A couple of years back, my only running was from my apartment to the main road where the office cab stops. Hardly about 250 metres. I will huff and puff to reach there in 3-4 minutes. Slowly, I started running at the gym. I was able to run with great difficulty, a KM under 10 minutes. The Fitness One guys started pushing me and I did a mile under 10 minutes once. I slowly started increasing the time I could run continuously and after a while I was able to run around 30-40 minutes continuously. My best on the treadmill was 5K in 32 minutes.
But then, running on the treadmill was no fun. Late last year I started venturing out into the real world. It was a completely different experience. I was back to square one. I could hardly run a couple of kilometres. Then subbuj joined me as my running buddy. We started slowly pushing our limits. Subbu has a Nokia N95 with Sports Tracker installed and that helped us track our progress. I was planning for training with Runner's High, but then a sudden trip sent me to San Francisco. Thankfully, it also helped me continue my running and I enjoyed every bit of my stay there. I also picked up a good running shoe there.
Once I came back, we started running at the Cubbon Park. One fine day, we decided to check out the Nike Run Club. They were just beginning to ramp up their training sessions and it was a blessing. Coach Beedu and Reeth were helpful with tips and helped in the training. Nike took really good care of us during the training sessions. They did a gait analysis, arranged pep talks, provided trial shoes and finally ensured that everyone gets mentally and physically ready for the run.
The day before the event was just like the day before an exam. I was a bit nervous and was also tired. It took me a while to realise that the main reason why I started running was to have fun and if I get tensed I would miss the fun. So the next day, I went to the run with only thing in mind. Finish it and if I can finish in 90 minutes I would be happy. Subbu and I started running on the race day and after a couple of KM, I felt that I could run faster. I slowly picked up the pace and got into a nice rhythm. Went to the 5K mark in 28 minutes and I was nicely pulling along. Then came the difficult part of the run, since the road was slightly steep from Dickenson Road to Kamaraj Road to Cubbon Road. I slowed down and after a few minutes started walking. I walked for a couple of minutes and then started running again. After entering into the Cubbon Park, it was the regular trail and I picked up pace. The last KM was the fastest pace and according to my watch, I finished in 58:28 minutes. Woohoo! We then went into the Nike Lounge and were royally pampered. There was one guy handing out cold towels, another guy taking pictures, a sumptuous breakfast, a foot message and some very nice music. It turned out much better than what I had imagined. When the official timings came out the next day, I found that I had done it in 57:43 mins. Nike has also promised that they would give a specially designed T-shirt, "I'm a finisher" for everyone registered with NRC.
So what are you thinking. If you want to start running, drop in tomorrow, 13th June, at Kanteerava Stadium at 6AM and join the Nike run club.
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Pain is temporary, Pride is permanent.
-- Saw on poster by someone cheering for Runner's High
Some tiny bits of wisdom that I gleaned over the weekend.
- There is a good chance that your house keys are in your jeans pockets. Search thoroughly before panicking the rest of the world.
- Friday evening might not be the best day to clean your kitchen.
- If you don't heed to the previous point, atleast make sure that you do not have anything on the kitchen windows, before you attempt to clean it.
- If you drop something on the sunshade of the apartment below you, the easiest way to fetch it, is by using a mop to push the item down.
- There is no guarantee that the item that you pushed from the top is going to survive after the fall.
- It is okay to skip the IPL semifinals / finals and go to sleep, if you are sleep starved.
- Some kind soul will always be interested in letting their presence felt by sending an SMS close to midnight.
- If you wake up thanks to the SMS, use the opportunity to catchup on the scores before you start to snore again.
- There is a lot of chance that you will have a hang over on the Monday morning, even after three rounds of coffee. Live with it
Enjoy and have a great week ahead.
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Don't worry. Life's too long.
-- Vincent Sardi, Jr.
A cricket update for a long time. With Mumbai Indians refusing to put up a fight, here are my predictions for the semi finals.
- Delhi Daredevils
- Chennai Super Kings
- Deccan Chargers
- Rajasthan Royals
Delhi and Chennai will go for the finals and I expect Delhi to win. Let us see how it goes
Sometimes I wonder why am I here getting stuck with this. Big corporations makes people forget the humanness. They lose the human touch and all they are interested in flexing their muscles and showing who they are. Reality strikes and I remember that I cannot solve every problem and bring in world peace. I scream and move on.
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But when we lose humanness we have no way of knowing we have lost it.
-- Edward Bond
Airtel sent me this email today, with subject "Your Airtel Bill for Account XXXXXXXX, For the Period 26/03/2009 to 26/04/2009, Airtel Number 080XXXXXXXX"
Dear Customer,Please find attached your Airtel Bill for,
Airtel Number: 080XXXXXXXX
Account Number: XXXXXXXX
Bill Number: XXXXXXXX
Bill Period:26/03/2009 to 26/04/2009Please save it for your future reference. You need Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view this bill.
Further down the email, I see this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your Airtel e-bill is protected by a unique password, please enter your account number as password to open your e-bill. Password remains the same for every e- bill sent month on month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who are they trying to fool? What is the point in password protecting the bill, when the password is provided in the email? How does one deal with such morons?
Over the last four weeks, I watched eight movies. Here is a twitter style review of seven of them. I forgot the name of the eighth :-)
- Delhi 6 - Spent 3 hours watching a movie and came out unable to understand what the movie was all about. I am starting to love the Masakali song though.
- Slumdog Millionaire - I have no clue what is there in this movie to go gaga over it. An average movie
- Max Payne - Had heard about the game and decided to watch this movie. Crap.
- Eagle Eye - Slept through it
- Dasvidaniya - Indian version of The Bucket List
- Rock On!! - Started watching this since I had heard a lot about this movie. Turned out to be an average one.
- Jab We Met - Finally a decent one. Enjoyed it. Geet sometimes reminds me of someone special :-)
The concert schedule for the 71st Sree Ramanavami Celebrations at Fort High School is available on the mandali's website. As usual it is a star studded list. Be there and enjoy.
Most of February, I was thinking about what I wanted to do for the next few months. I had signed up for a training program for a 10K run in May. I egged a few friends to find out some place for a trek or a tour. I was asking my wife if she wanted to go anywhere. Suddenly during the last week of Feb, everything changed. I was asked to travel to San Francisco for a couple of weeks. I came here with a mixed bag of reactions and a lot of apprehension.
I landed in San Francisco on the first of March. The first couple of days passed by and then I discovered _the city_. This has been an amazing place and I have enjoyed every day here. Sometimes when I am completely upset or bogged down, be it due to work or otherwise, all I do is take a walk or a jog. And then I feel as if I am in heaven. I forget everything. All I feel is the chill air and the noise of the speeding cars around. This city is a jogger's paradise. The other day, I was really hungry and went down to get some breakfast. When I saw people running, I started running. I ran till Fisherman's Wharf and came back to the apartment without even having breakfast. Today I went to the airport to see a friend's wife off to India. He and a couple of others came back to my apartment and we went for a walk. We came to the apartment around 6 and they left around 8. I finished my dinner and was planning to go to bed. I am scheduled to go to Sunnyvale tomorrow and after a week back to Bangalore. So, I decided to take a walk one last time during this trip. I went down and I started running. I ran till the Gandhi statue at the Ferry Building. I spent about 15 minutes there listening to the sounds from the water, watching the Bay Bridge, thinking how much things have changed in the two weeks.
SF, I am going to miss you. Good bye until I come back again.
The 8th edition of Bangalore Barcamp happens at Yahoo! on 7th and 8th March. There has been enough debates about BCB8. So it will be interesting to see how it goes. I am not in town and will not be able to make it. But if you are around, you should go. It helps to connect with like minded people in town.
This is what I call a perfect Sunday Morning.
- Wake up at 6:15. That is a record.
- About 30 minutes jog at Cubbon park.
- Make breakfast.
- Assist in making custard. Dessert for lunch.
- Do some cleaning.
- Amazing two hours of music on KL Radio on Worldspace. Today's special was songs beginning with questions. Some amazing music. Before that was an interview with Kovai Sarala. The songs played were also very good.
Now that beewi is out for a couple of hours, time to catchup on random stuff over the internet and possibly a quick nap. Life like this is good. I'm loving it :-)
PS: Last night while I was driving back from Railway Station, decided to check out the Yahoo! Open Hackday happening at Taj. On the way I saw a McD on Kasturba Raod. Stopped by to get some fries and chatpatta masala. Check it out when you are there next time.
