Sydney Marathon - Weekly Buildup

Week 13, updated Tuesday, 2-Sep-25 0935

I did two 30-minutes easy runs on Monday and Wednesday before getting on the plane to Sydney for the Sydney Marathon. Vinay, Bharath, Abhilash and I did a 25 minutes shakeout run Saturday morning around the Sydney harbour area purely to move our legs and as weather check. The harbour was full of runners doing their shakeout run before the Sunday race. This would be the last update to this weekly build up for Sydney Marathon.

  • Distance: 13.93 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 1:25:25
  • Weight: 71.0 kg
  • 13 weeks mileage: 930.62 km (71.58 km/week)

Week 12, updated Saturday, 23-Aug-25 1115

Monday was an easy 10 km run followed by a rest day on Tuesday. Wednesday was another 10 km run with the latter 5 km at a steady pace followed by a rest day on Thursday. Friday was a 5 mile run at an easy pace. The plan for the weekend was an 8 miler. Vinay and I spoke a day prior and decided to run the first 2.5 miles easy, followed by steady 5 miles and then an easy jog of 2.5 miles to finish up a 10 miler instead of 8 miles. However, we ended up running the entire distance at a steady avg pace with 2-3 km that came in slightly slower. No strength workout this week. 

  • Distance: 44.18 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 4:15:45
  • Weight: 70.6 kg
  • 12 weeks mileage: 916.69 km (76.39 km/week)

Week 11, updated Friday, 15-Aug-25 0945

Week started with a 10 km easy run. Ran 400m repeats on Tuesday, was very pleased with consistent pace across all reps. Wednesday, the plan was to run a 5 miler, one mile into the run, it started to drizzle plus I also felt quite a bit of tightness in my glutes chose to just abort the run and head back home. Thursday, the plan was to run 10 km at marathon pace, I added a mile on either side as warm-up and cool-down and completed the run at planned pace. Vinay and I had decided to get the weekend long run done with on Friday, we along with Bharath ran a half marathon with the first 5 miles easy, the next ~7 miles at a steady pace and the remaining distance as cool down. I did two days of strength training upfront in the week but lesser sets and reps. ~8.6% (4.8 km) was run hard rest of the distance was a combination of easy and steady runs like last week.

  • Distance: 55.58 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 5:27:02 Strength training: 41:28
  • Weight: 70.2 kg
  • 11 weeks mileage: 872.51 km (79.31 km/week)

Week 10, updated Monday, 11-Aug-25 0615

Nice and easy 5 miler on Monday near home. 2 miles and 1 mile repeats on Tuesday which didn't really go at the pace I would have liked though. Wednesday and Thursday featured 5 km easy and 5 km steady pace runs respectively which went as per plan. Friday, I chose to rest and recover for an important 20 miler tune-up on Saturday. Vinay and I ran the 20 miler together, one loop inside GKVK followed by the rolling terrain along the boundary wall of GKVK and then the left over 9 odd km again inside GKVK to wrap up, the plan to average between 5:25-5:30/km for the entire distance was met. This week also featured 2 rest days given we are approaching the three long weeks of taper. Another week went  by with three strength training sessions upfront. ~14% (9.6 km) was run hard rest of the distance was a combination of easy and steady runs.

  • Distance: 65.57 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 6:05:49 Strength training: 1:50:26
  • Weight: 71.5 kg
  • 10 weeks mileage: 816.93 km (81.69 km/week)

Week 9, updated Sunday, 3-Aug-25 1500

The week started with a 5-miler in GKVK on Monday. Tuesday I felt a little tired than normal, so decided to sleep in. Wednesday was a mid-week 14 miler which I ran with Bharath until about 11 miles and rest alone I ran nice and easy. Thursday I did half the speed workout that I missed on Tuesday and half of the planned workout for Thursday. Friday was my usual rest day. Saturday, Vinay, Dibakar and I ran a 23 miler with 6 miles along the GKVK boundary wall, another 12 miles around Rachenahalli and Jakkur Lake and the last 5 miles, slightly faster in GKVK to finish strong. This week featured 2 rest days which was much needed relief. Another week where I managed three strength training sessions upfront. ~8% (7.21 km) was run hard and rest were all nice and easy shuffling miles.

  • Distance: 83.50 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 8:29:38 Strength training: 1:41:56
  • Weight: 71.0 kg
  • 9 weeks mileage: 751.36 km (83.48 km/week)

Week 8, updated Sunday, 27-Jul-25 1115

The week started with a 5-miler in GKVK on Monday. Tuesday ended up being a forced rest day as my head was hurting when I woke up, I decided to sleep in to get some extra rest. Wednesday featured my favorite intervals, 6 reps of a mile which went as per the pace plan. Thursday was another interval workout, 10 reps of 500m - back-to-back intervals really took a toll on the legs. I was extraordinarily tired on Friday, just focussed on recovering for the long run. I had company for the 22 miler on Saturday, ran with Vinay, Bharath and Naveen. We did the outer loop along the GKVK boundary wall, then a loop of Jakkur lake and remaining distance in GKVK. 25-33 km were fast km with 2 km of cooldown at the end. Wrapped up Sunday with a nice and easy 10 miler in GKVK early in the morning. As with past weeks, I managed to strength training thrice upfront in the week. ~17% (14.66 km) was run hard and rest were all easy running.

  • Distance: 84.53 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 8:36:44 Strength training: 1:45:12
  • Weight: 70.0 kg
  • 8 weeks mileage: 667.87 km (83.48 km/week)

Week 7, updated Sunday, 20-Jul-25 1700

The week started with a 10 miler in Pune and was quickly interrupted with downpour Tuesday morning and an early morning flight back to Bengaluru on Wednesday resulting in no running those two days. On Thursday, I ran the 12 miler with a 4 miler block in the middle at steady pace which went as per plan. Friday, which is usually my rest day was replaced with 400m repeats early in the morning before heading to a conference in Whitefield I ran this conservatively as I had a pretty long run on Saturday which ended up being even longer than planned. GKVK on Saturday was going to be long morning, we started running easy the first loop (12 mi) and bumped up the pace a little during the second loop, we added 2 more miles to round it off to a marathon distance - managed a decent negative split which is easy when one is running easy pace though. Sunday featured a 5 miler in Kanteerva with Raghuram who was visiting from Boston, Pani sir and GCB it was a nice and easy chatty run. ~5% (4.8 km) was run hard and rest was all easy running. I managed to get three strength training workouts upfront in the week like past week.

  • Distance: 95.60 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 9:41:14 Strength training: 1:38:13
  • Weight: 70.9 kg
  • 7 weeks mileage: 583.34 km (83.33 km/week)

Week 6, updated Sunday, 13-Jul-25, 1600

The week started with a flight to Pune early morning on Monday, as a result I missed the planned 10 miler run. I did my favorite speed work (mile repeats) on Tuesday slightly slower than I would have liked. Wednesday was a 13 miler - home to Khadki bazaar and back. Thursday was time for some speedy 400m repeats, I was pleased with consistent pace across all splits. Friday whilst being a rest day was pretty hectic both work wise and at home in general, I wasn't even sure if I would be able to complete the 22-miler on Saturday as a result. Surprisingly, the run went well, 2 loops from home to Khadki bazaar with change of running gear after the first loop, the weather was pretty bad and too sweaty. I ended the Sunday workout with an easy shuffle of 5 miles. I managed to get three strength training workouts upfront in the week which was good. ~13% (11.24 km) was run hard, rest was all easy running.

  • Distance: 85.58 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 8:45:48 Strength training: 1:43:18
  • Weight: 71.8 kg
  • 6 weeks mileage: 487.76 km (81.29 km/week)

Week 5, updated Sunday, 6-Jul-25, 1030

The week started with an easy 10 miler on Monday. For a change, I ran 2 km repeats on Tuesday in Kanteerva stadium outer loop which went a touch slower than I would have liked. I had to skip the Wednesday 10 miler as I had a wedding to attend in South Bengaluru which meant I spend 4-5 hours on the road, barring the food and meeting relatives at the wedding driving around in Bengaluru wasn't fun at all. Another 10 miler in the bag on Thursday. I was in two minds to run the 8 miler on Friday but was very exhausted to run, I chose to rest and sleep all afternoon. I managed to run a negative split during my Saturday 18 miler long run, the run was solo but 4-5 miles of company with Narayan VB helped to set tone for the rest of the run. With a late night and roaming around town all of Saturday, I wasn't sure what to expect for my 10 miler tempo. I told myself a 5:30/km would be par, but managed to wrap up the run with an average pace of 5:17/km. I managed to get three strength training workouts upfront in the week. ~8.8% (8 km) was run hard, rest were easy miles with a 10 miler tempo during the week.

  • Distance: 90.43 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 9:08:54 Strength training: 1:39:21
  • Weight: 71.5 kg
  • 5 weeks mileage: 402.18 km (80.43 km/week)

Week 4, updated Sunday, 29-Jun-25, 1150

I was in Delhi as the week started. After 400m repeat on Sunday, I was pretty exhaustive and decided to take a rest day on Monday, plus I also had my flight back to Bengaluru that evening. As a result I missed a 10 miler easy run planned for Monday. I started off the week with a 4 mile walk with Tyson and strength training workout with Sreenath (Tyson's son) though. I did 3 repeats of a mile and 400m combo on Tuesday which went well. On Wednesday, I ran a 10 miler with Bharath, an easy peasy run. On Thursday for my 8 mi tempo run, I chose to run near home which features a 800m uphill upfront, it was challenging to hold a steady pace across the distance as the terrain was rolling, I was happy to have held ~8:30/mi (5:17/km), but it was a hard run. The plan was to do 16 mi in GKVK with Bharath and Vinay on Saturday, neither of them showed up, however I had Santanu for company for the entire distance, it turned out to a conversational and easy long run which is what I desired. Today, I was supposed to do 2 minutes on and 2 minutes off Fartlek run, I absentmindedly ran the 2 minutes 'on' stretches too hard and the 2 minutes off were passive recovery which should have been easy jog. I managed to get three strength training workouts upfront in the week which was great especially with a flight to take on Monday. 14.16% (10.87 km) was run hard, rest were easy miles.

  • Distance: 76.73 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 7:50:02 Strength training: 1:53:47
  • Weight: 71.4 kg
  • 4 weeks mileage: 311.75 km (77.93 km/week)

Week 3, updated Monday, 23-Jun-25, 0800

13.3% (10.8 km) comprised of km and 400m repeats, km repeats were par, however the 400m that I ran on Sunday in Delhi were way below the pace I usually run these. The weather in Delhi has been brutal and even holding 4:40/km (110s for 400m) wasn’t easy, I managed to somehow finish the workout. 6 mi progressive run I did on Friday was moderate effort, I didn’t want to push too hard as I had a flight to take that evening plus the day was super hectic with many hours in the car driving around Bangalore which is always a pain the butt. The week also featured easy runs and a 14 miler long run distance that I swapped with my workout on Thu. I managed to do all the planned workouts despite the travel which isn’t bad! Another 6 days running week in addition to 3 strength training sessions first half of the week.

  • Distance: 78.61 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 8:25:20 Strength training: 1:47:56
  • Weight: 71.5 kg

Week 2, updated Sunday 15-Jun-25, 1140

15.5% (13.8 km) were interval or fast miles. The 3 km repeats were slightly slower than I expected, the 800m repeats were par. I ran all days in GKVK with most of the runs with company. The long run was fun with a slightly bigger group, Santanu, Prasad, Vinay and Bharath for company. The 8 miles tempo went decent, I was able to hold the pace I wanted to until the end. Lots of miles were very easy and conversational pace during the week which helps in marathon training. 6 days of running and 3 days of strength workout upfront in the week.

  • Distance: 88.85 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 9:06:55, Strength training: 1:46:14 
  • Weight: 71 kg

Week 1, updated Sunday 8-Jun-25, 0930

Ran 5 days this week. 14.8% (10.06 km) of the mileage came part of interval/fast running. Rest of the distance were easy miles. I went to GKVK and ran in mixed terrain. The weather has been a mixed bag, some days were pleasant and nice and some were very humid and sunny. Thankfully, started to run early on Saturday to finish the 14 miler before the sun came out. Today's Fartlek was miserable with humid and sunny conditions. Additionally, I did strength workout upfront in the week, 3 sessions covering full-body. I'm glad the week went per plan.

  • Distance: 67.54 km
  • Exercise Duration: Running: 7:03:55, Strength training: 1:40:16 
  • Weight: 70.9 kg

Week 0, updated Saturday 31-Jun-25, 1230

Another 12 weeks marathon training block starts Monday. Excited and nervous at the same time, we'll see what's in store. I usually give myself 3 weeks of rest after a marathon, Boston marathon was no exception :). I ran Boston Marathon on 21-Apr-25, you can read about my Boston Marathon outing here. I resumed running 3 weeks ago and strength training about a month ago. The last month has largely been spent on getting back to a routine with easy shuffle to rebuild my aerobic base and base strength. The last 12 weeks has essentially been taper before and rest/recovery after the marathon with dismissive mileage. But hey ho!

Since 10-Mar-25 (past 12 weeks)

  • Distance: 516.72 km, avg ~43.06 km/week
  • Strength workout: 10:59:14, 19 workouts in total
  • Weight: 70.5 kg

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