This was my first half marathon of the season, but the training block was short between TCSW 10K and the Bangalore Runners’ Jatre 10K. With both those were goal effort races, that left me with about 4-5 weeks of half marathon prep.
Coach Hugo, ever the master strategist, crafted a solid block with weekly mileage hovering around 65–70K. The structure was crisp: three quality sessions a week (intervals or fartleks, plus a fast long run on Saturdays), with the remaining 2-3 days at a comparatively relaxed pace and varying distances.
Hugo also added 8-second hill sprints to the mix, which is not long enough to hurt your soul, but enough to jolt the fast-twitch fibres into action and teach your brain how to move. As my friend Aravind (aka GeekOnFeet) once declared: “Hill sprints are strength training in disguise.” Truer words. I am certain someone else said this before him but hey, I heard it from him first!
Severe illness knocked me out for the final week of June. But we pivoted, and the first week of July became all about rebuilding endurance in a hurry. The sharper sessions ranged from 400s and 800s to kilometre and mile repeats, with the occasional pyramid thrown in to keep things spicy. Weekend long runs were all business: 2K or 3K repeats at pace to simulate race day effort. I capped it off with two full 21K runs on successive weekends which were the longest outings of this block.
After dealing with ITBS earlier this year, I was consistent with strength training. Under Abey’s guidance and with Alex at Insync, I was clocking four strength sessions a week. The result? Not just better resilience but also a pretty dialled-in body composition (yes, I checked the mirror and the metrics). In hindsight, the ITBS might just have been the best thing to happen to my running this year. Strange gift, but I’ll take it. 🙂
Taper Week
Race week was a careful taper. I opened with 3K repeats totaling 18K (a good confidence booster), and both Hugo and I agreed: I was ready. The rest of the week was all about easy, shorter runs for maintenance, and I logged about 50K excluding race day.
I traveled solo to Chennai on Saturday morning via the Shatabdi Express and reached by 11 AM—right on schedule for a hot, humid welcome. I met up with my friend Lattika (fellow Hugo mentee and partner-in-pain), and we headed straight to the expo.
Held at the RK Convention Centre, the expo lived up to its reputation. Sprawling space, near-corporate level cleanliness, and a bustling lineup of stalls ranging from athletic gear to athleisure, from bakeries to jewelry (yes, really), and even murukku and Madras mixture. 🙌
But what truly stood out? The volunteers. Efficient, cheerful, and operating with the precision of a Japanese train schedule—they had bibs and kits handed out in seconds. If there’s room for improvement, it’s this: the race bag was…empty. A little of that murukku-mixture magic in the swag bag next year wouldn’t hurt, right? Right? Please tell me I am right!
The day wrapped up with the customary visit to the Alwarpet Anjaneyar temple—a quiet spiritual reset before race day. Carb loading that evening was thanks to the divine combo of puliogare prasadam and the ever-reliable lemon sevai at Karpagambal Mess. Just one word: divine—in every sense.
We returned to the hotel with full stomachs and the full knowledge that we’d be waking up at an hour when most people are going to bed. Lights out by 7:30 PM. No complaints—race mode was officially ON.
I was up at 2:30 AM, because the race was set to flag off at 4:30 AM. First order of business: POGO jumps to jolt all systems awake. Second: check the weather. 29°C with 90% humidity. Of course. Vanakkam, Singara Chennai. 😅
I was ready by 3:00 AM and spent the next half hour in my hotel room doing muscle activations and stretches. I topped it off with a banana to fuel the early miles.
The hotel was just 1.5K from the start line. Lattika and I jogged an easy 3K to the venue and then some, followed by 5 minutes of strides. By the end of it, we looked like we’d taken a ceremonial dip in the Koovum flowing under the bridge. Peak humidity, peak Chennai.
I said a quiet prayer and took my first Unived Espresso gel about 5 minutes before the gun. The assembly area at Napier Bridge was well organized, with a separate corral for the elites. But with only a handful of them, us lesser mortals got to start within 10 seconds of the flag-off. Win!
There were about 1,600 runners in total, and I made sure to start near the front, and didn’t want to waste energy weaving in the early kilometers. The gun went off at 4:30 AM sharp, and miraculously, I had an open road from the first step.
My previous PB was 1:34, at the Freshworks Chennai Marathon in Jan 🙂
I was fairly confident about dipping under 90 minutes, given my lead-up races—a 40-minute and a 39-minute 10K. But as every runner knows, no matter how well the prep goes, race-day pace always feels like an unscalable wall… until you actually scale it.
I don’t typically stick to rigid pacing strategies. I prefer to push slightly on descents and hold steady through elevations. For this one, the plan was to hover around 4:12–4:15/km and sneak in under 90. But when the route map was published (helpfully, just the day before), I recognized most of the terrain and figured I could bank a few faster early kilometers before the Chennai heat and humidity started punching back.
I’d trained over the past 10 months to run without water or electrolytes during races—just a couple of sips with gels. So that’s what I stuck with, despite the warm conditions. Gel 1 went in 5 minutes before the start; gels 2 and 3 were planned for the 7K and 14K marks.
Now, there’s something about running in Chennai. Despite the furnace-like humidity, I always seem to breathe better here. Sea level magic? Could be. Or maybe… just maybe, Chennai was welcoming back one of its own 🙂.
I got off the blocks quickly and settled into rhythm within 300-400 meters. First kilometer? 4:05. Clean. The next few ticked by averaging 4:03. At the 4th kilometer, we passed through the fish market, and unsurprisingly, that was my fastest stretch: 4:00 flat. A speed born entirely of olfactory urgency to flee the scene.
By the 5K mark, I was cruising. Pace: 4:04/km. Heart rate: a calm 151. Everything was lining up.
The stretch around 7K narrowed due to metro construction, and I had to watch my step, navigating potholes and slippery bits. But then came a pleasant surprise. At 8K, the route bent from RA Puram toward Adyar. I’d braced for the Adyar flyover (and had planned to slow down a touch), but turns out we ran under it and took a left near Esthell Hotel. No flyover. No problem. Someone up there clearly had my back.
The next stretch took us toward Besant Nagar beach where we U-turned and headed back. I glanced at my watch—10K done at 4:06 pace, heart rate holding steady at 151. Bang! I was in disbelief—how was this going so smoothly? Drenched head to toe, sure, but mentally I was flying. Quick mental math told me this could be a 1:26–1:27 finish. My inner voice chimed in: “Eyes forward, Mani. Don’t even think of easing up. Fall over the line if you must.”
I could count the runners ahead of me—seven, maybe eight. (Ultimately, it was nine.) I felt good, in control. And then… things got messy.
Since only one side of the road was closed, returning runners had to dodge the outbound wave of HM and 10K participants. I found myself yelling, gesturing, dodging. Even the cycling marshal was struggling to clear a path. At 13K, a 10K runner suddenly veered across the pack and slammed into my shoulder. Oof. I stumbled, lost balance, and with it, my rhythm.
Gel 2 at 14K. Keep moving.
Then came the real bolt from the blue. Right at the start of the 15th kilometer, my left calf seized up. I’d never had a calf cramp up in training or racing. I tried pushing through but realized quickly I had to change my stride. I switched from forefoot to heel striking and my pace slipped. Km 15 beeped at 4:21.
I tried to claw it back with a high cadence (~197–200) and managed to average 4:15 for the next 2K. But I couldn’t hold it. Every attempt to return to forefoot striking was met with sharp pain. The 18th, 19th, and 20th kilometers rolled by at 4:20, 4:23, and 4:20. Brutal. Every step now was survival. At one point, I honestly thought my race was done.
But somewhere between ego and effort, I held on. I knew sub-90 was still in reach if I just maintained. That glorious first half had bought me a cushion. But that ambitious 1:26? Slipping away.
I ran the final kilometer in 4:15 and crossed the line with a net time of 1:28:32.
My first thought? “Damn, that could’ve been a 1:26.” But my next thought? “Good. I’ve got room to grow.”
The first emotion that hit me? Relief. Enough to trigger a Brett Lee-style fist pump. I was still feeling a bit raw about the calf cramp that slowed me down post-15K, but the satisfaction of finishing strong eventually sank in.
The volunteers were fantastic—cheerfully high-fiving runners and handing out water bottles with genuine warmth. No over-the-top fanfare, just solid, spirited support. Exactly how I like it. 🙂
A few of them pulled me aside for what I think was a quick video for social media, where I shared a short account of my race. Hopefully, I looked more like a runner than a survivor at that point.
After a good stretch and some deep breathing (more gratitude than recovery), I waited for Lattika—who, by the way, had a phenomenal race, clocking 1:39 and landing herself on the podium again! We then headed out for our cool-down run.
Yes, I had mixed feelings about the “what could have been,” but I managed to rewire my perspective. This could have gone a lot worse, and yet here I was—done, learning, improving. Above all, thankful.
Learning from the training and the race:
1. Mind over meltdown
Setbacks are inevitable, but learning to cast aside doubt mid-race is what keeps you moving forward. When my calf cramped, I could’ve spiraled. But instead, I recalibrated, held pace, and finished strong.
2. It truly takes a village
Milestones don’t happen in isolation. I carry deep gratitude for my entire running tribe—Lattika, Raji, Harish, Satish, Aravind, Anuj, Aditi, Mandar, Pavan, Sangho, Smita, and Mohit—who’ve believed in me with a faith stronger than my own. Their encouragement, and the occasional hard truth have kept me grounded and going.
To Coach Hugo, for his flexibility, insight, and calm confidence in my progress—thank you for always knowing when to push and when to pivot. To Abey and Alex, for putting me through the strength grind and helping me sculpt not just a stronger runner, but a more resilient one. And to my family, for enduring all my idiosyncrasies—ungodly wake-up times, monk-like eating habits, and 9:30 PM bedtimes.
3. Mileage matters
I’ve gotten away with relatively modest mileage so far. But as I eye sub-1:25 half marathons, it’s clear I need to level up. That means soaking up Hugo’s wisdom, embracing bigger volumes, and dialing in those long intervals at target pace. As Anuj wisely told me post-race, “You can’t outrun your training forever in races." Truth.
This race gave me a solid benchmark—clear feedback on where I stand, and clarity on where I need to go.
Overall Experience of the Race:
This was my first time running the Dream Runners Half Marathon, and I went in with high expectations. It was my first HM of the season, and this one came highly recommended.
And it delivered.
From the crisp pre-race communication to the clean, well-run expo at RK Convention Centre, everything felt runner-first. The race tee was top-notch, and the course? Flat as a dosa, straight as an arrow, and scenic to boot—those long, open stretches by the sea made for great momentum. Hydration was spot-on, and the post-race breakfast from A2B? Still dreaming of that Pongal. Damn dawg!
If I had to nitpick:
But these were minor blips in an otherwise flawless race. Chennai truly knows how to host a race—with heat, heart, and a whole lot of soul.
What is next in training?
The road ahead looks exciting—and packed: Bangalore (Sep), Ahmedabad (Nov), Chennai [FCM] (Jan), and New Delhi Marathon (Feb) are all lined up, one after the other. The plan? Get stronger, get faster, and peak at just the right time.
I’m committing fully—to the runs, the strength sessions, the recovery, and the process. I trust the system. I trust my coach and hopefully attend one of the most wonderful running camps he conducts in Iten (www.kenya-camp.com) . And most importantly, I trust that consistent, honest effort will take me closer to my goals. One race at a time.
Mani is an amateur runner running for the past 2.5 years and still discovering about the sport everyday. He aspires to get better at strictly the Half Marathon distance, with a very recent personal best of 1.34 at Freshworks Chennai Marathon 2025. Mani works on New Initiatives at the tech startup, Gokwik in Bangalore.