Complexities!!

Friday morning [ 3 days ago], woke up at 5:30 am for an hour long cycle ride. To my dismay, the rear wheel has lost pressure and at this hour, i sure cannot expect the neighbourhood cycle shop to be open. I bid the time away and at 6:15 am, the shop opens [ Yay!!]. I check my wallet and realise i don't have "change". Tyre topping up costs Rs.1 per tyre . But the wallet topping the previous night left me with 5 hundred rupee notes!

The fun begins now.

Me : Boss, i don't have "change" with me now. I got a Rs.100 note with me . And at 6:15 am, all the other shop guys are fast asleep, for me to get "change" from them. Can i give you the Rs.2 at 8 am?

Cycle Shop Guy : No, in that case, tyre inflation cannot be done.

Me : Boss, you know me very well. I come here every alternate day for a top-up. [ Having a sports bike is a pain - you need to top up the type pressure every alternate day for peak cycle performance]

Cycle Shop Guy : Sorry sir. Not possible. Get me the Rs.2 right now or your tyres don't get topped-up.

Me : [ In real frustration, just thinking to myself that i should either get a new "foot pump" or find a new cycle repair shop, to help filling up air]

I then parked the bike in my flat and decided to go for a run, instead of the planned cycle ride. Many thoughts went through my head, as i ran around the boat club area -

• Is my relationship with that cycle shop guy, bad? - Afterall, i go to him every alternate day and share stories of my cycling trips with him and we are quite friendly.
• Is he the worst business man? - He just antagonised a regular customer. I go to him so regularly, that i would surely pay the Rs.2 , next time i go there.
• Am going to get a new foot pump from the sports store! I was so tempted to go ahead and get the pump, that day itself

These thoughts were slowly laid to rest and as i reach my home , i wanted to go back to the shop to inflate the tyres [ With the intention of actually letting him know that he should've trusted me earlier in the morning].

I go there with a bunch of Rs.2 coins and park the cycle in front of the shop. I take the Rs.2 coin, trust it in the guy's hands and i ask him to inflate the tyres. He does the job and asks me to check the tyres for "correct" inflation ! I cycle around the place and give him a "Thumbs up".

He then comes to me and says this " Sir, Saaarrie sir. You were the "first customer" when you came at 6:15 am. And i didnt want start the day off by giving "credit" to someone. I believe, if i did that, then the outlook for the rest of the day would be similar"! [Motal customerkku "kadan" kodutha, naal fulla kadan thaaan sir]

I just laughed at that and cycled away...

Sports Story # 1 - The man who went from 0 to 21.1 km in 7 weeks!

Yes you heard it right! Here is the story of Ravi [ of Chennai Runners] who went from 0 to 21.1 km in 7 weeks! If he can... so can you!!

I first met Ravi at one of the "long" sunday runs - 17 km!! I was running [mostly walking/crawling] and finished last!! Ravi jokingly said i should get quicker! [That kind of made me "serious" about the next run]. The group did a 10 km run 2 weeks ago and this time i didnt want to "lose" to Ravi. I was ahead of him for most part of the run , but i started walking at 9.8km! and he took over!! That was "killing" really!! I managed to run that far only because i could "hear" Ravi breathe! He pushed me to exhaustion! [and exhaustion is a high too!!]

[little did i know then, that Ravi was just starting on the big runs!! - while i claim to have been training for long distance for almost 2 years now!]

He gave me serious competition that day at the 10 k run! And the following Sunday, he "kicked" me in the 20 km run! Again i was ahead most part of the run and he took over near the end! and we decided to enter into a bet at the blore midnight run! The winner treats the one finishing behind to a breakfast and the winner will get a round of beer!

And this time, i didnt want to lose. After the "painful" loss, i somehow wanted to finish ahead of Ravi! Which did happen... finally, at the Bangalore Midnight Marathon.

Am sure Ravi is waiting to "get at me" at the next run!

This for me, is the essence of running with the group! Each of us help the others push limits!!

What are you waiting for....

Idea # 1 - Adventure Company in Chennai

I've been thinking about Entrepreneurship since the school days, dad being the initiator and the inspiration! Have thought of a number of ideas and i thought i would share some of them here. If you plan to use the idea, feel free do so - Just contribute 25% of the profits to my running group's social programs!!!

So here we go

Idea # 1 - Adventure Company in Chennai

What will it do: Make people experience "fun" and "adventure" in Chennai.

Need: Having lived the good part of last 2 and a half years in Chennai, i see a lack of entertainment options for the people. Beyond the multiplexes and the drive down the ECR or the cheaper option of spending the evenings at the beach or the "healthier" [pun intended] option of pubs, there isn't really much to choose from, to spend the weekends or even the weekday evenings.

How will we do it : Organise some fun and adventurous events - Catamaran rides into the sea, deep sea fishing experience, night stays in tents - on the beach, group cycling rides and many more.

Most organisations in Chennai have a 2 day weekend and this should help.

Also, the company can look at providing these experiences for Corporates!

What do you guys think?

Observation!

I had a chance to spend a weekend each at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Coimbatore in the past 2 months. I made this observation.

Hyderabad - At HYD, women have gone into "HYDing" [hiding]

Bangalore - Women don't want to hide!

Chennai - Some want to, some don't want to

Coimbatore - Women are hidden in private bungalows!!

Memories and Slambook!

I was arranging [after ages of procrastinating!!] the bookshelf at my place today and my eyes fell on the school "slambook". And my hands naturally followed and i quickly re-read the book. Some lines written by a pal in that book, left an impression [from the time i first read it].

"Never hurt a heart that likes you

Never give it needless pain

For a heart that likes you , is like a flower

That will never bloom again"

Sooper fun - Sooper Run - Bangalore Midnight Marathon

Sooper is the only word for this run. I decided to run the half marathon [21.097 km] this time [my first one at that]. After finishing 2 marathons [ the 42.195 km ones in Bangalore and Mumbai] in intense pain and agony, my goal here at the bangalore midnight run was to "enjoy" the run and finish the half marathon in 2 hours and 10 mins without any injury or pain.

Weeks before this run, we [chennai runners] trained hard for this one. Usually, i run atleast 3 times a week, for 3 months leading up to the marathon. But this time, i was in the worst fitness state when i started practising in feb/march. I soon realised that if i ever want to get better at running long distance, i need to start on Yoga. Yoga lessons clearly helped and the benefits are so obvious - from the days of heavy breathing at 30 minute mark, i was able to comfortably run for 1:30 at the midnight run.

Running - alone is never fun. The run is always fun, with a gang. Training runs with Chennai Runners have been a lot of fun. The bonding that happens over an intense activity is very difficult to explain. Meeting up at crazy hours and running in pain - this gives a "high" that is understood easily by the "clan"!

I was looking forward to the run at Bangalore since many of my pals were running along. Its an "energising" thing when you recoganise a pal running along - we push each other and help each other to exceed limits. The running course at Bangalore wasn't exactly runner friendly , what with some steep and gradual gradients. It was 5.5 km lap, run 4 times for the half marathon.

Lap 1 was a comfortable one. Did it in 26 mins. It was a comfortable run and i mentally noted down the stretches where i can run hard and where i need to slow down, in the next few laps [ though should've been donw before the race]. Lap 2, i was running along with Balaji [ first timer and was pushing himself to run quick]. Saw a few pals running in the opposite direction and shouted the "go get it's" and kept running.

Completed lap 2 comfortably by the 59 min mark. Lap 3 was the slowest. I was running hard on the flats and down hill section but was reduced to a very slow jog on the uphills. Sometimes near the steepest gradient, i walked a wee bit to the top and started running. Completed lap 3 by 1 hour and 38 mins.

I was not in any pain and i was really enjoying the run, like never before. I was in the zone and wanted to finish the race strong and hard. 200 mts into the run, Abhi told me that another of the chennai runners - Sandy was just ahead. This gave me the motivation to run hard in the last lap. Switched music in my IPOD to Joe Satriani's. I always ran fast and hard to his tunes. Just the perfect song for the fast last lap - Ran the flats hard, paced the uphills and soon had Sandy in sight. I was picking up speed and went past Sandy, about a km from the finish. One of my wishes has been to sprint to the finish line in the half/full marathon - I just did that in this run. Sprinted to the finish line ! Did a 2:15 half marathon. There is some joy in finishing a long run in a painfree way and strong and hard - the high after... is truly HIGH.

Finished behind the target time by 5 mins, but the course was a bit on the tougher side for a better finish. But the end was a happy one - never was in any pain, sprinted to the finish, had some juice left to run more and importantly, lot of pals were around to celebrate. Each of them had a terrific run themselves. Boston had a fantastic run, so did Bajji and Abhinav. Shumit, Hari, Mahesh, Dayal, Vignesh, Aja, Ravi, Collins and Sriram formed a part of one real happy midnight's dream.

P.S. 3 weeks ago, after my runs in Coimbatore and Blore, ran in Chennai after a 3-4 week absence, on a sunday. Finished last! [ One of the fellow runners jokingly remarked that i need to be fast]. For some reason, i took this seriously. At the next run, i didnt want to lose to him. We did a 10k run and i was leading him till 9.8 km but lost out in the last 200 mts. A week before the big run, on a sunday morning, again, led him for most part but he took over. But at the Bangalore run, i didnt want to lose. Probably, losing a lot of times had me crave the little victories. And this time, i did finish ahead. A full 15 min ahead of him. [ If you are reading, no offense meant to you. A very good friend, you have become].

Running with a group, truly is .. FUN and still, you run your own race...

Will to move on.

I came across this piece at the discussion forum on running - http://groups.google.co.in/group/BloreRun/browse_thread/thread/c79056e9a34cc573/b9fe931e0b5dc076#b9fe931e0b5dc076 . I shamlessly reproduce here because the whole piece resonated in some way deep with me.

Quoting the illustrious bard,

I could a tale unfold whose lightest word

Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, (1.5.16)

Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,

Thy knotted and combined locks to part

And each particular hair to stand on end, (1.5.19)

Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:
Indeed, I will.

As an ultrarunner I have often seen and felt moments of extreme distress due to exhaustion. When I was injured in a race and walked back 25K to complete a race; the famous scene in the Hawaii Iron man Triathlon when the lady runner was crawling to the finish line even though she was almost senseless from extreme effort; Cyclists in the Tour du France struggling towards the end after grueling races, etc. I have also questioned and examined where the will comes to keep moving when the easiest thing to do would have been to quit and lie down or not to start in the first place. I have given answers to this in a part serious and in part facetious vein in the my top 10 reasons to run. Yesterday an event happened. As I was returning home from work I turned off the Kanakapura main road towards my home when I vaguely saw a half bent old lady stumbling along the middle of the road oblivious to the perilous traffic swirling and dodging around her in annoyance with the truck drivers grinning malevolently at her. I stopped the car and my driver and I got out to examine the situation. What we found was shocking. This bent form was an old lady of uncertain age, shriveled, toothless, hair a-mess, in rags, foot lacerated with open wounds perhaps due to abrasion of slipper and road rash, with flies etc. She was walking (more like stumbling) using a short staff to guide her for she was almost blind and partially deaf and practically senseless. It was like seeing the face of death. It took us a several moments to compose ourselves and to try to help her. This place is outside Bangalore and fairly rural. We guided her to a place of rest on the side of the road at a bus shelter and fetched water and some idli's from a local roadside restaurant. We tried communicating with her but her language was almost unintelligible (we later found that she spoke "lambadi" dialect). Some passerby informed us that he had seen the woman in the morning about 15kms further south from where we were. So she had walked like this all day covering 15kms! We couldn't elicit anything from her as to where she was from, where was she going, etc. When I gave her 30 rupees it was pathetic to see how she ignored the food and water and futilely trying to tie a knot around the money with her sari and failing. We helped her tie the knot. We tried to get some oldage home to take care of her but they refused. We tried to get the local village doctor to come and treat her but he initially refused fearing a medico-legal complexity. After 30 minutes of patient imploring on our part and indemnity he condescended to come with us to see her. He treated her wounds and claimed she was not ill. To his credit he refused payment. So we left her for the night seeing that she had eaten and drank and lay down to rest. In the morning on my way to work we bought some breakfast and visited the bus shelter only to find that she was gone. We went looking for her and found her 2km away with heavy traffic swirling around her. We again got her to one side gave additional breakfast and instructed a bystander to guide her to the edge of the road when she was ready and left to work with a heavy heart that this was all we could do for her. She seemed so near death. With no place to go, no belongings, old age, the easiest thing for her would have been to lie down under some tree and just fade into a coma and call it quits. I would have done this in her place. BUT SHE KEPT MOVING! This surely is the defining attribute of a sentient being. Even at the very end till you have the energy to move even a step you must have the will to move. For that's all you may have in the end like this old lady. Aristotle's De Anima.

Madhu

I Innovate!!

I've been following this space for a while - www.iinovatecast.com . They have very informative podcasts on entrepreunership, innovation , venture capital among others. Easily, my most "visited and listened" to site in the last 2 months. I got hooked on to this one ever since i discovered the site on Kiruba's blog. Am amazed at the kind of people they are able to bring to the show.

The founders are graduate students at Stanford university ! [Wonder where they find the time for this initiative, despite their hectic b-school/d-school days]

Monday mornings!!

Here is something to push us on a monday morning. Check www.212movie.com

Chennai Runners - Logo

After spending quite sometime on the logo design for the runner's club i train with, we finally have one to show! We thought the "fire" background will depict our passion and enthusiasm and the men and women running figures will imply that the club has representation of both sexes. Thanks to John for his expertise in Adobe tools and the hunt on the NET. Also to AC for her enthusiasm to help us out and for her ideas as well [though they might have been wierd!!!]

If any of you can help better this logo, please get in touch with me. We are looking to add a chennai landmark as a part of its background. If you want to join the club, please do so at chennairunners@googlegroups.com