Dark clouds all around, a mild drizzle on the face, and dash of salt in the breeze that comes from the Bay of Bengal. Running in your home town is always a pleasure, through the roads, that you once roamed as a kid. Most of the prominent buildings haven't changed, contradictory to what has happened in the rest of Chennai.
The week leading to the race was extremely busy at work, which meant that I could get only an average of four to five hours every day. The misery continued because of the night train journeys with the marathon day packed in-between. Luckily, this meant that my legs are adequately rested for the week. Still, I didnt skip my pre-race carb-loading with biriyani on the Friday before raceweek.
To Vibram or not to Vibram:
Knowing that I run faster on Vibrams, the question would arise why the hell do I want to go back to regular shoes for a race. Vibrams are faster, but running on minimal shoes need stronger calf muscles, for which I am yet to adapt.
With two days to go for the race, I picked up a small skin tear on my left sole in the arch, and not where the foot rests, because of a freaky accident (stepping on a sharpened pencil). It was only a skin tear, and not a muscle injury.
Regular cushioned shoes meant I'll have to cut-down my target time. Vibrams meant a big risk of injuring the calf muscles even though the distance is half-marathon.
Finally I decided on running with the Vibrams, after trying it out in the lobby the night before the race. I was sure, it wouldn't be a painful exercise, however the variable of my running form shifting subconsciously was still open.
The Target:
I wanted to go 1:35 finish, with an average pace of 4:30 per km. It seemed doable and the recent interval training runs gave me enough confidence.
The Prerace Preparation
The raceday morning was cool, but humid. We didn't feel the heat at this point.
I lost about twenty minutes in the morning because of some transportation issues. With the lost minutes and the rush in getting race bag checked in, I forgot to to have all the essentials that I had planned in my pre-race meal.
Also we reached the startline late, the first minute was a complete walk, and that continued for a few seconds after crossing the startline. I was waiting for Pani Sir, Murthy and Brijesh to join, but grew impatient and waded through the crowd for the next 500 metres. They might not have caught up. After 500m, and crossing a lot of familiar runners, I settled in nicely behind Kieren, who was running slightly faster than me till the half-way mark.
The Race
Till this point everything was ok, except for the drink they had provided as glucose, which tasted more like rasna. I stopped once and walked once to sip it completely.
After the turnaround, I was my usual self exchanging a lot of greetings with the runners in the opposite direction. As I was reaching the first water point (after the turnaround), somebody called out my name, and I turned to see who it was! There was a sharp twitch in my right calf muscles. I stopped and walked about ten metres to the water stop, had salt and lime and continued cautiously. I maintained the same 4:30 pace.
It all seemed ok, till I reached the lighthouse. I might have slowed down to a 4:40 pace. After that point it was a big push, with me feeling more tired than usual. At two points, I stopped at a water point to completely sip in the water/glucose. As I continued to look at my watch, it looked like the 1:35 target was off atleast by a few minutes.
The last few kilometres were a struggle, with Bobby and Brijesh passing me in the last 500 metres. The thought of tailing crossed my mind when both of them passed, but with the risk of cramps I held back.
The finish
In the last kilometre, I was hoping atleast for a PB (sub 1:40:20).
The sign read 300 metres, and my Garmin showed 1:37:52. Though the 300 metres is within 90 seconds, I miscalculated and picked up pace. The final stretch was loose sand, and when I reached the finish, I stopped my Garmin at 1:39:29.
The website lists is at 1:39:00. Not a big difference given that I am capable of a sub-95. I'll wait till the chance comes.
Bangaloreans had a blast with three of the four golds cornered within them. There were huge celebrations at the finish point with runners dancing to the tunes of tamil numbers played by the local band.
The race organization was extremely good. Kudos to Dream Runners for pulling it off.
Edit: I noticed in one of the photographs that the starting mats were a few metres ahead of the entry barriers, which meant I recorded a better finishing time. The official finish time is 1:39:04
The week leading to the race was extremely busy at work, which meant that I could get only an average of four to five hours every day. The misery continued because of the night train journeys with the marathon day packed in-between. Luckily, this meant that my legs are adequately rested for the week. Still, I didnt skip my pre-race carb-loading with biriyani on the Friday before raceweek.
To Vibram or not to Vibram:
Knowing that I run faster on Vibrams, the question would arise why the hell do I want to go back to regular shoes for a race. Vibrams are faster, but running on minimal shoes need stronger calf muscles, for which I am yet to adapt.
With two days to go for the race, I picked up a small skin tear on my left sole in the arch, and not where the foot rests, because of a freaky accident (stepping on a sharpened pencil). It was only a skin tear, and not a muscle injury.
Regular cushioned shoes meant I'll have to cut-down my target time. Vibrams meant a big risk of injuring the calf muscles even though the distance is half-marathon.
Finally I decided on running with the Vibrams, after trying it out in the lobby the night before the race. I was sure, it wouldn't be a painful exercise, however the variable of my running form shifting subconsciously was still open.
The Target:
I wanted to go 1:35 finish, with an average pace of 4:30 per km. It seemed doable and the recent interval training runs gave me enough confidence.
The Prerace Preparation
The raceday morning was cool, but humid. We didn't feel the heat at this point.
I lost about twenty minutes in the morning because of some transportation issues. With the lost minutes and the rush in getting race bag checked in, I forgot to to have all the essentials that I had planned in my pre-race meal.
Also we reached the startline late, the first minute was a complete walk, and that continued for a few seconds after crossing the startline. I was waiting for Pani Sir, Murthy and Brijesh to join, but grew impatient and waded through the crowd for the next 500 metres. They might not have caught up. After 500m, and crossing a lot of familiar runners, I settled in nicely behind Kieren, who was running slightly faster than me till the half-way mark.
 |
| Pacemakers Murthy, Brijesh and Bobby (L to R) |
The Race
Till this point everything was ok, except for the drink they had provided as glucose, which tasted more like rasna. I stopped once and walked once to sip it completely.
After the turnaround, I was my usual self exchanging a lot of greetings with the runners in the opposite direction. As I was reaching the first water point (after the turnaround), somebody called out my name, and I turned to see who it was! There was a sharp twitch in my right calf muscles. I stopped and walked about ten metres to the water stop, had salt and lime and continued cautiously. I maintained the same 4:30 pace.
It all seemed ok, till I reached the lighthouse. I might have slowed down to a 4:40 pace. After that point it was a big push, with me feeling more tired than usual. At two points, I stopped at a water point to completely sip in the water/glucose. As I continued to look at my watch, it looked like the 1:35 target was off atleast by a few minutes.
 |
| Coach Kothandapani |
The last few kilometres were a struggle, with Bobby and Brijesh passing me in the last 500 metres. The thought of tailing crossed my mind when both of them passed, but with the risk of cramps I held back.
The finish
In the last kilometre, I was hoping atleast for a PB (sub 1:40:20).
The sign read 300 metres, and my Garmin showed 1:37:52. Though the 300 metres is within 90 seconds, I miscalculated and picked up pace. The final stretch was loose sand, and when I reached the finish, I stopped my Garmin at 1:39:29.
The website lists is at 1:39:00. Not a big difference given that I am capable of a sub-95. I'll wait till the chance comes.
 |
| Pacemakers gang at the finish! |
Bangaloreans had a blast with three of the four golds cornered within them. There were huge celebrations at the finish point with runners dancing to the tunes of tamil numbers played by the local band.
The race organization was extremely good. Kudos to Dream Runners for pulling it off.
Edit: I noticed in one of the photographs that the starting mats were a few metres ahead of the entry barriers, which meant I recorded a better finishing time. The official finish time is 1:39:04
