Mumbai to Thane - Taking the bend...

Well, the Ghodbunder road was conquered last weekend.  This was my identity run, a defining and a cut off run in many ways   I will write about the Ghodbunder run in the next blog.

Sometimes, it is like that hard-cut off that we force - like ending a sentence with a full stop - capital, bold and italics.    Well, let me save my words for the upcoming - Ghodbunder road - the story of the runner, and the story of the road.   The story of the runner will be published in the forthcoming blog, and the story of the road will be published in Ashok speaks.   Now let us go back to the last two runs in Thane- short, but powerful ones.

Running in Mumbai was a struggle - it was always an
emotional catharsis 

The city of Mumbai has taught me some hard lessons.  The city is like a deep ocean.   It can drown and choke the weak, who can feel out of depth.  So I felt, in the last 9 months.   This chaos hit my runs - as my earlier blogs would illustrate.   The Mumbai runs, were emotional catharsis to my mind - to sooth the failures and curse the frailties of life.  They were my emotional sink and guardian of my sanity.

For the weak and the wounded, it might sometimes be prudent to move from the depths and survive in the shallows.  You can sail in the deep sea everyday, but it is good to have a shore - shallow and safe.   Where time is more structured - even for running.

Runs in Thane, have been more liberating -
free mind, flying feet!

Some places carry such vibes - important for a runner.  Thane is very much like Velachery.   Velachery taught me to run almost 5 years ago.   The place, despite being chaotic, was a great inspiration.    The vibes, here in Thane too, are similar.   In this context, the last two short runs in the Hiranandani Estate - Brahmand routes gain significance.

Now, the difficult phase is over, and the mind is prepared to deal with matter.  With such preparation, the mind is free.  That makes the feet on the street happier.

My shoes have started talking to me and know that I am taking the bend.   The changes are positive and powerful, slow but sure.

The road called life is there to be taken.  And the two short runs signify that.  Patience and perseverance.  The strength of the human endeavor is unparalleled.   I am going through it right now.   And the shoes know that! They will help me do that.  Wont' they?

- The One 

Pics courtesy The One

Eraser run...

Running has never felt so good.   Today, there was standing invites for some evening get-togethers.  But today also was one of those days - where you just want to tear off from the book titled 'My life'.   Multi-dimensional self-worthlessness sometimes makes one cringe.

Should one so openly talk about these feelings?  I had found a temporary solution for the past few days.   Watching Discovery and Natural Geographic - taking things away from this material, inhuman world and into the wild.

Frustrated Leopard loses its
prey to the Hyena

Watching the animals, struggle for food, mates, territory and life makes me feel better.   So, struggle is natural.   It sometimes does not matter what you think?  The leopard loses its prey to a hyena or a lion.  It does protest, growl and snarl, but end of the day, it knows that it does not stand a chance against the stronger predator.   So it quickly climbs the tree to save itself.

Should the leopard feel self-worthless?   Or should it feel that it is the law of nature, and so 'move on'.  I try to find any form of emotion on its face.  Apparently, leopards can't emote.  So no answers there.

The hero runs in a lone beach
to beat his frustration

Then I saw this move called 'Force'.   He is a cop without any connect - which is his strength.  He falls in love, but finally when his love is killed by a vindictive villain - he could only cry and grit his teeth in frustration.  Another form - which caught my eye - is a sprint by this hero in a lonely beach to vent his frustration.   Humans emote, and express.   So running is a form of expression. 

Another movie called Eraser crossed my mind.  The hero has to protect the heroine, who the State has decided to erase.   No evidence.  No existence.   Kill them all.   The lead-actors run, hide and survive in the end.

The leads run away
survive and erase!

Today's run is a combination of all these.  From a feeling of self-worthlessness and frustration is washed away by the dripping sweat and the reality of all these tastes salty.   And finally a burst at the end, pumping the oxygen viciously into the lungs, erasing and burning all those who caused the feelings under the rubber of the shoe.  

Again, it sounds too much of philosophical rambling around a simple run - but as I always say - running has many avatars.  This one was the 'Eraser run'.

-The One

(Pics courtesy Internet)

NO-cotine run...

Friends,  today's run is a confession run.   I thought a lot, whether to share this.  Finally decided that I will.  

One of these days in December,  it started with a small fag.   It is still a small fag, but the occasions increased.   With a cup of tea.  With sun-downers.   It always never felt like a habit.   I took the butt, when my butt was kicked.  The fascination towards the smouldering end of the brown tobacco turning black was interesting.   Felt that I was thinking better. Stress? I think so.     

The runs were anyway drying up.  The forgotten february was the worst period in the last three years, as far as fitness was concerned.  But last week, the run finally came.  

But suddenly, my voice became hoarse and there was this, a constant niggle in the throat.  I could feel that some sputum was forming.   Secondly,  early mornings, my lower back - below the rib cage, ached a lot. And finally - there was a tightness in my lungs - during the run last week.   

Last two days, I kept away from both.   And this run - I ran like a creature possessed.  I was always afraid that the tightness would appear.   It did appear in the second kilometer, but with a deep breath, I pushed the tightness aside.   I paused for a moment and then started running faster, and faster.  

The Kandivili crowd, usually accustomed to runners - was startled because of the speed in which I ran.   The sputum disappeared, the lungs are liberated.   I feel better.   The run was truly invigorating.

Been there, tried that.  My affair with the butt ends, period. December - March 10th, RIP. This was the NO-COTINE run. 

-The One

( Pics Courtesy Internet)


.

A run, finally done!

It is like being an alcoholic - should I say that getting back at running is good, therefore it is good to be a runaholic?   The feel good factor after a run is unbeatable.   The forgotten february, where no run took place was a nightmare best forgotten.  Is life any better?  Not sure.   The struggle continues elsewhere.   When I moved to Mumbai, I expected to adapt and fly high like an eagle.  But I was stuttering like a dodo.  
Well, a runner does not give excuses.  So it did not happen.   Period. 

A run done!

Today I ran with confidence at the start.  The same breathing through the mouth technique worked well.   The run was short, but towards the fourth km, a small stitch around the rib told that the story.  The breathing was a little tighter and I slowed down further. The reason - a month of evening vagaries.   The lack of training was telling. 

It was a 5.5 km run.  The mind suddenly found its feet.  This run may not be a worth a blog.  But it was a start, so a feat.   A run, finally done!

-The One

The Forgotten February...

Now I know how good I am at keeping resolutions.   Very bad at it so far.  Today was a self-review day, and sad that the shoes have been untouched through February.  Worst, the full marathon never happened  - Auroville succumbed to lack of will.   Why? 

7:00 am, daily, I wake up.  Morning chores and then drive to office.  The rigmarole of the daily life.  Finishwork.  Evening - mostly the inevitable sun-downers and reach home late.  Then while the whole world and my family embrace sleep - this lonely soul burning the midnight oil - mulling life and working.   Sending reminders.   The mind is occupied by a myriad thoughts.  The thoughts shift like the restless corpses in the graveyard.  Running is forgotten. 

Absent Apocalypse in the
Forgotten February

Running was supposed to be an anti-dote for the pressure prone life.  It was to be the anchor of life.   The straw to clutch on a roller coaster ride.  This year - it seems going the same way as 2011.  If it is any indication it ain't good.

The thank you mail from Auroville  today hurt big time! The Old-man-blue, the Kid and the Apocalypse, all are lying in the shoe rack and car boot - like the trapped genie of the Aladdin fame.   It is time for them to come out and show their magic.   They will intervene strongly in The One's life.   Will they? Let us see, if we can recover the Forgotten February!

-The One

An evening walk...

I walk slowly.   The road surface is undulating - ups, downs, potholes and patches.   I watch each step carefully - I grimace at the state of Mumbai roads.   Patch work.  No engineering.   The half-mindedness of the contractor in completing the job is very evident. Pathetic.  

As I negotiate the uneven patches of bitumen, I remember the days when I used to run around in my village, down south in Kerala.   We used to run endlessly - before the morning sun rose and long after the lights died in our houses.

We used to run behind elephants and the Ambassador ( old sedans) that appeared at the end of our street.  We used to run in the paddy fields chasing the football.  We all loved soccer those days.   My two elder brothers and I kicked the heck out of those two balls.

Time passed, in the fight for the daily bread, I moved into a daily routine that consumed all gaiety.  I could only watch sports very occasionally.  My job literally consumed me - in the dust bowls of Coimbatore and then Madurai.   Sports was a forgotten aspect of my life.

Post retirement, I moved to Chennai to settle down with my two sons.   During the past three-four years, my sons, in their prime of life, fighting for their place under the sun - have started to run.  Running, to them is an identity, a bond and I am happy that they run.  The younger has run couple of marathons and the elder will run his full soon.

My father, and I

They struggle to get their weekly run in.  I know, like me, their work and family pressures consume them.   In their 30's, it is a daily fight between finance, family and fitness.

I see me in them.   I see despair, hope and fight in their eyes.   The thirst to succeed and make their progeny successful.   I see the sparkle of love in them. 

Like the undulating roads of Mumbai, I see life before me, the ups and downs - as I ride in my memory lane from Kerala to Kandivili.  

My eyes move from the potholes to the person next to me.  I smile at my son, the elder one.  As we walk towards his car together, I know he has skipped his evening run - just to walk along side me.   He does not talk, just smiles back.  We both know it.

( This blog is dedicated to the MAN who is the author's mentor and the best friend he has, his father - and the evening walk together)

Republic day run : Another use of keeping your mouth shut...

Republic day.  62 years ago - this day, a new script was written.  Adopting the best out of the world's great democracies, a code of reference, the bible of democracy for the Indian republic was born.   The constitution since then has been amended more than 100 times.   Changing with times, adapting and flexible, but strong.

The run like the Indian
flag, and constitution
was flexible, but strong

Through the day, the locality was all filled with the Indian tricolor.  Kids with tri-color balloons, elders with tri-colors pinned in their dresses - loud speakers blaring patriotic songs,  the mood reflected the happiness and gaiety of Indians feeling as a nation.   Or a simplistic point of view of a mid-week holiday for a workaholic.

Either way, people were happy and loud.  Earlier in the day, we lost our respective races held at our residential society.  I lost the slow cycle race, my kid lost a spoon-marble race and my wife lost a three legged race.  But it was fun.  Then, it was a great game of cricket with my son.

It was a slightly warmer evening.   The day was hot.  The death of winter told by the searing rays of the sun. 

The evening run was to add mileage, but recover quickly.  So a mid distance - 12k was planned.  

For the first 4 km, ran the usual style.  Dead slow, with occasional bursts of speed was the usual pattern. Whenever I accelerated,  I used to breath through my mouth - until this break.  After stretching and sipping some apple juice and water, I started running.

I decided to run through Damu Nagar - a busy downscale locality.  After the bustle of this noisy neighbourhood, it was sudden darkness and quiet.   The dark shadows of the leaves danced against the sudden burst of cool air.  Few men engaged in small talk and pouted smoke out of their lips.  Some suspicious dogs were marking their territories with their urine.

Suddenly, the focus was on myself.  Suddenly, I realized, my mouth was shut.  Pursed and locked, in fact.   The exhalation was in rhythm with three steps and then silent inhalation.  Against the cool and dark visuals, this was like music.  Hssh...hssh...hsssh...tak... silence... tak... and repeat.  

The rhythm was so good.  The lungs started enjoying the chill.   Then it was a nice run downhill and then the flats.

Two kilometers later, the inside of the ear-lobes were chilled.   I swallowed my saliva and then locked my lips again.   The brain was floating - it was getting heady and my eyes blurred with the excess supply of oxygen.  But the rhythm was steady.   I increased the speed - longer strides, but the breathing was synchronized.   Hssh..hssssh...tak... silence... tak and repeat.  

All along, I was watching my cadence ( step vs inhale-exhale cycle) and my heartbeat. Both were steady. Especially, the heartbeat rate was steady.  Surprise!   Steady breathing in harmony with the steps helps to keep the heartbeat rate low.  

Around the 10th km, I increased the stride length and gained speed.   But the breathing, only through the nose, with lips locked, and steps being synchronized, the heart beat remained steady.  

When I wound up after two further km,  my heart beat was slow and steady!   Voila!!!  My recovery was less than 10 minutes.   What magic oxygen can do!  And saving on hydration!   I ran for a full 45 minutes without a drop of water.  

It was a strong and flexible run, like the Indian flag and the constitution.

Summarizing what I tried:

1. Breath through the nose
2. Keep the lips locked
3. Synchronize your breath with your foot steps
4. Start with a slow pace
5. Feel comfortable with your heart beat
6. The heart beat, the foot step and the breathing all should be in unison
7. Try increasing speed but no compromise on 1-6.

It was a different and interesting experiment.   One should surely try this during a day run.   If it works, it is another solid use of keeping one's mouth shut!

- The One

(Pic courtesy the One)