Vanquished by the hilly terrain at Airtel Hyderabad Marathon 2013

Failing to conquer the hilly course of my first Full marathon of the season I missed the  aggressive target I had set  for Airtel Hyderabad Marathon by over 10 minutes. While the first half was pretty much as per plan I lost so much pace in the second half that I failed to even finish in sub 3:40. Somewhere between 27Km and 37Km I lost it  both physically and mentally and was disappointed with the race; Though it was my best time on this course beating my time in Airtel Hyderabad marathon 2011 by over 5 minutes and my third best time ever after MHRM in October 2012 and SCMM in January 2013. And I ended up coming first in the Senior or super veteran age category - this being my first race after graduating to that age group.

As usual I reached Hyderabad on Friday,23rd August evening. This time I went for the Bib pickup on Saturday afternoon around 3:30 PM  instead of the morning and decided to stay Saturday night with other runners at Nizam club(rather than at the in-laws place in Domalguda). The expo at Hitex exhibition hall was spacious and well organised - though the location itself was quite out of the way and not easily accessible. At the expo I met Ashish Shah of Zendurance - which organises niche endurance events. Jugy and I joined Partha(with whom I was room-ming)  and other runners at Nizam club around 6 PM. The room there was clean and comfortable. While most other runners decided to walk up to the start point about 1.5 Kms away I relaxed in the room after pinning up my racing bib and laying out all the accessories for the race - shoes, socks,cap, towel, Garmin etc. Between 8 and 9 PM we had a relaxing dinner of Rava idlis and curd rice at a Kamat restaurant few hundred meters away.  I went to bed at 9:45 PM and dozed off quite quickly. As usual I woke up a few minutes before my alarm was to go at 3:35 AM. After 2 bananas and some almonds and walnuts I was out of the room by 4:15 AM. Naresh, Ravi and I took a brisk walk to the starting point at People's Plaza and were there by 4:35 or so. After unloading my bladder in the open(the queue for the port-a-potty was too long) and some warming up I checked in my bag and headed to the start line around 4:50am bumping into numerous familiar runners along the way. 

At 5:01 AM, as per my Garmin, we were on our way. I ran mostly alone and was not able to get into a good rhythm. Due to early morning rains the humidity seemed to be a bit high. Runners like Siddesha and Neera were a few meters ahead. There was a small stretch of about 500m around the lake where it was compeltely dark and the road was uneven. Fortunately there was no mis-step. I reached the 10Km mark after the Khairatabad(1st) flyover on target in about 49 minutes. 

Just before entering the Panjagutta (2nd) flyover I went past Pankaj Rai. Lost bit of pace in the climb in Banjara Hills - I realised I was not able to completely  make up for the lost time in the downhill stretches. Nevertheless, I got to the 21K mark in a little over 1:45 at an average pace of 5 mins/Km. However after the Gachibowli (3rd) flyover the pace started to drop. I started getting light cramps in both my hamstrings due to which I was unable to push myself. Somehow in this part of the race I was not as mentally strong as I have been in the recent past. And the average pace began to steadily climb. By the 31Km mark I knew that sub 3:35 was not achievable - even sub 3:40 started to look challenging. My goal was to hit 34K between 2:50 and 2:53- it was 2:57+ when I got there. Now the hamstrings cramps got worse. I stopped at the medical station at around the 35Km marked and sprayed them generously with volini. I repeated the same around the 38K mark inside the Hyderabad university campus. At this point I found even the slightest of gradients quite challenging to negotiate. Though the goal was to keep the pace as close to 5:30 as possible in the last 8Kms my pace varied between 5:05 to 6:23! I felt a bit better in the last 2 Kms and should have pushed a bit harder to stay sub 3:45. Around the 40Km marke Neera went past me - she also seemed to be struggling a bit. But the stretch inside the stadium seemed to go on forever and though I sprinted the last couple of hundred meters on the tracks I crossed the finish line in a net time of 3:46:20 a minute or so behind Neera and Siddesha. I was tired and a bit down mentally but not completely exhausted. My training had been quite ok -  I probably over trained a bit. Maybe the slight cold and sore throat was a factor or the fact that BAA had responded that the Hyderabad marathon course was not recognised for BQ time was playing on my mind. It maybe a combination of this but the bottom line probably  is that I am not cut out for hill running!!

I hung around with other runners from Bangalore for a bit. The snack box was ok - though lot of runners seemed to have thought it was not good. 

This time I watched out for  the award ceremony and  collected the age category winner plaque.

I was back at Nizam club by about 11:30 AM and Domalguda by 12:30 PM. Overall the race was well organised. The traffic control and volunteer support in the village stretch between 26K and 30K could have been better. Asking finishers to climb up the steps to collect the snack box did not seem right.

A sore throat and running nose(had slight symptoms of these before the race) from the evening of the race dampened my recovery from the race. Did just one 4Km run the week after the race. This week went back up to 32Km over 3 easy runs . I will be taking September easy before starting training for SCMM 2014 from 30th September. 

Challenge of Airtel Hyderabad Marathon 2013 beckons

The Airtel Hyderabad Marathon is arguably the most challenging road marathon in the country. With three flyovers at the 9th,13th and 24rth Km respectively , rolling hills specially in the Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills areas and a gentle uphill between 38th and 41st Km the route is testing both physically and mentally. 

I have run the Hyderabad marathon twice before and both times my experience has been very good  in terms of race organisation and experience and my race timing. Though tough on the legs the rolling hills has helped me do well there. The route this year and last year is fairly similar to the route of the earlier years with some small modifications. Being organised by Hyderabad Runners , one of the largest and most vibrant running communities in the country, the event is very very runner friendly. As the first of my 12 marathons in 12 months in  I thoroughly enjoyed the first edition of the run in August 2008. I had to miss the run in August 2009 after registering for it due to sickness - the only DNS of my running career so far. The event did not happen in 2010. In its new incarnation as Airtel Hyderabad marathon in 2011 the event was much bigger and established itself as one of the 'must do' road marathons in India. Though hit by severe cramps around the 34Km mark I managed a PB in that race. Being away from  India I gave the  2012 edition  a miss; as  this report from a good friend and ace runner testifies  it was once again very well organised and a resounding success! So without a thought I registered for Airtel Hyderabad marathon 2013 on the day registrations opened - had already  booked my travel even earlier when airlines were offering discounts in February 2013!

Race goal and pacing strategy

I have trained for 10 weeks using the 'Run Less, Run Faster' program of FIRST for a target goal of 3:35. While the training has gone off well I am aware that this is very ambitious considering the challenging course and that my all time PB is 3:37:20 in SCMM 2013 and my PB in Hyderabad is a good 17 minutes slower!. I will start the race with this goal and tune it depending on how it goes.How the legs hold up to the hills and the temperature, winds and rain(if any) will influence my race strategy. I hope to at least beat my PB failing which my next goal would be to keep my time sub 3:40. 

My pacing strategy for a FM has generally been 30-50-20 ie about 5-10 secs per Km faster than target goal for the first 30% distance ie upto 12 kms or so, close to target pace for the next 50% distance ie up to 34Km and then push as hard as possible for the remaining 20% distance. My target pace being 5:05/Km the intent is to hit 34Km between 2:50 and 2:53. I intend to follow the same strategy in this race expecting to lose about 15-20 secs /km in the flyover/uphill stretches and hoping to gain the same in the downhills. 

So the following are my interim timing targets:

10Km  49mins (4:55 mins/Km pace) - this would be towards the end of the 1st flyover

21Km  1:45     (5mins/Km pace)

34Km   2:50 to 2:53 (between 5 and 5:05/Km pace)

Though this will be my 38th race of FM or longer distance(including the 6 unofficial RFL runs in 2008-09) it has been the usual nervy period of ten days leading up to the race. Now with  less than 2 days to go, I am looking forward to the first FM of the season - hoping to enjoy the experience and catching up with runner friends from around the country!!

Marathon training post injury lay-off

Injury is a bane of all experienced/regular runners - having to stay away from something that one is passionate about due to injury of all things is a dreadful phase for a runner to go through. But injuries are a fact of life for runners. There are various statistics floating around about running injuries. One popular one is that 70% of runners will get injured in a given year. Of course this is too vague as both the definition of runner and injury can vary. Another way of looking at it is that in most cases there may not be a strict line between being injured or not. The closest a runner(specially one doing Half marathon and longer distances regularly) maybe to being 'injury-free' is when he/she is able to run freely without pain and even then the runner maybe balancing several weaknesses,imbalances, scar tissues etc.

Fortunately I have  not to be laid of weeks together due to a running related injury since I did my 2nd Full marathon in 2005. Though I have had breaks from running due tom sickness, travel and even just to give my legs and body some rest. However the 2013-14 running season started with injury woes.. While training for TCS 10K 2013 using the 'Run Less, Run Faster' training program from FIRST I got hit with pain in my left calf/ankle   and I had to consult a sports physio and adjust my goal for the race. A week before the race my right calf got hurt so bad that  I had to abandon my medium pace  training run after 2 Km or so and almost decided to skip the TCS 10K. However, I ended up running the race and while trying to push for around 45 minutes time I tore  a muscle in my right calf. Based on the Physio's advice I took 3 weeks completely off from running- doing light cycling, rowing and stretching to keep myself fit. After the TCS 10K race on 19th of May my next run was a slow 10K as part of the Mother Earth run on 9th June!!

Getting back to training after an injury layoff is quite tricky.One should pick up the pace and distance very gradually however much there is temptation to do otherwise due to the eagerness to catch up on lost training time. If the stressing demands of running are introduced at a rate and volume that the body is not ready for—especially after time off after an injury—it makes recovery difficult and makes the body vulnerable to new injuries due to compromised form. The key for a successful return is allowing the soft tissues to have the chance to adapt. More in this article in Competitor - a great online resource for running. As another article in the same site states:

A  running plan post an injury should be formed strategically based on  the following five factors:

1. 1. The severity of the injury—a stress fracture or injury that required surgery differs vastly from tendonitis.
2. 2. How long one was  sidelined from running.
3. 3. One's  fitness level prior to getting injured.
4. 4. How many years of experience one  have as a runner.
5. 5. Whether one  could cross-train during the  layoff.

Here's another nice perspective - this one from RunnesConnect on how to get back to training after injury,sickness or missing training.

In my  case after some nice easy runs during the week of 10th June to build mileage I started my training for Airtel Hyderabad marathon 2013 with 6 x 800m intervals at Kanteerva stadium on 19th June jumping into week 10 of the 16 weeks 'Run Less, Run Faster' training program. I did not push myself during the intervals which I was doing after a break of over 2 months. The 33Km slow run up and down Nandi hills on June 23rd was the longest run since SCMM in January 2013. Though exhausted at the end of the run there was no pain in either calf - so my injury seemed to have fully healed.

The next 8 weeks of training went off quite well. Was able to do most of the workouts - skipped a couple of tempo runs and a couple of cycling workouts due to travel. Most of the running workouts went well specially the long runs. Also managed to get in two 33Km runs and one 36Km run. And work out for about 15 minutes on the foam roller and do about 45 minutes of stretching at least once a day while not travelling. This was complimented by strength training - rowing, leg press, calf press, leg raises, squats, lunges, step ups 2 days a week.  My weight varied in the range 118 lbs to 123 lbs and body fat dipped just under 10% for the first time ever. Except during the tapering fortnight , when I am going through the usual jitters, doubts, aches and pains, overall I feel well trained , fitter than ever before and ready for my first marathon of the season!! .

TCS 10K 2013 : Decent run despite a torn right calf muscle

Considering that a week before the run on 19th May 2013 I was unsure of making it to the starting line due to a right calf injury, I am satisfied with my 46:56 performance  (bib# 578) in the race with an overall ranking of 189 out of 8137 finishers. The icing was the 3rd place finish out of 191 runners in the 51 to 60 eyars category behind awesome runners Pani and Sid. Running through right calf pain for the last 2 Kms was quite tough. The wonderful capture below around the 9th Km by  Shantanu Singh shows this well.

I literally limped over the finish line with severe right calf pain - thanks to friend and fellow runner Ravi Venkatesam for getting the volini spray from the medical tent in the finish area. After spraying that generously the calf felt much better. 

Ravi and I left Domlur Layout at 6am by car and after parking at UB city we reached Kanteerva stadium by 620am. There were hardly a handful of runners in the category A section(finisher in less than 50 mins within the previous 2 years) at that time. At 630am the World 10K men racers took off at a blistering pace. Soon thereafter the area was buzzing with runners - many of them familiar. After using the restroom one more time I went down the steps to a position close to the gate to the tracks. At about about 7:19am (by my Garmin) the gate was opened and all runners rushed out tot he start line. The pushing and jostling was much less compared to the previous two years - though it was still there specially with the corporate challenge runners also joining the category A runners at the same time. (I understand it was much worse for the category B and Category C runners - their gates were opened a few seconds later). The race started at 7:21 within a few seconds of my getting to the start line. I was able to get a good start and clocked the 1st Km in 4:07 much faster than planned. Ran at a good pace till Km 4  clocking an average of 4:16/Km - the gradient after the turnaround at Ulsoor slowed me down considerably and the pace gradually fell. By the half way mark I knew that sub 45 was not going to be possible and soon thereafter also vanished any thoughts of a beating my previous PB of 2011. The last 4 Kms were really tough as the right calf pain steadily increased. Surprisingly, my usual left calf and left glutes niggle did not show up this time. I have always found it difficult to sustain a fast pace in the shorter races - My goal was to ensure that I finished sub 50 and as close to 47 mins as possible. I was doubly relieved to cross the finish line around the 47 min mark. As has been my practice at the 10K race I consumed water 3 times during the run all in the 2nd half. I felt the weather was quite ok.

After hanging around in the finish line a bit - stretching and getting photographed - drove to Konark for the wonderful breakfast hosted by Nagaraj Adiga (aka 'godfather'). It was great to exchange thoughts with fellow runners and also an opportunity for more pictures. Got back home around quarter past 10am - well fed but a bit worried about the right calf.

A day after the race I discovered that the right calf had swollen quite a bit. In general the right leg was quite sore even more so than after a typical marathon. Next day when I found some internal bleeding below the ankle it had me really worried. The ultrasound scan of the calf area (recommended by Doc Gladson of Attitide Prime) revealed ' a partial tear of the proximal muscle fibres of soleus with associated hematoma'. The soleus is one of the 3 muscles that form the calf muscles. A hematoma is defined as a collection of blood or a clot that has accumulated outside of a blood vessel. The blood has leaked from a ruptured artery, vein, or capillary and then seeps into the surrounding tissue. 

The only solution for such an injury is to ice the area and stretch lightly frequently and stay off from running for a few weeks. After a complete break for 5 days I did some cycling over the weekend. After a week the swelling in the ankle has gone but there is still a dull pain while walking or going down the steps. Depending on how it goes I hope to restart running the week of 3rd June and after a couple of weeks of light training start the formal training for Hyderabad marathon towards the end of the month!!

TCS 10K 2013?

I am quite under-prepared,physically and mentally for the 6th edition of  Bangalore's  world 10K run that is less than a week away . With just 4 running workouts since 18th April training has been minimal. While the usual stress in the left glutes,calf and sole has been nagging me for the last few weeks I have also been having a problem with my right calf since the 1st of May. On 5th May I had to abandon my  fastish 16K run after a 48mins/10Km with stress in both the calves. I literally limped back home. This is the first time ever that I had an issue with my right calf. When I had to give up on the  medium pace  run yesterday that I was doing after a break of 5 days after a Km or so with acute pain in the upper right calf I was completely shattered. It looked like it would be prudent to skip this year's 10K and train for the Hyderabad marathon after recovering from the injury. An injury like this at the beginning of a running season is a real dampener - I have been unable to avoid being depressed the last couple of weeks. Not being able to run the 10K to plan was bad enough, the possibility of the injury impacting the marathons targeted for the season and that beating my BQ time by 2:40 may not be sufficient to get me a place in Boston 2014 made it much worse.

Despite  uncertainty of whether I would make it to the start line on 19th May I collected my running bib from Koramangla indoor stadium on 11th May morning. And then went to show my right calf to Dr. Gladson of Attitude Prime. It looks like the calf pain may be due to a weak plantar fascia not being able to strain of my running pace. As per Gladson it is not Planatar Fasciitis - a very common injury among runners. And I should be in a reasonable shape to run the 10K after exercising the plantar using a  golf ball  a few times a day for the next few days.

Hope to make it to the starting on line on 19th May and keep my streak of running the world 10K if the easy  training runs on 14th and 16th May go well.While I had changed my goal to Sub-45 or to at least beat my 2011 PB of 45:57 now I will be satisfied if I can keep it below 50 minutes though I know I am in shape to do sub 45. My strategy will be to get a good start(a challenge by itself considering 11,000 runners are expected to participate and the organisers have been unable to enforce discipline in the starting area to have runners assemble and start based on their previous finish times) and try and sustain  sub 4:30 minutes Kms as long as possible. 

More on Boston 2013.. and some thoughts on 2014 too

Three weeks since the dastardly event at this year's Boston marathon while the perpetrators have been identified the motivation behind this is still unclear. And those directly impacted by the blasts are still trying to cope with it. The week of 16th April was a a horrible week for the running world and runners worldwide. While I was relieved to know that runners from India (a couple of whom I knew personally) were safe I went about my work almost like a zombie - some colleagues at work wondered why was I was off-colour and distraught. Among the several reflections  about Boston 2013 here are some that I found interesting:

We should simply come out and play more

Boston, from one citizen of the world who calls himself a runner

Let the healing begin: running still matters

One aftermath of Boston 2013 is that there is huge interest in qualifying for Boston 2014 - apparently the interest is about 15 to 20 times higher than at any point since 2008.The 118^th Boston Marathon is slated for Monday, April 21, 2014. Quoting from this article: 'In recent years, about 27,000 people have been granted entry to the race (through qualified entries, charity entries and sponsor’s exempt entries), but only 22,000 typically start the race. But several thousand are also turned away each year once the race reaches its capacity.'

So there is expected to be  a surge in marathon entries over the next several months as runners try to register a 2014 qualifying time before registration opens in early September.As per the analysis here Of the 17,580 finishers of Boston 2013 , according to MarathonGuide.com, 10,391 runners, or 59.1%, qualified for Boston 2014.  And a large number of these qualifiers would likely want to come back and run Boston 2014. Also BAA needs to decide how to handle the 4,496 runners who were unable to complete the race due to the blasts. With a time of 2 minutes 40 seconds under the qualifying time of 3:40 (achieved in SCMM 2013) my chances of getting through in the registration process in September 2013 now looks quite challenging. Unless BAA decides to expand the field of runners in 2014 - which they did before for the 100th anniversary run. I am hoping and praying that they do this. It will be very disappointing if I am unable to make it for Boston 2014. The Hyderabad marathon at the end of August is the only one I plan to run before September  and it is highly unlikely that I will be able to better my 3:37:20 on that course. Anxiously counting down the next four months...

Fund raising for Gita Krisnamurthy Vidyalaya Trust

After a hiatus of  two years I am back to raising funds for a cause during the 2013 running season. I will start the season with the TCS World 10K on May 19th 2013 and hope to end it with the Boston marathon on 21st April 2014  with the Hyderabad marathon, Mumbai marathon  and the Bangalore ultra marathon in between. I am raising funds  for  Gita Krishnamurthy Vidyalaya   a school for under-privileged children in Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu that I have been personally  involved with for over 3 years as a  trustee of Gita Krishnamurhty Trust.

The school is named after my aunt  a wonderful dedicated teacher who  passed away due to cancer in Dec 2002. Summary of the current status of the school:  

•  GKV  was started on June 05, 2009 with 145 students of  LKG, UKG and Class 1 as a sister school of Sri Jayendra Golden Jubilee School Sankarnagar and is being administered by Sri Jai Sankara trust 
• Class 4 has been added from June 2012, the fourth year of operation of the School and a new batch of 74 children -  35 Girls and 39 Boys inducted in LKG. The total strength is now 348 children
• 90% of the children are first generation school goers from impoverished and socially backward  families from the surrounding areas in Tirunelveli district
• 50% of the children are girls 
• The goal is to provide a rich curriculum focused on all round development of children.
• Propose to add Class 5 in the  Academic Year 2013/14 
• Currently the school operates out of a rented facility
• 2.9 acres of land has been acquired in order  to build  a  school with spacious class rooms, play areas with adequate  play equipment, Library, auditorium, activity rooms , Labs etc  in phases 
• We propose to construct  9000 sq.ft. of the school building  progressively  over the next year or so

We are seeking funds for  operating expenses as well as building construction.   A contribution of  Rs 2500/- (approx US $ 50) will support the annual cost of  books and uniform for a child  while Rs 5000/- (approx US $100)  will support the costs of educating a child for a year.  Contributions can be made  either in INR or US $. See here for more details including bank account details etc.  This video  gives a brief visual summary of the school and its current impact. The contributions are tax exempt in India.  All donors can choose to receive periodic updates on the progress of the school  and the status and utilization of funds raised. Any other support in terms of setting up the library,computer lab etc is also most welcome.  

Look forward to generous support from friends and family specially those who have supported my fundraising efforts in the past. Feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or need more information. 

Boston Marathon 2013

A little over a week after  the sport  of marathoning got jolted and perhaps got changed  for ever it is difficult to put the events of that Tuesday early morning (Indian time)  in perspective . Thankfully the next major marathon - the London marathon- went off well with over 36,000 runners completing the race. Both Boston and London are part of the marathon majors  - the other four being Chicago, Berlin, New York and Tokyo. These 6 marathons are the runners equivalent of the Grand slam in Tennis as far as professional runners are concerned. However, a key difference and unique element of running as a sport is that thousands of amateur runners participate in these races running on exactly the same route as the professional elite runners. These 6 marathon majors are on the aspiration list of almost every marathon runner and none more so than the Boston marathon. Besides being the world's oldest marathon (this year was the 117th edition of the event) it is the only race that has stringent qualifying times based on gender and age and runners  usually  need to train  hard for several years in order to qualify to run it - a few thousand running spaces are available for charity runners. 

Having had aspirations to qualify for and run Boston marathon since 2010 this is a race that I have been tracking closely the last few years. When the qualifying times got stricter in 2011 it meant I had to run a FM in sub 3:40 instead of sub 3:45 to qualify in the 55-60 years age group for the April 2014 race. After training rigorously  for over 18 months I managed to just sneak through the qualifying time in October 2012 and bettered it a bit at the Mumbai marathon in January 2013 where I clocked 3:37:20. Such is the competition for running places in Boston marathon that this still does not guarantee me a place in Boston marathon 2014 the registration for which will happen in September-October 2013. Nevertheless, being optimistic of getting into the 2014 event I followed this year's event very closely. I watched the race streamed live from  the Boston marathon website   for about 2 hrs 40 mins to visually soak in the route and the ambiance. I  turned  off my PC after both the men's and women' winners were interviewed and went to sleep happily visualising myself on the route next year. 

I was totally shocked on Tuesday morning when I learnt from some runner friends at Kanteerva stadium  about the blasts at Boston marathon and that the race had to be stopped before many runners could complete it. A few of the runners were surprised to see me there - they had thought that I was running Boston this year. I just could not focus on my interval training as my heart went out to runners who after training so hard to get there were unable to complete the race for reasons completely outside their control. In fact on marathon race day(or for that matter in a race of any distance) there are a number of things that can go wrong to prevent a runner from finishing or meeting his/her goal time and one has to be mentally and physically very strong to conquer these and complete the race. After my training run I rushed home to find out the details of the blasts - was touched to get several calls and messages(SMSs and FB messages) from friends  enquiring about my well-being. Everyone felt I was fortunate enough not to have qualified for this year's race! I was devastated to find out that there had been 2 bomb blasts at the finish line of the race killing at least 2 people and injuring scores of people many of whose lower limbs were blown away. I really cannot imagine the angst and horror experienced  by the runners and their friends and family members who had come to watch them finish the race.  Fortunately my friends and family who live in the area decided to give this year's event a miss at the last minute - the Boston marathon is considered a spring time party on a 3 day weekend and attracts thousands of families to participate along the entire route with a large majority of them congregating in the finishing area. The holiday weekend celebrations peak with celebrating the triumph of the human spirit demonstrated by thousands of runners of all ages, sizes and backgrounds. 

That Tuesday was one of the worst days of my life. I could hardly get any work done and spent most of the day reading and re-reading all the stories related to the blasts despite the photos and videos being gut wrenching.  An event like the  Boston marathon  serves to energise people   of  diverse ages, religious, social and economic backgrounds as they  celebrate the endurance of the human spirit during and at the end of the race. Usually there are tears of joys at the finish line as runners hug each other and their families and friends talking about their trials and tribulations of the race and how they missed, met or bettered their goal times. What a different scenario  it was in this edition of the Boston marathon for runners finishing post the 4 hr time.  Hundreds of runners had to run away from something terrible after spending hours running towards something good.Long distance running is considered a lonely sport as the runner often trains for hours alone and has to work hard on his own during the race.  However the camaraderie and bonding among runners is usually spontaneous and unique. Strangers often chat up during the race  and/or at the finish line and end up becoming good friends. For example I met one of my close friends on the course of the Bangalore midnight marathon in 2007 when we were the only two runners for a long stretch. So it was not at all surprising that minutes after completing the gruelling race several runners went back into the course to help injured spectators and runners and even donated blood. 

Injuries and loss of life  due to human violence and terror has become a part of our life specially in India and one has almost become inured to it. However, when it happened in a space so dear to me and around which my life currently revolves it had a deep impact on me. 
A week later with one suspect dead and the other in hospital, while there are a few conjectures, one still cannot understand the motive behind this shameful,insane event which has changed the world of marathoning for ever. By nature marathons are open events and  spectators encouraging runners are welcome  all along the 42.2Km course - so it would be impossible to completely secure the entire route. However I am sure there will be greater security measures in all global marathons just as transiting through airports changed post 9/11.Not sure how this dastardly act will  impact next year's race at Boston which I hope to run(I will be anxiously following the progress of registrations when they open around the 2nd week of September)   - yes I am now keener than ever to be part of the 118th edition of the event and run  along with thousands of other runners and  show the world that the spirit of running and human resilience is not least bit affected.   

And I am sure that is how the millions of runners around the world feel - we must carry on running be it in training or in races, be it every day or few days a week or even few days a month or whether it is a short run or a long run, run alone or run in a group. That is the only answer and healer to this.  Long distance runners push themselves to test their physical and mental limits, to raise money for various causes, to compete against themselves and sometimes against others. Now they must push themselves to also show that the senselessness of a few cannot beat the solidarity and communal achievement of the human spirit. 

This was well demonstrated at the London marathon last Sunday putting the spotlight on the beloved sport and away from terrorist fears.  The race started with a 30s period of silence to remember those impacted by Boston.From the start of the race till the finish in front of Buckingham Palace runners and spectators had Boston in their thoughts.  A banner saying 'Run if you can. Walk if you must. But finish for Boston' said it all for the runners and for Boston.  There were larger than usual crowds to watch the race - a great tribute to the strength of Boston and a celebration of the indomitable human spirit.

For my part I have done exactly one training run since 16th April - due to a minor injury in my left calf. I plan to resume my regular training routine this weekend and push harder than ever to achieve my goals for this season - doing my bit for those impacted by last week's event!

Injury woes

It is a well known fact that injuries are the bane of pretty much all runners - very few runners are fortunate enough to be completely injury free for years together. Personally I have been lucky to have avoided a major injury that has prevented me from running for extended periods of time. I have been nagged with stress/pain in my left glutes and left calf specially when trying to push my pace. These along with occasional numbness in the left sole plagued me in the 2011-12 running season so much so that I took nearly 2 months completely off from running or cycling at the end of that season.  As stated in my previous post I did not take any time off after the admittedly more grueling 2012-13 season in which I did two sub 3:40 full marathons. This seems to have impacted my fitness and may even have caused (what I hope is) a minor injury. For the first time since I started training using the 'Run Less, Run Faster' training program in early 2011 I had  4 consecutive below par runs - two short tempo runs,  6 x 800m intervals and a 16K long-tempo run  were all below target pace. Not only that I had to stop and slow down in the tempo runs due to pain in my left ankle/calf. So I decided to skip this weekend's long-tempo pace run and consult a physio therapist. It seems I might be suffering from mild Peroneal Tendonitis  though my stress is more in the lower calf than the ankle and there is no swelling anywhere. I have now decided to take 10 days off from running and cycling, focus on strengthening and stretching during this period and hope this helps recovery. This also means I  have had to further downgrade my goal for the TCS world 10K on 19th May. After starting with an aggressive target of 42:55 I would now be happy if I can beat my PB of 45:57 and would be thrilled if I manage a sub 45. Depending on how it goes when I resume training in a week I may even decide to take it easy and not worry about timing like I did last year. After some dilly-dallying I went ahead and registered for the event yesterday as this is one of the 3 races where I have a streak going  - the other two being SCMM and the Bangalore Ultra. 

Not being able to train to plan at the beginning of a running season is for sure  disappointing  for a runner ;in my case it impacts my frame of mind significantly and leaves me quite irritated and restless. Extra care also needs to be taken to avoid adding too much weight. While I am very tempted not to take more than a couple of days off from running, I dont want to jeopardise the training and performance in the 3 marathons that I am targeting in the season. 

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!!

A couple of (off-season) fun runs

Before starting formal training for the 1st event of 2013-14 running season I participated in a couple of fun runs in March : the last RFL FOTS run in Fraser town/Ulsoor lake area on 17th March  and the Pinkathon promotional event on 24rth  March. The nostalgia of having run the 1st RFL run way back in March 2005 attracted me to the last RFL run. The cupcakes to celebrate the 8th anniversary of RFL was an added attraction.  It was nice to run around Ulsoor lake - a loop that I have run 11 times in 2006 while training for a marathon. Each loop was 8Km - I did a bit more than a loop to complete a 10Km run. Several of the old timers were there (see photo below) - of course many more were missing! Running in Banglore and India has come a long way in the last 8 years with the running community and the number of running events growing every year. Discontinuing the fortnightly run had a mixed reaction from the Bangalore running community. The fortnightly RFL runs has helped many runners in Bangalore train for their first long distance event and also helped them get hooked onto running. Personally these runs helped me the most during my 12 in 12 marathons in 2008-09 - I did 6 of those 12 marathons in RFL fortnightly runs with wonderful support from RFL employees and volunteers for over 4 and a half hours in each of these runs!

There were a number of promotional runs for the Milind Soman promoted Pinkathon to be held in Bangalore on 7th April. I participated in one such run on 24rth March - the run from Forum mall Koramangla to Forum value mall in Whitefield via the Inner Ring road and old airport road. I joined the run on Inner Ring road and Ran till the Kundanahalli junction  doing about 15Km before returning home by bus. It was a slow fun run stopping every Km or so for water as well as to ensure all the runners caught up. I decided to skip the real fun part of breakfast and beer at Forum Value mall post the run.