Stretching limits

Did the highest ever mileage of running and cycling combined during the 7 days between 14th and 20th August - clocked a little over 63K over 4 runs and about 128K of cycling over 2 rides. Have done 60K+ run weeks during training for the Bangalore ultra  - the last of which I ran in 2016. My typical weekly run mileage is between 35 and 50K and cycling between 50 and 80K. The only time I have cycled over 100K is in 2010  soon after buying the cycle - I clocked 133Kms in a ride to Nandi Hills from Domlur.  Was apprehensive about 90K cycle ride the day after running a fastish HM. Surprisingly I  managed the ride reasonably well - albeit with a 1.5hr break after 42Km for breakfast. Felt as tired as I normally do after running a full marathon. The ride to Hesarghatta was part of a meet and greet ride of Relief Riders - 50+ riders from different parts of the city congregated there between 830 and 930am. I left home just before 6 and joined Dr Pawan Kumar at Gopalan mall signal. We were then joined by 3 other riders (Vasanth, Sajal, Rakshith) at Nexus show room on the ring road and Karthik at Dr Raj Kumar samadhi enroute.  The first 10 and last 15 Kms of the ride were very enjoyable. In between there were patches with quite heavy traffic even while going. Not being used to riding in traffic I found these stretches a bit taxing and slowed down quite a bit. Nevertheless, thoroughly enjoyed the company and the overall experience. The best stretch of the ride was the 5Kms inside Hesarghatta- the green fields on both sides , smooth ride, zero pollution and minimal traffic resulted in a fabulous experience! I extended the ride by about 10K while returning to take the total to close to 100Km.

Summary of the week:

Saturday 14th   Run  21.12     1:55:22

Sunday   15th   Ride   98        8 hrs with 90 minutes break

Monday   16th  Rest   

Tuesday  17th   Run   11.05    1:06:10

Wed         18th   Run    10.11  1:00:33

Thur        19th    Ride   30.36  1:35

Fri            20th   Run    21.2    2:05:59

The week has given me the confidence that my body can handle long rides and high mileage running provided I do it slowly. Hope to continue to do this at least once a year!!

 

Better than goal Half Marathon on August 14th !

Started doing tempo runs in early July to improve pace towards the goal of a sub 2hr HM in mid August and  added a weekly interval run few weeks later. Consequently, very happy that I was able to comfortably beat my goal and complete a solo HM , as part of the NEBS independence day virtual run, in 1:55:22. This made me the 3rd fastest finisher in the 56-65Y age category!! I managed to maintain a steady pace of around 5:25/Km (between 5:20 and 5:30 ) throughout though it was a real challenge to sustain this in the last 4-5 Kms.  The outliers were Km 1 with 5:40 and Km 10 at 5:13. Had a banana about 20 mins before start and managed the run without any fuel or hydration  - thanks to the moderate partly cloudy Bangalore weather . This now gives me the confidence to train over the next few months for a sub 4:05 Full marathon towards the year end or early next year.