Tokyo Marathon 2018 - Second World Major Experience and Learning

The Quest continues, this time just a completion

After getting through the lottery process for Berlin, I was greedy enough to try out other majors, started to look up other races and found Tokyo registration in time and put in an application with very less hopes of getting through. After I did finish my Berlin marathon and got back to the room and saw the confirmation mail from Tokyo Marathon adding to the delight of finishing my first world major race. With a failed attempt of targeting near 3 hour mark for berlin, wanted to take a conservative approach and try for a 3:04 which would also give a dual benefit of a sure shot Boston registration and qualifier for London. With only a 1.5 minute buffer beyond qualifier timing in Berlin I wanted to get another race to get a qualifier time.

Training started right one week after the berlin race and started well. As it works out as winter sets in my ankle starts to behave and takes time to get to more mobility which eventually means a longer warm up and to complicate things unpredicted sleep cycles with young kiddo at home kept getting the training a bit more complicated. Weekend long runs being shortened over extended weeks over winter months was making it tricky. Majority of the workouts around race pace mile repeats was going great giving some level of confidence yet the very thought of shabby long runs was still at the back of my mind. With no so contended training put in by me hesitantly applied for the Visa with only 2.5 weeks left for the race and booking the tickets and setting up for accommodation at Tokyo.

Travel Adventure and Pre-Race expo 

With the nearly last minute booking was on the lookout for a cheaper tickets and ended up booking with a transit through Canada which had necessitated a transit visa which I realized only after reaching the airport and had to do a last minute reschedule and book via LA, which caused me a 12 hour lay over at LA and an overall 20 odd hour travel time and finally landing in Tokyo the day before the race with just few hours left for the expo to close. The very first impression after landing in Tokyo and seeing how the folks behave i was astonished to see how humble many of the social workers were and neat enough in spite of highly populated as opposing to other developed countries.

Took the airport limousine bu from Narita airpot and hopping on to a taxi reaching the expo only to realize that there was very long queue to get into the expo hall. i was already exhausted with couple of my back packs on was in the queue for almost 40 minutes, it was cleared off fast enough in spite of the huge crowd, and finally stepping out after picking the bib and t shirt, Srini gadde was waiting in the expo for quite some time to meet up, quickly wished and handed him my baggage to step into the expo hall to buy a bib holder which i couldn't figure at the last minute before my travel. Quickly went through the stalls to find something and another 20 min wait int the queue to get it billed. The biggest learning on how well the locals adopted to the local language big time on top of English, i could only ridicule on how our schools fine our kids for speaking in local language or their mother tongue over English. Much to appreciate about many of their behaviours.

Took up the train along with srini, discussing they whole adventure of travel and potential plan for the next day and reached Shinjiku station around 8:15 PM. that could have the most exhausted travel for any race done by me till date. Walked around 2 miles to the home accommodation booked through airbnb, luckily was able to fiind a Pakistani restaurant to suffice with the dinner and hit bet late at 11:30 PM

Race Day

With a late start at 9:15 AM for the race, and being put up so close to the start point, i had some time to sleep, wake up little early and be ready with the typical pre race nutrition, with no much of choice stuck with couple of slices of bread and a banana and ventured out to the start point in the cool breezy weather, though it was a perfect climate to run, it was not so much to walk around in the singlet and racing short. ended up walking around 1.5 kms with so many security checks enroute, ended up depositing the bag and soon ventured to the start coral just next after the elite runnres. it was a white themed start point with the same aura as any other event. Absolutely not understanding a single word that the race folks are announcing, patiently waited for 15 minutes before the start, with still confused minds on what to expect from the race and how would my left ankle fare out, started off strong, with a target of 3:05 in mind, which is either a hit or super miss target given my physical condition. With 7:01 constant pace in thoughts and with the course being really flat, i was more positive to hit the target with the cardio conditioning, but still doubtful on how my ankle would behave.

Mile 1 to 13

With absolute ideal conditions in all forms(weather, flat course, stunning volunteer support, manageable run crowd) i honestly wished that i make the best out of it. started off strong. first mile was slow at 7:06/mile and then on until mile 13 was keeping it between 6:50 and 7:00 min/mile, not realizing the fact that my HR has hit 180s in the very second mile and i have sustained on it until Mile 17. Cardio felt comfortable though my ankle was hurting on and off, with a relatively new shoe of a different form being tried out on the race was bothering a bit as well. With all the variations in the pace was so close to on target at the half way mark at 1:31:57.

Mile 13 to 20

Just a little few distance of 14th mile, i started to feel my left calves tightening up, obviously i was altering my stride so that i avoid any major break down ;) to my left ankle. the pace started to dip and slide towards 7:30s , though the HR stayed constant hovering around 180s and no signs of any improvement. No changes in the fueling strategy along the race route as in previous race, a Gel every 45 mins and water and electrolyte sips along the route as provided on the course, beyond a point it was nothing to do with carb surge or any supplements that came from the gel mattered, i could evidently see the decline in strength and started to feel my ankle behaving so odd, i event thought of quitting the race at mile 18, but the very thought walking the remaining 8 miles and all the efforts taken to train and reach the international location crept in my mind and wanted to keep up to my records of no DNFs(Did not finish/Do Nothing Foolish) either of the cases and kept pushing as much i could knowing the limits of how much i could.

Mile 21 to Finish

by the time i hit mile 20 i was so sure that i am not finishing if i tried to push any further to keep up the pace, from that point on, i accepted the defeat and went into the mode of not to do anything foolish, yet try and complete the race. I cannot take the daunting thoughts of getting a DNF in spite of all the efforts put in, from that point on i was just enjoying the hospitality and humbleness of the volunteers along the course and observing how clean the course was kept with literally volunteers running towards you to collect any trash along the route. Pace started to hit 8:30s, creeping into 9 min mile though i totally know that i am losing an ideal race conditions to my ankle pain, i had no choice at that point. Started to see the lead runners at around mile 22 and with all the encouragement from the volunteers was making my way step by step. As i reached mile 25 i still had doubts as to if i would finish and ended up slowing down as much that i was running my warm up pace of hitting near 10:30/mile and final mile pushing with anything that was left out. Finishing with a shabby time of 3:27:05. I was just glad that i finished at that point and no other thoughts in my mind.

 

Self Consolation and think forward

at the end of the race the only satisfaction and the self consolation that i had was that i was able to finish and with it my second world major race experience which was equally good as Berlin. With this shabby finish i have almost nil chance of getting to register for Boston 2019 with my qualifier time of 3:08 from Berlin marathon. With high hopes that the previous year buffer margin reduces and if i get to register with 3:08 qualifier i would be glad, if not my quest would continue to get a better time in near future.

As i write this 4 months later than my race experience, had to take a 6 weeks forced rest due to Plantar issues and slowly starting to get my base building now , i a still struggling to cope with the stress my ankle gets to. With India vacation, get my ankle subjected to all Ayurvedic procedures hoping to get a break through and get going with my target.

Looking forward to the outcome of London marathon lottery and Chicago marathon in October for which i have a qualifying time, need to figure if i would be in any shape to even run a slower race if not a qualifier. Though i feel this to be the low light of my running habit over 10 years, mentally strong enough to get through and see through the other end of the tunnel. Hope/Confidence and right efforts and sticking to habits seems key at this point. With all the support that i receive from my wife and family, friends and coach, i wish i get back to optimal capacity in near future

STATS

GRAPHS

SPLITS
 



GARMIN ACTIVITY

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2519561071

SOME TOURING THERE AFTER 


CITY TOUR PHOTOS - PHOTOS

to beat out the failure blues went out for a city tour for a day along with srini, must say that the humbleness and the inculcation of every quality right from schooling has definitely made japan a place of people with the best of character and conduct in spite of the population. 

 

Berlin Marathon 2017 – First World Major Race experience - the prelude and the race

 

How it all started? Why travel for a race?

The experience at the berlin marathon was super exhilarating. The very idea to even try out my luck in applying for a world marathon major sparked from the initial readings of race experience from Vijayaraghavan and Sunita from the previous year and in some form or the other got a reminder from either of them in facebook or on runners whatsapp group right around the time of registration opening for the year 2017. I had tried applying for new york lottery in the past for 3 consecutive years in the past and with no luck I had very low hopes of even getting through the lottery for Berlin marathon. Right after my portland marathon in October 2016 I registered for this and was trying to get a training plan set up for the same for a too ambitious a target and come September 30th, received the lottery drawing result to be positive and I was all excited to plunge into the new training plan that was set in place by sunil.

I didn't realize all the logistics to be taken care for the event outside your current country when you never have been and language being a big barrier to execute a weeklong trip. With not so successful attempts to work out a plan with a tour operator, reached out to the vijay/sunita/rao about their experience and inputs to work out some plan. Some point I was event questioning myself, as to if I should travel such a long way just for a race. With the amount being already deducted for the registration I had nothing more to loose at that point than the registration amount and let it be there. Just before couple of months of the race is when I realized I had to really act upon a plan if I am really trying to get there. Quickly booked out a slot at the German embassy @ SFO and had to rush on a day trip to get my visa interview done. Just around in time did my brother move to Zurich, so he had a lot of inputs to get me to a plan and some rough plan was set and since I anyways had to give air tickets for the visa interview, got that done along with initial 3 days of stay at the youth hostel and all set in place.

With my registration to racing, travelling around cities during the course of the trip, have enough confidence to provide useful inputs to anybody who is looking for a plan for the race and potential trips around

Prelude to the race

After getting my first successful Boston qualifier timing @ Portland Marathon 2016(though got rejected due to field size :( ) , the set training plan was to see if I can try and get any time under 3 hours, which by the way was super ambitious by all means, but I thought of letting me push through the mental barrier with equal amount of physical efforts combined with competing diet and 30 weeks of grueling training thoughtfully put out considering all dimensions by Sunil menon  and of course the discipline and commitment to stick to the plan for that long a time on top of any personal commitments and life changing events during this time. With us expecting our second baby around June 2017, and me picking up the duty to mentor runners at Asha running group, the commitment was tripled now. I must say that was one whole period that needed so much motivation and discipline to stick to all 3 dimensions and balance out on all as much as possible. If not for anything, the whole training improved the levels of motivation in me to get things done, but not at the sacrifice of other items considerably.

Biggest expo and pre-race experience

After all the effort put in and day had finally come, flew in couple of days early to reach out berlin on Sept 22nd not knowing if there is going to be any episodes of jet lag and trying to get to know the nuances in foreign land with language inhibitions. Checked in to the youth hostel, which was very close around 2 kms to the start line and 1 km to the expo. Reserved the room not knowing the proximity to all locations, with being economically good as well compared to many other options. Reached the hostel around 5 PM, dumped the bags in the dorm and looked up for the expo timings and found it to be open until 7 pm, with the expo being near 1km away, set out to expo  on foot to get some circulation going on after 11 hours long flight. The weather looked perfect, just cold enough to have a great weather for a walk. Having seen expos in US and in India, wasn't expecting too much of difference in the expo, but the expo experience was definitely a different one. Greatly organized and grouped stalls and with enough souvenir stalls spent around just an hour there and was a nice way to spend the evening, ended up stepping into some Ethiopian restaurant on the way back to the room and was set in stage for next 2 days to count. With expo being done , I had one whole day to go around in berlin prior to race, but always bearing in mind the thought of not exerting the day before the race. Went on a bike tour around the berlin main city getting a 4 hour bike ride around the city, great way to keep your legs active and roam around. Always hydrating with FastandUp Refuel right from the time of boarding the flight from Seattle till the race. Got back to the hostel on the pre-race day had a 7 euro pasta dinner in the hostel and was set out to room by 8 pm. Had an surprise in the 4 member dorm, had an elite runner doing 2:20 sharing the room, had a detailed discussion on how he trains and how he perceives the race. With tons of simple learnings from him, set out to bed by 9:30 PM. It was pouring by then and was hoping to have a rain free race the next day. You know what happens when we aspire to have something.

The D Day…What an experience !

Wake to start

With a 9:15 AM start, I was set to wake up at 6:00AM and was rightly on time and had all the morning duties done and was in the dining hall to have full size breakfast. This is my first race where I dared to attempt for a full breakfast right around 6:30 AM. Stacked with cheese and butter with some raisins and bread with some coffee, joined with the elite guy estenefan curious to see what he has, just the bread loaf, with no dairy and liberal amounts of honey and dry cereals without milk. By the way he has no habit of taking any gels or anything else beyond water and electrolyte provided at the race :) . After a heavy breakfast with enough time to clear the bowel, all of us set our jog to the start line 2 miles away from the hostel. This ritual of trying to stay 1 to 2 miles away and jogging to the race start has always proved helpful preceded with 6-8 rounds of surya namaskar and 5 minutes of nadi suddha pranayama, sets the tone for the day as any other day.

Start line experience

As we jog around the tiergarten the big park located in the center with attractions like victory column and branderburg gate spread all around in the vicinity of it, blocked all around to prevent any entry into the garden, we see few runners along the way walking to the start line. Though I was curious and anxious to know about the experience overall, we take a left turn leading us to the road of Holocaust memorial area, I see a whole wave of runners walking towards the start line. The maximum capacity of any race that I have run in the past is not exceeding 15000, but this race there were 40 thousand and change registered full marathon runners, which explains the crowd, but the first feel of being nearing to the start line of one of the world major was getting me on nerves as I walk. The climate was cool kind of foggy, had rained all night the previous night, all roads wet with pools of water here and there, as we take a right to the glimpse of branderburg gate, there is a massive pool of runners trying to get snaps and the finish line is all in view, I had opted for a poncho hence I did not have to check-in any bag, but had to go along with my roomies to get theirs checked in, as we keep taking turns in the street we reach the GERMAN parliament, having covered all these places on bike I was feeling no different, but this time amongst a sea of runners. Walk along with estefan towards the elite baggage check-in, man that was like royal treatment, quickly depositing we are headed towards our corrals.

He was obviously in corral A and I was in Corral D, wishing each other we head into the corrals, had 40 minutes for the race start, joined other runners who were getting warmed up, got in couple of strides, pre-run drills, 12 rounds of sun salutations, which kind of kept me warm. Were in a small section of cordoned off part of tiergarten with the whole area being soggy and cold enough. I could already see runners lined up in the road leading to Victory Column which I had visited the previous day, was all excited to get there. Right around 25 minutes to start, had emptied a pack of Gel, slowly sipping in with water, ventured into the sea of runners lined up heading to my corral D, what a feel!! I could see the elite runners in the front, walked all the way upto on the side path till corral A to have a view of all the elite runners only to be surprised to see them relaxed, yet can't explain the feel in me, being in the first world major, at the start line looking at the elites and the very feel of joining the party behind them in the same Wave 1. couple of huge TV screens playing videos, showing the elites, followed by videos in different languages including Hindi wishing good luck to runners and encouraging to get it all in. 9 AM the wheel chair start was on and dot on 9:15 wave 1 started. Though it was overwhelming experience I was kind of relaxed just with the thought of going through the experience all along through the historic city than anything else. I cross the start line with all excitement a minute later after the elites started but part of the same wave. The only aim was to stick to the BLUE line that was marked all along the course which will avoid running extra distance and worrying about how to cut the corners.

Mile 1 to 10 (1 to 16 kms)

My original thought and aim as I started training for berlin was to get a sub 3 hour if possible, but as the training progressed and with other commitments that came my way and the physical capacity that I was not able to peak to, I was so clear that I should not be attempting a sub 3 as I was not there yet. So I cannot stick to the 3 hour pacing group and the next one was 3:15 pacing group. So I decided to just see if I could keep up just under 7 minute a mile which should get me a better time than my personal best. Based on my previous experiences from the races,  I just expected the crowd of people around you to fade out quite enough that you can determine the path you take and easily handle at the hydration stations, but this race it was totally different, With all of the runners who knew about the blue line wanting to stick to it, literally be on top of it :) , I was finding it hard to keep pace due to people limiting you, had to keep moving around runners with enough lateral movements at the same time trying to keep as close to the blue line. It was a different experience all together, I was right at 6:59 for my first mile just at around under 7 min/mile target, glad that I was not too fast which I end up doing , this time limited by the manouvering around people keeping me in pace. I still had to keep looking at my pace in between so that I try and diligently overtake people to keep pace. The city was crowded with people encouraging all around with annoucements coming along the way. Equally I felt people smoking heavily which was kind of on the back of my mind but did not really bother my pace. Mile 2 @ 6:50, mile 3 @ 6:52, mile 4@6:58, mile 5@6:49, I started peeping to the current pace so closly thinking of trying to keep it around 6:50s, which by the way was not taxing and pace and breathing pattern were all going good, crossing the 10k mark at 41 minutes. Every time I crossed a timing mat along the course, I was more thinking about what people who could be tracking me comment on and with that excitement I was cruising well, undeterred from the single focus of sticking to the blue line. We go through different monuments, similar looking structures, moody morning, perfect climate to run in, after around 4th mile it started drizzling, with a major part of my training coming from a every raining seattle, I was all good, with my pace still clocking around 6:50s to 6:59, it was coming naturally the only thing to focus was to be right on the line.

Mile 10 to 20 (16 kms to 32 kms)

With the course being flat all through, I had no thoughts of any hills or any worry about it, mile 10 was the first lap where I hit a 7:01/mile, was not bothered, it was all the lateral movement around people, which caused it, the crowd around in the 3 to 3:05 mark wouldn't fade out at all. So I was all made up mentally to deal with it and also around the water stations which was liberally set up for a length of around .5 miles letting all runners to seamlessly get the hydration. To all my surprise I see the small disposable crushable plastic tumblers used and hearing sounds of people trying to step on and the kind of plastic waste every 40k runner X 17 tumblers or more was a overwhelming figure to handle. To my amusement I was reminded about the literally hard plastic tumblers used in the Spice coast marathon in Kochi with the statement of using those to avoid plastic waste and re-use. Two different ends of thought. Mile 11 was a 6:54 and after that I was kind of feeling the pace was hard to keep up but was just trying keep myself going at least until half way mark of 13 miles(21.1 kms), mile 12 @ about 7:02 and mile 13 @ 7:01, the under 7 minute mile was seemingly not possible to keep up considering I have another 50% to cover. I was right at 1 hour 31 minutes at the half way mark, which was making sure that I was yet again not going to get a negative split nor an even split. Again thinking about folks who would be tracking and what expectations they might have. Irrespective off late I keep thinking about what would happen if I try to keep up pace now and then literally slow down later, letting me to just run as I feel and stop looking at the pace and mile splits. Literally after half way mark, I stopped looking at my splits since I know that I was not keeping up to sub 7 minute a mile, but wanted to still not slow down significantly off, with the only aim to run right on the blue line. Around this time we were running along the city to the areas where I had not been, with dense set of people all around encouraging and runners all around I did not even for once felt that I was covering miles and never had a thought of how many more to go. Something strange, which could also mean that I probably took it easy or did not get out of my conservative thought of not wanting to push through. Based on my previous experience with Seattle rock and roll marathon in July , I did not want my first world major to be anything near a pathetic performance I kept running as I felt just relying on trying to keep the stride length and following the folks around. There were quite a few old runners who were definitely above 60 who were consistently keeping up in the 3 to 3:05 range, many a times my only motivation was to overtake them and maintain pace and so do they :). Mile 20 was now @ 7:22, which means I was gradually slowing down not realizing it.

Mile 21 to Finish (33kms to Finish)

It was when I was approaching mile 16 when I started to feel how many more to go, not sure of if I would keep pace and started counting , as usual looking forward to the single digit miles to cover more, 9 more to go and I able to keep it around 7:20s to 7:30s (not that I kept looking at it, just speaking after the fact) my only aim was to not slow down significantly and yet relying on the stride length and kept going. Kept having Gels every half hour except for around 1 hour 50 mark where they gave in some liquid electrolyte , gulped it in place of the gel, I could sense a overload of sugar in that, kept going consistent, now expecting on what would happen every next mile. With the pace out, I was now starting to look around the buildings and people around and trying to take in the experience as I ran through, it was definitely a unique experience with never fading out of crowd on and off the course and perfect climate with monuments all along or at least too different in styles. The Bahn(trains) literally stopped on top of the bridges to view the race and moving on was demonstrating how much the city is involved in the race and participating along with the runners. Somehow from the previous few races I feel sentimental when I see small kids and toddlers standing early enough on a Sunday morning, letting out their hands for a pat, just having a feel of having my older daughter standing there and encouraging. The very small pat brings in a overwhelming joy in those small souls is always a delight to watch in spite of the pain that you go through as a runner during the course of the race.

I was more looking forward to the final sprint passing through the brandenburg gate and up to the finish line. I was there at the final turn still following the blue line, I could see the gate and was a great feel in itself and not forgetting to pose for the photographers, waving up both the hands. As I cross the gate, I could see the huge line up of people with the last few meters near the finish line and huge television screens where you could see your pathetic form :) on the big screen, yet feel great to nearing completion as they call out Sankara from India and the clock showing still under 3:10, I was literally getting long strides to finish the race in 3:08:32. Definitely was a great race experience indeed. It was slowly sinking in and posing for photographs and slowly heading along the sea of people getting refreshments and medal and heading to poncho collection. Waited in a massage line for 20 minutes and after a great massage walked my way back to the hostel, slowly trying to figure out way looking at the sea of runners.

A contented overwhelming experience indeed! First major done and anxiously waiting to hear about the outcome of couple of other major races(Tokyo & Boston) registrations coming through in next couple of days, retired in the room after heading out for a Desi lunch and small nap then after.

Gratitude in closing

I would be definitely failing and immoral if I do not express my gratitude to my wife and mother in law, who were so so supportive who were invitingly letting me get some good night's rest during the last few weeks, which was definitely taxing on them given we had our new born and still under two month's time period. Though this was not to appease and let me run, but a truly expressed gratitude which needs to go in. As always for all the training plans and guidance and understanding my personal commitments to Sunil for all the inputs. We got more work to do. As I draft this mail, I have 1 positive and 1 negative outcome, Getting a lottery acceptance from Tokyo marathon 2018 and denial of entry to Boston 2018( bummer for sure). I had just 2 mins 23 seconds buffer on top of my qualifier time, though the boston entry was allowed for folks who had run a minimum of 3 minutes and 32 seconds faster than their respective qualifying time. This means my quest to get a registerable boston qualifier time still continues, but for this time I am physically and mentally super confident. With all due guidance coming from Sunil and the ever going support from family and more undeterred and much more disciplined execution from my side I am sure I should be able to get my Boston qualifier and London qualifier in the next coming race. I should probably shut up and execute instead of cribbing about lost chance and probability to get at it. The training that went in last few months instilled in a confidence that I could seamlessly get there in a matter of time, it was the last few weeks of my sheer lack of discipline not keeping up to the given training and reduced amount of time spent with strength training which costed me the timing. Though it was expected to happen, have no regrets neither on not getting the time here nor on the rejected BQ. Failures teaches lessons this time I am in a even more better spot to leap to better ones. Looking forward to the training for Tokyo marathon, which is not too far away, its in February end 2018. I am sure I need to face the grueling winter months, but where does success knock you unless you push yourself.  Looking forward to great next season.

SNAPSHOT

STATISTICS

GRAPHS

SPLITS

GARMIN ACTIVITY

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1996011319

STRAVA ACTIVITY

https://www.strava.com/activities/1199550340

NUTRITION AROUND RACE

• Day prior to the race, lunch was a dal stew with lots of veggies in it
• prior day breakfast was typical continental, with liberal supplies of Butter and cheese
• Pre race night dinner was pasta with steamed and seasoned potatoes with couple of packs of butter and salt and pepper supplies on top
• Race day morning, 2 slices of bread with cheese and butter
• cup of grapes and a coffee 2.5 hours prior to race
• half hour before race a Salted caramel GU gel with water
• Gel every half hour to 40 miniutes during the race
• Water alone at all aid stations, did not find electrolyte stopping, when i found it, it was so sweet, I chose to avoid it.
• weather was not so humid, but was drizzling in the beginning, had drenched the head with cups of water after mile 15, which helped in a great way
• Post race, half banana, 500 ml water, chocolate croissant, one apple within first 20 minutes after the race
• India lunch with lassi 2 hours later

POST RACE RECOVERY

• The post race recovery was not really planned out, but I ended up touring the next 5 days, ending up walking close to 16-18 kms a day, I would say it was one of the fastest recoveries from a race ever for me
• Every day 2 litres of water with 2 tablets of Fast and Up Reload per litre helping me recover and hydrated through the jam packed walking trips throughout
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