Life and its Runs
I ran, for almost everything, the sprint as a kid.
I ran, carefree, the confident run of a teenager.
I ran, with the youthful burst, the runs as a youngster.
Run for that moment, the spontaneous runs.
I remember the primary school runs.
I ran from my house to school bus, many times, the first run of the day.
I ran from school bus to the class, to save sometime to play.
I ran from the class to the playground in interval, exciting tiffin time.
I ran from class to the school bus, the sweetest run of the day.
I remember the game runs.
I ran to avoid the ball, game of pittoo.
I ran to hide, for the police-thief/hide-seek game.
I ran, the dodge run, I ran, the catch run, kho-kho.
I remember the other runs, the runs with spectators.
I ran with a spoon with lemon in mouth, the spoon race.
I ran with a sack around my legs, the sack race.
I ran, simply ran, the ‘running race’.
I remember the once-in a while panic runs, sometimes many more.
I ran home to collect the hall ticket, which I forgot.
I ran to avoid getting caught, stealing Guavas from the garden.
I ran to get through the graveyard way faster, in the dark.
I ran out of my home, to avoid my father, a complaint from school.
I ran after hitting the neighborhood boy, the bully.
I remember the crush runs.
The run, to be standing on the way, she will walk to her tuitions.
The run, to the bus stand, where she boards the bus.
The sudden run, she is in the neighborhood.
I remember the college runs, some daily, some in a while.
I ran, to board the bus, always the moving bus, the pseudo bravado in me.
I ran, not to miss the start of the movie, last minute college bunk plan.
I ran, to avoid the path of my principal, less attendance.
I ran, to reach the faraway park, safe from prying eyes of neighborhood, she was waiting.
Then came the Life’s Run,
The laboured run, no hint of spontaneity.
The pace of Life’s Run, made me forgot the real Run.
I long for the joy of real run, the run for the moment, the air of spontaneity.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
'Runners High' and Me
I had been running for few months in over the past year then, and I had lots of doubts on running.
I started to have some running injuries and that is when I started trying to know more about ‘right’ way of running. And trust me; it was tough to know the right way of running, despite information overload on the subject in cyberspace and despite me buying few specialized books on Marathon.
I was bit shocked, bit confused, and bit under confident when I started coming to know the apparent complexity in running. Heart rate, Thresh hold rate, Optimum heart rate, and suddenly the dreaded Professor Rao’s finance class in MBA was sort of looking easy for me, in retrospect.
Add the other aspects about which I had no clue of right and wrong: right shoe, right amount of water, Knee pain, shin pain, and the list is endless.
Running to me in my mind was a simple activity and here it was becoming only a bit less complex than the amino acid structure in a DNA. And being on the wrong side of 30 was not helping my fears.
But somehow, I was determined to Run and that is when I met Rajat in cyberspace and he gave me the ‘S.P’, pardon the hyperbole, the ‘Super Prescription’ for my running issues , ‘Santosh Padmanabhan’. And coincidentally I read about Santosh’s ‘Asha’ Run, which was counted in hours rather than Kilometer and I knew this guy is crazy enough to have all the answers and I decided to join his program at 'Runners High' (RH).
But, as usual, I had gone wrong again in life: I had no idea of the amount of craziness I am going to encounter in RH. Neither Rajat, not Santosh warned me about Preeti and Chandra.
Preeti’s decibel levels left you wondering whether the physio knows that injury can also happen to ear drums, not necessarily only to leg, knee and shin.
Chandra can put an Army Colonel to shame, when she reprimands me for coming late, in her trademark serious voice tone.
I knew from early in life that I had no grace in me, but the ‘Running Drills’ drilled that point in my head firmly and squarely. I finally realized why I was the whipping boy for my PT master in school. Some of the exercises left me wondering if I should consider Shiamak Davar’s classes.
As if lack of Grace was not enough, I had to do handle ‘Brace’, along with ‘Core’, ITB, Hamstring, Quad and few more funny sounding words.
I also discovered where did ‘Chipko’ movement of Baba Amte to save trees, originate from, he copied the ‘Runner’ exercise of Huggging the Tree.
Juann Mann of Free Hugs movement would be proud of the RH members, if not Human, we were giving ‘Free Hugs’ to Trees. May be , Santosh can also train people for ‘Hugathon’
Apart from Running, I think one thing which RH gives is lots of smile and laughter. Never mind the jokes from Santosh in his semi-serious tone, with half a smile. It is testimony to the kind of ethos RH has, RH is supportive and motivates people giving them confidence. Though RH does give all the expert advise on running, it is the way they conduct the program which makes it all the more enjoyable. May there be many more moments of ‘Runner’s High’.
---------
Note: RH is “Runners High” and details can be found at http://www.runnershigh.in. I have attended few of their programs. “Runners High” is an organization run by set of dedicated professional runners.
I started to have some running injuries and that is when I started trying to know more about ‘right’ way of running. And trust me; it was tough to know the right way of running, despite information overload on the subject in cyberspace and despite me buying few specialized books on Marathon.
I was bit shocked, bit confused, and bit under confident when I started coming to know the apparent complexity in running. Heart rate, Thresh hold rate, Optimum heart rate, and suddenly the dreaded Professor Rao’s finance class in MBA was sort of looking easy for me, in retrospect.
Add the other aspects about which I had no clue of right and wrong: right shoe, right amount of water, Knee pain, shin pain, and the list is endless.
Running to me in my mind was a simple activity and here it was becoming only a bit less complex than the amino acid structure in a DNA. And being on the wrong side of 30 was not helping my fears.
But somehow, I was determined to Run and that is when I met Rajat in cyberspace and he gave me the ‘S.P’, pardon the hyperbole, the ‘Super Prescription’ for my running issues , ‘Santosh Padmanabhan’. And coincidentally I read about Santosh’s ‘Asha’ Run, which was counted in hours rather than Kilometer and I knew this guy is crazy enough to have all the answers and I decided to join his program at 'Runners High' (RH).
But, as usual, I had gone wrong again in life: I had no idea of the amount of craziness I am going to encounter in RH. Neither Rajat, not Santosh warned me about Preeti and Chandra.
Preeti’s decibel levels left you wondering whether the physio knows that injury can also happen to ear drums, not necessarily only to leg, knee and shin.
Chandra can put an Army Colonel to shame, when she reprimands me for coming late, in her trademark serious voice tone.
I knew from early in life that I had no grace in me, but the ‘Running Drills’ drilled that point in my head firmly and squarely. I finally realized why I was the whipping boy for my PT master in school. Some of the exercises left me wondering if I should consider Shiamak Davar’s classes.
As if lack of Grace was not enough, I had to do handle ‘Brace’, along with ‘Core’, ITB, Hamstring, Quad and few more funny sounding words.
I also discovered where did ‘Chipko’ movement of Baba Amte to save trees, originate from, he copied the ‘Runner’ exercise of Huggging the Tree.
Juann Mann of Free Hugs movement would be proud of the RH members, if not Human, we were giving ‘Free Hugs’ to Trees. May be , Santosh can also train people for ‘Hugathon’
Apart from Running, I think one thing which RH gives is lots of smile and laughter. Never mind the jokes from Santosh in his semi-serious tone, with half a smile. It is testimony to the kind of ethos RH has, RH is supportive and motivates people giving them confidence. Though RH does give all the expert advise on running, it is the way they conduct the program which makes it all the more enjoyable. May there be many more moments of ‘Runner’s High’.
---------
Note: RH is “Runners High” and details can be found at http://www.runnershigh.in. I have attended few of their programs. “Runners High” is an organization run by set of dedicated professional runners.
The Army Childhood and Running
My earliest memory of Running is when I was 5 years old I guess.
I used to see my father getting ready for run each morning and evening (I have seen him more in evening than in morning, as I used to be in my deep sleep) in his army shorts, army T-shirt and canvas P.T. shoe, which was a standard issue from Indian Army.
I used to get fascinated when he used to go for special drills in war attire.
He used to get dressed in battle gear with backpack and the heavy Army shoes with the flattened army cap. I used to ask him, where he was going and he used to say he is going to practice running carrying the rifle, in case in war he has to do that. And the first time I saw him running in battle attire, carrying a rifle, I was clapping for him. I wanted him to come first, without realizing that it was not a race.
Now, when I run, in my branded Running shoes wearing, moisture transfer-quick dry running T-shirt and shorts, my thoughts sometimes wanders to the Soldiers of Indian Army.
May be it is the conditioning from young age, the soldier just runs, age no bar. No running shoes, no dry fit T-shirts, no running posture guidance, no stretching exercise/hugging trees, no pacing technique, no conditioning. He just runs, and that has not changed for decades. They run in canvas shoes, they run in big thick Army shoes and they run barefoot.
Recently I was talking to one of my friend who has joined the Indian Navy, and used to be a Runner even before he joined the Navy. He is currently undergoing training at Indian Naval Academy. I queried him on the difference in the way running happens in Navy training and running in his pre-Navy days. His response was a big laugh.
He said, we are made to run immediately after heavy dinner, we are made to run immediately after heavy lunch, we are asked to run carrying a fellow officer, we are punished to run carrying the cycle overhead, we are made to run in practice war games and we are even woken up in the middle of the night and made to run 20 kilometers in a enemy camp raid simulation. We are made to run to the mess, we are made to run to barracks and we are even made to run to the open air movie theatre.
He said, we truly represent the two famous advertising tag lines, ‘just do it’ and ‘impossible is nothing’.
Army also is very particular about attire, it does not mater, if it is fit for purpose, but the code has to be followed.
Around the time when I was 10 years old, I fancied the idea of running in the morning, in white T-shirts and white-shorts in white canvas Bata shoes. This was no love for running, but for the whole charm of the ‘all white attire’, the running attire code for Army officers.
I remember trying for few days and I always used to stop after few meters, may be a kilometer, as I used to get pain on right side of stomach. As I did not want to go to a doctor, and also did not like the pain, I stopped the whole exercise of ‘all white attire’ and the country lost a budding ‘long distance runner’.
I used to see my father getting ready for run each morning and evening (I have seen him more in evening than in morning, as I used to be in my deep sleep) in his army shorts, army T-shirt and canvas P.T. shoe, which was a standard issue from Indian Army.
I used to get fascinated when he used to go for special drills in war attire.
He used to get dressed in battle gear with backpack and the heavy Army shoes with the flattened army cap. I used to ask him, where he was going and he used to say he is going to practice running carrying the rifle, in case in war he has to do that. And the first time I saw him running in battle attire, carrying a rifle, I was clapping for him. I wanted him to come first, without realizing that it was not a race.
Now, when I run, in my branded Running shoes wearing, moisture transfer-quick dry running T-shirt and shorts, my thoughts sometimes wanders to the Soldiers of Indian Army.
May be it is the conditioning from young age, the soldier just runs, age no bar. No running shoes, no dry fit T-shirts, no running posture guidance, no stretching exercise/hugging trees, no pacing technique, no conditioning. He just runs, and that has not changed for decades. They run in canvas shoes, they run in big thick Army shoes and they run barefoot.
Recently I was talking to one of my friend who has joined the Indian Navy, and used to be a Runner even before he joined the Navy. He is currently undergoing training at Indian Naval Academy. I queried him on the difference in the way running happens in Navy training and running in his pre-Navy days. His response was a big laugh.
He said, we are made to run immediately after heavy dinner, we are made to run immediately after heavy lunch, we are asked to run carrying a fellow officer, we are punished to run carrying the cycle overhead, we are made to run in practice war games and we are even woken up in the middle of the night and made to run 20 kilometers in a enemy camp raid simulation. We are made to run to the mess, we are made to run to barracks and we are even made to run to the open air movie theatre.
He said, we truly represent the two famous advertising tag lines, ‘just do it’ and ‘impossible is nothing’.
Army also is very particular about attire, it does not mater, if it is fit for purpose, but the code has to be followed.
Around the time when I was 10 years old, I fancied the idea of running in the morning, in white T-shirts and white-shorts in white canvas Bata shoes. This was no love for running, but for the whole charm of the ‘all white attire’, the running attire code for Army officers.
I remember trying for few days and I always used to stop after few meters, may be a kilometer, as I used to get pain on right side of stomach. As I did not want to go to a doctor, and also did not like the pain, I stopped the whole exercise of ‘all white attire’ and the country lost a budding ‘long distance runner’.
My Stroy on Running
My story on running is not inspirational, but I went thru some dejection/self doubt and there were times, where I found it difficult and may have quit running forever. But I tried (don’t know the reason) and today I can’t think of quitting running.
And I would be very happy, if my story can help somebody to discover the ‘joy of running’.
It is pure Joy, the ‘joy of running’ or ‘running for joy’.
Recently I jokingly told my friend over lunch, ‘I thought, I will never fall in Love again, but I have’, and he was waiting with anticipation to hear the name of the girl, and I said ‘I have fallen in love with Running’.
-----------
"I often wondered why runners could accomplish what they did. It's like analyzing love or passion. Why I had to run remains one of the mysteries of my life." John J. Kelley, one of America's greatest marathoners.
------------
I had been to gyms few times, but could never continue as I was not enjoying it.
But I wanted to get involved in some fitness activity. Few times, with no reason, a picture of one of my old colleague’s father’s photo flashed in my mind, he was a professional marathon runner and had run all over the world.
When all this was going on, one day, a friend of mine from US called and asked me to donate some money for building a school in India for Underprivileged children. She was running a marathon to raise this money. She was a working woman in US (full time job), managing a house without a maid, managing two children , teaching art in weekends and still managed to train for a marathon, and raising money for a cause. I found this incredible.
I was not sure if I will be able to run even 2 KM, leave apart a marathon. But I wanted to try. March 27, 2009 and I got out of my house in Pune at 6 am, and managed to run 1 Kilometer, with lot of stops and lot of try. And this went on for more than 2 weeks and now I was doing 4 kilometers. It was an effort to run, and lot of mental and physical push. And around the 5th week, I ran 10 kilometers and somewhere between 3-5th week, I started looking forward to the morning run. I was getting a sense of Joy out of running.
I saw an advertisement of Sunfeast Run in Bangalore and registered for it, came to Bangalore from Pune, only to run in Sunfeast and managed to finish it in 71 minutes. One poster held by one of the supporter, had the following quote: When you run, there is Pain. Pain is Temporary. When you finish the run, there is Pride. Pride is forever. I would replace the word ‘pride’ with ‘joy’.
Then post Sunfeast, I discovered I have Plantar fasciitis, a condition where in you get severe pain in your heal. I was dejected. I did not know what the cure is and was confused, and as luck would have had it I met somebody who had got Plantar fasciitis treated with customized soles in shoes. I went for the treatment, still unsure and got the customized soles made. I was impatient, wanted to run and it has already been two months that I did not run. Post the customized soles in place in my shoes, the pain started decreasing, and I was happy.
Waking up early was an issue. I wanted to Run as much but due to my work timing, where in I manage teams from UK and US shift, I used to reach home (even now) only by 12 midnight or even later. But I persisted, though irregular, I used to run at least 2 days in a week on an average. With this self training, I finished another 10Km (Nike) and finished a half Marathon (though with poor timing).
Then RH happened. In simple terms, RH firmed up my belief of ‘Running for Joy’. Apart from the expertise they have on Running, RH makes you smile and tells you to discover the ‘joy of running’.
I still have a long way to go in terms of long distance running. But I have discovered the 'Joy' . I have run few 10Km Runs in RH training in 56-58 minutes mark, with much ease, more confidence and more importantly lots of Joy. And I am reasonably confident, that I will do a marathon this year, more the Kilometers, more the Joy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: RH is “Runners High” and details can be found at http://www.runnershigh.in. I have attended few of their programs. “Runners High” is an organization run by set of dedicated professional runners.
And I would be very happy, if my story can help somebody to discover the ‘joy of running’.
It is pure Joy, the ‘joy of running’ or ‘running for joy’.
Recently I jokingly told my friend over lunch, ‘I thought, I will never fall in Love again, but I have’, and he was waiting with anticipation to hear the name of the girl, and I said ‘I have fallen in love with Running’.
-----------
"I often wondered why runners could accomplish what they did. It's like analyzing love or passion. Why I had to run remains one of the mysteries of my life." John J. Kelley, one of America's greatest marathoners.
------------
I had been to gyms few times, but could never continue as I was not enjoying it.
But I wanted to get involved in some fitness activity. Few times, with no reason, a picture of one of my old colleague’s father’s photo flashed in my mind, he was a professional marathon runner and had run all over the world.
When all this was going on, one day, a friend of mine from US called and asked me to donate some money for building a school in India for Underprivileged children. She was running a marathon to raise this money. She was a working woman in US (full time job), managing a house without a maid, managing two children , teaching art in weekends and still managed to train for a marathon, and raising money for a cause. I found this incredible.
I was not sure if I will be able to run even 2 KM, leave apart a marathon. But I wanted to try. March 27, 2009 and I got out of my house in Pune at 6 am, and managed to run 1 Kilometer, with lot of stops and lot of try. And this went on for more than 2 weeks and now I was doing 4 kilometers. It was an effort to run, and lot of mental and physical push. And around the 5th week, I ran 10 kilometers and somewhere between 3-5th week, I started looking forward to the morning run. I was getting a sense of Joy out of running.
I saw an advertisement of Sunfeast Run in Bangalore and registered for it, came to Bangalore from Pune, only to run in Sunfeast and managed to finish it in 71 minutes. One poster held by one of the supporter, had the following quote: When you run, there is Pain. Pain is Temporary. When you finish the run, there is Pride. Pride is forever. I would replace the word ‘pride’ with ‘joy’.
Then post Sunfeast, I discovered I have Plantar fasciitis, a condition where in you get severe pain in your heal. I was dejected. I did not know what the cure is and was confused, and as luck would have had it I met somebody who had got Plantar fasciitis treated with customized soles in shoes. I went for the treatment, still unsure and got the customized soles made. I was impatient, wanted to run and it has already been two months that I did not run. Post the customized soles in place in my shoes, the pain started decreasing, and I was happy.
Waking up early was an issue. I wanted to Run as much but due to my work timing, where in I manage teams from UK and US shift, I used to reach home (even now) only by 12 midnight or even later. But I persisted, though irregular, I used to run at least 2 days in a week on an average. With this self training, I finished another 10Km (Nike) and finished a half Marathon (though with poor timing).
Then RH happened. In simple terms, RH firmed up my belief of ‘Running for Joy’. Apart from the expertise they have on Running, RH makes you smile and tells you to discover the ‘joy of running’.
I still have a long way to go in terms of long distance running. But I have discovered the 'Joy' . I have run few 10Km Runs in RH training in 56-58 minutes mark, with much ease, more confidence and more importantly lots of Joy. And I am reasonably confident, that I will do a marathon this year, more the Kilometers, more the Joy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: RH is “Runners High” and details can be found at http://www.runnershigh.in. I have attended few of their programs. “Runners High” is an organization run by set of dedicated professional runners.
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