I spent the first half of the year training for a 10K distance. Being part of the PaceMakers group, I followed the plans given by Kothandanpani sir (Pani sir). Thanks to his guidance and plans, I improved my 10K time by 2.5 mins. However, I realized that the interval sessions required for that distance very often triggered niggles and I didn’t particularly enjoy those runs, what made me love running were easy to medium paced runs.
As a frequent visitor to the AdvancedRunning subreddit, I had heard about Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas, a book highly recommended by the community there. The book covers all aspects of marathon training, offering practical, implementable advice on topics like nutrition, training periodisation, recovery, and race day strategy. Reading about the periodisation of training described in the book, I liked the idea of incorporating race specific workouts like intervals only during the last phase of the training, this allowed me to focus on building endurance and aerobic capacity, which are arguably more important for marathon distance, while reducing the risk of niggles which I experienced with speed workouts.
From the previous training cycle, I knew I responded well to high mileage. I decided to follow the mileage recommendations from the 18/85 plan in the book, which peaks at 85 miles and spans 18 weeks. This level of mileage is typically meant for runners far, far more experienced and faster than me. I was aware of the risks of overuse injuries with such mileage. However, to reduce the risk of overtraining, I decided to keep track of a few metrics for each run and if I noticed any adverse signals I would reduce the mileage. The metrics I tracked were RPE (rate of perceived exertion), heart rate, and effective VO2 max (calculated by the Runanalyze for each run based on heart rate and pace).
The benefits of high mileage started showing soon. At the beginning of training, I was doing long runs at 6:00 min/km, but six weeks later, I was able to do them at 5:30 min/km with the same heart rate. Around 10 weeks in, a 10K time trial suggested that a marathon pace of 4:30 min/km could be realistic. Incorporating this pace into parts of long runs gave me more confidence in that pace.
Things were going great, with steady improvements, however four weeks before race day an injury struck. After a long run, while stretching the calves by elevating the forefoot, I injured the cuboid bone in my midfoot. This stopped me from running for 10 days. I visited Insync Physiotherapy Center and started a rehab plan with the help of Dr. Abey and Dr. Amal.
After seven days of rehab, I started running slowly again. With just two weeks left, I had to go for a very aggressive taper. Even though the injury had healed, confidence was shaken. Including marathon-pace kilometers in a few runs helped rebuild confidence a bit, but doubts about sustaining that pace for the full distance remained.
In consultation with my coach Pani sir, I decided to pace the race based on perceived effort. As a backup plan, I registered for New Delhi Marathon in Feb, however being through a long training cycle I was hoping I won’t have to get into another cycle so soon.
I traveled to Ahmedabad on November 21st and collected the bib on the 22nd. The expo was well-organized, and there wasn’t much of a rush, at least during the time I visited.
I followed a three-day carb-loading plan using the carb quantity recommendations calculator available on the Featherstone Nutrition website. I had prepared a detailed menu for these three days, including measurements for each item I was to consume. Having practiced this diet a few times before, I was reasonably confident that it would sit well with my stomach.
Since I was staying at my uncle’s house, following the diet was easier. It would have been much harder to manage if the race were in a location where I had to stay in a hotel.
Sleep the night before a race is usually bad for me due to pre-race nerves, and this time was no different. I managed about three hours of sleep before deciding there was no point in lying wide awake in bed, so I got up.
I had my usual pre-race meal of overnight oats, a banana, and a couple of cups of coffee about two hours before the start. After that, I did my mobility and activation exercises to get ready.
There were no corrals at the start, but I managed to find a spot close to the starting line.
I met some runners from Bangalore there and was happy to find some of them with similar goals to mine.
My fueling strategy was to take a gel 15 minutes before the start and then every half hour during the race. I had set alerts on my Garmin to stay on schedule and alternated between Unived 180 and Fast&Up gels.
Mentally, I divided the distance into five parts, each with specific focus points:
After the first kilometer, I slowly started getting to the Goal A pace (4:30 min/km). I was keenly observing the effort level, with every intention of moving to Goal B or C pace if the effort level was not easy to medium. During these initial kilometers, I saw a fellow runner from Bangalore, Pankaj, who was maintaining the same pace as mine, and I tagged along with him, which helped set the rhythm and made those kilometers easier. Fortunately, I was able to maintain Goal A pace with medium effort until the 32-kilometer mark and braced myself mentally to give it my best shot to bear the pain and push through the rest of the kilometers with Goal A pace.
Unfortunately, there weren’t many runners at my pace range, which made the 30-35 kilometer segment more challenging. It was a welcome change when the course was joined by 5K and 10K runners. Although some weaving through them was required, I didn’t mind the additional effort in return for the company.
Seeing my family, who had come to cheer me on at the 35K mark, was a huge morale booster. It reminded me of all the support they’d given me throughout training, and I knew I couldn’t afford to give up.
Overall, the race was efficiently managed, and the course was moderately difficult. The aid stations were spaced well, about 3-4 kilometers apart, and had plenty of volunteers to hand out water bottles. However, the lack of electrolyte availability was a slight disappointment. Barring a few small patches, the course was well-lit. While there were elevation changes due to underpasses, I thought they were manageable as the downhill sections were followed by uphill sections, both being short (less than 100 meters), so the overall kilometer pace could be maintained.
Having started the race with low confidence, I felt a deep sense of accomplishment finishing within the Goal-A time. Met fellow runners and shared congratulations on each other’s achievements.
Being fairly new to serious running, and with this being only my third marathon, I had a lot of learnings. While it completely depends on individual physiology and circumstances, I believe high mileage was the biggest contributor to my improvement. Secondly, I believe strength training is an important tool for runners to protect against injuries. I realize I don’t have enough know-how in this area and would do better to engage with an expert from the start of my training, as opposed to going for rehab after getting injured.
High mileage was taxing, and toward the end of the training cycle, running started to feel like a chore. I plan to take the next few weeks very easy to regain my enthusiasm and desire for running, and to think about my next goal only after that.
Chirag is a Software Engineer by profession. He started his fitness journey 2.5 years back and has been passionate about running since then. He trains with PaceMakers group in Bangalore.