Running

Photo taken at: West Windsor, Vermont In races of all kinds, there’s always a push to finish strong. Most runners conserve that little energy to turbo boost at the last quarter mile. While it’s exhilarating to watch that strong finish, I’ve always been enamored by those who trudge in slowly, with almost no display of gratification as they cross the line. Today as I stood behind the finish line watching runners slowly trickle in, one particular runner swept the ground away from beneath my feet. The clock froze at 03:04am as he limped across the line. Pale face, headlamp off and no support crew. All he did was turn around, looked at the finish line for that bleak second, stopped his watch and plopped on the ground. I could sense he was frozen in time and so was I. Wonder what was grinding in his mind. Was he happy he finished the run? Was he in pain? Did he know he’d finished? Was he just soaking it all in? Or was he contemplating what to do next? Why was he all alone there? I heavily resisted the urge to go speak to him and let him savor the moment. Some questions are better left unanswered. ...

A good 31 miler weekend to close out the third training week. And with that I’ve met Miss Me’s mandated clause of sticking to the training plan at least till the end of January (I’ve never really trained for any of my long runs this far!) and bought myself an entry to the Wapack and Back 50 miler this May. Psyched! ...

A good 5 hours out in the woods. Terribly underestimated the skyline trail. Quite a few foot slips and ankle twists made it more of a hike than a run. Also looks like my body is ‘reacting’ to the weekday runs. Badly needed some tummilicious food at mile 13. Note to self for future runs! Finally got around visiting the Wrights tower! Despite visiting the fells several times over the last few years, I’ve never really ‘made it’ to this section of the trail. The tower by itself is nothing impressive but it does have some interesting history. Ice from here was apparently exported to India way back in the 1800s when Middlesex fells was a commercial plot. The tower gets it’s name from Elizur Wright who was instrumental in converting the erstwhile commercial land to what is now called the Middlesex Fells reservation. ...

One of most exhilarating (and wet) runs so far. The night run with pitch dark trails and just Joaquin for company made this one unforgettable experience. Reminded me of the Katrabai Pass hike back in India. The Ragnar Appalachians still remains unchecked!

Ran the #ECSNY Half at the Bear Mountain State park today! As the stats down under reveal - this was one divine killer run. One of the hardest long-runs I’ve run so far. My average timing on ‘flat-road’ half-marathons has been 02:10. Over the last few weeks as I mentally and physically prepared for this run I was estimating a sub 03:00 finish. About six miles on the trail I targeted a sub 02:45 finish - But I guess I succumbed to the mountains and then the mind lost to the body in the last 3 or 4 miles. My initial strategy was to hike up the inclines and run down the slopes. Out there, running down the trails was absolutely inevitable and my glutes and calves reminded me of the innumerable hikes done years back in India. A gracious fall by a culvert further slowed me down. I ended with a 03:27 finish. Though these run stats are deplorable even under average standards; I had a truly wonderful time on the trail there. In hindsight, I believe I need to strongly work on my lower back and do a lot more hill training. Also calls for a lot more hikes to work on the glutes and calves. Now that the Bear mountain hike is off the list, eye’s on the SRT hike/run later this year. ...

Great weather, strong finish and yet another run that convinced me running on city roads isn’t quite my thing. This most probably would be my last ‘scheduled’ run for 2014 and couldn’t have asked for a finer closure of a crazy week. Another exciting family event adds further to this silver lining making this run even more memorable. Mile 10 will be remembered and Philadelphia - we shall be back! ...

Just found a nifty plugin that would map charts feeding off from gpx inputs. Here are the chart outputs from my recent Ragnar Run. ...

Couldn’t have ended September on a better note! Pounding the hilly terrain in the Adirondacks for 36 hrs, straight through the night with 9 other folks - This has been my best run so far. Though technically that’s a lot of time for 197 miles, I guess it’s the nuances of the event that really gives you the extra kick. ...

This coming Jan, I’d be running my first ever full Marathon [42.19 km] in Mumbai. And since this is so important to me, I decided I’d as well run it for a cause that has so much been resonating in me - Eliminating the educational inequity in India. Six months back, when I left Infosys for a two-year full-time commitment with TeachforIndia, I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. But now, having experience the ground reality my resolve to weed this out got even stronger. As a class teacher of 46 second grade kids in a low-income private school out here in Pune, every single day I’m amused, thrilled and challenged to provide them a better way of life, to provide them opportunities to excel and nourish the hope in their lives to be confident and self dependent.And more importantly have trust that one day they would be on par with any other kid who’d graduate from an élite school or college. ...

Yet another scooping rise from underneath - The water around blinds me out completely, the leg craves for rest, but the mind defies succumbing to pain and the body just goes on in a sinusoidal motion towards a non descriptive goal. I turn around by instinct and damn the mind takes over; fear creeps in and I get back to the shores twice as deftly as I swam in to the ocean. As I sit on the shore staring out into the expanse ahead, the throbbing calf muscles stand testimony to what Running can get one to do! I’d just completed my second Half marathon earlier in the day and even before I could come out of the excitement, I’d already swum the farthest I’ve ever been into an ocean till date..Couldn’t ask for a better reward! ...

Whew!! 2h.17mins - That was one solid run! With this I officially enter the league of serious runners and not to mention, I’m now one among those millions of half marathoners! Goal three for this year accomplished [Enduro3 and a Himalayan escapade being the first two.] Running was never something that turned me on. I never really understood why people ran kilometers in a stretch and I could never digest the fact that it would over time help you in reaching your goals. It was only during the Jalori Pass Mountain Biking expedition when I met Viral [Who still wears the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon wrist band!], I gave a thought to training for the Marathon. Back in hyd things soon faded out. Leave alone training, running as a hobby never materialized. Only in August when there was talk in the air of the second edition of the Hyderabad Marathon organised by the Hyderabad Runners club and the Hyd 10k Foundation, the guilt feeling of not training sank in. It was pretty late to start training so I volunteered instead. I’m so glad I did! It was indeed a wonderful experience getting to see the expression on people’s faces as they were handed over their medallions amidst the thumping rock songs and tremendous cheering. Goal three got frozen right then! ...