A Long Beerathon before a Half Marathon (and after too)

We decided we will go in a single bus rather than two SUV’s so that, we convinced ourselves, we all could be in a one single group & have lots of fun. Which was a good thing to do, else who would have volunteered to drive (and stay off beer?) from Baroda to Goa. We suffered the 1^st casualty when Dr. Rajesh Chauhan withdrew owing to a genuine medical problem. Then Durgesh Merchant dropped out of the 1^st part of the trip as he had to stay back in town on Friday.

Now, Durgesh (along with his running mate, Dr. Suresh Nayak) was our inspiration for this trip. While it appeared as if a bunch of running enthusiasts were going off for an event (true, in a way), in reality we were simply a gang of beer hoggers out to have a good time outside our dry state. Having always admired the heroics of Durgesh & Suresh, we wished to run in their hallowed footsteps. Let me first tell you about their routine whenever they travel outside Gujarat for a HM. They reach the town in the morning the previous day by train. Check into a hotel. Collect their bibs. And hit a bar. They are not at all selfish & let us join the fun by sending us their pictures (with the beer prominently in the foreground) on whatsapp. Once the race is complete & we have their finisher photographs, we are again treated to another round of pictures of Beer. Their commitment to Beer is appreciated by all who know them as well as those who know about them.

Our 1^st halt after departure was just after crossing the border into Maharashtra. Pls don’t get us wrong, for that’s where Parsi Da Dhaba is & we had intended to go for only local cuisine while on the trip. Parsi Da Dhaba also serves beer & we had no choice but to quench the dry throats coming out of a dry state. It was late afternoon when we finished our lunch & proceeded into Maharashtra. Fortified by the traditional parsi meal & beer.

In ancient times, the Great Wall of China was built by the Chinese emperors to ward off the Mongols in the north. Mumbai also has something which serves the same purpose. It goes by the simple name of Ghodbandar. Stuck in the jam at Ghodbandar, we got down to loosen up the leg muscles (we were running a HM in 3 days) only to come across chilled beer. Reni George, a religious type who goes to church every Sunday, thought this was a divine signal welcoming us into Mumbai. And we had to have beer, for it was another form of Prasad for us devotees.

It was late in the night when we crossed Sheel Phata. Dinner did not worry us as the home-cooked dry chicken brought along by RK Menon was practically untouched along with Methi Parathas & Theplas. Having been advised that the wine shops close at 10 PM, we got some beer for the dry chicken. This helped us till the hotel near Pen where we stayed overnight. It was too late for another beer as we planned an early start.

We started quite early the next day so as to reach Goa well in time. A little after 10 AM we stopped for tea. We walked around a bit to loosen up the muscles (we were running a HM in 2 days) & found that a country liquor outlet also sold chilled beer. It was not hot, but the sun was truly up. What else, we stocked up beer for the next leg of the journey which lasted us till lunch.

It had turned dark for some time & we were still in Maharashtra. Taking Reni’s advice seriously we stopped to collect another stock of beer. An atheist, I always ridicule the believers. But I am now starting to believe that going to church each Sunday has its benefits. Hope Reni continues this practice.

With a small hiccup at the border check post, we reached Goa. Google Maps guided us to Calangute & to the vicinity of our hotel. It was late in the night & our hotel’s kitchen was not taking any further orders.we had to decide whether to check-in & come back for dinner, or have dinner before checking in. The experience of Suresh helped us here. We stopped at a hotel for dinner. And while waiting for the dinner to be brought in we had some beer. We also picked up some cans for Durgesh who was checking in later.

Reaching the hotel, Rakesh realized that he couldn’t last till Durgesh came in & had a can of beer. Rakesh Rawat is his full name & you would have guessed that he is from the hills. There is a famous saying in the hills – Surya ast, Pahadi mast, which translates as Once the Sun sets, the Hillman drinks. Rakesh proved during this trip that he lives his life by this dictum. Rather more, as he gives an equal importance to moonset.

After breakfast the next day, we moved to the race expo to collect our bibs. We met Siddharth Katju & we hooked him as we went to Hotel Anant Ashram for the highly recommended sea food. The high point for Durgesh & Suresh in any HM (outside Gujarat) is lunch on the previous day & no power on earth (or rest of the galaxy) can stop them from their pre-race ritual. Thus, while we waited for the fish thali to come, we had some beer.

After a short rest at the hotel, the gang went to Calangute beach. Durgesh & I stayed behind to rest some more. I lazed around even after Durgesh left to join the rest. But my thoughts were at the beach (and the beer) & as it was getting dark, I too joined them. And had only half a beer mug (I was running a HM the next morning).

Most people would tell you to stay off mild or hard liquor a few days before an distance run. It is supposed to dehydrate the muscles leading to cramps, and what not. But none of us had any such problem. Yes, Rakesh did get shin splints at the beginning but the generous quantity of beer that he had been having provided the mental strength to get over the pain & he finished with a respectable timing. The rest of us also achieved timings that we usually get while running in Gujarat. I believe, one of the reasons for this was the complimentary beer waiting for us at the finish line.

 

The best thing about the Goa River Marathon is that they provide complimentary beer after the run. It is so reinvigorating that after the beer, Reni & I were off to play football with the kids on the ground.

The joy of having collectively proved the pundits wrong on this count was not as great as the joy of seeing Harjeet Singh & RK Menon finishing their maiden 10K. The afternoon was spent at Lobo’s on the Calangute beach with, what else but Beer! After a short sojourn for rest & recuperation at the hotel, we were back in action for the evening & the ceremony continued till late hours of the night.

It was with a heavy heart that we left for Baroda early the next morning. To uplift the mood, we had no option but to relive the 1^st leg of the journey till we crossed Maharashtra late in the night. Into the land of cutting chai.

How to manage negative splits

This is the 1^st of the intended 3 posts on Goa River Marathon (GRM). I honour the events I participate in with a post each. GRM deserves an additional post as it offers complimentary post-run beer. My sister also being a participant here, I got two beers & I have thus decided to write 3 posts on GRM 2016. (hint to GRM – offer me unlimited post-run booze next time & I will write a book.) But I am digressing from the subject, so here I go…

We (a group of 7 runners, incl. me) went for GRM by road as this would give us plenty of time to spend together. One of the two debutants, I think it was Harjeet, was pestering Coach Reni with a lot of queries on technical jargon. When it came to Negative Splits, I casually informed the gang that I do this every time. The company, all 6 of them, was in shock! Now, I am not the fastest of runners. Nor a focused one at that. To me, running a half marathon includes everything else including running. And a time of close to 3 hours is what I aim for. Yet, I have invariably managed to achieve negative splits each time I have run 21K. Your turn to be shocked? No, for I present the evidence from the GRM.

Here’s what Timing Technologies website (http://www.timingindia.com/result.html) says about how I progressed through the distance (you have my bib no. & can verify the same):

Number	22250
Name	Ashish Diimri
Gender	Male
Category	Open (Age group 35-45) MEN
Rank	1086 / 1284 Finishers
Category Rank	360 / 417 Finishers
Gender Rank	940 / 1084 Finishers
Split@5 Km	00:48:47 Avg. Pace 09:46, Avg. Speed 6.15 Kmph Gender Rank : 1061 / 1084 Finishers , Category Rank : 408 / 417 Finishers
Split@10.5 Km	01:33:53 Avg. Pace 08:56, Avg. Speed 6.71 Kmph Gender Rank : 1044 / 1084 Finishers , Category Rank : 400 / 417 Finishers
Split@16.1 Km	02:16:31 Avg. Pace 08:29, Avg. Speed 7.08 Kmph Gender Rank : 996 / 1084 Finishers , Category Rank : 378 / 417 Finishers
Net Time	02:59:35 Average Pace 08:31, Average Speed 7.05 kmph

As you can see, I shaved off 50 seconds in the 2^nd quarter & another 27 seconds in the 3^rd quarter. The 4^th quarter of the run was slightly slower (by 2 seconds). Which means, as I crossed the finishing line, my pace was a good 75 seconds (or 1:15 minutes) faster than when I began. You will have to trust these numbers as these are provided by the official timekeeper. I myself do not usually track my runs & do not have data to corroborate the official results. If you study the analytics closely, you will see even my gender/category ranks improve with each split. This is something I always find – people overtaking me initially while I do the overtaking in the later part (unless it’s a full marathoner overlapping me).

But I can explain why this happens. Usually, most of the events (Vadodara International Marathon being a notable exception here) have runners running along for 10.5 kms & returning the same way for the half marathon. The FM participants do 2 loops of this route.

Now, when I am running, you will find me admiring the route (& clicking pictures on my phone), reading the hoarding & race posters (& clicking pictures on my phone), trying to play some musical instrument (& having my picture clicked on my phone) & chatting up with fellow runners (& if they consent, clicking their picture on my phone). This takes up a lot of time. I usually manage to get some 40-50 pictures on each race (assuming 10 secs per picture, this adds around 8 minutes to the time). This slows me down (as you can see in my timings), but gets me a lot of stuff for the blogpost to follow. It’s a tradeoff where I have never been a loser as the organisers give a medal & post-run breakfast to each finisher.

Coming back to the topic, when I do the return leg of the route I have already seen the sights in the 1^st half & have less distractions resulting in fewer halts (this time only for hydration & fuelling). One also comes across other friends who are already returning from the half way mark, (at GRM, apart from Durgesh Merchant, Dr. Suresh Nayak & Sameer Gaikwad, even the little sis who was doing her maiden HM crossed me) which does egg you to hurry along. This is how I end up with a faster 2^nd half of the run. But what explains the negative quarterly splits? You know what, I can explain that too.

When the race begins, it is all crowded & people jostle to get going. That’s the time when I walk & let others get ahead. I take this as a warm-up routine for I am no fan of pre-run warm-up & stretching (nor of post-run cool-down & stretching). Thus, the 1^st quarter of a run is always the slowest. As the table above shows, the 1^st split pace at GRM was practically walking speed. (The 1^st split at GRM was unusually slower as I stayed with Rakesh who was having shin splints, which got better only during the 2^nd split & after generous spraying on the affected part.) Having warmed up, the 2^nd split turns out to be faster.

Having explained the 1^st half, I will get down to the return leg. As I explained, the return leg is faster on account of far fewer halts. But why is last 5K the fastest? You know what, as the last 3^rd approaches the sun is truly up & it starts getting hot. Escaping the heat quickly is one of the reasons for the quicker (actually, less slower) finish. Moreover, having had enough of water, enerzal, bananas & oranges (stay away from Parle-G biscuits, is my advice), the promise of a post-run breakfast (a veteran always knows!) generates extra energy to power ahead. Also, my run till this point has been a leisurely one with more than sufficient rest. Thus, when the other finishers are huffing & puffing along, I run past them with effortless strides (having no Garmin, I don’t have the data on cadence). Thus, I get a perfect negative splits each time I finish a HM.

But, not this time. Coming off the bridge after the 16K checkpoint, I went back to the musicians positioned there. Harjeet, doing his 10K called me out & I joined him. Coach Reni was waiting for us & I thought of finishing along with them at their (rather, Harjeet’s) pace. We also met RK Menon striding along on the other side & Harjeet may have felt elated on seeing a fellow debutant so far behind! But I soon recalled there was beer waiting on the other side of the finish line. This was one of the biggest decisions I had to make in my life, but chilled beer (being a post-run pick-me-up like nothing else) did the trick.

 

So, this is how I manage negative splits. The accomplished runners would have other strategies & I suggest you go to them for advice. This post is of help only if you are out to have some fun.