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!!
