How to train for global marathons while living in India

The world’s oldest and most storied marathon, the Boston Marathon, will take place on Monday. When hundreds of Indian runners line up at the start, they will be buoyed by the fact that Sawan Barwal broke the 48-year-old national marathon record, finishing the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:11:58 last Sunday. Hundreds more will be fired up by the significantly improved timings of Indian long-distance athletes in recent years as they prepare to line up the following Sunday for another Abbott World Major race, the London Marathon (April 26) — the last of the spring races.

According to available data, the Boston and London races are the most popular among runners from India. The second half of the season resumes in autumn with the Sydney Marathon in late August and the Berlin Marathon in early September, before the circuit moves to the US with the Chicago Marathon in October, and concludes with the New York City Marathon in November.

With running growing in popularity, and many chasing the glory of completing all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors and earning the coveted medal, training for these races has become a serious, structured pursuit in India. Just as each race offers a distinct experience, preparing for them from India comes with its own set of challenges. Training for the spring races: the Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon and London Marathon is very different from preparing for races in the latter half of the year, say runners and coaches with multiple full marathons under their belts.

Realistically, preparing for a full marathon requires a minimum of six months of structured training, with at least three runs and one strength session each week, says Simta Sharma, 38, a Bengaluru-based software professional and recreational runner who has completed the Boston Marathon. “While a half marathon is still manageable with half-baked training, the full marathon is very unforgiving. You have to put in the long runs, easy runs, speed sessions, strength training, and proper rest and recovery if you want to finish a full marathon, and still be able to walk back home with the medal,” she says.

When it comes to the Majors, the spring races are often more favourable for runners training in India, largely because of the weather. Mumbai-based running coach Girish Bindra says conditions are better for those targeting the Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon and London Marathon.

“The races in the first half of the season suit those training in India, as we are already in training mode during our local running season, which typically begins in October after the harsh summer. The Tata Mumbai Marathon and other major races take place around January, which means runners have already been training for a few months and are well positioned to increase their load and extend their preparation for Tokyo, Boston or London,” explains Bindra, who has coached several runners who have completed these prestigious races. In contrast, for those who need to train for races taking place in August onwards, they have to do so after the end of our local running season and in extreme heat and humidity of our harsh summer months and then continue doing so all through heavy monsoon rains — conditions that aren’t ideal for training outdoors.

TRAINING THROUGH INDIA'S BRUTAL SUMMERS

Another Mumbai-based coach, Sukanto Roy, says some of his clients have had to begin runs as early as 3am while training in peak summer, when temperatures routinely cross 40°C. Covering 30–35 km in training can take three to four hours, and needs to be completed before the heat becomes unbearable. In cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, humidity adds another layer of difficulty.

I experienced this firsthand while training for the Chicago Marathon in Kolkata’s summer in 2016. While I had access to an air-conditioned gym for strength work, all my runs were outdoors. Running in the April heat—whether early morning or after sunset—was brutal. Long evening runs weren’t an option because of chaotic traffic and safety concerns. I tried to log as many runs as possible in the rain, but running in waterlogged shoes during heavy downpours brought its own challenges. The following year, I moved to Pune while training for the New York City Marathon. While humidity was less of an issue, the scorching heat and rain-induced flooding still made training feel more like an unpleasant activity that needed to be done instead of a process that I enjoyed.

Sharma has trained for both the Boston Marathon, a spring race, and the New York City Marathon, a late-autumn race. According to her, New York is far tougher to prepare for while training in India. “For New York, peak training, which includes long runs and interval sessions, falls during the monsoon months, when humidity is high. When I was preparing for Boston, my training began at the end of summer as temperatures started to drop, and progressed into peak training during the winter months, which is far more pleasant. Also, most major races in India are scheduled between October and February, bringing more runners onto the roads as they train, which creates a safer environment and a stronger support system,” she says.

For races like London and Boston marathons which take place in April, those who train in India do have to deal with heat but only towards the end of the training cycle when one enters their tapering period, which means both distance and intensity are on the wane. In contrast, for the races in October and November, you end up doing the easiest tapering workouts in the most favourable weather conditions of the entire training cycle.

In India, runners already contend with poor infrastructure for walking and exercise: the roads are packed with reckless and inconsiderate drivers and motorcyclists, open drains, potholes, broken pavements and inadequate street lighting. At times, it can feel like you are playing Temple Run in real life. The difference, of course, is that here you have got only one life.

Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.