The pursuit of 1:29:xx

As I anxiously stood at the start line of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) 2016, a myriad of memories flashed through my head. I thought about several occasions on which I missed the sub-1:30 mark, I thought about the 4:00am wake-up routine over the last several months, I thought about the fun training moments spent with my close friends over the past few weeks, I thought about the final taper week, I thought about the pasta lunch I had with my close friends a day ago…It felt like a lot passed through my head. Before I could think of anything else, the ‘mad-rush’ started..

The background

Before I describe the journey (or the pursuit of 1:29:xx, as I love to describe it) a bit of a background on how it started. About two years ago, when I had started running I had very limited understanding of what half-marathon is all about. It had started almost out of my whimsical desire to try something new. Why? Because, I had known a few other people doing it. At that stage, I had a simple discussion with a friend at work about what a good finish time looks like for half-marathons. The discussion progressed like a typical conversation between strategy consultants:

Sundeep: “What’s a good finish time for a half-marathon?”

Friend (after a bit of thought and consideration): “It depends.”

Sundeep (with visible exasperation): “OK – that doesn’t help much. Go on...”

Friend (unperturbed): “It depends on factors like your age, body conditioning, how long you have been running etc. etc.

Sundeep (still not happy with the answer): “OK – so for a physically fit runner who has been running for a few years and who is around as old as me…and you can make some intelligent assumptions...– what would be a good half-marathon finish time?

Friend: Officially, if you do it in 3 hours, it is regarded as a formal half-marathon finish; Kenyans can do it in 1 hour. If one does it in within 90 minutes it is considered quite a decent pace”

Grossly overestimating my physical abilities, I told my friend that I intend to do my first half-marathon in 1 hour 29 minutes and a few seconds. The friend had an amused smile. Without saying anything explicitly he dismissed what I had said as an ignorant remark. It didn’t take me long to understand why.

• On 12^th October 2014, I did my first half-marathon in 1:47
• On 23^rd November 2014, I did my first ADHM in 1:43

About a year later, I was able to finish three half-marathons where I came within striking distance of my aspirational timing:

• ADHM 2015 (Nov 2015): 1:31:20
• NDM 2016 (Feb 2016): 1:31:00
• Fastest running and living HM (Mar 2016): 1:30:40

 The gap may have appeared just about a minute or so. However, it was good 60 odd seconds which would just refuse to go away. With that started a serious desire to do 1:29:xx. 

3 months training period: Sep – Nov 2016

It was around September 2016, when the training for ADHM 2016 started in all earnestness. By this time, I had gathered sufficient understanding of what a typical training cycle looks like. However, there still were a few gaps which had to be addressed. In particular, there are three things which I was not doing correctly. I am sharing the same below and hope that it might be helpful for runners with similar aspirations.

Mileage is not everything, but it still matters – probably more than most other things!

I have always been a firm believer that strength training has a huge role to play for any long distance running (and I continue to believe that). However, earlier I often underestimated the importance of clocking mileage and my typical weekly workout schedule would look like 3 – 4 days strength training and around 2 days running. The turning point in my understanding came when I had a chat with Shiv Gahlot, our local Boston Qualifier (once again, if you are reading this – thanks buddy!). Besides sharing some serious training tips, Shiv suggested reading a book on Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger.

This has been massively helpful and I highly recommend this book to any serious runner. Since reading this book, my weekly workout schedule comprises of 1 – 2 strength training sessions and around 4 runs. Once again, in no way undermining the importance of strength training (and it is critical to avoid injuries), but just highlighting how running is important to improve as a runner!

Each training run has a purpose – got to respect it!

My weekly workout schedule now comprises of 4 runs a week – an interval run, a tempo run, a medium long distance run and a long distance run. The beauty and finesse lays in understanding what is the right pace to run each of these runs. Earlier, my tempo run used to be an effort to run 10K as fast as possible. The interval run used to be an effort to do some sprint repetitions. Occasionally, I would also do a 5K and try to achieve my PB without realizing where it really fits into the overall training plan for half-marathon. A lot of these misunderstandings got addressed after reading the book by Pete. The three months leading to ADHM days comprised of very specific runs – to be run at a particular pace (not faster, not slower!) with a specific objective. More on this subject on some other day.

Race day planning matters - Break it into smaller components.

21.1K is a fairly long distance and a lot can go wrong if one doesn’t plan the run. This is where an honest introspection of one’s own physical abilities (body conditioning, nature of flagging during training runs, level of fatigue, typical pace limiting factors etc.) close to the race day is critical. Equally critical is to plan the big day race based on a clear understanding of these factors. A simple race day plan could look like:

For me to finish 21.1K in a given time, I need to do 14K in x minutes. For that to happen, I need to finish 10k in y minutes. For that to happen, I need to do 5K in z minutes…

...and more importantly - understanding if x, y and z are really achievable with the current level of body conditioning.

It often helps to have a close friend critique this and keep you honest in such an assessment. This is where my running buddy Rahul Dhanda really helped me through innumerable discussions close to the big day. The plan for me was simple:

21.1K in about 89 minutes, 14K in about 59 minutes, 10K in about 42 minutes, 5K in about 21 minutes – and yes, we did believe it was achievable.

The big day: 20^th November 2016

When one attaches too much importance to something, it is bound to put undue pressure. I was no exception. The race day almost felt like JEE day or like CAT day for me. Standing at the start line, I was not sure if cracking JEE / CAT was more difficult or if finishing 21.1K in the next 89 odd minutes would be more difficult.

As I anxiously stood at the start line, a myriad of memories flashed through my head. I thought about the previous edition of ADHM, I thought about several occasions on which I missed the magical sub-1:30 mark about a year ago, I thought about the 4:00am wake-up routine over the last several months, I thought about the fun training moments spent with my close friends over the past few weeks, I thought about the taper week that had just gone by, I thought about the pasta lunch I had with my friends a day ago. It almost felt like an eternity before the race started and each passing moment was adding to the anxiety. I kept casually jumping on the spot to keep the body warm.

At 7:10am the race started, and how relieved I was to be able to switch from vertical jumping motion to the linear horizontal motion! The race commenced as per the plan: 5K in 20:10, 10K in 41:09, 14K in 58:30…and finally, yes finally 21.1K in 1:29:39.

It was a moment of joy, joy that can be felt but not expressed..

What next? - Time to briefly cherish the moment and start a new pursuit!

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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 ADHM 2016, which he completed in 1:29:39.