I wish

I wish to run 12 marathon sin 12 months the coming year.
Maybe this is a bit too early to write, but if I write it as anew years resolution, I am bound to break it.

Hoping this would be first of many

I was tempted by the prospect of running a full marathon in 2012 when I read about KTM having a 42.2KM run. I also wanted to have a check on my preparations for the Mumbai Marathon (SCMM). With a run you get to check your heart, lungs and legs. More than anything it is your mind which gives up before any of these. It is an in built safety mechanism wher the mind says you to stop even before you reached your stopping point.

As it turns out I was given some body else's running number and timing chip. I got these things changed and reached the venue by 5:30AM. my run was to begin at 6:15AM. I had some time for my pre-run stretch and checks. I told my self I could do it even though without much preparations the previous month as I moved to a new location.

We were flagged off at 6:15 sharp. I was fine till I reached 9.5K. The next one Km was steep uphill run. I did this with a bit of effort and all was well until 21.1K. The half marathon finish point. There were people standing here cheering any one and everyone. I was filled with some enthusiasm after this and ran again till the next uphill of 30K. Along the way I asked a few people who had given up to run with me. It's because of this I could run a few kilometers at thsi point. Then came the worst part. I hit the dreaded 'WALL' This is a condition where you have exhausted all your energy reserves and the mind has given up. Luckily I had to go back to the starting point even if I wanted to go home, thereby completing my full marathon distance. I walked for about 6 KMs. Stopping every 2 KMs for water and ice. At about 2 KM to finish the organizing committee came on a bike asked me if I could complete the run or I needed any help. They would pick me and drop me at the end, but I would not complete the marathon. I would be in the 'DNF' part of the results sheet. I wanted to finish no matter what time I took. This gave a rush of blood to my head an I ran my way to the finish line.

I went in with no target, so no disappointments on my finish time. Lets just say that I need some improvement if I should make it to the finishers list of SCMM. learnt a lot from a lot of mistakes. Let's see if I put them to good use.

However there's always a smile on my face when I have to limp to walk or run now. Treating injuries is also a fun part of a run as it brings back the pleasant memories of the run.I was in too much pain and cribbing about going back all the way to Bangalore  But if asked now whether I would do this whole episode again, I would definitely do it.

I have much much more to write but looks like I have hit the writers block now (akin to the runners wall).

Here is yours truly enjoying the run with some nice songs. This pic might have been taken between KM 23-27

All I wanna say is

I wanna say this but am too tired to type it out. So the jist of that is here :)

Benifits of sex a change :0

Recently we had a nice corporate marathon. We sported 4 teams. One of our teams won.
That's not the interesting part. Each runner is also given a ranking in the run. The fastest runner in the winning team got a 18th individual position. In one of our other teams, the fastest runner ran a bit slower than our fastest runner. Surprisingly he was given a category rank of 6. Every one of us started congratulating him but he was not all that enthusiastic.

Finally we saw the blunder commited. They had registered him under the female category. He was the 6th fastest female runner that day.

The simplest sex change operation ever

Have you ever been a victim of "misunderstood handshake or hug"?

This is where while meeting someone you go for  hug while the other person goes for a handshake. Your brain cannot process this fast enough and you hug that person while that persons outstretched hand still outstretched shakes err.. something. that person can neither complete the hug due to unavailibity of the other hand nor shake hands due to unavailibility of your hand...

Me neither.

Run

This is an update to my run posted earlier. I am on track for the Mumbai Marathon. My registration has been accepted by the SCMM team for the full marathon category. As a practice run I will be running the KTM-2012 full marathon. I have decided to not bother about the time for this run as I would use it as a trial run.

In other news I met a 6 time ironman Australia, Deepak Raj. Such an inspiring yet humble man. He has no aura of his magnificient achievements around him. Also I am pretty much impressed by his dedication to fitness.

The "Spirit" of cooking.

After watching countless episodes of a cooking reality show the missus declares that she needs an oven. Having no other choice but to watch the same show when it is running, in the name of spending quality family time, I too watch these shows. Having an insatiable sweet tooth, I enjoy the desserts section a lot. I especially enjoy those dishes cooked with wine or desserts with brandy.

Being the awakened consumers that we are, we decide to do some research on the types of ovens available in the market. As a first step we scorch the net for models, makes and feedbacks. Finally we short list one of them and decide to go for it that weekend. I was all excited about making 'that' dessert. So I convince the wife and finally get a bootle of fine wine, just in case.

The next weekend we search for our model in a couple of shops but to no avail. We decide to order it online in one of those famous 'You can get anything shipped' online stores. We reach home dog tired and she goes to sleep. I decide to surf the net for the famous  'You can get anything shipped' online store. I bump into a desserts website. Since I was tired I decide to 'taste' some wine and get a good night's sleep.

Next morning we forgot all about our oven search and went about our weekday chores of appearing busy. Busy days lead to good night's sleep after sneeking into the kitchen cabinet for a round of wine tasting. By that Friday we decide we will get the oven that Saturday. Another fruitless search over the weekend and we decide not to buy the oven.

That day my wife decides to clean the kitchen closet and finds the empty bottle, which yours truly helped empty. We were again at square one, no oven, no wine. But the "spirit" of good cooking was not lost. It was decided that I stop watching cooking shows.

In my defence, what's the use of keeping the wine when we decide to not buy the oven anymore. Also wines don't ferment while in the bottle.

Disclaimer: The above story may or may not be true, but mostly true. It might or might not have happened to me. I might or might not have tasted the wine. All this may or may not be my imagination. All in all you should or should not believe anything written here over a period of time. 

Calling a fatty a fatty

Just a reality check to see if I am on track for a full marathon this year. I feel I am not yet ready. This is mainly because my legs give up around 20-23K range. I have a half marathon next Sunday at Mangalore. As part of training I am doing 10K almost 4 times a week.

A group of enthusiasts got together this wednesday and having nothing else to do talked about running to work. i thought this was due to recession/slowing markets :0. Soon they turned serious and today we ran our first half marathon to office. I did a decent 21K in 2.15hr. this is almost an improvement by 1hr considering my timing from the Bangalore ultra. We started at 5:45 this morning and had to reach office by 8:00AM because our dress code is enforced after 8:00AM. We would end up paying a 200Rs if we miss this deadline. I realised that not having any stops in the run helps a lot. I did the 21k non-stop. The 1K from wipro gate 16 to my office in 15mins, walking. I carried 1/2lt of water mixed with lemon+salt+sugar. Having small sips throught out the run helped me run non-stop.

After the run we met at the food court to restore our carbos :). Thats when I asked the professional runner in our group what should I do this remaining 1 week to train for the 1/2 marathon in Mangalore. He suggested a few techniques for muscle strengthening. This was when he told me dont run a downward slope. You are a little bit over weight and might end up hurthing your knees. if that happens you cannot run the 1/2 marathon you are planning. Finally somebody told me I am over-weight. Comments section might be automatically disabled for any further comments stressing the point that I am a fatty.