Reflections - by Sundeep

Tuesday, 31 May 2016

Airtel Hyderabad Marathon (AHM) – Are you ready for it? (Part 1)

With AHM - 2016 just about 3 months away, most of us have started preparing for the hill runs in all earnestness. Rolling hills, after all, are the essence of AHM and make the challenge a little more pronounced than a typical run over a plain stretch. This article highlights some of the simple techniques (as prescribed by Chi Running) which can help one overcome the challenge of hill runs. These techniques differ depending on the terrain (i.e. up-hill vs. down-hill). The article focuses on the important form elements that a runner may follow while running an up-hill of moderate gradient.

What exactly does the AHM terrain look like?

Before we turn our attention to the techniques of up-hill run, here is a simple view of the AHM terrain. The half-marathon profile for the 2015 run comprised of a series of up-hills and down-hills:

As evident from the terrain, more than half the distance of the overall 21.1km stretch comprises of gradual to steep uphill. Clearly, practicing hill run is critical for anyone aspiring to finish strong at AHM.

Simple principles of efficient up-hill run

One of the key features of ChiRunning is that it lays emphasis on the specific roles of upper and lower body in efficient running. The principle states that on a plain stretch, the body should be thought of as a team of two – upper body and lower body – and each part should ideally take up 50%-50% share of the work load. More interestingly, ChiRunning principle states that over a light to moderate hill, the share of workload between upper body and lower body should shift to 70% - 30% distribution. This may sound counter-intuitive; however, deploying right technique may actually reduce the workload on legs when running up-hill.

Here are some simple principles that one may keep in mind while running up-hills.

1. Lean into the hill

When one runs into a hill, the natural tendency for the upper body is to feel ‘thrown back’ (due to the incline of the hill). To counter this, the runner may need to lean into the hill in a way that the upper body feels ahead of the feet. The key thing to note here is that the incline should come from the ankles and not from the waist.

2. Shorten the stride length

Maintaining the same stride length over a hill (as the one on a plain stretch) can put undue pressure on the hamstrings. To counter this, the best remedy is to shorten the stride length till the feeling of fatigue in hamstrings fades away. A simple heuristic to follow is that while running up a hill, one should try to keep shoulders ahead of hips and hips ahead of feet (again, without bending at the waist).

3. Relax the lower body

Trying to maintain fast pace over an uphill may exert additional pressure on the calf muscles and result in a feeling of fatigue. A good rule of thumb when one is running over rolling hills is to maintain the same level of effort across the entire stretch (this would obviously imply switching to a lower gear over the up-hill and increasing the pace over plain or down-hill stretch). We have already seen one of the ways to keep the lower body relaxed (i.e. to shorten the stride length). The other important technique that one may use over a hill of moderate gradient is to keep the heels down on the ground during the support phase of the stride. There is a natural tendency to land on the forefoot when one is trying to run fast over an up-hill. Overcoming this tendency may help alleviate the build-up of fatigue in lower legs.

4. Adjust the arm swing

We started the discussion by observing that ChiRunning propagates an increased use of upper body while running up a hill. We have already seen one of the ways in which the upper body plays a key role (i.e. by leaning forward). The other prominent form focus that one may need to adjust while running up hill is the movement of arms. While running on a plain stretch, the ideal movement of arms is back and forth. A good mental image to keep in mind on a plain stretch is to imagine that with each arm swing one is trying to hit someone standing behind with the elbow. This changes when one is running up a hill of moderate incline. Out here, the runner should try to focus on swinging the arms forward and upward. A good mental picture to get this form right is to imagine that the runner is trying to punch his / her own chin with each forward arm swing.

I hope you find the ChiRunning principles of up-hill running captured here useful for your preparation for the AHM run. Do note that just like there is a proper way to run an uphill, there are principles that one needs to follow while running down-hill (but that’s for another blog).

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 2015, which he completed in 1:31:20.

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Sources:

ChiRunning Book by Danny Dreyer and Catherine Dreyer (Page 175 / 176)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XmHrYkobkU
http://running-sundeep.blogspot.in/2015/09/ahm-2015-all-it-takes-is-all-you-got.html

Saturday, 30 April 2016

Rest & Recovery - an integral training component

As I started putting down my next quarter’s training plan for the Hyderabad run in August , I was all charged up to put my best foot forward - I enthusiastically thought about spending more time in the gym, increasing the intensity of strength training, achieving greater running mileage, doing more hill runs and what not. My chain of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by the realization that doing all of this would really depend upon how quickly I can recover between the workouts. The last thing I want to do in my enthusiasm to ‘do more’ is to work-out when the body hasn’t fully recovered (read fully benefited) from the previous work-out. In this article, I talk about possible ways to achieve quicker and effective recovery between the workouts.

First things first – before we look at the ways to recover faster, let’s understand why exactly it is important to recover well between workouts? The answer really lays in understanding the mechanics of strengthening. In a nut-shell, physical workouts result in the microscopic rupturing of muscle fibers, which leads to muscle soreness. This soreness can peak within 1 – 3 days post the work-out, a phenomenon often referred to as DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness). Now, it is during the time of rest and recovery that body ‘rebuilds’ the ruptured muscle fibers which are stronger (and at times larger) than the original muscle.

In this sense, the actual strengthening of muscles takes place outside the gym hours. During the physical work-out, one only lays the foundation for muscle strengthening by actually rupturing the muscle fibers (as counter-intuitive as it may sound!). This is the reason why rest and recovery should be an integral part of one’s work-out. In fact, one should not consider the work-out complete till one has fully recovered and reaped the benefits of the strenuous work-out.

Let us now turn our attention to the next important question - how could we recover faster and more effectively? Following are some common principles that seem to work well.

1. Get sufficient sleep

It is interesting to note the typical stages in a human sleep cycle:

(i) Stage 1: This is simple dosing off stage where eyes are closed but the body is getting ready to sleep.
(ii) Stage 2: This is the light sleep stage. This stage is characterized by a drop in body temperature and slowing down of heart rate.
(iii) Stage 3: This is the deep sleep stage where the body processes slow down even further. Moreover, at this stage the brain is in a state of rest due to which supply of blood to muscles increases. From recovery perspective, this is the most important stage as bulk of the physical healing and muscle repair happens at this stage!
(iv) Stage 4: This is the deepest phase of sleep and is often referred to as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. This is the stage of sleep where one starts dreaming.

For our context, there are two important points that one should note here:

Quality of sleep is important – It is during the deep sleep phase of non-REM sleep (i.e. stage 3) where healing and recovery takes place.
For most adults the body needs around 7 to 9 hours of daily sleep to function efficiently. The demands of heavy work-outs may necessitate an even longer sleep duration to ensure proper recovery.

For me personally, this is the most critical recovery factor and is also the one which is the hardest to achieve. If I am ever faced with a need to choose between cutting down on workout hours vis-à-vis cutting down on sleep hours, I choose the former over the latter.

2. Keep yourself well hydrated

Water plays a vital role in regulating body temperature as well as facilitating proper muscle and heart function. Lack of appropriate water level in body can result in a drop in blood plasma (liquid component of blood that suspends blood cells) volume due to which muscle cells don’t get the required nourishment. This tends to retard muscle recovery thereby leading to prolonged soreness of muscles.

So, the next question is how much water intake should one target in the days following a heavy workout? There is no specific answer for this – however, research indicates that as a rule of thumb one should target daily water intake around 0.7 ounces for every pound of body weight. In other words, one should target a daily intake of around 45 ml water for every kilogram of body weight. For a person like me (76 kgs), this corresponds to around 3.4 liters water every day.

3. Enrich your diet with sufficient supply of proteins

The role of nutrition is critical in facilitating quick recovery between workouts. In particular, the intake or proteins is important as proteins are the building blocks of muscles and facilitate repair of damaged tissues.

Nutrition immediately post a work-out: There is ample research that suggests that one should target a post work-out meal comprising of 4 parts of carbohydrates and 1 part of protein (i.e. 4:1 Carbohydrates: Protein ratio) to kick-start quick recovery. Note that immediately post a work-out carb intake is important as carb reserves are depleted due to high intensity work-out and need replenishment. Chocolate milk is a commonly available option that serves this purpose.
Routine protein intake: A healthy human body should consume around 0.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight (everyday). However, for individuals involved in running and heavy workouts there is additional recovery requirement due to which the protein intake should be around 1.2 to 1.4 grams of protein per kg of body weight. This can typically be met with options like egg whites, sprouts, dals, curd and milk (for more details, you can refer to one of my previous blogs published in July 2015 - Fuel your engine with right nutrients!)

In addition to this, one should try to get frequent intakes of protein at regular intervals during a day. Moreover, consuming a relatively large portion of protein just before the night’s sleep is a great option (it provides essential recovery nutrients at a time when the body is best positioned to recover).

4. Try hot turmeric milk for accelerated recovery

As antiquated as it may sound, this always works. So how does this really work? When we undertake intense workouts, our muscles burn the energy stored in the form of glycogen to produce lactic acid. This lactic acid quickly breaks into lactate and hydrogen ions. The hydrogen ions lower the pH of our muscles leading to that feeling of fatigue and burning sensation that we feel after high intensity workouts (or for that matter after speed runs).

To offset the effect of the drop in pH, it is good to consume something alkaline. That’s where turmeric milk is immensely helpful. Moreover, turmeric is also known to have several health benefits due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.

5. Make foam rolling a regular feature of your training schedule

For starters, the connective tissue in our muscles consists of a soft tissue portion (also called ‘fascia’) that provides support and protection. The fascia often becomes constrained and restricted due to overuse of muscles during heavy workouts, which leads to soreness and inflammation. Now, foam rolling is a simple self-myofascial release (SMR) technique which involves rolling the tender muscle groups over a foam roller for 30 – 60 seconds using one’s own body weight.

This one is my favorite and something that I have adopted in a big way in the last few months. If you want to try out one thing from the list of recovery techniques listed in this article, try this one for 3 months and see the difference. To learn more details around how to use a foam roller, watch this excellent YouTube Video from Gagan Arora:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_KEgKK-9bQ

6. Make stretching a regular feature of your work-out

Stretching after a workout can help in relieving the body of muscle soreness and stiffness. It also helps to flush out waste products from the muscles which facilitate quicker recovery. Additionally, stretching can help improve flexibility, which is critical for any athlete trying to achieve bigger stride-lengths (especially the flexibility of hip flexors, glutes and hamstrings).

In addition to the recovery and flexibility benefits of static stretching, one should also build in active dynamic stretching into the work-out routine. As the name suggests, dynamic stretching involves rapid stretching movements that repeatedly put the muscles to undergo a range of motion. This helps in increasing the suppleness of blood-flow to muscles and also aids in improvement of muscular endurance and anaerobic capacity. Some simple dynamic stretches include exercises such as dynamic lunges, leg-kicks etc.

7. Try compression garments

Compression garments are relatively tight-fitting clothing such as socks, sleeves etc. that provide support during sports activities. Unlike most of the other recovery tips listed in this article, the impact of compression garments is yet to be fully established scientifically. However, there are research studies that indicate that compression garments have a moderate effect on lessening the severity and duration of DOMS.

According to a research published in the British Journal of Sports medicine – 2/3^rd of the athletes who wore compression gears after workouts that cause perceptible muscle damage said that the gear helped in lessening the severity of muscle soreness. The general view is that the external pressure from the compression gear reduces the space available for swelling to occur within muscles, which in turn may lead to feeling less soreness.

Even though the benefits of compression garments are yet to be fully established, it still warrants a try. For me personally - compression socks tend to work very well.

I hope the article provides some useful information for quicker recovery tips and helps you make the most out of your hard high intensity work-outs!

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Sundeep Singh

(+91 - 98181 19794)

Sources:

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Friday, 25 March 2016

When the rubber hits the road!

Most runners have at some point confronted the question – what’s the right way for the foot to strike the ground? The question becomes even more pronounced when one is nursing a running related injury, for that’s the time when most recreational runners are really forced to think about the finer nuances of running. Through this article, I intend to share the most widely recognized correct running form with respect to foot strike.

Depending on which part of the foot takes maximum load at the time of landing, a runner can be classified in three broad categories - heel striker, forefoot striker and midfoot striker. Numerous studies have indicated that midfoot strike is the most efficient form and it can considerably help improve running form, while also reducing the risk of injury. When one achieves a midfoot strike, the pressure of impact is distributed across the entire foot – a major share of this load is borne by the mid-foot and forefoot, and relatively small share of load is borne by the toes and heel (see figure below).

So, let’s examine this a little closely - why is midfoot strike considered the most efficient form?

Reason 1: Midfoot strike helps distribute the load over a larger area, thereby reducing the pressure of impact

All other things being constant, a midfoot strike allows the load to be distributed over a larger surface area, thereby leading to a lower impact per unit area of foot surface. This uniform distribution of load feels much more comfortable on the foot as compared to a somewhat concentrated load impact that one feels during a heel strike or forefoot strike.

As an analogy, think of it like this – if you were given the option of being nudged by one of the two objects – a sharp needle or a blunt object - which one would you choose? You would most likely choose a blunt object as sharp needle creates a highly concentrated force (i.e. high pressure) due to its very low area of impact. This is an extreme illustration of how reducing area of contact at the point of impact can lead to a feeling of discomfort; however, it’s the same laws of physics which warrant the load of foot impact to be distributed over a larger surface area through a midfoot strike.

Reason 2: Midfoot strike helps prevent braking motion, which significantly reduces the risk of injury

The proponents of Chi-running suggest that midfoot strike allows the runner to ‘cooperate’ with the natural force of impact. Essentially, in a midfoot strike the movement of foot (at the time of impact) is in the direction of the force exerted by the ground – this ‘cooperation’ with the natural force of impact facilitates shock absorption. As compared to this, when one strikes with the heel, there is a ‘bang’ at the time of impact (due to opposing direction of foot movement and force of impact). This impact passes through the runner’s lower body and can be a cause of various running related injuries (especially the knee injury).

Reason 3: Midfoot strike helps prevent bouncing motion, thereby minimizing “energy leakage”

It is quite intuitive that when a runner is trying to move straight ahead, all possible energy should be deployed to create the forward motion. Any energy which doesn’t create this forward motion is an unnecessary dissipation, which can lead to sub-optimal running pace.

Now, how is this relevant in the context of our discussion related to midfoot strike?

If one traces the trajectory of the center of mass of the running body and compares the pattern for a runner with heel strike vis-à-vis a runner with midfoot strike, it is observed that the runner with heel strike tends to exhibit small cyclic vertical movements (see figure below).

These vertical movements, (often referred to as the “bouncing” motion of a runner) are quite small as compared to the predominant forward movement and may not be visible to the naked eye. However, these vertical movements require the body to spend some energy overcoming the force of gravity with each step. When aggregated across a large number of steps, this results in a significant loss of energy, thereby leading to sub-optimal performance.

Now that we understand the advantages of midfoot strike, the next important question is - how does one practice this running form? Like all proper running forms, proper foot strike may feel awkward to begin with. However, someone keen to practice this running form may focus on the following:

Shorten the stride length – Longer stride length tends to land the foot ahead of the body, thereby leading to a heel strike.
Try to lean – Tilting the body forward (from the ankle and not from the waist) places your center of gravity ahead of the foot strike and makes it easier to achieve midfoot strike.
Listen to your footsteps – The ideal foot strike feels soft and gentle on landing and is barely audible (as compared to the loud thumping sound for hard strikers).

“A good runner leaves no footprints” – (Chi Running, by Danny Dreyer)

Sundeep Singh
(+91 - 98181 19794)

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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.

Tuesday, 16 February 2016

Won the F1 track Half-Marathon, but…

Sometimes in our endeavor to do well, we get so hooked-up on the end outcome that we miss the smaller joys along the way. We, runners, often struggle from such a fixation on the end outcome. This desired outcome is usually framed in the form of timing targets and obligation to achieve PBs. I have been no exception to this “fixation-on-end-outcome” syndrome and the realization dawned upon me at the most unexpected moment during the recent F1 track HM. Here is a brief description of how the run unfolded for me.

6:15 am: It was still dark when we started lining up at the start line for the 6:30 am start. For a change, I was not carrying any music (and my ‘infamous’ black head-set!). This meant that I was able to hear the general chirping and chit-chat around the start line. This made me a little uncomfortable as I usually prefer staying in a ‘closed’ zone before the race start. I tried to filter out the external auditory stimulus and focus on the run ahead. At sharp 6:30 am the run started – I gently murmured “Sub 1:30 today” and started the run.

I had deliberately decided to approach this run a little differently and had planned a few minor deviations from all my previous runs. In particular:

No music this time - Listening to music while running is a good way to keep the mind actively occupied and push out the feeling of fatigue from setting in; however, music beats also interfere with body’s ability to synchronize feet movement with breathing rhythm. According to Danny Dreyer (founder chi-running) one should closely listen to the sound of feet while running. Despite all my inhibitions around running without music, I decided to give it a try.

Did not carry hydration – I usually carry two small 250 ml bottles, one in each hand. I realized that this led me to sip water very often (more often than needed!). It also meant carrying half a kg extra load during the run. For this particular run, I decided to solely rely on hydration support on the route.

No glancing at watch – I usually have a knack of glancing at the watch every few minutes. I realized that it doesn’t serve any purpose. If anything, it breaks the flow and adds unnecessary timing pressure. For the F1 track run, I decided that I wouldn’t glance at the watch till 14th KM mark. This was easier said than done as there was a strong urge to check the time at each KM mark; however, I did resist the temptation.

When I finally looked at the watch after completing the 14th KM mark, I did surprise myself – the watch indicated 58:55, which is the fastest I have been able to run for an hour. What is more, I was leading the race with a sizable lead vis-à-vis the second runner.

By the time the run came to an end, there were several positives that had emerged for me - All my experimental deviations from previous runs had worked well. I had managed to clock a new PB of 1:30:43 (bettering my previous PB by around 40 seconds); most importantly, I had managed to secure my maiden first position during a competitive run. However, despite all these extremely encouraging outcomes, the mind was just fixated on one thought – missed the sub 1:30 finish yet again.

Soon after the awards distribution, a fellow runner of foreign origin approached me and had a short but very meaningful conversation:

“Hey Buddy – Congratulations.” – said the fellow runner.

“Thanks” – I replied with a forced smile.

“What happened – you don’t look happy! I thought you won the race”

“Yes – I won the Half-Marathon…but…”

...Brief pause.

“But what?” – asked the fellow runner with a somewhat quizzical and amused look.

“But…I wanted to do a sub 1:30 finish and I missed it by 43 seconds.”

The fellow runner burst into laughter and after a few moments replied with all earnesty – “it’s a matter of time before you shave off these 40 odd seconds and get to sub 1:30 finish, but this moment won’t come every day.”

“…If I were you, I would really enjoy it buddy” – he added as he casually jogged away to get back to his friends.

It may have been a short little connect with a stranger but it certainly had me thinking. I realized the broader message he conveyed. We often commit the mistake of attaching too much importance to seemingly futile things and in the process miss the fun along the way. Post that conversation I continued to meet and greet several fellow runners and whenever someone asked me “how was the run?” my reply was simple and ecstatic:

“I won the HM race!!!” (…and there was no “but” thereafter…)

Sundeep Singh

+91 - 98181 19794

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Thursday, 31 December 2015

Don’t “hit" the wall…just “blast” it!

If you have ever run a full-marathon or planning to run one, chances are that you would have heard about hitting the notorious “wall”. Simply put, it is a physical state where the body has completely run out of its easily usable fuel reserves. When that happens, the body is forced to stall mid-run and the runner is said to have hit the wall. In this article, we explore the underlying reasons and during-the-run fueling tips to avoid hitting the wall.

“Hitting the wall” – a closer look
A running body operates on much the same principles as a running automobile. There is a fuel which undergoes necessary changes to release energy. This energy is used to produce motion – be it for an automobile or a runner. Given this construct, it all comes down to a simple equation – (i) how much fuel can a body store vs. (ii) how much fuel does the body need?

Now for relatively smaller distances (say up to HM), the fuel that the body can store is sufficient to power the entire run. However, as one migrates to longer distances, the finite nature of body’s storage capacity becomes evident. Let us explore this a little more closely by looking at both sides of the equation:

(i) How much fuel can a body store?

Carbohydrates are the main energy producing food. When we consume carbohydrates, these are broken into glucose and glycogen. Glucose is absorbed in the blood and circulates through the body – this is the most readily usable form of energy. Whatever energy is not needed immediately is stored in the form of glycogen reserves.
There is a limit up to which a body can store glycogen. Different studies have revealed that a healthy human body can store up to 550 gms of glycogen (when appropriately carb-loaded).
In energy terms, 1 gm of glycogen corresponds to around 4 kcal of energy.

So far, so good. These are fairly straightforward facts that characterize a human body. Let us now turn our attention to the second (and more interesting) part of the equation.

(ii) How much fuel does a running body need?

Clearly, the amount of fuel that a runner needs can be a function of multiple things. It can depend on aspects such as runner’s weight, running form, running economy etc. Even for a given runner, it can vary depending on the pace at which one runs. It is fairly intuitive that running at a faster pace would require greater fuel consumption as compared to running at a relaxed pace. Different studies have revealed that a runner typically needs around 3 to 4 gms of glycogen per min of running.

Understanding this fuel consumption rate for an individual runner is critical as it has implications in terms of when the runner may possibly hit the wall. This is fairly simple and can be computed by using typical running watches. All you need to know is the calories burnt and duration of run. For instance, following figure indicates how I can use the data from my TomTom watch to compute my fuel consumption rate for a fast run (say ADHM 2015 which is my PB for a HM) and a fairly relaxed pace (say closer to a full marathon pace):

A couple of obvious interpretations from this analysis:

When I run fast, the fuel consumption rate increases. For instance, at a pace of 4:18, my fuel consumption rate is around 4.1 gm per min (as compared to 3.4 gm per min for a pace of around 5:34).
Even if I run at a slower pace of 5:34, my fuel reserves (assuming ~ 550 gms) will only last for 162 mins (=550 / 3.4). In that time, a pace of 5:34 would have only taken me to around 30 km mark!! This is well short of 42.2 km mark that a full marathon requires me to cover. In the absence of appropriate fueling during the run, I face a risk of hitting the wall around that time.

This analysis highlights that there is a finite glycogen storage capacity for a human body and if the body needs to run beyond what this finite fuel can power, it has to rely on other fuel sources. This can come in the form of either burning fat (which is not ideal as burning fat requires significant oxygen intake, which is sub-optimal) or it can come in the form of replenishing glycogen reserves during the run (through during-the-run fueling). Let us look at this second option a little more closely.

Replenish the reserves during the run

The first step to understanding ways to replenish the reserves is to understand the “fuel gap”. Looking at the numbers from the analysis above, a pace of 5:34 would require me to run for a around 3 hours 55 mins to complete the full marathon. During this time, a fuel consumption rate of 3.4 gms per min would require me to consume around 798 gms of glycogen. Given that a healthy human body can store only around 550 gms I have a deficit of around 248 gms of glycogen, which I need to replenish (to be reasonably assured that I won’t hit the wall).

Consuming power gels, bananas, energy bars, nuts and sports drinks during the run are some of the most commonly used ways to replenish the fuel reserves. Understanding the carbohydrate content in some of these common during-run foods may help one develop the right fueling plan.

In the figure above, I have listed the carbohydrate content of the fuels that I usually carry for my long runs.

Overcome the wall

Why “hit the wall” when you have the option of “blasting” it through simple fueling related precautions! In more serious terms, one can certainly push the wall beyond 42.2 km mark by ensuring right fuel intake during the run. The key is to keep fueling the body before it is too late (remember – don’t wait for the fatigue signals to start fueling – by then, it may be too late).

I have thought through the fuels I plan to carry for SCMM full marathon in a couple of weeks. Have you?

Sundeep Singh

+91-98181 19794

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Monday, 14 December 2015

ADHM 2014 to ADHM 2015 - a memorable journey!

With its international status, Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) is probably India’s biggest running event (or should I say a running carnival!). Anyone who ever participates at ADHM, takes along fond memories and experiences worth cherishing forever. This year’s ADHM was no exception – and having participated in ADHM 2015 (my second participation at ADHM), I have my own share of experiences. However, instead of focusing solely on the race day, I intend to share the build-up to ADHM 2015 culminating into the sweet memories on the race day.

Flashback at ADHM 2014:

There is a bit of background context that I need to share before coming to ADHM 2015, so let me take a step back and take you back to ADHM 2014 (i.e. last year), which happened to be my first participation at this grand event. I had gone into the event with a timing target of 100 mins (i.e. 1:40:00) – I had prepared hard for the big day and was very keen to achieve a sub-100 minutes half-marathon. After a bit of struggle and drag, I managed to complete the run in 103 minutes, missing the target by good 3 minutes. After crossing the finish line, I experienced mixed emotions – joy and despair - at the same time; joy for having completed the run, despair for having missed the target.

A few days later when I looked at the race day pics, the feeling of mixed emotions had primarily transformed into pure despair. It seemed like a sight of misery and struggle – far from what one would expect from a strong finisher. For the first time, I understood what people really refer to as “skeleton dance” towards the ending stages of long distance runs – dropping shoulders, loosely hanging wrists, unsteady head, fatigue written all over the face (see a snap from closing stages of last year's run).

Journey from ADHM 2014 to ADHM 2015:

So, with the dual disappointment of missing the target and a miserably “weak” finish, started the endeavor to improve for ADHM 2015. In my hope to raise the bar, I gave myself a timing target of 95 minutes this year (i.e. 1:35).

I realized that to improve as a runner, I had to focus not just on running skills, but the overall body conditioning – i.e. upper body strength, lower body strength, core strength and cardio-strength. I soon discovered that some of the best work-outs to improve overall body conditioning (for runners) are body-weight based workouts. After all, running is all about carrying body weight – possibly for a longer distance, at a faster pace!

What followed in the six months leading up to ADHM 2015 was a period of intense body weight work-outs - mostly focused on squats, lunges, burpees, pull-ups, chin-ups and push-ups.

Primary work-outs for ADHM 2015:

After about six months of grind, I was confident that I had a reasonably good chance of not demonstrating skeleton dance this year and also meeting the target of 1:35 (even though the best I had done till date was 1:39).

The night before the run, I was fairly anxious and couldn’t sleep till very late. I kept wondering how different scenarios might play out on the following morning. The last thought that probably crossed my mind before sleeping was that - previous year I had missed my target by three minutes, it would be nice to have my target miss me by three minutes this year. I decided not to put additional pressure on an already anxious mind and tried to stop the chain of random thoughts.

29^th Nov 2015 – the race day

The day started with the usual race day rituals – early morning peanut butter sandwich, Enerzal, banana, energy bar etc. I had a clear view of what needed to be done at what time leading up to the 7:05 am start at Nehru Stadium Delhi. Once the race started, I kept reminding myself that it is a long distance run – and not a short distance sprint, so kept moving ahead at the planned pace and curbed the urge to go faster. I was cognizant of the mistakes from last year where first 5 K sprint played its part in last 5 K skeleton dance.

Out of habit, I kept glancing at my watch as I navigated through different KM marks:

1 KM 1: Time taken 4:30 mins
3 KM: Time taken 12:38 mins
5 KM: Time taken 21: 09 mins
10 KM: Time taken 42:36
14 KM: Time taken 59:45

…the timing at 14 KM mark for some reason triggered the same thought which I had the night before while sleeping – having my target miss me by three minutes was indeed a possibility! I decided to continue as per the pan for a few more KMs and really give it everything in the final 3-4 KMs.

By the time, I finished the race I had clocked a timing of 1:31:20 which was good 3 minutes 40 seconds faster than what I had targeted for the big day. What is more, I was able to wipe out the bitter memories of “skeleton dance” from the previous year’s ADHM.

Sundeep Singh

+91 - 98181 19794

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