Run Update

Remember how in a bout of over-enthusiasm, I signed up for a 20-mile race? Well... here's how that went down.

Post my super awesome Bangalore Marathon, I had 10 weeks left to train for the Chennai Marathon 20 miler. I was super excited (but also dreading it at the same time) to start the training for my longest run to date. I downloaded the novice plan from the race organizers. The plan was for 16 weeks and I was going to jump in at week 6. I had been training for my half so that made up for the 1-5 weeks of foundation training that I skipped. Or so I thought. 

The plan, in a snapshot, had four days of running in a week and 2 days of cross training. Of the 4 runs, one was a tempo run, 2 were easy short runs and 1 was a easy long run. At week 6, the training mileage was 36K, and it peaked at 56K four weeks before the actual race. The longest run was 26K and it appeared twice in the plan.

I started the training in full earnestness. Checking off each run as it happened. First week the long run was 16K (no problems there) and I also managed to rack up the 36K for the week. Second week had my longest run to date. 22K. And that closed my week at 40K. While training for the HM, I was only running 2-3 times a week and averaging around 25K per week. So it's quite safe to say that this was quite the bump up in terms of weekly mileage and time spent on my feet. I took 2 hours and 43 minutes to complete that 22K. Sure its just 900 meters longer than the longest I have done but it also took 27 minutes longer. Throughout my HM training, the most I was running was 2 hours. This is what my body was used to. I think the sudden increase in mileage and duration of my runs was a shocker for my system.

After that 22K, my knees felt it the most. It felt completely knocked up. I should have rested it but I didn't (of course!). I continued optimistically with my training plan. I ran an 8K and then an easy 6K. I was on the road attempting a 24K when everything came to a screeching halt. 13 kilometers into the run my left knee started hurting. At that point I couldn't even walk. The pain disappeared almost as quickly as it came. A day or two later my right knee started feeling uncomfortable. The pain was not in the least unmanageable so I assumed with rest it would be fine. Three days later it felt fine. I attempted an easy 8K. Couldn't go beyond 5K. 

All running has been put on hold for now. And in all probability I will have to forego the race. I am focusing on some rehabilitating exercises now and hopefully will be able to resume running in about 6-8 weeks. 

The increased running volume was one thing but there were other factors that probably didn't help my case either. Work-wise I have been quite busy which means sitting at my desk for hours and hours on end. This is something I'm so not used to (I've always been a standing desk / workstation person) and probably the way I sit also put unnecessary strain on my knees. Moreover, I hadn't been doing any strength training for about 3 - 4 weeks (for no good reason) and had I been consistently training, my knees would have probably been able to take the increased running volume.

For now, these few weeks of rehabilation is crucial. Better to correct the imbalances now and come out the other end a stronger runner than push through this, run the event anyway and come off the worse for it.

SPBM2018 - Race Update

And I've set a new PB!!! :) :)

Here's how it went down: Race expo day went fine. No trouble finding the venue. No rush at the counters, picked my bib and race kit well in time and had a pretty much relaxed pre-race afternoon. Towards evening, I started feeling a migraine set in. (Uggh! for me these are the worst. When I get a full blown one, all I can think of is carving out the top right corner of my head and tossing it out! Too graphic huh?) I took a random headache pill, had my basic comfort meal of  curds and rice and hit the bed at 8:00 p.m.

Maybe it was the Universe's way of telling me not to push it, but come race morning, I forgot my Garmin! I had left it charging in the corner and forgot all about it as I left in the morning for the race venue. I was half-way to the venue by the time I realized that my watch was missing, and it was too late to go back for it. For non-runners this may not seem like a big deal, but it is. It is a BIG deal!! All my pace plans had to be thrown out the window because without my little watch telling me how fast I was going, I had no way to knowing if I was  going at 6'00", 6'30" or 7'00"... Aaargh!! Anyways, I decided not to let it ruin my race and figured I'd just run it. Enjoy the race and just run. 

And indeed, it was the strangest (but extremely freeing) experience to run without the watch. All throughout the race I had no notion of my pace, or the time that had elapsed. There were around 4 mile markers on the route but other than that I only had a vague estimate of the distance I had covered. There was no way of knowing if I should speed it up or rein it in. I just had to keep running. The weather was definitely much better than what I was used to in training. But given the late start of the run (6:45 am) it became too sunny too quickly and the bright sunshine was a little uncomfortable. The route was pretty (especially the parts that snaked through Cubbon Park) but there were lots of gradual inclines and lots of U-turns which tended to slow you down. And there were lots of runners!!! It was by far the most crowded half marathon that I have done. I couldn't find my rhythm till about half way in and the crowd had thinned a bit. At the start, had I heard them announce that it was a crowd of 7000+ runners. But I believe there were only 3669 finishers (and of them just 584 were women)

It was a good, strong run. I didn't feel fatigued and I didn't feel myself fading (even towards the end) and just as I was getting to the point where I was wishing it was over, I had reached the 20.5K timing mat. I had noted the time on that giant LED timer as I crossed the start line. It was around 00:01:30... And as I turned into the stadium for that last 100 meters to the finish line, I saw it was at 02:17:something. PB!! :) :) By some miracle, PB. I don't know how, but PB. :) The official timing was 2:16:38. (PB by 3 minutes and 10 seconds)

Maybe if I had had my Garmin I might have pushed a little harder for that 2:15 goal. I'll never know. But here's to going for it another day.

2 Days to Race Day

Those last three weeks sure went by super quick! 8 weeks of training (including 2 weeks taper) and I feel about 85% ready! Still not a 100% sure if I can sustain a 6'23" pace for the distance. Running any long distance event is as much a mental skill as it is a physical one. I must get into a head space where I believe I can and then I will. :) I think!

I'm all packed and set to leave for Bangalore tomorrow. Looking forward to the expo and then the actual run on Sunday. The route looks great. A fair bit of it is through Cubbon Park and thats really nice! The weather forecast says its going to be a very pleasant 18-22 degrees C and given that I've been training in a 27 - 30 degree ambiance, that sounds spectacular!! I'm going to have to rethink my shorts though!

I'm going to run with the same strategy as last time : 45 minutes for each 7K segment. Maybe tweak it slightly to 46 min, 45 min & 44 min each so I'm running positive splits. That means maintaining a pace of 6'34" for the first 7K, 6'25" for the middle 7K and 6'17" for the last 7K. Lets see how that pans out. I have never been able to follow through with a pace plan on race day before. Maybe this one will be the one!! 

Btw, I just realized recently, that SPBM'18 will be the 25th race of mine. #cheapthrills... :)

Time for the next one...

Every time I open up my blog these days, I quietly tsk tsk to myself when I see how long it has been since my last post. It is not because I haven't been running - that has been the most consistent it has ever been - but more to do with not finding the time (or inclination) to chronicle those runs.

Lets put the self-berating aside for a while for a quick recap. My last major run was at DRHM18 in July. I was thrilled to bits at the new PB that I had set during the race and I decided that I had earned some time off from running.  I dedicated 4 weeks to focus on strength and flexibility and that was pretty much all of August. Running is such a high-impact activity, that it does to an extent burden the joints. The whole point in taking the time off was to strengthen my muscles so it can be better equipped to support the running movement and to improve flexibility and mobility in the joints to counter any damaging effects that the running may have had on them. It was definitely not crucial to take a complete break from running, a good balance of these forms of exercises on a weekly basis should normally be more than sufficient so I'm really not sure how much good the 4 weeks off actually did... but it certainly did no harm. 

Come September, I resumed running. I signed up for two races and the first one of them is coming up on Oct 21st - the Bangalore Marathon. Still chasing my elusive goal of a 2:15 HM, I set up my training plan for 8 weeks. I have been more or less consistent with the schedule but haven't quite been able to hit the target pace. 

Here's the logic behind my training plan: To run a HM in 2:15, my average pace for that distance ought to be 6'23". I ought to be able to run a third of that distance (7K) at a little bit faster pace; say 6'10"- 6'15". Running at 6'15" would mean covering 7K in a time of 43:45. Come race day, I slow it down comfortably to 45 minutes and 7K x 3 = HM. 45 min x 3 = 2:15. Voila! (I hated math in school as a kid but I do love running math) Anyways, this is the basis of my training plan and also the reason behind the seemingly odd shorter distance intervals (1.4Kx5, 1.75Kx4, 3.5Kx2)

While logically the plan makes perfect sense (to me atleast) the trouble is that 6'15 (and even 6'23") is yet to become a comfortable pace for me. Running at those paces still feels like hard effort for me. 6'31" (thats my current PB pace)  to 6'23" seems like hardly a jump. On paper it looks damn silly. In reality it seems like an impossible gap to bridge. 

6 training runs & 2 and a half weeks to go. 

DRHM 2018 (A.K.A Yay!! PB)

Yay!!! PB!!!

Was riding my runner's high all day on Sunday singing this in my head. It was a good event and a great run. 

The event like every year was organized well. No hiccups anywhere along the way. Flag off was held on the dot, the aid stations were well stocked, the route was marshaled well, there were clear instructions at ever U turn and every diversion, littering was closely monitored and well handled. All in all a well-run event.

I was praying for good weather and I wasn't too disappointed. For about an hour into the run, the weather was excellent. In fact it was so good that I might have gone out a bit too fast at the start. The plan was to hold a steady pace of 6'20 - 6'25" throughout the run. I reached the first timing mat (4.75 K) at a pace of about 6'10" and finished my first 7K in about 44 minutes (1 minute quicker than planned). The humidity set in by the time I was at 11K. Still managed to finish the second 7K within my goal time of 1:30. During the last 7K however, I found it very tough to hold on to the pace.  The higher humidity meant slowing down more often to hydrate. At 2 hours, I had reached 18.2K and knew fully well that I wouldn't be able to cover the balance 2.9K to the finish point in 15 minutes. Even 20 minutes to cover that last bit of distance seemed like a tough ask. At that point, I suffered through a few moments thinking that I wouldn't make PB. Shrugged it off and plodded along.

I reached the 20.1K mark at 2:14. Something clicked inside my head at that point. If I could do the last kilometer in about 6 minutes, I could still make PB. Somehow gathered together the last remaining scattered bits of energy, picked up the pace and made it to the finish line in 2:19:48. Phew! PB. All smiles now. 11th Half Marathon done!

Race Day Already...

10 weeks just flew by. And here I am, just a few more hours to Race Day, reviewing my race plan, the route and what not.

My training was less than desirable. Missed a couple of weeks due to falling ill, had a little mishap with the ankle just 3 weeks ago, had to travel in between.... These are of course the star contributors to the less-than-satisfactory training. The not so stellar reasons of late nights, hitting the snooze button too often and work-got-in-the-way did also make their small contributions.

The many, many blank spots, red crosses and the alarming lack of green ticks not withstanding, I feel race ready. (I can't explain it). I am not sure if this is a false sense of confidence in my running abilities or plain stupidity, but I am taking on this race in a come-on-2:15-we-got-this kinda spirit... :)

And why not? Every race day is different. I've tackled running events where I was fully prepared, trained vigorously and followed all the rules only to have horrible weather or niggling injuries completely ruin all pace plans and targets. I've also had races that turned out to be the strongest and best races despite not being appropriately prepped. So who knows what tomorrow might be like. I'm going to go out there, enjoy my run and give that elusive 2:15 my best shot!!

DRHM 2018 - The training begins...

After (what I see as) a substantial gap, I've signed up for my next race. Its for the DRHM event in Chennai, a race which I have been doing every year since 2015. Incidentally, my first 10K and my first HM was run at this event. 

To be honest, my HM training has been sub-par of late. Sure, come race day I give it my all every single time but as far as the training bit goes, I feel like I've been phoning it in for the past few races and haven't been 100% committed to the training plan. And its not just about following the workout schedule, its also about the nutrition, the hydration and the rest. Very often, I let my lifestyle get in the way of my training schedule. There are late nights of socializing, frequent and indulgent dining out and the sporadic sleep patterns. And lets face it, 10-12 weeks of committing to a regimented lifestyle is not asking for much (is it?)

All things considered, I've decided to take a "dead-serious" approach to the upcoming race on July 22nd. Its time. As always there is a plan. And a goal. :) Of course, I want to beat my PB time of 2:21:35 and so I've kept my goal as 2:15:00. 

Given that my training plan for beating the sub 60 10K went so well, (I mean, I did drastically drive down my 10K time from 67 to 61) I decided to take the same approach to this new 2:15 target as well. It basically involves running 2 hrs every weekend and improving the distance I cover in that time by a little every week. I figure if I can get to 19.1K in 2 hrs then I've got the goal in the bag. On race day, that will leave me with 15 minutes to finish the last 2k which is so doable. While this is the plan for the long weekend runs, during the week, I will be working on increasing my speed by doing shorter runs at faster than goal pace. 

When I run a HM, I mentally strip it down to smaller segments. (If you've read my posts on earlier races, you'll know this) In my head, it makes the distance seem more manageable. The most commonly used break up is a 7k x 3. If I am able to run each 7K segment in under 45 minutes, I would be able to finish the race in 135 minutes (which is the goal). So my shorter tempo runs and interval runs during the week is based on this distance of 7K. 

Heres what the plan looks like in the end:

April to June are probably the worst months in Chennai to train for a race. The weather is horrid. To give you an idea, last weekend, it was 32°C at 6:30 in the morning. So these days, I aim to be done with my runs by 6:15 or 6:30 at the latest. The heat and humidity really affects the effort and pace at which anyone runs and these conditions here right now are really zapping. I have been running all of April and I know! May is only just slightly worse than April.

Of course I could pick a race in December sometime. But whats the fun in that! :)

Anyways! So here goes!!

Marina Runnerz Marathon 2018

The Sunday that went by saw my 2nd Half Marathon for the year. It was a smidge disappointing after the fantastic run that I had had at the CRHM two weeks prior to this one. I was hoping to finish in 2:15 or at least a sub 2:20 which would have made for a new PR. The route shown was a nice, straight stretch down the East Coast Road and back and the weather prediction showed a rather pleasant 23°C / 24°C. I thought that I had my goal in the bag!

Mistake number 1: It was not a flat course. There was a gentle, consistent incline & decline throughout the route. It was slight but created enough resistance to slow down my pace here and there. Especially towards the end.

Mistake number 2: It was humid as hell! The weather was muggy making it seem hotter than it actually was and I could feel my system heating up. I periodically drenched myself with water and ended up stopping at every aid station to do that and to hydrate.

Mistake number 3: New(ish) running pants. I've had the tights that I wore on this particular run for a couple of months now and I have worn them a few times - but for short runs. These tights have slight compression properties and are more constricting than my regular pants. 4 kilometers into the run on Sunday and I felt like my muscles were already fatigued and I was feeling like I would normally feel at the 15k / 16k mark. I chalked it down to the humidity at the time but in retrospect maybe it was the tights? I'll never know for sure but I'm not taking my chances with these tights again... However cool they look!

My plan was to break the route into 3 7K segments and run each one at 45 minutes - finishing at 135 minutes. 1st 7K was good I finished it in 44:46. I lagged at the 14K mark by 2 minutes and from there it went south. I guess I was keeping a steady pace through out but kept feeling fatigued and ended up taking quite a few walking breaks. Towards the end, my right hip flexor was feeling the strain and the bad voice in my head kept telling me "Stop. Its enough. Just walk the rest of the way. You have nothing to prove." Pfff. Seriously! Running the distance takes as much mental strength as physical. Finished in 2:22:46. A minute and ten seconds slower than my PB. I guess I'll just have  to work on beating it another day.

Cool Runners Half Marathon 2018

What an amazing day! About 12 hours since my run this morning & I'm still riding my runner's high! :-)

The Cool Runners event came back this Feb after a year's break. Its a small event and in the past, I have found it to be well organized and a very pleasant event. The last time I ran the event, I had run in the 10K category but this year I opted for the 21.1K distance. Considering the facts that it was a double loop HM and that I have another HM coming up in 3 weeks time, I was in half a mind to switch my category to a 10K. I am so glad that I didn't.

Early mornings are still very pleasant here in the City so it made for great run weather today. The run started early at 5:00 am. I had a target time of 2:20 in my head as I started out. (Given that the whole of last year I spent in bettering my 10K time, I thought this was a very doable target) I had divided the run into 7 segments of 3K and each segment I was to complete in 20 minutes. I found myself finishing each segment well in time and up until 18K, I was spot on target. In fact it looked like I might have made it in under 2:20.... But somewhere in that last three kilometers, I found myself fading. The feet & ankles were aching (could be because I wasn't in my favourite on shoes) I could feel the muscle soreness developing and it seemed tougher and tougher to push myself. I took a short 500 meter walking break at 19.5 and willed myself to continue running to the finish. 

About 300 meters to the finish line I met a couple of run buddies from the Nitros and they very sweetly ran with me till the finish line shouting encouragement and pushing me on. 2:21:35 was my finish time. It was an incredibly awesome feeling! I had just beaten my PB by 12 minutes!! But even more incredibly, as I finished, the timing organizers came up to me, noted my bib number and asked me to stick around for the prize distribution since they felt I had a podium finish. And surprise! surprise! when the prize distribution came around, it turns out that I came first in my age / gender category of 16 - 45 women and 2nd among all the women. (I discovered later that there were only 16 women who participated in the HM category). All in all, a fantastic run that ended in an absolute  high!

My next run is three weeks from now. Hoping to better this timing and push for another PB... :)