My Marathon today - A consultant's perspective

 It’s been over two years since I wrote my last running blog. Part of the reason for this hiatus was that I wanted to wait for something I truly felt writing for. As I wait for my lemonade sitting here in a coffee shop, I feel there is something that I truly want to write about today. So, here it goes.

Rewind four years – It was the winter of 2018 when I did my last decent Full Marathon (FM- 42.2 km) in 3 hour 24 minutes (3:24). I was happy with the effort and gave myself the next target of improving my timing to sub 3:15. However, a much longer wait awaited me in the years ahead before I could get the taste of my next strong FM.

As I reflect upon the way my FM panned out today morning, I think there are five management principles that got reinforced for me.  

Principle 1: Patience is a virtue.

So, what really happened in 2019 after I had trained for a year? - I developed severe cough due to air pollution which lasted for several weeks. I decided to wait for a year and take a stab at the 3:15 target the next year.

Event time 2020 - As luck would have it, I caught viral fever just a few days before the run. I took a crocin and participated in the event but struggled badly (really badly!). I swallowed the bitter pill and decided to train for another year.

Event time 2021 - Unfortunately, I pulled a back muscle just four days before the run which rendered me almost immobile. Another event time came and went.

I started training for next year, with two targets this time– a stretch target of 3:05 (which would be a Boston Qualifier) and a pragmatic target of 3:10 (a 15-min improvement over my previous best)

Event time 2022 - The event was originally planned for 27^th Feb, but in wake of the rising Covid cases, the authorities decided to indefinitely push out the event.

It was disappointing, but I decided to run on a route of my own choice with my GPS watch on the same day (i.e., today!). The run went well. I finished the run in 3:09 beating the pragmatic target by one minute and missing the stretch target by four minutes. And I am elated.

Principle 2: Break the complex problem into smaller modules. It helps, always!

Running 42.2 kms in 3:10 can feel overwhelming. So, I decided to break the journey into smaller modules. The plan was simple –

Run 10 km in 45 mins. Repeat the effort four times. (i.e., 40 kms in 3 hours). And then run last 2.2 kms in less than 10 minutes.

The plan worked. It entailed the same physical effort, but mentally it wasn’t as taxing.

(Remember what Mohammad Kaif told me last week – “Focus. Just one ball at a time!”)

Principle 3: There is no substitute for a good plan.

As I started to put down my plan few months back, I realized I needed to improve on a few things to have a good run – strength, flexibility, cardio, recovery, diet, running form, to name a few.

I imagined each of these as different workstreams of a complex transformation project. I then developed a simple plan for each of these workstreams.  

Principle 4: Despite all your plans, unanticipated challenges will show up on D-Day. Embrace it!

As I drove down to my self-chosen venue for the run today morning (Galleria loop), I noticed that it had rained last morning. The roads were wet with several water patches. It was bad news for me.

So, what do you do when unanticipated challenges show up on the big day? If you can do something to address it, then do it. If you can’t then just get on with it. In my case today morning, I did the latter.

Principle 5: Celebrate the effort, not the result!

The Sundeep of yesteryears would have fretted about having missed the stretch target. But not anymore. Covid has taught me a few things. Life is too fickle to fret over trivial matters. Yes, I am happy with the effort and there is no reason why I wouldn’t celebrate it.

Time to order the most exotic dessert that this café offers (which I am going to do next!).

As I conclude this brief narrative, I am thinking about famous quote from king Martin Luther King Jr.

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

Sundeep Singh

+91 - 98181 19794
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author: By background, Sundeep Singh is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Kozhikode. He is a Managing Director at Accenture's Sustainability practice in India. Given his flair for mechanics and passion for running, he loves to analyze and write about the finer nuances of running techniques / strategies. Sundeep’s fastest Half-Marathon is 1:26:29 and fastest Full-Marathon is 3:09:13.

me versus ME

21^st Aug, 2020: It was ‘just another’ Friday evening. As I wrapped up the work commitments for the day, I wondered how I should spend the evening ahead. The usual choices I consider on other days were unfortunately not available that day. I couldn’t have picked up one of the usual choices – tempo, LSD, intervals, aerobic – as it was supposed to be the only rest day of the week. I blankly stared out of the window to feel the gentle gush of cool breeze. It felt terrible to be not running in that beautiful weather, terrible enough to deviate from the training plan..

At 7:03 pm, I was out there to kick-off an ‘unplanned’ run …unplanned, because it didn’t feature in the training schedule and there was no target pace or distance for that day. 

Around thirty minutes into the run, I felt that that there is something uniquely charming about unplanned actions. I thought about the way I had decided to pursue 100 Half-Marathons in 100 days about a year back. There wasn’t much thought put into the decision, but with the advantage of hindsight I know it helped me create a lifetime memory. At exactly that point in time, I considered doing something crazy that night - 100 km during the night – yes, that’s what it was going to be.

What followed was a series of arguments between the two entities that reside within me – the logical me (that has the ability to reason and is sensible) and the defiant ME (that loves new challenges and wants to do its ‘own’ thing).

me: Don’t be stupid. Just six km into a run, you cannot randomly decide to run 100 km through the night.

ME: Why not?

me: because, running 100 km through the night requires diligent planning!

ME: like?

me: like you will need proper hydration if you must run through the night.

ME: At around 25 km I can take a small break, go home, grab some energy drinks / water and place them in the car. It a cyclic loop anyway.

me: given the humidity, you will sweat like crazy. You will need at least 10 tees to run through the night.

ME: don’t worry, I will just take it off, so I don’t need it at all.

me: what about your shoes? Soon, your shoes / socks will be drenched with sweat and it’s a matter of time before you get blisters.

ME: I can change my shoes and socks after every 20-25 km.

me: since it was your rest day, you didn’t charge your GPS watch battery. It will die-down shortly. Then how will you measure distance?

That seemed like the only valid argument ‘me’ had offered so far.

After a bit of thought..

ME: so, here is the plan – every two hours or so I will take a break to hydrate, eat, change shoes. Before I do that, I will put the watch on charging. That would be good enough to last me for the next 2-3 hours. No more arguments please. Its final.

..and with that started the journey of that memorable night.

0 – 25 km: The first 25 km run seemed quite comfortable - the usual evening walkers, the young kids cycling around, an odd hand-wave or two to a few friends. It all looked familiar. By around 9:30 pm, I had completed the first 25 km run. I took a short break to refuel the body and slip into a fresh pair of socks / shoes.

25 – 50 km: In about an hour’s time, I started the next leg of the journey. At exactly 7.93 km mark, I noticed a technical glitch in the watch. For some reason, the distance stopped increasing. I randomly waved my wrist a few times as if ‘pleading’ my watch to catch the GPS signal, but it didn’t work. After running around for about ten minutes thereafter, I stopped the watch and returned home. It was disappointing to abort the run due to a technical glitch. Once at home, I sat on the floor reflecting upon the night I had imagined and what it turned out to be. The same ‘me’ vs ‘ME’ conversation started.

me: It was never going to be easy anyway, so it’s okay.

(no response)

me: You can try again next weekend with proper arrangements.

(after a brief pause..)

ME: The deal was to run 100 km through the night, not necessarily in four tranches of 25 km. Its worth going back – may be the watch will work fine this time!

At around 11:50 pm, I was back again to resume from the total 32.93 km I had finished so far. I was mighty pleased to see the watch working fine. By around 1:45 am I had completed a total of 50 km.

50 – 75 km: At exactly 2:58 am, I started the next leg of the journey. This seemed to be the most uncomfortable phase of the over-night journey. The odd late-night walkers had disappeared. There were no hand-waves or smiles to derive energy from. Even the dogs on the street had finally slipped into slumber to shape an eerie ambience. On top of it, there was still a good distance to go, so it was tough to distract the mind by playing the reverse count-down in the mind. I remembered one of the favorite running quotes I once read – “…Running is nothing more than a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going…”

For the next two hours, I randomly kept running around trying my best to not think too far ahead. At around 5:00 am, I noticed the darkness beginning to gradually fade away. The break of dawn was not far. In another 15-20 minutes, few early morning walkers started appearing on the road. Some of them who had seen me running the previous night wondered what was going on..

75 – 100 km: As I was returning home after completing 75 km, the body was badly fatigued, the lack of sleep was showing up and there was serious doubt if I was going to come back for the final 25 km. It’s the first time the voice of “me” appeared stronger than “ME”. I wondered what laid ahead..

I took a quick shower, gulped a few glasses of chocolate shake and put my feet in ice cold water. Before “me” could start posing logical questions, “ME” took over.

ME: I am not sure if I can complete another 25 km, but I am going back for sure. We will take it from there. Period.

The last leg of the journey was difficult for a different reason. Around 10 km into the run (i.e. at around 85^th km mark), the sun had assumed full effect and it became quite hot. But with just about 10-15 km to go, there was no way I was going to stop now!

By the time the over-night journey ended, there was sweat, soreness, exhaustion…

but what is more – there was another BEAUTIFUL LIFETIME MEMORY that I would cherish forever!

Sundeep Singh

+91 - 98181 19794
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author: By background, Sundeep Singh is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Kozhikode. He is a Principal Director with Accenture's Sustainability practice in India. Given his flair for mechanics and passion for running, he loves to analyze and write about the finer nuances of running techniques / strategies. Sundeep’s fastest run till date is ADHM 2017, which he completed in 1:26:29.

Behind the Scenes…

Non-Author Agreement: This is to certify that I have nothing to do with this blog. I have been forced to put this on my blog page by my wife (who else!). I take no ownership of the idea, language, structure etc. of this one. :)

Sundeep Singh

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Sundeep completed his 100 Half Marathons, a lot of people asked me, “How did you manage?”. And honestly, I wasn’t sure what to respond because I really didn’t know what they were asking. When I probed them further on what did they really mean, I realized they had quite a few things in mind (the changed routine, additional time commitment, missing out on things, dietary requirements etc.)

But primarily they were curious on how I dealt with the INSANITY of my better half doing or even attempting something like this? 

The more I think about it, the more I reflect, the more I realize that it is really HIM who managed it...

Will Power and Mental Strength

Let’s start with something that I am unable to comprehend – how can someone have this level of commitment. I have seen him getting ready to run every day. After the first few days, it seemed like there is a constant struggle going on between the body and the mind. The body (and especially the poor legs and feet) kept begging that they need rest, but the mind had other plans and was ready to do anything to not budge from them. Invariably, the mind won! And won every day! 

On days when there were injuries on the feet… 

On days when they were swollen, and shoes won’t fit! 

On days when he had had a 16+ hour workday… 

On days when he was on a flight for 20 hours… 

The run did happen!

When you see someone with that kind of mental strength, bearing every hardship to get to his goal, it is practically impossible to complain over the time commitment. As a working professional (in the same organization with similar work profiles), I can only appreciate and be in awe of someone being able to take out time to do something that has a purpose to it! As a mother, it is heartwarming that my son has an awesome role model to look up to! And I am so glad that my son has inherited a lot of his willpower, passion and insanity…

The Time Commitment (or should I say Time Management?)

It has been an additional 3-4 hours of commitment every day. So naturally means that there were lot of things that we would have missed out on. Especially considering you have limited flexibility over your work, it’s the personal family time that would have taken a hit.

Now let me tell you, in the past 100 days he has played more chess games with our son than ever. We have seen n number of movies and TV shows and the same movie n number of times too (case in point: Kesari and 21 Sarfarosh). We have gone out with friends every now and then. We also went for a holiday to Dublin. He has spent time with his parents regularly, has taken out time to visit my parents too. Has been on all the usual grocery shopping tours, the mandatory weekend Starbucks coffee…

Does it sound that there was anything we didn’t do in the past 100 days because he didn’t have time?

I would be lying if I would say that there were no compromises made. There were things that you had to make ‘adjustments’ for. But the beauty is in the balance (isn’t life all about balance anyways?) and on how you plan around it.  Based on how other things were planned for the day, he has run at 2 am, 5 am, 10 pm or 12 am…

Humility

And lastly, the grace and humility with which he went about it.  We all very well know how inspiring his story has been. We well understand how difficult it would have been. Most of us won’t even think of attempting something like this. I probably can’t even do 2 kms every day!

And despite that, he keeps thanking and acknowledging others for it – his BOMISO Gym friends, his friends at the Marketing and Advertising company that shot his video (The BucketList), his colleagues at Accenture, ME! Everyone gets credit for something only he did.

Now that it is over, there is a sense of satisfaction and relief. The poor legs and feet have finally gotten some rest. Not as much as they would have expected though. He is already back to his runs and workouts.. 

… and I know his mind is already at work on defining the next challenge for him!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Japneet Kaur

(Proud W/O: Sundeep Singh)

+91 - 98181 19794

About the Guest Author: By background, Japneet is an Electronics Engineer from Thapar University and an MBA from IIM Kozhikode. She is a Senior Manager with Accenture's Talent and Organization consulting practice in India. 

Pursuit of 100 HMs in 100 Days

As I stood at the start line of Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM) 2019, I realized it was a mistake to not carry my iPod for the run that day. It was the first time I was going to run a full marathon without music. I knew that even if I ran well, I was looking ahead at spending good 210 minutes by myself – that’s a lot of time to be spending without any distraction. I was feeling increasingly anxious and thought about how I could keep my mind distracted, lest it starts focusing too much on fatigue during the run. After a few moments, I decided to do something unusual – I decided that at each km mark I would think about what life used to be at that age. I realized that the strategy would help me stay distracted for the first 36 kms (my age) and then I would somehow negotiate the last 6.2 kms. The strategy worked quite well as I navigated over a nostalgic tide of emotions over the first 36 kms. However, before I could realize, I had reached 36 km mark and it suddenly stuck me that there was nothing to think about ahead. It was during this state of mental void and masked ability to think rationally that I made three promises to myself – one of them was to run 100 Half Marathons in 100 days to spread awareness about the challenge of air pollution.

For a few weeks after the run, I continued to think about what I had decided during the closing stages of TMM. I tried to dismiss it as a whimsical imagination of a tired mind but could not. Sometimes commitments made during the most bizarre moments seem to have the most profound relevance – this one seemed one of those to me. 

So, on 5th March, 2019 I started the journey of 100 HMs in 100 days in all earnestness. I decided to call it #RightToBreathe, #100HMsForACause campaign.

The journey so far..

Phase 1 - Initial few days (5^th Mar - 14^th Mar)

During the first few days, the novelty factor associated with the runs was quite high. For someone who had never done more than 3 consecutive HMs, the thought of attempting 100 HMs in 100 days was exhilarating enough to keep up the spirit. This was the phase when I nicely settled into a routine to be able to manage the runs around other commitments. Typically, the run would start late in the evening and continue till late in the night. 

   

 Phase 2 - The fatigue starts to build in (15^th Mar – 31^st Mar)

After having completed the first 10 HMs, the novelty associated with the runs started to fade away a little bit. It was during these days that I realized the enormity of task ahead. It was not easy to get down every evening and lace-up to run 21.1 kms. 

This was also the time when I realized that for me to have any chance of continuing this, I had to find smart ways to recover. The good old recovery tactics – turmeric milk, ice pack, foam rolling, stretching, hydration, increased protein intake – all became a natural part of the daily routine. On March 29, I achieved a mini-milestone of sorts when I completed the 25th consecutive HM in 25 days.

Phase 3 – One day at a time please (1^st Apr to 30^th April)

The next phase (and probably the most testing phase) was the month of April. This was the time when fatigue had reached an unprecedented level. I realized that it was easy to get bogged down if I thought of too far ahead. The simple rule was to just take it one day at a time then come back the next day to see if it can go on for one more day.

This was also the time when I realized that I should not let go of any opportunity to sleep – sleep is when the real recovery happens after all. I slept at the airports, I slept during the Hop-on-Hop-off tour at Dublin, I slept during the waiting time at my kid’s chess competition…and it all helped to keep the engine running!

 Phase 4 – A pre-programmed robotic procedure (1^st May onwards)

This is the ongoing phase and the one that I am enjoying the most. By now, it feels like the body, mind and soul have nicely settled into a steady state of equilibrium – a state of bliss where there is no incremental fatigue or pain. Of course, fatigue is there but as I said no 'incremental' fatigue – it all feels the same as what it was on the preceding day. It almost feels like a simple automated robotic procedure which entails switching on the GPS watch, starting the run, consuming 2-liter water during the run, ending the 21.1 kms run and then cooling down – a simple robotic procedure it is! Or maybe it’s a case of mind over body, where the mind is just rationalizing things.

What next?

By the time, I started penning down my thoughts for this article, I had completed 68 HMs in as many days. 

The journey continues…

The menace of Air-pollution and the ways to combat it

Given that this is a running related blog, I have focused largely on the running journey. But, let’s not forget the overall intent. The intent was to spread the awareness about air pollution challenge and ways to combat it. The awareness drive continues in the form of a social media campaign (LinkedIn, Twitter). Sharing below some of my favorite combat mechanisms shared till date:

‘WAYU’ to combat pollution at busy traffic signals: - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6531385051479932929

195 mobile moss walls per sq. km needed for Delhi: - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6530710810619146240

Pigeons with backpacks for air pollution monitoring: - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6528847004683067392

5 indoor plants to purify air: - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6526336396666466304

Ikea’s innovation to address stubble burning: - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6519303718775689216

To know more, follow the #RightToBreathe / #100HMsForACause posts at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sundeep13487866

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sundeep-singh-491b91a4/

Sundeep Singh

+91 - 98181 19794
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author: By background, Sundeep Singh is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Kozhikode. He is a Principal Director with Accenture's Sustainability practice in India. Given his flair for mechanics and passion for running, he loves to analyze and write about the finer nuances of running techniques / strategies. Sundeep’s best run till date is ADHM 2017, which he completed in 1:26:29.

Mix-up your workouts for continued running improvements

Ever wondered why after a point the improvements in running timings begin to saturate for most runners? The reasons could be many – however, in most recreational runners this happens due to the similar nature of the training stimulus. A particular exercise works on a given set of muscle groups. Now, if the body is subjected to a similar workout regime for a long time, the body starts getting used to it and this slows down any gains in the overall fitness level. This blog outlines a few effective workouts that runners could include in their strength training regime (to build more variety and fun in their training).       

First things first – why is strength training important for runners? The simple answer is that without strength training a runner is more susceptible to injuries. Moreover, when it comes to long distance running, endurance plays a critical role. Strength training can help improve endurance and enable the runner to finish strong.

So, let’s turn our attention to the next important question - what are the best strength workouts that a runner should perform? The answer really depends on for how long one has been running and what kind of strength regime one has had. If a runner has had limited or no strength workouts in the training regime, the best place to start is with basic workouts like squats, lunges, push-ups, plank-holds and burpees. These are basic body-weight based workouts which can be performed just about anywhere. 

The challenge comes when one has been performing these basic workouts for a while (in addition to the regular running), but the improvements in running performance have started to saturate. This is something that I faced about a year back. It is probably an indication that the body has become used to the same kind of workouts (with the same muscle groups getting activated due to a lack of variety in the workouts). To address this challenge, I have been trying to embrace new workouts over the past six months. While the options one has to mix up the workouts is potentially infinite, in this blog I am describing below some of my favorite workouts that I have embraced recently.

(1) Spinning

Equipment required: Spinning bike

Primary impact areas: Cardio conditioning, Legs

(2) Tractor tire exercises

Equipment required: Tractor tire, Hammer

Primary impact areas: Overall body strength, Core, Shoulders

(3) Monkey bar workouts

Equipment required: Hanging bar

Primary impact areas: Core, Cardio

(4) Resistance running

Equipment required: Resistance band

Primary impact areas: Quads, Glutes, Calves, Core

(5) Jump push-ups

Equipment required: No specific equipment needed

Primary impact areas: Cardio, Shoulders, Overall body strength

 

(6) Rope waves

Equipment required: Workout rope (hinged firmly at a pivot)

Primary impact areas: Shoulders, Back, Lats, Cardio

(7) Box jumps

Equipment required: Stable box jump equipment (preferably with rubber edges for additional protection)

Primary impact areas: Core, Cardio

(8) Inverted Abs Crunch

Equipment required: Stable hanging bar

Primary impact areas: Abs, Core

(9) T-Bar twists

Equipment required: T-bar hinged to a stable pivot

Primary impact areas: Core, Shoulders

(10) Rope climbing

Equipment required: Workout rope hinged to the ceiling

Primary impact areas: Core strength, Overall body strength

I hope this blog provides my fellow runners some new ideas for mixing up their strength workouts. 

[Credits: All workout pics have been taken at Bomiso Gym's South City-1 facility. Thanks to my running buddy Rahul Dhanda for taking the pics).

#BomisoGym

#StrengthTrainingForRunners

#TomTomSpark3

#GetGoing

Sundeep Singh

+91 - 98181 19794

About the Author: By background, Sundeep Singh is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi and holds an MBA from IIM Kozhikode. Given his flair for mechanics and passion for running, he loves to analyze and write about the finer nuances of running techniques / strategies. Sundeep’s best run till date is NDM 2017, which he completed in 1:28:33.

Falling in love with running all over again with TomTom Spark 3!

I recently attended a full-day workshop on design thinking. At some point during the workshop, the trainer mentioned – “what can be measured, can be managed – and this is more and more relevant in today’s age of connected devices!”. The statement may have been made in a very different context, but it somehow made me think of my new TomTom Spark 3 watch. I spent a few moments reflecting about the various cool features that the watch offers, before deciding to get back (mentally!) to the workshop. This blog is a detailed account of the specific thoughts that flashed in my head during those split seconds of distraction during the workshop. 

Yes, it’s true – what can be measured, can be managed! And, this applies to just about everything that is worth measuring or tracking. As a new runner, the simple parameters that one cares for includes distance and pace. As we get more sophisticated, we tend to get a little more demanding from our training sessions and start caring for slightly more nuanced variables like stride turnover, timing splits and heart rate. 

Let’s look at how TomTom Spark 3 can help runners with these varied needs and more. To keep the description specific, I have organized these features into three broad categories: (i) Standard output features (to analyze the run), (ii) Advanced training features (features that help bring method to madness during the training runs), (iii) Race day features (features that I rely on during a competitive run).   

(i) Standard output features

At a very elementary level, the essence of long-distance running is captured through this basic equation:

In a very simplistic sense, this means that one can run better if one can build the ability to run for longer duration (time), maintain a higher stride turnover (steps / time), and take bigger steps (meters / step). The standard output dashboard that one sees post a TomTom run outlines these basic metrics along with a few more such as energy spent, heart rate etc. (see figure below).

In addition to these summary parameters, I particularly find it useful to note the following statistics on the summary dashboard:

• Overall splits and a graph of how my pace fared across the distance run - a relatively horizontal curve indicates a controlled run where one could manage the pace well throughout the run. On the other hand, a curve with too many spikes and troughs may indicate that one was trying too hard and hence struggling to hold a uniform pace.
• Heartbeat across the run – this is a particularly important variable as it holds the key to running faster and longer (more on this feature in the advanced training features section below).

(ii) Advanced training features

Heart rate training

One of the most important (and often most neglected!) parameters in running training relates to heart rate. Depending on the running objective and distance, the heart rate should ideally operate in a specific zone (see illustrative figure below).

Now depending on the overall objective, one must train in a particular zone. For instance, if someone is training for a specific HM timing, then spending too much time in sprint zone (running short intervals / 5Ks) may not be too beneficial – this is a mistake I made quite a lot about a year ago. That’s where TomTom watch helped me significantly. What it does is, it breaks the entire run into fraction of time spent in each zone. Below, I have captured an output from two different training runs I completed recently and highlighted how the two differ in terms of suitability for different objectives.

Race against a specific target

For me, the real value that Spark 3 offers lays in a host of training features that it offers. In particular, it offers the following advanced training features – Goals, Intervals, Laps, Zones, Race. 

• Goals: This feature allows you to run against a pre-determined target. These targets may be set based on the overall training objective. For instance, a runner looking to reduce weight may set the target to burn a specific number of calories (and not worry about distance or time). Similarly, a runner training to complete a full marathon and looking to build mileage may set a distance target.
• Intervals: This is another feature that I tend to use a lot. Of the four days that I run in a week, I usually spend one session on interval runs. This feature allows you to customize your own interval run by entering a predetermined warm-up time, cool-down time, rest-time between intervals, specific interval running distance or duration.
• Laps: This feature allows you to set-up a specific lap distance post which the watch displays metrics such as duration and pace for that lap. I usually prefer setting the lap distance to 1km.
• Zones: For a long time, I had a knack of running first few kilometers faster than the desired pace (only to struggle in the last few kilometers). This feature allows you to train to run within a heart-rate zone. During my tempo-runs, I feed-in a desired heart rate zone. This ensures that if the heart beat goes above a threshold, I immediately get an alert on my watch, which allows me to take corrective action. This is a feature I used extensively to train to get to my first sub-1:30 half-marathon.
• Race: This feature is helpful to find your ‘race partner’, especially when there aren’t too many runners in your running network who look to run at your pace. It allows you to run against your personal best or any previous run – a great feature for those looking to strike a PB (wherein one is competing against his / her own timing from a previous run). 

(iii) Race-day features

So, you have spent months training for the big day – and finally the big day arrives! What features should you leverage during a competitive run? The answer to this would vary for different runners. For me, I like to keep it very simple on the race day and just like to use two key features.

Average pace display

About a year back, I had a knack of conducting multiple mental calculations during the competitive run – all related to what’s the average pace till now, how much time is remaining to complete the run within the desired timing etc. It all used to be a bit of a distraction from the simple act of running. This is where I love to use the average pace display feature.

During the run, the watch is capable of displaying 3 data points in one screen (see figure below). The two at the bottom can be adjusted and fixed before the run starts, while the large metric display at the center allows you the option to look through the following available metrics (by scrolling up-down during the run) – average pace, average speed, instantaneous pace, instantaneous speed, clock, duration, distance, calories, heart rate, heart rate zone. 

How do I use it? If I want to run a HM in sub 1:30, then I have to maintain an average pace of 4:16 throughout the run. As such, I set the center metric to display average pace and that’s the only number I care for during a competitive run. Every now and then I would just glance at the magical figure at the center of the watch. If the figure is still below 4:16 then I have some buffer and if it starts shooting above 4:16 then I need to do a bit of catching-up to complete the run in sub 1:30. From experience, I have realized that keeping the pace in the range of 4:10 to 4:18 in for the first 15kms of the run allows me to complete the HM in sub 1:30.

Load your music metronome beats on the watch!

This is the feature that almost made me feel that the watch has been designed exclusively for me. I have been running for almost three years now and have come across a variety of gadgets to carry music for the run. Whatever be the equipment (iPod, Mobile, Walkman etc.), it always felt like extra ‘load’ to be carried during the run. Well – that’s a thing of past now. TomTom Spark 3 offers a cool feature to carry almost 3GB of music on the watch itself. Be it Bhangra beats or Metronome beats, I have the option of loading it all on my sleek watch now. This is where the point I made at the beginning of the blog (around connected devices) becomes relevant too. The watch comes with a simple and light headphone which can be paired with the watch (through Bluetooth).

Through this blog, I have tried to share some of the cool features that I have been using in my TomTom Spark 3 watch. This is by no means intended to be an exhaustive description of the features and I know there are many features that I am yet to start using!

If you too are using a TomTom watch, I would love to hear your thoughts on the features you use the most.

Sundeep Singh

+91 - 98181 19794

(#TomTomSpark3; #GetGoing)

About the Author: By background, Sundeep Singh is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi and holds an MBA from IIM Kozhikode. Given his flair for mechanics and passion for running, he loves to analyze and write about the finer nuances of running techniques / strategies. Sundeep’s best run till date is NDM 2017, which he completed in 1:28:33.