I started preparing for Airtel Hyderabad Marathon (AHM) 2016 scheduled on Aug 28th in the right earnest with Nagole Forest run on Jul 10th. I had 7 weeks to prepare, which is lesser time than ideally required for a full marathon. But I was available for long runs during all the intervening weekends unlike last year when I had prior commitments that hindered my training. Given my work schedule, my long runs were all confined to Sundays. Let me narrate my story over the 7 Sundays and what finally happened on the D day!
Sunday No. 1 – Jul 10: Nagole Forest run
I saw the posting by Hyderabad Runners a couple of days before Jul 10th and the thought of running inside a forest excited me. It was preparatory run for the marathon and it was an exciting way to get my training started. I had my training partner for company and we planned to run 20 Km. But it drizzled constantly limiting our run to 15.6 Km at a pace of 6:39 min/km. I fell short of the plan on distance but not a bad start!
Sunday No. 2 – Jul 17: Solo loops around KBR Park
I took a liking to biking around KBR park whenever I did not have company to go on long rides. A loop is just about 5 Km, is very pleasant riding along the perimeter of a national park with fair bit of inclines, good road and no traffic on Sunday mornings. I had never run loops but decided to try it out as I had to train alone. I did 4 loops and a little bit more to make it a half marathon. I enjoyed it and given the terrain with steady inclines, pace of 7:24 min/km was not bad. I felt I was on target for full marathon.
Sunday No. 3 – Jul 24: Hyderabad Heritage Run
This was a run that I missed last year and the route along Golconda Fort and Qutb Shahi tombs promised to be an interesting one. As luck would have it, the organizers had to change the route at the last minute and it was no longer exciting. Any ways, my objective was to do another half marathon and I completed it in 2 hours 20 mins at a pace of 6:38 min/km. As a bonus, I met one of my college buddies after 18 years!
Sunday No. 4 – Jul 31: Another solo KBR loops
This time I made it 5 loops around KBR covering 25.9 Km at 7:33 min/km. I felt I was still on track with 3 more weekends to do the 35 Km before the D day.
Sunday No. 5 – Aug 7: Alankrita Run
The scenic Alankrita run was ideal to cover 32 Km but the organizers once again changed the route making it a mundane run along the highway all along! We arrived after the 32 Km folks had started their run and we were about 20 minutes behind them. It was a warm windy day and all I could cover was 24 Km at 7:10 min/km. I had covered the first 8 Km in record time and that made my overall stats look good but I was now clearly behind on my training plan. I had just one weekend left as I wanted to keep the penultimate weekend light to keep my legs fresh.
Sunday No. 6 – Aug 14: AHM 2016 dry run
My final opportunity to cover 35 Km. The dry run planned to cover only 21 Km and I had planned to start running an hour earlier to make it at least 30 Km. But we started 15 minutes late and all I could cover was 28.9 Km at 7:39 min/km. So, again like last year, no 30 Km run before the full marathon! However, with this run, I had run 5 half marathons in 5 weeks! Made me feel good!!!
Sunday No. 7 – Aug 21: 10K run
I ran 2 loops of KBR covering 10.8 Km at 6:43 min/km. One aspect I realized – my pace and trend as I progress every Km was quite predictable! I am strong during the first 8 Km, hang on for the next 8 Km and constant downhill from thereon. But after half marathon, the plunge is significant. Not something that made me feel confident for the full marathon, but no going back now.
Airtel Hyderabad Full Marathon – Aug 28
One concern that is usually associated with marathon at Hyderbad is the weather. Scheduled in August, well before winter sets in, a lot depends on monsoon impact on that particular day. Fortunately, it had rained heavily overnight and the roads were still wet as we started running at 5 AM. It promised to be pleasant weather. My target was to complete the marathon in under 6 hours to be faster than last time and attempt to go under 5:30 is possible.
I covered the first 10 Km in just over an hour, well in time to beat the half marathon crowd that slowed me down last year just after Hussain Sagar loop. I ran the first half marathon under 2:30 hours. I continued to manage well till about 24 Km. That is when the basic mistake I did hit me.
I started to the venue on an empty stomach. I had loaded myself with a lot of protein the previous day but missed eating a good breakfast before I started running. By the time I completed 25 Km, I was exhausted. I decided to take a few mins break to eat and stretch at one of the support stations. As I stretched, my left leg cramped up. I had another 17 Km to go and already cramps! I relaxed a bit and started slowly again. I reset my target to complete the marathon in under 6:30 hours.
After 30 Km, I was very tired and decided to take another break. This time, one of the volunteers helped me stretch. Though I ended up spending more than 15 minutes without moving, it refreshed me and felt it should keep me in good stead for the remaining 12 Km.
The script for the remaining 12 Km was a repeat from last year, if only a tad bit slower. Struggle, struggle and more struggle. I was only walking after 36 Km and that slowed me down terribly. Finally, I gathered some strength to run slowly for the last couple of km.
I finished in 6:15 hours, 10 mins slower than last year. Strava showed my moving time to be exactly same as last year but the additional time I spent in breaks made it longer. It did not go by the script I planned but I will take it. Completing a full marathon covering 42.2 Km is not a mean achievement and I have now done it twice! And at one of the toughest urban marathons covering an elevation of over 250m!!! Well done Santh!!!
