Here's my experience of the Hyderabad Marathon I finished last Sunday.
Just to set the context correctly, I had done a 12-hr run covering 95kms in Bangalore Kanteerava stadium three weeks earlier. I had also done a marathon distance at the hilly TRORT course the previous week. (I have done two 100K+ runs over the last two years). I have run the same course last year as a four and a half hour pacer. Having said that, (I expected) the challenge this time around would be to see how much I have recovered from the 12-hr run. And I haven't run anything at all in the interceding three weeks.
My plan (otherwise without the 12-hr run in the equation) was to run a competitive timing and to push for a 3:30-3:45 finish based on the feel and the conditions. When I started or planned for the run, I just couldn't predict my capacity. The plan was changed to a easy run with some of the Chennai runners (including my college buddy Manivannan Vangalur), aiming for a 4-hour finish.
I started the run slowly and did the first few kms at a 5:25 pace, allowing time for water. For the first loop around Hussain Sagar lake, I stuck with Naresh & Sridhar. At the end of the loop, I fell behind to attend a nature call. I joined the Chennai runner gang of Manivannan, Praveen Giriya and Arvind Kumar, allowing them to catch up for a few seconds. The first 10K was finished in around 55 mins.
The next 10K was a chatty run with the gang, and all of us were maintaining a good pace. As the day broke, I started to notice that my HR was unusually high for the effort being put in. (It was in the 170s, while at TRORT it was sub-150 for three-fourths the distance). Life continued on despite the higher heart rate till the 20th km.
Briefly after the 20th km marker, I felt a slight twitch on my right ankle. (This was just one aspect I was unprepared for the race. I had forgotten to pack my salt tablets). Quite thankfully, Arvind had a bunch and I borrowed one from him. The next few water stops, I was screaming for salt till I felt that it was brought under control.
Through this ordeal, the gang managed to build a lead of 200-300m. At 28th km, the dreaded Gachibowli flyover wasn't diffcult, but I took a longish walk break at the peak, not wanting to push the HR higher. This was the slowest km clocked till then. My 4-hour target had gone for a toss by now, and I mentally adjusted the target by 5 mins.
Suresh (fellow-Pacemaker) was standing near the fork-point, where the half-marathoners split, and cheered me up. After the turn, I realized that Manivannan and Arvind had slowed down, and were walking. I gave a shout to Manivannan and caught up with him. Arvind had realized that 4-hr target is dead, and was going to walk the rest of the course. I too joined them, and the next few minutes was spent chatting and maintaining a run-walk strategy.
We hit the 32nd km marker at 3:30. A quick mental calculation and I suggested to Mani, "Let us do run-walk and tartget 7:30/km, we'll still finish sub 4:30". Arvind must have been too tired by then, he joined and then dropped off. Mani too fell behind to stay with him. As I started to run, my right ITB had become very stiff, and was very difficult for me even to lift up the right leg.
The option of walking was ruled out. I was condemned to running the next ten kms as whatever pace I could manage. I have run-walked many marathons. The comfort factor is that if you get too tired, you take a little break, give rest to your running muscles, and walk. But today, that life support had been removed. Either I run to the finish or DNF.
I have run in Hyderabad for the last two years. The first year, I did a half-marathon, and it rained toward the finish. Last year, it had rained the previous day, and the temperature was cooler. The Sun God, having missed the race for the last two years, blessed AHM amply compensating for those years as well.
As I chugged on, my pace would sometimes droop to 7:30/km, the danger line for the 4:30 target. I was expecting a bit of shade after entering the Hyderabad Central University campus. But the terrain was completely parched. One of the volunteers commented that we didn't have any rains this year during the monsoons.
Each km marker I crossed, I would check against the time left for me to cover the remaining distance. The markers were about 600m off initially, but that difference was made up in the last few kms up till 41st km. The 42nd km was again off. Each of those markers, I calculated my target pace and it was a close call to the 4:30 finish.
I am accustomed to walking at aid stations to aid water intake. But today was different. I had to invent a new style of walking mimicking the running motion, not to engage the ITB muscles. Sure, the volunteers at the aid stations must have a field day just watching me.
As I reached the 41st, just at the gate for the stadium, there was a pleasant surprise. The entry gate had been switched from the farther one to the nearer one. There were runners all along the place walking in droves. Unable to raise my voice, I just kept signalling to them to give way. To my surprise, the 42nd km marker was short by atleast 400m (with the 41st km seemingly in place).
While, I wasn't able to stretch myself and sprint, I had enough juice left in me to up my cadence. I picked up a little pace, and moved faster towards the finish. A few more seconds must have passed before I realized and stopped by stop-watch. It read 4:26:15.
I tell my friends that long distance running is like a sand-pit. The deeper you dig, the deeper it becomes, and more it holds. Not even in any of those three ~100km runs, I had to dig in deeper as I had to do today. My back pushed to wall, I had to keep running with the sun beating down brutally. To my luck, this run was capped at the 42nd km.
Two marathons and a 12-hour run in the last four weeks, and I cannot ask for more. I will not, for sure. My next step is recover well, before taking on another big race.
As I had mentioned earlier, the weather was brutal today. Some of the fellow runners didn't have kind words for the organizers. But here's my honest opinion. "If you think that the weather is tough, you should be sitting indoors than running. The organizers and volunteers did their best to support the runners. Hydration support on the course was excellent, with the volunteers holding water bottles, electrolyte and other refreshments every two kms, and more often in the final kms."
Just to set the context correctly, I had done a 12-hr run covering 95kms in Bangalore Kanteerava stadium three weeks earlier. I had also done a marathon distance at the hilly TRORT course the previous week. (I have done two 100K+ runs over the last two years). I have run the same course last year as a four and a half hour pacer. Having said that, (I expected) the challenge this time around would be to see how much I have recovered from the 12-hr run. And I haven't run anything at all in the interceding three weeks.
My plan (otherwise without the 12-hr run in the equation) was to run a competitive timing and to push for a 3:30-3:45 finish based on the feel and the conditions. When I started or planned for the run, I just couldn't predict my capacity. The plan was changed to a easy run with some of the Chennai runners (including my college buddy Manivannan Vangalur), aiming for a 4-hour finish.
I started the run slowly and did the first few kms at a 5:25 pace, allowing time for water. For the first loop around Hussain Sagar lake, I stuck with Naresh & Sridhar. At the end of the loop, I fell behind to attend a nature call. I joined the Chennai runner gang of Manivannan, Praveen Giriya and Arvind Kumar, allowing them to catch up for a few seconds. The first 10K was finished in around 55 mins.
The next 10K was a chatty run with the gang, and all of us were maintaining a good pace. As the day broke, I started to notice that my HR was unusually high for the effort being put in. (It was in the 170s, while at TRORT it was sub-150 for three-fourths the distance). Life continued on despite the higher heart rate till the 20th km.
Briefly after the 20th km marker, I felt a slight twitch on my right ankle. (This was just one aspect I was unprepared for the race. I had forgotten to pack my salt tablets). Quite thankfully, Arvind had a bunch and I borrowed one from him. The next few water stops, I was screaming for salt till I felt that it was brought under control.
Through this ordeal, the gang managed to build a lead of 200-300m. At 28th km, the dreaded Gachibowli flyover wasn't diffcult, but I took a longish walk break at the peak, not wanting to push the HR higher. This was the slowest km clocked till then. My 4-hour target had gone for a toss by now, and I mentally adjusted the target by 5 mins.
Suresh (fellow-Pacemaker) was standing near the fork-point, where the half-marathoners split, and cheered me up. After the turn, I realized that Manivannan and Arvind had slowed down, and were walking. I gave a shout to Manivannan and caught up with him. Arvind had realized that 4-hr target is dead, and was going to walk the rest of the course. I too joined them, and the next few minutes was spent chatting and maintaining a run-walk strategy.
We hit the 32nd km marker at 3:30. A quick mental calculation and I suggested to Mani, "Let us do run-walk and tartget 7:30/km, we'll still finish sub 4:30". Arvind must have been too tired by then, he joined and then dropped off. Mani too fell behind to stay with him. As I started to run, my right ITB had become very stiff, and was very difficult for me even to lift up the right leg.
The option of walking was ruled out. I was condemned to running the next ten kms as whatever pace I could manage. I have run-walked many marathons. The comfort factor is that if you get too tired, you take a little break, give rest to your running muscles, and walk. But today, that life support had been removed. Either I run to the finish or DNF.
I have run in Hyderabad for the last two years. The first year, I did a half-marathon, and it rained toward the finish. Last year, it had rained the previous day, and the temperature was cooler. The Sun God, having missed the race for the last two years, blessed AHM amply compensating for those years as well.
As I chugged on, my pace would sometimes droop to 7:30/km, the danger line for the 4:30 target. I was expecting a bit of shade after entering the Hyderabad Central University campus. But the terrain was completely parched. One of the volunteers commented that we didn't have any rains this year during the monsoons.
Each km marker I crossed, I would check against the time left for me to cover the remaining distance. The markers were about 600m off initially, but that difference was made up in the last few kms up till 41st km. The 42nd km was again off. Each of those markers, I calculated my target pace and it was a close call to the 4:30 finish.
I am accustomed to walking at aid stations to aid water intake. But today was different. I had to invent a new style of walking mimicking the running motion, not to engage the ITB muscles. Sure, the volunteers at the aid stations must have a field day just watching me.
As I reached the 41st, just at the gate for the stadium, there was a pleasant surprise. The entry gate had been switched from the farther one to the nearer one. There were runners all along the place walking in droves. Unable to raise my voice, I just kept signalling to them to give way. To my surprise, the 42nd km marker was short by atleast 400m (with the 41st km seemingly in place).
While, I wasn't able to stretch myself and sprint, I had enough juice left in me to up my cadence. I picked up a little pace, and moved faster towards the finish. A few more seconds must have passed before I realized and stopped by stop-watch. It read 4:26:15.
I tell my friends that long distance running is like a sand-pit. The deeper you dig, the deeper it becomes, and more it holds. Not even in any of those three ~100km runs, I had to dig in deeper as I had to do today. My back pushed to wall, I had to keep running with the sun beating down brutally. To my luck, this run was capped at the 42nd km.
Two marathons and a 12-hour run in the last four weeks, and I cannot ask for more. I will not, for sure. My next step is recover well, before taking on another big race.
As I had mentioned earlier, the weather was brutal today. Some of the fellow runners didn't have kind words for the organizers. But here's my honest opinion. "If you think that the weather is tough, you should be sitting indoors than running. The organizers and volunteers did their best to support the runners. Hydration support on the course was excellent, with the volunteers holding water bottles, electrolyte and other refreshments every two kms, and more often in the final kms."
