Some gems from the ladakh trip...

For more pictures on the ladakh trip visit www.greattibetanmarathon.blogspot.com These are some of the best....






The Thiksay monastery near Leh


Buddha at Thiksay Monastery


View from Thiksay Monastery


Both side along the Indus are extremely green, but everything else is completely barren




Dhabhas long the Manali-Leh route

What was the terrain for Great Tibetan Marathon like?

Successful Freedom Run

I had a very bad evening before my freedom half marathon run (Deonar to Babulnath, for those familiar with Bombay), nothing was going right, could not find some running accessories, slept late, realised that I had forgotten some important stuff at work, had lotsa work to catch up with.... I got up earlier than required as was a little stressed out. Was almost contemplating to abandon the Freedom run, but did not allow these thought to affect my plan, and I managed to start on time at 7.00am (scheduled start time).

Started off well and things were starting to look better and at the 6km mark a guy riding on a motorbike asked me if a marathon was going on (his words were Marathon laga hai kya?), I was almost tempted to ask - how did you know that?, but decided to give him one big wide smile. Those words made by day. And after that it was one smooth run, perfect rhythm. I could have gone on and on and on... The icing on the cake was a drizzle during the last 500meters of my race. Managed to do the 21km odd run in about 2hr 4mins, could not have asked for anything more.

Some other things which made the run special was the way Bombay was celebrating independence day. The patriotic spirit was everywhere, another refreshing changes was the use of patriotic songs everywhere (there were no remixes here, only original stuff), across some 8-10 flag hoisting procedures which I witnessed during the way. Most festivals in Bombay have been fully commercialized and would be usually accompanied by remixed songs and remixed bhajans/prayers, which is very disappointing. It was refreshing to see that this phenomenon had not touched independence day, I hope it stays this way.

Today I also registered myself for the Hutch Delhi half marathon, which takes place on October 28, 2007. I do not intend to prepare for it, but incase I am in Delhi during that time, I plan to run in it and not otherwise. So I thought it might be a good idea to register myself, incase I happen to make it. I can't really run a fast half marathon. The difference between my half marathon distance in a full marathon and a half marathon is negligible, just around 7 minutes or so, plus I don't feel motivated to actually work on improving my timing for it. I enjoy distances which truly challenge me and a full marathon is the bare minimum, Ultra marathons would really challenge me..

Freedom Run coming up

I managed to run only twice this week, did 6km on both occasions and followed it up with a good Sunday run of 12kms in 1hr 10mins. I was not able to run on Friday and Saturday, as I was tied up a few things and had to stay up late (which meant I had to sacrifice the early morning run). The weather today was quite good, had two short rain bursts during the run, which made things quite effortless.

I plan to make up for it by doing a Freedom run, a half marathon from my house till Pedder Road, Bombay on Wednesday, August 15, 2007, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of India's Independence. And if I feel good enough, I will follow it up with a swim. Am looking forward to my first good long run after the Great Tibetan Marathon on July 21, 2007.

Weekday runs start again..

I had a good run today of 6km, did it in a decent time of 34minutes. I am feeling quite good after the run, though it will still take sometime to get into a rhythm.

The weather is good for running, pleasant with a decent sprinkling of rain, something I really like. The only thing I now need to do is to be regular with my weekly run. I also need to start some sort of cross training, which will be swimming and some freehand exercises.

People I met at Great Tibetan Marathon....

Well if the achievement of having run a full marathon at 3500m altitude was not enough, I also got to meet some very interesting ‘superbeings’.

I met a Danish journalist who had completed about 110-120marathons over the years, a German translator who had done 50+ marathons (including 14 marathons in this calender year, plus two successful Marathon Des sables (MDS), and she is planing to do many more...) and a Spanish aeronautical engineer who has been in India since January this year, having successfully cycled all over Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Leh (via Manali), he actually managed to do Manali leh route (across 5 mountain passes) in less than a week, which is an average of about 75km per day over the duration, with altitude reaching over 5000meters. I met a group of four cyclists who had also done the Manali - leh trip on a bicycles over a ten day trip (it was a mix of a commercial pilot, a mountain gear distributor and cycling specialists, after the tough biking trip, they also successfully completed the half marathon). I also made two amazing friends (one was a quality champion from Hyderabad and another was a Tech wiz from Bangalore) whom I had met through my blog. They had joined me to participate in the full marathon event, we were the only three Indians (excluding ladakhi local runners) to participate & successfully complete the full marathon.

Great Tibetan marathon finish & start line pictures

I ran the entire marathon with the hat. It would have been impossible to run without it (caps are just not good enough, you need total protection, plus ofcourse a good pair of sun glasses). The sun was very harsh, thanks to the high altitude and clear sky (there is zero atmospheric dust).


We were given Medals immediately after we crossed the finishline, which made things really special. My whole body was aching thanks to the hammering from the terrain & the mid-day sun.



Detailed Leh map (not to scale)


The start line at Hemis monastery



The finish line at stok monastery. Me along with Jiten (from organising team), Sandeep & Nagarajan

First long run after GTM

I just about managed to complete my Sunday long run of 11km in about 1hr 4mins. It was quite painful and hard (a really big effort!!), need to start my weekly runs from this week, to regain my rhythm. Tomorrow seems like a good time to start...

I am yet to get over my Leh trip, trying to reconnect with friends I made there. Will write more on them in the coming days.

Week after the marathon..

Its been a hectic week after the marathon. It took me a few days to recover fully after the marathon, thanks to the lack of adequate preparation for the marathon (courtesy the thigh injury). Plus I had a tough time catching up with all the work after the long break. I actually needed a weekend rejuvenation break to get back to normal.

I went for a weekend trip to a hill station near Bombay called Chiplun(300km from Bombay). The resort had everything in place to ensure that one had a very comfortable and relaxing time. I Am still continuing with my break from running. Though I did try and give running a shot, tried running on the hotel Gym and had to quit the treadmill in exactly 3 minutes (it was in real bad shape), but I did make up for it by going for a 3.5km on the beach, a good portion of the run was in the rain, which made things truly wonderful.

Have frozen on my next target - its to experiment and participate in the first Ultra marathon in India. It a 80km run in Bangalore, sometime in December '07. I hope to start running again in the next few days. After meeting some really wonderful and inspiring people at the GTM, I hope to do the MDS (Marathon Des Sables) sometime in the future (distant future). The Bangalore ultra marathon will be a good indicator to tell me if I am equipped to even attempt something like the MDS. Visit http://www.darbaroud.com/index_uk.php for more.

Its a mother of all endurance ultra marathon events. Marathon Des Sables (MDS) is run over the sand dunes of the Sahara. It covers about 220kms over seven days, with average temperature of 40+ degree Celsius & complete Food self-sufficiency (minimum of 2k calories per day) for the duration of the race (plus obligatory equipment (survival blanket, sleeping bag, compass, whistle etc.), which has to be carried on person from day one. The only thing that will be provided by the organizers will be 9liters of water a day & a public tent at the end of each stage over the 6 stage race!

Successful completion of Great Tibetan Marathon 2007

I was not able to post yesterday after the marathon, due to poor connectivity in Leh.
I am now back in Bombay after a super 10day eventful trip.

I successfully completed the Great Tibetan marathon 2007 on Saturday July 21, 2007. I did the 26mile run with a official time of 5hr 36min (it should have ideally been 5hr 20mins, if I had not done the last 2km twice, due to lack of adequate directions at one point, but am not complaining). To give some context, the best time was 3hr 24min by a danish runner & most were about 45mins off their personal bests. The run was truly out of the world, especially the last 7kms, which was a run across sand, streams, meadows, pebbles over a mud track, ..... and all through there were mountains all around you (and a amazing mix of barren landscape and the greenery along the Indus river).

This was the race where my mental toughness was at its very best and I could not have had it any better. There were so many variables which made things difficult (high altitude between 3800-3400mts), mind fever (guess it was more out of anxiety, as did not feel a thing during the run), hard desert sun (first time in my life I had to wear a sunscreen, to protect myself from getting burnt), extremely dry desert climate & my nagging inner thigh injury which flared up after the 22km mark.

The three things that make this marathon truly memorable is the amazing never ending beauty of the barren ladhakhi landscape, the super mind over body effort (the marathon felt quite easy..... and I thought it was one of the ten most difficult marathons in the world!!) and interaction with some amazing human beings (people who truly epitomize mind over matter phenomenon).

Will be writing more on the trip in the coming days.

Am off for GTM, Leh

Was able to go for a 6km run on Monday but not on Tuesday, as had to catchup on a lot of things at work, before I left for my trip. But I hope to make up for it by running on Thursday in Manali.

My legs seem to be good shape and I am looking forward to my trip to Leh. After making some enquires I have found that I will be able to have mobile phone connectivity in this remote location. I hope this means I will also be able to have data connection (using gprs) and will be able to keep in touch with my emails and also to put up short posts on the blog, incase cyber cafe access is limited. I will try and post regularly on my blog, during the course of my trip.

Back in Bombay and running...

This week has been as I had planned it to be. So am quite happy with what I have done in my preparation for the marathon, plus as a bonus my thigh strain seems to have recovered.

Managed to run thrice during the week. Monday, Tuesday and Friday, managed to do 7.5km, 6km and 7km respectively. Including the 7km run in a hotel gym, did not have a choice as I was staying in the central part of the city and it would not have been possible to run outside and did not really have time to find a suitable place to run. But the hotel gym had a good treadmill, more importantly it was well maintained and worked smoothly.

I recovered over Saturday, with some peaceful 12hr sleep, after some hectic back to back traveling. And was in great shape for my Sunday morning long run. I started a little late, could afford it as the conditions were overcast (though no rain and humidity at a pleasant 70-75%). I did a good 20km run in exactly 2hrs, I could not have asked for more.

I hope to follow-up it up with a run on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a run or two in Manali on July 12 (one in the morning and another in the evening). I just found out that I will not be able to take the bus from Manali - Leh on July 12, as they ply on alternate days and July 12 is the day on which the bus does not ply. What this means is that I will have to take a taxi from Manali to Leh, and it starts at 2am in the morning and drives non-stop to Leh. The Bus journey is lot more fun as you have a overnight halt at some place in the middle. But, I really don't have too much of a choice on this.

I am all set to take my bus journey from Delhi to Manali (could not book it online as the site did not work properly), so will directly go to the bus station and book my tickets. From what I hear it should not be a problem getting one. So everything seems to be in place, but have still not got any confirmation on my bookings for Leh stay (my one day at Manali was in place about 2 months back), I hope to hear from my contact on Monday. Till then I don't really have a choice and will have to be patient.

Yesterday adventure details...

I got up quite early hoping to go for my Sunday run by 7.30am, but to my surprise I just shut my eyes for a couple of minutes after my stretching exercises, and when I opened them, it was 9am. The overcast conditions saved me, as I started by run at 9.30am. I guess yesterdays adventure took its toll on me.

I had a good run of 12km in about 1hr 12mins, did not want to push myself further, as am not sure if my legs are back to normal. But the good thing is that I managed to do 36kms this week, which is not bad at all, and the thigh pain (at start of the run) has not increased. I hope to do a 20km next Sunday, if everything goes well. Have some hard traveling next week, but still hope to manage my weekday runs, as am running out of time in my preparation for the marathon.

Just read the papers today and realized that there were many people like me trapped in a airplane for between 3-5hrs, waiting for the plane to take off. Not that it makes me feel any better, but it was not so bad. The in flight crew handled the situation quite well, including the tempers of some nasty passengers. Its really strange when people protest and create a scene just for the heck of it, they can clearly peep outside their window and see that visibility is close to zero (he won't even be able to find the runway in this weather), but they still want to create a scene. What happened to being human, just because you want to blow steam/throw a fit, you just like to take off on someone??? I had to come to the rescue of one of the crew, who has being battered by a irate passenger. It was interesting watching/observing people over the three odd hours that I was there as I arrived late, got my 1am flight brought forward to the 10.15am which was scheduled for take off at 11.30am when I got in at 11am(most others were on the plane for upto 3.5 hours), getting restless, making calls, talking loudly....... nobody just sitting back and having a nap or reading. Guess uncertainty makes people restless, people just don't know how to accept reality/fate/facts and try & make the most of the situation. Why not just take it as a new experience and enjoy it??

Eventful day...

I had a very interesting day today. I changed my clothes half a dozen times during the day. The first was when I changed for my run in the morning (managed to do my 6km run in some really nasty weather, it was pouring and there was water logging at certain places), second was for getting to work (I got badly drenched, had to walk, run, take multiple modes of transport to finally get to work, including lotsa wading through knee length water, third was when i got to work and changed again to catch my flight for a work trip, fourth was when I changed on the plane, getting myself ready for some tough weather, fifth was when I got back to office - substantially drenched and the sixth was when I got home late in the evening, after watching a super flick - Die Hard 4, just love the attitude of Bruce... a true cult movie (well series, could watch them over and over again) and this time I was partially drenched as the rain & water logging had subsided.

The highlight of the day was sitting on a plane for 3 hours and finding out that I had to deplane after the long wait as there was no chance in hell for it to take off. The tarmac had ankle length water at places and the visibility was almost zero, Bombay was truly submerged, Again, but it was a first for this season. Bombay is not complete without having its major roads and junctions submerged atleast once a year.

Progress report...

I have managed to run on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 6kms each. My thighs still don't feel normal, but I can manage to run without too much discomfort. Since I am doing only short runs it should not be too much strain. Am traveling again tomorrow, but will still manage a run on Sunday (not a long run but some run!!). So that will mean about 5 runs this week, which is not so bad. Some more traveling coming next week as well, but will still try and do my 5 runs during next week, a good long run on next Sunday is a must.

Shivaji Park, pre and post morning showers

These were pictures clicked on my Camphone at Shivaji Park, at 9am in the morning on June 24, 2007 after my run.




The above two pictures were clicked around 10.30am at the same place. A clear demonstration of the excellent drainage system at the grounds. I guess its more natural than a man made drainage system.

Monsoon fury in Bombay on June 24, 2007

Bunch of people camping on National highway. They were preparing a quick snack & having a blast early in the morning, next to their Bus.







Monsoon fury, tens of trees had fallen all over BOmbay thanks to the gail force winds & continuous rains. This is the picture of a tree at King Circle.

Man made and natural streaks in the sky

Jet in the sky..... leaving a trail




Sun piercing through the clouds...

Cologne pictures..

This is the most popular monument at Cologne, close to the main train station of this exhibition city. Found it on the memory card of the phone, don't think I have posted it earlier.

Back in action...

I could not ask for anything better today. I had one of my best runs of the year, it was raining hard all through, the breeze (actually strong winds) were also accompanying me all through and the rhythm was sublime. It was so good that I had a problem terminating my run (which i extended beyond the pre decided limit of 10km) of 12kms, I only wish I was not recovering from an injury, I could have easily gone on to complete 30kms+ today, it was truly very special.

Yesterday and today has been very good for me, I was feeling low all week, the sense of frustration was continuously mounting (thanks to the endless wait) and this came at just the right time.

There was water logging at most of the regular low lying areas on my route, around King circle and Dadar TT and the Shivaji park ground. I have shot a few pictures (could not click more for the fear of rain damaging the phone), esp the pre and post coffee break pictures of Shivaji Park, which tells you about the efficiency of the draining system at the ground. I was truly impressed, with the dramatic change, all in little over an hour (even though it was still continuously raining, though it had subsided considerably).

Things seem to be getting back to normal, now the final test will be tomorrow. I hope my legs feel normal and that will confirm that my recovery has been complete. Injuries can be very unpredictable, and the last thing I want to do it to take the recovery for granted. So now its going to be regular, consistent and substantial leg strengthening exercises for me.

Comeback run...

As planned I did try and run for a km on my way back from work (thanks to the massive traffic jam). I followed it up with another run late evening, as it was something that I could not afford to miss. Not only would it give me some idea about my ability to go for a run tomorrow morning, but also give me an opportunity to run in the rain, first time this year.

I decided to make the most of it. I did about 3km, followed by nice and enjoyable coffee break in the rain and another 3km return run. It was pouring today, but I was determined to go for my run and it all turned out better than anything that I could have hoped for.

Although my legs did not feel too good at the start, thing were not so bad once I started running. This is a normal feature whenever one is returning from a injury. Your mind still feels the imaginary injury and as the muscles do not feel normal, but there is actually a thin line between the ghost injury (post recovery) and the injury not having healed completely. You just have to follow your instincts and determine if its the former or latter. God forbid if its the latter, you are sure to be down and out for a long time...

Eagerly looking forward to tomorrow morning, hoping for some good luck. I badly need to get back to running, as I have already lost a lot of time and can't afford to lose any more. I will be careful and will not push myself too much tomorrow, even if things are good. I hope to do more regular runs to start off, instead of longer runs.

Another week comes to an end...

Its been another week of rest. My last Sunday attempt at restarting was not successful, but am hopeful of a better performance this Sunday. My legs seem alright while I am walking and doing regular day to day activities, but the real test will be when I put them through a light short jog during the day today. So, till then the wait continues... Just waiting to bounce back.

more challenges ahead...

When I thought things could not get any worse, but that was before I suffered some bad food poisoning. I had a miserable Sunday evening and am now just about recovering from the weakness caused due to it.

Guess that will ensure rest for another week, my legs don't seem anywhere close to normal till now. I think its going to be my toughest marathon in July, in more ways than one. The good thing is I don't really have to worry about the finish time, I just have to complete it, which should not be too difficult.

So will try and enjoy my forced break, I seem to have so much time in the mornings these days, plus the extra one hour of sleep is sheer luxury.

I will continue to work on my legs, to try and keep them in decent shape, ready for a run as soon as my thighs start behaving properly.

waiting, waiting....

Patience is not my biggest virtue. And 'waiting' for me is turning out to be more difficult than preparing a marathon. I have completed my anti-inflammatory medicine course, and have a feeling that its has some positive impact on my injury. I think had some muscle tissue damaged on my upper thigh, due to continuous punishment of road running, without supplementing it with adequate leg strengthening exercises. Guess its a wakeup call.

Tried to go for a run in the morning, ran for about a kilometer, but my legs were not feeling good, so walked for another 4km and then called it a day. Am now doing some exercises and will give it another shot tomorrow or day after. The only thing I want now is to get back to running again and get on with my preparation for the Leh marathon.

Down with a injury...

The thigh strain seems to have turned out to be more serious than I thought. I took rest on the first three days of the week, but the strain showed no sign of recovery, actually it was getting worse. I decided it was time to get a doctor to help me out and take the help of anti-biotics (anti-inflammatory medication for muscle tissue damage). The doctor has now put me on a three day course and things are already improving. I will have to restart my running gradually and supplement it with some good muscle strengthening exercises. Can't afford to take any more chances, the GTM marathon is just one month away.

I have not been running all week, might actually go for a short run on Sunday as the recovery seems to be good, but need to take it easy. Its been raining quite regularly for the past 2 days and am looking forward to my first rain run really soon.

Third one done...

I had a good 16km odd run today, did it in a little under 1hr50min. This also included a 1km walk after the 10.5km mark, the humidity was killing. It rained two hours before my run and one hour after my run. But overall was very satisfying, managed to do about 35km or so over the last three days, all this with a set of stiff thighs! Not bad at all.

Am still working on my thighs, hope they get sorted out by the end of the week, will try everything under the sun to get them back to normal. Need it to fall in place, to ensure that I can step up my preparation for the July marathon.

I also picked up a new pair of shoes. This is the first time that I have picked up the same shoe for the second time, Adidas Nova just seems to work for me. Its is also one of the few shoes that does not cause a shoe bite. Have recommended it to a couple of friends, and they seem quite happy with it.

Two good runs, one more to go..

I did 7.5km on Friday and 12km today, in 44mins and 1hr 12mins respectively. I hope to top it off with a good run on Sunday, hopefully well above 12km this time. I seem to be in good shape and things seem to going fine, except for a persistent stiffness in both my thighs. This never used to happen earlier, it was always the chins or calves which used to trouble me. But for the last few weeks they have been behaving very well, but my thighs are not feeling normal. I am still able to run whatever distance is required, though the start is a little difficult and after the run, I don't feel very comfortable walking.

I think I badly need to do some overall leg strengthening exercises (in addition to stretching - the only thing I normally ). Guess its high time I took it up.... Will update regularly on how consistently I am have been able to do it.

Its been a good start to the week. Managed to run 6kms each on Monday and Tuesday as planned and did them in good time as well. It is currently extremely humid (at 95% humidity with a clear sky) in Bombay which makes running longer distances extremely difficult. I plan to take a break for the next two day and get back to running on Friday. I hope to use my Saturday well, as its an off day, might actually run twice that day or do a run and a swim that day.

The GTM travel schedule has also moved forward. I will be reaching Delhi in the evening on July 11 and will immediately take a bus to Manali. I hope to reach Manali by July 12 late morning, if that happens to be by 11am, I will take the Bus to Leh on that day itself. If not, I will either take a Taxi to Leh or take the Bus on the next day. The lodging in Leh also seems to be falling in place, hoping for a good deal on the same. My return is now completely in place, I have got my tickets for Leh - Delhi and Delhi Bombay. Hope to be in back in Bombay by noon on Sunday, July 22, 2007.

latest update on GTM

I have moved one step ahead on my Leh marathon trip. I have got some great airfares on my Mumbai - Delhi - Mumbai trip, so now I have two modes of transport in place for the trip. My Delhi - Manali - Leh trip road bookings are not in place, and don't plan to do anything about it for now. Might actually go without advance bookings for them. The return flight from Leh - Delhi also seems to be in place. So the only major hurdle left now is the lodging arrangement at Leh. Hope to wrap this up my next week, if everything goes well.

Now I just need to step up my marathon preparations, I have about 45days to get ready for the big run.

Started at a comfortable hour today, as I was trying to recover on lost sleep hours. Did not want to push as this was my first run after Tuesday. It was very humid in the morning today, which is not surprising as its raining in the evening.

The break was good, as I was able to recover fully from the flu like symptoms. Not sure if it was actually flu but did suffer from throat and bodyache for a couple of days. I did a good 11km run today in about 1hr 5minutes. Hope to follow it up with another run tomorrow. Next week is going to be hectic again, but I should be able to find time to put in my 4 weekday runs, plus hope to fully use the Saturday holiday.

Flu time, after a long time...

I had a good run on Tuesday morning after a great Sunday run. I rained in the morning and this made running a pleasure. These are pre-monsoon showers, so things get really muggy during the day. The weather change has already taken some toll on me, I am having throat ache (something one gets before a flu!!). But over the last year or so, with my improved fitness levels I am able to manage mild flus' without too much fuss, the only thing I need to do it stop running for a few days, try and eat more (esp. fruits) and try and manage some rest (but the daily routine stays as usual).

So I guess that means I rest for the next two to three days. Hope to have a decent run before my Sunday long run.

Sunday bounce back..

After the hot and steamy weather in Delhi, I was nice to experience the pleasant (relatively) early morning weather in Bombay. As planned I started my run at 6am (I know its a little hard to believe!!, even I had could not believe that I was able to get out of my house that early. It was special as I had slept late on Saturday night - due to traveling, tons of waiting at the airport and disturbed sleep due to excessive caffeine). And yes, I also managed to do my targeted 20km run in about 2hrs 3minutes and this was without any Gatorade to help me out, which make it truly special. Though I wish I had not forgotten to buy my supply of Gatorade, I guess that was one of the reasons for me being able to start at 6am, else it would have been impossible to do the 20km with just water.

I supplemented my hydration needs by having two pods of tender coconut after the run, it felt truly blissful.

I managed to run thrice this week, which is quite good, especially with some hectic traveling during the week. In addition to the 7.5km run on Tuesday, I did another 7.5km run on Thursday and a 6km run on Friday. I was actually planning a run on Saturday in Delhi, sanity prevailed and I did not take my running shoes along. There was no way I could have run with the day temp at 42 degrees and early mornings were in the early 30s.

I am happy to be back, though it was hectic, but I look forward to my Sunday run.

Bad run continues...

Things just don't seem to be going right. I tried to do the 20+km run on Sunday, but just could not make it happen. It all started due to some hectic traveling on Friday and Saturday, which got me very tired and had a tough time getting up early in the morning on Sunday (started at 7am). And that was the beginning of the end.... With great difficulty I managed to do about 15.5kms in about 1hr 43 min, which included about walking for 1km at the halfway marked due to exhaustion. I also made the mistake of drinking water before the Gatorade, which added to my misery. With this kind of heat and humidity, water just does not work, energy drink (Gatorade) is the only thing one should consume.

The other mistake I made was to go for a long run, after taking the three day rest for the thigh strain. I needed to do a short run, before the long Sunday run. Luckily for me, the strain seems to have healed, but I did have some trouble after the run.... but today I could feel some improvement in my thigh condition.

I was hoping to run on Monday morning, but could not make it happen as I could not get sufficient rest on Sunday. So today I went for a 7.5km run to compensate for the Sunday run. Might not be able to run tomorrow morning as I need to catch up with work, but will still try and make it happen. This week is going to be crazy again, as there is more traveling coming up.

The only thing I am sure about is my Sunday run, I need to start at 6am or so, to beat the heat and have a good run.

Forced break...

I did manage to run my regular 6km runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. But after that I was forced to take rest, as the last week thigh strain was not just going off. Although it was not directly really affecting running, it was not healing thanks to the continuous running. So I had to take the tough decision of taking a break for the rest of the week, though I will continue to do some stretching. I hope to have things back to normal by Sunday for the long run.

I started at 6.45am, could have started earlier only if I was not hunting for a Video controller driver on the Net, to complete the repairs of my computer. Its still not resolved and I will need to take help from a expert at work to find the driver and install it.

I surprisingly managed to complete my 20km run in a little over 1hr 57minutes, it was lot faster than my week before run, on the same path. Which definitely tells me that I need to start earlier, so next week should see me running at 6.30am. I also checked with my coffee shop fellow to find out the exact time that he opens, to my surprise he mentioned that he is suppose to open at 9am, but he usually opens on Sundays after 8am, and definitely by 8.30am. So I am now more than ok with an early start. There are also a lot of other benefits, which I realised only today. The traffic on the roads is significantly reduced, fewer people outside (so one can comfortably run in one straight line), less sun (I can wear my sun glasses half an hour after my start) & friendlier people in better spirits. The only problem is a significantly higher people traffic around my 1.2km track, as everybody is trying to beat the heat.

I have been roughly doing 20kms each for the last three weeks, so it time to step it up, will try and do an additional 3kms on next Sunday.

Tough week finally ends...

Its been one hell of an eventful (not pleasant though) week. The most important highlight being my home computer crash, it just would not start, so I had to get possible help, to get it working again. Right from reinstalling the OS, to software, to hunting for different drivers, to just get that thing started. Its been four hard days to get it working again and am hopeful that I will be able to complete geta and it back to normal by tonight. I have a strong feeling that this was due to a virus attack.

Thank god, I did not have any critical data stored there, and I have to thank Google
for it. I am just waiting for the day when I would be doing all my work, including presentations on Google presentation and storing it there as well. Would never find a safer place to store and retrieve it data/information.

I did manage to run thrice this week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,did 6km, 6km and 7.5km respectively. Should have run on Friday as well, but was working hard to get my computer working again, life just feels so incomplete without it, inspite of having a office desktop and mobile phone with mail access. Tried to do a lot many thing with my mobile phone while at home, but mobile technology still has a long way to go, to be able to replace a desktop. The most important one being easy availability of ultra portable bluetooth enabled keyboards, which can be paired with the handphone. One can get used to the small screen, but T9 or for that matter a QWERTY keyboard is just not good enough for a person like me (not really into writing one line emails!!).

Coming back to running, could not help but venting my frustration on the blog (I truly believe in a always on world). Except for the Tuesday run, the other two were quite good and my legs seem to be in good shape. But, in my enthusiasm to compensate for the Friday miss, I ended up doing a full bodystretch and strained my thigh muscle trying to do a split, its just something that bothers me a little at the start of my runs. I guess I have been lazy and selective with my stretching, only focusing only on the muscles that aid me while running, I need to remember that there are many more muscles which need to be given equal attention.

Hope to wrap the week with a good run, early run on Sunday. Aiming to start around
6.30am or so, so that I can beat the heat. Actually even that is a little too early as my coffee shop opens only at 8.45am or so, so what am I supposed to do after my 2hour run!!?? Any suggestions.... till the shop opens

I had a close to perfect run on Sunday (especially given the heat,could not have done any better). Did the planned 20km run in little over 2hrs, luckily I started a little after 7am, which made things bearable. I think I should start around 6.30am next Sunday to make things even better, only if I can get out of bed in time.

I ran from home, which is in Central Bombay to Pedder Road (which is South Bombay) and it felt good doing the distance, the sense of achievement is a lot higher doing one continuous stretch, instead of running around a 1.2km track (which can get monotonous at times). But, in this weather I would be willing to do anything to keep me away from the sun, I hope to restart my long road runs after the rains and till that time I would need to be satisfied with my runs around the track after my initial 12km road run.

Another week down. Managed a 10.5km run on Tuesday, followed by two 6km runs on Friday and Saturday. Did not have a choice but to take a break on Wednesday and Thursday as my left calf was sore. I need to get back to doing some leg strengthening exercises, so that they recover quicker, after longer runs.

Hope my legs are in good shape tomorrow morning for a 20km run, if I can just start early, by 7am. Am planning to change my routine Sunday long run, by running on the road all the way, for the entire 20km run.

Managing the heat...

I followed my 20km run on Sunday with a good 10.5k run today. Since it was a holiday, I decided to take it easy (which means more sleep!) and started at 8.30am. As expected it was going to be quite sunny and hot, but I wanted to see if my ability to bear the heat had improved and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I did quite well.

I did the run in a little over an hour. I managed the heat quite well, thanks primarily to the regular runs and the energy drink. My legs were not at their best but still managed a good time, though my left calf is a little strained after the run.

The biggest benefit of running in the sun, is the improved endurance (and maybe even immunity) to take on the sun & heat, whenever I go out the artificial comfort of indoors. Plus it also helps manage change in weather better, be it shuffling from air conditioned climate to extreme heat and humidity outdoors, or natural change in weather (esp. sudden drop in temperature). So, if I keep myself well hydrated and have my sun shades, there is absolutely no chance of a heat stroke.

Leh marathon itinerary taking shape...

My itinerary for the Great Tibetan Marathon, at Leh on July 21, 2007, is finally starting to take shape.

I hope to leave Bombay on July 11 by train, reaching Delhi on July 12 morning. After which I hope to take a inter-city bus which would take me to Manali, can't book this in advance as these are very basic state transport buses. But this is my only option, to take me to Manali by July 12 evening, as the more comfortable buses only take off in the evenings (there was no way I could waste a full day in Delhi!!).

I decided to stay over at a HPTDC (Himachal Pradesh Tourism Corporation) hotel. I tried using travel portals to book my stay in Manali and Leh, as I did not really have any better option, but to my surprise the experience was quite disappointing (in spite of presence of a huge number of travel portals in India, who have received tons of VC money, I believe they are good mainly for traditional destinations and are not good for advance booking beyond a couple of months). And then I hit upton the HPTDC website with online hotel booking, since it was a government organisation providing great value for money accommodation (which means great cleanliness standards), unlike a travel site giving me uncertified accommodation options. But, the site did not allow me to book for just one night, I had to book for a minimum of two days (and a max of 7 days), their conditions just do not seem to make sense. So finally decided to write to them and mailed a cheque to their local Bombay office & the thing was wrapped up in under a week.

The overnight stay not only gives me some rest, but also gives me enough time to have a hard run on July 13 morning (as Manali is at a reasonable 2000 meters, v/s Leh at 3500 meters). After that I hope to take the HPTDC bus to Leh, its a good 36 odd hour bus journey with some overnight camping on July 13 night. This would ensure that I am comfortably placed in Leh on 14th night, well before the deadline set by the organisers of July 16, 2007. Here again I can't book the bus tickets in advance, the earliest I can do it is in May and would need to courier a cheque or demand draft to make the same, online booking is currently not a option.

The road journey from Manali would also ensure that I have decent amount of time to (gradually) acclimatise for the high altitude. And I could then start with some light exercises as soon as I get to Leh and follow it with some short practice runs in a couple of days after my first day in Leh. And then I just need to gradually get ready for the D day on July 21.

If all goes well I hope to fly from Leh to Delhi on Sunday, July 22, 2007 in the morning (after the marathon and assuming I am in good shape, need to have a backup plan here, but not sure how) and follow it up with a train trip on July 22, getting me back to Bombay, safe and sound on July 23 morning. Now is that a well planned, tight schedule or what.

But the big hurdle in front of me right now is to find some decent, good value accommodation at Leh. It is going to be peak season at that time, as Leh will be hosting a very popular festival from July 14 to July 19. Which is not only going to make accommodation difficult but also expensive, so I need to close that end of my trip at the earliest. No travel site is allowing me to find any accommodation options online, so disappointing, am starting to lose faith in online travel and stay option already. So will try and use some reliable travel agents from the brick and mortar world and use email ids to contact hotels in Leh (using the good old Lonely planet) and source their best offers.

Smashing week...

Everything went as per plan, I start early, maybe not as early as I would have liked but 7.15am on a Sunday morning is not bad at all. I comfortably managed a run of little under 20km, in 1hr 54min. So that takes my weekly tally to 45km, now the only thing that needs to be done, is to maintain it.

Today's run again had something very interesting, after the first 12km on the roads and it was 7.5kms around Shivaji Park (which has a brick track and decent amount of shade, which makes things bearable, plus a 1.25km perimeter), but today I had a very entertaining time watching the practice parade (with the Police, Firemen, State reserve police, traffic cops.... all turned out in the best outfit, marching in amazing coordination) during my run, as the uniformed personnel prepared for the May 1 parade (which is Maharashtra day), sort of a mini Republic day parade at the same venue, for State Govt. forces. Hope to catch some of the actual parade on Tuesday, May 1 (its a holiday!!) during my run and will top it off with a swim later in the morning. The long awaited swim should happen on Tuesday now, hopefully no new hurdles should come up this time!!

The weekday runs this week have been a lot better. Managed to run four times, after a long time, did 6k, 6k, 7.5k & 6k, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday. Which takes my total weeks tally to 25Km, so the only thing I need to wrap up a good week is a nice Sunday long run, which is closer to 20k.

A hard Sunday run...

I did manage to getup early enough to manage an early start, which was suppose to be 7am, but it did not take place and I finally got out at 7.45am. Sometimes I just feel extremely lazy to get ready and get out of the house. This made the run even more difficult (plus the fact that I was not really in great shape over the last few days) as the heat and humidity really took a toll after the first 11kms of the run. I decided to walk for about a kilometer, just to let my body rest and get back to normal temperature and then followed it up with a good 7.5km run after that. Actually the break makes it (mentally) tougher to get back to running again. But, that is the challenge, which I tend to enjoy and it will actually help me for my Leh run, as I might have to walk after every 8-10kms, just to catch my breath (with avg altitude of over 3500meters that is very likely) and then start running again. So in all I managed to do about 19.5km in about 2hours 3minutes.

The highlight of the run was a conversation I had with a milkman (who was on a bicycle delivering milk to his regular customers in traditional milk jars/cans, they actually have their own cows/bufallos & deliver fresh milk) during the last couple of kilometers, of my first 11km run. He obviously saw me quite exhausted & advised me that I needed to breathe only through my nose to avoid exhaustion (and I was trying to explain to him, that I was breathing in through my nose and breathing out through my mouth). And then he started a string of questions, why was I running in the sun, why was I running at all, was it something to do with school competition (school & me, now?), and then he went on to explain that he used to run during his younger days for a good 3-4kms at a stretch (and he was actually all of 24years). It was difficult for me to explain to him, why I was running, I tried to explain to him that running was a hobby and that I participate in different marathons, in different parts. But what really caught his attention was that today I was planning to do a 20km run today and the fact that I was a lot older than he was.

It is these conversations or incidents which makes running in the outdoors great fun. It could be anything - running with a total stranger, meeting someone at a crossing and exchanging a few words, or just some passing comments from people who see you running (and react in totally unexpected manner). But, what really gets the maximum reaction from me, is when I have some runner appearing out of nowhere and trying to overtake me during my practice runs, it happened to me again after a long time during this Thursday run, when someone came from behind and tried to overtake me and immediately the competitive spirit kicked in and I overtook him in the next few minutes. On my return from the half way mark, I found him walking after being totally exhausted trying to match my pace, the expression on his face was very satisfying for me.

Low key week...

This week was a little hectic so running was on the back burner, plus there was 'runners fatigue', its a new word that I have coined, which means - a little bit of mental exhaustion coupled with legs feeling a little heavy during runs (almost as if you were wearing weights). But, I did manage to run thrice during weekdays, as taking a break for me is worse than enduring runners fatigue (as then my leg muscles start to develop aches and pains out of nowhere). A little complex, but that is how it behaves, so rest is not really a solution.

I did the three runs of about 6kms each in a little over 33minutes for all three, which is what I try to target. During the past week I have been sleeping early which helps me get my much loved 8hours of sleep, plus makes getting up in the morning at 5am a lot easier. Need to pick up my kilometers in the coming weeks and also move to 4 runs instead of 3.

Back to normal runs..

After a eventful and refreshing innovation, it was back to a nice easy run (what am I saying, i did the 11km run in about 59minutes, which is about 3 minutes faster than what I normally do) on Sunday. I decided against doing more as I did not want to push my body too much after yesterdays run, plus was planing to go for a swim late afternoon (sadly that did not happen as my pool is undergoing major renovation).

Have taken a few more steps towards Great Tibetan Marathon (GTM), have booked my tickets to Delhi and am working on the onward journey plans & return from Leh to Delhi, both of which are appearing very difficult... more in the next few days.

4am half marathon…

It could not have been better. Everything went as per the precision planning done the previous night. I got up at a little past 3am and was able to get out of my house by 4am and start the run at 4.15am.

As I had anticipated the first 3kms where the most difficult, not because of anything to do with running, but fear, fear of stray dogs chasing me. And they did not disappoint, I encountered four set of stray dogs during the first 15 odd minutes (they are usually packs of 3 dogs). But, by now I sort of know how to handle them and am able to get rid of them in no time (as they say, dogs smell fear and one needs to be firm to be able to put them in their place, without any aggressive actions. All that sounds complex, but when you got to save yourself, you automatically learn all these things). After the first 15minutes, things started to settle down and I was able to run with some sort of rhythm. To my surprise the traffic was quite heavy (I run on the shoulder of a 8 lane (4+4) highway), mainly due to commercial vehicles (as they are not allowed to get into the city after 8am), but the speeds they can achieve on a Bombay highway are not too high, so its not really intimidating at all.

I was also pleasantly surprised to have bunch of young boys cheer for me, with words like come on run and run India run (thanks to the successful Mumbai & Delhi marathon campaigns with similar themes) and no nasty comments, thankfully.

I reached the halfway mark, which was more like 11km in 1hr 1min and 15seconds. And when I look back at the graph captured on my phone, the pace was not very even, especially the first half hour. On my return after the first 15minutes, I settled into perfect rhythm and it became completely effortless (this was again confirmed by the pedometer & distance calculator on my hand phone). I finished the second 11kms in 1hr 1min and 40seconds; overall I was able to run at a reasonably uniform pace.

I finished the run just as the sun was about to rise. The weather was quite humid and for the first 45mins, I lost lot of fluid but after that my body got used to the temperature and the perspiration cooled the body. I managed quite comfortably with 500ml of Gatorade. I did not need the carbohydrate bar which I was carrying.

After the run I was feeling good and was in good enough shape to carry on for another 5-10kms. It was one of those days when one is able to run almost effortlessly.

I got home and replenished my fluid and carbohydrates requirements, cooled down my muscles and then straightway hit the bed for some really peaceful and enjoyable sleep. I am usually not able to run after I have done a 20km+ run, as the body feels very tired and exhausted, which makes sleeping impossible. But, today was very different.

The variation seems to have worked for me. Need to come up with more interesting stuff in future, so that I am able to push myself further. Am already looking forward to the next one….

Saturday night run...

I managed to run thrice during the week on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and did 6km, 7.5km and 6km respectively in good time. Have been doing quite well this week, but plan to do a lot more over the weekend this time.

Have finally decided to do the long overdue night (actually a very early morning) run. Hope to start at around 4.00-4.30am for a half marathon, which would finish just before Sunrise at round 6.30am or earlier. I hope the past two days of continious runs does not impact the Saturday long run.

This run is not only a interesting variation, but will actually give me a good idea/experience of running in pleasant weather (that is the time the temperature is at its lowest) and the positive impact on my run (hopefully it should result in a lot less effort). Plus gives be a real opportunity to wear & test my special reflective vest (which has been with me for over six months!!). The only fear are stray dogs, they tend to be at their worst when its dark, am keeping my fingers crossed.

I have had a good high carb meal tonight, to keep me fit for the run. Plan to take a bottle of Gatorade and a energy bar for the 2hr odd run.

Need to get up very early in the morning, so its time to rest, hope to catch up on my sleep after the run (hope it will not be too hard to go back to sleep). Looking forward to make the most of my Saturday holiday.

I plan to follow it up with a light 10km run on Sunday, hope there are no nasty surprises during the half marathon tomm. morning.....

Back to my regular best...

Everything went as per plan today, managed to start early, which meant 7am, ran my 15kms in a little under 1hr 30mins and this was without much exhaustion (I was actually good for another 5kms). So should be able to do my half marathon next week. As I said earlier, it was just about getting used to the heat & humidity.

This week i did a 6km run on Wednesday and a 11km run on Friday. I need to step it up to 40km + every week, with at least 4 runs (including Sundays).

And yes I have almost completed my registration for the Great Tibetan marathon - July 21, 2007, including fees. Am trying to organise my travel tickets now, followed by some stay options (Lonely Planet should come handy for that, I can almost swear by it). I hope to go by train and road from Bombay to Leh (the Manali - Leh road trip is very important to get used to the altitude). On my return I hope to fly Leh to Delhi using Miles to save two days, only if the organisers decide to let go of some seats, they seem to have blocked full planeloads for now. Am sure that will happen as the dates get closer, just need to be patient.

Getting used to the heat

I know running in 40+ temperature sounds like a super endurance effort (thought the temperature usually is in late 30's these days, during the day). Its not really so difficult. Its just a question of getting used to it (human body can get used to almost anything!!), getting mentally tougher & some extra hydration. In this sort of heat, with 60+% humidity, I would recommend about 500ml of Gatorade or similar drink for every 1hr 15mins, and if you are doing something more than that, then some high carb bar would be required in addition to the hydration. In this weather, water is not just good enough for any distance beyond 40mins and if you do try to attempt it, ensure that there is someone to take care of you, should you suffer a heat/sun stroke (yes that sounds quite alarming, but what I am trying to say highlight is the fact that at the first signs of exhaustion appearing, without any legs muscles getting strained, is a sure sign of exhaustion). And yes, another must is a good pair of sun glasses in this sort of heat, as a sun stroke is very possible without it (esp. with improper hydration).

I did a good 6km run in 33minutes on Wednesday and then took the rest of the week off, as I had a holiday on Friday (surprisingly good Friday seems to be big these days in Bombay). I managed my 11km run today in a little over 1hour, quite well, given the conditions (heat, heat and more heat), plus the late start - 8.30 in the morning (wanted to catchup on sleep after a late night out with friends). I am now quite confident that I will be able to do lot better on the Sunday long run, hope to do atleast 15km with an early morning start.

Piping hot mumbai

I don't think it gets this hot even during the summers. While I was away at a hill station, facing temperatures (max) of 35-38 degree Celsius, Bombay was burning at 43 degrees, that it the hottest in recent times. I dread to think about the proposed load shedding in Bombay, should the shortfall in power not being met by

Today was not extremely hot as I started early in the morning around 7.15am (as I knew it was going to get hot). But it was extremely humid and I was completely drenched in sweat within the first 30minutes and regular water was just not good enough. By the time I finished 11km I was almost completely exhausted, so I decided to walk for the next one kilometer and then followed it up with a 5.5km run, which was the maximum I could push myself.

I badly needed a energy drink today and I need to ensure that I have my gatorade from next Sunday. I was in great shape today after my runs during the week and still found it difficult to do the planned 20km run, which I was doing very comfortably till three weeks back with just a 500ml bottle of water. So now I have good reason to believe that my last Sunday run was not good due to the extremely humid climate (makes me feel a little better!!).

Hope to replenish my energy drink supply at the earliest, can't afford to repeat today's performance again, especially due to the fact that I have no control over weather (both heat and humidity!!).

Three day workout...

I could not have asked for anything better. A hill station (though the weather was anything but pleasent during the day, but it was amazing in the mornings (incl. mist on the last day), mud track (actually roads), zero vehicles, tons of greenary, place where one could actually hear churping birds, helpful locals......

I ran on all three days and did about 6kms on each of the three days in a little over 30minutes each. The terrain had lotsa climbs, which was strenous and fun at the same time. I was able to couple it with a 15-20minute swim twice a day, which was refreshing after the run and also helped beat the afternoon heat with a swim in the evening. Perfect cross training. Plus swiming seems the best to train for high altitude running, though I have no scientific reason to believe it. I only wish I had a pool close to my house, but after this experience I am seriously considering a visit to the pool after my run on Sundays, as that is the only day I can manage to travel the distance, though it will be difficult to sustain it.

Fresh new start..

After the forgetable Sunday run. I decided to compensate for it by going a morning run on Monday, did my 6 odd km in about 33 minutes and it felt a lot better.

I hope to run three more times during the week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and will couple it with some swimming, as I am traveling again. Am looking forward to the Sunday 20km run, hope to have a much better run this week.

That reminds me I also need to send my application for GTM (Great Tibetan Marathon), taking place on July 21, 2007.

Disappointing Sunday run..

Everything that could go wrong before and during the run did happen. Physically I was feeling perfectly fine, but found it difficult to do just 10km, let alone 20km as planned, guess its one of those freak days when your body just says a big NO to running.

I had not slept properly over Friday and Saturday nights, thanks to India playing its crucial world cup match & the thrashing it got from the Lanka team & was watching flight plan the other day. All this made the early morning wakeup call difficult, so I started late in the morning at 8.30am, instead of the planned 7.30am. At the start of the run I almost tripped as I tried to cross the road, thanks to a lot of digging taking place all over Bombay (thank god for some good reflexes, which saved the day). After the first 35mins it was almost impossible to run, as I was feeling the heat (the winter is definately over!) and decided to cruise after that, barely finishing the 10km in 1hr 5mins.

Update on The Great Tibetan Marathon

Finally got some good news from the organisers of the Great Tibetan Marathon - July 21, 2007. They have got back with all the details for participation and a very special offer for Resident Indian nationals (it excludes NRI's), costing just Rs.7,700 towards registration fees for the marathon (basic package). They also have an advanced package costing Rs.40k for Indian nationals, which includes airfares from Delhi to Leh and a few other things (but no accommodation). Should any of you be interested, do email me and I will arrange to email the entry forms and other things. They have only about 250 seats, as its difficult to accommodate more due to the limitation in organisation of support services at leh (doctors, accommodation & medical care), its on first come first serve basis.

The basic package includes participation in the Day Hike on the 19th July 2007, Participation in the Breakfast run on the 20th July 2007, Shared transport to and from the marathon start and finish on the 21st July 2007, Participation and First Aid on the Marathon Day 21st July 2007, Invite to the Gala Dinner on the evening of 21st July.

Please note participation in the 19th and 20th July runs are compulsory as they would be testing your lung capacity & fitness for the acutal marathon. This also helps identify any early signs of AMS (altitude sickness). All participants are required to report at the Marathon office in Leh on the 16th of July and no later. Failure to do this will disqualify you from the marathon.

I plan to register for it this week and will finalise my travel itinerary as well. It looks like a good 13day trip for the marathon.

Back home..

After the eventful runs it was nice to get back to running in Bombay. Went for a 6km run in a little over 33mins, in the evening today. It was a big change in weather and also the dust and noise level (though the traffic feels a lot safer as the speeds are a lot lot slower!!)

Finished the run with some long awaited amazing coffee. Barista cafe coffee is any day a lot better than Starbucks. I have had Starbucks in different countries and the coffee at Barista cafe or Cafe coffee Day from India is any day a lot better. Waiting for Startbucks to arrive to India now... and how they take on competition.

My best long run till date...

As planned I started out early in the morning today. I knew I would not be able to do a long run on the streets - where I had run for the past two days, not only would it get repeatative and dangerous doing a 1hr plus run - with so many singnals and stuff (its so scary trying to cross the road without the signal turning green as you are never sure which way to look for the traffic), basicallz it would also not be very enjoyable.....

I was lucky to have found a friend in a local who decided to help me out by guiding me across fields (through forest area), stud farms and Sportsplatz, over a very beautiful 9km stretch in west Wettbergen, all of this helped make my todays long run the best ever long run till date (any run outside Bombay is usually quite beautiful), but this was very special. And what made it really special was the weather which was not only cold (compared to Bombay, but ideal for this part of the world), but there was strong westerly wind and light drizzle, the combination making the weather absolutely perfect for a long run.

The few things one needs to have, to be able run in cold humid weather is a baseball cap and some light gloves, rest of the gear does not really matter. After the first 50minutes in the countryside I did the next 35minutes in regular city traffic, taking exactly the same route I had taken the previous day. I did about 15km in 1hr 23min run, the initial run across the fields, ascorted by the wonderful local, who was on a bicycle, ensured that I kept a quick pace.

Pardon any mistakes wrt Z or Y, as the Deutsch (German) keybooards have them interchanged, not sure about the reason though.

Deutschland runs...

I have managed to run twice this week, the weather is just perfect for running, could not have asked for anything better. On my first day I was not able to run much as I lost my way . Did only about 27mins of running for 5km or so, till I realised that I was completely lost . On my second run today I was more careful, plus I was more familiar with the area as I had already spent two days in the city. Today i did about 38mins of running and managed about 7kms. I hope to follow it up with a 1hr plus run tomm and have found a suitable place where I can do the distance without really getting lost!

Another week of running comes to an end. I ran on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, did 6km on each of those days and followed it up with a good 21km run today, which takes the week's tally to 45km, which is quite good as I had also done a 17km run last Sunday.

Next week I will be traveling quite a bit and will not be able to do my Sunday long run. Hope to compensate for it by doing shorter runs during the week. The weather is going to be lot colder than Bombay, so it should be interesting.

Holi day - festival of colours..

Most of us might enjoy this festival of colours, but I don't really appreciate the colour bit though am completely ok with the use of water (as water balloons that are used to celebrate this festival).

As usual I started around 7.45am in the morning for my Sunday morning long run and I was very much aware that today was Holi and that I would be encountering people who would be celebrating Holi in the morning & they might feel compelled to include me in their celebration!! But, that was not something that could hold me back, well nothing ever does.

I was quite surprised (pleasantly..), as I had to dodge only a couple of water balloons being thrown at me from two different building on my run. Since, I was a moving target, it was never going to be easy and I was able to comfortably avoid them. But the good thing was that nobody who was at ground level & celebrating the festival (and this includes adults from affluent backgrounds, kids, poor people, street urchins), none of them threw colour or water at me, which really talks a lot of the spirit of Bombay, I don't see this happening in most other large metros where the festival has a mass following.

Coming back to my running, I did a comfortable 17kms in 1hr 41mins, though it did not feel the same, as most of the regulars were missing at the second half of my run (where I sometimes run around Shivaji Park instead of continuing my run on the streets), as they must have been paranoid about having colour thrown at them.

I hope to continue doing 20kms on Sundays, so that I can have a good launch pad for my Leh marathon in July.

Back to sea level..

After my short trip, the runs have got a lot easier and my legs are feeling a lot better (all the niggling pains seem to have disappeared for the time being, as you never know when they will return, as its a part and parcel of running).

I did two six km runs on Thursday and Saturday in about 33minutes each. I was feeling so good that I wanted to run on all the days, but due to exhaustion from the trip and lotsa work catching up happening I could not. Next couple of week would also be hectic with lotsa traveling and work, but hope to take my shoes with me, whenever I am traveling, so that I keep the great rythm going.

Encounter of a different kind....

After some eventful and adventures runs on the hill station, its back to sea level now. I had one of my most scary runs during one of the morning runs at the hill station (I was to run for some 5-8km from a forest reserve post to a sunrise point, on badly potholed tar road) just around sunrise. Everything was fine for the first couple of kilometers after my friends dropped me off and decided to meet me at the sunrise point. The weather was close to perfect and I was feeling very good, but I sudden started hearing some sounds & then it slowly sank into me that I was running on forest reserve land (and forests have animals, maybe no tigers but definitely some foxes or wild dogs). I decided to have a look at my mobile phone signal (which luckily was working as the network was not consistent), but then realised that the wild animal would not wait for me to call my friends!! I decided to blank those thoughts out of my mind and focus on my run. But after about 4 kms I realised (at some distance) that there was something waiting for me in the middle of the road, it was a animal alright (was it a wolf, fox, dog, or something else), I knew I had no choice but to jog ahead (if the animal was comfortable parking itself in the middle of the road, I was reasonably sure that it should also be comfortable with human presence, unless of course it perceives me as threat). I tried to remind myself about the numerous stray dogs (and some of them were vicious) I had encountered over the year...

As I went closer, I realised that it was either a wild dog or a cross between a fox & a dog (am still not exactly sure what it was). I decided to slow down as I was crossing him and also made sure that I went off the road a little so that he does not feel threatened (did not want to enter its space..). Even after crossing him I was still not sure if it would decide to chase me (and there was no soul in sight, which meant it was not a pet/domesticated animal).

The final conclusion which I came - wild animals are a lot calmer and peaceful than stray dogs, unless they feel threatened. Stray dogs on the other hand are usually abused and invariably feel threatened and decide to chase you/bark at you or decide to call for their pack to bark or threaten you.