Beasant Nagar beach

One of the coolest places in Chennai to hangout and also to run!

I went with my uncle to the beach at 4:30 am, 'cause that's his time for walking, which he does for 2 hrs!. So, I had to plan my run for the 2 hrs. I decided that I would be needing atleast 15 mins to warmup and warmdown..That still left me with 1.5 hrs to run.
I started out slowly, finding my rythm and completing each 1.6 km lap as I ran. The pavement on which the walkers did their walk was too hard on my knees, hence I had to partially run on the sandy track beside it. I noticed that when you proceed towards the church end of the beach, you have a cool breeze hitting your face but the route back from the church end makes you stuffy.

Anyway, I was having a sip from a 200 ml bottle (which I was carrying in my pocket) every 10 minutes and that helped in the last 40 minutes of my run. A few goodthings about the run:

> I got to see some good looking girls along the run.
> I was running after a 2 week break and still was feeling not so bad.
> I ran 15 kms in 1:18:18 - A good time.
> The sprint in the last lap along the beach road was awesome.

> I would be ready to hit the beach two days later, that is tomorrow morning...

Finally...

Yes, finally I would be done with my program out here..and what a relief it is. My presentation got over today evening and I left immediately to my hangout..The computer Centre(cc) and hit upon my latest stress buster..SUDOKU..Ever since the game started showing up on the news-papers, I got hooked on to it. The one in "The Hindu" started out as an easy one and I guess it has maintained that tag, so I had to look for challenging.. www.mousebreaker.com .It displays the time of finish and even the relative position of all those who finished it that day. My position was around 350, not bad considering my friends finished a little later......
Now, the last one week I must have averaged 8 hrs of work on my presentation and that is heavy work..No wonder I am very much looking forward to running a lot in atleast the coming week.
But the irony is just when the weather started showing its better side, it's time to leave this place and face the heat at chennai. Hmm...Life's like that.

Auto cruise control

tik tak tik tak tik tak tik tak............................
That's not the clock's work but the rhythmic sound of my foot taping into which I got lost during my run today. Normally I run a long run ( a distance you would probably not run daily for fear of injury) during the weekends. Today's run was really great as I got into the auto cruise 10 minutes into the run i.e, I was looking around the campus absorbing the scenery while my legs were doing the hard work without complaining. This is essential during such long runs, as one need's to forget the working of the wheel of time to be able to confidently finish the run. This auto cruise is also very enjoyable and only when you come out of it,you realise you have had a good time so far. My long runs have gradually become more comfortable and the recovery from it has also become quicker.
Today for example, I dindn't feel the slightest discomfort till I hit 8kms (40 mins). Here, my knees started aching and I had to slow down, but this phase didn't last long as after 10 minutes I was running faster than my normal speed, feeling great. I finished my 16km run in 1:23:15.
During my run today, I saw a lot of walkers, both recreational and the serious ones, and maybe one or two runners. I wondered as to how the body could seemingly adapt to the demands posed by running (increased oxygen intake and shocks due to the constant pounding (more so when I run on the asphalt)) and if there was any limit to the distance one could run at a stretch. Two people, Dean Karnazes and Pam Reed , pros in ultra running, have already run 260 miles and 300 miles respectively non-stop and ofcourse without taking a nap!!!!.
The saying 'It's all in the mind', seems very applicable to this endurance sport of long distance running. There is a sect of monks on a hill close to kyoto, Japan, called 'Marathon Monks', who have to cover 40 kms a day, 100 days a year for 7 years to qualify as a monk there, failing which they commit suicide. The tough qualifier also has a 7 day period where, the monks have to sit erect in a cave(ensured by two people who watch the person), without water or food..an incredible feat by itself.
I f a person comes out succesful through this ruthless test, he is considered to have achieved god-hood, and is given that acknowledgement by the king there. Only 46 people have completed this 1000 day challenge, started in the year 1885.
When I read this article, http://www.runpunxsyrun.org/marathonmonks.html, I thought how tiny our ambitions are in life and how much we could achieve if only we were to put in the necessary effort and time.