Marathon (SCMM) timings over the years

My first full marathon in January 2003 took 4:32:55. My 25th official FM  at SCMM 2013 was completed in 3:37:20. I have also done 6 ultra marathons and 6 'unofficial' FMs at RFL runs in 2008-09 as part of my 12 marathons in 12 months. All my runs are listed here. I have  had the good fortune of bettering my performance at Mumbai every year since 2006 and this progression  at Mumbai is generally in line with my improving fitness and endurance levels.

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

I did my first sub 4 hour marathon at the Suntrust Richmond  marathon in March 2009. In 2010 I missed sub 4  at the SCMM and Hartford marathon by a whisker. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 I ran a lot of marathons. In 2010 I did a 75Km at the Bangalore Ultra. During these years my focus was quantity rather than timing.  I clocked my slowest marathon time of 4:47:56 at the London marathon in April 2007. From 2011 onwards the focus shifted to  improving my marathon pace after I read 'Run Less,Run Faster'.  I have done 6 Full marathons since January 2011 most of them using the training program from this book - each has  been Sub 4 and better than the previous except for Auroville 2011. I had pretty much given up the thought of qualifying for Boston after the changes in the qualifying timings were announced in 2011. However, at the FIRST running retreat in July 2011 coach Bill Pierce surmised that with serious training I had a great chance to go below the 3:40 timing required to qualify. And  with the help of the focused and rigorous FIRST training program and the luck of all going as per plan on race day I have been able to achieve this at Mohawk Hudson River Marathon in October 2012 and the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in January 2013. I don't see myself ever looking at another training program as this one has worked great for me.  I do not intend to push myself to improve my FM timing any further. My goal is to try and stay around 3:40 for the next couple of years - at least till I run Boston. After that I plan to focus on longer distances rather than marathon finish times!

SCMM 2013 : Mission Accomplished!!

I was elated to cross the finish line of the FM at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon  for the 8th time on 20th Jan 2013 in 3:37:20 at an average pace of  5:09 per Km - pretty much at the mid-point of my target time of between 3:35:51(5:07 per Km) and 3:38:40 (5:11 per Km).  This is over two and half minutes faster than my previous best at the Mohawk Hudson River marathon in October 2012 and over 11 minutes faster than my time in SCMM 2012. Beating the qualification time for my age category by 2 minutes and forty seconds should hopefully seal my entry for the April 2014 edition of Boston marathon . Will know for sure only in September when the registrations happen - either way I am very satisfied with my timing and I don't think I am going to push any further to try and  better this. At least that is how I feel right now.

My pre-race schedule and routine was pretty much the same for the 10th consecutive year.  As this has worked for me and has enabled me to improve my timing every year I am reluctant to change it - though the temptation was there to enjoy the experience of SCMM with other Bangalore runners who typically stay at a hotel near the start point.  I reached Mumbai on Friday night and stayed with my relative in Govandi. On Saturday morning after collecting the bib at WTC I had a  lunch buffet of pasta,pizza, chocolate fudge cakes at Flamboyante  with my brother-in-law before returning home to rest from 4PM onwards. I skipped the interaction with Haile Gebrselassie organised by Procam as it was too early and I wanted to try and get some sleep Friday night. Saturday night as usual I went to bed around 10PM after a rava upma dinner. Woke up a little after 3am , took an auto to Chembur station at 345am and caught the 4:15am train to VT. Had the company of  fellow Bangalore runner Amit Joshi on the train ride. In addition to the 3 bananas at home I had some almonds and salted pecans on the train. Reached VT station at 4:55am , used the toilet there, changed into my shoes and then headed towards Azad maidan.  After eating my fourth banana of the morning and  checking in my bag after a short warm up I emptied my bladder again and  headed towards the holding area. During this period met a lot of runner friends both from Bangalore and Mumbai. The energy and buzz at the station as well as the Azad maidan is very much part of  the marvelous annual Mumbai marathon experience. For some strange reason the gate at the holding area did not open on time resulting in the waiting runners getting restless. When they did open a bit after  5:41am the runners headed briskly to the start-line expecting to pause there for a short time prior to the race start. In all this melee the start zones of A, B and C made no sense.  In any case the race had already started and the runners just continued running past the start line. As per my Garmin I crossed the start line a little after 5:43am. 

I  started running  alone focused on my pace - actually trying not to go too fast. Even then I ended up doing the 1st three Kms at under 5 mins per Km pace. I steadied myself at between 5 and 5:10 per Km for the new few Kms reaching 10Km in under 51 minutes. Around this time Pankaj Rai breezed past me. The weather was quite pleasant though it did not seem as cool as it was when in the holding area. Heading towards the sealink saw a few familiar runners among the half marathoners heading in the other direction. Surprisingly I went past Pankaj on the sealink stretch. Also crossed Sanjay Agarwal - another Bangalore runner . Towards the end of this stretch Udaya went past me - he was targeting a faster finish than me and was catching up on  time lost to a loo break. I reached the half way point pretty much as per plan in about 1:46:48 at an average pace of  under 5:04 feeling quite strong. I consumed my 2nd Gu gel around the 26Km point (had the first one just before entering the sea link around 14.5Km).

This time around there was no mixing up of the FM runners with the half marathoners.  I continued to stay focused on my pace interacting very little with fellow runners or with volunteers or with the crowd. In fact when runners called out to me I acknowledged them with a nod of the head or wave of the hand rather than by calling back.  I held at below or around my target pace till Km 29(29.5Km in 2:28:37 at 5:03 per Km pace)  and then the pace started to drop gradually to under 5:10 per Km. Around the 30Km mark I felt comfortable that I was on target for finishing around 3:38 and thought for a few seconds about pushing harder for a finish around 3:36. However, I decided against taking a chance of burning out and fading due to over trying.The 36th Km on the Peddar road flyover was my slowest at 5:40. However going down the flyover gave me some momentum that enabled me to do the last  few Kms in 5:04,5:15,5:17,5:24,5:22 and 5:23. The last 2 Kms was tough as usual - egged on by the cheering crowds  and helped by the separation of FM runners in a different lane I managed to avoid slowing down too much and went over the finish line as the race clock was crossing 3:39. 

Though sore all over, my glutes and calves held up quite well. However, I felt quite  weak and giddy after the finish  and so did not hang around for too long at the finish line with other runner friends who had finished before me. Felt much better after  fellow runner Navin Thangiah got some juice and glucose biscuits for me inside Azad maidan.  As I had an afternoon flight back to Bangalore  I headed back home soon after happy and satisfied.  The pleasant Mumbai weather(I did not feel hot or humid even on the marine drive stretch on the return), the discipline and rigour of  the FIRST  'Run Less,Run Faster' training regimen  and of course support and best wishes from family and friends enabled me to achieve my goal. My weight was about 55.5 Kgs the night before the race and right after the race it measured 54 Kgs. Of course within a couple of days after the race I was back to 56 Kgs or 123 Lbs. 

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2013 - Marathon 5:40 Start            Back
Bib Number	218
Name	BHASKER SHARMA
Gender	MALE
Category	VETERAN
Overall Rank	79
Category Rank	17
Gender Rank	76
Split@3 Km	00:14:05 at an Avg Speed of 12.78 Kmph
Split@15 Km	01:15:32 at an Avg Speed of 11.92 Kmph
Split@20 Km	01:41:48 at an Avg Speed of 11.79 Kmph
Split@27 Km	02:16:03 at an Avg Speed of 11.91 Kmph
Split@28 Km	02:22:11 at an Avg Speed of 11.82 Kmph
Split@29.5 Km	02:28:37 at an Avg Speed of 11.91 Kmph
Net Time	03:37:20 at an Avg Speed of 11.65 Kmph
Gross Time

Average performance of the race
16 12 8 4 @3 @15 @20 @27 @28 @29.5 @21K  Speed   12.78     11.92     11.79     11.91     11.82     11.91     11.65

Overall Runners Statistics
1,000 750 500 250 3 3 - 4 4 - 5 5 - 6 >6 Total  Runners   6     216     858     928     108     2,116

Overall MALE Runners Statistics
1,000 750 500 250 <3 td=""> 3 - 4 4 - 5 5 - 6 >6 Total  Runners   6     207     791     857     99     1,960

Overall VETERAN Runners Statistics
200 150 100 50 <3 td=""> 3 - 4 4 - 5 5 - 6 >6 Total  Runners   1     44     168     187     20     420

Less than a week to the 10th SCMM

The next 6 days leading up to my eighth Full marathon at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon  on 20th January(10th run at SCMM including the Half-Marathons in 2004 and 2005)  is going to be quite tense  - as is usual before a critical race where one has a time target. All the training is done and now during the taper period one needs to be careful both physically and mentally. The reduced quantity and intensity of cardio exercise coupled with similar intake of food could result in some increase in weight. And the mind starts taking over with 'phantom' aches and pains. SCMM is the largest road running event in India with over a 1000 full marathon participants and a very large number of half marathon and dream IT runners. It is also reasonably well organised. (Unfortunately it has never been perfect when taking into account the handling of FM runners in the finish area - usually there has been a deficiency in one aspect or another). I was pretty much in the same state last year also. From a 4:42:28 finish in my first FM in SCMM 2006 to the 3:48:57 in 2011 I have been successful in improving my timing in every SCMM and have also achieved a  PB at Mumbai the last two years. This year I would be very happy to hit as close to 3:38 as possible. I certainly would like to beat the 3:39:57 that I achieved at MHRM in October 2012 and would be extremely thrilled if I achieve close to 3:36. This is the third Full Marathon that I have trained using the 'Run Less,Run Faster' program from FIRST. I started the training on 20th November from week 8 of the 16 weeks training program. Initially I started with a target of  3:38:03 at average of 5:11 per Km and then switched to a target of 3:35:51 at an average pace of 5:07 per Km when I found that I was doing all my 3 weekly workouts quite comfortably. The training runs have all gone off well despite some amount of personal travel - I ran in Hyderabad, Sankarnagar and Hampi in December. I feel confident of achieving 3:38 - however a lot depends on everything going well on race day.

I am as yet unsure about the race strategy to adapt this year. That is, whether to aim for almost even splits    or try and do a fast first half  and sustain a good pace till 35Km. This is the usual dilemma before every race with a time target.  Given the way my pace my pace drops  in the last few Kms in Mumbai due to the weather/Peddar road flyover/strolling HM runners , I am most likely considering at a pace of  under 5:05 per Km for the first half to get to the mid-way point between 1:45:30 and 1:47. And sustain the pace to reach 35Km between 2:58 and 3 hours. Then depending on how one is feeling push as hard as possible for the last 7.2Km.   At MHRM in October 2012 I reached the half-way point in 1:48:27  and 35Km in about 3:01 . However the last 7.2 Kms took over 38 minutes.   So as always the last 7 to 10 Kms will be the key. I certainly feel fitter compared to October.  Of course, despite all the hard training of last several weeks a lot depends on the next few days and the race day itself. One needs to get to the starting line y adequately rested both mentally and physically. This means very little running and cycling the next six days(I will do one easy 9K on Tuesday  and another easy 7K on  Thursday this week with 30 minutes light cycling on Monday and Wednesday and nothing after Thursday) and reasonable amount of sleep every day with no undue tensions at work.  On the race day itself there is a major dependency on the weather being favourable. One is hoping it will be at least as good as it was last year. The race start is again at  5:40am  - the weather forecast as of now says it will be 21 Celsius at 6am going up to 25 by 10am! Finally to have a near perfect race one is praying there would be no issues with the stomach on race day , no occurrence  of  cramps or aches in the left glutes/calves or the shoelaces don't come off(as every second will matter!). I may even avoid taking a leak during the race. I will carry a couple of Gu gels with me - one for about 15Km and the other for the 25Km mark. In races where I have a stringent time target I avoid talking much to runners and try and stay focused on my pace - of course at  Mumbai there will be  many familiar runner friends several of them targeting similar pace which will help.  Any time faster than my PB of 3:39:57 would be my first priority - not hitting that would be a disappointment. Will know in less than a week from now!!

The route looks the same as that of last year. Here's wishing all friends running SCMM 2013 a peaceful week and  a  fantastic race!!

First Marathon finish..flashing back 10+ years..

Crossing  the finish line of a Full marathon for the first time on 12th January 2003 at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in the Chennai marathon  was a tremendous relief specially after the DNF in the first attempt at Pune on 8th December 2002.  It was also highly satisfying to achieve the goal of running a marathon before turning 45  - a goal I had set myself in October 2001. At that time I was running about 30 to 60 minutes per run, 4-5 days a week for fitness. Being under extreme duress to meet professional goals as head of a venture funded telecom software when I heard about marathon running I decided to gradually increase the duration of my runs and try and at least achieve a personal goal;The longer runs  helped me tremendously in managing stress. Not being part of any running group or knowing any other runner in Bangalore  nor being too aware of training programs my progression was very slow.  I did my first 60 minutes run on August 28th 2001, 2 hours run on 17th Dec 2001, crossed 2 hours 40 minutes on 16th March 2002, hit 30Km+ in 3 hrs 20 mins on 4rth May and touched 35Km on 3rd August 2002 in 3 hrs 52 mins. All the  runs including long ones were done in CV Raman Nagar in loops of about 2.5Km - measured using a car. In January 2002 I bought my first book on marathon running namely Jeff Galloway's ' Marathon You can do it!' . While Galloway's run/walk technique did not suit me the book provided a lot of useful information about marathon training and running in general. I was now keen to run a marathon in 4Q of 2002 and started searching for a suitable event. Unable to find a suitable event I enrolled for the Singapore marathon on 8th December 2002 ; however when I later learnt about the  the Pune marathon on the same date I decided to give that a shot rather than spending on travel and hotel for my first marathon attempt. To gain confidence in my ability I ran 40 Kms(16 loops of 2.5Km) in 4 hours 13 minutes on 27th October 2002.  The last long run before the Chennai marathon was a 3hrs 21 mins /30Km on 1st January 2003. Since then I have been able to maintain the tradition of running on the 1st of every year. 

After my pathetic experience of Pune marathon I was constantly in touch with the organisers of the Chennai marathon and re-iterated to them that as a slow, amateur runner I would need support for about 5 hours. They assured me of support and encouraged me to run the event. I reached Chennai on 10th Jan morning by Chennai mail. After registering for the marathon by filling a form I checked out the route by auto and walking around.. The next day on 11th Jan I went to Nehru stadium for a medical checkup and also met Mr. A. Subramanium of Rotary International and also chairman of the marathon. I slept early after a dinner of maggie noodles at my parent's place in Thirvanamiyur. 

I reached Anna statue on Marina beach - the start point of the race at  6:15am. The race started at about 7am. The Full marathon was only for men - the women were running the half marathon. As per this article there seem to have been about 470 participants including those for the 5Km. We ran through Adyar, Madhya Kailash junction and onto OMR road. On the return we went via Mylapore, Parrys and finished at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The weather was not too bad - certainly much better than it was in Pune in December 2002. After about 3 hours or so there was no traffic control and locating volunteers to stay on the route was a challenge. The flyover on the 39th Km was a real killer. I had to weave through a lot of chaotic traffic in front of central station towards the end when it also became warm. While the regular water stations had disappeared one of the volunteers supported me for the last 3Kms riding with a water bottle on a bike. I finally entered the stadium and crossed the finish line in 4 hours 32 mins 55 secs as per my stop watch. I felt quite elated and at the same time a bit dizzy and nauseated.  The organisers had pretty much stopped looking for finishers and there was no one to record my time nor was I given a finishers medal. I was told that I was the 29th finisher. Anyway I felt great - timing , rank and lack of a finishers medal was of no significance- achieving the goal of completing  the 42.2Km was very satisfying. I will always cherish this first FM finish and the tagline of this event Passion,Perseverance,Persistence embodies the history of my long distance running ever since. 

Chennai marathon 2003 bib

Participation certificate

Being ignorant of rest and recovery I continued running 4-5 times a week immediately following the marathon and succumbed to a knee injury. I visited several Orthos and went through extended physio-therapy in the 2nd half  of 2003. This was the longest break from running since January 2002 and it was challenging to get back into regular training.  A chance viewing of the advertisement for the 1st edition of the Mumbai marathon while watching Indo-Australia cricket on TV in January 2004 changed that. I registered for the HM, did one training run of about 15Kms and ran the HM in Mumbai in 2hrs 19mins 40 secs. Since then my running has been regular though my next event was the HM again at SCMM in January 2005 - this time taking 2hrs 11 mins 32 secs. My second FM was the New Jersey marathon 17th April 2005 in 4:48:46. Since then I have been running marathons regularly. I have managed to run a few marathons in the US around business trips and also do a couple of family vacations around marathons. A list of all 36 marathons/ultramarathons run to date is available here. Six  of these marathons are 'unofficial' done in RFL long runs as part of my 12 marathons in 12 months in 2008-2009. I got my first Garmin (Forerunner 305) in July 2007 and have been hooked to it ever since and am currently using a 2nd unit of the same since July 2010.. Before that I was running with a regular stopwatch.  In the last 10 years running has taken off in a big way with over 1000 runners completing marathons/ultra-marathons across tens of events in the country. 

My weight was 150 pounds(68Kgs) in Janaury 2002 going down to about 140 lbs at the time of the marathon in January 2003. After picking up regular running from 2004 onwards my weight stabilised around 132 Lbs from 2007. In 4Q 2012 post the marathon in Albany in October the weight  is now steady at about 125lbs(56.5Kgs). That is a change in weight of about 25 Lbs or 11Kgs in 11 years. 

March 2003 after 1st first FM

October 2012 after 35th FM+ finish

2012 Year end musings

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

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

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

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

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

Goals for 2013: 

1. Sub 3:38 at SCMM  in January

2. Sub 1:43 HM at Auroville in February

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

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

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

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

On Running Shoes

Running is a fairly simple sport with very little gear needed. However, as one gets serious about the sport  in terms of distance and/or timing the right shoe becomes a very crucial element. Or at least this used to be the case till a few years ago when running barefoot or with minimalist shoes took off soon after the publication of Christopher Mcdougall's 'Born to run..' in 2009. I used Adidas running shoes since I took to long distance running in 2011. Being a fairly neutral runner(that is neither a pronator nor a supinator) I picked a neutral , cushioned shoe namely Adidas Supernova cushion. And I stayed with this shoe for 10 years working through    a new pair every year.  In 2008 I did try a Asic Gel Kayano 13 - but this did not work for me and I switched back to my  seventh pair of  Supernova.  Supernova cushion then got replaced with Supernova Glide 3 which in turn got superceded by Supernova Glide 4 in 2012. In June I started my training for MHRM on October 7th 2012 with my new pair of Adidas Supernova Glide 4.  Though in the previous years I have felt very comfortable with the Adidas Supernova cushion/Glide shoes and have run all my marathons/ultra marathons in them, this new pair was not as comfortable. During the longer runs I was feeling a very distinct discomfort in my  right outer ankle.Later, on researching I realised this was a known issue with this shoe.After confirming with a gait analysis at a JackRabbit store in Manhattan that for my running form  I need a neutral cushioned shoe I switched to a Brooks Defyance 5, another neutral shoe, more than half way through my training in late August. And now I have become a fan of this shoe. Not just because I had a good MHRM and met my goal - the shoe feels very comfortable for me. My older Supernova which is a supernova Glide 3 and  quite worn out does not have this issue of irritating my ankle. In fact I ran the 2012 Bangalore Ultra with this shoe. It is kind of frustrating that shoe manufacturers release new models of the same shoe almost every year and while doing so tweak the show. This means one can never be sure that a model that worked before will still be comfortable after the tweak. Anyhow for now I plan to stay with the Brooks Defyance 5. I am pretty much a one shoe guy using the same shoe for training as well as racing. Many runners use a lighter shoe for racing called racing flats. These are flatter with very little or no cushioning and hence weigh less - 4 to 9 ounces as compared to 8 to 12 ounces for a cushioned shoe. My Defyance 5 weights 10.8 Oz while a racing shoe such as Asics Piranha weighs 4.3 Oz. The very light racing flats such as the Asics Piranha are meant for shorter distance races say a 5K or a 10K - though runners have started using them for HM and FM races as well. Since these shoes have no cushioning , in order to avoid injury, the racing flats are not used during training long runs. To get used to them they could be used in speed or interval training runs. I may consider using a racing flat in 2013 - need to research options(there don't seem to be many in India) and try them out.

Interest in running barefoot or with minimalist shoes has definitely picked up worldwide. In India also a lot of runners have now taken to running barefoot or with Vibrams or minimalist shoes. A few of my running friends recently completed  50Kms at the 2012 Bangalore ultra barefoot and using minimalist shoes.  While running in minimalist shoes or Vibrams is generally considered beneficial and reduces chances of injury one needs to make careful transition, over a period of time, from using cushioned shoes to non cushioned ones. As one's running form has got used to cushioned shoes and transitioning out of it involves some changes in running form.  There  is a lot of information on this topic on the net- this is one of the hottest topic of discussion in running and fitness forums. A lot of information is available on the Vibrams website as well as at this Runners world link and this NY times blogpost. 

I am personally not tempted to switch to minimalist shoes or barefoot running - as cushioned shoes seems to be working for me so far- why change something if it is not broken -unless one is going barefoot investment in shoes whether cushioned or minimalist or Vibrams is anyway similar. 

Skipped the 2012 Bangalore Midnight marathon

After having participated in every edition of the Bangalore Midnight marathon since 2007 I decided to miss this year's event that was held on 15th/16th December.  In the 1st edition held in May 2007 I did the full marathon. The 2008 edition was held in January 2009 - just a week before SCMM  -due to the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008. So I did a 5K in this edition. In the 2009 and 2010  editions of the event I ran a fast HM as training  for SCMM. Last year in December 2011 I ran a 32K training run as part of the event.  However, I did an excellent 32Km run  on 15th (sat) morning rather than doing it at the midnight marathon thereby breaking my streak of participating in this event. Many of my friends who ran yesterday night had excellent runs partly helped by the cold weather. 

Start of training for SCMM 2013

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

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

6th Bangalore Ultra : 50K/5:07:31..a great trail, great company..a PB

That pretty much sums up my 50Km run at the 6th Bangalore Ultra on 10th November.  And this was as per my plan. The first half took 2:19:19 at a little over 5:30 per Km. The second half was much slower taking 2:48 at 6:29 per Km.   Enjoyed the new  wider, flatter trail at Hennur road and certainly the 25Km loop was helpful though it meant seeing other runners less frequently. Complete results are available here.I finished 4rth in the senior category and 11th overall. While in 2011 with a timing of 5:24:11 I finished 3rd overall. Shows the quality of the runners in this year's ultra and also the improvement that runners are making over years. 

Ravi Venkatesam and I left Domlur at 430am and reached the venue around 5:20am. After the turn into Hennur road from the ORR there were RFL signs and soon after we were part of a convoy of cars heading to the Ultra. It felt a few degrees cooler as we got off the car and walked to the holding area.  the holding area was well spread out and was buzzing with runners checking in their bags, stretching, catching up with fellow runners. I met Tanvir Kazmi of runinfinity fame targeting a 24 hour run. And several friends from Bangalore : Sunil, Jugy, Vasu, Venky etc.

After brief words from A1 and A2 the race started exactly at 6am. There must have been about 150 runners for the 50Km category. Hari Menon and I decided to run together as he was also targeting a finish between 4:45 and 5 hours.  After the first Km of broken road from the holding area the rest of the route was mud trail mainly through bamboo and eucalyptus forests.  It was great running with Hari and learning more about his running and cycling experiences. I was surprised to learn that he had never run beyond 31Km. However, he had a very strong HM at KTM this year. After about 6Kms into the trail we started to see runners from the longer distances who had started an hour earlier returning back. Between the 10Km and 12 Km mark(BTW - there were no Km markers on the trail which was disappointing and not expected of RFL) my shoe laces came off twice. At this time Hari Menon took off and I could not keep up with him. I decided to run at my own pace - did 12.5Km in 1:08:39. Soon after the turn around point Vasu and Pankaj Rai caught up with me and from then on for quite sometime the three of us ran together.  They are fantastic company and we talked about various topics. After the 35K mark Vasu slowed down while Pankaj pulled a little ahead of me. At the 37.5K turnaround I spent a couple of minutes helping Praveen with the sumo wrestler stretch to help assuage the stress in his groin muscles. Towards the end I caught up with Pankaj and we sprinted the last 200m and crossed the finished line together. Of course, Pankaj finished the race 7 minutes faster than I did as he had started his race late. 

Hari finished his first Ultra(including a first FM distance run) in an incredible 4:23:28 and was awarded second position in the men;s open category. As a result I was awarded the 2nd runner up in the senior category though I actually finished 4rth! Many runners did incredible timings in the 50Km  including Madhu from Egypt who ran her first ultra in 4:35:44. Also many runners including Ravi venkatesam did their 1st ever ultra.

The food was much much better compared to previous ultras as well as KTMs. We left from the venue around 1:45 and reached home a little after 3PM after another wonderful race experience!!

Less than 48 hours to the 6th Bangalore Ultra

With under 2 days to go for the 6th edition of the Bangalore Ultra  the buzz is building up among the running community not just in Bangalore but across the country. The Bangalore Ultra is India's 1st and largest Ultra marathon. The event has grown in leaps and bounds since the first edition in 2007 with not only more number of participants each year but also newer categories as well as other innovations from Runners For Life. After 5 years of the race being at Hesarghatta , this year the venue has moved to the bamboo forest off Hennur road which is something for all the ultra runners to look forward. to. There have been a couple of RFL runs at the Hennur road forest route including one in April 2009 when I did the 9th of my 12 marathons in 12 months. The new route for the ultra seems to be flatter and less uneven apart from being a 25Km loop (12.5Km out and 12.5Km back) instead of 12.5Km loop. From a logistics and organisation perspective it will be challenging for Runners For Life - as there will be no support of a resort. Port-a-potties, changing rooms, large holding area, food, waste management etc will need to be taken care of. With the experience of over 5 years in organising high quality running events behind them I expect RFL to do well and meet the runners expectations. 24 hours run and splitting the event between 2 days are the other changes that have been brought in this year.

Since my last marathon - Mohawhk Hudson River marathon on 7th October - I have been in a dilemma as to whether or not to participate in the ultra this year. Had I met my timing goal of 3:38 the decision would have been easy. However, since I am now targeting this time for the SCMM in January 2013 the advice from my coach Bill Pierce as well as running coach Dharam is to skip the ultra and focus on training for the Mumbai marathon. While my head also says I should focus on training for the Mumbai marathon and not run the 50K I decided to go with my heart. Having been involved as a core team member for the 1st edition of the event and having run 50Km or more every year since then I am keen on continuing the streak as long as I possibly can. I am verye xcited about the new route off  Hennur road and am glad that I decided to register for the race. Hopefully this will not have an adverse impact on my training for SCMM and more importantly on the race itself. Well one will have to hope for the best.

Though I am in a shape to run the 50Km in about 4:45 or so  this year, I am going to try and take it easy and not push myself in order to conserve energies for the next race. My best time for 50Km  was 5:22:24 in 2009. I should be able to beat this time comfortably. By what margin depends on how the race goes. My strategy  will be to do the 1st loop of 25Km in  about  2:18 at an average of 5:30 per Km and try and do the second half in 2:30 at an average of 6 minutes per Km to try and finish around 5 hours. A lot will also depend on the weather on race day - if it rains then this new route is going to be very slushy slowing me down. Very warm weather will also take a toll on the pace in the 2nd half. My main goal with the Bangalore Ultra  is not the target time but as always to enjoy the route, race ambiance and the tremendous comradarie of fellow runners doing 50Km or more -  I understand that nearly 50 runners are doing either 75Kms or 100Kms or the 24 hours category!!