Rebuilding fitness...

The 3m review with   Dr HK on Sept 25th (surgery was on 27th June) went off well - as per the doc the achilles tendon has healed very well and I can start excercising with very little restrictions (plyometrics is avoidable for some more time). Which means I have been cleared to start running again building up slowly. With fabulous support from the wife , the recovery period went well. It consisted of two weeks of ankle immobilisation with a plastic board under the dressing, followed by 2 weeks of RT cast and then 3 weeks of airboot.  Post that , started walking from 15th August building up from 2Kms/30mins to 8 Kms/78 mins.  Added stationary  cycling and  rowing to my cardio workout .   And seated dumbbell and machine based strength exercises in the gym. The swelling in the ankle area is almost completely gone. The redness and a slight limp though are still there which is not uncommon for upto 6m post the surgery.  Hopefully they will dissolve soon. 

Meanwhile, the registration for TMM 2025 (on 19th Janaury) started at the end of August. Was confused whether to register for a FM or HM. Given that I have not run since the 5th of May and have lost a significant amount  of my lower body strength and cardio fitness it logically did not make sense to take a chance with a FM . However the heart did not want to let go off the 17y streak.   Dr G  was strongly against a FM  as even a 6:30 hr run/walk could put the ankle under severe stress risking a relapse. - he very reluctantly ok'ed  registering for  a HM  with the caveat of making a call post recommencement of running.  Also as  one can upgrade from a HM to FM till the 29th of November I went ahead and registered fror the HM.  Therefore, it definitely looks like the end of the FM streak at this point. Plan to start running from 5th Oct (5m since the last run and the injury)  and build up over  Oct and most of Nov starting with 9m walk/1 min run and gradually moving to say 8m run/2m walk. At the same time scale the distance to 20K by mid Nov and then make the final call on the distance for TMM. 

Nevertheless looking forward to getting back to running with anxiety, excitment and nervousness !

Out of action till at least September

 When I DNF'ed on 5th of May due to a severe pull in my right calf muscle at Km 3 of the Avenue of Giants marathon, little did I imagine that I would be unable to run again for next 4-5 months. Even when writing the previous post after returning to India and undergoing treatment in consultation with the ortho,  the possibility of significant change in trajectory of  life in the latter  half of 2024 was far from my mind. Things changed when the MRI on 14th June showed a fairly significant tear in the achilles tendon. Subsequent multiple consultations (part of a dozen visits to doctors/hospitals in a space of 6 weeks inclduing visits to see my dad who was hospitalised ) revealed the (partial) tear at the point of insertion of the tendon to the ankle bone. All optinions unanimously suggested a surgical repair as the only way forward specially if one wanted to return an active physical life. Shifting the focus to which surgeon/hospital? After some consideration went ahead with Dr HK at Manipal on 27th June. 

Now in the midst of 4 weeks recovery which will be followed by 4-6 weeks of rehab. All going smoothly hoping to start cardio exercises(slow short runs/indoor cycling) in the 2nd half of September. Meanwhile trying to maintain some muscle strength with simple (non weighted) LB excercises in lying down position and seated upper body dumbbell workouts. However, as I am still imbibing the same amount of calories as I used to while doing 3-5 cardio workouts per week , the weight and waist are slowly inching up . The challenge is to maintain them around   60Kgs and 34" respectively in what is turning out to my longest break from cardio since 2004. Another challenge is to avoid getting mired in a spiral of negative thoughts about life and its future course.

Some general life musings during this period - nothing very profound:

a) Life is unpredicatable - so live it as purposefully as possible

b) Painful decisions can often have hidden benefits - the clot may not have been detected on time if we had not abandoned our holiday plans and returned

c) Be thankful for what you have - zillions are going through worse situations and may not be economically as well off to handle the costs

d) Good relationships provide invaluable support - partner, family, friends, neighbours...

e) Important to stay positive when going through an adverse phase in life

f) Hospital/doctor visits are avoidable but maybe inevitable

g) Aging is inevitable and needs to be managed both mentally and physically

- 

A DNF and a painful end to a holiday

 

Going into the race on 5th May 2024 I was reasonably confident of around 2:15 HM finish. Based on the ankle/pain runs on 25th and 29th April ,in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree respectively, it became apparent  that running the FM would be downright stupid. The head and the heart differed on the two remaining options of the three  summarised here .The rational decision would have been to DNS. However, I made the emotional decision of changing the race category to HM. 

Despite the long driving (SFO to Laka Tahoe to Eureka via the Shasta-Trinity National Forest)  and lack of sufficient sleep I was eager to run the HM specially after collecting the bib and driving through the course on 4th afternoon. the main anxiety was the cold and possibly damp weather - it rained all Saturday(4th) with the forecast for Sunday morning being more promising albeit with temperature in the high single digit Celsius. The other concern was to get to the parking lot comfortably early as the organisers had warned of very slow traffic after getting off the high way (101 S in my case). On learning from our Airbnb host that another guest staying in the studio room was also running I contacted him to see if we could carpool. However as he was running the FM it did not workout.

Went to sleep at 10:45 Pm and woke up at 5:20. Decided to wear a full sleeves shirt on top of the half sleeves for the run.  After toying with decided not to wear gloves which turned out to be a wrong one specially during the walk back to the start line when the hands became really cold. A, R and I left at about 6:40 and exited 101 S at about 7:20. As expected there was a bumper to bumper traffic from the exit to the parking lot. Nevertheless , made it to the parking lot by 8:05 and reached the start area by 8:15. After using the portaloo and warming up a bit removed the windsheeter. Though a bit too cold for my liking I expected to feel quite comfortable after a couple of Kms of running. 

Started the race much faster than I have been doing off late - the course was rolling hills with an overpass in Km 2. Ran the 1st and 2nd Km in 5:31 an 5:54 respectively. While it was nice to run among the lovely , giant redwood  trees the cold, wet weather was quite a dampner. I slowed down in the 3rd Km as I sensed that the heel was going to be quite stressed  by the end of the HM. Just as I completed the 3rd Km(in 6:14) my right calf had a very severe pull. I had to move to the side and literally stop - there was excruciating pain. After a few secs I limped  a Km to the 1st aid station hoping to get some relief with a muscle spray or gel. Disappointingly, the volunteer there was very unhelpful and the medical kit they had was pathetic - a bandaid and some pain killer tablets - that is it. No muscle relief spray or gel. At that point it was clear to me that my race was over specially as more than 50% of the vacationw as ahead including lot of travel within Peru. With a heavy heart I reconciled myself to a the 3rd DNF of my career (the others by in my first ever FM attempt in Pune in Dec 2002 and Bangalore Ultra 2015 ) So I wanted to get back to the start line and get some medical help at the earliest. Again all the volunteer could suggest was that I walk back slowly. Perhaps, I could not convey the seriousness of my injury because I myself was not aware of it. And my brain also did not fucntion properly. Ideally I should have insisted on an ambulance being called to take me back. Instead I willed myself to slowly walk back the 4Kms - it took about an hour to do so. Close to the finish line I saw A and R coming out of founder's grove.  Shockingly the medical tent at the finish line was also pathetic without any spray or gel. After icing the calf for a few minutes A convinced a forest officer to drop me in the parking lot in his vehicle. We headed back soon after reaching the airbnb around 11:45am disappointed, weary and worried about the injury.

Managed the next 3 days with a hiking stick and with minimal walking. However, the swelling in the ankle/heel area and the calf increased quite a bit by the time we reached NYC on 8th morning. So after agonising and going back and forth for 48 hrs we made the painful decision of returning to Bangalore cutting short our holiday by 2 weeks . Cancelling the much anticiapted Peru trip left me feeling quite miserable. The ortho consiltation on 15th (the day we landed back in Bangalore) showed a tear in the achilles tendona s well as muscle calf and also a blood clot(DVT) in the calf. So in hindsight it was the right decision to return when we did.

With the treatment I am undergoing and complete rest hoping to be back on my feet by May end . All going well looking to commence running short distances slowly from July after building some strength back to the damaged heels and calf!!   

FM or HM or DNS ?

 Are the three options that I am grappling with for the Avenue of Giants marathon less than 2 weeks away. Unable to do even the two 30K+ runs that I had planned for  due to the heat and  an ankle injury diagnosed by the ortho as Haglund's deformity it is a real trilemma.  Specially after I had to abandon my 22K run last Saturday at 15Km due to acute heel discomfort. If I do go ahead with FM it willl definitely be a very  slow one with the goal of  keeping it below my slowest ever time of 4:57 though even that could make the ankle worse and jeopardise the rest of the trip.  Half marathon in about 2:15/2:20 should not be a huge challenge - have till Friday 26th April to exercise the option of changing the race category. On the other hand, the easiest option is to use the injury as an excuse  and decide to DNS now itself  and fully enjoy the lead up to the wedding on 27th April. Hope to do a 10-12Km run in the cooler climes of LA on 25th April and then make the call on changing race category. I will then have  a week plus and a couple of more runs to decide on DNS.  

 . 

Evolving training plan for AoG

My first run after the Delhi marathon  was  a 10Km on Friday, 8th March - after almost 2 weeks break  from all excercise except walking and occassional pushups ,squats and stretches . This run and the subsequent 17K run two days later made me realise that recovery from two back to back marathons will take time and training for the Avenue of Giants marathon on 5th May  with any timing goal in mind is unrealistic. The struggle to stay below/around 6:30 Km pace in the last 2 weekend runs of 22K and 28K runs further confirmed this . Though the inital plan was to do two 32K+ runs and a couple of intervals and short tempo runs  in the 5 weeks before travel to the US on 23rd April both the mind and body are not for it.  The bright sunshine and warm morning temperatures of Bangalore summer does not help either. The plan now is to do another run of close to 30K if possible and a 33-35K on 14th April -3 weeks before the race. And enjoy the  wedding revelries and the travel in California planned in the days leading up to the race. Hopefully the new aches and pains (the area above left knee when sitting for over 30m and the right ankle just above the heel) will not impact the training (and the racing) adversely.  The goal is to enjoy the race and try and do better than my two slowest ever times of 4:57 in TMM 2023 and 4:48 in London 2007.   

Delhi marathon race report

 

My 1st experience of the Delhi marathon on 25th Feb was quite good - I hit my goal by finishing in 4:33:14 at an average pace of 6:29 though the first half at 2:11:16 was a minute slower than plan. Was happy to shave 10 minutes off the timing of TMM 24 though given the cool weather and flat course sub 4:30 should have been possible(the ifs and buts invariably kick in after any race!). Nevertheless,  thankful to have completed two back to Back FMs within 5 weeks with just one long run (28.3Km falling short of the 30Km goal) between the two races .

Landed in Delhi around 1:15PM on Sat, 24th Feb with wife A. Took a cab with brother M  to the Airbnb at Jangpura extension and after leaving the bags there reached Gate 1 of JLN stadium for bib pickup. The expo was relatively small and not very crowded and the bib pickup process was very quick. 

After  Bib pickup at Gate#1 JLN stadium

After an early dinner at a Haldirams about 500m from the Airbnb slept by 945. Woke up at 2:15am and got ready by 3:10. Booked Ola cab but the driver was unable to figure his way to the Airbnb. So cancelled it and  walked/jogged to JLN gate 14 with Ashwath Reddy and Manjunath , runners from Bangalore, also staying in the same place. Joined other runners heading there after we went thru the colony gate and crossed the overbridge. Reached at 3:40 and after some warmup and taking a leak walked a fair bit to the start area(from gate 14 to gate 1).  It being about 11c  at start time (going up to 16c by 9am) agonised over whether to wear a full sleeve shirt. Ended up with a regular shirt and checked in the windsheeter at baggage counter which in hindsight was a good decision as the cold was not too bad and the body warmed up fairly quickly.

With Ashwath near the baggage counter

The race got flagged off at 4:18 a couple of minutes after the elite women started. Ran the 1st Km too fast in 5:50 . Shoe laces coming off slowed me quite a bit in the 2nd Km(perhaps it was a message to slow down). Keeping the pace mostly below 6:20 completed the 1st half in  a little over 2:11. Continued at that pace till Km 26 when I hit the tail end of the half marathon runners (who started at 6:15). With the road being narrow and given the number of HM runners occupying it I was forced to slow down and and lost momentum. The pace dropped to between 6:30 and 6:50 with , by now, familiar strain in the right quads rearing its head in Km 35. Unlike in the case of Mumbai decided to continue running through the cramps albeit slowly. Hitting the 10K runners at this point did not help and the last 5Kms were again at 7 mins+ pace. 

Have mixed feelings about the , as flat as can be, route due to their being too many U turns, the road being narrow in several sections for the number of runners and the cadence of the road.  Disliked the  cobblestone section in the first 5Km and the absence of lights in Km 3(mot of the route either had streetlights or lights put up by the organisers).  Of course, running on Kartavya Path was a unique experience - many runners took selfies with India gate in the background. 

The finish area seemed very chaotic with no volunteers to direct one towards medals etc. The breakfast area  with the long Qs , lack of waste seggregation and  overflowing bins seemed quite messy and was  not appealing to me. So except for some kind of daliya did not eat anything else. Feeling bad that A was not allowed inside the gate so went out in a hurry at 9:30am to join her. 

After a few photos outside the gate area we headed back to the Airbnb  undecided whether I would do the race again anytime soon. As my long distance running years maybe numbered and its unlikely I am going to be able to improve my timing significantly,  the risk of  two back to back marathons may not be worthwhile. Anyway it is a long way off and after the 10 days break in Delhi and Uttarakhand need to shift the focus to training for the AoG marathon on 5th May!!

Less then a week for my 1st Delhi Marathon

 

Counting down to my first ever race in Delhi  (only my 2nd race outside of the south and Mumbai after  The Goa River marathon in De  2021) on 25th Feb with more than usual anxiety.   The body has not fully recovered from TMM 24  due to which several of the 10 runs since then did not go to plan and  longest run got restricted. Hoping that the flat course and the good weather(temperature below 20c till about 10an) will help me have a decent run - though the Air quality threatens to be a challenge. If all goes well, the goal is to better the Mumbai timing and finish as close to 4:35 as possible.  For this to be achieved the 1st half needs to be done in 2:10 (at a pace of 6:10) and the 2nd half in  2:24 at a pace of 6:49 keeping the overall pace around 6:30. 

TMM 2024 - A good 1st half, a fall and recovery and another crampy finish

 

That's the summary of the 17th consecutive FM finish at TMM 2024 on 21st January 2024. With a time of 4:43:48   I  just about hit my plan C of 4:45 (Plan A was sub 4:28 and plan B sub 4:35) happy and relieved to have shaved a good 13 mins of my slowest FM finish of 2023. That I managed to do it with a training regime of mostly 2 runs per week , weekly mileage of less than 40-45K and just two runs of 32K (of which one was below par ) gives me hope that slighly higher mileage  and continued focus on strength training I should be able to get close to 4:30 in the next season. 

Took the Saturday morning flight to Mumbai along with Pankaj and a bunch of other runners and headed straight to the expo at the Kalina university campus in a car rented by Pankaj for the day. The expo was super crowded . However, the bib collection process was smooth and took just a couple of minutes. Both while heading to the bib collection counter and then back to the exit , as always, we bumped into a  number of runners from Bangalore and other places . The temptation to stop at any of the stalls , however interesting, was low due to the crowds. The organisers (Procam) really needs to look at a larger space for the Expo . I even skipped collecting my T-shirt because of the long queue at the counter where medium sized ones being given out for male runners. 

About an hour ride from the expo took us to "Suzette" where we joined a bunch of other runners for a lunch of crepes and croquettes post which we walked to the marine drive for a quick photo before dispersing. 

After a nice evening at a second cousin's place near churchgate checked into Hotel Fortune in the dhobi talo area near Metro cinema around 645PM. Surprised at the tiny size of the room (and the bathroom)  all four of us were thankful that we lucked out to all have a room to ourselves.  There would have been zero space to move around, open bags etc with 2 people in a room. After a solo dinner of roti and oily&spicy kadai vegetables at the Punjabi dhaba next door went to sleep a little before 10PM and woke up at 3:35am after a decent sleep. Downed 3 yelakki bananas and some nuts and raisins before a brisk walk to the holding area in Azad maidan at 4:20am. 

The holding area and the corals seemed more crowded than usual. The race started promptly at 5(15 minutes earlier than the last year) . I crossed the start line couple of minutes later starting very cautiously as the path was narrow with metal jutting out  a few inches from  the ground due to the metro consturction work. The 1st Km took 6:45 after which I picked up pace. Nari and I ran together for the new few Kms at between 6:10 and 6:30 pace. Between Km 5 and 10 I held a steady pace of jut under 6:15.  It was quite pleasant at about 21c and the humidity was low by Mumbai standards. Maintaining a fairly steady pace with intermittent practice of zen running technique that I learnt recently I hit the half way mark pretty much as planned in under 2:14. At that time I felt fairly comfortable and confident of running  the second half in around 2:20 for a 4:35 finish. Probably a bit too confident that I lost a bit of focus and my mind wondered about the slight change of route immediately after crossing the sea link. Brought to earth literally with a fall in the 23rd Km. Fortunately this turned out to be yet another of my falls where I was luckly to get away with a few bruises around my right knee and right elbow and I was up and running again in 30 mins. It crossed my mind that maybe it was a signal from above that sooner than later i need to limit myself to runnign HMs. I managed to maintain an average pace below 6:30 till Km 31. However, post that the pace dropped significantly to 6:50 and just as the flyover was approaching the right quads started cramping again. So much so that from Km 36 I walked quite a bit at every Km. I decided not to push through the pain keeping in mind that I was anyway not going to achieve 4:35, I would fairly comfortably beat the 4:57 of 2023 and the Delhi marathon in 5 weeks.  At this point the 4:40 bus passed me and I could not muster the energy to keep pace with it. 

So when Partha clicked me at Km 41(the 1st photo) I was really really struggling. So just ambled across the finish line relieved tp have completed another FM at Mumbai. After collecting the medal and refreshments , walked back the hotel, had a shower and checked out around 12.  Heard that several of the slow FM finishers did not get any water, refreshments or their medal which is ridiculous and unacceptable for the country's largest race which aspires to be recognised as the best race in Asia. 

Vishy, his son Sanat and I took a cab to churchgate to eat at Samrat. Ended up eating mexican food at Relish next door to it. Post lunch visited a relative in Govandi and then travellled by metro to a friend's place in Borivili. After dinner with a bunch of ex-colleagues at a pan asian restaurant in a mall went to sleep around 1130. Left for the airport on Monday mornign after dhokla breakfast to catch a 9:20 flight.  Reached home a little after 2 thanks to stupidly waiting for a 227 at the mysore road satellite bus station. 

Audacious goal of 3 FMs in 5m

 

TMM , the first of the three marathons that I have boldly signed up for this year , is just ten days away. Despite not being able to do a 35K(that I usually do before a marathon) in training I am looking forward  to running the full at Mumbai for the 17th year in a row.  The longest run I have done since TMM 2023 is the 33K on 16th Dec which went quite well(6:28/Km). However  had to abandon the 35K run on 30th Dec at the 31st Km due to severe cramps in the right quads. In general, the quads have been the main problem this training cycle - they seem to fatigue after the 25th Km specially when going up even the slightest of gradients. As alluded to  in the previous post  I was training with the goal of a sub 4:28 finish.  That looks highly unlikely now. In any case, my thinking now is to push hard in the flat course of  Delhi Marathon on 25th of February to get as close to 4:30 as possible and take TMM as a long training run to complete under 4:45.  Should be able to do the first half in between 2:12 and 2:15 and then look at keeping the second half to below 2:30. Regardless, I should be able finish under last year's time of 4:57 as I am definitely in a better shape strength wise and (lack of) injury wise. 

I am going to be putting my aging and injury prone body under real test with the third marathon at the  Avenue of Giants marathon on 5th May. Given the track record of 1-2 marathons the last 5 years it is an audacious goal.  Without a stringent time target the goal is to avoid a DNF or crawling across the finish line which I think is achievable - keeping fingers crossed!!!