Arun Rajaraman

  Hyderabad Marathon Buildup Ten weeks out from the Hyderabad Marathon, I began a fresh training block. I was coming off a 12-week, roughly 450-mile Cape Town marathon build , and I added a new Wahoo KICKR to the mix for cross-training. The objective was simple: put in consistent work toward a Comrades Ultra Marathon qualifier, with no heroics. The weeks settled into a dependable rhythm: easy weekday runs, one tempo session, one track-style workout, two strength sessions, and recovery spins on the KICKR. The intervals progressed from 400m to 800, 1,000, and 1,200m repeats. Saturdays at GKVK were reserved for the long run, the backbone of the block. Progress, of course, was not linear. The first four weeks built steadily to a 20-mile long run. Then poor sleep and fatigue disrupted Weeks 5 and 6. I skipped the long run in Week 5 and swapped out an easy run in Week 6, leaving two weekends without proper long run mileage right at the midpoint of the block. Week 7 shifted the momentum...