Goals for 2020-21 season

Plagued by injuries the last few years, the long term running goals have been sliding out further and further into the future. The last several years I have been starting the season with a break from long distance running and focus on strengthening and rehabilitation. This year also the plan is similar - to consult a physio to address the long festering issues of stress in the quads, numbness in the left sole and inflammation in the right ankle(bothering me since November 2019). The goal was to just maintain base fitness with slow runs not exceeding 21Km and no interval or tempo runs and a weekly mileage of 35-40Km.  Started sessions with with Aashish Kusswaha of IMSMTC in Nagarbhavi from 29th Feb. Unfortunately, post that there has been further setback with increased inflammation of the right ankle as well a catch in the lower back resulting in complete rest from all execrcise for some time.

Hoping that I recover from the injuries by April end or so,  following is a very tentative plan for this running season. 

2nd August 2020  - Airtel Hyderabad marathon

9th August 2020  - Bangalore 10K challenge

October 2020 - HM at Bangalore marathon or Airtel Delhi half marathon

17th Januar 2021 - Tata Mumbai marathon

February 2021  - IDBI Delhi marathon

3 FMs for the year is probably way too ambitious given how the past few years have been. The 10th edition of Hyderabad marathon is tempting as I have very fond memories of it and it has been a while. I am targeting to  race hard and try and BQ at the IDBI Delhi marathon in Feb 2021.  Have slotted the Airtel Delhi Half in October yet again to get familiar with the course. If I decide (again) not to travel all the way to Delhi  then the HM  at the Bangalore marathon is an alternate option.

Apart from injury free running another important factor is to  zoom in on a new pair of running shoes as the new Brooks Ghost 10 seems too heavy and does not seem to be working for me. And last but not least, all going well,  will work towards reduction of the extra weight of 2.5/3 Kgs to get closer to optimal performance weight of 55Kgs by June end.  

The Mumbai streak continues....

The annual visit to Mumbai to run the marathon on the 3rd Sunday of Jan was a good change from the hectic activities related to the wedding that was the focus of all energies since Dec 2019. The race itself was nothing to write home about. After the ankle injury in early November ,which further jeopardised my faltering training,I had reconciled myself to running TMM without any timing goal and just completing it in reasonable shape. With a per km pace mostly between 6:15 and 6:30 I completed my 15th consecutive FM in Mumbai in 4:33 - running the last 4 Kms quite strong. In hindsight, could have pushed a bit betwen 15 and 25Km  for a sub 4:30 finish.  However, glad to have made it to the start line despite injuries and happy to have finished in a reasonable shape.

As in 2019, again I drove to the airport on 18th Jan morning picking up Chandru and Pankaj enroute.  

As usual bumped into several runners at Bangalore airport as well as on the flight. After collecting the bib and taking photos with a few runners at the very crowded expo a bunch of us headed to Rajwada Thal for a Rajasthani thali lunch. (My 2nd consecutive year of lunching here).

After meeting a friend and her husband at Smokehouse Deli near by I reached Hotel Fortune around 7PM.  Met with another bunch of runners over (vegan pizza) dinner at Bezos in Colaba.

Slept from about 10PM to 3:30am Though the room was a bit small the hotel overall was better than New Bengal where we stayed in 2019. Bunch of us left the hotel for Azad maidan at about 4:35am.

This year I did not carry a bag with me for check-in at the baggage counter - probably for the first time ever in Mumbai. Usually I wear a windsheeter or full sleeve shirt which I keep in the check-in bag along with my phone and sandals to change into after the race.  I decided to run with the phone - again a first ever for Mumbai. After quick pictures with D and Monappa and Nitin(outside the TCS tent) I headed to the start line via the holding area around 5:10am.

With no specific race strategy in mind (except to get to half way point in about 2:10 or so) I started at a slow pace with the intention of running with Pankaj and Prateek. Ended up staying just ahead of them till about the sea link after which they slowed down further. So we never met on the course.  Ran with  Chandra Kumar for sometime betwen Km 8 and 14 till I decided to stop at a Sulabh to take a leak. Had Rishi and Amrita for company for a bit on the sea link. Post that I pretty much ran alone.

The first half at 2:18 was about 10 minutes slower than planned . This meant I had more energy for the second half which was 3 minutes faster. Felt reasonably comfortable while going over the Peddar road flyover and the return stretch on Marine drive despite the increasing temperature. Overall the weather was quite ok with moderate temperature and below par humidity level.

Happy to have completed  the racewithout stretching myself too much. The post race refereshment was quite pathetic. After a quick shower at the hotel and lunch at Pancharatna near by headed to the airport early.

It was close to 10PM by the time I got home after dropping Pankaj at UB city - fortunate enough to have made a successful trip for the seventeeth year in a row!!

Forgettable year of injuries and missed goals

With consistent training post a decent50K(+10K) run at the Malanad ultra in Oct 2018 I was hoping to end the 18-19 season and start the 2019 calendar year with a BQ at TMM 2019.  It was very disappointing to miss it by about 3 minutes despite being on target in the first half of the race. That set the trend for the 19-20 season and 2019 calendar year. 

Event                                          Goal                 Actual

TMM 2019                                   3:48                  3:50:47

Bengaluru 10K Challenge            0:48                   49:45

Mysuru celebration HM               1:48                  1:50:46

Spice Coast Marathon                   3:47                  DNS

The niggle with the left quads and left sole has been bothersome throughout the year. At times the right quads also hurt specially while running up gradients.  However, it was not bad enough for me to stop training. However, the peroneal tendonitis in the right ankle changed that forcing me to take a break of 3 weeks+ from running and cycling. As it is I was struggling with my endurance runs for TMM 2020 though the intervals went well and tempo runs were mostly ok.  So, yet again, like the year 2018, I plan to run TMM , which is just over 3 weeks away, with no real time target . It would be an achievement to complete in sub 4; Sub 4:30 will still be satisfying. Depending on how the left sole, the quads and the right ankle I may be happy just crossing the finish line for the 15th year in a row!! Will need to focus once again on strengthening and rehabilitation post TMM and only then plan for the 2020-21 season. 

  

Run, walk or crawl at TMM 2020?

TMM 2020, my annual must do FM ,is just about 7 weeks away and I have been off running or any form of excercise since abandoning my last run on 10th November. This is turning out to be the worst ever running season causing severe angst and  depression to even a seasoned runner who has been constantly in and out of injuries for the last decade. Have been pretty much taking rest from excercise after deciding to not run the Spice Coast Marathon in Cochin on 1st Dec - the third DNS of my career. While the ankle is much better it does not seem to be have healed fully as it is still hurting  around the bone on and off. Prolonged the break from 2 to 3 weeks and now in a dilemma whether to prolong one more week or try out a short easy run in the next day or two. Either way I will, at best, have time to do no more than two 25Km+ runs so maybe better to give it one more rest. Will probably take a call early in the coming week.  I am now mentally reconciled to the fact that, barring a miracle, this will likely be my slowest ever FM at Mumbai. Whether I should set any timing goal will depend on  how it goes once I resume running. Nevertheless,  I am determined to run, walk or crawl to complete the race within the stipulated 6.5 hrs time to keep my streak at Mumbai alive and also to complete at least one FM event for the 2019-20 season. 

Forced break..another washed out season

After struggling to a below par 3:14/33K in the most critical training run, on 3rd November, for Spice Coast Marathon I was anyway on the verge of backing out from the event. I did not see a point in incurring travel and stay costs to either run a 4h+ FM or run just a HM. However, postponed the decision till after the next two long runs , that is, 25K on 10th November and 32K on 17th November.

When I stopped after just 3K of the 25K run due to niggle in the left quads, pain in the right ankle and super negative thoughts in the mind it was game over for the Cochin event. The mind started looking for reasons to justify the struggles with long runs including the switch to vegan diet.   The last straw was when Dr. Basavaraj, an ortho at BGS hospital, whom I consulted due to increased pain, tenderness and swelling in the right ankle, diagnosed it as peroneal tendonitis and advised rest from any physical activity of the lower limbs for 3-4 weeks! In a way it was a blessing in disguise as my long training runs were among the worst ever and I would have probably struggled to do a sub 4 hr marathon even on a flat surface. This would have further hurt my confidence in my ability to do a sub 3:47 ever again.  However, now targeting a time goal for even the Mumbai marathon on 19th January 2020 looks futile. As I will be left with just 5 weeks of training assuming I can restart running from 1st Dec. This means the 2019-20 is another washed out season - the 4rth one in last 5 years.

Well such is a runners life : injuries popping up at the most unexpected of times and derailing plans for the season. Given how the last few seasons have gone  I need to seriously introspect as to whether I should:

A) give up on timing goals for FMs and just run for completion and maybe switch to slow ultras(albeit flat, road runs)  OR g

B)  stop running marathons/ultra marathons and stay with easy runs of shorter distances

While I very well know B) is sufficient from a health and fitness perspective andis probably the logical thing to do it is unlikely the heart will allow me to stop making attempts at FM timing goals for a few more years!!

A make or break month - November 2019

In my long distance running career,  that started sometime in 2001, I hit peak form between June 2011 to August 2013 achieving PBs in 10K, HM and FM distances and qualifying for the Boston marathon. Since then it has been a steady downhill with perennial niggles in the left glutes and left sole hitting the nadir in 2017.  While I continued to enjoy my running  and be fit and healthy for my age , it was a disappointing realisation that the days of setting time targets and achieving them were over.  With minimal running and focused strength training  from mid 2017 to mid 2018 (including a personal strength trainer for the first time ever) it looked like the niggles had been overcome and I had a decent run at the challenging course of The Malnad Ultra in Oct 2018. Then I narrowly missed my goal at TMM 2019 in spite of training well for it. And it has been back to square one or actualy square minus one since then.  The niggle in the left glutes has been replaced by one in the left quads/IT Band with the numbness in the sole showing up on almost all longish runs specially on gradients.Unable to put the right finger on the issue to get it fixed has been very frustrating and demotivating.

Nevertheless, I decided to make another attempt at sub 3:48 FM (and  BQ ) at , the flat as a pancake, course of  Spice Coast marathon  in Cochin on 1st December 2019 . The ten weeks training post the Mysore celebration half on 22nd September has not been going well. There has not yet been a single week when all 3 training runs(interval, tempo and long run) have gone as per target pace. The intervals have been by and large fine(except the one this week which I ran the day after a 13K at MP).  The tempo runs are going ok. The strange thing is the mental and physical struggle in completing the long runs when in the past I have usually completed 32K or even 36K training runs well within the target time.  This is playing on my mind to such an extent that, for the first time in 18 years of distance running, I am no longer enjoying the long runs. In fact I am starting to dread them and the thought of sticking to shorter distances and giving up on racing has crossed my mind more than once.  This does not seem to be just due to the stress in the quads and left sole which increases even with a few meters of elevation. The increasing dogs, dust and traffic on my usual running routes as well as higher than optimal weight and slightly worn out shoes are probably playing their role. Also the frequency of the strain in my right hip/abdoemen has increased- it occurred this week for the 3rd time in the past year or so.

With just about 7 targeted training runs left, before the Spice coast marathon,  the next 4 weeks is critical not just for achieving the FM timing goal but to determine the psyche and course of my future running career.  Am giving it all I can by running the two remaining  long runs (35K on 3rd November and 32K on 17th Nov) on relatively flat courses, dilgently working on strengthening of glutes, quads and calves, recovering through weekly workouts in the swimming pool and taking it easy two days  before the long runs. In spite of this if the long runs and/or race on 1st Dec goes badly or is not enjoyable then a serious introspection on future running plans and goals will be in order.

Disappointing HM at Celebration Mysuru marathon 2019

As a step towards building up pace to hit a sub 3:48 FM this season I decided to race a HM after a gap of 6 years. Rather than the flat, fast course of ADH in October that I was considering, I decided to run the Life is Calling Mysuru marathon on 22nd September - a race that I had PB'ed in at the 1st edition in 2011. The ten weeks training, (post the Bengaluru 10 K challenge on 7th July), using the RLRF training plan for 1:48 HM, went pretty much as per target despite struggling to hit time targets in a few tempo runs and missing the last long run due to a sprained hip. The left calf hurt a bit on and off during the long runs. Surprisingly, almost all the interval runs were on target. The route for the HM was made available by the organisers less than a week before the race. Unfortunately, elevation map, which was the main thing of interest to me, was unreadable. The lack of response in spite of repeated communications to the organisers to get information on the elevation profile of the route(as my preference now is to run flat courses as my quads find it stressful to navigate gradients) was disappointing.  From what I could make out the course was not as flat as I had expected. It seemed to have rolling hills with long but not very steep gradients throughout the route. Also, there seemed to be too many turns and loopbacks in the route.This was the start of the negativity towards the race which probably contributed in large measure to my not hitting my timing goal. The usual phantom pains and bouts of nervousness in the days leading up to the race could not be avoided. My plan was to get to 11Kms in as close to 55 minutes as possible with 53 minutes or so for the remaining 10Km.

Just before heading out from the hotel room

My brother C and I took a 1:50PM  train from Kengeri on 21st afternoon and reached Mysuru around 4:30PM. The bib collection process at Decathlon was smooth - there was no expo to speak about. We walked the 750m from our hotel(Siddarth) to the race start point in the evening in search of bananas. After an early dinner we went to bed before 10PM. Woke up around 4:20 am and reached the start point by 5:30. Saw the flag off the 30K race at 5:45 before lining up around 5:50. There were  probably less than 1000 runners - a surprisingly low number for a city race in its 9th edition.  

I took off from the the front when the race started at 6 am and covered the first 7 Kms in a little over 35 minutes. After that the turns and the loopbacks and the lack of clear Km markers put me off mentally and my pace began to drop. Also, the left calf strain and heaviness in the left sole constrained me from pushing physically. The city route was not great(excepts for the part inside the college campus and around it) and it was made worse by unclear and insufficient Km markers specifically for HM. This was compounded due to  the 30Km and FM being added for the first time this year  creating loopbacks and partial route overlaps for different distances. The volunteers were not proactive in directing the runners and more than once I had to almost stop to check the route with a volunteer. There were quite a few segments where one was running along with the traffice which is never enjoyable in a race and around the 17Km mark one had to cross a road with traffic flowing in both directions with no volunteer to manage the traffic. There were aid stations every 2-3 Kms and adequately stocked for my needs which is only water. Nevertheless,  I  felt hungrier and thirstier than  I usually do in a race probably due to below par pre-race nutrition. In summary I did not enjoy the race experience -  both the organisation and my performance was a let down.  I was so cheesed off by the 13Km mark that I could muster only betwen 5:15 and 5:30 pace for the last 8 Kms for a finish in 1:50:46. The finish area was also not clearly marked and I almost sprinted towards the wrong arch. 

 There was limited breakfast both in terms of items and quantity. After breakfast we hung around for a while till the HM results were announced.The participation level was so uncompetitive that I ended being the first of eight finishers in the 61Y+ age category despite missing my goal by 3 minutes.

With Sumant in the finish areawhom we met on the train

We were back at the hotel by 10am and in Bangalore by 530pm.

Travails(&rants) of an aging runner

Despite all the advances in medical science and cosmetology, aging is(at least for now) an inevitable reality of life. And the ensuing degradation of phyiscal and mental abilities. Nevertheless, I am considerably surprised and terribly disappointed at the recurrence of aches and pains in the past few months  and the alarmingly fast regression in my ability to maintain pace during training runs . I was reasonably able to meet my target paces in the tempo and long runs as recently as 4rth quarter of  2018 while training for a 3:48  TMM 2019 ( a goal I missed by about 3 minutes!).  So minor depression is setting in trying to reconcile with the fact that currently I am struggling to sustain pace in any of the 3 weekly runs - Fartlek, Tempo or Long run. While the run starts off close to the goal pace, the quads(specially the left one) start hurting  and  screaming  within a few kms specially if I hit an elevation of even a couple of metres (the area I run in nowadays -Doddaladamara road and its side roads is full of rolling gradients).  Subsequently the other irritants such as increasing truck traffic  due to construction on Mysore road  and boom in real estate development, rising dust and pollution and  encounters with agressive stray dogs are all getting magnified in the mind  resulting in lower enjoyment of the runs and causing a dip in motivation and enjoyment - for the first time ever since taking to long distance running over 17 years ago.  Apart from the physical pain in the quads  I have , of late, lacked the mental toughness to push through pain and tended to give up fairly quickly. I am hoping to draw some inspiration from Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Endurance that I am currently reading.

Pain in the left butt, due to piroformis syndrome,  when running long or fast, has been my bugbear for over 10 years now. This was compounded by numbness in the left sole since 2014 or so. With  focused strengthening and stretching the glutes pain is under control at least for now. However, the pain now seems to have transferred to the quads. The pain almost completely disappears once I stop running and does not bother me much in my day to day life. Except when I am sitting in a certain position for a long time eg a long drive.  As per the sports physios that I have consulted the glutes,quads, core etc require strengthening. Which  I have been religously doing 2-3 days a week irrrespective of whether I am training for an event or not.  Hence it is really frustrating that the muscles are not getting stronger - on the contrary to me they appear to be detoriating rapidly.  This is similar to the rapid slowdown in movement and strength that I have observed in my dad after he crossed 85 years of age.  Knowing how strong and active he was even in his late 70s, I feel angry and at the same time sorry for him. Need to research to see whether there is spike in muscle dystrophy at specific ages such as 35, 60, 85, that is, every 25 years or so! Of course, different people age differently and there are numerous examples ,including among my  friends, of runners improving their time well into their 50s and even 60s.

During 2012-13 when I was regularly running intervals  at Kanteerva stadium as part of improving pace to try and BQ , both athletic coach Bidu and running coach Pani remarked that I was landing too hard on my left foot and that could cause injuries. At that time I did not pay attention to their remarks and succeeded in hitting my FM timing goal to qualify for Boston. However , in hindsight, it looks like they were bang on and I should have paid more attention to my running form and how my feet were landing during faster runs.  Landing hard on the left foot may have damaged a nerve or two causing the various issues on the left side that I am experiencing. My cadence even in tempo runs is in the mid to high 150s versus ideal cadence in the 170s. Which means I tend to over stride when I try to run fast.  A few weeks of effort to up the cadence using a metronome has not worked.  Hoping to use a borrowed cadence sensor to give it another shot in the next few weeks. 

The quads pain and numbness in the sole is less of an issue in easy slow runs.   However, I am still quite obessessed with a FM timing goal - targeting a sub 3:48 FM to try and qualify for Boston . Whether or not I actually run the Boston marathon again I was targeting to qualify every 5 years or so.  The reasons being to maintain a certain level of cardiac fitness as one ages and also to prove(to myself) that the qualification in January 2013 was not a one-time.  I missed the timing goal at TMM 2019 despite training well. The plan for the next attempt is nowon the flat course in Delhi at the  NEBS event in February 2020. However, based on the struggles of the last two months , the physical and mental strength to just complete another FM looks like a huge challenge - achieving a BQ timing seems impossible. Nevertheless, I have not given up yet and have decided to focus the next few months on improving strength(have hired a personal trainer again after a gap of 10m) and pace and not worry about distance for now.

 Other changes I am contemplating are:
- to increase the duration of the pre-run warm up routine from 10m to 20m
- Keep the weekly mileage to below 40Km for now ( My weekly mileage across the 3 runs even when training for a marathon rarely exceeds 55Km)
- And give more time for the body to recover between runs by cutting down on the cycling for cross training between runs as part of the FIRST 3 plus 2 training method

Before starting the 16 week training for a  3:48 FM in October,  I would like  to hit a  10K time of about 48:30 and  HM time of 1:47.  Was hoping to get close to the former at the Bangalore 10K challenge in couple of weeks from now. However, that is  improbable after this morning's run where I was unable to sustain a 5:05 pace for more than 3 Kms. I would be happy if , on 7th July, I  manage a timing similar to the sub 51m at the 3rd anniversary run of Runaddicts (on 9th June) - a vibrant running group in the RR Nagar area that I discovered recently.

If I am unable to achieve these goals during this season then I will give up on pace(and BQ'ing ever again!) and focus on LSDs and enjoying my runs before I become so demotivated that I give up on running altogether!!. The longer term plan is to run  TMM and a couple of ultras every season.

Building the base for season 2019-20

March 19th marked the start of the new running season for me as I restarted the process of building  base mileage after a complete break of 3 weeks - mainly to give the body some rest.  The goal is to build up to a weekly mileage of 45-50Km by April end and then embark on a 12 week training for  a full marathon in August (most likely the Airtel Hyderabad marathon on 25th August). Unlike the 2018-19 season in which I ran just one race , namely, Tata Mumbai marathon the plan for this season is to run several races - the 10K challenge in Bangalore, a couple of halfs(TRORT and Delhi) and three fulls (Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi). Of course, it all depends upon how the body holds up.  As I have been doing for several years now I will not run the TCS 10K, the traditional season opening race in Bangalore, which is on 10th May. 

One key goal of this phase to break into a new pair of Brooks Ghost 11 - my first ever pair of shoes with a wider toe box. Though the same size as my previous Brooks Ghost (9) it seems to be fairly longer based on the space available between the toes and the front of the shoe. The heaviness/numbness in the left toes has manifested itself even during a slow 21K. Plan to attempt a slightly longer and faster 25Km this week to help decide whether to continue using this shoe or not. It has been a challenge to find the right shoes after the Adidas Supernova cushion that I had used for 10 years stopped working for me 3 years ago. Maybe I should go back and check their latest model.

Another goal for April (and May) is to bring the weight back from a little over 57Kgs to a little under 55 Kgs.  And the final goal is to assess the impact, if any, of the diet changes. From 1st March have been on largely vegan diet and have stayed off deserts and alcohol. 

Hoping for a good season ahead -   a sub 48 min 10K, a sub 1:44 HM and a sub 3:37 FM would be perfect!!

Dandi Salt Challenge 2019 .. a unique event that was not to be

The Dandi Salt challenge event interested me from the time I heard about it in the middle of 2018. It seemed like a unique concept to run/cycle/walk the entire 401Km historic route from Sabarmati ashram to Dandi beach. I also saw this as an opportunity to participate in my 1st multi-day event - specially as the race director was good friend and wonderful runner and coach Dan Zico from Mumbai. Having decided to make a call after TMM 2019 I was keen on participating in DSC to put the disappointment of my timing there behind me.  

However, I did not want to risk injury by attempting the 19 HMs solo. Therefore, within two weeks of TMM I started looking for 1-2 team mates and also test out my body's ability to do at least 7 consecutive HMs. I spread the word for team mates in various running groups in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad and also registered with the organisers in case there were other runners who had contacted them looking for team mates.  As far as training is concerned , I ran a HM everyday from Tuesday 5th February to Monday 11th February hitting my highest ever mileage in a 7 day period by a huge margin. Of course, I ran consciously slow. In fact, my goal was to run between 2:30 and 3hrs. However, I ended up with timings of 2:15, 2:17, 2:19,2:22,2:21, 2:30 and 2:23. That is, I found it quite challenging keep my pace to finish close to 2:30. While I was fairly fatigued by the 6th day I still could not run at 2:45 pace. A couple of learnings for me were:

a) confirmation that my body is unlikely to handle two HMs a day 12 hours apart thereby ruling out participation as a solo runner

b) The body should be able to handle 10 or even more consecutive HMs if done at between 2:30 and 2:45 pace with adequate time spent on foam rolling and stretching every day

With two runners from Hyderabad confirming their interest in participation I was very excitedly looking forward to the event and planning my travel. Fortunately, I deferred booking the travel tickets to the week of Feb 25th. However, before that , due to the unfortunate events in J&K and the ensuing climate in the country, the organisers rightfully decided to cancel the event for this year. While being extremely disappointed with this I do empathise with Dan and his organising team  - they have a spent considerable effort and money in putting this together and must be quite heartbroken. Hopefully, the event does take place next year and I am able to participate.

Meanwhile, I have decided to take a  break from running during the month of March while replanning my goals and events for the year culminating in another shot at BQ in Jan/Feb 2020!! . 

Disappointing TMM 2019

After a very good 1st half and being reasonably on target till 32K( as per my Garmin)  the toes of the left sole started acting up making it challenging to move the legs. A short walk break just before the Peddar road flyover gave second wind enabling me to run a few kms. However, I bonked around Km 38 and thereafter it was a real struggle both physical and mental to continue running. With sub 3:48 out of the window and sub 3:50 looking tough I tried to press on but it tuned out to be one of those days when the mind and the left leg just did not co-operate. So I ended up crossing the finish line just under 3:51. Finishing 4rth in my age category and 404th out of 6700 runners is certainly nothing to sneeze about ;however having trained well for and being in sub 3:48 shape and not achieving it was disappointing. Given that the left sole felt pretty much normal just half an hour after finish,  I will carry the thought that perhaps I should have tried harder in the last 5Kms till TMM 2020!

For the first time in 16 years I arrived in Mumbai on Saturday morning (rather than Friday evening) . 

I drove to the airport (picking up Pankaj at Cubbon park) and parked my car there - also a first for me. The flight from Bangalore was delayed by a couple of hours due to weather. After landing around 12 , Patil and I went to the expo in KBC(spent quite some time locating it). Being the  afternoon before the race the expo was packed. Though we met a few runners we did not hang around much. We grabbed a sumptious G ujarati thali lunch at Rajwad thal and shared a cab to our respective hotels in the Fort area. Though assigned one of the better rooms hotel New Bengal was more rundown than I had expected.  After a nice dinner with bunch of friends at Ustaadi next door to the hotel went to bed by 10pm.

Woke up at 3:35am , as usual, before the alarm rang , got ready, had a couple of bananas and some nuts and was down in the lobby by 4:40. 

We walked to Azad maidan in about 10 minutes and though the entry gate was crowded with runners the process of security check including the scan of the bag was smooth and we were inside by 5:10 or so. Entered the holding area 15m later and walked towards Coral B. There definitely seemed to be larger number of FM runners than ever. It took almost a minute and a half to cross the starting line and a couple of Kms before I could pick up pace. It was warm but not quite as humid as Mumbai can be. As per my Garmin (310XT) I ran between 5:05 and 5:20 per Km till the 30Km (about 1:50 at the halfway mark). However, the official splits above tell a different story. It is intriguing as to how the times between my devices and the official splits could diverge right from get go - something that I need to take into account better in future races.  

I sighted Vishy(who had a similar goal as mine) ahead of me while going down the Peddar road flyover around Km 7 and kept a steady pace behind him. I caught up with him just before the sealink at Km 14 and we ran together till about Km 25 at which point he bonked. While my pace reduced slightly and I did not feel great I managed to plod on what I thought was a reasonably steady pace. However, I seemed to have slowed down more than I thought after the 1st half. This and the struggle in the last 4Kms cost me my goal time. And maybe the mismatch between my Garmin and the official clock. My Garmin showed I had done 42.82Km at 5:24/Km. And the Tomtom(which was in my pocket) 43.37 at 5:20/Km!! The temperature and humidity were  was surprisingly  steady through out the race.  Apart from periodic farting there were no major after effects of all the hogging of the previous day. As I reflect on the race maybe some amount of negativity crept into my mind between Km 27 and 30. As the physical and mental aspects feed into each other  it was probably triggered by early signs of numbness in the sole. And the only reason I can think of for this is inadequate tapering. 

The walk from the finish line to Azad maidan and the collection of the medal and refreshments was smooth. Met Satish and a few other Indiranagar runners there and Jai of Bhukmp. Jai and I headed back after some rest to reach the hotel at 11am. After checking out around 12 a bunch of us took a cab to get some beer at Leopold. However, as the traffic was very heavy and most of us were feeling very hungry we ended up for lunch at Samrat. Nari and I got to the airport fairly early where we were joined by Pankaj and others. With the ifs and buts still going through my mind I reached home close to 10PM dropping Pankaj enroute. With no hard race in the next 6m  there is plenty of time to continue to mull over what could have been and plan and execute better!!