8.48 kms

 Squeezed in a 8.48 kms on a Sunday morning in deadly humidity and heat in Bombay. Coming back to running after almost two weeks of non running did have its effect though. Luckily could manage today without taking a walking break. Have a great day folks. 

3.12 kms

 

evening walk of 3.12 kms with the kiddo, did inside the colony only - some of the roads have been dug up, so had to take a detour of sorts. Little bit of breeze at one stretch, otherwise since the sun had already set, it was ok. Worked up quite an appetite now. 

3.42 kms

 

Back running after 13 days hiatus due to one reason or another. Feels good to be back. Did a low mileage planning to do a back to back long run tomorrow. Running is stress free, its the best destresser in the world. Have a great weekend folks. 

4.99 kms

 

Good morning. 4.99 kms for the morning. Good strong head winds today. Have a nice day folks. 

9.09 kms

 

9.09 kms for the morning. Have a great day folks. 

8.61 kms in Aarey Forest

 

8.61 kms long run in the Aarey Forest. Going to Aarey after a long time, about a year or more perhaps, and well worth the run, because Aarey is tough, full of hills and you get pure oxygen inside the forest. The roads are in a pathetic state though, don't know why the government is not repairing them. Its full of potholes all over and many places there are no roads at all. Very bad governance by whoever is responsible for it. 

4.78 kms

 

4.78 kms easy run for the morning. Crossed 100 kms mileage in a month for the first time since January 2021.  

6k virtual race

 

6k virtual race, all by myself. The weather was dry and humid, so it was not helping either. Improved the per kms pace from 6.39/km last month to 6.35/km this time. Have a great day folks. 

9.19 kms

 

9.19 kms for the morning. There was a slight drizzle going almost throughout the race, so that helped cool the temps. Its a bliss to run in slight rains, like nothing can beat it. 

8.78 kms

 

8.78 kms in extremely humid weather in Mumbai. It was totally dry, airless and humid. Some wee bit of light breeze towards the end and very light showers for the last 1.5 kms. Have a great day folks. Running is fun, its the best stress buster that you can have. 

4.75 kms

 

4.75 kms on a humid saturday morning in Mumbai. Saving grace was some bit of breeze at few places. Have a great day folks. 

9.18 kms

 

9.18 kms in humid weather in Mumbai. Saving grace was that there will little headwinds at times. Have a great day folks.

8.35 kms

 

8.35 kms of which 3.5 kms in tempo pace. Weather was OK, got a bit of drizzle in the 6th and 7th kms each for a few seconds each. Have a great day folks. 

5.13 kms

 

5.13 kms walk/ run with the kiddo, more walk than run, second run of the day and evening runs are always more stressful than morning ones because of the traffic. Weather was OK having rained during the day. 

8.87 kms

 

8.87 kms Sunday long run in 01.03 hours in humid weather in Bombay. Got some rain at about 3 kms and then it rained when i was walking back home. Running is meditation in motion. You are like focused and zombie like whilst running.

10K race in Vile-parle

Ran a 10K race after years yesterday at the Keep on Running India 10K which was held at Vile-Parle East, suburb of Mumbai. It was a flat track with two loops of 5K, the weather was okay and drizzling to slightly light showers. There were too many twists and turns for a 10K, but the roads were okay and crowds were non existent for a sunday morning. There were sufficient volunteers at every corner so a possibility that a runner might get lost was not there. Since I was racing after a long time, and not much of strength training in the interregnum, was pleasantly surprised that I was able to maintain the pace for a long time. The whole ideas was to treat it as a long tempo run, so that was good in the end. 

Turbaned Tornado

This book "Turbaned Tornado" is a biography of the famous Indian marathoner who ran a marathon at 100 years, Fauja Singh. The writer Kushwant Singh is not the same famous Indian journalist and writer of the same name. It is a nice narrative of the early life of Fauja Singh, how he travelled to London after the death of his loving wife and started running marathons at the age of 89 when most of us would rather be more comfortable walking with a stick!! Fauja is an indomitable spirit and his farmers' genes help him in becoming a rare sportsman and brand ambassador more famous than sportspersons three or four generations younger than him. His timing of 5.20 hours at the age of 94 is the stuff made of legends. He was denied the Guiness world record for being the oldest marathoner, due to lack of his birth documents.  Fauja Singh is truly a great sportsman of India and reading his biography is very refreshing.  Goodreads 5/5

Ultramarathon Man - Confessions of an All-Night Runner

Ultramarathon Man - Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes is an absorbing and overwhelming story of his early athletic prowess in schools, loss of his sister to an accident, his subsequent forays away from running for 15 years, his rediscovery of running to running marathons, ultra marathons, crazy distances, unheard of before and impossible feats like running the South Pole marathon, running 199 miles non stop, etc. His heroic attempt at running the Western States 100 miler and Badwater Ultramarathon and failing the first time has been poignantly told. A nice inspirational story with dollops of quotable quotes for keeping in one's mirror or desktop. The paperback edition has given details of his diet, training, nutrition, strategy etc. so that becomes useful for people running ultra marathons. Dean has that rare gene which allows him to run continuously non stop unlike us mortals. He has also discovered the art of sleeping while on the run, albeit for  a few seconds. Dean has also run the 50 marathons in 50 states of the United States in 50 consecutive days, finishing the 50th day by running the NYC marathon. Goodreads 5/5 

11.24 kms Aarey

11.24 kms in Aarey Forest, Mumbai. Took the regular unit no. 16 and the Aarey Guest House and also added the Diary road today. Weather in Aarey was absolutely humid with not a hint of breeze whatsoever. Aarey Forest is such a beautiful place, an oasis in the bustling city of Mumbai, a paradise of sorts. Don't understand government apathy in destroying such a beautiful natural eco system which is virtually the lungs of Mumbai. Especially when there are alternative sites for construction of the metro car shed government insistence on destroying aarey forest is nothing short of arrogance and cruelty. Cruelty it is to the thousands of birds, insects etc. residing in this beautiful forest. Every time you go to Aarey Forest you feel so refreshed, it is the pure oxygen which is the hallmark of this place. I suspect there is corruption and greed in commercially exploiting this pristine piece of nature.  

Marathon Man

Just finished reading "Marathon Man" by Bill Rodgers otherwise known as Boston Billy who won the Boston and New York Marathons 4 times each in the late 70s. Boston Billy has personally autographed this book which was given to my dear friend Bhasker Desai who had ran at this year i.e. 2013 Boston Marathon. Bhasker finished the race and was in the medical tent when the bomb blast took place.

It is a very enchanting and enthralling book with a throbbing narrative in collaboration with Mathew Shepatin. Basically it is an account of his early life and his Boston marathon experience of 1975. The narrative is very interesting in the sense that each chapter starts with his Boston 1975 progress during the race and the later part of the chapter devotes to flashback to his early life as a college student, running with Amby Burfoot who is his original inspiration, his "conscientious objector" status during the Vietnam war, his degree at special education, struggle at getting a job etc. He was a natural born runner with a great capacity for hard work and a body which could take any amount of hard work with very little injuries. The realisation that he could be a top notch marathon runner came to him only during a race with Amby Burfoot in which he raced alongside the great Amby for about 15 miles of a 20 mile race. The seeds of inspiration which Amby sowed in him made him take up competitive racing including marathons. Boston Billy alongwith Frank Shorter, Amby Burfoot and Jeff Galloway were the pioneers of long distance running first in America which then spread to other cities in the world which has since then grown exponentially. His latter attempts at Montreal Olympics of 1976 and thereafter founding a successful running business alongwith his college buddies makes for a good story. It is an excellent book, very inspirational, very nice story of an easygoing hardworking American who loves running dearly.