December running

I have been lazy in posting to this blog and so on the last day of 2007, it is time to list my running exploits in December.

It's been an "on again, off again" kind of month - the temperatures swaying from 9 deg C to 13 deg C in the mornings - proportional to which my ability to get my sorry backside out of bed and lace up have swung too. I have not run a lot in December overall; and that worries me especially considering the Mumbai half is round the corner.

On 19th December, I ran 6 laps in Chittaranjan Vatika (CV) in 23:48 minutes, doing a sub-4 lap on average. On 20th, I broke the 30 minute barrier on 10 laps in Kamala Nehru Park (KNP) clocking 29:59 mins. 21st was an iffy 18:40 on 6 laps in KNP.

On the 22nd, I went running in the evening at 5:00 PM. The crowd in KNP was mostly nannies with young kids and young college kids monopolizing the benches. I ran an even 6 laps in 20 minutes, the heat sapping away any pace.

Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day gave me the perfect excuse not to run. I finally got out on Boxing Day to KNP for 7 laps in 23:11 mins. My final run of December was on the 28th, when I ran the same 7 laps in 22:36 minutes, at a tempo pace starting out with a 3:04 lap, followed by 3:11 lap, slowing down and putting in a 2:56 lap 5.

Had great hopes of running today - the last day of the year, but cooked breakfast for the Most Wondrous instead to thank her for being supportive of my running (yeah, right - another excuse :P)

Running into 2008

(Pix Credit: The Simpsons Show, Fox Network?)
Every year magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs tend to reflect on the year that has been and wax eloquent on the happenings, non-events and generate completely irrelevant lists of things. Today it's my turn to reflect.

2007 was a great year for me running wise (and other wise too). It started with the Stanchart Mumbai Marathon in January where I completed a half marathon. Having done this distance twice before, my ONLY imperative was to RUN the distance, not walk not crawl, but to do this with feet off the ground. I completed 21.097K in Mumbai in 3:40 something. While the timing was not as good, I was still very much thrilled to have done better than the previous Mumbai outing.

As is typical with me, I took a lot of time off after Mumbai and did not start running again till June/July. One morning in June/July after dropping the kid, I went to KNP and ran some laps. If I remember correctly, my average time was around 4:00 minutes per lap. Around August, I had been running regularly enough to venture onto the blogspace and start recording my exploits :-). The Delhi Half Marathon in October was a super high in my short running career with me getting rid of almost 40 minutes off my Mumbai time.

I ran 10K in Pune in 71 minutes. For once, it appeared that a 140 minute half marathon was not just an elusive figment of my imagination but a distinct possibility if I trained hard enough.

2007 is the year I ran 3 races and I am quite pleased with being able to find the time, and keep the enthusiasm going.

In 2008, I hope to run the half marathon in Mumbai, Delhi, maybe Hyderabad, perhaps the Ultra in Bangalore and if I can swing it - Singapore

Some totally random metrics from 2007.

1. Number of Laps of Kamala Nehru Park (KNP): 360
2. Number of Laps of Chittaranjan Vatika (CV): 47
3. On Road Kilometres Run: 104.97
4. KM flown to & from race venues: 2368 KM
5. KM by road to race venues: 240 KM
6. New running stuff: 1 Nike Water Bottle, 2 Nike drip dry shirts, 1 Adidas running shorts, 1 pair Adidas SuperNova shoes, 1 Sony NW something MP3 player.
   
7. Best Lap time: 2:48 (KNP), 3:08 (CV)
8. Entry fees: INR 500.
   
9. Celebratory biryanis and kababs: Lost count :-)
10. Weight loss: I would rather live in ignorant bliss than know the reality.

Happy New Year!!!

Runner's Log

After my 10K run on December 2nd, I took it a little easy missing my long run for the week. Not a good sign.

Here's what I have been doing over the past week.
On Tuesday 4th December, I ran in Chittaranjan Vatika after dropping the kid off to school. This was an easy run of 7 laps. I took 29:36 minutes, averaging around 4 mins per lap.

On Wednesday 5th December I went to KNP. I ran 12 laps there in 43:38

On Thursday 6th December, I went back to Chittaranjan Vatika, running 6 laps in 25:52 minutes.

As I said before, I skipped my long run, not getting back on the saddle till this Monday. On Monday 10th December, I ran 10 laps in KNP in 35:19 minutes. Today's run was 11 laps in KNP again; I took 40:23 minutes.

Tomorrow, I hope to run 8x400 intervals.

10K

हाय, Pune Marathon - what a yo-yo -- the highs came in the running part, the lows in all the organization and logistics. True to form, the 22nd edition was no better organized than its predecessors - water, the usual problem was not present till 8K, the race started with about 30K people trying to squeeze past the podium onto Lakdi Pul all at once, traffic was not at all stopped well or held back...... but let me start at the beginning.

Woke up early at 5:15 AM, had my ritual cup of tea, half a banana and a couple of biscuits. I was still undecided about whether I was running in my New Balance or my new Adidas. After mentally hemming and hawing for about 15 minutes, I decided on the new Adidas. 10K seemed like a good distance to try them out over a longer length. I laced up and sms'd my running buddies - Ravi who was running his first event in a long while and Rajesh for whom this was a 2nd showing at Pune.

We all walked to Good Luck Chowk at around 6:40 AM where a set of desks were laid out haphazardly.. apparently the assembly point for some Group 5. We walked ahead towards an extremely crowded Garware bridge - everyone just wandering here and there trying to figure out what the procedure was. We were lucky to find a wayward official who stamped our bibs with a rubber stamp indicating 10K and took our entry cards (go figure). As we waited, I started my usual warm up routine waiting for the flagoff. In the background, there were speeches.. most of which I did not pay any attention to. It was a lot of fun to be among some practiced runners - I saw some familar faces, a lot of NDA/Army Cadets - most all the regiments had a contingent there

They flagged off all the runners at once - barring the "elite" runners who started about 15 minutes earlier (I think). All - the general 10K crowd, under 17, under 19, full marathon, boys, men, women, charity run .. what have you. One would think they could have at the very least staggered these start times by 15 minutes. Most of the first minute was spent passing the podium where people whipped out their mobiles and took pictures of the celebrities - Sunil Gavaskar, Salman Khan, Sagarika Ghatge, Vidya Malavade, (the last two of Chak De India fame) and some starlet who was unidentifiable to me.

Anyway I started my stopwatch and managed to make it out of Lakdi Pul without being trampled upon. Ravi and I got a good pace going running within myself, not yet huffing and puffing terribly. I did not check my time till before Modern Bakery Chowk, where I was clocking around 18 minutes. Not bad, I said to myself. After I turned off Laxmi Road, I started looking for the KM markers. Did not find one till the 4K mark. I clocked 27:46 here...at this point it did not register that I was doing 7 min/KM

At the bottom of the Seven Loves/Shankarsheth Road bridge, as I headed onto the climb towards Golibar Maidan, I had 35:26 on my stopwatch. I turned the corner onto Main Street at 37:26. I had heard this was a downhill run, but this was my first time on it. I paced very well on Main Street, sort of competing with this one other guy till the 7K marker at Budhani Wafers. I was showing 48:26 at this point and it finally registered ... I was running at 7 min/KM mark. This was a great boost as I reached the 8K marker going towards the Police Commissioner's office. As I passed Blue Nile, I saw a diminutive lady in a uniform - she was a an ambulance officer and I realized that the few others I had seen in the same uniform were also keepers of our good health.

I went past INOX at 1 hour and at the 9K mark, I clocked 61:26. A small hill near Wadia and I was home free was what I was telling myself. By now, I was grinning at other runners as I passed them, exhorting them ...it's almost over. I was certain I was going to clock around 68 minutes. I think the course calliberation was off, and perhaps the 10K finish line was set about 500 m beyond the actual 10K mark. Anyways, I kept runnning till I crossed the finish line. My stopwatch showed 71:14:55

I stretched a little, finished my Electral fortified water and set off in search of Rajesh and Ravi. Ravi's timing was 64 minutes and Rajesh's was 61 minutes. At the finish line, there was a chaotic scene as officials tried to write down our bib numbers etc. After we collected Rajesh's brother, we walked down Bund Garden Road in search of a rickshaw, ended up in Madhuban for an upma and coffee.

If only the Pune Marathon organizers think of the runners and general organization, perhaps it could have been truly be a memorable event for all the participants. First, water every KM or even 1.5KM would not hurt, traffic management with roads being shut at least for 4 hours if not more, simplified registration processes (in this day and age, I am surprised this event does nothing to leverage the Internet), staggered start times and distances, ... I could go on.

I am quite happy with my run. 10K in 71 minutes at a consistent pace of 7 minutes a kilometer, that is a personal best for me. Today is a rest day and tomorrow I start chasing the dream of a 140 minute half marathon in Mumbai

Two good runs

A 30 minute tempo run was on the training plan yesterday. A tempo run is continuous with a fast middle. I divided the 30 minutes into 3 parts - the first 10 minutes or so to be easy, the middle 10 minutes when I would start building up pace and the last 10 minutes to be easy again.

I was quite excited about this run - my first. I went to KNP at 7:30 and warmed up. I planned to run the first 5 laps easy, accelerate in the 6th and 7th laps and run the 8th lap hard, slowing up in lap 9 and 10. My first lap was a decent 3:19, and I went on to lap 5 in around 17 minutes. Lap 6 was around 3:30, lap 7 was 3:10 and lap 8 was 2:49. I was huffing/puffing during laps 9 and 10, but eventually managed to complete in 33:59:30, my best time for this distance ever. I was quite happy since typically I will start out strong and slow down towards the end running 3:50 - 4:00 laps. I was happy that I was able to accelerate right bang in the middle of my distance.
I did change my plan, but as Hal Higdon maintains - "Improvisation is the heart of doing a Tempo Run correctly" :-) . I dropped off my kid to school and took the other kid to Vaishali for a well earned upma and sada dosa.

Today's run started out differently. I went off to KNP and after my walking lap, I decided to head back home to help with the kid. I eventually ended up dropping her off to her school across Chittaranjan Vatika. I headed over to the Vatika and warmed up. I planned to run 10 laps here, each lap is approximately 600m, so a total of around 6K.
My first lap was a blistering 3:49 which was great. I have done this lap in around 4 minutes before, this is the first sub 4. Each subsequent lap added some seconds :( and I finished lap 6 in 25:15. I continued running till lap 8 which I finished in around 34 minutes. I stopped to take a breather, and continued to finish the next 2 laps. My overall time was 42:40 minutes. This is the first time I have run 10 laps in the Vatika.

The Pune International Marathon is this Sunday. I am running in the 10K. I got my complimentary red T shirt (Vodafone colours) and my sachet of Quaker Oats. My running number is 3789.

The route is the usual.
It starts at Lakdi Pul, goes up Laxmi Road, turns off towards Seven Loves Chowk, up the Shankarseth Road bridge, turns onto M.G Road at Golibar Maidan, down M.G. Road, towards the Police Commissioner's office, turn at Blue Nile, up and down the bridge near Wadia College and ends on Bund Garden Road at Sun-n-Sand. There is one water station marked out at 7.5K at the end of M.G. Road. Hopefully they will have water when one plodder gets there :-)

A week's worth of running

While I have been shoe shopping, I have also been in training using my New Balance shoes. Rahul Verghese of Running and Living sent me an encouraging email after Delhi, confident that he could help me shave off more time from my Delhi run time of 3 hours 2 mins 47 seconds.

Rahul pointed me to Hal Higdon's website for a treasure trove of information on training plans. I am following the intermediate training plan. So in reverse order, here is my running log for the last week

Today, I went to KNP. After my usual warmup, I ran 10 laps in 35:18. I had my new shoes on and did not want to run hard or try something new. So this was an easy run with my first lap averaging 3:28 and the second lap was done in 6:59 mins.

Yesterday I ran a leisurely 5 laps for a time of 17:32

On Friday last, I ran the same distance in 34:31. My first lap was a super 3:05, the second completed in 6:28 and I had completed 5 laps in 16:54. This time was good considering that I have taken up to 19 - 20 minutes for 5 laps.

Last Wednesday called for 5x400m, at 5 K pace. I went to PYC which has a track of about 300 m. I ran 1.5 laps for an approximate distance of 400 m. My first run was 2:47 mins. After, I walked the same distance to catch my breath. The second iteration was completed at 5:44 mins for an iteration time of 2:57. Iteration three took me 2:54, four 3:02 and the final 400 m took 3:10. This is the first time I have run short distances. I took about 50 minutes to complete this workout.

Tuesday last was 10 laps of KNP again. My first lap was 3:29 and second completed in 6:54. I completed 10 laps in 34:54

On Monday last, I started the Hal Higdon Intermediate program. It spans over 12 weeks and puts me right in line for Mumbai on January 20th, 2008. I ran 7 laps of KNP in 23:46, my first lap in 3:19 and my second lap in 6:28.

Overall I ran about 15K last week having skipped my long run on Sunday. This week I plan to run 10K in the Pune International Marathon.
The Pune Marathon was granted National Status and one hopes for a better experience than the previous runs I have had here. So far, the organization, promotion and logistics are sorely lacking. If there is enough water on the course, I am willing to forgive and forget.

Shoes

In the recent Delhi half marathon, my usual running shoe - the Nike Shox that has been with me for 3 years finally gave up its soul (sole :-)). The sole cracked near the arch making it really painful to run continuously. After much deliberation, I finally figured this was the reason for the pain after my Delhi half.

I have a New Balance which I run in as well. I needed to get another shoe so I could have two when I run. Running theory indicates one must swap shoes every run (especially if you run every day) to allow the shoe to decompress. Given my weight, I agree.

Thus began the search for the new shoe. I wanted to make sure I found the right shoe. I have had wrong shoes before - shoes that pinch at the toes, hurt at the arch or heel. I did my research on Runner's World, Running and Living, orkut, etc. Rahul Verghese of Running and Living was helpful in suggesting what I should look for in a shoe. Sneakerologist on Orkut had more specific recommendations

This was the final list of shoes from Sneakerologist
1) Nike Air Max Moto 5
2) Nike Air Pegasus 2007
3) Adidas Supernova Cushion 6 (CSH6)
4) Adidas Adistar Cushion 6
5) Adidas Megabounce+

I spent Saturday afternoon trying out shoes at Adidas and Nike. Nike had a great deal on their Air Max 360, but only on one colour combination. The staff at Nike tried to convince me that I should go in for an outmoded shoe.

The service at Adidas was much better. I tried both the Adistar and the Supernova. Eventually I ended up buying the Supernova Cushion 6. I have had it since Sunday and been wearing it constantly to break it in.

(pix credit: yatego.com)

The buying experience especially for running shoes is not good at all. The staff is inexperienced and does not even know the features of their own shoes, let alone having any context of running. Add to this, the fact that the stores are franchises and there seems to no coordination with any sort of a central brand theme - whether it is Nike or Adidas.
I also experienced post purchase dissonance when I discovered that a friend had bought a shoe at Pune Central where they had a buy one get one free deal on purchases above a certain price. In the final analysis, it comes down to "buyer beware"

Delhi Half Marathon Pictures

This being my first ever Delhi event, I had ordered pictures from the official event photographers. When running along Rajpath, I had noticed photographers huddled near the lane dividers merrily clicking away. I also remembered to smile :-) Well, after a longish wait, my pictures and video are here. I am dissappointed with the video since I was expecting it to be personalized (shots of me plodding away) rather than a generic sort of newsclip. I know I will not order the video again.

Here are the video and my snaps. Looking at them again refreshed memories of Delhi. I am happy they turned out alright.




















I also want to thank the people who made this happen. This was my first time in Delhi and you folks opened your houses/guest bedrooms/bars :-, your cars, without a moment's hesitation, and more importantly your heart and hearth. You changed your previously laid plans, went out of your way.... even getting directions to destinations on the fly.

Vipul, Leena, Binku and Samira
Thank you very much for everything, indulging my every whim - food, drink, ICE :-) , driving me everywhere across town to Ansal Plaza, RK Puram and wherever else took my fancy, changing your Sunday schedule and making me so welcome. Binku, I loved the long drive to your school and the school itself. I was terribly impressed you have APP's Eye in the Sky on your iPod.

Arjun, Sulochana, Puri Aunty
Thank you for giving me a place to gather my thoughts before my big event, for including me in your plans on Saturday. Puri Aunty, we love your pickles. Arjun, thank you so much for hooking me up with Sandeep to help me get to Nehru Park

Sandeep,
Thank you for ferrying me too and fro, waiting up for me even though I took an hour to finish after you did and another hour to get my timing certificate. Thanks for the ride home to RK Puram.

Finally this is what I ran for and this medal is all on account of you.


A heart felt warm thank you!!!

SMS voting

With the plethora of reality shows catering to every possible variant of the Indian daily life(dance, singing, regional variants, who loses the most weight, ...I wouldn't be surprised if there is one on who has the highest/lowest blood alcohol level when driving an SUV soon), winners are now no longer decided by who is really good, but by the amount of SMS (text messages) they are able to generate.

We have all seen this with the first Indian Idol which Abhijit Sawant won handily thanks to all the sms' he got to the most recent version of the same show where Prashant Tamang won because of his geographic origin

What was unacknowledged so far has now become blatant - competitors openly appealing to their regional cohorts to vote for them since they are Punjabi or Marathi or Gujrati on Jhalak Dikhla Jaa.

Talent as differentiator is G O N E and in its place is the sheer volume of text messages that a contestant can generate whether through regionalistic pandering or emotional blackmail

I got this sms today on the same topic (copyright ascribed to unknown person :P)

एकदा हत्ती आणि माकडाची Boxing Match सुरु असते. हत्ती माकडाला खूप मारतो. त्याचे दात पाडतो, नाक फोडतो, पाय मोडतो.

But still the monkey wins! How?

त्याला जास्त sms मिळतात.

Loosely translated: an elephant and a monkey have a boxing match; The elephant hammers the monkey, breaks his nose, his teeth and his legs. But yet the monkey wins! How? since he got the largest number of SMS'

The mobile companies and the TV channels are making a lot of money in this process. How much money? In the last 9 days of the recent Indian Idol, 70 million SMS were received -- that translates to a whopping 210 Million rupees (USD 5.25M). See Nikhil Pahwa's post and the comments on this topic. Kamla Bhatt has an interesting post on the same topic.

दर्शकांचे मात्र माकड़ होत आहे

So when do we start voting on who should be on the Indian Cricket team?

Running again

After the Delhi Half Marathon, I was nursing a sprained foot for a while. The outside edge of my right foot just ahead of the arch and on the arch itself hurt majorly. In keeping with good practice though, I did go out and run an easy 5 laps of KNP to get the kinks out. Post that, I was still in pain and decided it definitely was not worth busting my foot..so I stopped.

For about two weeks after, I was not running with the intent of resting my foot, working out the possible ligament sprain... of course Diwali, vacations in Tarkarli also intervened.

This week, I started running again...nothing much .. easy runs... On Tuesday, I went to the newly laid running track at PYC. It is unmarked right now, but appears to be around 320m or so. I ran on track after a long time and while it muddied my shoes hajaar, it was softer on my feet. I ran for around 20 minutes or so, around 7 laps

On Wednesday, I returned back to KNP starting out at 8:00 AM. After warmup, I ran 6 laps in 20:56 minutes for an easy pace of around 3:30 a lap.
Today, I ran 7 laps in 23:48 starting out with an easy lap of 3:34, and maintaining the same pace.

I have signed up for the Stanchart Mumbai Marathon. I will be running the same distance - the half marathon on January 20th

It feels good to be back :-)

कोकणी दिवाळी

This year, we spent the first two days of Diwali in my ancestral village in the Konkan.

Diwali in the Konkan is quite unencumbered with some of the usual mundane urban customs of overspending and ostentatiousness, but it does have its own special rituals. This was my second Diwali in my village - the first being many many years ago.

Narak Chaturdashi is locally called Chav Divas (चाव दिवस) - the idea being you chav (bite down) on poha (puffed rice). Rice being the only major crop in this area, pohe represents a varition on the usual rice preparations, I suppose.

The other interesting custom which we follow even at home in Pune has to do with a small bitter melon/gourd. Apparently Krishna/Satyabhama killed Narakasura by crushing him with the thumb of the left foot. After a ritualistic bath with Uthana, we went out and crushed this small gourd till it split open. You then taste the seed which is extremely bitter to remind you that life is sweet and not so sweet sometimes (my interpretation)

On our way from Malvan to my village, I came across colorful effigies about 6 feet tall, made of straw, and other combustible material. These represent Narakasura. From my limited view, these are started many days in advance, being built as and when time permits (when the village boys find time from their other farming activities). These effigies are filled with fire crackers and set alight in the village commons amidst general din and noise.











Final image from the Kokani Diwali was the State Transport bus (Laal Khatara, as it is fondly known) with a small poster on its window wishing everyone a Happy Diwali. Nice touch.

Half Marathon Run...

What a medley of emotions... what a heady mix of everything... what a ride...
I completed the Vodaphone Half Marathon on Sunday October 28th in Delhi clocking 3:02:47. This is by far my best timing at this distance category.

Let's start at the beginning. I landed at Palam airport on Friday night and the car was waiting there to whisk me to Gurgaon. I reached my friend's (VM)home at 9:30 PM. We stayed up till 1:00 AM drinking his lovely cocktails ( he has diploma in bar-tending) and catching up. On Saturday VM and his family drove me to Ansal Plaza so I could pick up my bib and timing chip. We had a late lunch in a lovely Chinese restaurant and he then headed off to drop me to my overnight destination in RK Puram.

I stayed with another friend (AP) in RK Puram near Sangam theatre and DPS RK Puram. That night at dinner, I had only rotis and potatoes (carbo loading Indian style) and a tiny bit of a lovely chicken curry that AP's wife SP had made.
Next morning I woke up at 5:00 AM and started my preparations. No grown toenails, gobs of Vaseline, strapped the pressure bandage on my right foot, filled the water bottle with Electral and Glucon-C, got my cap and I was ready. I had a calorie bar before starting out. AP drove me to meet his friend (SG) who was running and my ride to Nehru Park. We drove Bhikaiji Cama Place, parked and got onto DTC/BlueLine buses that took us to Nehru Park.

I got about 20 minutes to warm up in the Chip holders area and off we went, flagged by film, cricket (one) and political celebrities (many). I started off aggressively running faster than my normal pace, consuming the first click in no time. I had to slow myself down back to my usual pace. At around 2K or so, SG passed me :-(.

I clocked sub 1 hour at the 8 KM mark, very much on pace. My target was to come back to the 16 KM mark in 2 hours. I ran down the verdant tree canopied roads, going past some people, most people going past me up to Rajpath.

Photo Credit: The Blog of Gord) Rajpath is completely barren and has no trees at all. I ran that stretch feeling the heat each inch of the way, not even taking the grand view of the Sansad Bhavan. On my way back, I took in the view of the Amar Jawan Jyoti framed by India Gate at the far end of Rajpath, mentally dreading that I would have to run all that way.

The course turns back off Rajpath to cooler shadier roads gratefully. At around the 14KM mark, a traffic cop stopped all the runners (grrrr) to let piled up vehicular traffic through.
Picked up running again and passed the 15KM mark at 2 hours on the nose. I felt good about where I was and I knew I was tracking to my long run. I plotted the next 6 KM mentally convincing myself that even if I ran a 8 min kilometer, I would make it under 3 hours. KM 16 passed by at 2:08, 17K at 2:16-2:17, 18K at 2:25.

Past the 18K marker, I got overtaken by Dr. Ashis Roy. That was a temporary morale booster. Dr. Ashis Roy is 75 years old, competes in the Sr. Veterans category. I remember someone commenting "Look, it means Dr. Roy is faster than us". I felt awed.

Somewhere between 18 and 19, my legs cramped up badly and I felt like I would collapse. I stopped running and for a moment, felt woozy. I drank my Electral/Glucon C loaded water, had my calorie bars and walked till the 19K marker.

By this time, the Great Delhi Run folks were out in full glory with their costumes, banners and slow walking :-(. I ducked and weaved through them, walking some, running some more till I saw a clear path. Came into the last 500 metres and I accelerated not wanting at all to walk to the end.

As I passed the finish line, the overhead clock indicated 3:04:25 - the time since the race had begun. As I stopped my watch, the readout indicated 3:02:56. My official certificate says 3:02:47 ... the nine seconds gone between the time I started timing and I passed the official start line. (this is my PB)

Overwhelming emotion rippled through me as I stumbled to a stop, and slowly found my way to a water station. Elation at having completed, unvarnished joy at finishing almost 40 minutes better than my last outing, a twinge of disappointment and regret at not completing sub three. I lined up at the certificate counter (badly managed logistical setup leading to long queues) and over bottles of water swapped stories with people ahead and behind me, met Dr. Ashis Roy again, and just hung out till I got my certificate.

I got a medal for completing which sent me over the moon and still does every time I look at it or show it to someone. This will have a place of pride in my heart...my first ever running medal...wow.

I met up SG and the rest of the guys. Their timings were much much better than mine - 2 hours 3 mins, 2 hours 18 mins, 2 hours 43 mins. We were all tired as we waited for SG's wife to come by and pick us up. They dropped me back to AP's place where I peeled off my clothes, socks, stepped into a hot shower for a long while working out the aches and pains.

Lunch was at Punjabi by Nature at Basant Lok shopping complex and I had a celebratory glass of red wine.

Delhi nama....

As the Jet Airways airplane cruises at an altitude of 35K feet plus (this will obviously get posted once I am on the ground), I am sort of in a happy glow. I made it...I have run enough miles, I got my airline tickets, thanks to some accumulated air miles, I have arrangements for transportation, stay etc.
I am just so happy...

Jet as usual has good cabin service despite delays taking off from Pune airport. The thing I like about them - Jet gives me a meal with linen napkins and real cutlery - not some paper tissue/plastic fork combo. Now I know all about restrictions and the possible threat that steel cutlery may represent, but plastic forks with sharp edges that cut the sides of your mouth... gimme a break. They treat me like a guest, not a passenger.

This is the first time I am traveling after Jet changed their cabin crew uniforms. I must admit the uniforms work... the fine embroidery on the serving aprons, the sleeve cuffs and the canary yellow jackets... this whole ensemble looks different and elegant.

Delhi weather is predicted to be nice over the next two days, maximum temperatures hovering around 32 degrees C. The important point is humidity is predicted at 32% on Sunday which should make for a drier run (unlike Mumbai early this year)

The route got published finally on the Vodaphone Half Marathon website and from what I can make out, there is just one steep climb. It appears most of the route has tree lined avenues. The start time is 7:45 AM

I will stay with friends in Gurgaon most of the time, except Saturday night when I go to another friend's place in RK Puram. Apparently this location is close to Nehru Park from where the race begins.

I can't wait....

सीमोल्लन्घन run

Before the Dussehra weekend, I had run a total of 50 minutes in two sessions of about 25 minutes each.
I had planned a long run on Saturday this time, not Sunday as is my usual practice. Sundays tend to be lazy, and there is always something that crops up at the last minute, kiboshing my well made plans. So Saturday it was.

I got out after warming up at 7:00 AM, and as I was walking towards Good Luck Chowk, I got splashed by a car racing up Bhandarkar Road, from the only puddle on that street. :-(. I was cussing as I reached my start point, and after adjustments to the strap on my waist bottle holder, I ran towards Karve Road. Turned right on Karve Road till the Law College Road turnoff. (1.75KM, 9:42 minutes or so). Went up Law College Road chugging along nicely till NCC Grounds (3.13KM, 20 minutes). At NCC Ground, turned on Senapati Bapat Road and continued on to pass the Chaturshringi Temple. (5.33 KM). Went on to Baner Road from University Circle till ITI phata (8 KM, 1:00:04). I was quite happy with my progress so far since it would previously take me an hour just to get to ITI Phata from home.

I had originally decided I was going to turn around and go back along the same road, but changed my mind and turned towards Parihar Chowk. I ran from Parihar Chowk back to Aundh Road (9.77 KM, 1:09:00) and then began the torturous climb up to University Circle. This stretch of about 2.5 KM just keeps climbing and I was panting by the time I got to University Circle (12.3 KM, 1:36) having taken a good 27 minutes.

Ran down Ganeshkhind Road till the far end of Ferguson College Road (14:45 KM) and continued on till Simla office. Past Simla office, it was exactly 2 hours and 15 KM opposite the Bank of Maharashtra building. I sort of struggled beyond this point a little on account of traffic on Jungli Maharaj Road (JM Road). I walked when traffic prevented me from running.

It was 9:20 AM by the time I ran down most of JM Road back to Good Luck Chowk. Total distance 17:19 KM. Total time taken was 2 hours, 18:28:74 minutes



This was a great सीमोल्लन्घन run before Dussehra day.
Simolanghan (सीमोल्लन्घन) literally means going beyond the boundary (typically of a village) and refers to an old apocryphal custom of village youth/the army in a kingdom going beyond its boundaries to plunder/notionally plunder neighbouring kingdoms/villages. Simolanghan in a contemporary fashion means going beyond your boundaries/limitations.

I certainly went beyond my bounds this time around. I am gratified with my timings, though it's not great, but it's much better than previous timings. This also gives me confidence I can do the Delhi Half Marathon well. I am ready... अब दिल्ली दूर नही .... हम तैयार है.

Runner's Log

Today Tuesday 16th October, I asked the Most Wondrous if she would drop the other kid to her school. Wondrously, she said "Sure". That gave me impetus to plan and execute a good run. I dropped the first kid off at 7:30 AM and arrived at KNP pondering if I should have continued on to Chittaranjan Vatika. (I wanted to do at least one more lap than yesterday, but that's another story)

As I entered KNP, the number 15 flashed into my brain. No reason, no logic. I decided I was going to try for 15 laps today. After warming up, my first lap was a easy 3:26 min; I lost about ten seconds on the next one ... Lap 2 was done in 7:06 min. I continued on completing 5 laps in 17:28 mins. The next 5 laps were good - I stayed more or less on pace to complete 10 laps in 35:56 mins. I completed a dozen laps in 43:28 mins feeling mighty pleased to have come in under 44 mins. The last three laps were somewhat slower and I completed 15 laps in 53:54 mins. Overall, a good run

Powered by ScribeFire.

A week's worth of running

Decided to skip running last Tuesday, cannot remember why. On Wednesday, I ran 12 laps of KNP in 44:49:42, averaging about 3:40 mins which is good. Thursday was an easy 6 laps in 23:05. Friday was 7 laps in 24:00:71, one lap better than Thursday.

After I finished running/cooling down, I headed back home. Along the way I passed this couple on a bike; overheard a small portion of a conversation in Hindi. She was leaning over as they talked, blowing out tendrils of cigarette smoke in an uber- cool fashion, her loose locks falling over her glasses... who she is I don't know and don't care... she just epitomized how young feels.....IMMORTAL ...man! that feels awesome... that's how I feel when I run.

The best laid plans of a long run over the weekend were put paid by laziness and late nights in that order. On Saturday night, I went to see an Indian fusion band called Naad Brahma. Consisting of a veteran flautist, a businessman drummer, young guitarist, a young lad on the western drums, a veteran tabla player, and the like, this band weaves some very melodious harmony with the great staccato rhythm of the various percussion instruments. They were simply great and the location was nice and cozy.

Today (Monday October 15th) after dropping the wife and kids, I went to Chittaranjan Vatika. It was already close to 9:00 AM by the time I started. Pune though is still pleasantly cool and so it was as good a time as any. Warmed up and ran 8 laps in 34:35:59 mins. Don't really know what the length of the Chittaranjan loop is, but feels like about 600m. Had a good run; need to keep running all this week.

The Delhi Marathon is round the corner and the route has been published (Here is Tanvir's post on the route). Not knowing too much about Delhi, I don't know what to expect, but it is a loop: 11 K up and 11 K down more or less.

I also got my racing number by email. I am # 5121.
I am excited about the prospect.. now all we wait for is when the actual race begins.

Running Weekend

On Saturday, I ran 15 laps of KNP in 53:52:03. If my odometer is correct, that translates to around 9.6 KM. I did not start out with any ideas of running these many laps... some days, you go with the flow. I started out well with my usual easy pace and continued till a PYP came along. My target was 12 laps which I had done this week and the PYP helped push it over to 15 laps. Was a good run.

I struggled out of bed on Sunday - the usual mental games of "but you just ran 15 laps yesterday... It's Sunday for crying out loud, etc". Somehow I convinced my sorry self to get out of bed and lace up. I wanted a long run, but somehow my brain wanted nothing more than to have a good cuppa with the Sunday newspapers. One step after another - I told myself. Started out after warming up at 7:20 something AM.

I have calibrated the Bhandarkar Road loop at 2.69 KM. I start out next to Ranade Institute, go up BMCC Road, climbing the incline near Marathwada Mitra Mandal, past BMCC college to Law College Road, and down Bhandarkar Road, through Good Luck Chowk, back to Ranade Institute on Ferguson College Road. Three laps of this loop and I was bored; besides the idea of climbing up the incline was daunting, so I continued down Ferguson College Road towards its far end near Police Grounds, turning back there to come back to Good Luck Chowk. The FC Road loop is around 3 KM. In total, I ran 11.14K in 88:00:34 minutes. Headed home for a litre of water, cool down exercises and to get out of my extremely wet togs.

The day after a long run is mentally dreadful. I have to play all sorts of mind games to get running again. Dropped the kid off today and went to KNP for a leisurely 6 lap run in 22:52:64. No pace, sheer running for the sake of running. 6 laps is my entry fee to KNP and I completed that with twinges of pain in my right heel, left calf and a few other places.

All in all, a good running weekend.

Two runs

Monday October 1st was the dreaded morning after..... the long run. Dreaded because it's sort of a chore to lace up after you have just run a distance you did not do in a while and are feeling very chuffed about it.. why don't I skip today? ..after all I did run close to 11K yesterday. Regardless, this time around I tried to shake myself out of the self congratulatory slumber. Dropped the kid at school, went to KNP and ran 6 laps in 21:53. Not my best timing for this, but I was happy that I did get off my ample you-know-what to run.

In the spirit of Gandhi Jayanti or International Day of Non-Violence, I did not run (what a lame excuse.)

Went to see Dhammal yesterday with the kids and the Most Wondrous. In general, I try and stay away from these, only to be dragged to such waste-of-time movies as Golmaal or Tom, Dick and Harry (all of which my kids absolutely enjoy). In fact, I did kwetch at the Most Wondrous about the sheer waste of money in watching the last mentioned waste-of-time movie.
What a laugh riot. This has to be the best slapstick comedy I have seen this year. First, the show was completely packed and there were people even in the first row of the movie theatre. Second, my kids and the Most Wondrous were in splits all movie long (that alone makes it पैसा वसूल ) and so was the rest of the audience. I liked it - non complicated plot lines, some genuine slap stick humour and intelligent.. why intelligent?
OK, my favourite part of the movie is when Bose (a chit fund cheat... hmmm wonder who that reminds me of..), after telling his story of the buried 10 crore rupees which none of the four leads in the movie believes, leaps up from "dead" and reiterates "मरने वाला आदमी झूट नही बोलता " and then lolls his head and gives up his temporal body. As he completes his final throes of death... his foot kicks a पत्रे कि बाल्टी ... get it? he kicked the bucket . I was tres impressed and laughed a lot.

Today, I decided to tweak my schedule (wow, that sounds like such a positive statement) and make sure the other kid was ready for her school before I left her and the Most Wondrous to manage the drop-off. So, started running after my warm up at 8:30 AM (don't like to start this late, the sun is up and there are not enough people in the park to show off at :o) ). Today's first lap was easy, no exertion 3:36, and I sort of started dropping seconds after that, the second lap was 3:52, retuning my running strategy, I ran at a slower pace going for at least 10 laps. Lap 10 was around 36:19 and I decided to push on for another two laps. Finished 12 laps today in 43:54.

I am happy about a couple of things - one, my first lap which is usually easy and no exertion still ranges around 3:30 to 3:36, which is great considering I used to take almost 4 minutes at one point per lap. The second thing is I used to take up to 44 minutes for 11 laps and now I am sub 44 on 12 which is way cool.

Keep on trucking....

Long run YIPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!

It's been a long while since I went on a long run. Had planned one last week only for a personal emergency to put paid to the plan. Yesterday was a rest day. I have been nursing a cold coming into the weekend and feeling a bit off weather in addition to a runny nose. The alarm went off at 6:00 AM. I turned it off and went back to the warm bed. Finally at 6:30, I dragged myself out of bed,finished my daily rituals, laced up and stepped out of home, chewing on some raisins.

Warming up in Good Luck Chowk (GLC) was interesting.. It was around 7:15 and I did draw some astonished stares. The three guys sitting on the steps of the Batavia Medical Store feigned ignorance, the rickshaw wallahs looked amused.

Anyway I started off at 7:27, ran up BMCC Road and down Bhandarkar Road back to GLC in 20:08 minutes. This loop is around 2.67K and I had planned to do enough to complete 10K.

However started back on FC Road, decided not to strain my calf muscles with another climb and continued to the far end near Police Ground, turned and back down FC to GLC in 43 and odd minutes.

By this time, I had an idea forming in my head, how about running down Karve Road? since anyway I was not sticking to plan. Do I run up Karve Road (it is an uphill all the way till end) or down? Karve Road has major traffic no matter what time of the day. Avoiding traffic on my home leg won out as an argument, and I turned onto Karve Road, climbing it all the way. Panting and groaning, somewhere near Nal Stop chowk, I finished 60 minutes of non-stop running, went up further, turned into the bypass(canal) road near SNDT, on Law College Road.

By now, I was calculating my pace as roughly 8 minutes per KM, so was not 100% certain about getting 10K under my belt. Any way, at the next decision point (can't or won't), I went with won't (the alternative was to go down BMCC Road) and turned back into Bhandarkar Road to take the down-slope advantage. I ended back at GLC in 85:01:00 minutes. Cooled down, as I walked back home.

I was apprehensive about the distance when I logged onto my online pedometer. Joy of joys, I have run 10.8K. YIPPEEEEE.. I decided to call this route - Three Whorls on account of its three loops. Here it is.

Runner's Log

Today I ran 11 laps (7.04K) in 40:08 mins. All week, I have been increasing a lap each day and today I have got back to my previous high mileage of 7.04K. Started out after warm-up with an easy lap, surprising myself with the 3:36 time. I was running with no exertion and still doing a near 3:30 was great. Continued at the same pace till lap 6 when fatigue began to set in. Some days, the fates conspire with you to let you do your own thing. Today, the fates brought along the PYP (Pretty Young Pacemaker). Just keeping ahead of her meant I was doing 3:30 or less per lap which was great. She dropped off around lap 9 and I continued on to complete 11 laps. Doing this distance near abouts 40 mins was immensely satisfying. Cooled down with a compulsive stretch routine, heading home to a high carbo, high protein (read nuts) cereal and milk breakfast.
Overall mileage this week:~ 24K

बोले तो

बोले तो - this has been an interesting week
Did not run on Monday. On Tuesday 25th September I ran 8 laps around KNP (5.12K) in 27:40 mins. On Wednesday 26th September, I ran with a goal of running one more lap than the previous day. I ran 9 laps (5.76K ) in 31:43 mins. Today, September 27th, I ran 10 laps (6.4K) in 35:21 mins. The usual PYT was running today and so I ran in pace with her for a first lap of 3:08 with some exertion, ran the second lap in 3:16 for a time of 6:24. She dropped off and I continued for another 8 laps. I have noticed lesser exertion this week to keep to a 3:30 pace. Good things I am sure

बोले तो - the Indian Twenty20 cricket team came home yesterday, and were taken with much fanfare to Wankhede stadium from Mumbai airport in an open bus plastered with scenes of their victory. Apparently the 30 KM ride took 5 hours among terrible traffic snarls. Only in a cricket crazy country like ours, can a place like Mumbai come to standstill for a victory cavalcade. Dhoni was the only cricketer on the podium during the felicitation ceremony ... where were the others? आयला, the senior Indian cricket "stars" who did not participate must feel the heat, no?.

बोले तो - Punekars (and all over Maharashtra) said their final goodbyes to Ganapati Bappa on Ananth Chaturdashi. Never mind that Punekars continued to say goodbye a day later till 5 in the evening when the विसर्जन सोह्ळा finally ended. Now the cleaning crew can finally move in to clean the debris from this on and around Laxmi Road, Karve Road and other affected areas.

बोले तो - the Uttar Pradesh police has apologized to the Japanese tourists who were raped last week. What the ... how does any apology make what happened any better? What of the all the women in India who undergo this trauma every week?

बोले तो - the Bombay Stock Exchange has been on a major bull run these last few days. the BSE Sensex went up 1000 points to 17000 in only 6 trading sessions. "Irrational exuberance?" - let's wait and watch

4 balls remaining, one six required

The sound in the background is the very loud cheering, cacophonous car and motorbike horns blaring, the cheers of "India Zindabad" and "Chak De India", interspersed with bursting fireworks. There is one HUGE block party going on right now on Ferguson College Road and the reason is India's win over Pakistan in the inaugral Twenty20 World Cup. The screaming, the yelling, the flag waving, is probably going on all over the country today even at this late hour.


What a final it has been. At the end of over 16, Pakistan were 104 for 7 wickets and India pretty had the game sewn up or so it seemed. 54 runs required in 24 deliveries.. not impossible, but difficult. Then Misbah ul-Haq hammered three sixes off Harbhajan Singh in a single over, the score jumping to 123. The very next over Sohail Tanvir hit Sreesanth for 2 sixes before being bowled by a lovely yorker length delivery. With 20 needed off the penultimate over, it looked mathematically possible - 3 sixes?... RP Singh got Umar Gul out on the 5th ball of his over... 17 required off 7 deliveries with the last man in. Mohammed Asif got a four off the last delivery and there was groan... 13 runs required off 6 deliveries as Joginder Sharma bowled a big big wide. Dhoni hurried over to talk to him. Misbah hit Joginder Sharma for a six and it looked like India had lost for sure.

4 balls remaining, six runs required and Lady Luck smiled on India. Much will be written about Misbah ul-Haq's choice of shot (a scoop over fine leg), much about Sreesanth's cool, calm catch, much more about the eruption that followed and how the young Indian cricket team wrote its name in the history books.

What it comes down to is this: A great game of cricket, with all the right elements of drama and tension between two extremely passionate rival teams ended up coming down to the wire and the team that won held its nerve best.


And my favourite photo tonight. This is a signboard outside a coconut/flower vendor's stand near Shrimant Dagdu Sheth Halwai Ganapati. Translated it reads " 10 rupees discount - a fifty rupee toran (chain of coconuts) for forty rupees only because India won the match (today)"

Chak de India... India chucks Australia out

This is a post delayed by a couple of days on account of some inadvertant personal emergencies. In fact, I have not run in the last three days - had to cancel my long run yesterday and getting out of bed this morning was a non-starter. Well, there's always tomorrow :o)

(Photo credits AFP, cricinfo.com)
Much has already been written about the Indian resurgence in the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup and its match against Australia on Saturday. Check this post: Historical Won for Team India. In a nutshell, the Indian team posted a total of 188 for Australia to chase. Australia with its great reputation of winning all the major cricketing tournaments in the last few years failed to make anything of this match, losing only their second match.

India was all swagger and attitude - Sreesanth's glares at the end of each delivery; his shies at the stumps for no apparent reason at all; Harbhajan's ebulient fists pumping in the air; Sreesanth's drumming the ground when he bowled Hayden out and finally Yuvraj's yell/scream and body language after he took a catch...even Joginder Sharma jumped for joy after bowling Brett Lee... All these scenes are a candid reminder that the Indian cricket team is full of piss and vinegar.

India play Pakistan tonight for the inaugral Twenty20 World Cup. In the cricketing world, there is no greater rivalry, no more emotional game than this. Today, fans on both sides will bite their nails down to the cuticles..including this one. Fingers crossed again.

Shabbas India

Today, I ended up at Chittaranjan Vatika again. Warmed up with my usual one lap walking, stretches, squats, etc. Ran the first lap in 4:06 which is better than the last time (4:30), stayed on pace for the second lap as well to complete it in 8:09, slowed down in the 3rd lap marginally to complete in 12:21, going on to finish five laps in 21:11 mins. I ran at slightly faster than my usual pace so I was huffing and puffing by the end. Stretched a little at the end, caught my breath and ran half a lap just for kicks :o). Tomorrow is most likely a rest day and Long Run on Sunday.

"Inspired India evict South Africa" is cricinfo's headline this morning. The Times of India had this: "India help Kiwis fly" In South Africa, The Daily News in Durban carried this headline:"Gloomy Smith heaps praise on Indian players" and finally Mail and Guardian Online (Johannesburg) said "India send SA packing". India's Twenty20 game last night against the favourites- South Africa was extremely entertaining and a great sporting event to watch. At one point, India had lost 3 wickets at 33 and I (and I am sure a lot of Indian fans) groaned. Karthik was out first ball and I truly wondered why the hell the Indian cricket still continued to have this guy in the team, Yuvraj or no Yuvraj. After struggling, India managed to get the counter ticking over and Rohit Sharma in his first match played a chipper knock, unbeaten at 50.

(Picture Copyright Rajesh Jantilal, AFP)
Even with a 153 on the board, I wasn't so sure - there was more hope than certainty about India being able to do anything with it. Sreesanth firing off five wides in the first over did not help quiet the butterflies in my stomach. At the end of the first over, South Africa 11 for no loss looked to be set to cruise and then....RP Singh bowled a lovely delivery to send Herschelle Gibbs back. Jubiliations and joy. Karthik then took a brilliant impossible catch in the slips to send Graeme Smith to the dugout and I found myself willing to forgive Karthik's duck. Next over, de Villiers was trapped in front of the wicket by Sreesanth. 12 runs for 3 wickets and there definitely was a game ON. More jubiliations and joy. Two dismissals later, South Africa with 31 runs on the board were in BIG trouble. Morkel and Boucher stabilized the innings, adding 65 runs to get South Africa to 100 in 16 overs. After being wicketless for 10 odd overs, India finally got Boucher out, him dragging a Sreesanth delivery back to the stumps and then at regular intervals South Africa lost wickets. In the end, India won by 33 runs.

From tracking the run rate required to win the game, the commentators started tracking the number of runs required to qualify for the semi-finals, which demonstrated how effectively India had strangled South Africa.

Another "paisa vasool" experience. India play the Aussies on Saturday for a berth in the finals. Fingers crossed again....

"If you have just joined us, where have you been?"

First the runs. Skipped running yesterday on account of a sore calf. Today I was feeling a bit lazy, but decided run anyways. After my usual warmup, I ran a well paced first lap at 3:16. During the second lap, I noticed a PYT who had started running too and decided to pace up ... did n't want to be overtaken by her (the games we play when we run...a topic for a post some time). Anyway, ran 5 laps in 16:13 mins which averages to about 3:15 per lap and then stopped. Walked for one lap to catch my breath and then ran the remaining 2 laps in about 7 mins with another PYT. Total 7 laps (4.48K) in 23+ minutes. The good part about today's run was the pace and... the pace makers :o).

Last night's India-England Twenty20 match was a corker. Tremendous entertainment, definitely "paisa vasool". At the beginning of England's innings, the TV commentator on ESPN retorted "If you have just joined us, where have you been" ... he was so right.
In the penultimate over of the Indian innings, Yuvraj Singh conducted a clinical demonstration of cricketing DEMOLITION. Six times, Stuart Broad bowled, and six times, Yuvi sent the ball out of the field. The first "six sixes in an over" in International Twenty20 for sure, Yuvi joins the greats - Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri (6 sixes an over in first class cricket), Herschelle Gibbs (6 sixes an over in ODI)and also gets the record for the fastest fifty in T20 - off 12 deliveries.

England came back, tame in the beginning, but making steady progress, helped by dropped catches (Joginder Sharma was singularly unlucky with two catches being dropped on his bowling, robbing him of what would have been his first T20 wickets), but in the end, that one over made all the difference. India meet South Africa tonight.... a win and a ticket to the semi-finals, a loss and they are out of the competition. Fingers crossed.

Ganapati Bappa Morya

First the runs.
Today, September 18th 2007 , I ran 7 laps (4.48K) in 25:46 mins. After my usual stretch, my first lap was an easy 3:36; managed to stay on pace and not compete with a couple of PYTs running laps at twice my speed. Feeling some strain in my left calf. This is sounding like a nag now.

Monday September 17th 2007 , I ran an easy 6 laps (3.84K) in KNP. Started out smoothly after warm-up, clocking 3:36 for the first lap and stayed on pace to complete 6 laps in 21:27.

Sunday September 16th 2007
I ran 7.05K, starting out at 7:00 AM. This was a lovely run. The route was exactly the same as the last road run I went on: "The run is a loop from Roopali hotel on FC Road, up BMCC Road, up Senapati Bapat Road, turn at the University signal, past ESquare, down Ganeshkhind Road, turn into Ferguson College Road, and all the way to Good Luck Chowk, up Bhandarkar Road and stop at IIPM". Reached all my milestones earlier than the last run which was gratifying:
Pyramid Store on Senapati Bapat Road: 18:30 mins (19 mins last run)
Far End of Senapati Bapat Road: 27:30 mins (27 mins last run)
ESquare: 30:30 mins (31:30 mins last run)
Far end of FC Road: 39:30 mins (40:30 mins last run)
Roopali Hotel on FC Road: 49:36 mins (52:19 mins last run)
End: 52:31:84 mins (54:19:46 mins last run)

The only difference was I avoided the bridge opposite ESquare this time. Very satisfied. 10K next weekend.

On Saturday, my favourite diety, Ganapati Bappa came visiting. We got the idol on Friday evening. I did the prana pratishta puja on Saturday amid the sonorous rendition of सुखःकर्ता दुखःहर्ता. सकाळ संध्याकाळची पूजा, विसर्लेल्या आर्तिंचे पुन्हा आठ्वने , नैवेद्य प्रसाद, घर भर्लेले -- मन प्रसन्न झाले.

The नैवेद्य was twenty-one उक्ड़िचे मोदक which is Ganapati's favourite food (and mine). Oh, to bite into a steaming morsel of rice flour covered coconut and jaggery filling, to slurp surreptitously the juices as you drool a little, the lovely balace of the sweet (filling) and bland (cover) and finally the explosion of sweet as it tingles your palate...mmmm..
Sunday late afternoon was the goodbye - the ceremonial विसर्जन, amid the cries of "गणपति बाप्पा मोरया ... पुड्च्या वर्षी लवकर या "

Runner's Log

Back to KNP today. Completed 3.84K (6 laps) in 21:40. Had a good run today. My calf did not hurt, I was able to keep to my pace (most of the time). After my usual warmup, I ran a 3:36 first lap, 3:30 second and third lap, then slowed down to 4:00 minutes for the next and then back again to 3:30 for the last two laps.

Did not start out with this in mind, but it sounds like a good way to run laps (3 fast, 1 slow, 2 fast).

Runner's Log

For a while now, I have been wanting to run in Chittaranjan Vatika. This is a beautiful park with lots of trees and a mud/earth running track which seems much larger than my usual Kamala Nehru Park track.

Today I had to drop off my kid to her school which is right across. Ran 5 laps in 23:40. Haven't been able to compute the actual distance. My first lap was 4:33 and I slowed down on each following lap. I have not run on a mud/earth track in years and it had rained heavily yesterday leaving a lot of wet spots. This was also an exploratory run - to find out more about the place and was not pushing myself. Interestingly, there appear to be quite a few other folks running around as well.

Looks like I have found a new place to run.

Injuries...

Ran 3.2K (5 laps) in 19 minutes. Had to curtail my usual pace and distance on account of two things - Had to drop off the kid to school at 9 AM and strain in my knee. Started out well at 3:06 in the first lap, the next was around 3:44 and the third... well the third is when I felt a piercing shooting pain in my right knee... stopped, stretched (never stopped before) and continued on very very gingerly. Wanted to complete at least 5 laps and did that...but am concerned.
Need to warm-up better for sure.

Runner's Log

Completed 7.04K (11 laps) in 40:06. After my usual warmup, I started out slowly; I was feeling some strain in my left calf and didn't want to aggravate it. First lap was 3:46, second almost similar at 3:47-3:48. Stayed with the same pace and my penultimate lap timing was 36:56. Looked like I would be able to come in under 40 minutes. Paced up... close, but no cigar.I am much surprised and satisfied too. A slow start and a constant pace may be the way to run these next few weeks till the HDHM. This week's mileage so far is 14K, tomorrow is another day..

Karma bhoomi aka Kamala Nehru Park

First the run. Ran 11 laps (7.04KM) today in 39:40 minutes.. Had only one kid to drop off to school. Started at 7:40 AM. My usual warm-up of one lap walk plus the usual stretching took about 10 minutes. My first lap was fast 2:59 minutes, the next 3:11 minutes and then I slowed down for a couple of reasons - one: haven't run for the past 4 days and two: got winded...Pant pant... the next two laps were slow .. around 3:45/4:00 each, speeded up again to 3:30 to set my self very nicely for a sub 40. My timing at lap 10 was 36:16. A sub 40 was now definitely ON. My first sub 40 7K and I am very satisfied.

I have been running regularly at Kamala Nehru Park for a couple of years now. This mini green lung boasts a good track recently put in, a smallish fountain right in the centre, and green lawns. It is maintained by the Kalyani Group of Industries. There is a tiny Datta Mandir (the original) which later moved to one side and now has its own separate entrance right next to the park's main entrance.


Located off Bhandarkar Road, this park is a green patch convenient for folks in the Deccan Gymkhana area. It is not big, but does have a decent enough children's play area. The park does have nicely maintained bottle palms that line the green lawns, Ashoka trees and many others that I can't label. All in all, a very pleasant verdant area.

Every morning (and evening), its shaded tracks transform themselves into high traffic areas with the usual morning/evening walkers/amblers - groups of men, women, kids who have been coming here, every day for the last many many years, interspersed with the few runners (like me)weaving through the slow moving masses. Overheard conversations often vary from the last night's soap opera update to strong opinions on the local issues to काय ही अजची पीढ़ी...

A great good morning start to my day....

22 yards, 50 overs and the hopes of a nation....

(Picture copyright cricinfo.com)
No running today. I had an early morning meeting which shot all my plans of getting some mileage under my belt this week. Well, there is always tomorrow :0)

Last night I watched the 6th one day international cricket match between India and England. And what a match it was... edge of the seat excitement all the way till 2 deliveries before the end of the match. The outcome was most satisfying for any one in India with even a passing interest in the game - India won with two balls and two wickets to spare.

Going into this match, India was down one match in the 7 match series, having stayed in the race by winning its previous match. Regardless, it was do or die for the Indian cricket team. (which is obvious to any Indian fan). England totted up a huge score of 316 runs with a scintillating display of batting from Mascrenhas hitting sixes on each of the last five deliveries, the scoreboard jumping 30 runs in a matter of minutes. I groaned...was this going to be over every Indian cricket fan rued?

Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar came out, all guns firing and the first wicket partnership was worth 150 runs. Great start. Unfortunately, Sachin lost his wicket in the 90s again (he missed his century four times this tour). By the time I started watching the match, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had just come in and was beginning to stroke the ball, but no big sixes that were expected. Around 9 runs an over was the asking rate, and the English bowlers were successful in keeping the give rate under 5/6. Dhoni left at 294 and that guaranteed a nail biting finish, no matter which side you support.

I cannot describe what the last couple of overs felt like. James Anderson conceded around 15 runs in the penultimate over and that still left 10 runs in 6 balls. Robin Utthapa got two runs and then a wicket....by this time, my heart was pounding. Utthapa spooned the next delivery towards the fine leg boundary for a four... Three balls to go in the final over.... The Indian fans could smell victory... but as the truism goes...भाई यह इंडिया है, इसका कोई भरोसा नही,कुछ भी हो सकता है . Robin's next shot was classic cricket, driven through mid-off for another four... India wins..Exhilarating cricket or as we would say पैसा वसूल.

India has squared the series 3-3 and now onwards to Saturday at Lords, the mecca of cricket.... and on that match, lie the hopes of a nation. India won the test match series earlier and what better than to add the ODI series to that list. I would love to see Sourav take his shirt off at Lords...Again

Govinda aala re aala....

First the run. There was no run today - various reasons mostly precipitated by the delightful intervention of the Most Wondrous.

Yesterday was Krishna Janmashtami aka Goinda/Govinda (in Mumbai parlance). Actually Krishna was born at midnight, but let's not quibble about the details.
So Goinda.... I have these great memories of wandering around Chembur as a kid, looking at handis (pots filled with milk and dahi - yogurt/curd) hung high up in the air (from ropes tied to electricity poles or building terraces or the odd tree), adorned with garlands of marigold and other bright flowers, currency notes in plastic packets lined next to the pot and the marvelous human pyramids that went up and collapsed as a little Krishna broke open the pot to get to the dahi. Gulal, abhir in the air making clouds of red, black; rain pouring from the skies; and the loudspeakers blaring "गोविंदा आला रे आला, तेरी मटकी संभाल, ब्रिजबाला".(Govinda aala re aala, teri matki sambhal brijbala) or "आज गोकुळात रंग खेळतो हरि, राधिके जरा जपुन जा तुझ्यां घरी" (Aaj Gokulat rang khelto Hari, Radhike jara japun jaa tuzhya ghari). The roaming groups of Govindas in flower adorned trucks, having finished with the prestigious dahi handis of Lalbag, Parel descending on the suburbs; the small prizes ...typically 101 rupees.


Much has changed. The handis now hang from mechanical cranes, the prize money has gone up to lakhs of rupees, the entertainers - singers, dancers and other enthusiasts on raised platforms, live television telecasts with commentators even explaining the logistics of creating and collapsing the human pyramid, the huge walls of 1000W speakers blaring Brazil or Gasolina or the latest Himesh Reshammiya croon.

What has not changed is the joy and fervour of Govindas as they go from handi to handi, the community's involvement, people's patience with traffic snarls ,and the zhanzha (hand held cymbals) players leaping in the air in step with the rhythmic sounds of the dhol (large drum)and the taasha (Indian kettle drum) . Govinda re Gopala...Govinda aala re aala...

Wada Paav

First the run. 7.09KM on the roads. I am so thrilled and it felt sooo good. 54:19:42 was my timing. This is about 10 minutes more than my purported 7k when I run loops in KNP. (I suspect the KNP loop is probably shorter. This run served as a good calibration run.) I am satisfied with my run today. Started off at 7:00 AM sharp - no kids to drop off, no other early morning distractions.... just the road and I.

The run is a loop from Roopali hotel on FC Road, up BMCC Road, up Senapati Bapat Road, turn at the University signal, past ESquare, down Ganeshkhind Road, turn into Ferguson College Road, and all the way to Good Luck Chowk, up Bhandarkar Road and stop at IIPM. The distance is 7.09 KM per this really nifty tool on the web called Map My Run.
Map My Run is a mashup of Google Earth/Maps and some really nice route mapping tools (The author does not have any implicit or explicit interest/shares/stocks in nor is he paid by Mapmyrun for this, though, he would be more than willing to plug for money :o))

Here is the route (Have been waiting to do this since the day I found out about this feature)

Reached the Pyramid store on Senapati Bapat Road in 19 minutes, slaving over a small hill and a fairly big incline up and down near Symbiosis, End of Senapati Bapat Road was 27 minutes (better than my last run many moons ago which I remember as 35 minutes), passed ESquare at 31:30, reached the far end of Ferguson College Road at 40:30, past the start point of Roopali at 52:19 for a end timing of 54:19:46. Phew.

Changed out of my wet togs and went to KNP to cooldown. 5 loops walking, stretching, touching my toes seemed to be enough.

Now the wada paav
I am a sucker for this very accessible Indian "burger". Mashed potatoes spiced with minced green chillies, chopped coriander, ginger, garlic covered with chickpea flour batter and fried is the wada. The paav is a bun .. very rustic no sesame seeds or the like. Slice the bun, add some dry garlic chutney, some sweet saucy chutney, enclose the wada and mmmmmmm.....bite into 100% authentic Indian street fare... One is never enough so I end up ordering at least a pair.

This post is inspired by my latest wada paav adventure.
Jumbo King opened just down the street from where I work yesterday. Unable to resist (the no potatoes diet be damned), I took 5 of these packaged goodies home. Wrapped in slick Jumbo King adorned wax paper, the bun is slightly longer than the traditional paav, the wada somewhat bigger. The garlic chutney is already rubbed into the bun and the sweet chutney (amchur, garam masala, etc. in a sweetish base) is packaged in small plastic sachets. The wada paav was good and as usual I demolished two, hankering for more.

An interesting tid-bit: August 23rd is now World Vada Paav Day, started by the founders of this chain that claims to bring western food models to the quintessential Mumbai food. My other favourite tid-bit is you can order wada paav in one of the ritzy swanky 5 star coffee shops in Pune.

Would be interesting to see how this desi "burger" chain fares in Pune. The Wada Paav of course RULES.

Rice and Potatoes

First the two runs.
I ran 5K on Saturday at an even pace to complete in 28:50 min. Today (Monday) I ran 4.480 KM in 25:56 mins. Both runs were not as satisfactory. SOmehow I felt lazy to continue and kept/keep promising tomorrow will be better. Will have to guard against this tendency.

I am not a big believer in diets. I prefer the thought of a great mutton biryani motivating me than to make me feel guilty. That being said, over the past week, I have quit rice and potatoes...that staple of the Indian diet... certainly mine.

So back to the eternal debate - food as fuel or food as pleasure. I firmly place myself in the category of pleasure. The oilier the better, the more meat, the better, ....etc. I am a dedicated foodie. So, how does this diet "miracle" happen?

The month of Shravan considered one of the most auspicious in the Hindu calendar started on August 13th. Shravan is sort of like a Hindu Lent or a Ramazan where one relinquishes food/pleasures and/or fasts in hope of bettering oneself.

During this month, meat is proscribed. I have a more scientific belief: given that it rains heavily, there is a strong likelihood of meat going bad when no modern refrigeration was available. What better way to prevent upset stomachs, weakness and death than to ritualistically proscribe it?

I have never followed this removal of meat from my plate till 3 years ago when we started celebrating Ganapati at home. So strike one - no meat for a month.

While my timings have improved, I realize that I need to lose weight if I have to have any hopes at all of running a decent half marathon (time wise) in October. Something had to go.... in the spirit of self control and relinquishing, I decided it would be rice and potatoes. Strike two

The rice and potatoes experiment is only a week old. No carbs, no animal proteins....no weight loss yet. Am I grouchy yet? This is a question for the Most Wondrous.

Last day of August 2007... and no run

I have not been running for the last two days. Did I mean to take it easy... hell no. but the best laid plans of mice and men got waylaid by that most wondrous of all things - family (read wife :o) )

Yesterday I was still aching from my leg exercise escapade and decided not to run. Wanted to do breakfast with the wife, but logistics, early morning meetings intervened.

Today I togged up hoping to run after attending a PTA meeting at my kid's school, only to realize that the wondrous expected to be dropped afterwards to work. Well, to make a long story short, we went to Vaishali instead (must write about the cult of Vaishali one of these days), had breakfast with the aforementioned wondrous and that was that. Had a great time, see the usual faces, and swap notes about the cult of Vaishali.

Aches and Pains.....

First of all, my great idea of going to the gym and doing leg exercises, put paid to the smooth running I expected to have in the following days.

My quads and glutes hurt to the point where walking is a strain. I did run 3.84 KM today (6 laps) in some pain. First lap was bad... 4.37 min and then as the muscles warmed up, the lap time got a bit better ending my 6th lap in 3:45 min. Overall time 24:37 min. My leg still hurts and I may end up taking a Tylenol for the pain (I disagree with taking pain killers as a philosophy). I suspect I did not cool down/stretch well after my leg exercises on Monday

Yesterday was more of the same. I ran 4K in about 30 minutes on 2 tread mills ( had to give up my treadmill to other folks). Timing was off, pain was on ...

Surprisingly my calf pain I complained about earlier is gone (probably masked under all the other pain/ache points I have discovered) :o)

I checked my weight yesterday and it was 99.18. This definitely points to a bad measurement earlier, must get a better scale or something. I am happy to be back below 100 Kg ...whopppppppppppeeeeeeeeeee

Injuries or... excuses not to run

Over the past few days, I have had a niggling ache in my left calf that just won't go away. On Saturday, I decided enough was enough and went running anyway. After 6 laps (3.84K) in 21:46, I was in pain.. also from a stitch.. I hobbled and then stopped ..gasping for breath, holding onto my side.. I think that was what prompted a grandmotherly type to ask if I was OK and if I had any chest pain.

That was the last straw and I walked the next laps. Sunday was on off day on account of the calf ache (which no amount of stretching or massaging seems to relieve)

Today (Monday) I decided not to strain my legs and went to the gym instead. Weighed in at 101.38 KG (gasp..........wasn't it only a few days ago that I was sub 100 :o( ..)

Anyway, did weights and leg exercises (go figure). Squats with 40 lbs, Power Lunges with 35 lbs, forward and reverse leg curls with 50 lbs.

I will abstain from rice and potatoes for the next little while as well as go back to the gym to do legs and back exercises twice a week. That only leaves 5 days to work on the mileage. (waaaaaaaaaaaaa...)

Hate machines... arrrgh

Today I decided to go to the gym instead of my usual KNP runs. I have decided to go to the gym so I can do some weights, leg, back and abdomen exercises.

Finding a treadmill free, I couldn't resist a run. The machine only permits either 2.25 KM or 13 minutes per session. I finished 1. 8 K in my first 13 minute session. I tried started another session for 2.25 KM at which time, the machine went into a cool down mode and only let me run 2 minutes......... damn, double damn. Hate treadmills ..................arrrgh.

Did 10 minutes on the elliptical/stairmaster and decided to throw in the towel.
Weighed myself ....um hum....ok 99.30KG... need to track this. I was hoping for a much lower figure, what with running for almost 2 months and all that, but alas......

66 days to 21K and counting.

Signed up for the Delhi Half Marathon :-)

Today's run (August 21st 2007) was um......satisfactory .. 7.04KM (11 laps) in 43:27. I am satisfied that I still managed to keep it under 44 minutes which is my target time, and dissappointed that I took almost two minutes more than yesterday.

Started out well with a lap of 3:35, and then slowed down to laps of 4 minutes each despite trying to push my time below 4 minutes. I slowed down even more in one lap taking 4:35 minutes ... the low point of today's run

Conditions:Dry
Warm up: 10 minutes, 1 lap walk
Cool down: 5 minutes with water (I remembered to take my water bottle today :o) )

On Sunday, I paid my registration fees and signed up for the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon. 67 days to 21K

Two good runs

Saturday August 18th
I wanted to start early, it being a Saturday and all that (i.e. no dropping the kids to school or other such chores). I even woke up early only to end up at KNP at 7:54 AM which is more or less the usual time :o)

Started out well and went on even better to complete 7.04 KM in 41:31:56, my best time so far.
Rounded off the week well with around 35KM

Warmup: 10 minutes: stretches, 1 Lap walk

Sunday was another day off - felt truly lazy. Woke up late and went through my usual kilo of newspapers with a quarter litre cup of great tea.

Monday August 20th
Had only one kid to drop off this morning so went to run at 7:44 AM. Did the ritual one lap of walking/ambling. Am starting a sort of a new warm-up routine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwlgnsg7nPQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyEF12KAlm8 ), which starts with neck rotations, arms and upper chest, pelvis, legs, ankles, situps/squats, stretches ... the works.. Took a little longer than usual.

Started out with a lap of 3:44 and maintained that time more or less till 5 laps. At the 6th or 7th lap (can't remember which) I got overtaken by a guy who normally walks. The good old competitive spirit fired and I ran the lap in 3:10/3:15 overtaking the guy and not letting up. That felt good, but I paid the price in the next laps running 4:30 and 4:00
Regardless I finished 11 laps (7.04 KM) in 41:58:11. For about 30 minutes after, I belaboured under the misapprehension that I had run about 18 seconds better than my Saturday time, only to come home and realise I ran 22 seconds over. Chal koi nahi yaar, aur kabhi.

Have started a cooldown routine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNxClAlcaNg); one lap walk + stretches and other stuff. Should take a bottle of water to hydrate right there.

Overall two good runs; timings better than 42:15 which was my previous PB :o)

Runner's Log August 17th 2007

Haven't posted my regular running log in the last couple of days

August 15th was my day off

On August 16th, I ran 7.04 KM (11 laps) in 43:23. Started off very well with a first lap of 3:14 and then tapered off still coming in under my target time of 44 minutes (4 minutes per lap is the outer limit I allow myself). Felt good to get back in the plus 5 KM range.

Warmup: 10 minutes, stretches, 1 lap walk
Mileage so far: 14.64 KM

August 17th (today)
I ran 7.04 KM (11 laps) in 42:15. I couldn't believe my timing ...it's almost a full minute off yesterday's time. Started off with a slow lap of 4 minutes, the next two were also the same time more or less, then started shaving off seconds off the 4 minute mark. The 5th lap was at 19:28, and then I accelerated running lap 6 in 3:45, lap 7 in 3:30. At the end of my run, felt really awesome.

Warmup: 10 minutes, stretches, 1 lap walk
Mileage so far: 21:68 KM

I read somewhere that you should pace yourself and start slow to reap benefits later; today sort off proved that point. Does not mean I won't sprint off when I have fresh legs :o)

Runner's Log August 14th 2007

Ran 3.84 K in 21.05 minutes, a full minute and 17 seconds better than yesterday.
Conditions: Dry with some wet patches
Warmup: 10 minutes, stretches mostly.
Weekly mileage: 7.6K

Today was a good run. Started out feeling really lazy and didn't want to run too much. (I guess it shows in my mileage) . Anyway, my first lap was 3:40 and I set myself a goal of shaving some time off that first lap. The next lap was 3:38 and I got into my rhythm. In the final analysis, I think I averaged 3:35 per lap which is great.

Pat on the back.

Runner's Log August 13th 2007

I run as often as I can. Of late, I have been regular -- running 4-5 days every week. I run at Kamala Nehru Park in Pune.

It has a loop of 640m and running laps helps me keep a good measure on distance as well as time.
Yesterday, Sunday August 13th, I ran 7.04 KM in 43:54 minutes. Today, I ran 3.84KM in 22:22 minutes.

Conditions: slightly wet and somewhat slippery.
Warm Up: around 9 minutes. - stretches mostly

Weekly target: TBD

|| Shree Ganeshaya Namah ||

This is my first post on this blog. It starts with Shree Ganeshaya Namah.
More on this later.