Nihal Ahamad Baig, triathlete and runner, recently completed the Valencia Marathon in two hours, 21 minutes and 48 seconds. It was a new personal best. The timing should rank high among recent performances by Indian amateur marathon runners.

The Pune-based recreational athlete has been a podium finisher in many road races as well as triathlons over the past few years. At the 2024 Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, held on October 20, 2024, Nihal had finished with a personal best of 1:10:12 wining his age category (30 to 34 years) and securing overall sixth position.

He spoke to Latha Venkatraman about his training and the factors that helped him secure a new personal best at Valencia Marathon. Here’s Nihal’s account:

In April of 2023 I had to undergo a hernia surgery. I went off training initially for three months. I resumed training in a limited way but my mileage in running remained low until December 2023.

I decided to sign up for the 2024 Valencia Marathon mainly because it is known to have a flat course and as it is held in the December of every year the weather is expected to be good. It is also a popular race among Europeans. Given all the ideal conditions, it made sense to sign up for this race. Also, the December race is good for training for us runners in India. The Berlin Marathon takes place in September but that would entail training through our summer and monsoon months which isn’t ideal to achieve peak performance.

I started training for the Valencia Marathon in April 2024. The initial focus was to build strength and work alongside on my running form. Building strength was crucial for me as I was off serious training for almost a year. Working on the form is also essential to improve time efficiency. From April to July 2024, I focussed on strength training and my running form. I gradually built mileage up to about 120 kilometres per week in August.

My last full marathon was at the 2023 New Delhi Marathon where I was able to secure a personal record of 2:24.12.

As part of my training for Valencia I decided to sign up for the 2024 Hyderabad Marathon. I wanted to run it as a practice run. It was a decent outing. I was able to finish in 2:40 hours. Following this race, I began to focus on race pace running. I also signed up for the 2024 Delhi Half Marathon as a build-up to my training. I finished the race in 1:10:12, also a new personal record for me in the half marathon.

My initial plan at Valencia Marathon was to focus on a sub-2:20 finish but I had to revise it to 2:22 to 2:23 as I had developed shin splints during the Hyderabad Marathon which interrupted my training for six weeks.

I had six weeks from the Delhi Half Marathon to Valencia Marathon. In terms of training it was a perfect block of time. During this period, I did a 5 km time trial and was able to secure a personal record. I was confident going into the race. But just 10 days before the race I picked up an ankle sprain in my right foot. I had to go to the physiotherapist. He asked me if I had tripped or suffered a fall during my training. I rested for two days and resumed my last stretch of training before I flew to Valencia.

I travelled to Valencia four days ahead of the race. While there, I did a couple of easy runs. I felt the pain in my ankle but I did not want it to impact me negatively.

On race day (December 1, 2024) the weather was good. At the start of the race it must have been around 12-13 degrees Celsius. I wore a singlet and arm sleeves and wore a sleeved t-shirt over it. At the start of the race I took off the t-shirt. It was cold but I was able to push my pace and heart rate. I was in the first corral of amateur runners. We were right behind the elite runners. The first two kilometres were crowded. From the third kilometre I was able to hit my target pace of 3:20 and hold on to it. I caught up with a Spanish elite runner and ran along with her for 15 kms.

At around the 18 kilometre-mark I felt a slight stiffness in my right leg and that affected my running form. I tried to hold on to my pace till the 32 km-mark. Until here, I was on track to get my 2:20 finish but I had to slow down a bit at that kilometre mark.

At Valencia, the route is mostly flat but there are many turns and a couple of ‘u’ turns. I had no problem with the left turns but I had to be cautious with the right turns. For a few moments I did feel the pain in my ankle more than I could handle. The roads were broad and runners had to veer away from the blue line to get hydration, which was available every five kilometres. They were offering 330 ml bottle. I was able to have 200 ml water every five kilometre. I took one 45 gm gel every 30 minutes.

The most amazing aspect of this race was the cheering of spectators’ right from the first kilometre to the last. This was my first international marathon. There were hundreds of people all along the course.

What helped me get a personal best were a few factors including my training with a mix of strength workout, working on my mental strength, maintaining a positive attitude, weather, running along with so many fast runners from Europe and the flat course.

At the end of this race, I felt confident that I could use this experience to positively work on my next training block and aim to improve further.

(Nihal spoke to Latha Venkatraman, an independent journalist based in Mumbai)