Reflections

I have used Google Maps/Yahoo Maps extensively while in the US and has been really amazed at how detailed they are and how useful they have been. At the same time, I have never felt that this would be effective in India where it is fairly common to have one-ways come up where there were none, other one-ways change directions, roads closed for a variety of reasons and in some cases are just plain un-motorable. However, I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday. I was traveling from Bangalore to Tirupathi and the usual route we take is through NH4. But because of road works here, this road is a little painful and slow. So, we decided to try out alternatives and Google map showed me the alternative through Chithoor - Gudiyatham and NH46. I was really amazed. I never knew the existence of this Chithoor - Guidyatham state highway and even if I did, I would not have thought of this route. This route was about 40Km longer, but much more comfortable and faster. Yet again, the online revolution ...

I have always felt that total abstinence is much easier than compared to moderation. For example, it is easy to stay off chips completely than to say I will only have a handful. I was hoping that the reverse is also true for things that I want to do. Like going to gym. I thought that after a break, you just need to go to gym for a couple of days to break your laziness and set up your rhythm, but alas it does not appear so. After having finally broken the jinx and waking up with the alarm for a couple of days, I thought I was all set for the good routine. Unfortunately, waking up with alarm every morning seems to be getting more and more difficult. And the first two days that I actually did get up seems more like an aberration. And of all things, running and going to gym are actually things that I always liked to do !! Need to somehow break out of this rut and get to more active and enjoyable routine...

OK, after being dormant and completely inactive in blogging, I have finally resolved to get back to more active blogging.  It is not that there were any lack of interesting incidents that led to my entering the dormant stage, it was rather a lot of other reasons (read laziness).  Let us see if my mid-year resolution holds for the next half of the year. I will start with a post on one interesting situation I faced a couple of days back. Last weekend, I visited Chennai to attend a family function. And as my wont, I decided to do a long run on Sunday. Chennai, being renowned for the hot and humid place that it is, is not a conducive place for such runs, especially for those who are not used to its weather. So I decided to do an early morning run and left home at around 4:45 AM on a two wheeler. It was here that I realized, in spite of all my years of riding, there has been one problem that I have never managed to solve. That is the problem of handling chasing dogs when drivin...

I participated in the KTM last weekend. That statement may imply nothing in the first glance, but actually tells quite a bit when read carefully. I would have ideally liked to say -- "I completed the KTM last weekend", but alas, that is not true. I pulled out of the marathon midway, did around 31 km. Actually, even that is a distorted statement, I would have run for about 26 and pretty much walked the remaining 5Km. The marathon again proved that it will deal ruthlessly with people who do not respect it. I have been running about 15 to 20Km on the weekends with little mileage during the course of the week and still dared to attempt the marathon. And it showed. I could barely manage beyond the 26 KM mark and pretty much walked the 5Km to the finish line. The incident was a good enough reason to get myself resolve mentally to prepare well for the next race. The Ultra, a 50Km race, is coming up in two months time -- good opportunity to get over the KTM disappointment. Just fini...

As I recently read the news on Michael Jordan's induction in the NBA Hall of Fame, my mind started thinking on why he rates as my (and for many others) "most admired" sportsperson. Is it just that he is an immensely talented athlete? It it that he won several Championship rings? Is it because he is in possession of every possible trophy that the NBA has to offer? For me, these are certainly good reasons, but not the only ones. I think two other attributes are equally important -- the attitude and intensity he brought to his practice sessions and his mental toughness. Try doing a web search on "Michael Jordan Mental Toughness" and you will see several several links. Here are a couple Yahoo and Google . This is clearly a testament to the great athlete's trait. I am tagging this post with those key words, you probably will get this also in search results soon :) Why do I feel these to attributes are important? It is fairly evident that he is immensely gifted...

Since the Phoenix Marathon in Jan 2008, I have not run a race and so when the opportunity came up for the 10K race organized by the IITB Alumni association, I did not want to miss it. Even though my running has been sort of erratic for the last few months, it was just a 10K run and I was confident that I would be able to manage it easily. I left home pretty early as I had to collect my running bib and reached the venue (EGL) at around 6:30AM. I was surprised that there was a reasonable crowd, about 60 people finally participated. It was organized and conducted by people like you and me, so it felt good. I did not know many people there, but luckily that changed as two of my colleagues, Amareshwari and Vinod turned up. They are not regular runners, I do not think they have run in the recent past at all, so it was really nice to see them muster up enthusiasm and show up where others would have just preferred to cuddle up and sleep on a Sunday morning. The race started pretty much on t...

Haile Gebrselassie is arguably the greatest distance runner of all time. With an amazing 26 world records to his credit, from 2 miles to the Marathon, he has done it all. Having been a sports buff myself and a long distance enthusiast in particular, I have followed his career with utmost interest and admiration. He recently bettered his own record in the race that he calls "the king of distance", the Marathon. And he bettered it by a whopping 26 seconds. If put to a layman, bettering 26 seconds in a 2 hour 4 minute race might not sound as a news that deserves the kind of excitement and admiration. But, like any other sport, one appreciates the nuances better if one plays or at least dabbles in it. Been into long distance running for quite sometime now, I can really appreciate the significance of this delta. To make up for that small difference, not only must the race be planned well beforehand, the plan needs to be executed to perfection as well. And given that the race span...