MSD Strategy for my running

It is said that I normally talk more than I run- which is true most of the times, particularly now that many of my friends from PCMC runners club are bored of listening to my theories and speeches.

However there is an analogy that I wish to share and hence writing this blog.

I have learnt a lot from the way MS Dhoni plays and imbibed those features into my running – atleast the mental aspects of it.

To start with physical conditioning and eating habits, whether Cricket or Running, has to be addressed in the manner demanded by sport.

However it is the mental side of it where I wish to draw a parallel with the way MS starts, paces and finishes his innings, particularly in a chase. It is almost objective and calculated to the core- but is still so subjective that probability theories go for a toss.

He starts by assessing the conditions – pitch and weather, and also the match situation. He then draws couple of revised targets and a minimum below which he wouldn’t settle for.

After that he just stays in the chase, waiting for a false move by the opposition. He reads the game well in terms of field placings and which bowlers would be bowling the death overs. He also makes a quick math on which bowlers need to be targeted at what stage of the game.

Having done the above, he almost goes into a defensive mode with just enough runs being made to stay afloat. Many a time, the game just brought to a standstill with not much happening and all players the opposition are in “auto mode”.

He then, bides his time, and at an appropriate opportunity, which may be introduction of a particular bowler or a match situation, shifts gears. He backs his ability to do so and brings it down to 2 players – the bowler and himself. The other 10 players are removed out of the equation almost.

It then becomes – a who blinks first – situation and this puts tremendous pressure on the bowler who may then make a mistake for MS to capitalize on.

Drawing a parallel now –

Whatever may be our training and preparedness, we must assess the situation on the particular day and decide our comfortable pace of running.

Then, as it happens with me, when I am into 8 k, I normally feel like quitting – here is where I need to stay in the chase and not quit.

I need to assess 3 possible options on the probable finish time or distance and make a reasonable option below which I would not settle for. This baseline option is required so that we are competitive at the very least, else there would be no targets and hence no improvements.

After that I need to decide when I want to start pushing the time or at what stage in the run, I need to pull out those extra strides that my physical conditioning would allow me to do. I need to remember I have limited ammunition of that kind and need to use it wisely.

One that point is decided, I need to go into “auto pilot” mode with running at a comfortable aerobic pace, just good enough to stay in the chase or even may be lag behind a little from the asking run rate. This phase has to be a prolonged one as it is going to lay down the platform for my final assault.

In the last phase, it is a question of making a sprint or a run/walk by putting into the extra energy I have conserved. I may fail to make the most in the final phase but I would still land up between the 3 options which I have envisaged.

I wish to imbibe this strategy into my runs to make them stress free and help myself recover early.

Sometime this week I am going to employ this on a 21K run and see how it goes.

 

AHM Calling? or otherwise

Matters not if it’s the summit or the base,

Or if it is not one of your very best days,

Keep up the spirit, just stay in the chase,

The journey is as important as the race.

 

Think of why you are here, in this place,

Cheer up – Bring out the smiling bright face,

Miracles do happen with Almighty’s grace,

Never give up is what Rocky Balboa says.

 

Remember – running is fun and not a craze,

Do it for yourself and not for praise,

Hard work and perseverance finally pays,

We will be back to our winning ways

Cycle Waari To Pandharpur - A Spiritual BRM

 

I was never a cyclist and still do not think so. I have no interest in doing BRM or try to achieve to become SR.The first time I saw a geared cycle from my running Guru Umesh Sonavane, I really got afraid of it – too many levers,gears – all too complex for a Finance background person.

I decided to stick to running for fitness and under the guidance of some of my best well wishers – Prashant Kulkarni,Krishna Garuda and Umesh – did quite a lot in 2016 – started the year with my first 21K, finished Full Marathon in Hyderabad with a great timing, completed Pune Ultra Marathon -100K in 15.21 hours and closed the year 2016 with around 2400 Kms of running.

Wanted a different challenge in 2017 and hence after thinking about a cycle and its budget for more than a year, purchased a geared cycle in Jan 2017 with a 2017 target to run 2017 Kms and cycle 2017 miles.

Work and certain other engagements meant that I am behind the asking run rate for both these targets at the moment but there is a confidence at back of my mind that I will do it like the Dhoni Finish.

My current focus is still Hyderabad Marathon in Aug 2017 where I want to better my last year timing of 4.27 hours and cycling still remains a cross training and occasional office commute reason in my life.Further I just cannot fix anything in the cycle if it goes wrong, means that my long rides revolved between Hingewadi and Bhosari as this stretch has 4 cycle shops along the way.

Even though I am a Tamilian by origin,being born and brought up in the Great Maharashtra, Vithoba has been in our family – in the form of Abhangs which my mother always sings – in the form of the Great Bhimsen Joshi – in the form of the Great Warkari Tradition that shows the easiest way to reach libertation. There has always been a strong urge to become a warkari and do a dindi – but not finding the right group or may be did not have full commitment to do it.

I was added to ICC group by Gaju and Vishi whom I came across different running and fitness groups. The group was a hardcore cyclist oriented one  - ICC also is known to organize these events in which kids like cycling  and participate in large numbers.

On Thursday – Ajit Patil – Another ICC core member and great inspirer – posted the idea of doing a cycle wari to Pandharpur.I checked with Vishi and Chandrakant Patil (SR who cycled to Kanyakumari last year) if they were coming and if I should do this. Both encouraged me to do it.

I liked the idea as I thought I can take a dip in Chandrabhaga and fall at the feet of that “Pandaricha Chor” and at the same time try to cycle to a new place.

I had to miss the TSOM (Third Sunday of the month) Run organized every TSOM by PCMC runners which was difficult – also the weekend is for long runs.

Vithoba made the decision easy for me – Ajit Patil almost took a Guarantee to take care of me and my cycle along the route – what else was needed? Within minutes I could see other members Saurabh,Kapil and Giri make arrangements for Tempo, route map etc – It all got assembled within hours and at such a negligible cost (Almost cost of Taking ST Bus).

Now, the biggest hurdle – convince the better half – My Wife has always been mostly supportive of my weekend runs – but she was worried as this was 230 Kms on cycle and on the highway – but she gave in to my passion

Day – 0 Friday

I was ready for my Spiritual BRM – 230 k, previous long ride was 80 k. I purchased 2 extra tubes for the tyres without knowing what to do incase of a puncture.It rained very heavily in the evening in Pune –causing self doubts of next morning – but the commitment was made and the will to embark on this journey was done.

 

Day 1 – Saturday

Woke up at 2 am and got ready to leave home at 3.15 am so that I can reach Akhurdi by 4 am which was the start point – I could have joined at Nashik Phata – but since I did not know the group members by face decided to start for first point.The sky was clear in the morning to my relief.As I cycled to Akhurdi I realized I had overpacked things I may not need – raincoat and extra clothes.That is when Ganesh Bhujbal –our non riding caption and mentor arrived at 4 am in the morning – offering to carry all the bags to Hadapsar in his car so that we do not have to carry them.

This was Vitthal and his miracle.

The entire gang was led by Gaju in the start – and his rhythmic pedaling kept us all going at constant speed with Ajit playing the Floater role. Reached Hadapsar on time and tempo and remaining members were ready – Quick round of photo+ tea and we continued our journey.

We thought we will take break at Yevat – but the way the ride was proceeding, we decided to push 12 more kms upto Chaufala for the break. Had some aromatic hot wadapav at Gurudutt and again left with the idea of next stopping at Patas.

But again, the team tempo was so good that we decided to push further to Bhigwan to take a break and cover as much as possible before noon time.

5 kms before Bhigwan,we found a nice Neem Tree and decided to take a break – Had some much needed lemon juice and some basic snacks.Did some stretching and again started to move.

We decided that next stop is at Indapur for lunch which was 45 kms from there. The route contained some elevation and up-down terrain but finally managed to reach Indapur Junction at 12.45 pm. All team arrived there safely by 1.30 pm.

We had a good lunch and the hotel staff offered us a room to relax in for sometime – This is another miracle. Since we had all woken up early morning and now had good lunch, we left again only at 3.30.

By now, the fatigue was beginning to set in but the morale was high. We left for Akhluj as next stop. The State Highway was good except for some patches.The next 70 Kms from Indapur to Pandharpur was completed purely with a will to see Mauli. All along the route, we got ample support of the villagers who were surprised at our attempt to do a cyclewari.

One set of riders reached Pandharpur at 8.30 pm just before the heavy rain at Velapur. The other set of riders including our support tempo reached at 10.30 pm.

I was fortunate to get the Mauli Darshan at night just before close of temple timing. We had good home cooked dinner at the place where we stayed.

Day 2 – Sunday

Early morning 4 am ,Ajit was up and fabulous foursome of Ajit,Gaju,Sandeep and Tenis got ready to ride back to Pune. It occurred to me that I can take morning Darshan as well – so left for temple with Amit, Kapil and Dipak.

The Gajanan Maharaj Mutt is a great place to stay in and have food – we had breakfast there and left back for pune in the tempo at 10 am.

The time spent in the tempo was good in terms of knowledge on cycles and body adaptation. I realized for the first time that the front wheel on my cycle can be detached.

We met Ajit at Indapur where as usual he was high on enthusiasm – they faced strong headwinds for around 170 kms and made it to pune at 1.10 am.

We arrived at yerewada at around 4 pm only to find that roads were blocked due the Palkhi procession. We decided to ride back home from Yerewada. Most of us were home by 5 pm to conclude what was a great spiritual ride.

The conception, planning, idea and execution was done by ICC and the Almighty graced it.

#pandharpurcyclewari

#pandharpurwari2017

#indocyclistclub

 

 

 

 

Universe in me - Zero sum game

Free as a bird, empty as the wide blue sky,
my mind rests, but asks the question why,
restless, frittering away the clear unknown,
Time stands still - soul left all alone.

Am I content - I ask the undefined blackbox,
Am I free from life's bondage and locks,
Do I know what I want - or should I,
Take the future flow as time goes by.

There is a big vacuum - clean slate,
What I feed into it becomes my fate,
Seeking that balance and tranquil state,
Achieve the oblivious before its too late.

God's greatest creation is within me,
I have it all, just the need for me to see,
Call it intuition, foresight or prophecy,
I know it now - What will be, will be

 

My first Half Marathon Experience

It seems desires are fuelled by the heart to acquire or achieve something.However it is probably the mind that wants to prove a point or reach redemption.
Same was the case when i wanted to start running - apparently for no real reason or objective,but for many auxilliary benefits it could bring like loosing weight, being cool and adopting another fitness fad.
i started running in 2013 in US where i would run 3 miles(5 km) every other day along with my other routines which included kickboxing,cycling and Yoga.The results were there to see and i lost a lot of pounds to reach 75 Kgs from a whopping 92 Kg in 9 months.
Then, came a period of lax which coincided with winter and a plan to rellocate to India, which resulted in disruption of my routine.
All was lost when i again began to get unfit and add pounds and reach 84 kg again. My occupational hazard of constant travel did not help the cause and i was a pale shadow of my 2013 fit self.
Then in July 2015,i started my morning routine again only to find out that 3 years later, it was not as easy. Age and metabolism have their say and my body had lost its flexibility.
i had to start all over again with walks and slow runs and still the body did not feel good.
Managing my aches and pains became a greater pre-occupation than planning and training for long runs.
I decided to get additional motivation by surfing the internet to check out some running groups.
Since i did not know if i could really do it,i did not want to take professional paid help and i did not want to invest a fortune for something i started without an objective.
Then Punerunning.com gave me that ideal platform - Voluntary help from Professional runners who wanted to inspire people to run.Their motto was to give hope to people like me and help us make up our mind to  actually do it.
I started by joining the group for weekly runs to see what they do and try and emulate their behaviour.The updates by the members on whatsapp- where they posted their daily efforts and runs made me wonder how human they were.
It was impossible for me to fathom how can a man run 18 km or cycle 50 km and come back the next day for a jog or hit the gym.
Were their diets different? were they injecting steriods into them? what were the supplements they took? how does the body tolerate this extreme workload? And how can there be something called an "ultra marathon" where people run 89km in 11 hours?
People told me it is all in the mind - that was the famous cliche.
i ignored that and started pushing myself - 10 Km and then 12 Km runs. I could do no more than that alone.
A couple of weeks before my targetted PRBM 2015 Half Marathon, i decided to run 21 K with the Pune Running Group at the Pune University Campus. Umesh and Krishna, both professional long time runners helped me. They always believed that winning is not when you reach the finish line, You win when you reach the start line to run.
I did 16Km before i got cramps - had to take a snack and water break and then walked 5 km slowly to finish 21 km on a day for the first time.The body was sore but the pituitary was secreting serotenin and i was experiencing what they called " a runner's high".
It felt celesitial and unreal and i returned home to take a warm shower and had a great afternoon nap.
The recovery was tough and painful - but i had something to look at on my Runkeeper App.
Like a small child who keeps seeing his candy bag again and again,i kept looking at my accomplishments till i almost memorised the entire content.
i shared all of it with my friends and well wishers.It was more a brag waiting to be apperciated rather than real conviction.
One week before race day, the group was going to train at the Pune University grouds as usual for the weekly long run and this time was determined to do 21K at a stretch.
However, another inspirer,friend and runner - Prashant Gupta called up after a long time asking me how i was doing for the PRBM 2015. Incidentally, he was one of my early inspirations when he posted his PRBM 2013 accomplishments on social media.
He told me that i should run the same race route atleast once before the actual day so that i am aware of the terrain and topography.
I decided to run the PRBM route on 4th Oct 2015 and was surprised to feel the challenging terrain.It had 3 steep elavations making it difficult for novice runners to pace themselves into a rhythm.
I again did 17 K and then walked 4 k but this time did not cramp and completed the run without a break to clock 2 hours 34 mins.
My left leg was sore and i was worried that my body should recover for race day. I kept giving my body warm water treatment to make it feel better.
However, my left leg still had some pain, even on the penultimate day. While collecting my bib on the day before the event, i bumped into legendary runner Rahul Verghease who complimented my effort but told 2 cardinal rules - a) never do your best effort one week before race day as you may burn out and b) Cold water treatment is better than warm water.
Race day arrived and i was up early and in positive frame of mind.The Pune Running group had wished me Luck and i was about to do what i never though i will do.It would be wrong to say i was not anxious or nervous, but i was focussed and not let any theatrics get to me
I started off with the 2.30 Bus and was determined to stay with them.All went well till the 14 K mark and i actually do not remember much as i was in a unique rhythm.I was amazed at the work of the volunteers on the way manning the water stations. Their vociforous support helped immensely to try and take the effort to the next nautch.
However after 14 K i started getting severe knee pain due to the soreness of the effort from previous week and the comfort in the run vanished. Now it was a question of lasting 7 more km and completing this ardous journey.I took a couple of sprays on the way at the medical stations to try and ease the pain, but it was a push from hereon. The 2.30 bus went ahead of me and at around the 16 K milestone, i decided to take a walk break knowing fully that this would mean that i may not complete sub 2.30 anymore.Further the elavated terrain in the last 3 km was a stretch that would slow me down further.
i decided to try and run again and did so till the 17 k mark. From thereon it was surely a walk as the terrain was highly elavated.I walked as fast as i could, and finally made a ergonomically dirty dash towards the last 200 meters.
Completing the race was a great feeling- deep down i knew that i could not break the sub 2.30 barrier.I later learnt that shaving of minutes and seconds in a Half Marathon was not only a function of speed.
I was in no mood to let that spoil my achievement.I was basking in glory- beaming with pride- looking for people to brag - wanting people to congratulate me.In short, i was on a runner's high.Nothing seemed bad in the world.Everything was as it should have been.There was utter bliss and contentment.
Prashant was somewhere there and he called me to find me in the crowd.We proceeded to the medal and refreshment area and sat down to talk about it all.The 2.30 paces - Terrance Miranda, a heart attack survivor, was seated beside us and we lived through it all over and over again.
We then headed to the grand stage where the podium finsihers were being falicitated.It was an amazing feeling cheering for these supermen and women.A 6 year old boy ran the 21K and so did an 86 year old man in traditional dhoti. A visually challenged man dared to complete the 21K as well. Here was a congregation of people- young and old,privilaged and challenged,novices and professionals,fit and flabby, highly motivated and fun loving - who together decided to overcome all sorts of conventional barriers and on this day just decided to run beyond themselves - nothing more, nothing less.
It was truely a PRBM - Pune Run beyond onself event - A great debut experience for me to cherish all through my life.
As i was living through all these emotionally charged moments, i recieved an SMS of the provisional time i completed the race in - it said 2.34 - which was great considering my creaking left knee.
I know deep down that i could have done it in less,but i will take it for a first attempt.
i called up home to let all my family folks know about it.On reaching home,i could see my daughter looking amazed,wondering what her father has achieved.She realised that i was very happy having run a lot of distance and she found joy in that. She also expressed her desired to run next year.
I plan to make her and my wife do the 3K run next year at PRBM 2016.
A truely great day concluded with a nice hearty family lunch at home and a nice snooze thereafter.

SAP Go Live at Project Inspire- AAB Automotives,Qatar

We are on the cusp of Go Live (Miraculously) at  AAB Automotives,Qatar. Feel Relieved and proud



As the inevitable minute ticks over,
It dawns that it is now or never,
All sweat and blood spent is all past,
Let us dream big and hope to make it last.

All squabbles and animosities inter se,
Lies buried now, this penultimate day,
Sinking in all differences for the cause,
Let us all march ahead without a pause.

Actions may deviate from planned road,
Personnel may get stressed under workload,
Men will stand up for the moment of glory,
Leaders will be created in this success story.

Let us reach out to the ignored and reclusive,
No victory is ever complete if not inclusive,
Let us be kind to the Change resistant elements,
Embrace them with positive statements,


This is the biggest day of our belittled life,
Hurray – Lets together smile and GO LIVE

Thanking my spouse

Its been a while that i felt like writing - a free mind with a light heart and a torrent of memories.
This is our 7th Valentine day - whilst the journey has been always up and down, the flavor is enhanced by this very virtue.

Like every tide which sweeps in only to ebb away - each new chapter with Uma promises bliss only to give another hope.But more than these playoffs, her patience support and sacrifice has been the cornerstone.

There is still room to improve from both sides and we are all optimists. The sun continues to rise and so does our aspiration and commitment to carry on.
Just wanted to thank her.