Sub 2 Hr HM Finish

When I started running 5 years back, being a science student and used to extrapolations, it was easy for me to arrive at my estimated 21km time based on the 5ks I was doing then – 2hrs. It seemed like a nice rounded off number and sounded good too. And then somebody said why not a Sub -2 and I said – why not? All I had to do was run that last 1km faster than the average (and working it all out on excel, it didn’t seem like that big a task!!). However, my first half marathon on a hot dusty Sunday in August of 2010 in a 2:57 sent my maths flying out of the window (at a speed at which Kenyans run or may be faster!!!). So the road to a sub 2 hr finish seemed like a long one but I wasn’t the one to give up. I kept making progress and kept improving my timing, looking for that one race where I would get a sub 2 hr finish - the one with the finish time which has a big figure of “1”.

ADHM 2011 was a good run, I managed to better my HM time to a 2:01. Still not there but close, close enough. There were a few more of us chasing that dream of a sub 2 hour and we agreed that the next race – which was the Mawana Marathon 2012 would be the one – where we get that sub 2 finish. We put together our own bus and got ourselves a “pacer” as well. And on that perfect February Sunday morning, accompanied by a light drizzle, running that flat route from India Gate to Connaught Place and back, with the “Chak De” song playing in the background, I crossed the finish line along with a friend in 1:58 – thanks to the “param” kripa of our pacer. And felt light!!!! A milestone had been achieved, a dream realized, monkey off the back, nirvana attained and that’s when I also for the first time felt like a “fast runner”.

Now it was just another fast time. I had improved from a 2:57 to a 2:01 in a year, and that 56 minutes drop was Huge but it was not as satisfying as that 4 mins shave off to get to a 1:57. What is it about a Sub 2 hr HM finish that most of us set as a target for ourselves? What is about it that achieving it makes us heave a sigh of relief, gives us a feeling of satisfaction, and makes us celebrate our running as never before?

The fact is that a majority of us are amateur / recreational runners and are just happy to be chugging along till we get stronger and “want to get faster”. Then every minute counts, we want to shave off minutes in each and every run that we do. We start setting goals, time targets for ourselves. Self-improvement is a fun and exciting adventure. And as we engage with others more, we become more knowledgeable, we – the middle of the pack runners - become hungry. We, the ones who make up the biggest crowd in any running event and who jostle our way in that thick crowd of sweaty smelly runners, want to break away. There is that desire to STAND out. And more importantly, have that sense of accomplishment, a sense of having arrived and by what - by being able to run fast enough by getting a finish time starting with a big “1”. It’s as if with the big figure change from “2” to “1”, we cross a threshold – the threshold to qualify as a fast runner, a serious runner, an accomplished runner!!! It’s a hype we as runners have created, a goal post set for every new runner – it’s the ticket to the exclusive club of “sub-2 hour finisher”. And I am glad we have done it and created this big hullaboo – it keeps us motivated, this is what you think of when your body on that 5th 400m interval wants to stop but you continue and do 5 more, this is what gets you on top of that long 1km hill again and again, this is what gets you out of the bed be it rain, sun or cold. And when you get your “sub 2”, its sweet !!!! Trust me !!!

How to Train for a Sub 2 hour finish

There are enough training manuals and plans to help one train for a sub-2 hour finish. Each of those are good and cover the essentials. I am giving below what worked for me :

1. Loads of attitude – believe that you are a Sub-2 hour runner and run like that

2. Hill Training – I personally have benefitted a lot from that and love the hill repeats

3. Run Longer – Do your long runs for 24-25km. More you get your legs used to the pounding, less you will struggle in the final leg of the race

4. Cadence – This one needs a full post of its own. But this is nothing but your “foot turnover”. Higher the cadence, less the impact or the shock the foot feels and therefore lesser chance of an injury and a stronger you.

5. Progressive Runs – I swear by them. Run each Km faster than the previous one.

6. Discipline – Be disciplined about your training.

I will do a separate detailed post on training for a sub-2 hour HM and also cover the training program I followed. Till then google away as I am doing right now (to read up on how to get a 1:45 finish time for a HM !!!)     

Finish times - Do they matter?

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The curtain on this year’s ADHM has come down. My own run was a personally satisfying one. The awful lot that I am travelling these days, just didn’t give me enough time for a good serious preparation. This is despite me announcing my target of 1.45 to my running group so that I could be kept on track by them – but nah it didn’t help. And so a sub 2 finish (though 9 minutes slower than my PB at ADHM) was happily accepted.

There were many beaming faces who managed their PBs and equal number of sad, frustrated faces who despite a good training just did not make it that day – or missed their target not by a few seconds but minutes. The one thing you could hear all around was everyone asking the other – “how was your run?” followed by “what time?”. Now we runners may say we run for fun, and most of us do that as well, but there is this one or two runs in a year when you really want to excel, you want to prove it yourself that you can do better, you secretly want to get closer to someone else’s time ;), you push yourself and get your mind to rule over your body to reach that state of exhilaration and lock in your achievement. And ADHM provides that opportunity to excel. According to me ADHM is like that easy paper a child knows he can crack with some decent preparation and can always brag about to others. I say this because I do that too. (Did you not notice the subtle mention of my 1:50 PB above !!!)

So the question is – does finish time matter? Ofcourse it does. For those who have trained for it and have diligently followed a plan – giving up on their social commitments, dietary indulgences, sleep etc – for them it matters a lot. For me, atleast, running was a way to prove to myself I can do more – that I am capable of doing much more than I can ever imagine - and that is the case for a lot of us. And the finish times are a measure of that “more”, of “success”. For us runners in NCR and even those who travel to Delhi for this event, this is their test, the day of reckoning, whether you have trained for it or not, its your barometer (or your speedometer!!) to know how far you have come as a runner - whether you have a good day or a bad day, you know exactly what went right and what needs a correction... And we all know that even though there are races every month (the running calendar needs more weekends in a year!!!!) this is the ultimate test. If you are racing it, it is with a purpose - this is not another training run, this is the real thing.

And so if you see a smiling, beaming face – go ask him / her “what time?” he / she wants to tell you and the world (the FB posts ensure that those who didn’t ask or know, will know it too and the accolades remain there forever !!!! – I hope you people did “Like” my Comrades post on FB !!!) Go cheer for their success, for their win. But be mindful of those who couldn’t make it. There are those with pragmatic wisdom, who move on – even if they cant put a reason behind their failure, they know it was “not their day”. Either the body failed them or the mind was just not upto it and got distracted. And so go wish them too –for a better training, for the next one. And so what do you do with the ones who do not move on – well I need to meet a runner like that and then will advise !!!! We runners are the resilient ones – one bad race does not break us – we start browsing the net for the next race, go look up the training plan again, modify it and are back in our beast modes for that next race. See you New Delhi Marathon in Feb 16 with a faster stronger me !!! and Good Luck to all of you too !!

Running for fun or with a goal 

There is no right or wrong on this one. Most of us start with a goal in mind – let me just run uptil that next block and that’s it, let me get my sub-2 and I am done (my friends still tease me for this statement of mine made in 2012 !!!), one full and nirvana – and we continue because setting those goals is fun too. Every run will not be fun – some of the runs will kick your @$ (literally - with a not to subside pain), some would leave you gasping for breath (a friend loves his intervals and I hate those) – but every run will only make you wiser and stronger that is if you listen to your body and that is what will also keep the fun in the run!!! My personal take – as long as the motivation to get out of the door is there – whether for having a fun run or with a goal in mind, its fine. And so keep running !!!