Monday, October 28, 2013

Berlin 2013

After a long summer of running, it was great to land in cool Berlin, ready to run through some of the most historic sites of the century.

My training had gone well. Some niggles in between which went away shortly before run. And I was all set, confident of doing a sub-4 hour run, maybe even a 3:50.

The weather was great, maybe a little too cold but comfortable enough once warmed up. 

So, what went wrong? (The beer, if anything, should have helped.)

For one, we started near the back of the 40,000-odd crowd. Everyone upto 4:15 hr finishers were in the earlier corrals, the last of which departed 15 minutes before we did. So I was in the midst of all kinds of casual runners, run-walkers, etc. most of whom were out to have a good time and not worry too much about timing. 

So it was very difficult for me to run at my own pace. To overtake, I had to weave in and out like Vettel, or get onto sidewalks, which meant I was running longer than I had to. Or I had to speed up whenever I saw open spaces. All this wasn't good for my rhythm, and I gave up the effort of constantly looking for overtaking spaces. So, soon enough, I was also running with the pack, enjoying myself and the atmosphere. 

Though I kept to my target time till 21k, I had somehow lost my focus. I had been running casually till then. And now, even with the field a little more spread out, I continued to run casually. I did look at the Garmin regularly, and I did know I was slowing down, but that I was within my goal pace. I also felt I had enough in me to push if I needed to, so kept it easy till 35k. At that point, I thought I should push a bit as I was getting perilously close to falling above 4 hr pace, plus the course seemed to getting significantly longer too - my Garmin was already 500m ahead of the km markers.


But now, I felt other problems cropping up. My quads and hams were starting to tell me they wanted out. Through my training runs, the main worry I had was how my legs would hold up in the final Ks of the race. And that worry was starting to manifest as well. 

I wasn’t fully cramping yet, but all kinds of tightening was happening. In Mumbai, I had such signals but could will myself to keep running. This time, with my more care-free state of mind, I stopped. And then my legs seized. I hobbled to one side, stood still for maybe a minute, and gingerly started walking. And then, running. Maybe I should’ve kept running. But, overly cautiously, I decided to take 30-40 second breaks every couple of minutes. And by now, I had slipped below my 4 hour target, even per the Garmin.

Crossed 42.2 on my Garmin at 4:02 something and the actual finish at 4:06:16. 

And I didn't really feel too bad about not finishing on target. Enjoyed the run too much to have any regrets.

But, there are learnings. I need to focus more. And do more strength training for my legs. And, do some 'tired legs' runs at fast paces. And be more consistent in my training.


Oh well, next time.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Hyderabad 3.0

I was here in 2011 for a Half Marathon. Hyderabad kicked my ass. 
In 2012, I came back for more - a Full Marathon. And got my ass (+quads and hams and miscellaneous body parts) royally thrashed. And I swore never to come back to this unforgiving city again.

But what would the world be without fools who refuse to give up.

So 2013 saw me here again, having sensibly dialled back to a half marathon this time.

Recently I'd been in the running form of my life. Pace was significantly faster, and I had lost weight, without ever wanting to. All told, landed in Hyderabad in good spirits, with confidence high. 

But the organisers, in their infinite wisdom, decided we had to drive through most of the run route to reach the expo to pick up our bibs. Seeing how our car had to huff and puff up the roads, the shivers were back.

So the next morning, I lined up with my rocking runner friends, confidence and trepidation jostling with each other.

'Screw it, I'm going to crack this course', I said to myself. I even proclaimed myself as the 1 hr 50 min pacer, so I had a stated target I couldn't fall behind. But of course, one cannot just will away 2 years of intimidation, so kept my pace at a sensible 5:10/k. Flyovers came and flyovers went, and I kept at them. But though I didn't lose mental momentum, I had to drop pace on those endless inclines. 

I just about kept up my stated pace goal, and was well on course to a 1:50 finish. But then, in a final twist, we realised as we entered the stadium that the route was going to be a wee bit longer. Add on 400m, and I cross the finish line at 1:51.

While I finished more or less on target, I was secretly disappointed I couldn't go faster. But I finished strong (my final k was the fastest k) and comfortable, ready to run more if needed. 

And, most importantly, the course no longer held any terrors for me. 'Bring it on', I just might  say, the next time I drive or run up the Hills of Hyderabad. Yeah, I like to think I earned a little piece of my ass back. 


I still have to crack a full marathon here to claim the rest of it.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Incredible Z10 launch


7 pm , 25/Feb : Blackberry Z10 India Launch at at the JW Marriott Mumbai.

A big team was running around setting up the venue. Sunil Dutt, Blackberry India CEO, looked on. 'Sunil, do we really need 10 chairs?', event manager Sandeep asked. 'Sandeep, how many times do I have to remind you that this is a flagship event for RIM, errr, BB, or whatever Thorsten decides to call us today. We are launching the phone to end all phones, the phone that will eat Apple's lunch and Samsung's dinner. Don't skimp on the arrangements', Sunil retorted. ‘And make sure there’s curd rice. These Madrassis have a knack of dropping in everywhere. But don't give me any overpriced prawn dishes, huh? We don't have Korean entertainment budgets'

7.20 and a bored Ranbir Kapoor was playing Temple Run 2. 'Dude, put your iPhone away and get your stubble in place. It's time for the launch.' Ranbir grumpily took his place on stage next to Sunil. 'Now what', he muttered.

7.30. 'Tada', Sandeep announced loudly and lifted the curtain, startling the lone sari clad woman who almost spilt her wine.  'Blackberry? I thought I was early for Parmeshwar's party', she crooned, puzzled, before noticing Ranbir. She promptly swooned, this time actually spilling her wine.

7.45. No one in the audience. 'What's happening, Sandeep?!' Sunil complained. 'But I sent invites to everyone!' Sudeep said, 'Even the Wilson College literary Club!. I told you to let me put an Apple logo on the invites. People would've flocked to the event without reading the rest of it - we'd have a stampede on our hands.'

'Oh well, move to Plan B.' Sunil said. 
Sandeep went around adding
'Free Booze!
Free phones!
Free hugs from Ranbir Kapoor!'
to all the banners around the hotel.

8.15. 3 journalists waddled in, collected their drinks and their Z10s and sat down. 2 giddy young girls dropped in, blowing kisses at the stage. '

'Let's start', Sunil announced.

'We now launch the phone to end all phones, the phone which will eat the IPhone for lunch and Samsung for dinner. We sold out our entire pre-order stock. Ranbir kindly bought BOTH of them. See, he loves it'. 

The Kapoor duly beamed and held up a black Z10.

'What do you like about the phone'? One journo asked Ranbir. 'I can play Temple Run so well on it!', he gushed. Sunil leaned across and whispered something. 'No, no, I meant Brick Breaker', Ranbir stammered. 'Temple Run coming soon to BB. I also love Whatsapping with my friends all day'. And Sunil had to whisper again. 'I meant BBN, umm, M. Whatsapp is at an advanced development stage, Sunil promises. And it's a touch phone. You can swipe it to do this and that! How unique is that?! '

'This amazing phone launches today at the low price of...' He looked up from his script and glared at Sunil. 'Are you f***ing kidding me? I don’t pay Javed that much every month for lip gloss and stubble maintenance' he whispered loudly. '…Rs.43490'. The effort to stay enthusiastic was showing on Ranbir.

And then his phone started buzzing. ‘Gotta take it, it’s DP’, he muttered. And tried desperately to swipe every which way to activate the call. After a while, he flung his BB, took out his Iphone and walked off stage, apologizing profusely to someone for not picking up their call.

One journo, having polished off his 3rd drink, walked up to the stage. ‘Err, Sunil ji, can you please take your phone and give me a Note II instead? My daughter loves that S-Pen thingy’

‘Ok Gentlemen, it’s a wrap’, Sandeep announced, seeing the Blackberry boss turning purple.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Happy New Year, Good Riddance to a Terrible Year


Terrible end to a terrible year. Woke up on December 28 to the sad news of out another innocent life being snuffed out so cruelly, in spite of the best efforts of the girl, her doctors and her family.

2012 stands out for its barbarism. Malala, the Newton school kids/teachers, now Amanat/Nirbhaya. All victims of bestial acts by depraved minds. Here's hoping against hope that 2013 proves their sufferings were not in vain, and will lead to meaningful change.

Pessimism abounds. Malala did manage to get most of the totally craven Pakistani politicians to raise a strident voice condemning the attack. The very fact that this universal condemnation of a brutal attack on an innocent girl is considered so noteworthy shows the level to which expectations had fallen. The Pakistan Taliban still thrives, proudly announcing that they will keep trying to kill her. And various government and quasi-government agencies continue to support this odious entity.

The Newton school massacre lends even less prospect of change. The NRA and other gun-nuts outdid our own khaps with their proposed 'solution' to prevent such atrocities : Place armed guards at all schools, and equip teachers with guns. The solution is always 'more guns'. What next? Have the TSA  set up their airport style security theater at all schools? Yes, it looks like the US will ban schools before they ban guns.

And then our own country, a proud nation with demented and irresponsible politicians who don't even pretend to listen to their people. Indifference and apathy prevails among the populace, and the process of policing law is so perverse and moribund that the ones punished are always the innocent, be they victims, witnesses, or brave whistle-blowers.

All in all, not inspiring much confidence, but let's pray that hope will prevail in 2013.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Lazy Runner


I have always been one of the laziest guys on the block. Half-hearted attempts at any kind of fitness activity (yoga/swimming/gym) were no match for full-blown attempts to find excuses to avoid such activity.

I used to read articles about how good exercise is, over a nice Chocolate ice-cream sundae and/or a beer. Once in a while, I would get tempted by some friend’s stories or prodding to hit the pool or gym, the frequency of which would of course decline to zero pretty quickly.

And then I discovered running. Though I was terrible at most sports, I had some vague idea that I possessed decent stamina, and should try my legs at some endurance activities. After decades, that idea finally got some action when I decided to attempt a few runs. And that, along with various other motivators (see earlier posts), meant that I have stuck with running for almost 3 years now. And as much I’ve loved it, it is clear to me that fitness is not the main goal.

The thing is, I don’t really enjoy other exercise stuff. Yoga tends to be boring, gyms scare me, and I look for excuses to avoid even simple stretches (Yes, I’m also a great procrastinator).  I don’t particularly mind doing all this, but sleep, or drinking, or pretty much any other activity, usually takes priority. Running is perhaps the only thing which gives me enough motivation to roll out of bed at an (in)decent hour.

And I love eating pretty much everything. I've switched to Diet Coke, but gluten-free or vegan/veggie diets appeal to me as much as warm beer.

I see friends working out every day, sometimes multiples times a day, doing Quad and P90x+ and 5X5 routines; reading and writing blogs on the latest nutrition and fitness trends, and I admire their effort and commitment. And reading/thinking about all their exertions tires me out so much I crave either beer or bed.

Yup, I haven't had a hankering for six-pack abs and stuff (and whatever little desire I had to this end went away seeing SRK’s shirtless performance in Om Shanthi Om). Some wobbly bits aren’t too bad, what?

I love running. I also love sleeping and lazing. Of course I want to run longer, faster, more often. I also want to sleep/rest longer, more often.

The balance is, to say the least, difficult. I am trying to find activities which, for the effort, will give me the best ROI in terms of improved running performance. Preferably something that I can do sitting on a sofa with the TV on (extra points if I can keep my hands free to hold the remote/glass). 

I know I will never be a particularly good runner. My goal, if any, is become a passable runner while having my share of sloth and torpor.

My goal is also to find the Grand Unified Theory by reading Calvin & Hobbes and Facebook Posts.




Thursday, August 30, 2012

Hyderabad Marathon 2012 (Or, How Queen Nature bamboozled me. Royally)


Your first marathon is always a memorable experience. You are scared, you worry about things that could go wrong, you wade into the unknown determined to overcome any monsters that might be hidden.

All that, and more, happened at Auroville on my marathon debut.

I'd been the laziest guy on the block - happy to eat, drink and sleep as much as I could. I used to bunk sports period in school, and hardly ever ventured into a sporting arena in college. If a poll was conducted in school on the person least likely to have any sporting achievement, I'd have won hands down. (I don't know if crawling to finish a marathon qualifies as a sporting achievement. If it doesn't, please don't tell me so – that’s the only one I’m capable of.)

And then, basking in the satisfaction of having tamed that course, I turned my focus to looking for my next conquest. Hyderabad it would be, I decided. Having run a half marathon last year, I knew it wasn’t an easy run. The hills would be an added challenge, I said to myself.  And I would do it in decent time, maybe a 4:30? Or less?

Hill training? Who needs that?

For variety, I tacked on to this 4 month Furman ‘Run Less’ program, consisting of 3 runs a week, 2 of which were tempo/intervals. Added on 1 day of strength training. So I still had 3 days a week to sleep late and wake up later.

Promptly after starting training, I succumbed to minor injuries – pulled groin during a weak attempt at sprints. And then a strange case of shin splints, which is supposed to be a beginner runner’s affliction. And summer had set in too. With all this, I found a sharp drop in fitness levels. I was panting at ‘easy’ paces, heart rate was shooting way up, and any sort of speedwork was about as comfortable as surfing on a Blackberry, or typing on an Iphone. But I stayed determined to keep up with the program, icing the shins after every run and reducing my pace targets.

Finally, some 5 weeks before Hyderabad, I found the injury starting to let up, and fitness levels improved marginally. Managed two 30+ k runs without too much trouble. And then the realization that I had done ZERO hill training dawned. Harish reminded me of this as well. So I proposed a 21k run over a fair number of flyovers in South Chennai 2 weeks before the event. That didn't go too bad. Problem solved.  Or so I thought.

Little did I know.

After enjoying the 2 week taper period, I found myself packing for Hyderabad, 2 days before the race. Padded my 4 ½ hr playlist to 5 hours, just in case. And then off to Hyderabad, a nice carb-heavy South Indian lunch, race packet pick-up and an afternoon relaxing with a book. Went down for dinner and found a pool party going on, with a bunch of kids smoking and drinking and frolicking in the pool, amidst music which must have been audible at Gachibowli stadium, let alone our dinner venue adjacent to the party venue.

Chicken Soup and Pasta for dinner with many other runners. Service was terrible, but the two consultants at our table managed to get the bill waived. (No, they haven’t sent me an invoice for their services. Yet). And that music had stopped. So far, so good.

Decent enough sleep, vague dreams about the run. Woke up at some unearthly hour to join the other runners at the lobby. Ramesh looked happy as a clam, having had his peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. Preeti was looking good for podium, which she missed by a whisker. Had I known she’d finish at 4th place, I’d have tripped one of the first 3 at the start. Harish seemed nervous but confident for his marathon debut, and Krishna and Shankar were cool as ever. Walked 10 mins to the start line, and was happy to see many more known faces. After half a banana and a Gu, felt all set. The countdown started, the balloons went up. And off we went.

The first bit, around the lake was deceptively flat. Kept an easy pace along with Harish and Anil, another Chennai Runner. The weather was more humid than expected, but nothing a Chennai-ite could complain about. At 9 k, we passed the start point again where the Half Marathoners were lined up for their run. Just after that, the first flyover came, and that was when the Half Marathoners started, all full of vim. Hordes of people were overtaking us, and I was happy to let them pass, content with my 6:20/k pace. And the string of flyovers and hills had also begun.

While slowing down somewhat, I was fairly comfortable handling them, energy levels were fine and heart rate was unexceptional. Passed the 50% mark at 2:13, at which point I realized a 4:30 would be tough; but I could live with finishing a few minutes off. Stayed easy, running up inclines with small steps, and bounding down the declines, feeling pretty good. Was even able to do a small jig when a loud volunteer bus passed by, just before the killer Gachibowli flyover started. Struggled up it, and met a few Half Marathoners who were by now nearing the end of the course, and looking forward to the finish line. We of course had miles to go. At around 28k, our paths diverged. Courtesy last year’s Half, it had been a familiar route till then. I was hoping the rest of the course would be flatter, and I knew there weren’t any more flyovers. But then Nature had other plans. Immediately after the turn, she threw up a steep and endless hill, and then a sharp descent till the 31.1 (almost 75%) point, which I passed with 3:21 on the clock. Ok, it’ll be flat from now, I hoped. If I maintained a 7 min/k pace, I was looking at a 4:38 finish. That’s not too bad, I thought.

And then up it went again. Was starting to feel some tingling in my right quad by now. Cramps coming up, they seemed to be telling me. I’d never had cramps during a run before, and hence no idea how to handle them. Stopped briefly for some stretches, cut down the pace and kept running. But the hills showed no sign of ending. There was a turn around 35k onto a small road, full of cows and a rural vibe. And still uphill. At this point, I saw Ramesh who was moving well but also struggling with the inclines. Then a young lady in a yellow tee bounded by untroubled by all this, frustrating us further. Kept with Ramesh for a couple of Ks as the legs were getting more and more uncomfortable forcing me to cut the pace heavily. And then we saw another incline at 36-odd k. “Are you f***ing kidding me?”, I had to blurt out. Ramesh the consultant said pretty much the same thing, only it was more like “In a resource-thin situation, unfavorable environment changes may need a paradigm shift with the end-goal in mind to make the deliverable actionable”. And he shifted and kept moving.

I struggled on and turned into the university where the road went – you guessed it - up. That’s when my legs started seizing. The left quad had joined the party by now, and the hams were sending threatening signals as well. ‘We told you to get more hill practice’, they seemed to be mocking. Tried some weird stretches which had no impact, nor did Volini spray. Ramesh was still with me here, and suggested backward walking, which didn’t do too much to me, other than attract weird looks from passersby. Was able to jog + walk with some occasional stretches for the next 2-3 k, and realized the jog parts were getting shorter and shorter, and my net pace was only marginally better than fast walking. 

Finally gave up at 40k and decided to just walk it back. Other runners were passing by, and there was nothing I could do about it.  They say a marathon is mostly mental, but at this point it was purely physical. The mind was willing, the heart was in it, but the legs had their own plans. Any attempt at running, and they would promptly protest by buckling. As I entered the stadium, I saw Mani, looking concerned seeing me walking, trying to spur me on. I kept enough reserve to start jogging as I entered the stadium track, and there was Bala, pulling and prodding me on to the finish line. Crossed it just before my playlist ran out, comfortable but disappointed.

‘Let’s come back and crack it next year’ Ramesh said later. ‘Never again’, I promised.

Yes, promises you have no intention of keeping are the best kind.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Playbook OS 2 release crashes servers, ‘Proves Success’ claims CEO


The release of Blackberry OS 2, claimed by the company to be their biggest update ever, lead to its servers in India crashing yesterday.
According to reports, five users tried to download the update for the Blackberry Playbook the same evening overloading its computers for several hours, and Blackberry services slowing to a crawl.
‘We didn’t think anyone would notice this update was out’, Sunil Dutt, Head of BB India said. ‘However, I took the precaution of hosting the 500MB file in my home PC, just in case. But with so much demand, my 256 Kbps connection couldn’t handle the load, and the link dropped frequently. I should have listened to my friends and taken an Airtel broadband connection instead of BSNL.' He added, 'The way Blackberry demand is going, we were planning to run the Blackberry email service globally from my computer, but I will now ensure I upgrade my internet plan before we do that’.
Praising the India chief, Thorstein Heins, Blackberry ‘s new CEO said ‘ Sunil showed great resourcefulness in overruling the advice of his marketing team. In fact, the sales guys were trying to convince our development team not to bother with all this work and just put out the original OS and claim it was a major update.’ "No one will notice", they claimed.'
A marketing executive who did not wish to be named said ‘ The Playbook was released last year, but most customers and BB employees still have no idea what it is supposed to do.’ When asked why these buyers didn’t complain, he said ‘Most of our sales were from an enterprising Mumbai reseller who stuck the Apple logo on the front and back of the device. Of course no one complains about an Apple product, however crappy it is – it just isn’t done’.
Mr. Heins responded ‘Last evening’s outstanding success, which saw almost 10% of our Playbook buyers attempt to download this update on the first day of its release shows that we still have active users of our device. While it may be true that the occasional buyer may have mistaken this for the Playstation Portable or a chopping board, we congratulate the people who actually managed to use it’.
Ex-CEOs Mike Lazardis and Jim Balsillie deferred comments, claiming the Downtown Ontario McDonald’s was unusually busy today. ‘These burgers aren’t gonna flip themselves’, Lazardis muttered, as Balsillie was spotted trying to fix a broken potato fryer.