The Race of My Life!

The alarm is yet to ring. But I had already woken up and the time was 4.30 am. The body was still a little in the Indian time zone where it was already 8 am. The house was still dark and everyone asleep. I decided to make myself a coffee, the drink I trust every day and, for sure on a race day! The race was still four and half hours away. It struck me that I needed to have a light meal or a breakfast which digests over the next 4-5 hours. I scanned the kitchen for what was left over from the previous day and ended up eating dal and rice.

5 am – I am quite good at taking these small naps and decided to get back to sleep! The alarm would go off in another 30 minutes.

5.30 am – Having woken up for the second time, I started “Reload”ing myself. I needed some solid food which was more easily digestible. A banana and a couple of Yoga bars were the planned choice!

7 am – We were ready to go! I carried my bottle of “Activate” which I would consume at around 8.15 am.

It was during that walk to the metro that I got a talk from my youngest brother which would have an impact for the rest of my race. Running is a far simpler sport than cricket or tennis or soccer. At our level you do not need to worry about a tricky opponent who will probably bowl that quicker one or serve an ace or dribble his or her way past you to hit that goal. If you have trained well, you just need to make sure you stay focussed and navigate through factors which are far more under your control like hydration, pace etc.

Just before the race I had this conversation with a friend of mine on the pace I will be setting – It was not too complex. A pace of 4.30 minutes per kilometre would take me to a time of 3.10 hours while a 4.15 will bring me to that magic figure of 3.00 hours. Looks simple but ask any runner and they would tell you the difficulty! I knew I have done a pace of 4.20s in my training and would probably settle for that!

8.47 am – Just behind the Elites who were flagged off at 8.30 am we started. It was not too cold, and I decided at the last minute to run without my gloves and head gear.

As in cricket, I typically break down my marathon into a 50 over match. The first 12 kilometres sets the tone of the match. Unlike many others I tend to make sure I am having time in the bank without putting my body through any undue pressure or strain. The next 18 kilometres are like your middle overs which needs to be played out without losing too many wickets in the form of any hydration, pain or fatigue issues. And the last 12 kilometres are the slog overs which you will do well if you have not lost too many wickets! In other words if you come into the last 12 K stretch feeling good, you would probably end this journey well.

I started off nicely and was doing running under a pace of 4.10 minutes per kilometer. The first 10 K was done in 41.52 minutes. It looked as if I was going too fast. Should I be slowing down? My perceived effort was still not too bad and I knew I had sustained good speeds in training. But this was a run which would last until the 42^nd kilometre. I was soon crossing the half marathon distance. The time was 1:28:37 and I had done my second fastest ever run for that distance!

It was at this stage while I was looking good, that I started getting a faint feeling that if everything goes well, I would probably be cruising to a sub 3.05. Somewhere in my mind I also knew a few of my friends would be tracking me and they would be pleasantly surprised at the pace I was going at. The usual questions would be asked of whether I would burn myself out. I was smiling to myself but was enjoying the race. This could be my moment. May be!

The middle overs were going off well, though I had developed some pain above my right ankle. It was nothing to worry though and I was hoping that it doesn’t aggravate too much. The route by then had a few tunnels and up hills. Around 29 K, I got another boost when I saw my family! Waving at them, I knew the last part of my journey has started.

The wave at the 29 K

30 K in 2:06:27.

My calculations had begun for a sub 3. Really? I had roughly 54 minutes to do another 12 kilometres and change. I had to go a little faster than 4.30 min per kilometre! Possible? Yes, of course. It looked like a match which was mine to lose but you never know!

35 K - I was feeling good. As good I can be at that distance:-).  The time was 2:28:02. I had another 32 minutes to do 7 odd kilometres. The asking rate was still at around 4.30 min per kilometre. Still on track.

This was the time I felt was slowing down slightly. Not too much, but enough for certain thoughts to enter your mind. Is this the stage which makes people end up slightly over the 3 hour mark. Some of the more accomplished runners have found it difficult. May be it was real. Given this opportunity today should I be desperate to push myself to a sub 3 or make it happen in September at Berlin, as originally planned? These were certain thoughts running through my mind.

The pace was still not too bad, and I decided to continue without letting these thoughts trouble me. Every kilometer was taking me to that destination. I thanked my family, my friends and well-wishers. I would be surprising many if this happens, but that can wait.

40 K – 2:49:54. 

Another 2.2 K in around 10 minutes. The equation was now at around 4.35 min per km. I think I thought it was nearer to 5 min per km and took it a little easy which in hind sight could have been a mistake. A costly mistake at that!

Alas the Arc De Triomphe was up there in the front! Should I be crying? I had just crossed the line in 2 hours 59 minutes and 48 seconds! The moment of truth and pride. I pumped my fist in the air and walked away. I met Pavithra, Sharanya and Anand around 10 minutes later. So how was it? You seemed good when we met you at the 29 K. Yeah I said! Not too bad…I did a sub 3! :-)

Ps – Around 5 months back I had promised Pavithra that I would stop running the day, I do a sub 3!

Happy!

Statistics 

Nutrition – 7 Gels. One 10 minutes before the start and the other 6 in between the race:-) I had one more on me, which I did not use. LOL! Sips or gulps of water every 3-4 kilometer and a slice of banana at around 25 K.

Temperature - Start at around 10-12 degrees, with the end at around 20 degrees.

Timings -

Garmin Link - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1113615083

Paris Marathon - The last 48 hours!

It is a Thursday morning in Bangalore. I will be reaching Paris by night and will have two full days before the marathon on April 3^rd. The 750 ml Decathlon bottle is my constant companion and I “Reload” with good periodicity through the flight. I let go of the “spirit” which used to be a nice friend some years back:-). It is bonding time in Paris. My younger brother has come down to Paris with family from London. My youngest brother (Anand) too has made it there after a month long, back packing trip. All of us are to spend the next few days in an AirBnB house around La Defense.

I normally do not like those event expos on the previous day, since you never know the effort one ends up with. So Friday it was…Samuel Chettiar, a runner friend from Mumbai gave me some Schneider treatment since they were the title sponsors! Along with Asics, the shoe I have been running with since I started and Tag Heuer the timing partners, it looked like all my favourite brands were there to make it my marathon! On Saturday, while everyone else went to the Disneyland, I stayed put in the 800 sq ft temporary home. I managed to do a bit of work on that day but I think I have never ever rested my legs like that before a race.

Food in the last two days was a bit of an issue since I was a vegetarian (eggs included) and off wheat. Pastas and bread were always the saving grace when I travel abroad, but not this time. Luckily since it was more like home, I was fortunate to get some home-made food. Rice, curd, dal, boiled vegetables, milk, eggs and some gluten free bread was what I had. A month earlier I had changed my start from the 3.15 hour corral to the 3.00 hour one. So it was going to be a 8.47 am start and that was just after the “Elites” start theirs at 8.45 am. I need to thank the organisers for having accepted this change which was backed by a 3.14 hour time recorded by me in another marathon.

Looking up at the weather constantly, had become a routine in the last 2 weeks and now it was time to feel the actual chill. I departed from my usual routine of the preceding two days of any event to head out for a run on Friday and Saturday. A 5 km run around 8.30 am at an easy pace to acclimatize as well as to decide on my final attire for the marathon. On Friday I went with an inner shirt, a tee, a head gear and a glove. It was slightly chilly and windy at around 7 degrees. On Saturday I tried not putting my inner shirt and just went with a normal tee, the head gear and the gloves. It was around 10 degrees and still not too comfortable for my liking. I knew Sunday will be a lot warmer. And to my liking…And I decided to replicate my Saturday dressing for the race day.

Visualisation was another key element of the last two days. Imagining every step, every kilometre and seeing a few videos on how the path looks like! In fact I saw the entire 2015 event recording on Saturday, although with a few fast forwards:-)  The cobble stones, the turns and the tunnels. All at a pace which will comfortably get me to a 3.10, may be slightly better! The thing about 3.10 is to make that BQ a certainty. Just before I went to bed at around 9.30 pm, I had the gear in place, the bib done, the gels in place…A few more messages reached out to me, but all that can wait. For tomorrow was the D-day – a race I was feeling more and more as my own! One last thing before I sleep; I checked again the route by train to get to the starting point. Good night!

A matter of mind - Run up to the Paris Marathon

“It is what you do in the dark, that puts you in the light” – Under Armour ad featuring Michael Phelps

When you drop out of a race mid-way like I did at the SCMM 2016, what gets beaten is not the physical aspect alone but the mental framework. Post the wonderful race I had at the Spice Coast Marathon at Kochi in November 2015, hours of training had gone in during the run up to the event and it just fell apart during the course of a mere 5 days prior to the big one in Mumbai. A couple of silly mistakes and a lesson well learnt. The Dubai Marathon which happened a few days after Mumbai had proved very satisfactory for the Indian runners and did play a bit on my mind.

Yet I did know that my chance at a redemption was fixed for April 3^rd, but did not know how that will turn out to be. Till around the beginning of February, the body was still weak, and the mind not too sure how the return will be. This was also the period to make some structural changes. The biggest decision I did was to turn Gluten free. I had read about the link between asthma and gluten, and also the positive effects of pursuing this diet in having a fitter body. You may call it the Novak effect to a certain extent:-) I wanted to conquer the weakest link in my arsenal which was the respiratory system and would not have minded doing a few things differently to make that happen! Today my understanding of this diet is still evolving but I would like to stay on it for a little bit more time to get to some conclusions.

By the first week of February, I decided to get back to my training plan which has been centred around the “Run Less Run Fast” program. Since December 2015, I had followed the specific plan which would get me a time of 3.10 and went ahead with the same. Slow and steady, I could find my mojo in the training sessions. By mid - February, I was hitting decent speeds. But lack of race practice since November was bothering me. In cricket, we always used to say – One needs to go to bat, thinking about the last big innings one played! For pure mental reasons, I needed that validation of confidence before the Paris Marathon. The IDBI New Delhi Half Marathon was an obvious choice given the course and the temperature. Going in to do a 1.27 kind of time, I did some killing out there with an authoritative 1.23. The purpose accomplished, I was back to normal training.

There are a few pointers which give you an indication of your fitness levels. If that 1.23 was one, there were a few others in March in the run up to the event. I seemed to be consistently doing paces far better that the 3.10 program. In my last 32 K run, chatting with a friend of mine who was supporting me on a bicycle, I casually mentioned that today’s pace will probably get me to a 3.02:-) The Yasso’s which I did at the Gachibowli tracks in Hyderabad, went off well indicating a time close to 3.00. When such things happen, your mind at a sub conscious level starts thinking about a sub 3! I asked a few people around what it takes to do a sub 3, and everyone was unanimous in their view that it is indeed very difficult. However I was pretty sure about one thing – in the latter part of 2016 some runners will go under a sub 3 and that will open the gate for others! The above was indicative of the mind I was in.

The other critical change I implemented were the deep tissue massages. For the amount of intense training I was doing, the muscles needed to be in top notch condition. I went for a deep tissue massage 4 times within a period of 1.5 months. This I can vouch for a fact played a significant role in keeping me relaxed and in condition. Apart from my intake of real foods, it was great to have recovery and hydration done with some of the best nutrition in business. As always I never take gels in my training and this custom stayed through. And 2 weeks prior to the race, I started following my usual routine – no alcohol, avoiding curd at night, no fruits post evening, nothing cold and drinking tons of water!

As the race day got near, there were plenty of wishes! I even had a message going around in 94.3 FM:-) A few of my good friends wished me for a sub 3, and I am sure they too said that in half jest, figuratively letting me know that I go ahead and do well! Little did anyone know what was in store – My target though had been fixed; 3:05 to 3:10 was on cards!