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.