Arun Rajaraman

I look forward to blogging how the year panned out, you can read more about how 2023 went here and first half of this year here . 2024 has been a rollercoaster year for me training-wise and personally, glad the year is over. Eagerly looking forward to 2025.  I limit my participation in racing events in general, 2024 was no different. Whilst I continue to train all through the year, I specifically train and run only one marathon race/event - I like to cherrypick races that I want to participate in. This year I ran the Tokyo Marathon, you read all about it here and the 12-weeks training buildup for that race here . I have been meaning to run an ultramarathon since 2023, finally got around to running one in Dec, The Border Ultra  - The Hell Race, the race lived upto it's name. I ran with a buddy of mine, it was a lot of fun to train with and race alongside him, details are here . I like to look at data and analyse how the year went by, now that we have got races out of the way....

I planned to run Malnad Trail Ultra 50 km along with Sriram to ring his 50 th  birthday, however that didn’t happen. Whilst I was planning 2024 races, I wanted to split races such that I do one in the first half and the other in the second half of the year that way they are nicely spaced out. One was Tokyo Marathon early March, you can read about that outing  here   and Malnad Ultra end of November, which is certified by  ITRA  and also a  UTMB   index race, which seemed perfect. During one of the weekend runs in GKVK with Vinay, he mentioned to about Border Ultra and about his plan to run 100 km at that event. Why I chose Border over Malnad is below. I'll go run Malnad some day though. The Border Ultra was conceived to celebrate and cherish the valor and supreme sacrifice of Indian soldiers in the Battle of Longewala. 120 Jawans of the 23rd Battalion of the Punjab Regiment, held this post for the entire night until they were reinforced the next day....

2023 mid-year check-in  (you can read  here ) motivated me to write one for 2024. I loved the format, hence retained it. Consistency: Check Active days: 127 out of 181 days (~70%) averaged 285 km/month Mostly regular across 6 months with reduced mileage in Feb and Mar, essentially pre and post Tokyo Marathon taper. Jan, Apr & May contributed to 300+ km mileage. Volume: Check 50% of 2024 target mileage comes to 1,830 km. Ended H1/2024 with 1,714.66 km which is 46.85%. With an Ultramarathon end of the year, I see no challenge in hitting 3,660 km end of the year. Strength Training: Check 40 sessions in 26 weeks, I didn't strength training 2 weeks before and 4 weeks after Tokyo Marathon to allow for rest and recovery. To hit 100 sessions end of year, I'd need 10 sessions/month. Looks doable, will see how H2 goes. Tokyo Marathon: Check Excellent training block Dec through Feb that resulted in a decent performance at the race.  You can read my Tokyo Marathon journey  h...

I made  a 13 weeks training plan for Tokyo Marathon with the training block starting early December. Nothing fancy really, 5-6 days of running every week (most runs were Easy/Aerobic/Zone 2 Heart Rate runs, 1-2 steady runs and one day of intervals to keep me sharp) and two days of full body strength training using some light weights and body-weight based exercises. The 3 weeks of taper originally had lot more miles every week, but chatting with Neeraj Engineer, I cut down the weekly mileage drastically to keep my legs fresh and body rested closer to the race, which surely was super useful. The detailed weekly buildup is  here  should you be interested. Before the race  My maternal cousin (Sairam) lives in Tokyo   and was very kind to host me. As this was my first trip to Japan, I did want to get there early to make time for some sightseeing before and after the race, Sairam helped plan a rough sightseeing itinerary based on my interest for days before and after ...

Week 12, updated Sunday, 25-Feb-2024, 0945 1000.98 km (crossed 1000 km in 12 weeks), average of 83.41 km/week. 2 days of strength training with half the usual reps. Office was hectic as expected, managed to complete work well within the deadline. Did one 10 km at steady marathon pace and 10 km easy during the week. I moved the weekend 8 miles to Friday as I wanted to run the Epsilon 5 km race during the weekend. Epsilon 5 km race was fun, managed to run a negative split 5 km which would be a confidence booster for coming Sunday. It was a pleasure to see a lot of people from my team getting up early in the morning, lacing up and running or running-walking the 5 km. It was an electric Saturday morning. Distance: 40.54 km Exercise duration: 3:52:38 Weight: 71.2 kg Week 11, updated Sunday, 17-Feb-2024, 1048 960.44 km in this training block thus far, average of 87.31 km/week. Another 2 weeks of taper to go before the race. Managed 2 days of strength training during the week - will reduce th...

2023   An year of base miles training which would help 2024 and beyond. In my 2022 year-end blog here , I'd set some goals. I also did a checkpoint mid year here . The new year is here and it's about time to look at how 2023 wrapped up. 2745 km was the target distance I wanted to hit, which is btw 75% of my 2020 yearly mileage. Closed the year with 2,919.7 km (~79.77%). 243.5 km/month, 56.1 km/week. Very pleased with the outcome Strength training always took backseat in my workouts, I made a conscious attempt to correct that this year, very happy on how the year paned out. My appearance at races/event continued to be limited in 2023 which I don't intend to change in 2024. I have decided to participate in 2-3 events in any calendar year, however train all through the year. Races I participated this year, London Marathon, you can read about that here  and another half marathon at NDA in Pune which I have blogged here Body weight continued to be around ~70 kg/155 lb Drinking s...