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

A fastish HM at Auroville 2017

The hectic weekend of  nearly 800 Kms  on the road and irritating delays at the toll booths on the way back was offset by the usual awesome experience of the trail and organisation of the 10th Auroville marathon on 12th February. The icing on the cake of 1:46:28  HM  (my 3rd fastest ) and time spent with siblings made for a good weekend break!   After running the FM in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and the HM in 2012 and 2013 I skipped Auroville in 2014, 2015 and 2016. In these years I ran fewer races due to injury. Auroville marathon is unlike other larger commercial races  - the entry fee is relatively low, there is no timing chip or even manual timing or finishers certificate and the finisher's medal is handcrafted.  That is , it is a special race where one runs for 'The joy of running' . The experience is highly recommended to those who have not yet run it. Personally I hope to continue to run it at least every 3-4 years.

We left on Saturday morning around 7:25am from Domlur and reached our breakfast stop of A2B between Hosur and Krishnagiri at 8:45am.  After a stop of lunch at Vasantha Bhavan in Tindivanam we reached Auroville at about 2:45. The road was mostly good though it was undivided state highway from Arcot to Tindivanam. 

post bib collection

After collecting the bibs and tea/coffee at the visitor center we checked into Hotel Shenbaga at 530.

Strolled down the promenade along the sea , had dinner at A2B and got back to the hotel by 9PM.

Next morning left the hotel at 5:25 am and reached the visitor center at 5:50am.

before start of the race

After using the restrooms inched my way towards the front of the starting line by about 6:10. There seemed to be over thousand HM runners and there were no corals. So it was a crowded , slow start for the first 500m. Till the morning of the race I had decided on my strategy or target pace. As nether of my brothers were targeting a specific goal that I could have paced them for the options were to do a moderate pace run between 1:55(the time at KTM 2016) and 2:00 or push hard to go below 1:50 and as close to 1:45 as possible. As I felt quite good after a couple of Kms I decided to go for the latter.  The 1st Km was the slowest at 5:17. Only a couple of other Kms were slower than 5:10 pace. With Gopal of the Samarpan gang for company from about Km 6 ran a steady pace race with a fast 4:49 21st Km. Very satisfied with the time. Was apprehensive of the couple of extra Kgs of weight(57 versus ideal of 55) and the left calf and sole.   Neither was an issue in the race.   The temp between 20 and 22c, lower than expected humidity and partly cloudy skies  also helped.

Chatted with lots of runners at the finish area while waiting for Chandru, Mahesh and Lakshmi.

After the pongal vadai breakfast and a few more photos we returned to the hotel at 1030.

Checked out at 1230 and started driving back around 1245. After a lunch break at Aryas(on the highway between Pondicherry and Tindivanan) and tea break at A2B in Vellore we reached Domlur at 845PM - tired but satisfied with the enjoyable run weekend!!

SCMM 2017 - a tale of two races

My 12th marathon in Mumbai on 15th January 2017 was a race of two contrasting parts. Till the 30Km mark I  ran a strong and steady race at an average pace of 5:19/Km - hitting the half way mark about 30 seconds later than my target of 1:51:30.  Though sub 3:45 looked tough finishing around the time of SCMM 2016 (3:47:15) seemed feasible. However, things went downhill soon after specially in the last 5 Kms. After the 30th Km I clocked over 5:25 in every Km after with the slowest of 6:05 on the Peddar road flyover  (Km 36). As the average race pace dropped with each Km, the left calf and sole felt heavier and  both the physical and mental resolve took a tumble. Pace of 5:46, 5:57,5:50,5:50 in Kms 38 thru 41 meant that even sub 3:50 looked challenging. That thought gave me a  fillip to push harder for the remaining 1200m. The race clock crossed 3:50 as I turned the corner on Fort. Thankfully, I managed to sprint the last few hundred meters to cross the finish line in 3:49:54 - mixed with relief, fatigue, disappointment and a bit of nausea.  The detailed results are here.

In retrospect, not sure what to blame for this skewed performance. Certainly not the weather. At 20c it was warmer and a bit more humid than expected. However, it was partly cloudy till the finish time which meant even on marine drive there was no direct sun. Inadequate training and poor muscle strength  resulting in piriformis syndrome are of course the culprits.  In hindsight I should have probably targeted 3:47 and maybe run the 1st half a minute or so slower. The moderate pace runs post the marathon have shown that the left side is very weak. In 2017 need to focus on strength training and stay injury free in order to meet the sub 3:45 target in SCMM 2018.  And not to make the mistake of over training ever again. 

On Saturday night  I went to bed at 9:45 after a light dinner of idlis and lemon sevai at Madras cafe . Woke up at 3am with the alarm. Like the last few years I got picked up outside Acharya Nagar by AJ's father around 3:55am. We were in Chembur station platform at  4:05. There was a minor anxiety as the timing of the train to CST was not clear,. However, around 4:15 the train showed up taking us to CST by 4:50. The buzz and energy levels at CST on a marathon morning is a unique feature of SCMM that I thoroughly relish and cherish. It's difficult for someone who has not experienced it to relate to. 

The entry into Azad maidan (there were  separate Qs for those with and without bags) and check-in at baggage counter(where we bumped into D)  was smooth.  I lost AJ and D when I went to take a leak. By about 5:30 I was among the runners crowding the holding area. Met Satish here but lost him on the way to Coral A. The start was chaotic - runners were let out of the holding area a bit late and scrambled towards their corals. Coral A (for sub 4 runners) seemed very crowded.  I could cross the start line only a minute after the race had begun. Vishy, Pankaj and Shilpy started around the same time and pulled ahead. I was quite appalled to see the 4:15 pacer ahead of me around the 3Km mark. While pacing is still at a nascent stage in India, the organisers and the pacer co-ordinators need to realise that not every runner is cut out to pace and must have a stringent screening criteria apart from just past race finish times. On the other hand the 3:45 pacer seemed to be doing a good job running at a fairly steady pace a couple of seconds faster than the required average pace. I mostly ran alone though alongside Ankitha and her pacer till about 10Km mark when she pulled out.  Around the 8Km mark on the Peddar road stretch I overtook Pankaj.  And went past Vishy in the Peddar road stretch on the return. (Shilpy ran a very strong race like several other friends  - Sid, Pani, Bobby, Neera, Nirupaman.. and earned a place on the podium ). Though Satish and I finished a few seconds of each other we never saw each other on the route or in the finish area.   Overall for me the 1st half was very enjoyable and the last 10Km was a real struggle. 

Thankfully, this time the finishers did not have to climb steps to get into Azad maidan. After collecting my bag , the medal and refreshments and greeting a few runner friends I headed back towards VT station as I was mentally too jaded to hang around in  Azad maidan. Due to the Sunday 'mega block' got a train only up to Kurla and then took a Uber to Govandi to get home by 1230. 

The Indigo flight to Bangalore that evening was full of runners analyzing their runs and the ifs and buts. At that I felt that maybe I needed to take some time off and even skip Auroville. Now that the race is a week away my plan A is to run an easy first half (57m) and then depending on how the left side feels finish between 1:54 and 2 hrs.  Plan B is to take it really easy and finish around 2:15. Will probably decide only on race morning. 

12 hours to the 12th one at Mumbai...

SCMM has been a fixture on my running calendar since the HM I ran in the 1st edition in February 2004. All subsequent editions have been held in January - usually on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Despite the familiarity of the routine and the course (in which I PB'ed in 2013) the mix of excitement and anxiety experienced in the days and hours leading to the start line has also remained a constant. The SCMM is by far the largest and best organised road full marathon in the country. It has also grown leaps and bounds in size and attracts serious recreational runners as well as professional runners from around the country. It looks like over 6,000 runners have registered for the FM tomorrow . Across all categories over 42,0000 runners are expected to hit the roads of Mumbai!

As usual I arrived in Mumbai on Friday evening. For the first time the expo and bib collection point for outstation runners was at Richardson and Cruddas in Byculla  - it has usually been at the WTC in Colaba except one year when it was  at BKC. The bib collection process is usually very smooth and quick at SCMM. This year it was an even quicker process despite the venue being quite crowded with runners when I got there at half past 12.  I went to the back office and collected my 'special bib' with zero wait time (Thanks to fellow Bangalore runner Sunil for guiding me on this). I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Procam in the last week of December asking for 3 choices of bib nos between 201 and 999998 as a token of appreciation of having run the marathon for 11 years in a row. I got allotted my 1st choice , that is, 1111. (My other choices were 1001 and 345).  And  this bib no.  will be blocked for me for the next 3 years!!

My goal this year is to do try and do a sub 3:45 or at least as close to the 3:47:15 of 2016 as possible. Despite the injury woes in September and October I feel in good shape and would be disappointed if the time is slower than 3:50(of course the variables during the race are often unpredictable and beyond one's control).  Given the cool weather I expect to start at an average pace of 5:15 per Km for the first 10 Kms, slow down a bit and get to the half way point in about 1:51:30(at average of 5:17 per km) and then try and keep it between 5:20 and 5:25 per km for a sub 1:53:30 2nd half . 

In any case I am looking forward to another great experience of running on the fantastic Mumbai route - meeting fellow runners from around the country and cheered on by the fantastic crowd of Mumbaikars!!

Hoping for the tide to turn..

An excellent 1:51/21.1K run on 31st December to end the 3rd consecutive year of injury plagued, below par running is hopefully an harbinger of the turning of the tide in 2017. After a low of just one FM in 2015, two FMs and the Bangalore Ultra in 2016 was an improvement.

Following is a summary of the year's events:

SCMM 2016  -  17th January - 3:47:15  versus goal of 3:50

Green Europe Marathon  - 8th May - 3:49:25 (original goal was 3:50, later changed to 3:45)

Bangalore marathon -  16th October  - DNS (goal of sub 3:45)

Kaveri Trail Marathon (HM) - 1:55:07

Bangalore Ultra (50 Km) -  5:58:38 - downgraded from 75Km with a goal to complete around 6hrs

After restarting structured RLRF training including the intervals in July after a break of over two years, things were going very well till the minor tear in the right calf muscle in September a few weeks before the Bangalore marathon set me back to ground zero. Consequently had to skip the Bangalore marathon , downgrade Bangalore Ultra to 50K and abandon plans to run Comrades in 2017. After about 5 weeks of rest, physiotherapy and strengthening  I managed a few tempo and long runs post the Bangalore Ultra.  Managed to keep the weight in the 54 to 56Kg range through the year.

The 2017 goal is to to stay injury free and work towards hitting BQ-5 at  SCMM in January 2018. I intend to continue to focus on strength training.  The only two races confirmed so far for 2017 are:

 a)  SCMM on 15th January ( sub 3:45) and

 b) HM at Auroville on 12th February ( sub 1:44)  

The other potential races are a FM in the east coast of US in May if the vacation plan works out , 12 hour stadium run on 30th July  and 50 Km at Malnad Ultra on 7th October. 

KTM 2016

The 10th anniversary  Kaveri Trail Marathon  run was postponed from 17th September to 27th November due to the curfew in Bangalore and Mysore caused by the Cauvery water related unrest between KA and TN. Unlike the Bangalore Ultra, where I have started every year, my participation in KTM has been intermittent - four out of nine. Having registered for the event in July I decided to take it easy post the recent injury and the 50K at the Ultra just two weeks before. The goal was to enjoy the trail and complete in around 1:53- same time as last year. 

Drove to the venue with Captain and Amrita on 27th November . Got picked up at 2:45 and reached the venue by 5:40 after picking up Nari and Vasu enroute. After checking in my bag in the holding area went to the start point with D. Felt quite cold and decided to run with two layers. Just about 50 or so FM runners took off at 6am.  Given the choice of events now available to runners  and the change of date the participation level in both FM and HM was low.

Udupa Murthy and I runversed till about 14Kms at a steady pace of about 5:20/Km.  The stomach pain which was on and off till then became quite unbearable and I slowed down while UM went on ahead. My stomach seemed to have got massively upset. With steadily increasing pain with gritted teeth I dug deep to complete the last few Kms of the race finishing in a little over 1:55. And rushed straight to a potty in the finish line. Overall , while the trail was as good as ever , I did not enjoy the race this time. Parts of the trail seemed to have been flattened/widened - is the trail likely to be paved in a few years? 

After a relatively light breakfast left for Bangalore with Pradeep, D and A at about 11am reaching home by 2PM.