My road to 26.2 miles – Week 1

From this point on, I have exactly 8 weeks to prepare for my full marathon at The Tata Mumbai Marathon on 20th January 2019. It’s going to be very tough and a challenge in every sense, since I was busy with exams and haven’t trained for a single day since October. Running itself has been on hold since over a couple of months now.

I’ve decided to document my entire journey through these 8 weeks, so that it’s easier for me to keep a check, and this is a way for me to keep myself accountable. For anyone reading, I have been running since a couple of years now, and have finished 2 full marathons at the same event in the last 2 years. So, my body is used to running 10k a day and taking up some light weight training in the evening. I also take excessive care of my nutrition during this period and focus greatly on recovery.

So to actually go on this journey is not completely alien to my body, and hence not as enormous a task as it may appear. It also helps that I am aware of my body reacts to various changes in my diet and exercise routine, and how I’m supposed to bounce back from it.

My goal over a span of 8 weeks is to lose about 6-7 kilos and run enough miles to enable myself to finish my full marathon within 5 hours. Currently, I am at 78 kilos, which is about 3 kilos over my mean weight this year, and by the end I am hoping to weigh around 70kgs.

To do that, my first week goals include running about 35-40 kilometres, and do light weight training, just to get my body back into rhythm and slowly ease into the intense training that will follow. Primary focus being on stretching and not overdoing anything, and to avoid injuries or exhaustion.

As the weeks go by, I shall put a weekly update regarding training during that particular week, and see how and where I end up. Hopefully, by the end I am well prepared and in a good shape to hit my goal. Wish me luck!

Until next time,

The Travellothoner.