Winter & Marathons: Pace Your Run or Run Your Pace With Bit of Professional Help

People often say a marathon (42.2km) is a 32km warm-up with a 10 km race. It should suffice to say that it is more than just a race, of course. It is a mental challenge. How you tackle the route depends not just on your strength and stamina, but also on training and strategy.According to Dr Ashish Contractor, Director, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, a full marathon is a different ball game from any shorter distance runs. Because of this, the risks involved are greater as well. Just before last Sunday’s big event—the Tata Mumbai Marathon, he pointed out two main red flags for all runners.Six Simple Steps To Add Power To Your Walk“If you have not trained for the distance you have signed up for or if you are not feeling well on the morning of the race—no matter how motivated you are—do not run the race. During the race too if you feel heaviness or discomfort in your upper body, stop running immediately and seek medical help. This holds true for unusual shortness of breath in relation to your efforts as well,” says Dr Contractor.Thankfully for me, I have felt fine during most races. Though sleep is an activity that eludes me on most pre-race days. This time was no different. From years of running, I have learnt to sleep a little extra the week leading up to any event, drink more water than usual and load up on simple, good carbs—rice, dal and potatoes work for me.On Sunday’s Tata Mumbai Marathon too, I set out with butterflies in my stomach. It was, after all, the first full marathon I had decided to run. Thankfully for me, I had decided to find a pacer whose timing goal matches with mine and joined their “bus” (the running group a pacer takes along with him/her).Goa-based Dinesh Heda, for example, has been a pacer with the Tata Mumbai Marathon for the fifth time this year. A Chartered Accountant by profession, Heda believes in enjoying the run and encouraging others to do the same. His personal training plan designed by his coach Daniel Vaz, is based on an annual race calendar, and whether he is racing or pacing, his training remains the same. That said, his pacing bus is generally 20-30 minutes slower than his usual time for the same distance. This is an important point to note. To explain this better, if you choose a pacer whose PB (Personal Best) for 42km is 4:20 hours, it might be risky to believe that he/she will be able to pace you to a 4:30 hour finish. The 20-30 minutes is the buffer you keep for the pacer so that they can run comfortably, make conversations, and encourage others through the distance.Manish Singh, from Delhi, looks closely at pacing strategies of runners. These are usually shared a week or two before the race day, but one can also ask the pacer on the day of the race itself. Singh says he checks “for their plan of action for the race day, how they intend to pace the entire duration. I ask myself if I can match upto that plan or do I need to only be with them for a part of the race and then be on my own.” For him, it also matters if the pacer talks during the run or just “runs and means business”. In the latter, it might be difficult to keep the bus motivated. Another runner in NCR, Ranjit, believes the people in the bus makes the run more fun.“ I choose the pacer as per my pace and enjoy the company of other runners joining the bus. This makes me feel comfortable during a marathon,” he says.“The only way I can motivate runners in my bus is by keeping them away from the stress that is usually built up around the race time. Clean humor is the only way I know. It has always proven to be engaging with the participants and in my opinion a very good icebreaker as well. Giving meaningful but not too much information always helps. And what better way to give back to community? Help the buddies achieve something and score your own personal bests!” says Heda during a conversation.Mumbai’s Geetanjali Lenka, however, changes her personal training if she is racing being a pacer. “While racing I can adjust to my personal preference whereas, during pacing, it is my duty to make sure everybody had a comfortable run and is able to achieve their target,” says Lenka, a 32- times marathoner with 14 ultras under her belt. Her pacing strategy for this Sunday’s run was “simple”. She explained, “I intended to start with an easy pace of 6.30 including walk/jog at the inclines, with sufficient water breaks. The idea was to get the first half 2:10 hours and seconds half, given the exhaustion, will be in 2:14 hours.To me, however, Lenka’s pace seemed harder to sustain. While the strategy gave enough time to relax and recover, I was unsure of running at higher speeds for a longer distance. I decided, therefore, to run by just keeping Heda’s flag in view but not with the bus.I took note of his pace splits and tried to maintain them through the run. However, as the kilometres increased my energy levels started going down. And soon, I could see the intended pacing bus overtaking me. I knew by about the 25th km that I was going to miss my target time and decided to, instead, focus on just enjoying the run—stopping for photos and high-fives and dancing to the music being played on the streets. The last few kilometres were probably the toughest—partially because of the bright sun and partially because of dehydration but many runners kept encouraging me to go on. Someone reminded me the most basic tip of running—one step at a time. And that’s what I followed till the end.I finished my run without any injuries but 30 minutes slower than I wanted. It took me 42 kms and a few hours to realise I do, after all, have a never-say-die spirit. And pacer or no pacer, enjoying the run and finishing it with a smile is the goal for me.(Sohini Sen is a former journalist and an avid fitness enthusiast.)

BECOME A MEMBER

Winter & Marathons: Pace Your Run or Run Your Pace With Bit of Professional Help

Running a marathon is hard in itself but figuring out a strategy for long-distance, is another ball game altogether.

Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from opinion

Topics: Marathon Running