ADHM 2017
First things first: Finished Half Marathon in 1:55:27, shaving off almost 21 minutes from my ADHM 2016 timing. Thanks @sriram for training and seeding idea of doing sub-2 and making me believe it was possible by training during Womanathon.
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon(ADHM) 2017 could well be defined with the hue and cry over pollution in Delhi and amazing weather on race day. Silver lining being raised awareness about pollution level in Delhi.
2016 edition saw a lot more training energy than 2017 which went missing inside clouds of pollution this year.
One of the overarching question i kept asking due to all this buzz about pollution were:
- Is it really extremely bad/harmful to run in this pollution ?
- Should i be running or not, given ADHM is something we look forward though-out year ?
Obviously it’s harmful to run in pollution and if it’s a visible pollution in form of smog one shouldn’t run Otherwise i think just start slow and see if we feel comfortable and don’t shy away from quit run if you been different due to high pollution level.
Pollution or not!! Listen to your body: it does talk
I did one of my best tempo runs like 1 hour tempo 2 weeks before ADHM where i did 11.1 km in 1 hour which gave me confidence i could do sub-2 and I felt terrible on one of training run 1 week when there was visible smog. To a point 2 km into the run, i could see/feel pollution and turned to other side and finished my at much slower than target pace.
So, The key is listen to your body.. it will guide you accordingly and be cautious.
Pace workouts do help, but is it ok to do just them?
I started training by ASICS training plan, but having followed the training plans @Alfi . I found ASICS plan were missing actions of tempo and interval runs. So switched to plan by alfi once they made there way to Facebook.
I couldn’t follow them to T, but i tried my best to do interval and tempo runs and long runs. Though i missed quite a few long runs.
But one question i still have, if you are not able to manage slower runs then is it ok to do just pace workouts in week? I did this but is it harmful
Last 3 KM are always tough, idea to tackle them:
This is where mental game starts and u start getting tired. I have also felt last 3 km being tough one is generally waiting for the finish line.
One interesting thing i learned from @gagan deep during NDM 2017 was atleast during last km when u are tired, cheering up people and shouting “Just last few km, come run” not only gives energy to other runner, it gives you 2X energy back to you.
I tried that during ADHM 2017 when i was feeling tired and it really works like charm. Do give it a try in your next race.
Give your best and smartest on Race Day:
Since i was training for sub-2 and didn’t even follow the plan to T. I couldn’t have planned running 1:55 which i ended up doing. Though i was advised by @manish singh about following bus of 1:55.
One good thing i did was i planned to follow my body and rhythm and not be mad about any bus.
I started out by thinking i would strictly follow pace the pace of 5:40 required for sub and bring home sub-2. But somewhere around 2km, i saw 1:55 Bus driven by @Dinesh heda crossing me. Amazingly i found myself in vicinity of his Bus for next 4–5 KM and then i thought i joined his bus though i think i was listening to my body and doing what my body allowed going ahead of him if i felt like it but then he would overtake me and stay in my vicinity. This went on till 14–16KM when i started to feel i was not falling in his vicinity by listening to my body. in few minutes other bus of 1:55 KM driven by @shailja sridhar crossed when i lost the hope of getting sub 1:55 but shailja then slowed down and started calling people forward around 18km which gave motivation something closer to 1:55 is achievable and i followed on.
Best is to be listening to your body and following / getting motivation from surrounding Buses and people works best for me.
Avoiding being smart while overtaking and complicated calculation!!
One of the incident during this year run struck me bad, Around 19KM being motivated by shailja’s bus i was running ahead and had two runners ahead of me: One of the walking and one of them running at pace little slower than me and walking person just ahead of me and person running at slower just next to me.
I thought i could overtake walking person before the person on side came close enough. Idea was not to break the rhythm which is difficult to get at this point in race. But!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ah! miscalculation…. It resulted in me getting too close and other person losing rhythm and me and he himself saving him from tripping. No one got hurt which is good thing else i would have felt 100X more terrible. Which is why it’s a important lesson to learn.
I know it was a mistake and not be repeated again. My intentions were not wrong. Sorry to the runner..
Timing Certificate and pics:
Plans made by DRG and Alfie
