Breaking the sub 4 FM barrier

It took some time coming. To be totally honest, it actually took more time than I’d thought. I was hoping to break the sub 4 barrier at Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM) 2019. But, I bonked spectacularly at 32Km mark to earn my first DNF ever. 4 weeks later, New Delhi Marathon (NDM) 2019, I though it would be done. But, with a 4:02 finish it was so near yet so far story. That is when the monkey settled on my back and I was raring to get it off.

The rest of 2019 was chalked out for ultra running so the next FM was Bengaluru Marathon 2020. But, It was just few weeks after the Khardung La Challenge so I wasn’t in the best of the shape. So, it all came down to TMM 2020. And guess what, I finished 4:03 and added another so near yet so far chapter to my Sub 4 story. Next shot was at New Delhi Marathon 2020, just 4 weeks thereafter. I had to get it, lest, I would be carrying the monkey further in 2020. More than me, my running buddies were getting edgy and frustrated.

I had trained well starting Nov 2019. 3 months of regimental structured self developed program. I was not going to let sub 4 linger on any further. TMM 2020 was a setback and I was determined to not ‘blow’ NDM 2020.

NDM race track is an absolute flat track – 2 loops on serene and green roads with temperature hovering between 8 to 15 degrees. Over the years, it has become a go to race for people to get their personal best. So, the stage was set.

After analyzing my previous ‘near miss’ races, I became clear to me that I was going too aggressive in the first half of the race. In general, I follow aggressive strategy in any distance and my splits are always super positive – actually, I don’t think I have split negative in any race of any distance. This was probably one reason why it took me so long to break the ‘sub 4’ barrier. I had to run a tactical FM to get this off. Therefore, at NDM I decided to run with a very simple principle in mind – ‘hold back’. My plan was to run at a steady 5:20-5:30 pace range – never go faster than 5:20, till 32Km and then take things as they come.

I had a good start to the race. It took me some time to get into the rhythm as I had to adjust to the colder weather. I realized I was faster than 5:20 pace in the first few Ks so reminded myself of the strategy – ‘hold back’. It worked, I hit 5K in 26 mins and by now I had got into a very good rhythm. I hit 10K in 53 mins and I was happy to be on pace plan.

Next 15 km were crucial because this is where I was loosing the plot by going too aggressive. I wanted to hit HM distance no faster than 1:51. I was happy to see HM coming in at around 1:52 – not too fast, not too slow. Getting into the second loop, I felt a bit of heaviness in the bladder. I was hydrating well but wasn’t sweating enough so clearly a bio break was on the card but I did not expect it to come in so early in the race. Nonetheless, I decided to hit the urinal at 23km mark and that km came at a leisurely pace of 6:15, but I wasn’t too bothered.

I crossed 30k mark at 2:41 – as per the pace plan. And, now I was waiting for things to happen. I had bonked a few FMs in the section between 30K and 36K so I was scared. I decided to go conservative till 36K no matter how good I felt. I hit 36K at 3:16 and by then I knew that sub 4 was all but in the bag. I was elated but I did not want to celebrate too early. I decided to give myself another 2km of conservative running to make sure that I do not miss sub 4 in any case. I hit 38K at around 3:28 and I had a big sigh of relief – I was not going to bonk this FM! With a big load off my mind, I thought of pacing things up but I had lost my rhythm owing to conservative running between 30K to 38K mark. But, I wasn’t complaining and kept as much pace as I could manage. All I wanted to do was to complete below 4 hours and it WAS going to happen.

Finally, I hit the finish line around 3:53. Official finish time was 3:53:03. Mission achieved – sub 4 barrier broken!

Could I have done better than this? Sure. I think I was good to finish in late 3:40s if this wasn’t my first sub FM. I know that these timings are possible and they will come soon. For now, I am happy to break the sub 4 barrier – a barrier which over a period of time had become more mental than physical.