Goa River Half Marathon

If the first edition of the Goa River Half Marathon will be long remembered by all the participants, it will be for the fact that EVERY SINGLE RUNNER FROM MUMBAI SMASHED THEIR PERSONAL BEST TIMINGS IN THE DISTANCE, despite a tough course. Not only that MOHANA came FOURTH in female veteran category, BHASKER – FIFTH in the male veteran category and TANAJI – FIFTH in the men’s open category.


As 2010 draws to a close with anxiety writ large on everybody’s minds on the forthcoming and “looming as large” Mumbai Marathon in mid-January, then they can draw tremendous satisfaction from their performances at Goa River Marathon – it was a smashing performance by the runners – as would be evident from the happy and smiling faces of the runners post the race.

Goa was planning its first ever half marathon this year under the auspices of Vasco Sports Club who roped in RFL as the consultant – a coup of sorts because then at least we, having known the credibility of RFL as a top class organizer were sure of the arrangements. True to form, the organization was excellent, with 8 water & medical stops along the route, traffic stoppages for 3 hours from the start, timely start, sufficient volunteers making this first event a well oiled one.

Vasco da Gama is a sleepy little town experiencing its first burst of developments with few skyscrapers, good roads, well stocked stores, cafes, a railway station, public library and a bustling as ever bus depot.

Giles, Milton, Bhasker, Genieve, Dr. Sharma, Ritesh Patel, Krishna, Ajit Singh, Kavin, Kaushik & gang and myself left on 17th evening by Mangalore Express – we were lucky to reach Madgaon at 7.30 a.m. next morning because Ganesh & Mohana and Ashish and his friends travelling by Konkankanya later that night were delayed by more than 5 hours reaching Madgaon only by 3.00 p.m. Bhasker, myself & Genieve started our journey from Goregaon while Krishna, Milton, Ajit & Giles came from Bandra and the others reached V.T. station by 9 p.m. V.T. station was as usual jampacked with travelers galore – each jostling for that 1 square inch of space allotted to Indians in railway stations. Much before that Bhasker came into his sparkling form as usual and gave ample evidence of his upper body strength by doing gymnastics inside the local train compartment – he continued his repartee and wit when he befriended the local taxi driver from Churchgate to VT station and queried from him about Amitabh Bachchan’s rich hair – whether it was wig or real hair and what oil should he be using – the driver had to defend Bachchan, being from his same town – Allahabad.

Indian Railways known for dividing families better than divorce courts did that to our group as well – everybody was in different compartments and it required some organizational skill and talking to get Genieve sitting near us, deprived as she was of her friends Hari & Gary. The train journey went off well again thanks to Bhasker who kept us in splits and peals of laughter throughout.

Madgaon early morning was as chilly as Mumbai in December and Vasco was just stirring to life when we descended on the Vasco Residency at around 8.30 a.m. When told that we would be given the rooms only at noon, we decided to get the other business of collecting bibs done with by then. Luckily for us, Vivek Prasad had already checked into one of the rooms previous night itself, so we could keep our luggage in his room and descend into the hotel cafeteria for a well deserved breakfast.

The cafeteria was laboriously slow in delivering the breakfast of omellete and puri bhajis and pulled their trousers and started working only when Bhasker threatened to take over the kitchen. Breakfast done, we walked down to the Vasco Sports Club which was about 10 minutes away from the restaurant. Vasco Sports Club was bustling with nervous activity, being a first time experience for them, anxiety was writ large on their faces. Bibs & chips collected, t-shirts purchased, inquiries made of the pasta party, Giles & Milton started working over the route in minute detail with the RFL guys who were there– where are the hills & bridges, how will we navigate the 5km walkers who will be encountered on the return leg etc. At the bib venue we ran into a few Haryana runners – all confident of 1.08/ 1.09 timings – confident of winning the race, provided no African runners were there.

The route started from near Baina beach and after about 20 metres there was a right turn 10 metres a left turn 500 metres first climb – a flyover over the railway tracks which sort of curved like an inverted U, came down – second hill after 4 kms which was almost like the Lonavla climbs – turning and climbing for about 1 kms, then downhill, after 6 kms it was skirting the river front all the way to 10.5 kms turnaround, third gentle slope at about 7 kms. It was an out and back route so the runners had to touch 10.5 kms and come back the same way. There were water stops every 2 kms or so and volunteers were placed all along the route directing the traffic away from the runners and also holding few water bottles in their hand. There were few volunteers with relispray moving about in motorbikes offering to runners who required them. Music was blaring at few stops and three cheer girls enthusiastically waving the runners on.

The afternoon of 18th was spent earning a few hours of well deserved siesta, while the younger lot comprising of Bijay, Ajit, Krishna, Ashok Naidu, Kavin & Genieve went to the beach & few other places to experience the town.

The organizers had arranged a pasta party at HQ a hotel adjacent to the Vasco residency so all descended on that place at about 7.30 p.m. for a fantastic pasta treat – there we met runners from Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and few foreign runners – all enthusiastic about the event. By then we came to know that two Kenyans had entered the race, so Haryana runners – there is your competition.

The organizers had arranged a bus pick up from our hotel for 5.45 a.m. so Giles had issued a dicta to every runner to be down at the hall by 5.35 a.m. Despite that there were few late comers, but we reached the start venue well before time. The start venue was abuzz with activity – there were announcements, music, people warming up – typical of any marathon – though on a much smaller scale.

We met with Bhasker’s friends Ken & Corina, Canadians who were competing in the veteran category. The male veteran category was 45 and above while the female category was 40 & above. Ken, 57 was a 1.30 half marathoner. We also met with the two Kenyans – one a tall lanky strappling lad called Robertson and the second shorter one, both fit and raring to go. We later learned that the Kenyans were robbed of all their personal belongings so they walked all the way from Verna to the race venue - a distance of 23 kms. Luckily there were no bhasans, so the race started on time at 6.45 a.m.

The weather was pleasant at the start time and stayed that way throughout except the last 5 kms when the sun started beating down harsh on the 2.30 half marathoners. The first kms itself had the railway flyover, which was quite steep and then for about 3 kms we were still inside the Vasco town navigating past surprised and sleepy eyed Vascoans or Vascoites as it may. After 4 kms we were hit by a sudden blast of chilly winds, pleasant to the runners but at the same started the second climb, which was winding and steep, much like part of the Lonavla climbs. The going was steady pace with Genieve at my side. At around 6 kms, we were skirting the Zuari river side with river barges of the Mormugoa Port Trust lying along the coast. Also around this time we met the winner Kenyan Robertson, and soon followed by two Indians and then the second Kenyan. When the second Kenyan came by, I hollered, “come on Kenya” and he had time to give a wide toothful smile. Tanaji was lying 6th at this stage, followed by other returnees, Bhasker, Milton, Rajesh Poojari, Giles Drego, Dr. Sharma & others. Gul Panang and her trainer had gone slightly ahead but on the return loop, she had slowed down. I was with Genieve upto 10.5 kms turnabout testing my ITBS left knee whether it could hold on. With weather showing good signs and knee holding up, I decided to up my pace on the return leg, and hollered Gen to stay with me. The weather was holding good and I slowly started ticking of one runner after another I had passed by, (final count about 22 runners whom I passed on the return leg), the killer climb came by at after 16 kms – but shorter on this side – going steady met up with Mohana – shouted one kms to go, last hill over the railway tracks – which started a small tinge of cramps on the calf muscles, but pace steady, last few metres decided to sprint but cramps put paid to that effort – nevertheless finished in a PERSONAL BEST time of 2.23.32 seconds, Mohana came just behind and Genieve followed few minutes later.

Medal hung on the shoulder – met with all the Mumbai runners – came to know that everybody had smashed their personal best timings – evident from the smiles on their faces – Milton & Gen started an impromptu jig on a Konkani number which was emulated by others. Waited for a while to know the final results of our key runners – Bhasker & Tanaji – pleasantly surprised to know Mohana came in fourth in the women’s veteran category – she missed the third place by a whisker. Trudged back to the hotel, refreshed went out with the gang for a welcome and sumptuous lunch. Came back into Mumbai early morning 20th, tired, but definitely happy.







Goa is definitely the place to be next year – so guys, tick this on your running calendar – awesome route, best facilities, scenic beauty, beautiful weather – next year’s plans include a few days after the run just lazing around Goa.

Why we Run by Bernd Heimrich

Just finished reading a fascinating book "Why we Run" by Bernd Heimrich. Biologist, award-winning nature writer and ultramarathoner Bernd Heimrich explores the anthropological, biological and psychological side of ultraendurance and dovetails the narrative with his own running efforts including running and winning an ultra-marathon 100 kms event - lots of insights into the sport of long distance running. Must read for all long distance runners.

Bangalore Ultra - Mumbai runners show their mettle - Guts and glory of Haile's 25

It was probably the largest contingent of runners who travelled from Mumbai to compete in the 4th edition of Bangalore Ultra 2010 on 14th November, 2010 at Hessarghata, on the outskirts of Bangalore. Unofficially named rather emotionally after the Haile Gebrsellassie, the HAILE’S 25 conquered the tough and adverse conditions in Bangalore Ultra – in fact the toughest conditions ever of all the 4 editions held so far.


We had four runners attempting the 100K – Raj, Mahesh, Dr. Oak & Sanjay Kasle.

They started at 5.00 a.m. with torches in their hands or with a miners’ lamp fastened on their heads – which was an absolute must because of the darkness and also the uneven nature of the track which was a dirt track with stones and tree roots protruding from the ground – narrow tracks which allow only one person to pass with few crevices in between. By the time we started for lunch at about 1.00 p.m. Raj & Mahesh had finished 50K and were going for their 5th loop. When we reached the airport at 8.00 p.m. news came in that the race was closed out at 7.00 p.m. by the RFL organizers so those could not finish the 100k had to drop out or finish on their own with no logistics support from the RFL. Spoke to Raj, he said he & Mahesh had completed 75 kms by then, Sanjay Kasle had gone upto 82 kms and Dr. Oak wanted to continue to 100 kms regardless of the conditions.

Following runners finished the 50K successfully and Zico came third in the Senior Men’s category. Roshni Rai came third in the women’s category. CONGRATULATIONS Zico & Roshni.

Zico, Amit, Srinivas, Rahul Bharadwaj, Qureshi, Giles, Roshni Rai, Kavin, Vivek Prasad

Following runners finished the 37.5K category successfully:

Ashish, Sripad, Rohit Bansal, Madhu

Following runners finished the 25K category successfully;

Ram, Genieve, Mani, Sridhar, Mahesh Gune, Kartik, Bijay Nair

Priya Murthy successfully finished the 12.5 K category

The track was a 6.25 kms out and back loop, so the runners had to do each loop into x number of times to finish their distance. The 50K & 37.5K race started at 6.00 a.m. in cool, pleasant weather typical of early morning Bangalore. Because of the uneven nature of the track, we were careful in navigating our way through. The number of runners at this stage was not many, so it was okay to start with. The route wound through open fields and we reached the first of the three water stations at 0.5 kms itself. There were four water stations about 2 kms apart well stocked with all the provisions like banana, oranges, PBJ sandwiches, parle-g & monaco biscuits and water, lucozade & ice too. About 1 kms into the race, the route opened out into a vast plateau as far as the eye could see and this continued until we came into a forest which was near-about the 5 kms mark. The forest lasted for less than a km and then we came onto a gravel road, which took us to the 6.25K mark, which was the turnaround point for all runners. The route was undoubtedly beautiful, but all the runners had eyes for was the ground beneath because stumbles there were plenty amongst the runners and since the track was so narrow, one had to not only look down to ensure correct footing and landing but to keep looking up to sidestep the oncoming runners, some of whom were rushing by, obvious contenders for the top crowns. By the time we were mid way into the second loop, the 25K and 12.5K runners started their race and they were plenty in number, so the concentration levels had to be high at this time.

Okay, the Mumbai gang started their sojourn on Saturday morning at 8.30 a.m. flight from Mumbai which was delayed by about an hour. Good omens were promised when we espied a “Ultra Bar” inside the Mumbai airport. Bangalore was warm and sunny at around 12.00 noon and our journey to our abode for the day and after took about one hour. Soon we landed at the service apartments at the Platinum City, which was a complex of residential buildings out of which one building was slotted as service apartments. The rooms were abundantly luxurious and comfortable with sufficient beds, sofas, TVs, kitchen equipments etc. This place was absolutely beautiful with nice paver block roads to take a walk, a park, tennis courts, swimming pools and one provision store (which threatened to close when we arrived there and was promptly opened at the behest of Amit) and one medical shop which was open all the time. Two rooms of 5 beds each were allotted to us, 10 persons and rooms settled in, we went down to a sumptuous lunch of rice, dal, rasam, curds, some chinese items & bread pudding. Lunch done – we went down to the store to stock up on some items required for the evening and next morning and retired to our rooms while Kavin & Bijay went to watch the cinema and ended up with lighter wallets from a shopping spree, but no movie.

Evening time – some more items stocked up for the morrow – dinner – same items as before but no chinese this time, kheer as dessert – all promptly retired to their rooms for a good night’s rest before the ultimate endurance test the next morning. Alas, the night slumber was not without its share of drama – there were a cacophony of noises aplenty from the neighbourhood – some stray dogs were “retelling the Mahabharata” for us, there were train noises in the distance apparently from a night halter at a nearby railway station, noises from the corridor et al, made for an interesting night. 3.00 a.m. and the shrill of alarms ringing at every bed – all ready and raring to go by 4.00 a.m. Meanwhile Raj phoned to say he was already on the way to the venue (they had a 5.00 a.m. start).

Amit had arranged everything meticulously so we had three cars going to the venue with myself, Zico (as the driver), Ashish & Sripad in one car boxed in between two other cars both of whom knew the route. Amit and his friend Vineet (who was also doing the 50K) were behind the wheels of the other two cars. At the unearthly hour of 4 a.m. in the morning we saw two runners on their morning jogging routine (though one looked like a security guy on an errand) which led us to conclude – “this is what makes Bangalore the running capital of India” – their zeal to get up so early in the morning for their running. Enroute the venue, we had the misfortune of seeing a bitch lying dead in the middle of the road with five or six small puppies not knowing what to do – we ensured they were sufficiently out of the way before we resumed our journey to the venue. Even before we reached the venue we saw that the 100K runners had already started with torches in their hands and it was like the route was cutting across the road at two places.

From the parking lot we had to walk a small distance to the registration counter, which we could not navigate without Kavin’s mobile phone cum torch. Just as we were about to enter the registration post, out came Raj & Mahesh starting their 100K on a fast clip – there were not having any torches – incredible guys these!

Registrations done, bibs collected, free t-shirt, timing chips, baggage deposited – met up with Giles, Qureshi, Mani, Mahesh Gune et al – pleasantries exchanged – all ready and raring to go – loud cheer went up for the Mumbai runners – “Ganpatti Bappa Moraya”

I had originally registered for 25K, then changed category to 37.5K in view of my first full marathon in January and was looking forward to it, but a debilitating backache on Tuesday which lasted until Thursday evening prompted me to first attempt a 25K and then take things from there on – whether to attempt the last loop depending upon how the back holds up. First loop was good and comfortable but by the second loop, the sun was out, pace dropped, started stopping at each water station to consume endless cups of lucozade, throw water on my neck and head and continue in slow pace. Under the circumstances satisfied with a 25k mileage as at the end of the second loop, the back started acting up again, left knee started protesting so decided to finish with 25K in the bag. No complaints, next time and more work before the Mumbai marathon.

Race finished, cheering up other runners – some photographs, some up and down time pass runs to cheer up the runners – met up with Nigel who finished first in the men’s 50K category in an amazing time of 3.57 hours – this guy has done several 100K runs in more grueling circumstances like desert runs and up steep inclines – but he thought the heat was “well, bloody hell”. His fiancé Emma was doing the 100K and that too without any stoppage for walking and at a good pace and tirelessly. Incidentally, he had just come to India on a vacation and decided to run anyway and ended up with a medal. Wow!

One by one all our runners started coming in at the finish line – Rohit the first in the 37.5K category and Srinivas in the 50K category – the latter with a furious sprint at the end. Amit and Zico followed and then Sripad came in followed by Ashish, Qureshi, Vivek Prasad.

Giles had an attack of cramps in the third loop but waived away all vehement protest of the volunteers to ferry him to the medical station in a motorbike and continued regardless. Gen had a severe attack of stomach cramps, Srini of leg cramps and Zico & Madhu ran bravely despite their previous chest congestion & leg problem respectively. Bravo.

The ice tub was fully occupied by the runners' feet and the medical tent was in full atttendance with a dedicated team of doctors.

Meanwhile, stomach started complaining and my cheering partners Mani, Bijay & Gen became running partners as they went down the road to cheer up runners coming down the last km or so.

Lunch at the Native Village was delicious five course meal of puris, rice with sambhar, rasam, curds and followed up with kheer. No beer at the bar – they lost their licences! Meanwhile Zico & Roshni came with their plaques – for their podium finish.

We left Raj & co with a heavy heart to celebrate all the successful finishes and the podium finishes with few beers and whisky – We ended up at the airport with tired limbs, protesting legs and sleepy eyes for some more groaning news – the flight was delayed by more than an hour. Luckily we had a large contingent to pass time by which included Pravin and Hirva Varma back from their family vacation in Kerala. Caught up with some sleep in the flight and reached home at 1.00 a.m. after finishing my 6th event of the year.

A BIG THANKS to AMIT for so meticulously making all the arrangements for the travel from Bangalore airport to the hotel, to the venue and back to the airport and for the stay at the airport. Also THANKS to VINEET for helping us with the logistics. Not to forget a BIG THANKS to ROHIT BANSAL for making arrangements for the group travel bookings for all of us. Believe me, it is a big fun and a learning experience when we travel in a big group such as this to the running events.

RFL Bangalore, (Arvind Krishnan, Arvind Bharati and your team) your arrangements were excellent as usual – all meticulously done and down to the last detail – everything was razor perfect.

Many of us were attempting their first Bangalore Ultra and I am sure they would have nothing but praises for the excellent organization of this event. Thanks to RFL team for such an enriching experience.

Golmaal -3

Golmaal 3 represents the lowest point in Indian comedy movies - the worst kind of dialogues, silly slapstick comedy, making fun of other people in the so called "industry" that is bollywood, use of mouthed slangs, open slangs, ham handed acting, poking fun at stamerers - one of the worst movies in recent years.

women's 400 metres asian games 2010

women's 400 metres win at Asian Games 2010

Ashwini Akkunji after her gold medal winning performance at Asian Games 2010

preeja sreedharan & kavita raut with the silver & bronze at Asian Games 2010

Indian women's victorious 400 metres relay team at Asian Games 2010

Down Melody Lane

A review after a long period. Just finished reading a book called "Down Melody Lane" it is written by Raju Bharatan a music writer who has had a ringside view of all the music directors, composers & singers from the late 40s onwards and on intimate terms with most of them. This book looks at the music rivalries, jealousies, camps, but also gives an insight into the most happening events surrounding the hindi film music during this era which was undoubtedly the golden era of music. The narrative is quite horrible, but in the end it is a most satisfying book because then you are reading about your idols like Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mahmood etc.

Wasatch 100 mile endurance run

2010 Wasatch 100 Mile Endurance Run from MountainPeakFitness.com on Vimeo.

The Leg matrix

Inspirational Running Mix

Strength Training for Trail Running

RW strength training for trail running here

Runners Knee

Makau wins Berlin marathon

Patrick Makau wins the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2.05.08 winning over Geoffrey Mutai, both of Kenya by 2 seconds. Ethiopia's Bizu Worku, finished 3rd in a PB. Ethiopia's Eberu Kebede won the women's race in a time of 2.23.58, a PB, Bezunesh Bekele of Ethiopia came 2nd and Tomo Morimoto third. Details here

Run Fast at Shorter Distances

competitor.com, gyan on improving speed for running marathons here

Foods for the Race Day

Foods for the race day, details here

Don't Lose your Mind, Lose your Weight

Heard about this revolutionary book by Rujuta Diwekar where she recommends people to have more food and yet lose weight. Quite interesting to read, but in the end analysis, decided that dieting or her method of dieting will not work for me, because i do not have any control over my food source. Her recommended way of dieting, requires that i plan and meticulously plan for at least two to three days what i will have and in what quantity six to seven times a day and keep it all ready either in the morning or afternoon. Who will do that for me, not the wife, who will say - get lost, i have better things to do, find out some other way to lose weight. Good to read, though

Two States by Chetan Bhagat

A rip-roaringly hilarious book by Chetan Bhagat "Two States" is the story of his marriage. Chetan is at his brilliant best. There were times when i was laughing aloud. I hope he is able to wangle a better deal from the Bollywood moghuls than what he got for his earlier effort. Highly recommended.

A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi

Had heard a lot about the promising new writer Amulya Malladi, but her "A Breath of Fresh Air", the story takes its plot from the Bhopal Gas tragedy. The narrative drags at times and overall impact is insipid.

Sun after Dark by Pico Iyer

After reading "Falling off the Map" by the same author, was expecting much from this book "Sun after Dark" a bit disappointed with his narrative - he does go to places where normal travel writers do not prefer, places like Dharamsala, Bolivia, Tibet, Angkor-Wat etc. but a let down compared to his earlier work.

Long Distance Race by Tom Alter

"Long Distance Race" by Tom Alter is a disappointing book - a nothing kind of book with very weak plot - neither does it enthral with running exploits (since i am a long distance runner i thought this would be a motivating book) nor with the twist into a love plot which it veers into quite meaninglessly.

Achilles tendonitis

ITB stretches

KAVERI - TRAIL BY FIRE

Kaveri Trail Marathon is a tough, demanding, grueling marathon held on the banks of a flowing canal, with paddy fields, sugarcane fields, bullock carts, hay stacks & farmers intently working, along the route. There is very little tree cover and the surface is dirt track more used for village life than city roads. The track is interspersed with stones embedded into the ground and it is narrow with capacity to hold only two runners at a time. Moreover, running right through the centre of the track are green tufts of either grass or other some small plants with the result that each runner has only a small place to land his feet. The runners have to constantly keep shifting from left to right and be alert all the time or they could stumble and fall. There is only one small slope at after the 9.5 kms mark, otherwise it is a flat track. The route for half-marathon is a straight one to 10.55 kms and return to the starting point, whereas the full marathoners have to do this loop twice.




Saturday, 18th September 2010 saw nine of us (Raj, Zico, Kavin, Bhaskar, Ashok, Gautam, Mahesh, Amit, Rahul) at the Santacruz airport at 9.15 a.m. all looking fit like going into war. Bhaskar had already started the first of his many witty remarks and repartees, when Kavin commenced the first of his Sardar jokes. Both of these gentlemen kept us in splits throughout the two day marathon safari.

Bangalore was pleasant at 11.00 a.m. when we started on our long road trip to Mysore, which took about 5.5 hours, with a halt for lunch at Kamats hotel enroute. The lunch was a feast in a traditional Mysore style with rice, sambhar, rasam, etc. in a plaintain leaf.

Okay, carbo loading done, now to the Ginger hotel which we reached at 4.30 p.m. Mysore weather was even more pleasant than that of Bangalore and by then it had started raining. I am sure many runners would have eyed that PB, and of course quite a few achieved it as well.



We came down at around 5.15 p.m. and decided to go for a short walk which ended with a loss of few thousand rupees from our wallets – all this happened in a blink of an eye – a friendly neighbourhood autorickshaw wallah eyed us undecided what to do, where to go, when he offered to ferry us to the market to have a look at the traditional Mysore items and bring us back, all for a princely sum of Rs.50/- only. Decision made, 6 of us clambered into the auto, got the red eye from a couple of traffic police guys and reached the venue still undecided what to buy and what we came there for. Raj made the decision to buy some sarees for his wife and everybody followed him in a frenzy and polished off about 20K in less than an hour. We runners have affinity for doing everything with clockwork precision.

Dinner at Ginger was a runners’ special with pasta, curd rice, fried potatoes, fruit jelly, ice cream et al. We had an early dinner and retired to bed around 10 p.m. Sunday morning dawned in an almost chilly cold weather and all of us said “Wow” this must be great – little did we know what was in store for us as the day progressed.



We had to travel about 20kms to a place called Young Island Resort from where we had to collect our bibs, timing chips & food coupons. That done, we had to travel back about 2 kms to the starting point, which was a little inside the main road and where the RFL stall was in full attendance with all supplies already in place. We came across some venerated runners like Honda, Sabine, Kothandapani et al There were some other firangi runners as well and the atmosphere was charged with excitement though it was lacking in the tension usually associated with a big city marathon like Mumbai.

The full marathon race started exactly at 6.30 a.m. after the usual instructions to the runners. Out went Zico, Raj, Mahesh, Amit, Veera, Sundaresan, Krishna. The full marathon route was two loops of the distance from starting point to 10.55 kms and back to the starting point. Water and aid stations were laid at 2.5, 4, 5, 6, 7.5, 9, 10.55 kms and were well stocked with water, lucozade, bananas, oranges, parle-g, peanut butter jelly sandwiches and first aid. Few volunteers were roaming the distance in motorbikes to look out for people who were feeling discomfort and they were a couple of them who kept the volunteers busy. An ambulance with medical doctor was stationed outside the start line which was also bought into use a couple of times.


Next was the half-marathon which also started with clockwork precision exactly at 6.45 a.m. Out went Ashok, Giles, Mani, Mahesh Gune, Sridhar and myself. Giles was in close pursuit of Bhasker and the dream fight had begun. The rain clouds which was witnessed on Saturday had decided to take a day off on Sunday and therefore it was a clear sunny morning which saw the half marathon participants take the road. The route was very scenic and a sight for greenery starved city denizens. The RFL organisation was razor perfect with kms markings in chalk on the ground & cross markings to ensure people do not wander where cows & buffaloes are allowed to.

Few kms gone into, terrain gauged, pace adjusted, steady and determined strides, full concentration on the road ahead, 6 kms – need for replenishing lucozade, 8 kms - runners returning after doing U-turn at 10.5 kms, exclamations, motivations, determined faces, 9 kms - our runners coming, Bhasker galloping back, (where is Giles??), Ashok, Zico, Raj and others, 10.5 kms need for a break. Sun out in full fury now, chugging along slow and steady pace, stumbled about 3 to 4 times, which triggered the cramps, first in the right calf, then in the left calf, then in both calves, taking all the water stops, walking for a few steps after the cramp attacks, then again re-starting till last kms reached, volunteers out – shouting encouragement and the distance to the finish line - 800, 200, 100 to go and then sprint to the finish.

Pleasantly surprised to receive a finishers’ medal and kept it proudly around my neck until the strap broke – no problem, medal a first one. Ran into Giles about to plunge into a local Jacuzzi and Bhasker and Ashok looking fresh as ever, even without the jacuzzi. Again a cramp attack after we started walking towards the Resort, which Ashok kindly helped reduce with massage.

We collected the bib money, had our lunch, which was again quite fantastic with rice, sambhar, rasam, papad & payasam – quite a feast after the early morning work. By the time we came back to the venue, Krishna had finished his race and Mahesh had gone to fetch the others.

The sun was at its beastly best and we were only waiting with trepidation because the usual stalwarts were yet to come. But come they did: one by one Zico, Amit and then a long wait for Raj. By this time we were really worried for Raj and we (Ashok, Bhaskar & myself) decided to venture out into the route with a worried look on our faces. A few minutes later Raj emerged regally escorted by Krishna on one side and Mahesh on other side. We decided to join the party behind the royals and all of us sprinted across to the finish line. Of course, none of us were given a second finisher medals. Kavin was left to finish his first full marathon in the capable hands of Rahul, Amit’s brother. We had to perforce leave the venue because of check out restrictions, damn.

Quite a few achieved their personal best - Amit (whopping 30 mins), Mani (sub 2 hour half & also PB), Sridhar (whopping 23 mins), quite others achieved good timings - Ashok, Krishna, Mahesh, but the real hero was Bhasker Desai with a fourth place in Veteran Category. Kavin, Veera & Sundar achieved their first full marathon.

Endurance building on those monster hills at Aarey and BNP definitely helped in sustaining the pace under the unrelenting and merciless sun. All Mumbai runners finished creditably in this trail marathon.

Food taken by the full marathoners, bibs refunds obtained it was time to leave Mysore, which we did around 2.00 p.m. Enroute we again descended on Kamats, this time justifiably proud of our early morning achievements. All of us ordered Idli & Wada, which was probably the “in” thing to have in Karnataka, along with the dosas. The idli was shaped in a cylindrical shape, enveloped in a patta This was the first time, we were seeing idli in a shape other than like that of an UFO. The dosas mercifully survived the revolution and were round in shape.

Reached Bangalore airport at 8.15 p.m., the plane took off before time and landed in Mumbai after circling overhead for about 30 minutes, enough time for us to have a nights eye view of the Ganpati pandals in Mumbai. Reached home at 12.15 p.m. and had probably the best and soundest sleep in yearssssssssss.

Nutritious post run juices

Nutritious post run juices from Runners World here

Race week workouts

Race week workouts from Runners World here

Stage 3 2010 GORE-TEX Transalpine-Run

The distance of more than 46 kilometer from Kitzbühel to Neukirchen am Großvenediger turn the 3. stage into one of the two king’s stages of the Transalpine-Run 2010. The start of this famously infamous “Streif” to Hahnenkamm alone would be a challenging mountain run. It goes on across Mount Pengelstein continuously uphill/downhill through the Kitzbüheler Alps, when after Mount Stangenjoch there comes the last climb up Mount Wildkogel. The only recompense for the subsequent, extremely steep, downhill run toward Neukirchen is the great view at the 3000-meter high Venetia glaciers of nature reserve Hohe Tauern

Stage 3 2010 GORE-TEX Transalpine-Run

Grand Raid des Pyrenees 2009

grand raid des pyrénées 2009
Uploaded by jmescafre. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.

White River 50 Mile Trail Race 2010

10 minute mobility exercise routine for runners by Matt Fitzgerald

10 minute mobility exercise routine for runners by Matt Fitzgerald here

Can Exercise Make you Feel More Full?

Scientific American report here

NBA Fitness Test

Legendary strength coach Al Vermeil gives you the NBA Fitness Test.

How to Run Faster

About.com's tips on how to run faster here

Running for weight loss

Jamie Barber's tips on running as a weight loss program. Read here

Best Weight Loss Tips

Men's health magazine Best Weight loss tips here

The single most effective way to lose weight

The single most effective way to lose weight. Matt Fitzgerald speaks here

Stay in shape without gym membership

How to stay in shape without a gym membership. Read here

Challenge your Core

Challenge your core - video here

Increasing speed - interview with Jon Goodwin

Increasing speed - interview with Jon Goodwin here

1st BNP Half Marathon

The 1st BNP half marathon was successfully held today, Sunday, 22nd August 2010 inside the Borivli National Park in Borivli, suburbs of Mumbai. More than 260 people had registered for this event, registrations for which were open in June 2010 itself on the basis of an online web based form. The event generated much excitement because after the highly rated Mumbai Marathon being held in January every year, this was the first ever half marathon being held in Mumbai. Morever, since the Mumbai Marathon 2011 registrations opened in mid-July, registrations for this event surged tremendously in the last few days. The event was organized by a runners group called RUN RUN RUN… RUN MUMBAI RUN which was on Runners For Life web platform. It was part of its 1st anniversary celebrations event.

The high number of registrations meant the organizers had to work doubly hard to ensure no glitches in the event and therefore hectic work was going on for the last three-four weeks on various matters involved in the organization.

Bibs were printed, km markers designed and printed, medical ambulances arranged, water, biscuits, bananas fetched and hectic confabulations were ongoing between the organizers of the event. Accommodation was arranged inside the BNP for people coming from out of Mumbai for this event. There were runners coming all the way from Chennai, Bangalore, Bina (MP) and Pune specifically for taking part in this event.

Finally D-day dawned on a rainy Sunday morning, the buzz at the BNP was evident at 5.00 a.m. itself, when runners started coming from various places in and around Mumbai. Registration counter was opened at around 5.15 a.m., volunteers assembled and people started collecting their bibs, inquiring about the route, toilets, baggage handling etc. Since the run was held inside the sylvan surroundings of a forest, a pledge was taken by all the runners to protect the environment and to keep the place clean. Instructions were given regarding the route, water stations, medical stations etc. and the race was flagged off sharp at 6.40 a.m. when skies opened up and it started pouring as a sort of divine intervention by the gods.

The route was tough with rolling hills, amidst verdant green wooded forest, with streams in between adding to the allure of the course. The course was a loop of 10.5 kms done twice. There were runners from Kolhapur, Virar, Ahmedabad ,Bangalore, Chennai and M.P. who had come to Mumbai only to take part in this event.

Some amazing statistics:
Out of 79 starters of the race at 6.40 a.m., there were 75 finishers which is an amazing 95% success ratio.

Out of 14 starters in Male Veteran and 9 in Women’s Open, all finished successfully.

We had kept a cutoff time of 3.5 hours from start time to close the marathon. All the runners came home within that time.

There were many runners who had never attempted a 21 kms before today and yet finished successfully.

I am sure there are many runners who have recorded their PERSONAL BEST today despite the BNP route being a tough course with rolling hills, double loop and humidity.

We had Ankush Padawale from Virar first in MEN’S OPEN in a scorching time of 1.25.21 hours RUNNING BAREFOOT

We had Tanaji Nalavade from Kolhapur who started 7.28 mins late due to a miscommunication, was third after the first loop and yet finished a strong SECOND in a time of 1.27.34 hours.

We had B.L.I. Bosco from Chennai (winner of the Auroville full marathon in 2010) who had come down to Mumbai specifically for this event, THIRD in a 1.31.10 hours.

Darshana Khandekar of Virar finished FIRST in the Women’s Open in a strong time of 1.49.07 hours

Mithika D’Cruz of Ahmedabad (who had also specifically come down to Mumbai only for this race) finished SECOND in a time of 2.06.06 hours, HER FIRST ATTEMPT AT 21K EVENT.

Roshni Rai, finished THIRD in a strong time of 2.06.06, her PERSONAL BEST EVER for this distance, truly the FLYING RA(N)I of Mumbai.

In the Men’s Veteran Category, APURBA DAS, the marathon monk from Mumbai finished FIRST in a time of 1.50.06 hours, a strong second loop.

BHASKER DESAI, the evergreen runner finished SECOND in a time of 1.52.01 hours- what to say about Bhasker, words fail this amazing runner.

ALLAN D’SOUZA, finished a close THIRD in a time of 1.53.03 hours, a brilliant effort on his first ever run at the BNP.

The runners were provided with water, glucose biscuits, electral, during the race and after it as well. All the runners were vociferously supported including the one who finished last. We had a person going up and down on cycle ensuring that no runner loses his route and also picking up the used empty bottles and caps from the road. Water stations and medical stations were kept at every 2.5 kms thereby ensuring that no runner goes without water for a long time.

Overall it was a tremendous effort in organizing a running event by the running community in Mumbai for the RUNNERS.

Some pictures of the event are posted here

week ending 25th july

interesting week with two speed workouts - tempo run of 35 minutes on wednesday and fartlek of 10 rounds of 100 metres each on saturday, interspersed with easy run on thursday and long run on sunday. total mileage including the speed workout days - 39 kms. Disapppointed at not doing more on sunday, now for next sunday's i-race at IIT Powai, Bombay.

The Cradle Will Fall

Just finished reading "The Cradle Will Fall" a medical murder mystery by Mary Higgins Clark, my first book by her. The narrative is patchy at parts and goes up and forth many times. Clark does'nt come upto the level expected of her, overall a racy book, but no comparison to the queen of crime Agatha Christhie.

The Undomestic Goddess

Just finished reading "The Undomestic Goddess" by sophie kinsella, my first one by her. It is a light hearted wodehousian type comedy, never a dull moment, the narrative is brilliant and ease with which she goes from comedy to romance to comedy and back is very good.

Bandra-Churchgate Run 18th July 2010

Fantastic run today, we started at 5.45 a.m., while it was humid in Bandra, the moment we crossed Mahim the humidity ceased, sun did not peep out today, except for a few moments when we were reaching mahalakshmi race course, probably to see whether runners were still on the road. Pedder road climb and Kemps Corner flyover were a breeze probably due to the intense workouts we do in Aarey and BNP, crossing into Marine Drive we were into a pleasant surprise. Rain gods showered its blessings on the runners in plenty – running in marine drive in the rains was a dream come true. The entire stretch from Wilsons College to NCPA was the best part of today’s run.




MANY THANKS to Jayati for organizing water & bananas at poddar hospital with her friend Amit who also run with us, to Krishna for arranging tempo with water all throughout the route and for tirelessly going up and down with water for the runners and to Sundaresan for arranging water, bananas & glucose biscuits at the finish point. MANY THANKS to Genieve for arranging a video shoot of the runners – that was awesome Gen, you friend was stupendous. YOU GUYS ARE THE REAL HEROES OF TODAY.



We had 36 runners in all, with a four member team (Zico, Amit Joshi, Raj & Sohanlal starting from Goregaon and doing 32 kms in all – super effort), Apurba joining us from Dadar, Sameer from Worli, Ganesh & Mohana running all the way from Sion (magnificient effort that!), Jayati & Amit joining from Poddar Hospital, Khushro Patel from Worli & Sundaresan starting from NCPA and meeting the runners at Poddar Hospital (Grand effort that!).



We had few first timers – Sameer, Manav, Ashok Naidu, Sukesh, Abishai, Jayati, Amit, Arun Prasad – many thanks for joining us – hope you keep coming for group runs and races to be organized in future.



Great leadership from Milton and great support from Giles.



Missed Roshni, Kavin, Mike, Veera, Qureshi, Bharatbhai and his team, among others today.
A few photos are uploaded here

10 best foods for runners

10 best foods for runners, Click here

Running Injuries

Link to information about Running injuries here

Kitchen Confidential

Just finished reading "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain, the high profile chef who is seen regularly on Discovery Travel & Living Channel. This is a high octane book, destroying many of the myths surrounding the restaurant business.

Trek to Kothaligad fort

Had been to Kothaligad Fort on trekking with friends on 4th July, 2010. The day started with apprehensions because the previous day i.e. Saturday, it was pouring rains all over Bombay with some parts of it severely flooded too. Two or three members dropped out possibly due to concerns about transport, safety etc. Even my family was a bit apprehensive, but since I was one of the leaders of the expedition, I could not have backed of.



Few phone calls made to friends on Saturday evening to iron out last minute glitches, if any – everything seemed go - everybody was enthusiastic about the trip, rains notwithstanding.



We started of at 5.45 a.m. from Borivli National Park in a 25 seater bus which had its first pick up at Aarey forest and then onwards to the JVLR picking up few more people on board – last one being at Powai. Everybody was joking, jovial and light hearted. Rains continued to pour throughout the trip to Karjat.



At Karjat, we stopped for kanda bhajia, vada pav and some tea. Suitably refreshed, we set off again to the base camp, which was about 10 kms away through a narrow, winding, broken road Enquiries made at the base camp which had a local entrepreneur offering refreshments etc. – we were on the right path.

We set off at 10 a.m. through a winding upwards road, which had stones on it, so walking was a bit difficult, had to concentrate hard in order not to lose footing and twist ankle. This went on for about an hour by which time we came to the base of the mountain. The party broke into two groups, one going ahead with a purpose and the second party at a leisurely pace taking photographs on the way. So at the base of the mountain, we again made enquiries whether the advance party was on its way and having been re-assured, we set off climbing the mountain. From this part onwards, the breathing became hard, (though since we were all long distance runners the endurance levels were extremely high), the climb was tough at parts, few people took support and we reached the base of the fort which had a cave in it.

Again local entrepreneurship was visible, we were offered limbu pani, which was like nectar to us at that stage. The cave was just one room with a seating ledge and views through slits to the mountainside. We sat down for a while, took photographs etc., cracked a few jokes and then started off again – this time we had to climb 98 monster steps, each step like three steps of a building staircase. The steps were narrow so only one person could climb at a time, taking support of the sides. It went on like a spiral, some people counting the steps, others deeming it unholy to do so. At one point, when we were climbing the steps, it jutted out to the mountainside which had a sheer drop of about 1000 feet, so one had to be very careful with the footing. At the end of the steps, we reached the top of the mountainside, which had a small plateau and a beautiful view of the entire mountainscape all around. It was sheer breathtaking beauty in itself.

Lunch packets brought out, each one nibbling a little from each one’s box, we relaxed for a while and soaked in the atmosphere for as long as possible. The climb from the base of the mountain to the top took 90 minutes.

We started back at 2.00 p.m. again encountering the steep steps and this time the cliff side descent was tough on the weak hearts. Few more photographs on the way, we were on the way back first down the mountain and then down the winding path. On the way, we came across, one village which had its typical village houses, quaint little verandahs, little shops, children playing across the road, dogs et al. Returned back to the base camp at 4.30 p.m. had delicious tea at the base camp restaurant with few of the lunch snacks. Suitably refreshed and thoroughly satisfied with the day’s trek we set back to Bombay at around 5.30 p.m., few people dozing off, others chit chatting and all of them asking for an encore – more treks in the near future.

week ending 11th july 2010

finished week ending 11th july 2010 with only two runs during the week - a 7.3 km run on tuesday in slight to moderate drizzle, which completed my 100 hours of running for the year 2010 and a 13 km run on saturday at aarey forest in a hill climb, which resulted in a groin strain, due to which i had to terminate my run sooner than expected.

week ending 27th june

Finished the week ending 27th june with only two runs over the weekend - a 9.4 kms effort at Aarey - this time going over the hill slowly and taking it through and a 11.5 kms run in Marine Drive on sunday - this was a super effort because the humidity levels were killing and coupled with that - absence of breeze and presence of sun made it difficult to run. However, running in marine drive is an experience in itself to be savoured.

Week ending 6th June 2010 - 30kms

Finished the week ending 6th June 2010 with 30 kms overall during the week. 9 kms on tuesday, behind inorbit, 5 kms same route on friday, 9 kms at aarey forest on saturday and 7 kms at BNP on sunday, overall satisfactory effort during the last days of summer. The heat and humidity continues to be unbearable. Hoping for rains during next week.

Long run - saturday, 29th may 2010

Did a long run of 9.5 kms today in a time of 64.54 minutes at Aarey Forest, conditions were extremely hot and humid and muggy. Unable to take few of the hills.

easy run - tuesday, 25th may 2010

Did an easy run of 38.30 minutes today, about 5.7 kms, in easy pace more as a recovery effort after sunday's bangalore 10K event. The humidity levels in Bombay continues as usual, next two-three weeks would be gruelling for runners.

Bangalore Sunfeast 10K - 23rd May 2010

The sunfeast 10K could have been better organized was the overriding thought as we boarded our evening flights (all delayed as usual) to Mumbai.




All of us Mumbai runners met at the Expo on Saturday afternoon as pre-planned i.e. myself, Ashok, Hemant, Krishna, Milan. Surprised to see Apurba as we did not expect him at the event, more surprises was to follow. Also met Arvind Bharati of RFL at their stall. That evening it rained heavily in Bangalore. I am sure all of us thought – great, now for a PB here.



The next morning i.e. Sunday a.m. we again ran into each other at the indoor stadium, which was filling up soon. Here we ran into another surprise in the form of Mahadev Samjiskar who was there in full readiness for the event. We did not know Samjiskar was running that day. Also ran into Arvind Krishnan of the RFL.



The elite men’s event started at 7.10 a.m. followed by women’s event at 8.04 a.m. It was magnificient watching these elite athletes in full flow because they did two laps of 400 metres at the start of the race, which itself was awesome.



At 8.10 a.m. precisely, the open event started with chaos as the opening gate was very narrow and people were bounding up the fencing and jumping down the tracks to join the race. At the start there was much chaos with runners forced to do zig-zag due to the number of runners and walkers also. The roads were bit narrow and by this time the sun was up beating down hard on the runners. The running crowd deterred any attempt at ramping up the pace upto 3.5 kms after which it started offering some leeway to the runners. The route was changed this year and therefore did not pass through the Ulsoor lake, which would have been pleasant.



I saw Veera thrice on the opposite direction and sub-consciously decided I needed to catch up with him. Ashok left me at about 3.5 kms mark and I saw Samjiskar buzzing past at around 3 kms mark. Hemant and Apurba of course flew away much before that, I did not encounter them at all.



I reached 5 kms mark at 33 minutes which was not a good pace and thought I needed much catching up to do and therefore, I picked up pace from 7 kms onwards to ensure a decent timings, now that a 10K PB was out of the window. By the time we reached the Raj Bhavan I was into a decent pace and crossing one runner after another. I passed Veera inside the Cubbon park with about 1.5 kms to go and went for sprinting in the last 0.5 kms to register a decent time of 1.03.57 hours (PB in Bangalore), not much of an effort, but considering the summer run, was satisfied overall. The dream of running a sub-1 hour 10k remains.



Few negative points about the run – there were too many loops, narrow roads, not much cheering crowd. Positives – sufficient water stations on the route.



Now for the August i-Race 10K at IIT Powai

easy run - tuesday, 18th may 2010

Did an easy run of 41.26 minutes today, week before bangalore sunfeast 10k, so going easy this week.

easy run - sunday, 16th may

Did an easy run of 10kms today at BNP in a time of 1.07.12 hours, not a good time, but overall good effort today with one week to go for the sunfeast 10K at Bangalore.

easy run - saturday, 15th may 2010

Did an easy run of 36.51 minutes today i.e. about 5.5 kms today easy pace, but found the going tough, maybe due to lack of much running this week. Shows the importance of keeping the running momentum going all the way through summer.

easy run - friday, 14th may 2010

did an easy run of 42.42 mins today, about 6.5 kms, after a brief gap of about 3 days. last run was the race pace on sunday. I guess after race pace, the next week should be an easy run week.

gain speed and reduce your PB

Few tips for gaining speed and reducing your PB from runners world link below

click here

10k race pace - sunday BNP, 9th may 2010

Did a 10K race pace today at the BNP. Started off with an easy 1 km run and then picked up pace and sustained the pace throughout the 8 kms, and then followed up with an easy last kms to round off the workout. Finished in 1.06.48 hours.

easy run - saturday, 8th may 2010

Did an easy run of 20.02 minutes today with Niki at the evening hours, which is becoming very difficult to run because of the extreme heat and humidity. Niki increased upon her last run, showing good signs. Making her do gradual increase only.

Protein requirements for long distance runners

Protein requirements for long distance runners, click here

LSD at Aarey, saturday, 8th may 2010

Did an easy run of 10 kms today at Aarey Forest in a time of 69.04 minutes. The hills at Aarey are tough, tough and it keeps coming one after another.

The Seven Dials Mystery

Just finished reading "The Seven Dials Mystery" by Agatha Christhie, the queen of suspense, as usual she lives upto her name and delivers an outstanding book, which has the twists and turns you come to expect from a Christhie novel. Intrigue, mystery, drama all evident in this excellent book.

easy run - friday, 7th may 2010

Did an easy run of 29.02 minutes today, the best timings for that route so far, previous best being 29.21 minutes. Decided to do only so much in order to conserve energy for the weekend LSD and race pace planned on saturday and sunday respectively.

Leadville 100 mile ultramarathon

Video footage of the Leadville 100 Mile Ultramarathon across the Colorado Rockies to be completed in 30 hours. Watch that old gentleman stagger across the finish line in the last few minutes and collapse into the arms of the voluteers. A superhuman effort.Click here

easy run - thursday, 6th may 2010

Did an easy run of 16.03 minutes today with Niki, her third run this season, little better than her last run.

Transahariana 2010

Video footage of Transahariana 2010, a 260 kms/ 190 kms/ 130 kms race across Algerian desert. Most of the language is in French, but the course is absolutely daunting. The winner in 260 kms, Pasquale Brandi came in 48.40 hours. For video, click here

tempo run - tuesday, 4th may 2010

Did a tempo run of 25 minutes today, doing a tempo after a long time, so some difficulty towards the end. Overall a good workout for 60.28 minutes.

Laugavegur 2009 - Icelandic ultra marathon

Video footage of Laugavegur 2009, the most famous ultra marathon of Iceland. Most of the language is in Icelandic but the route is awesome - there are mountains, water, ice, bridges, ropeways etc. View here

easy run - aarey forest - sunday, 2nd may 2010

Did an easy run of 60.44 minutes today at Aarey Forest with start of the route from inside near the tree to the entrance and back so the climb was taken on the reverse. It was pretty tough on the way back. Overall a good workout.

LSD at BNP - saturday, 1st may 2010

Did a LSD at BNP of 14 kms in 1.40.16 hrs in conditions which were totally unsuited to running. The morning was hot, muggy, steamy, humid, impossible conditions for running. Took gatorade today was of some help in sustaining 14 kms but towards the end it was unbelievably difficult

The Negotiator

Just finished reading "The Negotiator" by Frederick Forsyth, an international espionage thriller involving more than a dozen countries and a plot that keeps you riveted to the book. Brilliant.

easy run - friday, 30th april 2010

Did an easy run of 29.44 minutes today, kept it low, due to tomorrow's long slow run of 16 kms planned at BNP. Tremendous heat today and could hear thunder on a couple of occasions, plus the sky was overcast. possible rains today

Tips for running in hot weather

Tips for running in hot weather follows here

Grandma, 73 runs 80 miles per week.

grandma 73, runs 80 miles per week, body builds, and runs marathon. Read on at here

The bright side of injury

Interesting analysis of what to expect when you are injured can be found here

easy run - tuesday, 27th april 2010

Did an easy run of 29.21 minutes today, have to go to work early today. Had the ORS solution and found it to be too good. The energy levels were very good at the end of the run.

easy run - saturday, 24th april 2010

Did an easy run of 49.06 minutes today, started getting stomach cramps somewhere towards the middle portion of the run and slowed down deliberately to ease the pain. Overall good effort in this tremendous heat.

easy run - friday, 23rd april 2010

Did an easy run of 64.09 minutes today, quite exhausting in the end, but thoroughly satisfying in terms of endurance in this energy sapping heat. Coming into running after sunday, so little difficult in the middle to end stages, but hang on to the finish of the route.

boston marathon 2010

Robert Cheruiyot won the Boston Marathon 2010 in a course record of 2.05.52, up 90 seconds over the course record and Teyba Erkesso won the women's event in a time 2.26.11 barely 3 seconds away from the second place finisher Tatyana Pushkarev of Russia. Read on here

easy run - tuesday, 20th april 2010

Did an easy run of 17.45 minutes today with Niki, who is coming into running after several months. Had to adjust to her timings, hopefully she continues with her runs and becomes better day by day.

10k race at BNP on sunday, 25th april 2010

A 10KM race is being organised by RUN RUN RUN...RUN MUMBAI RUN group inside Borivli National Park, in the western suburbs of Mumbai on Sunday, 25th April 2010. For more details, please visit




http://runnersforlife.com/group/runrunrunmumbairun/forum/topics/10km-race-on-sunday-25th-april



For registration for the race, pleas...e add your details in the following link



http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFh2REMtS1hvNzdxZ3NDckpWUUl2aFE6MQ

60 hours of running in 2010

completed 60 hours of running in 2010; target of 125 hours this year.

LSD - Sunday, 18th april - BNP

Did a LSD of 10 kms today, in slow easy pace came home in 66.16 minutes. BNP was good for running at 6.30 a.m. on the way back there is a stretch of about 100-200 metres when you are exposed to the early morning sun, otherwise the route is okay.

easy run - saturday, 17th april 2010

Did an easy run of 41.30 minutes today, coming to the track after 5 days of inaction. Probably because of that could not carry on for more, but it seemed to hot and muggy as usual today.

2010 Marathon des Sables Results are out in this link here

http://www.irunfar.com/2010/04/2010-marathon-des-sables-results.html



Michelle Kakade from Pune, completed all 6 stages finishing 979, 950, 911, 881, 905 & 886 in the respective stages. Way to go Michelle.

Patrick Makau wins Rotterdam Marathon 2010

Patrick Makau wins Rotterdam Marathon 2010 in a time of 2.04.48, which is the fourth fastest marathon of all time behind Haile Gebrasellasie (2.03.59) and Duncan Kibet and James Kwambai (both 2.04.27), for details read here

Nectar in a Sieve

Just finished reading "Nectar in a Sieve' by Kamala Markandaya, a seminal work in Indian Literature. Set in a village, this books takes you through an entire gamut of human emotions through the lives of the characters - hunger, loss of lives, loss of land, loss of dignity, poverty etc. Through all the ups and downs there is one factor that stands out prominently in the book - that of undying human spirit and hope for the better. With a brilliant narrative that marks her first book this is an outstanding work and Kamala Markandaya is on par with the greats of Indian literature - RK Narayan, Premchand, Rabindranath Tagore, Vaikom Mohammed Basheer. Highly recommended reading.

Tadese Tola wins paris marathon 2010

Tadese Tola wins Paris Marathon 2010 in a time of 2.06.40 a massive improvement of 9.05 over his previous best of 2.15.45. Read here

easy run - sunday, 11th april 2010

Went for an easy run today instead of going to the trail running in BNP as i thought it was not the right time to do trail running what with the kind of hot and humid weather prevailing these days. Took water along with me, which was a wise move. Started slowly and gingerly not knowing the conditions, but comfortably settled into an easy and good rhythm, kept on intaking water regularly, good effort in the end, did little more than last time and arrived at the end in a better time. I think yesterday's strength workout plus skipping and burpees helped immensely. Lot of lessons learnt today.

Pelvic floor exercises

Excellent youtube video on Pelvic floor exercises. Click at the link

easy run - friday, 9th april 2010

Got out today at 5.30 a.m. to a hot, steamy, muggy morning, like in a cauldron, forget about running, even walking was difficult in such extreme conditions. weather bureau might say anything but reality was "it was close to death valley".  started out slow and easy and realised the difficult conditions today, deliberately kept it slow pace, with good rhythm, and relaxed breathing all the time. Went through several emotions of pain, hunger and giving it all up but continued in the same slow pace determined to finish the route. Crossed the pain barrier today. Divine inspiration was there as i finished in exactly 60.00 minutes. Tough run, entirely drenched and completely drained out.

tempo run - wednesday, 7th april 2010

did a tempo run of 32 minutes today, initially was not upto the tempo mood today, but decided anyway to keep options open at the 20 minutes mark, picked up pace thereafter and maintained a good pace with rhythm. good workout today.

LSD - Sunday, 4th april 2010

We had a good LSD run today at the BNP. There were 9 of us including Jayesh, who had come first time. We had Hemant, Shashi, Supriya, Genieve, Milan, Yogesh, Jayesh and Dr. Sharma who joined later. We started sharp at 6.15 a.m. with pre-run warm ups. Considering the heat later in the morning, we decided on an early start. However, the morning was very cool and crisp and very beautiful for running. The endless tree cover in BNP is a boon for runners. We pass by so many runners and walkers and others doing yoga and pranayama on the way. All of us reached the 6 kms mark at the top near the Kanheri Caves and took a welcome break of about 3-5 minutes.



On the way back, the sun was filtering through the tree shades though it was still comfortable. Myself and Supriya decided to explore the two diversions, where Ashok, Milan and Saurabh had meticulously done the km markings. We took both the diversions and must say, the second diversion of 1 kms was quite tough because it was up and down all the way.


By the time we entered the main road, the sun was up fully and then the challenge began. With about 1.5 kms to go, we sprinted to the finish and finished strongly in the end.

All others did 12 kms whereas myself and Supriya did 15 kms. All others have promised to go better distance next time.

So, Ashok, Milan & Saurabh, we have done full justice to your back breaking efforts the other Sunday.

We rounded off the morning workout with a bout of post-run stretches.

Thanks to everybody for coming today and welcome to Jayesh for his first run at the BNP.

Next week for a 17 kms attempt

commercialisation of cricket

The commercialization of cricket is intense these days. Nowadays, you don’t hit a six, you , hit a DLF Maximum, and it is not a strategic time out, it is a Max Mobile one, there is a Citi moment of success, Karbonn catch.



Very soon, you will have a Videocon four, Hyundai wide, Moser Baer single and then followed by a Reliance square cut, Nano cover drive and so on and so forth. Where is it going to end.

The Chamber

Just finished reading “The Chamber” by John Grisham, a searing portrayal of an aging Ku Klux Klan convict on the death row, his agonies, his cleansing, his relationship with his family, in a slow and deliberate manner that wrenches your guts away. While there is sufficient legalese in the book, it is the morbidity that hits you as a reader. Undoubtedly, one of Grisham’s best.

Rendezvouz with Rama

Just finished reading "Rendezvouz with Rama", the first book of the Rama mea series by Arthur Clarke. No wonder Arthur has been named as the grand master of science fiction. He wins hands down with his deep, near perfect description of Rama, an interstellar spacecraft. Clarke weaves his magic here. Waiting to read the other books in the series and his other series also.

speed intervals - Juhu Beach - friday, 2nd april 2010

Did speed intervals today at Juhu beach, first time that speed work was done at the beach. Did 7 rounds of 400 metres followed by easy jog of 400 metres. Before that did rigorous stretching and followed it up with post run stretching.There were 8 of us in the group.

Public Provident Fund Scheme

RBI has clarified on Public Provident Fund Scheme that


1) in case of deposit of cheques in the PPF a/c, the date of realization of the cheque will be henceforth treated as date of deposit, as against date of tender which was hitherto considered as date of deposit;

2) PPF account can be opened in the name of minor children by either father or mother (but not both);

copy of RBI circular can be found here

tempo run - tuesday, 30th march 2010

Did a 27 minutes tempo today, good pace throughout, good rhythm.

easy run - friday, 26th march 2010

did an easy run of 67.13 minutes, good rhythm, easy pace and controlled running, experimented with high style of running for a while, looks good.

Tempo - Wednesday, 24th march 2010

Did a tempo  run of 22 minutes today, experimented with better running style, good results. Overall workout for 56.01 minutes, Completed 50 hours of running today for 2010.

Time Stops at Shamli

Just finished reading "Time Stops at Shamli" a collection of  short stories by Ruskin Bond, a reader comparable only to RK Narayan. Beautiful stories about hill town people and their lives, Bond writes with empathy about animals. All the stories are good, but the undoubted best was "Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright"

BNP - sunday, 21st march 2010 - hill sprints

Did hill sprints in Borivli National Park today, a hilly slope of about 800 metres. It keeps climbing gradually, not too steep, but manageable for more than 2 rounds that i did today, certainly 4 next time. Before that did an easy 5 km on the alternate route, which had too climbers. overall good workout today.

Aarey Forest - Saturday, 20th march 2010

Went to aarey forest today for my running, after few months, it was good effort, 1 hr 3 mins. Aarey challenges you like nothing else, there are inclines aplenty leading to a good workout.

easy run - thursday, 18th march 2010

did an easy run of 60.43 minutes today, easy pace with good rhythm, behind inorbit.

Juhu Beach Run - Tuesday, 16th March

Did a juhu beach run on tuesday, 16th march 2010 for one hour 4 minutes. the stretch from end to end is about 3 kms, great to run on a beach, good for the endurance, good for breathing.

IPL Tamasha

The IPL tamasha is back. With Sidhu back as one of the panel commentators, this is a sure shot remedy for driving away viewers from the event. Thank you Set Max, now I have a reason not to watch the matches.

easy run - saturday, 13th march 2010

Did an easy run of 30.49 minutes, basically coming back into running after one week layoff, so took it really easy. With the heat wave going on, decided to restrict my running today also in view of tomorrow's run at the BNP. A bit stiff to start with, but later on it was quite smooth and rhythmic all the way. Felt great running today.

Easy Run - Saturday, 6th March 2010

Completed an easy run of 31.38 minutes today, little stiff after yesterday's gym workout and kept it low because of evening program in greenathon. plan to do about 30 minutes in the evening.

Africa's toughest foot race

Watch Africa's toughest foot race in Cameroon here in this youtube video here

easy run - thursday, 4th march 2010

Did an easy run of 70.23 minutes today, slow and easy pace throughout though in initial stages, the legs were stiff, but still carried on. in later stages, tried to lift legs towards buttocks and was okay in the end, quite successful, to continue the experimentation.

A better India, a Better World

Just finished reading an excellent book called "A Better India, a Better World" by Narayana Murthy, mentor at Infosys. This is a collection of his speeches, but the narrative is fine and Mr. Murthy is a fine thinker with a lot of innovative thoughts and ideas for improving India. A wonderful book to read, highly recommended. Why not Narayana Murthy as PM of India for 10 years. It would be a great idea.

online settlement of PF claims

Financial Chronicle reports the government is mulling online settlement of PF claims by next year. News can be accessed here

HBR blog on gaining competitive advantage

An interesting, HBR blog on gaining competitive advantage, where it inferences from the achievements of a sportsperson from the recently concluded Winter Olympics, can be accessed here

2009's 100 most influental people in business ethics

Ethispere magazine's 2009 ranking of 100 most influental people in business ethics can be accessed here

Tempo - Tuesday, 2nd March 2010

Did a tempo of 25 minutes today, did not start the tempo very well, but later on, got better and tried variations with the foot landings, overall satisfactory. total running time 63.05 minutes

NZ Canada World cup hockey

New Zealand recovered well to overturn a 1-2 deficit at half time to post a 3-2 win over Canada in world cup hockey match. It seems half of the canadian side is of Indian origin - we have a fernandes, perreira, deol and a few singhs as usual. But where are the crowds- the stadium seems to be almost empty

NYT musical on Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010

An interesting website from NYT that looks at margins between various positions in the Winter Olympics 2010 as an Olympic musical. Click here

India beat Pak in World Cup Hockey

So India beats Pakistan in a hockey encounter in the World Cup 2010. It was a dull match with four out of the five goals coming through penalty corners. Wonder has hockey changed its mane so much that it makes for dull viewing - how many goals are field goals and what is that ridiculous rule - that if the ball touches the feet of the opposing player in the D, then it is a penalty corner. Players are becoming specialits in only putting the balls into opp players' legs!!!

sunday long run - BNP - 28th February 2010

Did 1 hr 30.46 minutes today at BNP - sunday long run - full 12 kms of the route. Started off as cool and crisp weather but found going tough later on, thought about doing only 5 km uproute today, but the momentum carried on and finished full 12 kms. On the return leg, it was quite tough with the weather becoming quite warm as the early morning sun started filtering through the trees. Had to make two walking stops.

Easy Run - Saturday, 27th February 2010

Did an easy run of 60.49 minutes today, when Veena also ran albeit for a very short distance. Decided to go easy today to help her get started in running. Weather continues to be cool and crisp.

Easy Run - Thursday, 25th February 2010

Did an easy run of 71 mins today, easy rhythm,

easy run - Tuesday, 23rd February 2010

Did an easy run of 65.50 minutes today. Intended was a tempo started a tempo as well, but stiffness in my right calf muscle put paid to the hopes of a tempo today. Instead concentrated on endurance and ran with the pain. Tempo for another day.

RBI allows daily product interest on savings accounts

RBI has allowed calculation of interest on savings bank  accounts on daily product basis w.e.f. 1st April 2010 in view of the state of computerisation that exists in banking system as per RBI circular here.  RBI Circular

BNP Run - Sunday, 21st February 2010

Did a long easy run at BNP today, only it was at quite a pace at I managed to reach the top in 42 mins as against 49 minutes i normally take. Return was even faster at 37 mins with the last 200 metres in sprinting pace. It was a beautiful, cool, crisp weather today, perfect for running. In the RRR... RMR group, we had 9 runners today. Rounded off morning routine with post run stretches.

Easy Run - Saturday, 20th February 2010

Did an easy run of 45.38 minutes today. had some apprehensions after yesterday's strenous track interval workout and also was a bit stuff going into yesterday night, but once i started running, it was all smooth. Finished with a bout of stretching.

Speed intervals - Friday, 19th February 2010

Completed my track intervals today - did 5 rounds of 900 metres speed with 500 metres of easy jog in between. Started with 1.5 km of easy jog followed by some stretching. Also ended with stretching. Also ended with stretching post run. Good workout today. Was able to maintain good speed throughout the 5 rounds and in fact accelerated in the end.

Tempo - Tuesday, 16th February 2010

Did a tempo run of 20 minutes today, thereby kicking off preparations for the goa half marathon in april. Little difficulty today, i think little bit of stiffness was there.

Sunday Run - 14th February 2010

Had a good run at Marine Drive today with the NRC. Had to go to collect my photographs from the post SCMM lounge event, which fortunately was kept for me. Running in Marine Drive has its own attraction, a beautiful venue, an electric atmosphere with so many runners going up and down, a scenic view of the Arabian sea and also the sun beating down gently on the open road.  Had a good workout for 61 minutes.

Easy Run - Friday, 12th February 2010

Did an easy and comfortable run of 53.47 minutes today. It was quite cold today.

Easy Run - Thursday, 11th February 2010

Did an easy run of 65.30 minutes today. Have decided to do the Goa half marathon on 11th April as my next event.

Easy Run - Tuesday, 9th February 2010

Did an easy run of 1 hour 31 seconds today, completed 25 hours of running this year, pretty good. Another 100 hours to go.

sunday long run - 7th february 2010 - BNP

Did a long run of 105.31 minutes today, an exhilarating run in the Borivli National Park, the weather was cool, crisp and perfect for running. Took all the slopes comfortably and on the return leg, took a new route, which was good and daunting as well.

Easy Run - Saturday, 6th February 2010

Did an easy run of 30.03 minutes, just limbering up after a whole week of non-activity.

Rahul Gandhi's remarks

Rahul Gandhi made a foot in the mouth statement when he stated that Biharis are needed to save Mumbai. What does Rahul know of Mumbai. Has he stayed here for more than a few hours. We don't need Biharis to save Mumbai. We can do it ourselves. Shiv Sena is as much needed in Mumbai as the carpenters from Bihar but not the thieves from Bihar. We need Shiv Sena to protect Mumbaikars.

MMRDA and infrastructure projects

Since MMRDA is implementing so many infrastructure projects in the city, they should also look into pedestrian rights around the construction area. Most often it is found that the area around the construction site is littered with steel bars, rods, cement bags, huge stones, bamboos, wood, etc. that it is difficult to manoevre across the road while walking. Also water, sparks from welding works, and other construction materials sometimes fall down on the people walking beneath the roads, making it very difficult for the pedestrians.

 

Sometimes walking across the roads is barred which forces pedestrians to take a long detour which is also ridden with potholes, blockages, too much traffic etc. This very much inconveniences the pedestrian public and it is a violation of their right to easy use of the roads.

 

During construction of any projects be it flyover, metro or monorail, there should be a clearly earmarked space for the exclusive use of pedestrian, which should be free from litter and on which hawkers and motorists should not have any access. Also the exclusive area should have a proper roof which prevents water, sparks from welding work, and other construction work materials from falling down. It should be clearly indicated that such road is for the exclusive use of pedestrians only. I believe this is the right of pedestrians in this country.

--
Ram
Mumbai

Cat O' Nine Lives

Just finished reading "Cat O' Nine Lives" an excellent collection of short stories by Jeffrey Archer in his inimitable narrative style, which is brilliant. "The Man who robbed his own post office', "Don't drink the water", "The commissioner" were some of the best tales, though in my opinion, all the stories were outstanding.

Strand & flea market

Picked up few books from Strand book stall today, "Esquire - the big book of fiction", "The case book of forensic detection" and "Thriller", no relation to MJ hit.

Also picked up 4 books from the flea market, "superfreakonomics", "The nine lives", a book by tim waterford of "undercover economist' fame and a legal thriller by scott thurow.

SCMM - Personal Best time

Successfully completed my 6th Mumbai Half Marathon in a PERSONAL BEST time of 2.25.56 hours today. The race started with a melee today at the starting point, and I started with a good pace and kept at it till about 9 kms mark after which i started sagging a bit. from Mahalakshmi race course onwards, the sun was directly affecting the runners and the pedder road climb took a heavy toll on the legs. Passed the magificient african athletes at about that time. The marine drive stretch also took a heavy toll and i started walking to the count of 30 steps each time to recover my energy. From just before the turn into V.N. Road, i started again strongly, and kept at it without stopping, slowly increasing my pace all the time. At the flora fountain turn, i was determined to run strongly to the finish and i started accelerating my pace all the time and from about 200 metres to the finish, i started sprinting strongly to finish strongly in a good time of 2.25.56 hours. If i had not taken those walking steps, i could well have finished under 2.15 hours, which was the target.

Cat O' Nine Tales

Just finished reading "Cat O' Nine Lives" an excellent collection of short stories by Jeffrey Archer in his inimitable narrative style, which is brilliant. "The Man who robbed his own post office', "Don't drink the water", "The commissioner" were some of the best tales, though in my opinion, all the stories were outstanding.

Sunday Run at Borivli National Park - 31st December 2009

had a good run at Borivli National Park today for about 14 kms at 93.50 minutes. Met a lot of guys today from RRR RMR group.

Hand me a Figleaf

That is the title of the book by James Hadley Chase, which i completed today. Chase is one of my favorities, and i intend to read all his books, have completed few so far. His is a typical, hustling pot boiler with suspense, drama, murder, mystery and little bit of sex thrown in. He typically writes of the under dregs of the world.

Hand me a Figleaf

That is the title of the book by James Hadley Chase, which i completed today. Chase is one of my favorities, and i intend to read all his books, have completed few so far. His is a typical, hustling pot boiler with suspense, drama, murder, mystery and little bit of sex thrown in. He typically writes of the under dregs of the world.

Easy Run - Saturday, 30th January 2010

Did an easy run of 31.22 minutes today, perforce had to cut down my run due to an impending cold/cough. Just to keep the momentum going.

JD Salinger

The second in the line of famous authors passing away this year JD Salinger also has a cult book to his name "The Catcher in the Rye". Just like Erich Segal previously, Salinger achieved life time fame from just one novel.