Heart Break Run at Hyderabad

Before you can surmise anything, this was just a run with Hyderabad Runners. After a long time I caught with fellow runners at Hyderabad for a 11.5KM heart break run.

Watch the route on the map above closely and you'll see it is in the form of heart break and thus the name.

Ran with Deviyani from Asha Hyderabad for most part of the run and then Rajesh Vetcha joined in to listen my pre and post engagement stories.


Good run and wonderful to be back running with Hyderabad Runners !

Keep Miling !

2000+ KMs of Running and still going

So here it is guys, 2000KMs of running.
I started around 6.30AM at Basvangudi to do the left over 5 odd KMs. That's a nice finish and place to celebrate 2000KMs. There were another set of legs accompanying me post 2000+ Kms.



Check out my running log: http://www.weendure.com/user/balsubu

I started this log in November 2007 and in 27 months I've crossed 2K mark. Feels Good !

The idea is to do 1000KMs every year! So we are quadrupeds now (AB together)!


Keep Miling !

Farming with folks at Ananya

Borrowed from my original post at Team Asha blog:
http://teamashablr.blogspot.com/2009/05/ananya-run-farming.html

To describe what Vinodh, a Team Asha Runner, says about Ananya

Ananya is a Magical place, and has so much to offer.. Today, It taught us farming. George was so enthusiastic to share with us the process/techniques. [Start->Programs->MicroSoft Farming??? - No] We ploughed the field, planted the Ginger/Bean sprouts, manured and watered them. This is the closest, I'll ever get to real-working for a while. Totally fulfilling experience.

Team Asha Rythu (Farming) Sangha: Sriram (Senior scientist), Vinodh, (The real farmer), Narmada (Officer on Spl.duty), Manjula (Female Senior Vice President), Banna (Apprentice), Sucksman Balu(PR)

Indeed it is. Some of Asha runners who have been running with the Ananya kids for over two month now have just been takne over by its sheer beauty and setting. Our beloved George is back and this Saturday we learned how to plant ginger and beans. How to make the ginger sprout a priori, how to plough the area, how to locate a shaded area and then how to place the ginger (spruoted region facing upside-down), and then how and where to place the manure (the manure is actually collected from the organic waste within Ananya) and the how to shade the enitre plouged region with dry leaves which by itself would become a manure in the coming weeks. Then we moved towards beans and our dear George explained on how to use the axe effectively and then how to place the bean seeds.



As Vinodh explains again:

It was only 9 am, and I was already having so much fun..

Shivamma's kitchen beckoned us. Idlies floating in Sambhar and hot masala tea.. Wow.. We discussed various things over breakfast. The group is getting crazier by the day. We'll take over Bangalore one day.

Read more on what Vinodh has to share here:
http://vinning.blogspot.com/2009/05/awesome-saturday.html


We are just waiting for all the kids come on 30th May and all set for the 31st Sunfeast run. Make no mistake, this doesn't stop here as this Asha-Ananya initiative is just the beginning and miles to go before we.....

Until then, Keep Miling ! Go Team Asha and Ananya ! All the very best for Sunfeast run on May 31st 2009 !


Canvas Shoe Update:
Some of the Asha runners who have been running with Ananya kids have also manged to raise enough funds to give all the kids at Ananya canvas running shoes. I've been talking to the higher-ups at "Bata" and they have agreed to give us canvas shoes at a discounted price. Once a very good discounted price is obtained I'll feature them for their gesture. Keep reading this space to know more !

Pic Courtesy: Vinodh's mobile camera phone.

Team Asha Ananya Run and Karate

So we are going right on track with the training for the Sunfeast 10K even though most of the kids have gone home for vacation. We have given them schedules and have asked them to follow the training program to their best of abilities.

Karate Update:

Sensei Ni Rei (bow to the Sensei)
Dojo Ni Rei (Bow to the class/training hall)

We also learned lot of new moves in Karate over the last few weeks, thanks to Sensei Manjula. We've imbibed the first "Kata", the simulated fight.

We have learned the three punches (Tsuki) (Gedan, chudan and nidan), three front kicks (Ma Giri), one side kick (Yoko Giri) and one back fist punch(Uraken)

Couple of blocking techniques as well.
As it goes we are now ready for the first belt, the "yellow" belt !

Santosh and I had a talk with Sashi on future activity for Ananya kids and Sashi taught us something wonderful about "Möbius strip". Interesting, do read about it in the Wiki below and also about its unique properties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6bius_strip

Until then keep running !

Tour De Gandipet

Wow, what a run it was. I've been in Hyderabad for almost 24 years and I could have never thought of running a distance wherein the APSRTC actually operates a bus service. Yes, we in fact out ran the bus number 120 (Mehdipatanam to Gandipet). Tomorrow if someone asks me to run till Samshabad airport I might actually end up running if I've got a bunch of runners like the Hyderabad Runners.

After my Knee injury I've never run a comfortable 20K run for some time now. All the cross training and ankle weight exercises have helped. After yesterdays run things have fallen back in proper shape. I was out with Team Asha Tee as everyone gathered at the starting spot.


The run was for 22K and began at the Film nagar entrance from KBR park and started at 5.24AM. We were five of us running (Vasu, Satish, Amey, Rajesh and I) and Prasad was there to help us out with mobile logistics.

We started all the way from KBR, went towards Whisper Valley and then downwards towards Darga and then turned left towards Narayanama College and then went past Sheikpet and Tolichowki. Finally at Nanal Nagar cross roads we took a right towards Andhra Floor Mills and then towards Langar House. Then proceeded towards Vasavi College, Taramati, passing beyond CBIT and then finally hitting Gandipet (Osman Sagar).


It took us 2 hours and 15 minutes for 22KMs. We ran in pairs most of the time. Vasu and Rajesh and Myself, Satish and Amey. The route from Nanal Nagar was almost like a trip down memory lane I was brought in this area and I've was like giving a live "Tour De Langar House". There was some traffic near Tolichowki and Langar house but it was manageable.


We had Prasad who was there almost every 2KM ahead ready with supplies. He also had a huge stock of water just to make sure we don't run out of it. Its really tough for a runner to do logistics and resist the temptation of running, especially when you see your pals running in front of you.


All in all we manged to finish the run neatly and after some quick stretches we headed towards Golkonda Resorts for breakfast and ended having a pretty decent buffet breakfast. The menu was loaded with some heavy duty stuff and at least I gained back all the calories that I'd burnt :-)

Thanks again to Prasad for dropping us all back to KBR !

To quote from one of the Hyderabad Runner, Satish.

We finally did it. Here is the route : http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2721968

We (Rajesh, Vasu, Amey, Balu and Myself) started at 5:20am near BVB
gate KBR park. Prasad was gracious enough to accompany us in the SAG
car (couldn't have done it without him). We ran down the Whisper
valley, then turned left onto the old mumbai highway and finally
hopped onto the road to Gandipet at Nanal nagar. The traffic on the
road was a little bad even that early in the morning. To add to that
it was the IIT entrance day at CBIT and all along the way while
running we were giving directions to the IIT aspirants. We finally
finished our run at Gandipet at 7:30am. We stretched and snacked on
biscuits and dates and finally piled onto the breakfast bar at
Golkonda resorts. After that there was no telling. By the time we were
done, each of us were atleast a kgs heavier and 250 bucks lighter.
Gandipet is a great destination for running long distances. The final
few kms one can just think of the breakfast and finish the run. Balu
had taken quite a few pics, hoping for a nice blog from him.

Gopi where are you man? Anirudh ....

I have already planned for the route for the next long run as per
Prasad's suggestion (This guy know Hyd in the back of his mind) :
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2721980 - HCU to Gandipet ....

Some running related pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/balsubu/HYD22KRunApril12_2009#

As you can see these guys are already planning another Gandipet Run. If you are in Hyderabad around April 26 catch them up folks ! Its all the worth.

Until then, keep miling !

Speed Runs Begin

Seems like Hyderabad, my home town, always gets the best out of me and I'm sure it is just the beginning. Called up Sidd for a run but looks like he didn't make it and thankfully the Hyderabad runners were planing a 10K loop around KBR park and Banjara Hills. Caught with with Satish, Vasu and Prasad. It was a great run at least by my standards and the last 3KM were done at a pretty decent pace and I locked into Satish's pace.

I've been pacing around 10KMPH al this while and today was the day to break the 60 minute barrier and we completed around 10.5KM in about 55 minutes. Good start for my speed runs and the idea is to do a half marathon sub 2 hours by middle of this year. A 50 (~49) minute 10K is what I'll be looking at Sunfeast 10K this May in Bangalore.

May be I should just go for the Tibet Marathon this year (just too tempted!). Good start to a new running season ! Shumit has been another force behind speed runs !

Keep Miling !

Weekend Running and Slumbering

I've decided that I'll now run the Mumbai marathon. I was little yes and no before. But after the attacks in Mumbai I'm going to run this marathon for the true spirit of India. I'm sure 26.2 miles will just pass by.

Weekend Breakfast Runs with Asha folks
Last weekend (Nov 29 and 30) we went through our training schedule for Mumbai and Auroville. On 29th Anita, Sanjeev, Santosh Hulkund and I were at Cubbon and started the run at 6.30Am. It was drizzling quite a bit. I ran around 7K with Anita and rest with Sanjeev. Nice time of the year as well as the winter was setting. Anita, Sanjeev and Santosh left for breakfast as I had to head elsewhere.


Sunday (Nov 30) we all met for a quick run at Lal Bagh glass house at 7AM. Gave the RFL run at Kanakpura Road a miss. This was my first run at Lal Bagh. Got my friend Abhay sarkar as well for the run. Siva, Thushaar, Anita, Sanjeev, Balaji and I were there for this run. Met others for the first time. I paced Abhay for around 3KM and then caught up with Balaji for the rest of the 7K. Others had already moved into SKK (Sree Krishna Kafe) at Koramangla for breakfast as Balaji and I hurried to finish our 10.5K inside Lal Bagh. The drizzle started again and we reached SKK to join others.

Breakfast runs are always exciting. Spent rest of Sunday sleeping and of course some sumptuous lunch at his place.

Hyderabad 10k and Half marathon

The HYD 10K group is back for its annual November run.

Check out here:
http://www.hyderabad10k.com/

I might not take part as I'll be in Bangalore and right now preparation in full swing for the Ultra. Did a decent 8K inside KBR with Sidd and Ravi. Also managed to rope in my pal Kireeti for the run and had Irani Chai.

Keep miling.

Preparation Right on Track for Ultra

The preparation for Ultra has been right on track and the leg has been responding good as well. Did a decent a 18K in 2 hours alongside Pratibha at Cubbon this Saturday. She was the only one who turned up for the Asha run and I guess she was planning 23-25K for the day. Four loops at Cubbon and I was feeling good.

Today did an 8K at the RFL run at Bellandur. Feeling good and hope to do another 10-15K at Hyd next weekend and I'll be all set for 25K at the Ultra on 16 Nov, 2008. Meanwhile the Asha funds have started to come in again. Thanks for all of you who have been encouraging me with your funds for Asha.

So its nice to be back to running and feeling good after a 25K weekend. Will taper the rest of the day. Until then keep miling !

Daud - दौड़ - My first marathon !

दौड़ Hyderabadi दौड़ !


(Rahul Verghese and I at the finish line in the Gachibowli Stadium. Pic Courtesy: Rahul, taken by Gopi)

Exactly around this time last year I was struggling to run a mile or two. Finally this Aug 16th 2008 I finished my first 26.2 miles, i.e. 42.25 KM in 4 hours: 54 minutes: 37 seconds. It did not happen overnight !

According Wikipedia (one of the accounts):

The traditional story relates that Pheidippides (530 BC–490 BC), an Athenian herald, was sent to Sparta to request help when the Persians landed at Marathon, Greece. He ran 240 km (150 miles) in two days. He then ran the 40 km (26 miles) from the battlefield by the town of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) with the word "Νενικήκαμεν" (Nenikékamen, 'We have won') and died on the spot.

Why running ?

जिंदगी में प्यार तो बहुत बार हो जाता हैं
पर मोहब्बत सिर्फ़ एक बार होती हैं.

So why am I running ? No girlfriend problems, no family problems, no financial problems, no workplace problems ... then why ? I started to run to loose weight simple as that !

I've evolved as a person after my B.Tech way back in 2003. I thought I was the best and the way I handled things then looked apt, at least at that time. I used to consider all those who drink and smoke are some evil people born to be wild, talking to a girl was a taboo (its an other thing that I used to get more "Rakhis" than normal people).... I was a total slack ! In the hindsight all that thought process that occupied my mind may have been a part of my evolving process but now thing are different.

I wanted to look good like others, wanted a thinner waistline and wanted to get rid off those love triangles, wanted to tuck the shirt in, not always suck the tummy in whenever in public, all that a normal man of my age in his mid twenties wishes for. So I started to run without any schedule or target. All that I wanted was to become like a model in a month or two. It doesn't work that way, does it ? Running randomly in parks, thinking every girl who sees you will fall for you and all such sham thoughts occupied. My pal O.S.Kalyan played a very important role in here as he was an example and my first inspiration to run. I saw him loose weight just by running. This is the first time I was getting into peer pressure.

Running Statistics:

Around November last year, I registered with "weendure.com" wherein one can log running statistics. Sidd and Biswa were instrumental in getting me into this. So I used to run in a park near my place and log the statistics with Biswa being my healthy competition.

Auroville Half Marathon:

Sidd finished Mumbai Marathon and had set us a benchmark. It was Biswa who was planning to run the Auroville Half Marathon and I was initially a tad reluctant but then decided to join. Half Marathon was 21 odd KMs and my previous best was some 10KM. During one of my practise 10K runs my nipples started to bleed. I was damn scared and then Biswa and I figured out that it is a common problem and nothing to panic. All that one needs to wear is a proper running Tee (dry-fit) or put a plaster around the nipple. Biswa and I completed Auroville Half Marathon together in 2 hours and 45 minutes. After that there was no looking back. Also bought myself a pair of nice Nike Plus running shoes for a premium.


RFL Bangalore factor

I heard a lot about RFL and the next thing I did was to join their mailing list. There was this mail from Dr. Rajat Chauhan when he "Murdered the treadmill" by doing a marathon on it. That spruced me up. I started to interact and started to join their fortnightly runs. So around March-April I registered with RFL for their fortnightly runs and paid an annual subscription fee. This was just to force myself into a disciplined way to run. Every fortnight I used to run at different locations, meet different runners, get inspired and know all the "fundas" of running. Slowly started to train with runners from RFL (esp. Bhasker and Co.). 21KM was getting a norm and I was able to finish it in two hours and thereabouts.


Chennai ECR run

The Chennai ECR run was a flash point. I did 30K in gruesome sultry and humid weather. I took 4 hours and 10 minutes and was hugely disappointed. But I was determined to finish. I was in two minds whether to do a 30K at Hyderabad or just go for the marathon.


Hyderabad - my hometown

It is my hometown and I had to set a baseline here. So I decided to go for the 42K. Loaded myself with good home food and just rice for the last three days before the race started. That's my way of carbo-loading . I knew my weakness and it was my mind playing over the body. My legs can do it but sometimes my mind just scores over me. So all that I had to do is not to listen to my mind and just listen to my body.


Rahul Verghese

(Rahul Verghese and I with ISB in the background. Pic Courtesy: Rahul)
I met Rahul before the race day to collect my bib and to buy his Tee. Never thought that I'd be actually running with him the next day. Rahul Verghese writes for "The Hindu" for the "Magazine" section on Sundays in the health section on running. He also runs this website http://runningandliving.com/. It was his 25th marathon and it was my first.


The Marathon - my first 26.2 miles

My dad dropped me at KBR park by 4.45Am and I met up with all my running mates. The race was organized by Hyderabad Runners and the Hyderabad 19K foundation. Just as I started about to stretch, Dinaz came onto the stage and gave us some quick stretching tips. That was thoughtful of the organizers. Dinaz has a celebrity following in Hyderbad for her exercise tips and training. There was this huge police contingent from AP Police Academy. Soon the full marathoners were summoned and a quick attendance was taken (never seen such a thing before).

Euphoric Atmosphere

The atmosphere looked perfect. There were all these police personnel in walkie-talkie wearing a red color jacket with POLICE written in bold shadowing runners on their motorbikes. One side of the road was thrown open to runners, major traffic intersections were stopped or diverted. The feeling was great.

Sriram was all set and Prashanth with India Tee were rearing to go. They finished half marathon in a pretty decent time.

Rahul and I

Soon I was slowly settling into a rhythm and speed and bumped into Rahul Verghese. I couldn't believe, we ran together for 28KMs for almost three hours. We started to talk on a variety of topics and I was acting like a tour guide to Rahul as we ran across the "Cyberabad". Cheering each and every runner and getting cheered in return. Guess we were stopping for a sip in almost every alternate water stops after the 8th KM mark. The weather was perfect and it was a great pleasure to run with him. After the 28th KM mark I dropped some paces and he tried to cheer me up and I guess by the time I finished was already in waiting for all of us to finish.

Great to run with you !

Running light:

The one that I figured that while running just do not carry anything with you. I was a very clumsy runner before. I used carry mobile, some cash, some coins, keys, some energy bars, and water in hand. This is fine if there is no support structure in place. This time I just wore a proper running sleeveless dryfit Tee, running shorts that almost looks like an underwear. That's all nothing else.

Only during the later stages I picked up mini water bottles to help myself between water stops. But if you water stop between every two KMs then I guess it should be fine.
Ghajani (hair) cut:
Also trimmed my hair like Surya and Aamir Khan for their movie Ghajani. Just that I was all sane here and the blade and tattoo marks were missing. So no need for any head bands or sweat problems.

I must have tried all of Aamir Khan's hair styles from the days of DCH (including Mangal Pandey)!

The Route:

We started from KBR park went all the way into Hi Tech city, then towards Cyber Gateway, then towards the Gachibowli road from the new detour from Vanenburg complex, then towards Botanical garden, then towards HCU, my college IIIT Hyderabad and then to Gachibowli stadium (half marathoners ended their route here). Instead of proceeding towards the Gachibowli stadium we proceeded towards ISB (Indian School of Business) and back to road leading to HCU, then around 6KMs inside HCU and then back onto main road towards Lingampalli and then a U-turn (35KM mark) to all the way to the Gachibowli campus.

But there was no Trail (I was expecting some trail).
Click here for the full marathon running route.



The finish:

It was simple. All I need to is to get to the 30KM mark and after that I had to convince myself for the rest of the 12K. Surprisingly I must have walked just around 500 meters in this entire stretch and my mind never played over me at all. Just as I entered the Gachbowli stadium, our beloved KP Suresh was waiting to cheer me in for the last 100M that was on a track and the moment I touched the finish line I was handed over a medal around my neck. Great feeling. Rajesh smiled and said "42KM ? and I said yes" (In fact during my Chennai ECR run I told Rajesh I may not go for a 42K and he asked me to do at least two or more 30K runs before a marathon). Gopi was equally elated to see me finish. Caught up with Bhasker and Ambar as well.

The Team and Support Structure

It is simple as this. This run may not have been possible had there been no team like this. These guys were "professionals" and executed tasks given to them clinically perfect. Everything was there, water, electral, banana, sugar cubes, sponge and water. Every paraphernalia was there. The good thing was the presence of dustbins and it was well stationed a good 10 meters away from the water stop for people to drop it.


Just as we were hitting the 20KM mark Gopi came from nowhere and gave this "Power Gel" and it actually worked wonders and he cruised along for his half marathon. Very effective. Presence of police in such large numbers makes you feel very safe and it looked as if you are running in some elite marathon event.

Rajesh Vetcha, Gopi, Uma and everyone, hats off to you guys. Special mention to the police team and volunteers. You were just brilliant. Event organizing is no easy task and even one small mistake can leave people in bad taste. I guess this is just a precursor for events to come. You folks have set the right benchmark and have to beat it especially if you want to scale this event to handle much large amount of runners. Typically 10,000+ !


The End

Thanks to all of them who at least managed to reach until this para (even by skimming). This is just the beginning.

पिक्चर अभी बाकी है मेरे दोस्त

Keep running !

Today and (last) Weekend Update

(Pic Courtesy from "The Hindu". I was just moved when I saw this)
Link: http://www.hinduonnet.com/2008/07/28/stories/2008072851100200.htm

I was mostly indoors the last weekend. Tried watch this movie "21 grams" but just left it within 20 minutes of start. Did an easy 10K on Saturday and went to the Wipro park in 1st block after a very long time for a cool down walk. Same old familiar faces and was very nostalgic. No energy drink this time so opted for coconut water. Biswa prepared Khicadi for us and followed up with Lasagna for dinner at Rendezvous.

Sunday morning started off for another easy 10K and then decided to run on my old route inside EGL. On my way back noticed some folks preparing for the RFL Urban stampeded with baton in their hand for the relay run. No I'm not taking part in this event and will be tapering for the Hyderabad Hi Tech Trail Marathon. So its going to be easy 5K from this week on and I'm sure I'll get back to weekday runs soon. Cook was in for lunch and dinner was at "Chung Wah" as Ritesh treated us over for his birthday.


Damien will be winding up his internship tomorrow and Labs will be hosting a farewell lunch today at Silver Metro in Total Mall. Just 12 more days left for the HYD marathon and I'm peeking at the right moment. Lot of sundry work this week !

Keep Running !

Weekend log

Started weekend with Bellandur bibs with Juggy, Bhasker and others last Saturday. Was planning another 30K but Bhasker cautioned me for overdoing this run, so I was just contended with 17K loop. My bike was jammed in the mud and had a very slow fall as I was approaching the run site and luckily Bhasker was behind me. They quickly rushed to raise me and the fact that my right leg was jammed and luckily my shoe bore all the brunt. No injury at all thankfully and to God. We waited for the birthday boy Satsang to join and by six we were all set. Some stretches were bad owing to run the previous night but overall the weather was perfect. Went back home and was planning to prepare a south Indian meal. Got some spinach, bhendi and curd. Lunch was set and watched a movie and slept rest of the day as there was power outage as well. Dinner was at Rendezvous, and this worth a visit. Had a veg Lasagna and it was very well prepared I must say. I'll review this place soon.

Sunday was mostly away catching up with Abhay for couple ginger Tea at "Sri Devi Bakery" BTM. The cook had prepared some "Sattoo Paratha" for dinners during lunch time and that was good enough for the night. Watched one more movie and ruined another Sunday.

Watched these two movies, "Dead Man's Shoes" and "There will be blood". They weren't boring and at the same time they were not that great either. Some kind of psychic characters rule both these movies. That's about it for the weekend. Lot of work ahead this week and time to start weekday running.

O Chennai! , my Chennai !

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle
when the sun comes up you'd better be running.

(But, unless you're a runner, you won't understand.)
-Anon

Saturday, where did to go ?
Last weekend I'd been to Chennai to take part in my first ECR (East-Coast-Road) run, which was the 7th edition from Chennai runners. So I took the Lal Bagh Express that starts at 6.30AM from Bangalore and reached by noon to Chennai Central. Small trivia on Lal Bagh Express: Seems like some Union minister, years ago wanted to see his daughter who was studying medicine at CMC Vellore and wanted to reach by 9ish in the morning and the timing till date has remained the same and fortunately there are lot of takers for this service. Even the return starts from Chennai at around 3PM so that he could get back to Bangalore by 6PM. Interesting, ain't it (Thanks Bharath for the info). Let me quickly jump to Sunday as we will consider that Saturday didn't exist at all. Thanks to Shumit for offering me a couch at his place and to Sandy and Arun for rides back and forth. Basically the whole of Saturday was spent in traveling and in Madras Gymkhana.

Pre-processing


(The one with my arms stretched : Pic Courtesy: ChennaiRunners.com)

I was up by 3:15AM and just as I buzzed Shumit around quarter to 4, Sandy called up Shumit and said he'd be there in 10 minutes. Dressed up in a jiffy and in no time we were there waiting for them on Taylor's road. The one good thing that I noticed is that the traffic signals working all throughout the day at major junctions and people actually follow. Surprising by any Indian standards and for a person like me who comes from Bangalore it was actually rude (pun). Even the hoardings have gone giving us to view the landscape better. By 4.30 we were there and the place where the run starts was teeming with people with reflector caps, shoes and caps. Lot of activity and some quick announcements were made as we were asked to run within the yellow line (shoulder) facing the traffic. Caught up with some runners from Bangalore (KP Suresh) and Hyderabad (Rajesh Vetcha). Met with KK and others from Chennai Runners. I'll be running the Hyderabad Hi Tech marathon as well (undecided over the distance, but 30KM for sure). Exactly at 5.10AM the 7th ECR run started from the resort for people who were aiming 30KM target distance.

The Chimney and boiler effect

(There I go crawling : Pic Courtesy: ChennaiRunners.com)

As we started to run, we were filing in groups of two each and within five minutes it was beginning to boil. Humidity was just too much. For an alien from Bangalore this was just too much to beat the balls out of me. Just imagine within 15 minutes into run I was drenched, which typically is the case when I do a 15K in Bangalore. Also my dinner didn't digest well and I was burping all throughout and was sure that I'd just puke out. Slowly as I completed 5KMs it was as if all the forces in the universe were colluding against me. It was as if I was put in a mini chimney and I had no place to escape. I generally don't drink till 10KMs and by 7.5KM I had to and tried this energy drink "100 plus". It was more like a sweetened soda and by next couple of sips my dinner was getting churned in. So by 10th KM I was slowly getting rid off the heaviness in my stomach but I was also slowly beginning to lose some pace. Every runner who passed by me had words of encouragement. There was this nasty feeling of wanting to give up. I had done this last time when I was running with Bhasker and Ashok at the Bellandur run and I was sulking in guilt the entire day. It would have been self humiliating if I had taken a detour here.

Fight Balu, fight

Then reminded me of few lines from Biswa's orkut "about me" post, guess must have taken from the movie "Fight Club". (Biswa later corrected me: Simon and Garfunkel's The Boxer)

In the clearing stands the boxer, and a fighter by his trade.
And he carries a reminder of every glove that laid him down...
or cut him till he cried out in his anger and his shame
"I am leaving! I am leaving" but the fighter still remains.

I wasn't going to cut short so I decided I'll make it to the 15KM so that during my return I'll have to anyway go back irrespective of I had to walk or crawl. Now I decided to walk and probably I was the lone runner. From 15-20KMs it was mostly walk and crawl and and occasionally running as I slowly started caving into the heat and wondered if I could always blame it on the nature (Yeah, global warming was not far off. The politician way of thinking).

The Sarvanan factor

Just as I was thinking how I would go about the next 12KM, a runner passed by me and I saw him stretching at the 15KM mark. I caught with him at the 20KM mark where Karthik Vijaykumar and others were cheering us up. I met Saravanan here and I had taken three full hours for 20KMs. Then I filled in my reserves and moved along with Sarvanan and I had nothing to compete against. I must appreciate the support system and the organization from the volunteers. I'll come to it later again.

So Sarvanan and I started at a snail's pace and the sun started to shine hard now. So this was the time I started to talk to Sarvanan almost about everything and mostly about my massive Tamilnadu temple tour that I did along with my parents. Then Sarvanan narrated few things about his experiences with running, weight reduction, family and others. With my Hyderabadi Tamil I must have sounded a language corrupt but we kept pushing each other and our strategy was simple, lets do 4-1. Run for four minutes and walk for a minute and we were building in strength as we started setting pace. Thanks to Arun who was constantly monitoring us and was shadowing us to see if we were doing good. As Sarvanan and I started to set pace we finished the last 10KM in 1 hour and 10 minutes. I was expecting a photo-finish at the finish line but found none there. We had taken 4 hours and 10 minutes to finish this. Surely great camaraderie from Sarvanan and it was humbling for me to run in this run. It was great running with you Saravanan. Do join us at RFL runs whenever you are in Bangalore (also anyone from Chennai runners).

The support structure and the volunteers

I did finish my race and could have been the last person to do so, but it couldn't have been possible without the efforts of volunteers and the support staff. You guys stole the actual thunder. There were water points at 2.5KM all along. Initially was disappointed not see electrals but I guess "100 plus" is a great substitute. The cheers that we runners got at each and every water-stop was all the more encouraging. At some remote stages (esp. 10-15-10KM mark) it was nice to see you guys shadowing us from your vehicles and giving us those words of encouragement (Tiger and co). I felt as a great cyclist who was being monitored by his team manager in "Tour De France", nonetheless I was elated and pushed myself for that bit more. It was about mind playing over the self and I had to beat it. The arrangements were akin to the Auroville Marathon and it was as great as it was. This post is dedicated to you guys, "O Captain! My Captain!".

Also Thanks to many fellow runners for their encouragement as they passed by. I was cursing the humidity and the good weather at Bangalore, but thanks to this Chennai run as it will set things in right perspective to me before I take up my next big race at coastal regions.


Many Firsts
It was my longest ever both in time and distance. 30KM in 4 hours and 10 minutes. Of course my first run with Chennai runners and first ECR run too.

The End
I'd forgotten my bag, as I placed it in some other runner's car. Thanks to Sandy for tracing it out and holding (all the junk in that) onto it for me.

Shumit, it was great staying at your place. The lunch was sumptuous as he hosted me at this place called "Rasam" in Purusvakkam. This is right within the Krishna Sweets restaurant. Veg delicacies from Chettinad and Kungunad (Coimbatore) are their specialty here. Thanks to Aunti for her dosas for the night and listening through my gibberish in the evening.

So August 16th will be my first big hometown run at Hyderabad. But Chennai, I'll be back soon to better my timing in the next ECR run. Chennai beckoning !

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

That summarizes me completely. Until then folks, keep miling !

Weekend Log

Since there had been too many things at my end this weekend, thought I'll put in a bulleted list.

* Friday night got treated by Abhinav at "More than Paranthas" and Biswa's pal Raj coming over for his return to Canada. Abhi now leaves to TAMU for his Masters. Good luck to you pal. The Parathas placed was over priced and not at all worth the visit. I'll follow it up with a separate review.
* Saturday morning at Biswa's office Gym, and my first run on treadmill. Did a 5.3 in 28.3 minutes.
* So we followed it up with salad Lunch at Star Bazaar and Pav Bhaji for dinner
* Watched this movie called "Radio", starring Cuba Gooding Jr and my favourite Ed Haris. Really worth a watch as we caught up with it at Sony Pix while casually browsing channels. Later watched Departed in HBO.
* Sunday I ran for 25.7 Km, my longest ever and gave the RFL fortnight run at Henur a miss. Took me three hours exact and for the route check here:
Click for Route
* Cook didn't turn up for lunch so we pulled him for dinner and had Luchi made.
* House/Apt search on a pause.
* So many old pals coming back to India this August. Asked them to get loads of energy bars and Gatorade stock for coming days. Abhay must have been back to India by now with first stocks.

All in all a quick weekend and all set for my 30K at Chennai. Amit will be unwinding tomorrow after his internship here. Planning to change my travel dates for the Chennai run as I'll have to find my couch elsewhere.

Keep Miling.

Weekend, running, sports (TV), disappointment

Another fine weekend passed by with sports on TV primarily taking charge. With Hamilton cruising past the chequered flag at the British grand prix while India lost to Lanka in the Asia cup finals. But Wimbledon took the center stage. Rafa was always going to win this grand slam one day and it was this time. Federer fought back but I guess it was the second set that Nadal won when Fedx was leading 4-1. I had to sleep by 11.30PM but my roomies decided to stay on until the last the serve and Rafa finally sailed through. Rafa, you rock man and Federer you are the God.

Saturday started off with a run with Sidd (Biswa's pal) coming over for their Canadian school/roomie reunion. As soon as Sidd checked in I asked if he was game for a run and he was all set. We decided to run at the GKVK primarily it had a trail and also Jagdish was running this Saturday. We started by 5.30AM and by 6AM sharp we there. Core was there warming up and we started off on our usual route before we decided to get lost into the wilderness. Jagdish passed by us couple of times and we ran for an hour and that must be almost 10KM. Sidd slowly started to feel some niggle around his knees. Baker's cyst is what he told me and before it could worse we called it a day. Also the fact that I was planning a 35K with Bhasker and co at Bellandur. For lunch I was contended with dal, raddish, carrot, and soya chunks and some frozen rotis that became papad eventually. The cook skipped the dinner so we went to Maharaja for dinner and also the meals there would serve me right for a perfect carbo-loading.


Sunday started as early as 4.30AM. Reached Bellandur by 6AM and was the first one to reach. Siva Ramasubbu called up saying he would there in 20 minutes and soon Bhasker, Ashok and Sudharshan joined in. The loop was supposed to be 18K, so two loops would have been good to reach 35K. Things went very well until the 12KMs or so and on the final lap of the first loop there was this inclined plan that started to take toll on me and I caved into my minds wishes. Then there was this thought that I should a 30K at least. But then it was a case of mind playing over highly on me asking me not to and some stitches near my tummy forced me to drop out and merely finished with an 18K. Hugely disappointed because I've done 21K with ease. May be I was tired and I'm it was not because of the previous day's run. All in all it was OK but not an elated feeling. I guess Chennai ECR run should be my longest ever. I will have to finish a 30K there before I go to Hyderabad this August for my first ever marathon.


All in all it was a tight, sporty and tiring weekend. Our owner just increased our house rent by 10%. Time to look into other alternatives. More on that later

Bellandur Run and Movies

Last weekend was special in many ways. Had a great sleep and woke up right at 8AM when the maid buzzed the bell. By 9AM I was getting a tad restless and wanted to run but finally decided to cycle on the roads and took my usual 21K route and decided to go via Lal Bagh on the return. Just bumped into office for a while to check some code so that it can be re-run for the next day as it takes 4 hours to run on my dataset. Then went back home and Biswa hinted that we have to fill in the grocery stuff so after a quick bath we dashed to Spar market right near the Sony world junction. Pretty close to our place and Biswa decided to take the car as we expected to gross in a lot of stuff. It was almost two hours of shopping and by the time we reached home it was 2PM. So we decided to make quick "dalia" khichidi and added soya chunks, raddish, carrot, mutter and you name it. Came out perfect and I was sleeping the rest of the day and dinner was contended with frozen parathas.

Sunday started at 4.30AM and by 6AM we were near the Bellandur rail crossing. I took the Sarjapur road and found Doc Rajat waiting on his car. Even I wasn't sure of the directions but soon one of the RFL chaps directed us in his motorcycle. Quite a good turnout. Met up with couple of fellow runners. RFL guys pinned us with some light weight RFID timers on our bibs as a new trial. The loop was supposed to be a 8KM one but Aswin's Garmin read it was 7.26KM. Ran with Aswin for most of the time before we bumped into Pankaj and ran the last 10KM with him. We wanted to stop at 14K but Pankaj made sure we did a neat 21K and it was great to run with Pankaj. We clocked 21K in two and half hour. Spent some time stretching as others started to move.

When I reached home it was time to try the new peanut butter and by noon our cook was there and we had rajma made for the dinner and sattu paratha for lunch. Later spent the day sleeping and by 6PM it was movie time.

"In Bruges" was recommended to me by pal Chandy and I guess its still under download. So "Pursuit of HappYness" was this weekend's choice and it was fantastic and nuances of life suits aptly to Indian conditions as well. Two hours of emotions and by 9PM it was time for Rajma Chawal as dinner to round off a well deserved weekend break. Time to start venturing for some nice swimming places. The abs crunches have started and by year end I'm planning to get rid off the beauty spot around by belly and touch the sub 80 weight. Way to go Balu !

Until then keep running !

Weekend Running and Movie @ Hyderabad

Was a short trip and ran at KBR park going about 2 loops. KBR park is really good test for the knees with so much of up and down hill. Looks like the Hyderabad Runners had already started before 6AM and I had to do a solo. Haven't been running on weekdays for sometime now and I guess I'll have to start from this week on. Shumit sent me a mail about ECR run this July 20 organized by Chennai Runners. Guess I'll be doing a 30K there and would probably be my longest ever.

Later in the day Naveen and I met up at Kamat in Lakdi ka pool and I had my "Pessaratu Upma". Then we decided to go to a movie and we chose "Gamyam" telugu movie. I must confess, it was a great decision. "Gamayam" takes a simple subject and is an earnest attempt by the director and the casting has been real good. Everyone played the role to their best and the director chose to have have many familiar faces even for roles that don't last more than a minute. He might have as well chosen new faces to cut some costs. All in all it was an amazing movie and I recommend you all to watch it if you can get access to its DVD.

This week on I'll be pushing into more vigorous running on weekdays and back to some regular diet. Keep me watching.

22.5K, Longest Ever

After having watched Italy and Romania settling for a draw and some close EURO encounters it was time to turn back to running. I ran a 21K last sunday and I ran today close to 22.5K in two and half hours, the longest ever I've run and by this month I plan to touch 25K and probably a 30K next month in Chennai (and hopefully a 42K in Hyderabad in July).

As usual the day began at 4.30 in the morning and by 5.30 I was miling. I just kept on running and with a far too less speed. Having no other plans for the weekend (couldn't get any Dasavtaram tickets) I guess I had to wait for my cook for some paranthas. Two over just went by and 8AM I was almost close to my house. Had some coconut water and then rushed home for an oat meal breakfast. Had to do some post run stretching for almost 30 minutes.

Tomorrow there is an RFL run at Kanakpura road and I plan to cycle there. 22KM from my place. Then run a max of 10K and then cycle back. Very miniature version of a Duotholon. Lets see how things shape up, but a nice time to hit the sack.

Till then adios amigo !

Self Imposed Half Marathon - 21K

I did not run on Saturday morning but was planning a treadmill run but somehow I'm not an evening runner. So just yesterday night during the EURO 2008 matches I decided its time I did a big one solo. Plan was to go to GKVK but wasn't worth the effort. So the day began right at 4:15AM and I was awake by 4.30AM. Got my energy bars, electral in the empty Gatorade bottle at exactly at 5:35AM I was miling.

The route that I generally take is for my cycling activity and today it had to be running and I guess my first water stop was after an hour and fifteen minutes, around the 12KM mark. By two hours I had almost done 19 odd KMs and by two hours and 15 minutes I reached close to Maharaja hotel near my home. I wanted to cut through the 25KM mark which would have been the highest that I would have ever run on a single day but I guess I'll do that in July in Chennai (30K mostly). Then Amit, Kunal and I were supposed to go for brunch but we got Kunal's confirmation a bit late. So Amit and I went to New Krishna Bhavan at Sampige road and it was all the effort.

The pain is slowly sinking in and the weather overcast. Just the right time to go for a siesta.

Click here for the route

Weekend Running - 25K

A weekend in Bangalore after a long time and that too only devoted for running. The idea was to a day 20K in one day or probably 26K as well but decided to settle at 25K split across the weekend.

On Saturday I had planned to run with the GKVK runners at GKVK which is like 22K from my house. A crazy thought to bike (cycle) till GKVK was lingering but because I was planning a long run I decided to motorbike instead and these days I use my motorbikes only during weekends after I started cycling to office daily. So my day started at 4.15AM and I was ready after some quick stretching by 5.20AM and I reached GKVK at 6AM. The meeting point was the Ganesh temple Sabine was all set there with some other regulars there. People slowly started to come by by 6.15AM we started. Mr Patel (patil?) was there with his lovely Alsatian Robin. It was a very cool dog and was enjoying the run as well. Initially I took the lead almost running alone for first 2KM and then I had to wait for regulars to know the route. Then I was joined by Shantanu who recently moved to Bangalore from Mumbai, Atreya, Core, and Manoj as Sabine directed as for some trail routes intermittently. Then we soon finished a loop of around 6.5K and it was overall around 8.6KM as we stopped for water. The timing was OK I guess and the weather was perfect. Then some of us decided to do a second loop and this time I was running with Satish and Shantanu most of the time and in one hour and forty minnutes I finishe close to 15KM and I decided to hang my boots for the day. Had my energy bar and Manoj offered his dates bar as well.

Then Sabine started to talk about preparation for Kaveri and the Ultra. I was planning a 42 at Kaveri and 52 at the Ultra and probably shaping myself for the run. Then met up with Satish to discuss about some motor biking trips we may want to do in the near future and met some other bikers from RMTC motor biking club who were planning to do the Himalayan bike trip. July and August are typically the bikers season as it snows very badly in there. Pretty much in contrast to the Road of Bones (refer my previous posting on this) where the lakes freeze when it snows, and that is when you can actually bike (the only time in the year). I guess I'll do a Himalayan ride next year for sure if I'm around in India. They will transporting their bullet to Delhi and then drive up until Leh.

Finally was back home by 11AM and it was the last day for my cook and I had one Sattoo paratha and pulav with some paneer curry and raitha. It was a no tobacco day and asked some my friends to stop smoking for the day. According to the latest definition of "public place" for smoking in India they have excluded roads and included pubs. Insane !

Day 2:
Planned to run Sunday for the RFL fortnight runs at the EGL. Biswa told me the previous night that KC Das at Church Street had a Bengali breakfast. So there was a motivation to run and I was planning around 10K since it was my first back to back runs greater than 10K. So my day began at 5AM and by 6AM I was there and got my bib and the loop was 5.1K. Caught up with Aswin and Joseph and "Hi's" with others. Aswin bought this new Garmin GPS watch for around $200 and I guess I must try to buy one year end. We started off pretty well and Aswin was my running mate all throughout but I preferred to stop and he was probably going for another 4K. After some quick chat with few I was back home by 7.45AM and Biswa and I were all set for KC Das only to realize that the breakfast starts at 9.30AM and it was 8.40AM and we decided to walk the MG road. Days at Riya and evening walks flashed us and we had coffee at the India Coffee house at the MG. Then we walked till Nilgiris on the Brigade to buy some fruits and stuff (Moong Wadi) and then reached KC Das.

KC Das (Church Street), near Koshy's.

Some Bengali delicacies like "Luchi", where poori is made out of Maida, aloo dum and channa dal (little sweet) is served. Priced at 20 Indian bucks and then we tried this "hing kachori" that comes with same accompaniments. Some dahi misthi to win it up. There are other items like "green peas kachori" that weren't ready that time. But Luchi I guess its a pretty neat place and wallet factor is also decent considering Rosagullas are the main sweet dishes around. Lot of new steak houses have bobbed in there but I may not be the right person to review them.

All in all a pretty good weekend and with IPL Finals in couple of hours its going to be exciting. Until then boys, keep running and have healthy food.