Countdown to TCS World 10K Bangalore 2014...

TCS World 10K Bangalore  on 18th May,  the first event of the new running season just 4 weeks after my 2013-14 season ended with the Boston marathon on 21st April , means that unlike the last couple of years I don't get to take a break between seasons. Though I considered  giving the TCS World 10K a miss this year I decided to keep my streak going - having run the event since its first edition in 2008(then called Sunfeast World 10K).  I obviously have not trained specifically for the event and will probably continue to take it easy for a few weeks after the race (as I do not plan to run a full marathon till at least October). With a few easy runs and a couple of tempo runs in the last couple of weeks I feel in reasonable shape to aim for a sub 46 10K  and  try and  better my last year's time of 46:56. I certainly feel fitter than I was last year before the race despite the iffy left side(glutes/hamstring/sole).  And if the first half goes well then I may even gun for the PB of  45:57 achieved in 2011. A lot depends on the start I am able to get and the usual help from the Bangalore weather. With the number of runners participating in the event growing tremendously it is important to breakaway from the throng of slower runners and get into a rhythm within the first 2 Kms. Hopefully the holding area will be streamlined and the race starts staggered as was the case last year. My goal would be to get to the half way point in under 23 minutes.  The earlier start time of 6:20am(compared to 7:20am last year) should certainly help.

One other variable this year is going to be the shoe.  I plan to run in the much lighter Skechers Gorun2 which I was 'awarded'  for finishing 1st runner up in the 50Km at the 2013 Bangalore Ultra. . At 6.7oz , it is 4 ounces lighter than the 10.8 oz Brooks Defyance 5 that I have been using since September 2012.  And this mainly due to the lack of cushioning. The shoes feel comfortable in the training runs I have done so far; however on the couple of occasions that I have run a bit fast both my calves hurt post the run. So unless this changes I am unlikely to use this shoe for distances beyond the half marathon.

The bib collection process on 10th May was very smooth. The expo seemed bigger than he past years with large stalls from all the major shoe brands selling in India. Also, there were fewer non-fitness/non-running stalls. It was great to hang out and chat with fellow runners. 

Fantastic experience at the 118th Boston Marathon

Medley of items from the expo/marathon - the steel mug(engraved) is from my cousin and his wife

A few signs from around the city

A huge and awesome expo, general buzz in the city and media coverage about the race throughout the weekend, fantastic hospitality from my local hosts Shankar and Vidya, perfect weather conditions, 32000+ (mostly) fast runners, 1m+ wildly cheering spectators , numerous interesting placards along the way, the scream tunnel at Wellesley, comfortable first 25Kms, the tough battle of the hills in the last 17 Kms, the emotionally charged up crowds as we entered Boston and the joy of meeting family members a few minutes after crossing the finish line pretty much sums up my fantastic experience at the 118th Boston marathon on 21st April.  My finish time of 3:50:57 , though within a minute of my worst case target(race preview here) , was my slowest of the 3 FMs this season and well over 13 minutes  my PB.   I was extremely thrilled with achieving the goal that I have been focused on for nearly 3 years: BQ'ing first in October 2012 and again in January 2013, successfully making it to the entry list in September 2013 and then running  the venerable race itself last month. However, I would say,for me,  the journey itself was more satisfying and exhilarating than the end. While running in the oldest and  iconic marathon was a  great experience,  personally I would consider beating my qualifying time by 2 minutes 40 seconds in SCMM 2013 the pinnacle of my marathon running career(I doubt if I would ever be able to go below the 3:37:20 time - I hope to at least do a sub 3:40 one more time!). And the excitement and high on the night of 25th September 2013 on receiving the acceptance  e-mail from BAA was far more than crossing the finish line on 21st April 2014!!

At the family meeting point a few minutes after finishing

The five weeks leading up to the race was very hectic - with travel and personal and professional work. After leaving Bangalore on 31st March while I managed to put in most of training runs I got in just one cross training(cycling) workout in the last 3 weeks before the race and virtually no strengthening. The last two long runs - a 13 miler in Croydon, UK on 6th August and a 10 miler in Southbury, CT on 13th August did not go as per plan - one due to inclement weather and the other due to hilly terrain. As a result on race day I weighed about  60 Kgs/132 lbs -  4-5 Kgs more than my optimal race weight!

Wishing Luck to all runners on the wall at the expo

The  build up of nervousness and excitement started  from the Atlanta airport on 19th morning as I waited for my connecting flight after catching a red-eye flight from San Jose. There were numerous runners on the flight many wearing a T-shirt or jersey from a previous years' Boston marathon. I even spotted a runner with a T-shirt stating that she had taken the Boston to Big Sur challenge. My cousin Shankar(who received me at Boston airport) and I reached the expo by about 11am. The bib pickup process was very quick even though I had to get a duplicate runner passport (mine was snail mailed to India in early April despite my changing the mailing address to CT in the last week of March). The expo was huge - have never seen anything like this before - all brands of shoes, running apparel, nutrition products and  gadgets etc under one roof. Several talks/seminars and presence of celebrity runners such as  4 times winner Bill Rodgers, Dean Karnezes, Bart Yasso. Jeff Galloway etc meant that the John Haynes convention center was packed with visitors that Saturday morning. What little temptation I had soon melted away on seeing the huge queues to purchase Boston marathon branded merchandise. While BAA strongly recommended that all runners take their buses from Boston to the athletes village in Hopkinton my cousin and I felt it might be easier to get to Hopkinton on race morning and that would also give us an extra hour. So on Sunday, 20th morning we checked out the runners drop-off point, the athletes village and took some pictures of the start area  - a cop was on duty directing traffic to enable people to stand at the starting line and be photographed. It was a gloriously sunny day with morning temperature around 10C and race morning  was forecast to be similar.  The folks at the  information booth near the start area  , sponsored by TCS, were quite helpful - based on their inputs we decided that I would be dropped off at the runners drop-off parking lot in Hopkinton between 830 and 845 am on race day morning.

After some light stretching in the evening, laying out the gear for next morning and a fantastic pasta dinner at home(skipped the dinner organised by BAA in Boston) I  went to sleep at about 1030 with the goal of waking up at 630am - the plan was to leave home around 745am.  I felt quite good Sunday evening and based on the weather forecast of around 9C at 11am and 15/16C in Boston around 3 PM I decided not to carry my phone camera with me and try and race at least the first half. As usual I woke up a few minutes before the alarm went off. Had a couple of bananas and some nuts(almonds, pecans) and raisins and left home for Hopkinton around 750am.

 I had decided to run in a single layer half-sleeve shirt ; but wore two additional layers and a track paint to stay warm during the nearly 2 hours waiting period at the athletes village. When just a few minutes away from taking the exit off the highway to Hopkinton I realised that I had forgotten my Garmin at home and felt terrible.Being addicted to the Garmin   I am unable to do well in long runs without one whether I am racing hard or not. And hence became terribly nervous and tense. Fortunately my sister was at home and was able to meet us halfway with the unit.  Finally I was dropped off at the designated parking lot in Hopkinton around 920 am more than 30 minutes later than planned. Since the waiting time in the athletes village was going to be much shorter and it seemed quite warm I ditched my track pants and one layer of shirt in the car before getting off and joining the queue for the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the athletes village.  I regretted the decision as I felt a little cold in the legs due to the breeze while waiting in the queue. However, the queue moved quite fast and after a security check(hand-held scanner and frisking) got into a bus around 940am. Got off at the athletes village ten minutes later and headed straight for the portaloos which had long queues despite there being hundreds of them. The village was crowded with runners relaxing/stretching/eating/chatting.  By the time I came out of the loo at 1020am I heard the announcement for runners in Wave 3, corrals 1 to 3 to head towards the exit of the village and start walking to the race start point.  After discarding my full sleeves shirt(from NJ marathon of 2005) and  walking towards the start point I bumped into Vaishali and Bhaskar Desai. Vaishali handed me the bib with my name and India colours on it which I quickly pinned below my official bib. Runners were then gradually separated out by their corral no. - I was in mine by 1045am with about 15 minutes left for start of the race. One thing that hit me as I warmed up was the high proportion of women in my corral. Another runner from San Diago with whom I was chatting remarked the same.

The Wave 3 of the race started at 11am - I crossed the start line in about 55 seconds. Had to hold back     during the descent of 120 ft to complete the 1st mile  in 8:07. In fact the first 4 miles were flat or net downhill resulting in a much faster start than planned at  8:04,8:02 and 8:04 per mile. Though there were thousands of runners in each corral a few minutes after the race started there was enough room to run comfortably. In fact throughout the race I rarely felt cramped for race - unlike the experience I had at the only other  race with 30,000+ runners that I have run- London 2007 - where I was elbow to elbow with other runners for pretty much the entire 26 miles.By this time one had run from  Hopkinton to Ashland passing by a Lakshmi temple on the way. Miles 5 to 8  through the town of Framingham  saw the pace drop to the 8:15 to 8:30 range (in line with the original plan)  due to a couple of small rolling hills. Miles 8 through  11 I kept the same steady pace through Natick where I was pleasantly surprised by ex-colleague Chai Rao calling out my name and taking a beautiful action photo.

around mile 10 in Natick

And then we ran into the famous screaming tunnel of Wellesley which lived up to its reputation.

The Wellesley scream tunnel

I tried to take in as many of the diverse placards as possible. The one that stood out for me is "Kiss me - I am performance enhancing". Since I was doing a decent pace I did not regret not carrying a camera. Stopping for a picture here, albeit for less than a minute,  would have broken the momentum and perhaps slowed my finish time further. I reached the half way point in 1:49:11 at a decent  average pace of 8:20 keeping alive hopes of a sub 3:45 finish. However, the pace dropped rapidly in the hills between Miles 15 to 22 through Newton  as the iffy left leg started to act up. Though I had a gu gel each around the 15Km and 25Km I felt a bit hungry as well after 21 miles or so  probably due to having eaten over 3.5 hours before the start of the race. I did not need to stop or walk but found it difficult to pickup pace even in the downhill portions. After about a mile and half through Brookline I saw the famous Citgo sign while entering Boston. However, there was another short but steep climb along the overpass atop the MA Turnpike. And even the wildly screaming, emotionally charged up crowds- many urging runners to claim the finish line this year-  in the last 2 Kms leading up to the finish line did not help bring my pace to below 9 minute miles. The 5K splits below clearly depicts my fading  after 25 Kms and the desperate need to  be better prepared to run hills.

• 5K               25:18
• 10K             25:41
• 15K             25:54
• 20K             26:32
• 25K             26:43
• 30K             28:38
• 35K             30:34
• 40K             28:53
• 42.2K          13:16

The finish line camera shows me crossing the finish line at around 4:31 mark. While the timing was not great I thoroughly enjoyed the race. The weather was probably on the warmer side for most runners but it was perfect for me. I never felt hot throughout the race and did not sweat at all. I kept hydrating with water reasonably regularly - every 3 to 4 miles. There was an aid station with water and gatorade after every mile marker.  And of course the field had some really  strong runners. One of them running throughout with a small video camera strapped to his forehead stands out in my memory. 31,931 out of the 32,456 runners who started the race completed it!  I finished 15,552 overall, 10074 out of 17,575 men and 813 out of 1778 in my age group.  Despite being over 13 minutes slower than my qualifying time I finished nearly 4000 places ahead of my initial seeding of 19,428 (my bib no.).  

Each of the 8 towns had thousands of  amazing spectators on both sides of the road cheering loudly. The crowd support in this marathon is supposed to be like none other and it  lived up to the reputation with an estimated 1m spectators lined up along the race this year.   The spectators displayed various signs and placards many of which kept me amused during the run. There were all the  usual signs and many unique ones as well. Some that stood out are: 'Beer and cigarettes available here', 'I do marathons..on Netflix', 'slowdown runners - I am trying to count you all', 'WTF - where is the finish line'. 42 of the best ones are summarised here. 

After being draped in the thermal cape and the medal I grabbed a couple of cups of gatorade and headed over to the family meeting area thrilled to have crossed one off my bucked list!!

 

Bib# 19428, Wave 3, Corral 2..all set for The (Boston) marathon experience

Arriving at Connecticut, US with just about 2 weeks( and 5 easy training runs)  to go for the 118th edition of the Boston Marathon marks the beginning of  the end  of the journey that started nearly 3 years ago. Qualifying and running in Boston was an aspiration ever since I did my first sub 4 hour marathon  at the Sun Trust National Marathon in March 2009. However, I pretty much gave up the on this goal  after the Feb 2011 announcement tightening the qualifying standards by 5 minutes from 2012 onwards as I now needed 3:40 instead of 3:45 to qualify in the 55-59 years age group.  But then the PB sub 46 minute finish  at TCS open 10K in June 2011 and the interaction with coach and author Bill Pierce at a customised  FIRST running retreat in Greenville, SC in July 2011 gave me confidence that with focus and structured training I might be able to get there. Subsequently my main goal for 2012 was to qualify for Boston 2014 and I trained and picked my events accordingly.  I squeaked to a BQ by 3 seconds  at MHRM in Ocotber 2012 and managed to beat my BQ by 2 mins 40 seconds at SCMM 2013. In September 2013 this enabled me to get an entry into the 2014 edition of the  race - after a tense waiting period of  over 2 weeks after the registration opened. And now over 6 months later I am maha excited to be on the verge of running my 41st FM (including 7 ultras)  in the world's oldest and most hallowed marathon event and achieving one of my long term running goals!!

 Whether to give it all and race at Boston or simply soak in the experience and the ambiance and enjoy the 'once in a life time' event is now the dilemma that I am brooding over. Reflecting on my future running goals , while this may not be the ONLY time I run Boston  I don't expect to run it many times . I may do it  a couple of more times if I manage to qualify -   Boston and Big Sur marathon in the same year(2016?) and then maybe once in my 60s(2019?).  The 2013-14 running season has not been a great one for me -  a tear in the right calf muscle just before the TCS 10K in May resulted in a below par start to the season.  Post that race I took some time off and trained 10 weeks for the Airtel Hyderabad marathon. However, the race on 25th August did not go too well and I finished in 3:46:20 -  a good 10 minutes + slower than my target time. While I did well at the 7th Bangalore ultra I started suffering from severe pain in left glutes and calf and numbness in my left sole during my long runs while training for SCMM 2014.  As a result I missed my PB by  9 minutes in the race in January.  And the training for Boston 2014 which started a couple of weeks after Mumbai(11 weeks training instead o 16 weeks) has been a mixed bag. Due to the stress with the left  glutes, hamstrings and calf and numbness in the left front sole ( now pretty much diagnosed as piriformis syndrome  - more details in a future post)  - the training runs have been inconsistent - falling short of  the timing goal for at least one of the 3 workouts( intervals, tempo, long run)  in most weeks. Though some specific stretches 
(Neural flossing) and strengthening exercises (which I restarted at Manipal hospital from February) helped me feel better after the workout the pain/stress still appears  during a moderately hard run and the glutes continue to hurt when sitting for quite some time after a workout. I have been hesitant to push myself in the training runs  and risk further aggravating the injury.  Also more than normal amount of travel in February and March has impacted my training. The second half of March was specially disruptive with travel to Tirunelveli, Chennai and Pune in a space of 10 days. Less intense training and frequent eating out coupled with a glass or two of wine (I normally avoid alcoholic drinks completely in the last 6 weeks leading up to a race )has resulted in  my weight  increasing by 3 Kgs+ (from optimal race weight of 55 to about 58). Therefore not being in the best of shape means it is easier to decide not to push hard and race at Boston and instead enjoy the spectator support and the historic course.  I will most likely carry my phone to take pictures along the way - something I do only in events that I am NOT racing in. 

The only time I have run a large marathon before I did not have a great timing though I had a fantastic experience. The London marathon in April 2007 was my slowest ever(4:47:56). Even if I were in a better shape and completely injury free this race looks to be quite challenging due to several other factors.  Being in Wave 3/Corral 2 my race start time is 11am. To get to the athletes village in Hopkinton near the start area between 9 and 930 am  I will need to take a bus from Boston between 8 and 830am. This means I will need to leave Bedford (where I will be staying) around 7am.  So not sure what I should eat and when. Some food and beverages is likely to be available at the Athletes village. I typically eat bananas and some nuts 1 to 2 hours before the race start soon after waking up. In this case I would be up at least 5 hours before the start of my race which will be a new factor to contend with. Also, the comfort level during the 1 hour +  wait at the athletes village will depend very much on the weather - I am of course rooting for dry and warm ( or not too cold) conditions. Due to the unfortunate incident in Boston 2013 understandably security has been tightened up for this year's race. So there will be no baggage check-in allowed at the start point in Hopkinton. One has to check in gear in the transparent bag provided for the purpose (in the expo at the time of bib pick-up) before boarding the bus in Boston. This means depending on the weather one may need to discard some additional layers before starting the race. And crazy runners in this country are actually shopping specifically for things to wear and discard on race morning. 

BAA has been sending frequent mailers to participants for the last few weeks explaining the security policy, getting to the start area, the waves/corrals etc. All of this information is summarised here. The weather on race day will be another crucial factor for my performance. Detailed analysis of past race day weather can be found at Boston Marathon Weather History and Impact on Results and Boston Marathon Weather: Not as Crazy as You Think.  Personally, cold weather does not work well for me and I prefer temperatures around 15C . Depending on the weather one will need to decide what combination of half-sleeve and/or full-sleeve shirt to wear. As of now the weather forecast for 21st April is  sunny with high of 11 C and low of 8 C which, though not too bad,  is on the colder side  for me. If this forecast stays then I will  need to run in full sleeves and also wear gloves. 

The race itself is likely to be quite fast paced as most of the 36000+ runners have come through the BQ route(others coming through charity or running clubs).  The corral cut-off times for this year's race depicted below  shows how the race has become progressively faster over the years( With my qualifying time I would have been in wave 2/corral 8 in 2013  instead of the wave 3/corral 2). I am pretty much in the middle of the pack with over 19000 runners ahead of me and some 17000 or so behind me.

The race route passing through 8 towns and cities(Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, Boston) is not an easy one. The first 15 miles are mostly flat/rolling hills after a steep drop in the 1st mile. From mile 15 onwards one is going to be climbing and dropping for the next 9 miles. None of these hills ,up or down, seems to be a killer on its own. However, the cumulative effect can be quite devastating if one is not careful. I am for sure not a strong hill runner. The hill in Newton after mile 16 is considered by many to be the toughest one.Mile 19 has another tough hill and then the famous Heartbreak hill at mile 20. Miles 21,22 and 23 have several downhill stretches some of them quite steep that could batter the quads. Though I have been training for a  MP of 8:17/mile(for a sub 3:38 finish) I am unsure of my race strategy as of now. Given the tough last 10 miles I am looking at a conservative start to hit mile 15 in about 2:08 at an average pace of 8:30 per mile and then try and keep an average pace of 9 per mile for the remaining 11 miles to finish under 3:50. I am hoping this will be my worst case time and if the first half goes well and if I hit the half way point in around 1:48 and feel energetic then I will probably skip taking pictures(even with the Wellesley girls - something strongly recommended by a dear fellow BHUKMP runner ) and push for  a sub 3:45 finish. I am not going to finalise this till race day morning based on the weather and how I feel at the athletes village.

Finally, would  like to conclude this post with kudos to the runners who have done over 25 consecutive Boston marathons;  Every race, specially the large ones, have a number of runners on a streak - but 25+ consecutive Boston marathons needs really special mental and physical endurance!!

9th FM at Mumbai done and dusted...

After 8 consecutive years of timing improvement in the FM at SCMM the trend changed this year -not unexpectedly as I was not strong enough either physically or mentally being  under prepared due to  injuries in the last 7 weeks leading up to the race.I completed my 9th FM in Mumbai( and 40th FM+ finish overall)   in 3:46:23,  nine minutes slower then my PB in 2013. Though this was my 2nd best time at Mumbai and 4rth best overall ( being pretty much same as the time in AHM 2013) I felt a little disappointed in not being able to do a sub 3:40 and sad that the upward trend in timing improvement had ended.  With age catching up and so many variables in training for a race and on race day it had to happen sooner or later. I am hoping it is a blip this year and can reverse it again in 2015 - of course that will not be easy at all.

The race itself was well organised as usual with traffic control, clear Km markers, good spectator support and well stocked aid stations(though runners who finished after 5.5 hours had a different experience). Over the years the event has grown in stature and size. The numbers in the picture above show that it is by far the largest race in India. And an amazing growth in the number of FM registrations going up from 2500+ in 2013 to 3500+!! The growing running community in India looks forward to this race and it fills up quickly. The organizers have already announced the registration dates for the 2015 edition!!

As has been my practice I reached Mumbai on Friday 17th January night. However, unlike the past 10 years when I stayed with a relative in Govandi near Chembur station, this year I stayed with a nephew in his PG accommodation at Nariman point. After eating a Domino's pizza I went to bed around 1130PM on 17th and woke up around 7am on Saturday. I collected my bib(and that of my brother Chandru running is 1st HM in Mumbai) from WTC by 1130am. The expo was buzzing with the high energy of outstation runners(Mumbai based runners collect their bibs the previous weekend). I hung around for over an hour chatting with them before heading for lunch at Samrat near Churchgate station. The north Indian food was nice as ever though a bit heavy on the stomach. I relaxed in the room from about 4PM - laying out the gear for the morning , reading a bit and doing some light stretching. After a pasta dinner at Moshe's - about a km walk from where I was staying - I lay down to sleep by 10PM setting an alarm for 4am.

I had a decent sleep and woke up just before the alarm rang. After eating 2 large bananas and some pecans and almonds I left the room at 4:55am. The holding area in azad maidan was less then 2 Kms away. However, I did not get a taxi for several minutes. And when I did get one I realised that due to traffic barricades along the route of the race the taxi could not get close to Azad maidan. So I had to walk briskly (gobbling my 3rd banana on the way)  for about a Km reaching Azad maidan around 5:25am - 10-15 minutes later than I usually get there when taking the train from Chembur. By the time I checked in my bag, used the port-a-loo and headed towards the start point it was past 5:35. The area was crowded with runners and by the time I rushed through sections D,C and B the section A(for runners faster than 4 hrs) runner had started the race. So I started a minute late. That was not really an issue - I picked up pace soon and ran the first 4Kms in under 5 mins/Km pace going past several familiar runners(Pankaj, Shantanu, Vishy, Sridhar et al) . Focusing on my pacing strategy I completed  10K  in about 51 minutes. I ran the race pretty much alone not chit-chatting with fellow runners and not interacting with volunteers at all. The half way mark was reached in similar time as last year(see comparative splits below) - 1:48 at an average pace of about 5:08/Km. This was in spite of strong headwinds in the sealink stretch. I managed to sustain this pace till about Km 25 despite the growing discomfort in the left glutes, calf and sole. At this point the numbness in the front half of the left foot became quite severe and the foot started feel heavier and heavier. It became difficult to move the left foot quickly enough. My mind seemed to have also given up quite easily and I just could not dig deep and push myself. The pace dropped quite a bit. Having given up on sub 3:40 time I knew that even a  sub 3:45 was going to be challenging and reconciled myself to a sub 3:50.  In fact for the 1st time ever in Mumbai I walked for a minute or so around Km 36. However, soon after the Peddar road flyover  a  sudden spike in inner strength enabled me to push hard  through the last 4 Kms, weaving past slower runners/walkers  and finish comfortably in  sub 3:50 time . 

Mumbai Marathon 2014 - Marathon 5:40 Start
Bib Number	2905
Name	BHASKER SHARMA
Gender	MALE
Category	SENIOR VETERAN
Overall Rank	149 (80)
Category Rank	4 (17 - in veteran category)
Gender Rank	143 (77)
Split@10.5 Km	00:53:15
Split@15 Km	01:16:10  (01:15:32)
Split@20.1 Km	01:42:02 (20Km/1:41:48)
Split@21.1 Km	01:47:14
Split@27 Km	02:18:14  (2:16:03)
Split@29.2 Km	02:30:38 (29.5Km/2:28:37)
Split@30.3 Km	02:36:44
Split@31.5 Km	02:43:49
Net Time	03:46:23  (3:37:20)
Gross Time	03:47:20 (3:39:07)

After hanging around with my brother Chandru and other runners for some time inside Azad maidan  I slowly walked back to my nephew's place  Nariman Point. Though my run was below par  I indulged in  a post run beer+lunch with runner friends at Leopold before heading to the airport. 

The numbness in the left forefoot disappeared a few minutes after the race. The slight  soreness in the calf and shin lasted for a day. The glutes was strained for several days after the race. Hopefully with renewed strengthening exercises over the next couple of months the issue will be addressed soon - And the 3rd and biggest race of the season in 11 weeks from now at Boston will  be better compared to the previous two in Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Counting down to the annual pilgrimage..

The week leading up to the 3rd Sunday of January has been a tense and nervous one for several years - as it ends with the premier road marathon in India - Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. I have been making the annual pilgrimage to Mumbai since the first edition in 2004. After running the HM there in 2004 and 2005, it has been the full monty since 2006 making 2014 the 9th consecutive year. Despite  familiarity with the course as well as  the ambiance and organisation of the race the week leading up to the race has never been an easy one (not only for me but for other family members as well). This year should have been different as the key goal of qualifying for Boston marathon  was accomplished in SCMM 2013 and I am fortunate enough to have successfully registered to run in Boston in April 2014. However, it is no different -. there is a (self-imposed) mental pressure to do well in this event. And try and continue the following sequence of year-on-year improvement. 

1. 2006                   4:42:28
2. 2007                   4:37:16
3. 2008                   4:31:09
4. 2009                   4:13:16
5. 2010                   4:00:56
6. 2011                   3:52:46
7. 2012                   3:48:57
8. 2013                   3:37:20

Of course, I am well aware, that age will catch up sooner than later , the FM time will plateau and improving upon the 2013 timing will be challenging. Nevertheless, I started training for SCMM 2014 on 1st October 2013 with a target time of 3:35. Training went very well till 30th November including a good race at Bangalore ultra 2013 with a PB for a 50K inspite of a fall around 29K mark. I then got hit with injury woes in the 1st week of December and the training has been erratic ever since. Due to the strained left glutes/hamstring/calf I have not done any interval run since 4rth December. Have also missed or struggled through the long runs. The saving grace , hopefully, is that I have managed most of the tempo runs and the cycling cross training workouts. I am feeling reasonably positive after the 3 runs ( two tempo runs, a 16K run at MP) plus 2  cross training work outs  done this week  - the last time I had five satisfactory workouts in a week was 6 weeks ago. This has been possible thanks to the stretching advice from doc Gladson of AttitudePrime and soft tissue massage by sports physio Anitha Mathews. Things have been complicated by quite a bit of personal(rail) travel and eating out since mid November. Thankfully the weight has stayed in the  54-56 Kgs range since January 2013. My body fat% (as per the test at Snap fitness, Indiranager) has changed from 12% in Jan 2013 to 10.2% in Jan 2014 (it had dipped to 9.7% in August 2013 ). 

Based on the recent injury woes, my coach Bill Pierce of FIRST has advised me to skip SCMM, take some time off from running and then focus on training for Boston marathon. Several other runner friends also feel that I should not risk running fast at SCMM and jeopardise the chance of doing well at Boston. However,  personally for me it is more important to do well in Mumbai than in Boston. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to run Boston and will certainly try and do well there. However, since it is once in a life time thing I would rather enjoy and soak in the atmosphere and the crowds instead of going all out and focusing on a stringent time goal. Besides the course is new and the weather unpredictable - it could be either too hot or too cold on race day. The race itself starts at 10am. The last time I did a big race (London 2006) - it started at 9am and it was one of my slowest finishes. Mumbai on the other hand is familiar territory with more predictable and palatable weather and I have improved my timing each of the last 8 years I have done a full marathon there - I am keen on continuing that trend as long as possible.

My race strategy is going to be the same as last year's : 21.1K in about 1:46, 30K by 2:30, 35K in under 3 hours and then push as hard as possible in the last 7K based on physical and mental state. Of course, it all depends on how the left glutes and calf hold up. If I feel very stressed during the race and sense a risk of not making it to the start line in Boston in good shape then I plan to take it easy and not worry about the timing. I will be thrilled if I can go below last year's time of 3:37:20. A sub 3:40 would still be great. In the worst case I will take anything around 4 hours. Finally a lot depends on all the different variables falling into place and the motivation to dig deep physically and mentally on race day. Here's wishing all runner friends a fantastic enjoyable race on 19th Jan!!

Seeking support for GKV Trust

The  two most important events of my 2013-14 running season are the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2014 on 19th  January 2014 and Boston marathon on 21st April 2014. SCMM is the marquee marathon event in India which I have enjoyed running every year since 2004. The Boston marathon is an aspiration for every marathon runner and I have been fortunate enough to be able to qualify and register for the 2014 edition. However, a key reason why these two marathons are critical to me is that I am running them this year to  raise funds for the children of  Gita Krishnamurthy Vidyalaya  - a school in Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu that provides English medium education to children of socially and economically backward families in the region with no cost to them. The school, which is administered jointly by Sri Jai Sankara Educational Trust and GKV Trust, was started in June 2009 and currently has 420 children from classes LKG to 5. 52% of the children are girls and over 75% of children come from families having income of less than Rs 40,000 per year. The goal is to add one class every year till class 10. 

The school is named after Mrs. Gita Kirshnamurthy - a dedicated teacher (who has taught at Mothers International School,Delhi,Cathedral School,Mumbai and La Martiniere, Calcutta) who passed away due to cancer in 2002.

The school currently operates from two rented buildings. Construction of a 11,000 sft permanent school building with all amenities comparable to any mainstream school has commenced in October 2013 and is planned to be completed by June 2014. So far the school is supported by endowments and donations from family and close friends. We are now seeking support from all well wishers to help us with the operating expenses and building construction expenses. My target is to raise Rs 3 Lakhs by April 2014. I am personally involved with GKV school as a trustee since 2010 and have seen first hand the tremendous progress that the school has enabled for numerous first generation school goers. The energy and enthusiasm of the children to learn is quite amazing. Being a zero overhead trust I guarantee that 100% of the contribution will be used towards the school expenses. Update of activities in the school is available here. 

Contributions in support of the school and the children can be made to GKV trust either via check or online bank transfer. Contributions in INR  are eligible for tax benefit under section 80G of the IT act. Donation of any amount is welcome and will help us tremendously. Details of amounts towards specific operating and building expenses as well as bank account details are available here.  As I train hard for the two races to meet my timing goals I  look forward to generous support from friends and family to help me achieve my fund raising target as well!!  

2013 year end musings

The 32Km/2:48 run on 29th December being the last long run of the year  it is time for the annual year end musings. Like  last year, in 2013 also I limited myself to  a few select events : 2FMs, 1HM, a 50K and a 10K race. Update on these races against the 2013 goals set in Dec 2012 : 

1. Sub 3:38 at SCMM  in January  - 3:37:20 

2. Sub 1:43 HM at Auroville in February - met the goal but official time is 1:44 as I ended up running about 900m extra towards the end

3. Sub 45 10K at TCS world 10K in May - 46:56  - both calves injured before the race and tear in the right calf during the race

3. Register for Boston 2014- of course this is not completely under my control - got confirmation of registration on September 25th 

4. 50K/75K/100K at Bangalore Ultra - ran 50K in PB time of 4:52:22

5. In addition I ran the Airtel Hyderabad marathon in 3:46:20 - my PB for that event 

Overall I ran about 2000Kms (mostly outdoors) and cycled 2100Kms(all in the gym) The year started very well with a PB at SCMM 2013 which eventually enabled me to beat the cut-off for Boston 2014 by over a minute. This was definitely the year's highlight. The injury to the calves before TCS 10K and the strain in the left glutes/hamstring/calf disrupting  the training for SCMM 2014 have been the bummers of the year! Otherwise it has been a satisfactory year.  I would personally consider 2013 as the year of inflection in the history of running in India. The number of running events has mushroomed all over the country and during the 4Q of 2013 runners were spoilt  for choice with a race almost every weekend and sometimes multiple races in the same weekend. I plan to stay with limited races in 2014 as well. I might consider doing the 75K at Bangalore Ultra if I decide to run Comrades in May 2015. After participating for 5 straight years I will skip the Auroville marathon in 2014. I might consider running one or two fast HMs. Of course, the key events for the year are SCMM on 19th January and Boston marathon on 21st April. 

2014 Goals:

1. Sub 3:37 at SCMM - this one may get changed to a sub 4 based on how the left glutes/hamstring/calf behaves in the next 3 weeks

2. Sub 3:40 at Boston 2014

3. Sub 45m 10K in TCS world 10K 

4. Sub 3:45 at Hyderabad marathon in August

5. 75K at the Bangalore Ultra

And above all to try and avoid major down time due to injuries  and continue enjoying the running. Here's wishing all friends a fantastic, healthy, injury free year!!!!

Injury impact on marathon (SCMM 2014 )training

This is not an uncommon occurrence with regular runners training for an event. All the workouts are going well, one is feeling quite confident of achieving the race goal and then suddenly the whole flow is disrupted due to an injury. Few things can be more frustrating for a runner. The workouts of week 8/16 had gone very well including a 32Km/2:48 long run. However, I had a severe strain in my left glutes and left calf during the week 7/16 intervals (3 x (2 x 1200m) in Kanteerva stadium. And for the first time since May 2013 I did not complete my planned workout and decided to abort  the training   after pushing through the 5th interval. Since then the training has been irregular punctuated by interactions with Dr. Gladson of Attitudeprime.  Of course I am down  both physically and mentally . SCMM is one of the most important events in my running calendar - not least because I have been running it every year since it started in 2004. It is well organised event with fantastic spectator support and I have been lucky enough to improve my FM timing every year. The PB of 3:37:20 in last year's edition got me a place in Boston 2014. The way my training was going  I was looking forward to matching or slightly bettering last year's time (3:35). Now the last few weeks I was not even sure whether I would make it to the starting line. 

I am not able to figure out the cause for this injury. It could be a combination of one or more of the following:

• Muscle fatigue due to doing a tempo run and a fast long run(21K/1:45) within a week of the fastish 50Km at the Bangalore Ultra
• Lack of flexibility due to inadequate and/or incorrect stretching post the workout
• Lack of strength - it has been 8 months since I stopped the strengthening sessions at Manipal hospital(though I am doing  leg curls, leg press and calf press in my apartment complex gym apart from squats and lunges)
• Change of shoes  - I switched to a new Brooks Defyance5 after the ultra - the previous one having put in nearly 1500Kms
• Fatigue due to back to back workouts without adequate rest for recovery - due to travel schedule I ran a 12K tempo run on 1st Dec afternoon within 36 hours of running a fairly fast 32Km on 30th morning

Following is the summary of my workouts the past 3 weeks:

Week 7 of 16

Dec 1  - 12Km/60 mins  tempo run

Dec 3  - 26.5Kms/50 mins cycling

Dec 4 - 5 x 1200m intervals

No long run

Week 6 of 16

Dec 9  - 9Km Tempo run

Dec 10 - 23.38K/45 mins cycling

Dec 12 - 23.4K/45 mins cycling

Dec 15 - 21.2K/1:50 long run (goal was to do 32Km but had to stop due to pain in glutes,hamstring and numbness in sole - all on the left side)

No intervals

Week 5 of 16

Dec 16 23.56Km/45 mins cycling

Dec 19 5k/30 mins easy run

Dec 22 16Km Tempo run

No long run

No intervals

Based on discussions with Dr. Gladson I have decided not to do any more interval training. Though the glutes are better now the left side l does not feel normal and I dont want to take any chances. For the remaining 3 weeks I am going to stay with a tempo run, an easy run and a long run and 1 or 2 cycling workouts. The 32Km long run this weekend , probably on 29th Dec, will be the most crucial run to determine my readiness for Mumbai. I will determine my strategy for the race based on how that goes. In any case I am keen on not missing Mumbai - in the worst case I will not race and will run to finish around 4 hours or so - keeping fingers crossed!

50K PB at the 7th Bangalore Ultra

A fastish first half ,a fall between km 29 and km 30, a PB time of 4:52:22, a 2nd place finish in the senior category (and fifth overall) sums up my 7th consecutive 50Km+ finish at the Bangalore Ultra on 9th November 2013. Though I felt that I could perhaps have managed a  sub 4:45 finish if I had not  lost time due to the fall around 29Km ,overall I was very satisfied with the outcome and the experience. In a way it was probably a blessing in disguise that the fall forced me to slow down as I was running at a faster pace than I had planned to. Having done my regular interval and tempo workouts as per my 'Run Less,Run Faster' based FIRST training program pushing harder on a 50Km run could potentially have increased the risk of injury and fatigue and disrupted the rest of my training for SCMM 2014. The good thing was the bruises due to the fall were minor and my recovery was quite fast. Most of the soreness was gone within 36 hours after the run and I was even able to climb up and down staircases quite comfortably. It usually takes me 3 days before I am able to do that. As a precaution I skipped the scheduled  interval training workout of the week following the race. However, I was able to do a 10K tempo run and 21K long run at the targeted paces fairly easily. 

Waking up at 3:35 after about 4.5 hours of sleep I had 2 small bananas and some walnuts and salted pecans before leaving home at 4:20 am.  As in 2012 I left Domlur around 4:35 am  - with Shilpi Sahu and Shilpa Deo riding in my car(I ended up waking up Naveen who was also supposed to come with us and had overslept. He nevertheless made it to the race start on time !). We waited at the ORR/Hennur road junction for a fellow runner Rajesh Swaminathan's car to join us. Following the well laid out RFL banner directions from the point of right turn from Hennur road we reached the start point at Kingston county just after 530am. After warming up, checking in a bag and using the port-a-loo I was at the starting line by 545am. As usual met up and chatted with a number of familiar runners from around the country while warming up - it was quite a nippy morning.  Post the  customary announcements regarding the race, route, aid stations etc by A1 and A2 the 50K run was flagged off ,on the dot, at 6am, by Rev. Samuel Reddy - a 11 times finisher of the gruelling Comrades marathon.

I started  at about 5:20/Km pace and was joined by Pani around the 2nd Km. We ran the 1st half of the race pretty much together. As a result  I ran faster than planned - completing the 1st 25Km in about 2:12 at an average pace of 5:17/Km versus a goal of 2:20 or so. I had the (Powerbar) energy bar in two installments : at about 18Km and then 27Km. After picking up some water at the aid station at Km 27 I was chatting about my race strategy while running along with a fellow runner bicycling the trail when I tripped on a stone and fell down quite hard. In the process  I scraped both my knees and  my left palm(lesson: never take your eyes of the route specially on a trail where stones, roots and generally uneven terrain is part of the course).Getting up after a couple of minutes I slowly continued my run with blood streaming down both my knees. At the next aid station I washed my knees and hands and with the help of Jaggi sprayed relispray in all the bruised areas. Though I felt much better after a few minutes I decided not to push myself and continued at between 5:30 and 6:45/Km pace. I stopped at every aid station to have water,enerzol and some salted peanuts. I also took a couple of short walk breaks in the 2nd lap. I sensed that I would comfortably better my Ultra 2012 timing of 5:07:31 and if I remained steady do a sub 5. I managed that easily with 6:01 and 5:49 in Kms 49 and 50 finishing 2nd in the senior category behind Pani!

Though it became quite warm towards the end of the 2nd loop it was not very hot. In fact my hands and finger tips were cold till the end of the 1st lap. Another unusual thing about this run was I stopped for a loo break 3 times - in the past it has been once for sure and sometimes twice in the ultra. 

A number of friends did their best times and/or longest distances - though the number of true ultra runners is still much smaller than the non-ultra distance runners in this event the Bangalore Ultra has certainly helped a number of runners achieve distances much beyond their imagination a few years ago!!

I left Kingston county at about 12 after lunch and got back home by 1PM.

The video of the event shot by Runners for Life is available here.

PS. This race report is very late - I started it about 2 weeks ago but could not complete it due to travel over consecutive weekends.