Another year, still more to learn

The preparations for Mumbai marathon were going full steam in September, with the coach preparing us for longer and longer runs. The first setback happened in Mysore Marathon, when I was feeling stiffness in the left hamstring. This pain apparently disappeared after ten minutes of warm up. A visit to a local physio followed, and came up with nothing.

Every half-marathon has been a painful experience for me, with me having energy during the last few kms, but couldn't push, running on the brink of cramps. This year was no different. I ran two HMs, DRHM in July and Mysore Celebration HM in October. In both cases, the experience was the same. The stiffness that occured in Mysore pushed me on the backfoot for two weeks.

A long pending trip to the United States materialized. I was thrilled at first, at the opportunity of running on traffic-free roads. And I trained after arriving in US, but only for two weeks. My hectic travel schedule soon caught up. With sleep and rest taking precedence over workouts, meant that a better part of the training was missed.

As I arrived in December 1st week, I had seven weeks to go for SCMM, which was just sufficient to prepare for the distance. As I would soon find out, I had lost a considerable amount of training base. A quick discussion with the coach led to reworking the plans. I needed to boost my core strength which had always been my weakness.

The next setback came in the form of a weeklong vacation to Goa. Although I didn't miss any training, this one came in the form of good food. And with it, extra weight. At the end of the vacation, with two weeks to go the race, I was 3kg more than my preferred racing weight.

And hence the preparations began. I went on a special diet, which will be revealed after patenting it. I kept tracking my weight everyday,  doing my core workouts. Two everyday, each of twenty minutes, the core workouts, were aimed at taking me to the startline with just sufficient strength. And thus, was my preparation for the greatest organized marathon in India.

Prerace:
As luck would have it, we were spared from the massive traffic jams after arriving in Mumbai. With all the expected delays at the expo, and a late lunch, Dipankar (the Ironman) and myself checked into our room at 4pm on the previous evening. With the race next day, the next two hours were wisely spent sleeping.

With the group leaving us to catch up for dinner, we spent an hour walking to each and every Kamat restaurant in the Fort area, only to find that they had finished dinner already. We must have walked for atleast an hour. I kept reminding Dipankar that it will take only a short hard sprint to make the pre-race carb-load effective. With him declining to join for the sprint, dinner was finished in the restaurant downstairs.

Missing dinner also meant that I couldn't catch up with the rest  of the team for race planning. A short discussion with the coach left me confused. While I was confident of running a target of 3:30, his plan meant that I would have a deficit of 4 minutes into 32nd km, and it would tough to catch that up in the rest of the race.

The start:
Come morning, butterflies kept flying in my stomach. An extra visit to the toilet meant that I missed the group starting from the hotel. I was worried if the stomach would bother me again in the race like last year, when I had to hit one of the toilets on the course. All roads in Mumbai led to the marathon start at that hour.  I was pleasantly surprised to enter the subway station before we were led into Azad maidan.  I didn't miss much as I caught up with the team for the warm-up. I would manage to miss the team once again and finally catch up with them at the start line. Finally, all was well at the startline.

At the start, I had an half-hearted plan to join coach, atleast for the first ten kms. However, I tagged along  Rama(krishna), another member of our group, expecting the others to catch up. Rama is a 1st time marathoner, but a strong 10K runner. My expectation was that he would finish the target time comfortably. The first 10K was done in 48 minutes, about two minutes faster than what I was expecting. Rama would have run much faster if I had not held him and slowed him down.

I kept watching my heart rate, and never allowed it to exceed beyond 165. On uphills, it went over to 170s, but was soon brought down.

With Rama shooting off after 10kms, I caught up with Suresh Seshadhri, who was running strong, than what we have known. A brief chat followed, and he whispered that he was trying to BQ, conserving all the energy. I kept up to him and assured him that I'll lead him to the finish.

I was feeling strong headwinds as we reached the sea link. My immediate reaction was to tuck along behind somebody to escape the winds and conserve energy. With Suresh ahead, I offered to shield him from the wind and asked him to draft me. He lost patience after a while and moved ahead. I would notice later that this was the steepest stretch on the sea-link. I was tagging along with him for the next five or so kms.

As the kms passed one by one, flashback of last year's memories caught up. This was the same stretch I was running double faster last year to catch up with the rest of the team. As the 25th km passed, I was a bit happier. That's where I caught cramps first last year. I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten one of the salt pills and took them.

Suresh was running ahead of me, pushing the pace higher. I was catching up with him, not wanting to push it. And then, it occured, a sharp shoot in the left hamstring. This had been my weakness all along for this year. Knowing the routine, I walked and stretched the hamstring for a few seconds and took off. Having lost about a minute in the process, and the next kms, coming in at 5:05-5:10, I wasn't worried much. I still had a bank of a minute and a half.

I ran the next few kms, looking ahead for Suresh. I couldn't find him anywhere. He must have gone fast. As I continued along the stretch of Marine drive, the faster runners were crossing in the opposite direction. Our pack of lead runners Bobby and Brijesh passed. While Brijesh was looking ok, Bobby was dying. He has had a minor issue in the last week, and that must be taking its toll. Soon, I spotted other faster runners including Manoj.

Cramps stuck in the 32nd km again and the routine followed. And this would cost me the remaining 90 seconds. I was starting to be worried about the target now. Just then, Coach Kothandapani Sir and Neera passed me. That gave me a morale boost, and I continued along with both of them. Neera, having already pushed till then, was very tired. She was holding on to the second position in the women's category. I cheered her up and continued with them.


My agonies continued and I soon left them to go. I gathered all the energy that I had and focussed firmly on coach, who was running ahead of me, and pulled myself. Then came the dreaded Peddar road uphill. My pace dropped as I continued along. I kept telling myself, that there is a gradual slop all the way to the finish.

Apart from this dreaded uphill, Peddar road is also known for the numerous residents coming onto the streets to support the marathoners. You would see them as early as 6:15am during the starting leg of the race. In general, crowd support in Mumbai is far better and would lose only to the active running community in Chennai. There will be people at all places. But in Peddar Road, they'll be in droves.

I make it a point to cheer the kids in the Peddar road, when I pass along. I happened to encounter two kids, the first who couldn't let go of the water bottle. The second got a "Thank you, Chotu" in the hindi I knew.

Soon, I caught up with coach. By this time, Neera had gone ahead. Worried of a hamstring pull that happened last year, coach was holding himself. He was still in lead for a podium position in the Senior Veteran's category.

As the race progressed, the kms were hard to comeby. My feet were feeling cramped in the Flyknit racers, and was causing lots of discomfort. I wasn't feeling tired. However, missing to notice a few of the km markers, brought some of the morale down. As we were running the 39th km, I was running along with coach, and I had pull in my left calf once again. I had so much of strength left in me, but couldn't stretch long enough for a good stride.

Walking at a brisk pace, I stretched the left hamstring hoping that this would be for the last time in this race. Once again, with coach ahead of me, I caught up pace, and was running pulling my left leg along. The streets were flooded with the late half marathon finishers who were walking blocking the way for running. I kept screaming at the top of my voice for them to move away.

Five hundred metres to go, I was screaming at the top of my voice. Both of us were running in tandem, one behind the other.

Four hundered metres to go, I told coach to carry on, as he could sprint to the finish. I knew, if I pushed harder, I would cramp again.

Three hundred metres to go...., weaving through the sea of half-marathoners, ...

Two hundred metres to go...,

One hundred metres to go....

At last I got the courage to sprint to the finish, and ran within the limits of my cramps. I finished a couple of seconds behind coach. As I stopped my Garmin, it showed 3:35:56. This is two and a half minutes better than my last year's record.

The top runners in our group had a wonderful race, with both Brijesh (3:18) and Bobby (3:19) finishing below 3:20, and Brojen (3:29) finishing below 3:30.

Neera had finished almost a minute ahead of me. 

 As I see in my Garmin log, my heart rate was the highest at the finish.

PostRace Thoughts:
As I look back into the race, a lot of things worked well for me in the race. I tried a mix of Accel Gel and Gu Roctane, and it went down well. The salt capsules worked with the cramps limited to only the left hamstring and left calf muscles. I knew this to be a limitation.

As for the shoes, I took a big risk running in the Nike Flyknit racers. While these are lightweight, the toebox is narrow causing discomfort. I didn't have a good experience in the half marathon I ran last October.

The cramps also meant that I got enough rest periodically in the race, and wasn't tired at the finish. Much of the slowness in the second half was due to the constrained movement of legs than to tiredness.

After missing much of training this season, it was a good experience, getting myself ready for the race. Discipline in both diet and exercise helped. I did have a better base, but the machine wasn't well oiled and was ready for a breakdown. Training runs (especially long ones) didn't go very well, with me bonking on a 35K run two weeks into the race.

Considering all of that, this is a race performance to be happy with.

The goal for next year is to overcome these cramps and have a strong race of 42 kms. Till that day next year, the dreams will continue.

5K Splits: 23:55, 24:06. 23:48, 24:45, 24:19, 26:43, 27:25, 28:20, 12:35 (for 2.4K as per Garmin)

A Dream Run (still in waiting)...

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.

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

Reflections on SCMM & some research on Cramps

First, thanks to all of those who has been part of my 'marathon' efforts.

Having a brilliant coach like Kothandapani (fondly called as Pani Sir), meant that I was well trained for the run. Not only does he train you, but also sets you good competition (even at his age).

Training with 'Pacemakers' group, there's always constant competition, which makes you perform a notch above what you can. Apart from seasoned runners like "Barefoot" Bobby, Brijesh, Murthy, Neera, and of course, never-aging coach Pani Sir, there is also a brand-new level of competition from the emerging runners: Brojen, Bharath & Harish. And then, there are others (Pradeep, Gopal, Jagdish, Dileepan) who have a near 100% attendance record, and there are others who just motivate you with their smile, eg. Saroja. With all this company, the training workouts are just fun, no matter, how much ever the intensity is!

To look into what happened at Mumbai Marathon for me, I'll have to isolate two separate factors.
1. Race-day preparedness (in terms of the bowels)
2. Racing strategy.

Race-day Preparedness:
I had been a dieting freak all of last year, and my quickest way to lost weight without causing any harm is to have a light meal for supper. While this has helped me well, in terms of weight management, it might have worked otherwise, when it came to races. To the extent that I had been affected in two races before Mumbai (Chennai Marathon & Midnight 10K) and yet I paid no attention.

Carb-loading is an often abused word in a marathoner's dictionary. Runners (at least me) use the excuse to binge on whatever comes across in their sight. Though I had been disciplined, my eating habits leading to race day meant lighter meals for supper. On closer introspection, the heavy meal on the night before wasn't required.

I started my carb-loading on Friday (2 days before), and the pre-race night dinner was not adding much value, compared to the trouble it caused. Having a good stomach for the race is of prime importance.

Racing Strategy:
Running as a group for the 1st time, I was all excited to blaze the streets of Mumbai as the group. The plan was to stick to the group for the 1st 10 (or even 20) kms. So much that, I slowed down at two different points to let the group catch up. (I never bothered about walk breaks earlier, and felt that the time would eventually be recovered).

When I lost considerable lead to the group, the immediate plan was to stay at my own pace till 20kms. I would have eventually caught up with the group. But in reality, there were two small sprints (one each to catch Pankaj and Bhasker Sharma), and larger sprint to catch up to the group. This one was gradual and lasted nearly eight kms (17 to 24, as I see my Garmin data). The bottom-line is that I didn't stick to my plan in all the anxiety/excitement to catch up to the group.

I should have had a racing/pacing strategy, or more importantly, backup strategy, in case my original plan was to suffer a setback.

And now coming to Mr. Cramp,
there were a few thought shared, , one on fatigue, by both coach and Neera, and the other on Magnesium, by Anoop.

Though not documented very clearly (dont have enough resources to share), fatigue plays an important role, when it comes to cramps. I had trained for a certain pace, which means, my body (all running muscles) has adopted to that pace. If I run faster than my training pace, that puts extra load on the muscles. In a longer distance event like the marathon, the extra load over a sustained period could eventually lead to a breakdown and cause cramps.

Here is my evolution since I got cramps (at a much lower pace) in Auroville last year.
Auroville: Cramps at Km 17. (Pace: 10kmph) Resolution was to take more Gatorade
Hyderabad: Cramps at Km 18. (Pace: 12kmph). Gatorade didn't help. Switched to Salt (electrolytes)
Salt worked well in CTC Buckingham Marathon, and Ultra 100.

SCMM Training: 35K Time trial (Cramps at 28th Km): Looking at the data, this happened when I was trying to keep up with Brijesh and Murthy in the third loop at GKVK.
SCMM Marathon: Cramps at 24th Km: Ran 8kms faster than normal preceding the cramps.

If atleast I could have paced myself well, (keeping to the pace I have trained for), I might have avoid the cramps.

To summarize: There needs to be a overall training plan, which includes something other than running to take that extra load. In simple terms, cross-training, plyometrics, weights, could help one take the extra load.

On Magnesium:
I had been using Himalayan Pink salt, on the general notion, that there would be a wider spread of minerals. (It is my belief that medical science cannot capture and solve each individuals problems. And the solution lies in adopting simple practices. I would have stuck to common rock salt, if it wasn't refined).

The spectral analysis of this salt says that there is .16g of Mg per kg. That's negligible considering I might be ingesting 1g of salt at a time. Obviously, this salt lacks in Magnesium, and doesn't have balanced electrolytes.

It is also well known that electrolytes play an important role in muscle expansion/contraction. Magnesium also pays an important role as documented here. (This particular site talks exclusively on Magnesium.) So, to substantiate the claims, I also looked up at the composition of Endurolyte. Endurolyte contains the main electrolytes Sodium, Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium in near-equal quantities. (Also they are chelated for better absorption). In addition, Endurolyte has an overdose of Vitamin-B6 (330% of daily value per tablet), which plays an important role in Gluconeogenesis.

I wish I had stuck to the simple solution of Endurolyte, given that I could have imported them. They aren't readily available in India. For those, who cannot get Endurolyte readily, the easiest and also the cheapest solution would be to stick to Enerzal which has an identical composition of electrolytes.

Ironically, Enerzal is the same energy drink supplied all through the route in Mumbai marathon. I had been avoiding it for the fear of taking it along with Endurance Gels. While I did avoid it during the initial stages of the race, I was taking it during the later stages post the cramps. Maybe this could explain how I sustained the race-pace even after getting bogged down by cramps.

The energy drink that I currently use (Gatorade) has helped me run without getting tired, but hasn't helped me in avoiding cramps. It might be a good reason for me switch over to Enerzal.

SCMM 2013: An opportunity that was missed

We never knew when the race started, as all of us were expecting a line-up at the start. As we got to the gate after the pre-race warm up, it was very crowded, and runners were getting to go out. All of us joined the crowd and raced to the start line, by which time, the start line had already been opened, and people were running past it.

While that separated myself and Bobby from the rest of the group, the others were running together about twenty metres behind. My first priorities were to get the Garmin HRM going (I am not sure why I wanted all that HR data in the first place). Everytime, I did a scan, the Garmin would pick up  many HR monitors in the range, and would not lock to the one I was wearing (which was borrowed, thanks to my good friend Murthy, who was also running the race). Finally, I had to go a little bit wide off the course, and away from the runners to get it going. Till this time, it was status quo, with Bobby and myself running together, with the rest of the group following about twenty metres behind.

As I was tuned to the idea of running along with the group, I let slowed down, let them pass and joined the paceline. The group had coach Pani sir, Brojen, Brijesh, Bharath, Murthy and now myself. Each of us were taking turns leading the group, setting the pace for every km.

The first separation from the group came at Peddar road downhills. Being a fan of downhills, I let myself roll the legs, and was more than fifty metres ahead of the group.  Shortly ahead, I took a short walk-break for the group to catch up. (I use walk-breaks regularly on my long runs, to rest the running muscles for a small time, before picking up and running again).

All was well until the 12th km, when I felt I need to take a loo-break. As luck would have it, a portable toilet was just around the corner, and I quickly got off from the group. After I quickly *did it*, I got back and started running. When my Garmin beeped at the next km, I would realize that I have lost 80 seconds, thanks to my little break.

After a quick calculation, I figured that I could catch up with the group at 21st km. (My target pace was 5:00/km while the groups was 5:10/km, which gave me a 10 seconds advantage). I ran the next few kilometres at exactly my target pace 5:00 +-1sec. Just before taking the Bandra-Worli sea link, I would cross Sandeep, who I had met two weeks earlier at RFL's fortnightly run.

As I reached the Worli-Bandra Sea Link, there was another runner from Bangalore. I would pass by Pankaj Rai on the bridge, while catching up with Bhasker Sharma was little tougher and meant more work. I didn't mind the extra pace as I was running faster to catch up with my group. All this time, my goal shifted from maintaining my race/target pace to chasing the group.

Finally at the 24th km, I was behind the group by about thirty metres, and I felt a sharp shooting pain in the left hamstring. My nemesis and my dear friend, the cramps would catch me. Not wanting to lose time, I quickly took a pinch of salt from the packet I was carrying, and walked as fast as I can, almost doing a 8 minute walking pace. Onlookers should have been surprised at why I was walking instead of running. A few minutes later, I was running back to normal, albeit at a reduced pace. Now, my goal shifted from chasing the group to covering the next 18kms with minimal damage to my target. 

During this time, a lot of people passed me, including Bhasker Sharma, Kieren D'Souza (Ultra 100 finisher), and Paripurn. As I got back full throttle on my feet again, I kept chasing Bhasker.

At the 30th km, as I cross, Murthy who had been caught with my dear friend cramps, gave me a shout. Surprised I turned back, and gave him the pack of salt I had. I was in two minds as that was the only pack I had. Though not much was left, it might have carried me to the finish line. Chasing down Bhasker, I took Enerzal wherever they were offering while continuing at the target pace.

Strangely I felt a little tired, when I was crossing the foot-overbridge, at which point of time, I still had 8 more kms to go. Pedder Road climb was a struggle, as I would lean forward and increase the Cadence, I also saw the pace drop to 10kmph. I caught up with one of the runners running ahead and chat with him. Luckily, he gave me a salt tablet which I took at the next water stop. 

It was a pity that I could not make full use of the downhill. I could swing my legs completely. 

The next few kms were a struggle as neither water nor enerzal was available anywhere along the course. (All of it had been emptied by the half-marathoners).

I got a sigh of relief as I was 40.6km on my Garmin and exclaimed only one more mile to go.

As I crossed the 1000 metres to go, there was huge relief. Just when I thought I could sprint to the finish line, my dear friend Cramp reminded his presence.

I took a quick walk break, and then ran close to my target pace, but slowly and steadily to the finish line, to finish with a time of 3:38:30.

Naturally, I am a little disappointed that I could not finish the race strongly. Given that I had 18 more kms to cover, when I got the cramps, the damage isn't significant.

As I went over the splits, this is what I found. The 10kms leading to the cramps were the fastest 10K I ran in the race at 49:10. Maybe, that'll help me look in a different direction, than mineral salts.

As for SCMM 2013, the race was superbly organized. There was wonderful people support from Mumbaikars all through the course. The route was excellent, Marine Drive and Sea Link in particular. The weather, amazing. There wasn't better that I could ask for.

There were some things that could have been better, like the how the race started, and water/refreshments along the course in the last few kilometres. By far, this would be the best race to be organized in India. Hyderabad might come a little closer, but crowd supports pulls in big points for Mumbai.

The story of my good friend Cramp is too long to be covered now. Stay tuned, to find out more.

The road to Mumbai

As I am penning this blog, I am about to go to bed. Tomorrow morning, I'll be doing my last training run for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM).

I got to know about the first edition of Mumbai Marathon in 2003 from Bhasker Sharma, a fellow runner in Bangalore. Bhasker has went on to complete 40+ marathons in the next ten years, including an amazing twelve-in-twelve.

While Bhasker had been at Mumbai for almost every year since then, I had to wait almost a decade to get on the road to Mumbai. I was never a fan to traveling to different cities and running races. For me, after running two marathons in 2001 and 2002, the marathon journey pretty much fizzled out, till I revived my running passion about a year ago.

In the interim, I had finished one marathon (KTM 2008) and a 50K (Ultra 2009) run, mostly crawled to the finish by anybody's standards. There was always a fear for the 42km distance or the four and a half hour running ordeal.

The last year has been exciting with two marathon distance runs, one 50K and one 100K. All in the span of last four months. For the last four months, not only have I trained for SCMM, but also have run two half-marathons in my personal best times, and a 100K distance (obviously my longest run in best time as well).

Having trained for and run the 100K, the fear for the (marathon) distance has disappeared. While my average pace of the 100K run was slightly over 8km/hour, the marathon pace will be a near twelve kilometres per hour. The challenge will be to sustain this pace for more than three and a half-hours on the road.

Not to mention that this is the first time I have participated in a structured training program, and have trained with people at similar capacity. During this training, I have learnt to overcome several critical limitations, which would have come in my way of running a longer distance. These range from muscle cramps to fear of running solo for long distances.

Three days from now, I'll be at the starting line of India's largest marathon, with atleast a couple of thousand more people. With the hope of bettering my ten year old marathon record. Shattering, not just breaking.

I wish good luck to all of those who'll take the start line this Sunday!

The run of a century

Its exactly an year since I rediscovered running. For those who know me closely, they know that I have completed my first marathon in 2001 (at an age of 26) and my second one in 2002. For the next 10 years, I had just been living in the glory of those two marathons. While I havent kept away, my running had been inconsistent never extending beyond a few months at once. Mostly it was laziness, that kept me away. There can be other reasons, but those are just excuses.

Last year, I discovered that my health was failing in the middle of a demanding project, when I fell sick three times in a span of three months. It was an obvious decision to get back into running. A few close friends starting a running venture, provided another trigger and also the ideal platform.

Motivation...

The next few months saw me from crawling to the finish at Auroville (with an injury) to flying in TCS Bangalore 10K.  With the beginning of the year proving to be so good, I wanted to super-size
and participate at every event that happened. I was soon brought to earth by Ashok Nath, who I regard as one of my mentors. Ultra was toned down from 100K to 75K. (The 24H category didn't exist then).

And very soon, I crewed for Mark Woolley at La Ultra. There was some impending curiosity about other bigger and badder Ultra-marathon races like Badwater and Spartathlon. The target for Ultra was again upgraded to 100K as a entry requirement for Spartathlon. The only catch was it required me to complete the distance in under 10:30, which wasnt possible with my current pace.

The Preparation...

I have been running for 13 years (what if it isnt continuous). More importantly, I crewed for a 45-hour finisher at La Ultra. This got me loads of insight into Ultra running, even if I hadnt personally experienced it in my body. The previous longest that I had run was a 50K (upgraded from a 37.5K) at Bangalore Ultra 2009, with a finish time of over 6:30 hours.

As part of the Mumbai marathon training along with the Pacemakers group, I do three running workouts in a week, and am in reasonable shape. However, that wouldn't meet the requirements of running a 100K. As part of the Ultra training, I did a marathon distance (42K) and a 50K. By the time, I finished the 50K, I figured that the recovery will be tough for runs longer than 5 hours. The logistics also proved complicated for managing longer distance runs.

The plan to run longer distances was soon shelved, and I adopted a backup strategy to do a back-to-back long runs (two long runs on consecutive days), but never could execute it, except for one-time, when a long run was coupled with speed-work on the previous day.

The change of date in Mysore Celebration Run Half-marathon also robbed me of one precious weekend which could have been utilized for a practice long run. I effectively went to the start-line having run one 50K four weeks prior to the race.

Pre-Race

The week preceding the race was quiet, thanks to an upset stomach, and a business trip.

Knowing that carb-loading is very important for the distance, I researched on the web, and found about Western Australian Method. Just a three minute workout on the preceding day set me up for the race next day. I was already feeling the carbs on my thighs the previous day.

My close friend and classmate Manivannan joining in for the 50K, we went to pickup the race packet just in the nick of time. I also picked up a few GU gel packs. I also dropped off two bags for the organizers (1st one to be kept at 0K and the next one at 6.25K). The second bag was crucial  as I would cross that point every 12.5K, it was bigger and had a majority of the stuff.

Another friend, Dipankar (2-time Ironman finisher), offered me his Garmin 310 XT (20H runtime) for the race, which meant that I can forget about the tracking for the race. Dipankar also offered a few tips that would help me during the course of the race.

We arrived back home at 2230 and went to bed at 2300. After having finished our dinners earlier at 1900 hours, we did the last minute formalities, like getting the race clothes ready, pinning bibs to the shorts/t-shirts etc.

I promptly got up at 0230, as the alarm rang. I would have preferred a better night of sleep, but given the excitement preceding the race, I had the best I could get. We had pasta for pre-race meal, thanks to my wife, who painfully prepared it late the previous night sacrificing a few hours of her sleep. Our start had to be delayed from the planned 0330, as I had some stomach problems. We finally started at 0355 after realizing that we are getting late for the 0500 start.

We arrived at the race venue, just 10 minutes before the start, with me doing my warmup exercises from the car to the venue, on the run. Luckily, Mani could take care of my bags to be dropped off at the start.

The Race

The 5am start meant that we had to start in the dark. I greeted all the fellow runners, whoever I could find. In all the excitement, I forgot to press the Start button in the Garmin. I also realized late that my HR monitor wasnt pairing with it. 

The course was 12.5K out and back, which had to be covered four times for a 100K distance.

The first hour was exciting as we ran as a pack in the dark. There was Gajendra, Chandra, Amar, Srinivas and a couple of others. A couple of us had torches, and the rest helped shouting the directions, LEFT, RIGHT, KEEP RIGHT, KEEP LEFT, etc.

The aid stations were just getting set up as we carried along. At one point, we had to skip the aid-station as they were just laying the table, and at another, I had to wait for two minutes before I could get my hands on a cup of water.

Once the daylight came on, I kept cheering anyone and everyone I could find on the course. At the 10th kilometer, I would have my biggest surprise. Nanjunda who was running the 100K passed me in the opposite direction. A quick calculation, and he was running at close to 15kph, I was wondering. This would further be confirmed at my 20K mark, where he would be crossing his 30K.

At the 25K mark, I would take a short break of 2 minutes, sitting on the chair. I also got my bag out, and used a cap. The decision to change the t-shirt was deferred to 31.25K as I didnt have the one I wanted in this bag. When I arrived at the 31.25K mark, I was surprised to find my bag missing. As part of my plan, I was running with a dark-blue t-shirt during the dark hours, and a bright t-shirt for the sunny hours (to reflect the heat). With the bag missing, I ended up running with the dark T-shirt. As the loop continued, I began feeling the heat, and my pace dropped considerably.

When I reached the 50K mart (at the 0-point), I got my misplaced bag out, and changed on to the T-shirt. Despite telling the volunteers multiple times, I wasn't convinced that the bag would reach the destination. I sought help from Juggy, and entrusted him to get the bag to 6.25K point. With all this confusion going on, I forgot about me gels as I had gone on for another 200 metres. I went back to the start point, took two packs of gel.

When I reached the 56K mark, I was relieved to see my bag. I took one ibuprofen tablet preemptively, and also changed to a hat which would give me more protection from the sun. Before crossing the 62.5K mark, I overtook Srinivas, who had slowed down very much and was in pain. Later during the loop, I would pass Jagan, who was also leading earlier. During the course of the loop, I also passed on a message to Sachin Pandey, that I'll need a couple of gel packs for the next loop.

At the 75K mark, I took a short break, and also left messages for my family about my finishing time. I also collected the two gel packs, which would be used later on in the course. During this loop, I saw Atmanand, a Chennai runner, who had earlier passed me, and spent 3-4 kms chasing him down. Finally, when I passed him and went to the 6.25K mark, there was a surprise waiting. The course had been curtailed to 12.5K and we have to do it twice to finish the distance. My instant reaction was a disappointment that I had to run the loop again. 

I would see Atma, another hundred metres ahead, and gave him the spare gel pack I had. On my way to the 88K mark, I will pass Kieren DSouza, who is a kid by our standards, yet running strong. I ran along with him for the next few kilometres chatting with him. On reaching the 88K mark, I realized that most competition had dropped off, and only Opendro (who held almost a 8K lead aginst me), at one point, was ahead by a kilometre. I would eventually cross him.

The loop was further curtailed to a 2K with the sun falling down, and we had to do it six times (the rest 500m being covered in the previous loop).

The finish

This left myself and Kieren in competition for the 3rd place. With my back to the wall for a podium finish, I had to turn the heat on Kieren. I picked up pace, and threw him a big challenge. As luck would have it, I caught cramps within another two kilometers. When I reached the 0-K point, took some water and salt to ease out the cramps, and kept walking. 

By this time, Kieren had picked up a 300 metre lead, and was running along with another "Uday Kumar" who was doing the 24H challenge. I took me a while to catch up with him, but I eventually did. During this time, I kept looking at the Irsid, the guy in running for the 2nd place, who lead was rapidly reducing. Though he was running weak, he had a bigger lead to carry him through to the 2nd place.

It all seemed magical when I crossed the finish line. I went on to congratulate Kieren who would finish a few minutes behind me, and then Atma and Opendro.

For me, it was extremely satisfactory to have crossed the finish line strong.

Heartfelt thanks to: Pani Sir, Dipankar, Manivannan, RFL, Anju, Bhasker, Ashok Nath, the entire Pacemakers gang.

Photo Courtesy: Raghavendra (Raghu) - Runners High

Garmin Link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/242247032

Celebrating the Dusshera with a Half Marathon

I wasnt still sure when I got to the start line. There was a nagging pain on the left ankle, which even the ten minute jog to the starting point didnt help. As the rest of the pacemakers arrived, I just got on with the proceedings and forgot about the ankle. Pani Sir drilled us through the customary pre-race warm-up which got us ready for the race. As I got onto the start line, my first priority was to get as close to the front as possible.

The plan for the race was not to push. Given to understand that Brijesh, is not going to push either,  I asked him to stay with me. As the countdown ended, I raced off the start line, only to see the rest of the team lag behind by another twenty metres. So much for the adrenaline rush, I tried to slow down, looking back every once in a while, for the rest to catch up.

As I crossed the Metropole Hotel, in which I had stayed the previous night, the lace on my left shoe had come off. I knelt down to tie the laces, and saw a small group zoom by. Realizing that it is none other than pacemakers, I pulled myself together and joined them. So there we were, Brijesh, Neera, myself, Bharath leading the pack, with Coach Pani sir, following us a few seconds behind. 

As we reached the first water point, Brijesh mentioned that he's going to stop for water. I took my usual walk break with the water, only to see Brijesh zoom ahead. I quickly gulped whatever I could  and joined him back. To say that Brijesh runs like a Kenyan would be an understatement. If you want to understand how Brijesh runs, just watch an ostrich. The arm swing exactly looking like the wings of an ostrich, and with each step pushing off and landing softly. Its a treat you must watch it for yourself.

The next mile saw us run through an uphill and a downhill, on which Pankaj Rai and his mate, overtook us. When we entered the Mysore University Campus, I stopped once more for water, to see Brijesh race ahead. At this moment, I gave up the catching up game, and followed him closely. 

As we crossed the 8K mark, there was a water stop, which I skipped having just had water. I would realize later on that this would be my biggest mistake for the race. The next five kilometers saw run along the Kukkarakere lake, on a trail shared by early morning walkers. We also saw the 10K runners cross us from the opposite side. More importantly we saw the HM lead pack crossing us in the opposite direction, giving us a clear indication of how ahead the lead pack were. All through this distance, I was keeping slightly ahead of Pani Sir, Neera and Bharath setting the pace for them.

There wasn't a single water point all through this distance, and that scuttled my plans of a gel pack at half way. When I arrived at the next water point around 13K (which was the same as the one I had missed earlier), my gel pack wasn't read. So much that I decided to move on with just a pinch of salt.

Pani Sir and myself, with Bharath hiding behind me

On the Extreme left: Pankaj and Rakesh. Pacemakers group: Brijesh, Neera, myself and Bharath

Thankfully, the next water point arrived within a kilometer, and I had half a gel pack, or whatever I could have before I reached the water point. With Brijesh racing ahead and nowhere in sight, the next target to catch Pankaj, who was about 60 metres ahead of me. I tried closing the distance by changing gears a little, only to realize that I was getting tired, and would hold back.

At first, it was Chandra, (the 3:40 Hyderabad finisher), who offered me to join along. I politely declined, knowing my limits well. And next, it was Pani Sir, to whom, I told, I'll save my energy for the last 2 kms, or so, it should be. 

With my Garmin beeping for the 11th mile, I switched it to time mode (in which I had the time display, and all this time, I had been running on the pace alone). It read 1:24:40. Just then, I realized that I could break 1:40 if I cover the next 2.1 miles in 15 minutes. I kept running calculations in the back of my mind maintaining the same pace I had. At some point, when it required me to do a 6:40 mile, I gave up. 

With the 1:40 timing so close, I didnt bother to stop at the next water point and had water on the go. I kept my gaze locked in at Pani Sir, and held myself together. As we reached the finish line, I sprinted up to catch Pankaj, and we finished together.  A few seconds later, I stopped my Garmin (after realizing that I hadn't done it yet), and saw the timing. It was 1:40:28.
Update: The official timing of the race is Gun Time: 1:40:21 and Chip Time: 1:40:18. Now, I am wondering if I could have shaved off those 18 seconds.

Before the race, the idea was not to push, and I wasnt sure how my feet would respond. But once the race started, the adrenaline carried me for atleast 16 kms, and the last five was tough, if not a struggle. Had I realized a mile earlier that I was so close, I could have given it a shot. But, let me save the 1:40 for another day, and be contended with the PR.

Many thanks to coach Pani sir, who kept saying, go ahead, you are doing great from behind, and the fellow pacemakers, including Brijesh, (who stole the day with a super 1:36:30), Neera Katwal (who took home the womens winner prize), and Bharath (who keeps amazing everyone with the finish line sprint). And finally, thanks to that wonderful spirit in Pani Sir, that he keeps racing with the rest of us, and inspires us, even at his age. I came to know about his duel with Pankaj later on.

Things that worked well:
1. Salt, continues to work well. No cramps at all, though it felt edgy at the finis.
2. Running with the group, meant I had to push harder (no stops at waterpoints)
3. Weather (thankfully).

Things that didn't work well:
1. Could have seen the route beforehand, which would have equipped me for the Gel intake
2. Not tracking target time or pace (It was meant not to be).