Bill Pierce in India

It was a pleasure to host my running coach Dr. Bill Pierce, who motivated and guided me to BQ in 2012-13, during his visit to Bangalore on 26th August. Bill was brought on his maiden trip to India by Hyderabad Runners as the event ambassador for Airtel Hyderabad marathon on 24rth August 2014.

Bill  is professor and chair of the Health Sciences Department, at Furman University, in Greenville, South Carolina, USA. He is co-founder of the Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST). FIRST promotes running as a healthy physical activity by providing training based on scientific principles and research. Bill, now 64 years of age, ran his first marathon in 1977 and to date, he has completed 40 marathons. He also has the distinction of having run the Boston Marathon in five different decades – 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s – the last time being when he was in his sixties.

With over 250 road races under his belt, 1st place finisher in 10 road races of distances from 3k to HM between 1978 and 1991 and Top 3 age group finishes in 114 races, Bill’s running history is very impressive. Bill is co-author of the best selling book “Run Less, Run Faster”, which completely revolutionized marathon training. Backed by scientific research and experiences of real runners, the book describes how to achieve faster speed by limiting to just three running workouts a week.

Bill did well in his first race in India completing the HM in the challenging Hyderabad course under tough weather conditions in 1:50:46 and finishing 4rth in the senior mens veteran category. This despite sight seeing in Delh and Agra and also addressing several meetings in Hyderabad prior to race day.

Over 40 runners ( a lot of them were pacemakers trainees) assembled at Kanteerva stadium on 26th morning by 615am and had a nice easy 10Km run in Cubbon Park. Followed by some yummy food from fellow runner Aseema and  breakfast at 1st floor of Konark restaurant in the stadium. About 20 runners were around for breakfast and interacted with Bill.

On 26th evening Bill gave a talk titled 'Smart training for the long run' at the auditorium at the Puma store on CMH Road, Indiranagar. There were over 75 participants many of whom got their copy of Bill's book autographed. The talk was well received and Bill left for Chennai very satisfied with the interactions with the Bangalore runners.

Musings at the start of 2013-14 running season

I plan to kick-off my 2013-14 running season  with the TCS 10K on 19th May and hope to end it with the Boston marathon on 21st April 2014 (assuming I get a place when the registration opens in early September 2013). Between these two events I plan to run the Hyderabad Full marathon in August, 50Km at the Bangalore Ultra in November and the Mumbai marathon in January 2014. I might optionally run HMs at Mysore in October and Auroville in February 2014. Unlike last year when I took a complete break from cardio exercises for 7 weeks after the HM at Auroville, this year I continued exercising  with between 4 and 6 cycling/running sessions per week after the 2012-13 season ending Auroville HM in February 2013. I did this  without a concrete training plan or goal with weekly running mileage being below 35Kms and cycling mileage varying between 45 and 65Km. Since the 2nd week of March I did run a fastish, tempo paced 10K every Tuesday just for self-confidence.  During this period I did just one run beyond 20Km. While taking a short break from running is good and helps the body recover from any injuries or muscle micro tears, this year I felt the necessity of continuing to run - in order not to let my fitness level degrade much, keep the self-confidence and also help manage the stress of work and personal life. I have got used to my life being anchored by training for one event or another and feel more stressed out than usual when not doing so - assume this is what addiction is about.   I was also paranoid about not putting on much weight. With a lot of hard work and self control I had managed to bring down my weight to what I think is my optimal racing weight of 55Kgs and I was hoping to keep it close to that at the start of training for the new season. Despite a bit of travel and eating out regularly I managed to keep my weight below 57Kgs. 

Even when running without a time goal I still needed to have  my Garmin - another addiction - and did keep looking at it periodically. I put together my 10K training plan with an ambitious target of 42:55 - over 3 minutes faster than my PB in TCS 10K 2011. The intent was to start training from week 8 of the 12 weeks FIRST training program from the week of 25th March. My 1st training workout was a 4 x 400m intervals with a timing target of 1:28 - I struggled to do those between 1:35 to 1:40. I blamed this on the fact that I had not done intervals since the 2nd week of January and that I was doing this in EGL rather than the tracks. The 6.5K run at short tempo pace of 4:16 was a real disaster - I could not sustain that pace beyond the first 3 Kms. That is when I realised that my target was unrealistic and if I continued with it my chances of getting injured would be very high. So I tuned the weekend long run of 16K for a 10K target time of 43:55 - which meant a pace of 4:41 per Km. I could not achieve that as well - I ended the 16K with an average pace of 4:52Km - for the first time in the last year or so all 3 key training runs of the week were below par. There were perhaps many factors for this - the hot weather, jumping into the middle of a rigorous training program at the start of the season, general fatigue due to not having taken any time off from running etc.  .Nevertheless,I further revised my 10K target to 44:20 and tuned my training program accordingly. From the FIRST race prediction/equivalent performance at different distances table I found that the 10K equivalent time for a 3:37:20 marathoner is 46:44. Or looking at it the other way a 42:55 10K runner should be able to a marathon in 3:20 - this re-confirmed the fact that I had started with a completely unrealistic goal for 10K.  Having trained for and run a number of marathons I know for sure that the 3:37:20 that I did in SCMM 2013 is close to the best I will ever do - perhaps I could bring it down to 3:35 at best. And knowing fully well that I am more a longer distance runner of moderate pace than a fast paced runner for short distances I would be happy to beat my PB 10K timing of 45:57 and very satisfied if I can go sub 44:30. The 2nd week of training was a bit better but still not completely on target even for the re-revised goal. The left glutes, left calf and the left sole are all playing truant once I restarted the hard training. Hopefully supplemented with stretching, foam roller exercises and strengthening I should be able to sustain the train over the next 6 weeks. If needed I may cut back even further on the intensity as 10K timing is not very critical for me. The key goal this season is to stay injury free and keep my FM timings to below 3:40 and as close to 3:38 as possible till April 2014!!

2012 Year end musings

With a nice 35.5Km/3:05 run at IRR/EGL this morning the last long run of 2012(and the last one before SCMM 2013) is done. And it is now time to look back at 2012 and put down the goals for 2013. In general it was a good year though the total mileage for the year was about 1900 Kms - after 3 consecutive years of 2000+Kms in 2009,2010 and 2011. This was mainly due to the 6 weeks complete break from all cardio exercises in Feb-March - my longest break from running since Janaury 2004. Also compared to the last 3 years I participated in fewer events - the focus was on improving the FM. I did two full marathons - SCMM in January and MHRM  in October; besides half-marathon in Auroville, the TCS World 10K, a 5K race at Puma Urban Stampede and  50Km at 6th Bangalore Ultra. I more or less met my goals in all in these events so there was no real low in 2012- though not meeting my goal of a sub 3:39 in MHRM i was a bit of a disappointment. Of course, I was elated at being fortunate enough to sneak through to BQ. 

Here's a summary of the timings of my 2012 events:

1. FM at SCMM : 15th January - 3:48:57
2. HM at Auroville : 19th February - 2:15
3. 10K at TCS World 10K : 27th May - 51:11
4. 5K at Puma Urban Stampede : 5th August - 21:51 (PB)
5. FM at MHRM : 7th October - 3:39:57 (PB) 
6. 50K at Bangalore Ultra :10th November - 5:07:29 (PB)

As in 2011 I trained for the FM  using the FIRST 'Run Less,Run Faster' training program leading up to MHRM in October.. The difference from 2011 was the rigor - I was able to do over 90% of the 47 training runs and 32 cross-training cycling workouts over 16 weeks between June and October.  Another big change was the stretching - I made it a point to spend at least 20 minutes post a workout on most days and longer on rest days. The twice a week strengthening sessions at Manipal was also beneficial.

In August I switched my shoes to Brooks Defyance 5 after using 7 pair of Adidas Supernova Cushion/glide and found them to be very comfortable.

Goals for 2013: 

1. Sub 3:38 at SCMM  in January

2. Sub 1:43 HM at Auroville in February

3. Sub 45 10K at TCS world 10K in May

3. Register for Boston 2014- of course this is not completely under my control

4. 50K/75K/100K at Bangalore Ultra

Above everything of course the goal is to stay fit and injury free and enjoy the running  - if the timing goals are met then of course it would be great! As usual I hope to start 2013 with a run on 1st January - either a 8K mid-tempo run at 4:46/Km or 10 x 800m at 3:17 or an easy run depending on how 31st evening goes!!

Start of training for SCMM 2013

After a week's break post the 50Km run at the 6th Bangalore Ultra the training for SCMM 2013 on 20th January has started in right earnest. SCMM is the biggest road marathon in India and has been a fixture in my running calendar for the last nine years.  After running the HM in Mumbai in 2004 and 2005 I have been able to run a FM there every year since 2006. The last couple of years I have been striving to improve on my PB for the marathon at this race. And that is the goal for 2013 as well. My target is to better the PB of 3:39:57 I achieved at Mohawk Hudson River Marathon on 7th October by a couple of minutes and try and finish in as close to 3:38 as possible. 

Once again I am using the 'Run Less,Run Faster' training program from FIRST which is based on the philosophy of 3Plus2. That is 3 specific running workouts and 2 cross-training workouts per week for 16 weeks. Based on the time left for the event I re-started my training from week 9 of the program. Having recently gone through the full 16 weeks program I am comfortable tailoring the program a bit based on previous experience and to fit in with the  work and travel schedules over the next few weeks. I have also switched back to training in Kms instead of Miles.It was not bad to do the 2 x (6 x 400m) intervals at Kanteerva after a break of 2 months. In fact all the 3 runs went very well - with the 32K long run at 5:27 per Km(versus goal of 5:30) and the last Km at faster than target marathon pace at 5:08 per Km. Hoping to keep the momentum over the next 7 week in spite of  travel plans (personal) on 3 of those weekends!!

FM training details

As mentioned (a few times) in previous  posts  my next marathon Mohawk Hudson River Marathon is on 7th October 2012. I started my 16 weeks training program for this marathon on 18th June using  FIRST's 'Run Less,Run Faster' program with a target time of sub 3:38 to qualify for Boston marathon 2014. The essence of this program is '3Plus2', that is, 3 quality and specific running workouts and 2 cross training workouts. The 3 training workouts are: 1. Interval training  2. Tempo run 3. Long run and the cross-training workout can be either cycling, swimming or rowing or a combination thereof. 

I have been doing 5 or 6 workouts per week and complementing it with strengthening (at  Manipal Hospital Department of Sports Medicine and at home)  and stretching after each workout and a few times in the evening.  The strengthening exercises I do at home are :squats, walking lunges and step-ups. The stretches are mainly for hamstrings,quads,glutes and calves. Before the stretches I try and do exercises on the foam roller for the same areas as well as the ITB.

My best case (or ideal) weekly schedule is as follows. I have  been able to keep to it to a large extent except during travel or when I have evening work related calls/meetings or personal commitments. I would say the morning workouts have been 90%+ to plan; the evening ones have been 70% to plan!

Monday 

morning - 15  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening  - 1 hour strengthening at Manipal; 20 minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

Tuesday

morning - interval training, 20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening -  40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Wednesday

morning -  35 to 45 minutes cycling,  20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Thursday

morning - tempo run,20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Friday

morning - rest or 35 to 45 minutes cycling, 20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 1 hour strengthening at Manipal; 20 minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

Saturday 

morning - long run, 20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Sunday 

morning - rest or short easy run or cycling workout, 20  minutes foam roller exercises and stretching

evening - 40  minutes strengthening, foam roller exercises and stretching

Interval training was at the tracks at Kanteerava Stadium till last week when Department of Youth Sports and Services(DYSS) which controls access to the stadium decided to restrict access to the stadium for amateur runners. This was a real bummer as I had started enjoying the training at the stadium. Based on the strong suggestion of coach Dharam I did my this week's intervals (Yasso's 800- more on that in the next post) at Cubbon park in the stretch from the central library to the Hudson Circle gate. And surprisingly enjoyed it even more than the tracks at Kanteerva. 

Tempo runs (between 3 and 8 miles) are usually on the Indiranagar-Koramangla Inner Ring road or EGL.

Long runs (13 to 22 miles)  are usually solo at EGL - sometimes I have joined the BHUKMP Dandi at Inner Ring Road.

In the 2nd edition of the 'Run Less, Run Faster'  book (released in April 2012) the cross-training cycling workouts are described in detail and classified as Easy, Tempo and Hard to correspond in intensity with Easy, Tempo and Hard(or interval) runs. My easy cycling workout is usually at 27-30Kmph/75-80 RPM. The Tempo workouts are 30-33Kmph/80-90 RPM and the hard cycling workouts at >  33Kmph and 85+ RPM. Have found it challenge to sustain 5 minutes of hard cycling workout. 

So far I have been able to do at least 4 workouts every week including all the 3 key running workouts. Except this week(week #7) I had to skip the long run (13 miles at 8:34 per mile) due to a strain in my left hip. I am keeping fingers crossed and hoping to keep as close to the above schedule as possible for the rest of 9 weeks of my training!!

Week 1, Day 1 of 16 weeks marathon training

Started my 16 weeks marathon training using the FIRST  'Run Less, Run Faster'  program today with  3 x 1600m interval training at Kanteerva stadium. This program requires one to do 3 specific runs and 2 cross-training sessions per week. The three training runs are: interval training, tempo run and a long run. Each of the 48 runs has a specific pace/timing goal. Of these, the interval training is definitely my least favorite - in fact I am always apprehensive before the interval run and usually want to get it over with as the 1st run of the week.Today though  I was  pretty much on target with 6:55, 7:02 and 6:58 versus a target of 6:57. Though I had been very busy the previous few days with inadequate sleep perhaps the fact that I was working out after a low mileage week(20Kms) ,  running after a break of 2 days and the cloudy weather helped me.  This was my 2nd run with  a new pair of Addidas Supernova glide 4 - a family of shoes that I have stayed with for the last 9 years.

There are of course several different marathon training programs out there- I have for now decided to stay with the FIRST program.  I recently acquired the 2nd edition of the book which has several improvements over the 1st. The tables are both in Kms and Miles. The sections on cross-training as well as stretching and strengthening are more specific and detailed. In general, I found the flow to be better. This is the 3rd time that I will be using the program. Both the previous times - Hyderabad marathon 2011 and SCMM 2012 - I fell short of my target. This time I am training for a marathon pace of 8:19 per mile with the goal of completing the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon on 7th October   in 3:38 and qualifying for Boston marathon 2014 in the 55-59 years age group. I used the last two weeks to do interval training and tempo run after a gap of 5 months.  I am continuing to do strengthening two days a week at Manipal hospital. Based on advice from several sports physios I am also trying to spend adequate time stretching(specially my calves and glutes) after a workout. 

For the record my weight after the 1st day of training was 59.7Kgs close to my target optimal weight of 59Kgs. It is quite amazing how my weight varies  as much as 1.5 -2 Kgs between the morning and night - not sure if so much variation is normal. The picture below was taken just after the workout:

PS.  By the time I completed this post I also did my tempo run for this week - which was a 2 miler at a short tempo pace of 7:30 per mile after a 2 mile warm up. 

Start of the 6 months quest for BQ...

My only running goal for 2012 (and 2013 if I dont make it this year) is to qualify for Boston. My qualification time in the 50-54 years age group is 3:40 - I probably need to do a sub 3:38:30 to assure entry. And this needs to be done between September 2012(after the registration for Boston 2013 closes) and September 2013(before registration starts for Boston 2014). And to achieve this I need to shave over 11 minutes of my previous PB - a real daunting task indeed!! Nevertheless, if I can't do it in the next 12-18 monthls then it is unlikely that I will be able to BQ in this lifetime! While I have been steadily improving my FM timings over the last 6 years and in theory the human body can be pushed much beyond one's imagination ,in my case I expect age to catch up soon resulting in plateauing of my performance.

After a 7 weeks break from running and cycling I started my quest for BQ with a 6Km/36 minutes training run on 1st April. And two weeks later did a 16.5Km run at the RFL run at EGL today. Though I have been stretching and strengthening during my break and have added just about 2Kgs to my (optimal) weight of 60Kgs it has been quite challenging to get back to running and the first couple of runs have been bit of  a struggle. Right now completing a 42Km run looks very daunting - leave alone completing it in under 3:40.  My left glutes and left calf  feel slightly stressed during and at the end of the run. In fact, the left glutes now hurts even when I am siting in one position for a couple of hours. Based on Dr. Rajat's advice I consulted Dr. Thomas Kishen of Sparsh Hospital. He advised X-ray and MRI of lower back for suspected pinched nerve. I have decided to park this for now and see how the training goes for the next few weeks.

I intend to build the base mileage by the end of May. This includes getting to 45Km+ per week and at least one run of 25Km. I will start my 16 weeks Full marathon training using the Furman 'Run Less, Run Faster' program starting 11th June. I have registered for the Mohawk Hudson River marathon on October 7th.  I do not intend to race in the TCS world 10K this year - will run it at a moderate pace to try and do a sub-50. I probably will try and race a HM in early September and am targeting the Swanzey Covered Bridges Half marathon.  Assuming it is good to do a fast HM 4-5 weeks before the FM  - I need to confirm this with my coach.

It is going to be an arduous 6 months which I am sure will have its share of ups and downs. The key will be to stay mentally(more on this in a future post)  and physically strong and injury-free. I am looking forward to some serious training starting 1st May - after returning to Bangalore from  10 days vacation starting 18th April; will need to be careful not to put on weight during this period of low training and unbirdled eating/drinking! Not so coincidentally this post is being written less than 48 hours before the 2012 edition of Boston marathon.

Towards the end of a Longish Break...

It is now exactly 4 weeks since I last ran any distance or cycled over 2Kms.  As mentioned in my previous post I decided to take a few weeks of complete rest from cardio exercises ie running or cycling before resuming training for my next marathon.  This was primarily to enable the stress in my left glutes and left calf to heal. Also a rest period helps heal mirco muscle tears that are caused by intense long distance running.This is the longest break I have taken from running - voluntary or involuntary- since January 2004.

After completing my first marathon in Janaury 2003 I was forced to take several months off from running due to a knee injury. However, this time it is a voluntary lay off. And it has not been easy. Not only have I been missing exercising but also  the energy levels have been low and stress levels high.  This is not surprising. A run in the morning not only makes one feel good about oneself but also improves the energy level for the rest of the day.  The stress levels have also been very high in part due to increased professional workload but largely due to lack of exercise. Another dimension has been to avoid putting on much weight. My  two main motivations to take to  distance running were so that I could eat and drink without feeling guilty and to manage stress. So far I have been fortunate enough   to keep my weight around 61Kgs over the last 4 weeks without controlling my diet too much.  It is not that I have not been exercising at all. I have been doing some stretching and glutes strengthening exercises  3-4 days a week and strengthening sessions at the Manipal Hospital department of sports and exercise medicine 2 days a week. I also walked 5Kms  in Cubbon Park at the Countours Womens Day Run on 3rd March - will give more details of that in the next post.

I am looking forward to resuming my training in a couple of weeks from April 1st. Hope to build some base mileage and pace in April and May and then embark on a 16 weeks marathon training using the FIRST training program with the goal of running my next marathon  in late September or October . I evaluated 4 fall marathons in the east coast of US :   Wineglass marathon on September 30th , Steamtown marathon on October 7th,  Mohawk Hudson River marathon on October 7th and Baystate marathon on October 21st. All of these races , specially the last 3, are ranked high by Marathon Guide for the large percentage of runners that qualify for Boston from these races.  The Mohawk Hudson River marathon and Baystate marathon are also in the Runners World list of 10 fastest marathons for 2012. Taking into account multiple factors: type of course, weather history and distance from Southbury Connecticut I have more or less decided to register for the Mohawk Hudosn River marathon and will be doing so within the next few days.