Chronicles of an Eclectic Life: running

Showing posts with label running. Show all posts

Showing posts with label running. Show all posts

Friday, August 25, 2017

Learning to RUN again

हम तो बस कुदरत के मुरीद
तबियत हरी जब सब हरा-भरा

The monsoonal showers have almost concluded, seeing how this week has been. My greenhorn analysis is that it will rain little over the coming week, and we'll have consecutive rain-free mornings that will enable me to get out to appreciate nature, to consequently improve my cardio and build some fresh muscle. These summers (to conclude with these monsoonal showers) have been a season much spent indoors - the multi-ligament-tear event of March responsible for that.

The guilt got in so hard. Thanks to an excellent company, however, that I'm getting to rub off the guilt fast. I get to love my body again, reinvigorating the cyclic narcissism to a greater specificity (than ever before), and hope to come off with it with a greater intention towards the world-out-there. The good 'ol days of pain and sweat are back. If nothing else, they give me a great distraction to lean on towards the end of August.

Today was a hard morning out. Got back home in sweat; added some more in proximity. The motivator for pain is the upcoming Nainital Half (Marathon). Today was the only day I could endure some pain on the organism that is to be unleashed for the big day, which is only a day away. Yes, ye heard that right - from naught, I committed to running 21k, over the course of 2 days. The 'course' is actually that of a single day, that is just today, since Day 2 will be a rest day, as is advised.

The challenge was taken up last year, and passed. This year, circumstances have led to a situation where I'm at great odds for running a circuit of 21k - especially in the hilly terrain with uphills that could kill, - which I hope to beat and come through with yet another finish. Must transform.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

A Worrisome Morn

This organism was awake much before dawn. It was chilly when that happened, which pushed him back into sleep, which ended after a lengthy battle with the morning alarm. It was still chilly when the reawakening happened. Since there was no time to be wasted, the organism "rose" to the challenge to find some time to waste. Then when the wasted time had been impressively wasted, some agency dragged the organism out, with the daybreak about to commence.

The initial understanding was to do a graveyard run. My organism was directed there upon stepping out, making it all the way to join the roadhead. However, seeing that it was already past 6, a return no sooner than 8 was forecasted, and thus the idea was switched for a shorter one - the JMB loop, which forecasted an earlier return. Why the return time was important was, because baby bro needed assist during his exit to office, and that exit also meant somebody had to be around, with me being the only other occupant of the house presently - hope it's understandable.

In a coupla minutes, I was at the Parao. Then came the odd news through HD (who mans a teashop in the early hours of the day ), that Lalu Prasad was missing. LP, in this context, is my favorite village mutt, who I tend to write about and interact with - maximally, of all canines - in the days out here. As per HD, he hadn't shown up since the day before. "Lagta hai bagh le gaya usko," ("seems that he's fallen prey to a leopard") HD had figured. It induced serious guilt, as t'was with me that he had hiked up through the forests the day before, an equation between man and canine that was cut short halfway when a pack of dogs came in from the other side, to scare the mutt away (as noted here ). Couldn't believe that he hadn't returned since. Wishing HD a nice day, I proceeded onwards with a perturbed mind.

Then the run happened - things that feel horrible when at it, but amazing afterwards. I still clock ~15 minutes for the ~3km stretch from Parao to JMB. As noted a minute into the run, it took me another 14mins to get there, which included a coupla breaks for photos and connecting my earphones. That I'd made it to the summit before the sun could show up was credible enough for my day, which had started in a lackluster manner. The mountain edges were layered with distinct colors of the spectrum. Then came out the sun, a small orange-pink blob for a brief moment feigning the appearance of the upper lip, which had me wishing I had a coupla lips to bite at that moment which felt so grand and romantic.

Then the walk back - with a rock in hands, to work out some upper. These coupla times that I've tried it, I have felt stupid for not doing it earlier. Any natural weight is a versatile thing. There are many motions and lifts to be done, and several muscle sets (esp smaller muscles) to be worked in isolation. As a wannabe-climber, I was impressed by how a lump of nothing gave so many holds to practice by the way of arrangement of fingers around it, making it worth something. It was planned to carry the rock all the way home, and paint a smiley face on it, and keep it forever, but alas, a fall on the floor, and it came apart in wafers (typical of the lithos this side).

Through the run, I had a new song on repeat - Miike Snow's "Genghis Khan", which talks of a strange (noncommitted?) equation between two people, still possessive of each other after they chose to keep distances.

I get a little bit Genghis Khan
I don't want you to get it on
With nobody else but me

These lines make for a catchy chorus.
And this video tops it too..

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Friday, September 30, 2016

A sweet run-hike

I got out so early that not even the daylight had scattered well. Usually it's not so - I wait for a brighter morning, and when the bright is just right, I set out.

Today was done by a run. The run was done in a hangover after being pushed away by a (now-)former love. Least said, the run overpowered everything else. It was the longest I have done around these hills. All the way the hamlet of Birbhatti, which lies below the town of Nainital (on the same hill). The surroundings filled with sun while I got tired. A beautiful black-tailed puss welcomed me at the terminal point of my run. Thereafter, I climbed up, on the tiny village often eyed while navigating on Maps.

The climb, or the hike, was a stimulating experience. Making my debut on this stretch of road, I made my way up in observation. Hiking up, the valley prospered with village homes and school compounds to the left, while to the right it dropped into the gorge made by the stream originating from Naini lake. This piece of hill which I was on is generally seen by one on the hike from Gethia to Nainital, after cresting at Alukhet - a "there is now here" moment. The Alukhet hill forms a barrier of sorts, closing this valley from the very early morning sun; the sun needs to travel farther up (or look over another hill) before it starts direct-lighting these establishments.

This part of the Nainital hill has enjoyed some open patches of land, maybe due to geography or as a result of being a part of the original approach to the town of Nainital (there were days when the Ekka, or horse-driven carriages used to climb up the last stretch from Jeolikote to Nainital via here) which has been a summer escape for the British since 1850s. Now those large patches function as stadia or grounds for Saraswati Vihar and Govt. Intermediate College (hat tip to Wikimapia).

The climb up got a bit excrutiating at places. I was trying to leave my state of mind, and climb harder all the time. Sometimes I faltered and transitioned into inner monologues; like the time when Radiohead's Daydreaming started playing. The rising sun mixed with the clouds sometimes got me emotive, too, taking over the vocals from whatever was playing. I was playing the game of "life conjectures" for the way up - left me distressed. Occasionally I ran into interesting things or facts, which brought my inwards gaze out again - like the geospatial confirmation of my location; a shaggy black Bhotia dog that surprised me and to which I foolishly went close to say "hello nice doggy"; a dog with a black forehead mark shortly before reaching the terminus of the village road, and the strange character of the village road populated thinly by boys on motorbikes and old regulars.

My exit was next to the Inter College gates. The hike path flares into tiny lanes all of which generally seemed to bring one out onto the main road. Tiredness (of and from exploration) had established a new benchmark of sorts. The climb was over. Another 45 minutes of hike down to my home base of G followed. It made for around 12 kms to start the day.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Games at DFCP

Social structures in games
1 team, of 12-15 punjabis, at cricket
1 team, of 8 afghanis, at football
1 small family unit, of 3"desi"s, at cricket
1 team, of 15-20 kids of seemingly-diverse ethnicities, at cricket

a play on the leg side by the punjabis, and their ball would roll to the afghani ground. a mistimed attempt at the goal by the afghanis, and their football would roll to the punjabi ground. a bad swipe to miss the ball by the desis, and their ball would roll to the afghani ground. a square cut by the diversity kids, and their ball would roll to the punjabi or afghani ground. but those busy playing didn't quarrel.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Feeding the Frog and Hopping the Dog

The night extended into a morning food delivery job. I served leftover bread (roti/chapati) to the dogs under the Defcol flyover. Then my eyes fell on a park so nice, that I was pulled into its mystical complex.

To put it less cryptic words, a morning run ensued - one after a long break. I was hitting menopause, you see. Now I am purged of urges and can continue my life as a normal 30-year-old guy. NOT. [ignore this para and read on]

The run came about after a previous day of intense sleeping. Some good, came in the way of sleep, and I hope others would agree. If not self-seeking, self-preservation drive was at display, which gives me a sense of inclusion with the human species. The tiring run also gives me a sense of inclusion, in the induced senselessness.

The run was long er than usual - 5 laps. Still a short distance, but less shorter, nonetheless, which is a minor upping over the olden days. Vanity to vanquish the valiant. The post-run interval comprised of a failure to find mulberry trees in the park complex, and a failure to pull to terminate the avian display this guy had put up. Final act of exist comprised of the lizard and the frog. What starts with the dog ends with the frog.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

lko stadium run

Today marks the grand occasion that I went out for a run. It has been a while since my last 'un - far back in November. However, as the year draws to a close, any purposeful activity will be indulgent and give far more satisfaction - meeting so many people builds up a resignation to the winter vacation days, and to poor health, which is broken by the act of intent, such as going out really early in the morning for a run. At this trough of existence, things like this are a positive step towards a crest. Besides, it takes care of my drinks and the pork of last week, juicing out those calories.

Through the run, was a novel companion sight of chemtrails, which got more fascinating with the rising sun. There were two of 'em (chemtrails), to the East, cutting two diagonal gashes across the cloudless sky. One of them curved sharply, suggesting a drastic change of course for some jet. There is an air base nearby, and I can imagine that's where the parent body of those chemtrails takes off from. Above the open expanse of Colvin Taluqdars' playfield, the rising sun seemed like an orange bulb dangling from the firmament on a white chemtrail wire.

The early mornings bring out two kinds of people - the deadbeat, crowding at the temple, and the spirited, crowding at the stadia, separated by the river Gomti. The temple crowd is middle aged and oddly shaped - mostly obese - and emanates the fragrance of Marigold and Jasmine. A lot many of 'em prefer to come to find their God in swanky cars, which now neatly stack in the parking lot built along the river.
At the stadium, all age groups and both the sexes find representation. The standard atomic unit of a coach and a team formed clusters at the periphery - cricket team, hockey team, judo team, etc. Since everybody was still at warmup, there was no actual sport to be seen, but a boy-dad duo kicking a big maroon ball around.

Some stretches, and the Dragon Walk, the Frog Walk, the Horse Walk.. these helped me make the best of the chance morning I got. Then a seemingly-long walk back home.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Monday, October 26, 2015

I Heart Start Mondays

Morning are really nights rolling out positively. So it happened that some last minute positivity showed me the way out the door, into a run. The early hours had a new feel-tone to it, in the way of the cold breeze. AFAIC, this is the same weather disturbance that brought the snows to Gulmarg and Kullu. That in itself could've been the A+ positivity to pull me out, had I realized it earlier. It took something else to do that.

The stroll to the park was a blur of ideas, which came about by the dissonating sound of chimes sounding on somebody's verandah in the neighborhood. The route of my exit now has a Gular tree (Ficus Racemosa, a very versatile organism that supports a lotta others during fruition), and these chimes, to distract from the banality of domestic existence - the dirty kitchen sink and the beer patch on my room floor. At one point of time I started counting the number of identifiable living crossing my way, and gave up after calling it "too much". I did not anticipate that the Delhi of 0630AM of October 26, 2015 would have so many identifiable living things ambling or rumbling about with intent.

As for this living thing, it kept well on its intent to do a harsh abusive run. 3 days of break, and weekend excess, neither could deter much. 6x laps, dedicated as following: One for the Caturday, One for the Sunday, One for the habits, One for a running lifestyle, One for the hills, One for the Penguins.
There were about 35 fellow living things in the park, doing their own thing. There was an interesting couple with kid who egged the kid to punch and do body exercises, and later played frisbee; it wanted to watch them more but they had left by the time it finished its run. There was also a Daschund in a green vest - looking like a flourescent sausage, and its owner in a green vest, followed by an old woman complaining about the dog's poop having ruined her shoe.

It was also a rare time for me being out sans a phone or headphones. This time it ended being more enjoyable, since I was committed to the run and the concept of fitness more than the concept of being out and witnessing the world, which I maybe ended up doing more anyways. Takes an eye and a free mind to do that.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Friday, October 02, 2015

Good run, resuming run too

Well, it happened. Every second I feel irresponsible enough to get back out there, and enjoy a morning or a dusk, then get back in here, and connect it to a personal world. Often, like today, interests overlap, and I end up with Priyanka Chopra selling cancer, a crow feather, a matchbox, and Gular fruits, besides the sweat of the run.

Run happens so rare, but I plan to change that. Yay, changes in modalities of everyday living to keep me defocused from the great purpose at hand. But runs are worth it complemented with podcasts. I started listening to one - Mtn Meister - and it was nice listening about pain while experiencing a slice of the same, and then pushing oneself to go for more, in immediate response. I have a ton of podcast eps on my system which I'll keep feeding to my phone. One hour-long podcast a day, enough to keep the blues away. Embarrasingly, though, my run lasted a mere half hour, and I felt blasted - what happens after evenings with some stalwarts of the couch potato variety, namely blackrat and Af. To bring it to an hour of tireless running would have to be a monthly endeavor. Since I'm relegated to Delhi in a hazy phase right now, might as well make some worth of it, or its mornings.

Haven't plugged myself out since last evening. It has been over 24 hours. Muslces need the relaxation hours, as I've come to interpret health holistically, so a sleep is shortly due, then dreams of a new dawn variety, and going out to realize a new one.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Sunday, August 23, 2015

morning (un)run, malormed social vertical

i had signed up to a run, that was to happen this morning. i was out there, too, only that i took the road less traveled (or less guided) and parted from the group outside the stadia where it started from. got bored. it felt revulsive to go on after the first km and beyond the turnpike. not very sporty of me, is it. but then the sport, which i enjoy on a regular basis, needs to be seen as a sporty endorsement both by its sponsor and its participants. okay, in less abstract terms, and to brief, i felt lousy after finding out that bib names didn't matter - i wanted to run to 'borat' listening to 'borat' while 'curled' like 'borat', which is what i had registered under 'borat sagdiyev'. so much for my hat-trick of pushing borat in world registers. the tee as the free giveaway took away crowd 'qualia'.

but it was a wiser-in-retrospect calculation. the rains must've turned the run to be a literal 'dampener'. they had a short warning spell right as i left out to the stadia, then held on till the time i took off and got back home, then came down as a heavy downpour. i don't hate them, but i'm over the initial experience of run-in-the-rains. i don't enjoy delhi when it rains, because running through it becomes an experience of splashing not just water on oneself. delhi is dreamier with sunrises, or with precipitation as fog.
i wanted to run back home along the railway tracks but it would've meant getting home with all diseases of delhi and dying a bit sooner than thought (will have to increase my consumption of peanut butter, which is already at peak levels) {digress: expecting parenthesis to auto-fold in Blogger, a habit from ST}

so that 15k expectation from the morning was reduced to around 5k. between choosing the phone out taking pictures, to out on the run, the latter dominated, but turned to be a short experience. hazaron khwaishein chhod ke wapas aa gaye.
but, to fall back on the psyche instead of physique,

Be glad for the song that has no ending.

got back home to start reading on all the fucked up stuff pertaining to 'women'. it was the google news homepage that asked me to consume (awareness or consumption, what makes a better source, or what makes a better behavior, one could argue later, as i mite?) and constitute myself of the image of my own nation having screwed up situation of understanding women's rights right from the domestic to the political level.
in india, domestic could be perceived as behaviors when no eyes are on you. and political means behavior when all eyes are on you. its further distressing to see that such things have creeped to the judicial level, which should be above the political but-lamentably-isn't, and shouldn't give a hoot about how many eyes are on it.
and then we'll have the annually-recurrent milestones when we look back and evaluate and go 'wtf' for a day and regress back into being the people who will seem hypocrites in surveys.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Brand magnet

Last week, as I went out for a run, I noticed my pan-culturalism.
I had on me 6 articles of clothing, each of which coming from 6 different malls spread across 3 states and 4 cities - (going up) shoes from Ansal Plaza, in Southex, Delhi; socks from Sahara Mall, in Lucknow, UP; shorts from DLF Emporio, in Vasant Vihar, Delhi; tee from GIP, in Noida, UP; and cap from Ambience Mall, in Gurgaon, Haryana. Five international brands - Nike, Lotto, Adidas, Puma, Jockey - were involved.

In contrast, today was a more desi affair. My socks and shorts proudly a purchase from Nehru Place flea market. My briefs - Rupa's ("अब रूपा क्या पहनेगी!") - from Rishikesh. My cap, a free gift.
Only one brand violated my desi profile - Nike, in the tee and the shoes (but for shoes there is no match for Nike in the Indian commercial space). Just noticing how brand agnostic I am, and how marginal difference apparel (except shoes) makes in performance. Had my best run today, so I might infer otherwise.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Delhi's Hook

Well, Delhi has a hook in me now. Outside the dull, disappointing, fading professional dimension, I have found a major motivator towards health (and mental peace) in the QRP - Qila Rai Pithoria, right next door. Some days I've been leaving the office early, some days I've been skipping office altogether, so as to not miss on the single kick from the day that I get from visiting this nature's abandon at the edge of Delhi. Yes, QRP.

I'm slowly coming to fix my long-held wrong assumption, that such places were hubs for gay cruising or prostitution. The place is nothing but dense forest crisscrossed with winding trails, with the ramparts surviving from Mughal Era forming its boundary. It is least of an attraction to the Delhi-wallahs who prefer picnics - with bhutta-wallahs, mungfali-wallahs, bhelpuri-wallahs, chai-coldrinks-chips-wallahs in vicinity - to a complete escape in the cradle of nature. The ominous look it bears is unsettling to the other gender, which is why neither one finds any young birds, nor the guys who come in anticipation of birding. It's a bit too unglamorous to the young romantics as well, who find greater attraction in the Garden of Five Senses a short distance (and INR20 entry fee) away. This complex has a more gardeny garden as its front, so that is where the old folks and kids stick to (even I was unaware of the sprawling complex that lay beyond for a few weeks), which means a thinner crowd, and a happier me. As for the criminal elements, I have yet to encounter any, and my present theory is that even they find this place too deep into the bowels of nature - some shoddy Dhaba or a more primarily-located ruin would suit them better.

From personal experience, there could be no better time than dusk. I enter late, and exit too late, at nightfall. Generally I've been the last person around, huffing and panting. Thursday evening I saw a Neelgai (Blue Bull). Today I had jackals crisscrossing my path on the last lap. Despite this being the time around a new moon phase, my adjustment to severely low visibility has been really good; I'm a cat! My mind keeps going to the thought of how nervous we feel in the dark, when there's really nothing to be afraid of anymore, at least not places like these; trust my instincts on this one (despite Delhi being labeled the rape capital).

And the best part of it? The rocks. The most amazing central feature of this place, where I am found flexing my hands and slapping trees after my runs. Lado Sarai Rocks, as they are popularly known in climbing circles. The rocks are one of the best climbing locations in Delhi, and yet so undeservedly unpopular, that my heart cries in pain. There are several climbing routes marked, and I believe on some rare days some do come to practice here. I have yet to even start with my climbing ambitions, unarguably the best part about this place, but I'm already in so much love with it.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Thursday, September 20, 2012

10k deserves sleep?

Sometimes things feel like perfect, until some aspect - so blatantly ignored - knocks at your consciousness, and then you find yourself consumed in that. For me, it was sleep. And sleep is one thing that inspiring performances cannot evade, but rather only ask for more of. A sleep of 5 hours clearly didn't cut it.
A 10k run clearly didn't help either - no matter how inspired I was to have dragged myself out from my 'pimp room' (which sees no light) at breaking dawn of 0530AM, taken on the mongrels running the streets in the hours of the night, skirting the bad patches and the garbage dumps (that shrivel the nose and spoil the S. Delhi experience), and made it to Yogi's to finish my run, and in its aftermath get my motorbike back home, zipping at 90kmph with my beanie helmet and tears streaming from my eyes.
I reach home tired, and despite that, take an appropriate shower, was clothes, make myself a great omelette, and get ready for a solid professional routine by 0810. All that, until I take to the bed, and wake up 3 hours later with the guilt of mismanagement.

The sleep was much-needed, so I can't curse myself. But I sure could've slept a coupla' hours earlier than I did - modern communication marvels are more like personal doomsday devices, and as much as I love staying close to my gadgets, I loathe them all the same. [did wake up dreaming about someone's tits, but dreams are not to be trusted, those untimely puzzles to the subconscious]

Things couldn't have gone worse, with my motorbike picking a puncture enroute, which made an hour vanish from my day like magic.
[While at the repair shop, however, I was fascinated by the local fauna - a black bee (what we call भँवरा bhanwra), a red wasp (not the yellow ones), and two sneaky spiders]

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Friday, August 10, 2012

The New Champion

A rib-tickling (you can actually see their ribs) moment from the Olympics 2012.

It is also a larger-than-life moment. What makes it so, is the pursuit these guys must have undertaken to be the best. Generally, excellence in any sport comes with a complimentary physique. That way, every great sportsperson expects to look great.
But no, not these guys. The domain of athletics is curious. These guys have to starve their normal bodies to see improvements in terms of a single stride or a single second. They need to give all the love (aka nutrition) to the muscle sets which make them the fastest (across a span of several hours) and kill every pocket of extra flab everywhere else on their bodies. Competitive running is the most demanding and disciplined of sports.

You don't even need to know their names. Just know that _this_ is how a champion looks like.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Friday, July 13, 2012

Pronation Pride

Before the day ends, I'm excited about one fact. That fact is not that I managed to brush my teeth or that magnificent experimental dinner I'd cooked prior to that, or the magnificent concoction - of Old Monk, peach juice, Jaljeera, Eno, and Tang - prepared prior to that. It has to do with one thing I could feel a pride (or a relief, at the least) about - that of my gait.

I bought a pair of cheap Nikes yesterday.
Reading into reviews of my new shoes, I was thrown into a world of shoe jargon. As a consequence of my curiosity, I ended with an education into the things that matter into purchase of a new running shoe - not all feet are created alike, and its the same with the shoes, which are designed with a target audience in mind. This target audience, in turn, is defined by the physical built, and more importantly, the gait of the particular person. There's a term called 'pronation' that applies here, which basically tells about the kind of muscles one's running motion is employing, which in turn affects how well the energy of the impact (and its consequent push) is distributed across the body - the better the gait, the better the distribution, and hence the more the stamina, and the lower the chances of running injuries.

To measure the gait, ideally an expert at the shoe store could help. But in a country where a salesman could fit anywhere, from a shoe store to a lingerie shop, and remain equally ignorant about the customer's needs and the associated jargon, one needs to find ways to do things themselves (अपना हाथ जगन्नाथ, as it popularly goes here). In that need did I come across the Wet Test to determine my foot type. This foot type, in turn, tells whether one's gait is "underpronated", "overpronated", or "neutral". [Hint: neutral is the desirable one] So alongside my brushing, I decided to wash my feet and try judging my pronation. What one does is soak their feet in water, then comfortably stand on a surface, where their imprint could stay long enough for inspection. For this purpose, a piece of plain paper is recommended, and so I'd kept a brown paper bag from office.

What I found was, that the shape of my imprint matched a normal arch - means the impact of my runs distributes well, and that I could wear just about any shoe (and preferably one with a normal arch). That is exactly what this new shoe offers. To couple that with its lightweight sole and my lightweight physique, it feel a perfect match. With the ADHM and HHM in a coupla' months, this is a welcome end-of-season-sale addition into my kit.
[Now only if I could do some graffiti on my shoe to make it a fairytale]

Two things to feel good about myself as the day closes - One is the neutral gait, as you can see in the pic above. The other of me being marginally above the median in some particular measurement, of which I can't post a pic.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Thursday, June 28, 2012

I saw a deer today

PS: No Portal involved here.

My foes, who see me as a corrupting influence on their daily routines, should be in light of the fact that this guy - in his isolated abandon - was out by 04:45, breathing in the scent of pine, and introducing to nature - alongside the morning raucous of merry avian voices - the shuffle of his feet across the soggy slopes and the hard tarmac. Only witness, perhaps, to his resolute run - yes, it wasn't a coincidental affair that he randomly started out on a run just coz he "felt like it" - were the transient truck drivers stationed along the road for the night.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)