating it). Being the  afternoon before the race the expo was packed. Though we met a few runners we did not hang around much. We grabbed a sumptious G ujarati thali lunch at Rajwad thal and shared a cab to our respective hotels in the Fort area. Though assigned one of the better rooms hotel New Bengal was more rundown than I had expected.  After a nice dinner with bunch of friends at Ustaadi next door to the hotel went to bed by 10pm.

Woke up at 3:35am , as usual, before the alarm rang , got ready, had a couple of bananas and some nuts and was down in the lobby by 4:40. 

We walked to Azad maidan in about 10 minutes and though the entry gate was crowded with runners the process of security check including the scan of the bag was smooth and we were inside by 5:10 or so. Entered the holding area 15m later and walked towards Coral B. There definitely seemed to be larger number of FM runners than ever. It took almost a minute and a half to cross the starting line and a couple of Kms before I could pick up pace. It was warm but not quite as humid as Mumbai can be. As per my Garmin (310XT) I ran between 5:05 and 5:20 per Km till the 30Km (about 1:50 at the halfway mark). However, the official splits above tell a different story. It is intriguing as to how the times between my devices and the official splits could diverge right from get go - something that I need to take into account better in future races.  

I sighted Vishy(who had a similar goal as mine) ahead of me while going down the Peddar road flyover around Km 7 and kept a steady pace behind him. I caught up with him just before the sealink at Km 14 and we ran together till about Km 25 at which point he bonked. While my pace reduced slightly and I did not feel great I managed to plod on what I thought was a reasonably steady pace. However, I seemed to have slowed down more than I thought after the 1st half. This and the struggle in the last 4Kms cost me my goal time. And maybe the mismatch between my Garmin and the official clock. My Garmin showed I had done 42.82Km at 5:24/Km. And the Tomtom(which was in my pocket) 43.37 at 5:20/Km!! The temperature and humidity were  was surprisingly  steady through out the race.  Apart from periodic farting there were no major after effects of all the hogging of the previous day. As I reflect on the race maybe some amount of negativity crept into my mind between Km 27 and 30. As the physical and mental aspects feed into each other  it was probably triggered by early signs of numbness in the sole. And the only reason I can think of for this is inadequate tapering. 

The walk from the finish line to Azad maidan and the collection of the medal and refreshments was smooth. Met Satish and a few other Indiranagar runners there and Jai of Bhukmp. Jai and I headed back after some rest to reach the hotel at 11am. After checking out around 12 a bunch of us took a cab to get some beer at Leopold. However, as the traffic was very heavy and most of us were feeling very hungry we ended up for lunch at Samrat. Nari and I got to the airport fairly early where we were joined by Pankaj and others. With the ifs and buts still going through my mind I reached home close to 10PM dropping Pankaj enroute. With no hard race in the next 6m  there is plenty of time to continue to mull over what could have been and plan and execute better!!

Mumbai beckons...yet again..

The state of anticipation, anxiety and restlessness during the week leading up to the Mumbai marathon on the 3rd Sunday of January has been a constant feature of  life for the last 15 years. Of course, the quantum has varied from year to year depending on whether there is a stringent completion goal or not. This year , like in 2013, I am targeting to BQ with a time between 3:45 and 3:48 - the BQ time for my age group being 3:50.  Have trained using the 3:45  Run Less, Run Faster training plan for the last 13 weeks (starting a week after Malnad Ultra)  replacing the intervals with structured fartleks as suggested by coach and RLRF author Bill Pierce.  Though the training was disrupted a bit for 2 weeks in the 2nd half of November overall most runs went well and as I am as prepared as can be. The tempo runs and the fartlek workouts all pretty much went as per target. 3 of the 4 30K runs went well. Though the left side niggle (hamstring,quads, sole) appeared on and off. The weight that has been fluctuating between 54.5Kg and 57.5 Kg for the past year or so has also stabilised to just under 55Kg. Now it all depends , as always, on everything falling into place on 20th January and nothing unforeseen happening between now and completion of the race. 

From 2006, when I completed my first full marathon in Mumbai, till 2013 I was able to better my time each year before aging and injury turned the trajectory to timings between 3:46 and 3:59 except 2018 when I ran with a goal of sub 4:45 and completed in 4:34:57!

I would be very happy to hit the timing of 2016, 3:47:15, this year including the negative splits. However, as a strategy , I plan to do the 1st half in about 1:52 at an average pace of  5:18 and then strive hard to keep the second half as close to 1:53 keeping in mind that I need to keep the average pace below 5:23/Km. In any case looking forward to meeting runners from around the country and enjoying the enthusiasm and support of spectators and Mumbai police yet again!

Malnad Ultra 2018

Completing the 50Km in 7:14:08 at the wonderful, albeit extremely challenging Malnad Ultra course in October 2018  and then (after a quick lunch break)doing another 10Km run/walk with DM was the most satisfying achievement of my running career since qualifying for Boston in Mumbai 2013. The whole experience was made even more memorable by the travel and stay with the BHUKMP gang.  While one had heard rave reviews of the first two editions of the Malnad Ultra running it was not part of 2018 plan - had not contemplated running any race after TMM 2018 before sorting out the injury issue .  Fortunately,  a break from distance running post TMM complimented with focused strength training and  deep stretching sessions (thanks to trainer Sekhar) enabled me to do a  decent 26K run towards the end of May. This triggered off thoughts of running a slow 60K either at the Malnad ultra in October or the stadium run in August. A runversation with Pankaj and the fact that  a large contingent from BHUKMP was running Malnad sealed the decision.  After a couple of 32Ks in June  registered for the 50K  in July with the goal of doing another 10K along the 80K route. 

Training

Inspired by Vishy's brutal high mileage 80Km training plan that he posted on the Whatsapp group created for BHUKMP'ers intending to run the event I researched training plans for 50K ultra and created one of myself. Most plans advocated 5 days of running with weekly mileage of 70K -100K,  My plan was to to do 4 runs per week with back to back runs on Saturday and Sunday and supplement it with 2 days of cycling in the gym and strength training 3-4 days a week.  Started the training in right earnest from mid-July with 23K and 18K runs on 14th and 15th July hitting   weekly mileage of  60Km - highest since training for the 75K at the Bangalore ultra in 2010. It was nice to have Vishy's company for some of the runs in July and August till I moved home to Doddalamara road at the end of August. Excitedly discovered some fabulous running routes (partly trail, mostly road, relatively traffic and pollution free) in the new neighbourhood while running solo and cranking up the weekly mileage in August and September. Weekly mileage (with weekend mileage in brackets)  for the 8 weeks period was: 69 (58), 53(38),75(50),80(55), 72(45), 75(47), 84(60),60(48). This included a 3:35/36K and 4:06/41K and was the most running done by me in a 8 weeks period.  The terrain was quite challenging with fair amount of gradients which was helpful for the race. Bought a trail running shoe from Decathalon sometime in July which I used for the long runs and the race. A disappointment during the training was not being able to run 25K+ at the Hash Soma vineyards run on 19th August. Fell quite hard at Km 2 which resulted in bruised and bleeding skin. Slowed down considerably after that. The terrain was very uneven and decided not to take chances and walked quite a bit. However, overall was as  prepared for the Maland challenge as I could have been.

The trip

Triple and double sharing rooms were booked in Chikmagalur golf club by fellow runner Ranga and two tempo travellers and an innova were organised by Praveen for the travel. Room sharing allocations and assignments to vehicles with routes and pickup times was completed in the days leading up to the race via a frenzy of whatsapp group messages. Packed salt, toilet paper and a poncho apart from the protein bars, nuts etc and went to bed around 1030 on Thursday 11th October and woke up around 4am. Left Doddalamara road at 5:05 am on 12th October and after parking my car in Domlur(Ranka Heights) met with Vishy at Madurai Idly a little after 6am. The TT(led by Rinaz) arrived around 6:15 and we were on our way after a few more pickup stops. Had the usual BHUKMP style breakfast(dosas, idlis, kara bath..) at Sharks court at about 745am. Met several other runners who were heading for the race. Reached the golf club resort at about 12:15. After a sumptious buffet lunch and an adda session relaxed in the room (with roommate Sridharan) for a couple of hours. A bunch of guys went sightseeing including a trek up Mulyanagiri. After an early dinner I went to bed around 845pm.  The accommodation was very comfortable overlooking the pretty golf course. 

(courtesy : Praveen Singh)

Woke up at 1:45am and left the resort at 2:45(unusually for me I had some black tea apart from the usual nuts and Namdhari's dry fruit and nut bites). Reached Ballavara at 3:55am having couple of bananas on the way. The area was pitch dark and there were no volunteers around. For a few minutes several of us first timers felt quite lost. After about fifteen minutes a couple of buses came to life. We all boarded one and were ferried to about 500m of the holding area in Lalbagh. We were there by 5:20am . The weather was quite chilly. Fairly elaborate breakfast of bread, cheese slices, Upma, Kesari , eggs was being served. Had a slice of bread and little bit of Upma. Used the loo multiple times , left my bag in the baggage area and started warming up meeting a number of other runners. 

After the race took the bus back and reached Ballavara where a few other BHUKMP'ers were waiting. We reached the resort around 7:45PM. After a quick shower joined the gang for drinks(had a couple of whiskeys) and dinner. Went to sleep before the 80K runners returned. After a good breakfast spread headed back from the resort at 10:15am on 13th. Stopped at 'Comfort Adyas' enroute for beer and lunch at 1230 and reached Domlur around 5PM and home at 615PM.

The race

We saw off the 80K/110K runners  at 630am. The 50K runners started 30m later at 7. I was in the middle of the pack.  My goal was to maintain average pace of about 7:30 per Km and try and finish between 6.5 and 7 hours.The first 4Kms was mostly road and all downhill descending more than 100m.  Held myself back and ran at an average pace of 6m/Km. From then on it was mostly trail with continuous ups and downs. I did 12Km in 1:26  at 7:12/Km pace. One had to go up a set of steps to the summit around Km 17. For a strange reason at the top I lost my foothold and almost fell. This shook me up a bit. As it was quite hazy did not stop for long at the top to enjoy the views.

With Praveen and Shailaja at The Summit

 Ran quite a bit with Praveen, Sid, Pankaj and Shailaja between 15 and 25Kms. Shailaja of course took off somewhere in between while Praveen, Sid and Pankaj slowed down a bit.Had a bad fall around Km 19 and bruised the skin around my knees as well as right palm (its been a while since I did a trail run without a fall). 

From then on I slowed down considerably. In any case seeing the tough long uphills and downhills I knew that 6:30 was unachievable and I recalibrated my target to 7/7:15. 

In fact after Km 4 I rarely ran a whole Km continually. Had to walk a lot of the uphills and the downhills. The uneven terrain with roots and stones also made it very challenging. Thankfully most of the route was dry - slush would have added another dimension of challenge that we were happy not to have. As it is I hit my left leg middle toe against a stone and also tripped on a root and fell just about managing to put my hand down before hitting the ground. During the run walk between 20 and 40Kms chatted with runners from around the country. Quite surprised to learn about runners doing the 50K  after just one FM finish and in a couple of cases running the 80K without ever having run a FM! No wonder 40% of 50K runners and 23% of the 80K runners did not complete the race.

Around the 41Km mark was the descent to a stupendous lake and from that point on it was mostly a steady climb back to the start point. Run/walked with Nari and Vasu a bit around the 44K mark. From the 46K till the finish did a brisk walk with super ultra runner Dinesh Heda (from Goa) who was doing his 3rd consecutive 110K to finish in just under 7:15. 

Several runners in our group finished strong  - Deepak's 5:05 gave him the fourth position while Kaylea was the 1st woman finisher. Rinaz, Hema, Gurmeet, Vishy, Naresh, Kartik all had good runs. Overall Team BHUKMP did well and ended up 3rd in the group challenge with 17 of the 20 runners who started the race completing it!.

Had a quick lunch of mostly curd rice and went on to complete another 10K run/walk with Deepak going out 5K and back on the 80K route. None of the other runners were motivated enough to come with us.

Overall enjoyed the course and its ambiance though not well prepared for the elevation changes . At times the course did get a bit monotonous. Was disappointed with the aid station in terms of items stocked and execution. There were very few steel tumblers at the aid stations and water/enerzal was being served without them being washed properly. Many a times the volunteers were not ready with the drinks for the approaching runners. Apart from common salt and lemon there was very little in the aid stations - some of them had rice, fruits  and raw peanuts. Not sure I would be motivated to come back and do the race again. While I would like to do ultras regularly and enjoy running trails I don't think I am cut out to handle the uneven terrain and elevation changes. Would need to train better for gradients if I have to attempt a race like this again!!

Specially given the fight with injury on the left side over the previous year or so was very happy to achieve the goal of doing 60K in 2018. And the experience of travel and stay with the BHUKMP gang (my first one) was thoroughly enjoyable!!

Resurrection

It is almost two years since the last post on this blog. Hectic work schedule and detoriation in ability to run long or fast without pain were easy excuses to put off updating the blog and it spiraled into a vicious cycle. Revamping the blog and launching version 2.0 was one of the many unfulfilled 2018 resolutions.  After toying with several aspects of changes such as redesigning the layout, changing the URL, focusing on informational content (versus personal experiences and observations) and even abandoning it all together here it is - resurrected  with some minor layout changes and cleanup of inactive links and information no longer relevant. TMM 2019 , less than a week away, was one key factor that motivated me. Hopefully this is not a one time post - there is potential to do a monthly post based on the topics that have been shortlisted so far.   

This post serves as a quick summary since the last one - the intention is to expand on some of the topics in future posts. 

During 2017 and the first half of 2018 continued stress in the left quads and left sole hampered the running. The key focus was to strengthen the glutes, quads and the upper body to try and get back to injury free running. Following are the highlights of the last two years:

•  Disappointing FM  at Western Pacific marathon (Fremont, CA) in April 2017 (enjoyable course, age category first but the time of 4:07:45 was one of the slowest finishes in several years)
• Skipping the Bangalore Ultra after starting at 50K or longer distance in every edition since 2007
• Continued the trend since 2015 of just one or two events in a year due to injury
• Visits to  orthos and  sports doctors/physios 
• Changes in diet to increase protein intake
• Not abiding by advice from an ortho and friendly coach to skip Mumbai marathon  and finishing at a consciously slow time(2nd slowest Mumbai ever) of 4:34:57
• "Lost" my Garmin 310XT device in September 2017, briefly used Strava, bought a Tom Tom Cardio 3 in Dec 2017 and found the missing Garin 310XT in Dec 2018
• 5 months of personal strength training with trainer Sekhar as a result of which the pain in the glutes moved to the quads and then slowly dissolved enabling one to crank up the distance and then pace of runs
• Decent 50K finish (7:14:17)  followed by 10K run/walk at The Malnad Ultra  to complete 60K in 'celebration' of the start of life's sixth decade
• Discovery of some wonderful (albeit tough) running routes in the new neighbourhood off Doddalamara road

Some non-running related milestones during this period:

• Vacation in Yosemite national park, Monterey Bay, Savannah, Charleston and NY in May 2017
• Vacation in Poovar, Kerala with dad and families of all siblings in Dec 2017
• Retirement from full time corporate job(CSR leader of Dell India) in April 2018
• Adoption of an Indie breed puppy("Bambi") in June 2018
• Move to a sustainable community in a semi-rural location outside Bangalore in August 2018
• Entering the 6th decade of life in August 2018