Behind the scenes of Avinash Sable’s comeback: Asian Games in sight, 8:30 first target

“I don’t think about my personal best time (8:09.91) anymore. I have forgotten about it. Now I aim to run 8 minutes and 30 seconds to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. Now, I have set small targets for myself. I know I can clock 8:30, but it also depends on how I clear the hurdles, how my training sessions go, my recovery,” Sable said on Friday. If the July-August Commonwealth Games are a bridge too far for him, he is banking on making a mark at the Asian Games in August-September.

India’s best steeplechasers’ comeback trial has taken him to the Inspire Institute of Sport in Bellary, where he is focusing on strength training to regain confidence to clear hurdles.

“When I started training in Ooty with spikes, I experienced shin pain. My calf strength was not great, and I felt I was not landing properly after jumping over a hurdle. Not the steeplechase hurdles, but the regular ones, but my natural landing was not happening. I didn’t want to get injured again and was worried. I felt like I didn’t have enough strength to clear hurdles. So I came to the IIS two weeks ago for strength training,” Sable said.

It’s been a start-stop comeback trial for Sable. By February, he felt he was at 80 per cent fitness when he did track workouts, but not being able to smoothly clear hurdles became a setback. In October, after switching to track running from sand running at the Sports Authority of India’s Bengaluru centre, he felt pain in the calf after a 13-kilometre run. “I think I returned too fast to long runs. I took a 15-day break and focused on building strength,” Sable said.

Avinash Sable during training. (IIS)

Each step in the recovery process has been a challenge. First, taking steps without the help of a walker, then walking without discomfort, then jogging without pain, before slow-paced running.

“It has been difficult. I started running in 2 months (after the surgery), but it wasn’t the way I would have liked to run. Some days I would feel like I didn’t match with other athletes. Earlier, I used to do the same workout with these athletes but now it is too difficult for me.”

But come what may, Sable didn’t let a day pass without him being at a running track. “I used the walker and made sure I was at the track in the morning and evening. I would do light exercises at the SAI centre. Because if I stayed in the room, I would look at my leg and wonder if I would be able to run at the same level as earlier.”

He is thankful for his friends’ circle of runners who gave him company. Over chats and games of Ludo, they ensured Sable stayed positive.
Sable is targeting a return at the Federation Cup in Ranchi next month, the selection trial for the Commonwealth Games. “The past few months have been a struggle. Till I perform in competition, there will be lingering questions. Small targets are what I am looking at.”

Looking back, Sable wonders if he would have been better off if he hadn’t tried to avoid injuring the athlete who had fallen in front of him at the water jump. “I was in the best running pace, and I believed I would improve my personal best by many seconds. I tried to save another athlete. Should I have just jumped onto him? I landed with my feet apart and on both sides (of him) and when he got up, he hit my left leg and then my whole body twisted to the right, and all the pressure came on the ACL. But I didn’t want to land on someone.”