Musings of a runner: Home away from home

Intro

This blog as might be apparent from the title has to do with running, biking and basically other outdoor individualistic sports, sometimes extreme, such as rock climbing . But don't be surprised if you find articles on work, personal life, music and even philosophy, this blog is an exception in this aspect in the blogosphere of running blogs and I am trying to revamp the blog to make it more runner friendly. You might want to look at the sidebar titled 'categorised', which as is obvious, categorizes my posts into different areas of interest.
The other thing that might interest many people is a section on 'running videos' and 'general videos' on the side bar, which I keep updating now and then.
I plan to bring in more posts on running and biking, with some added colour, so as to make them 'complete'. That's about it for now.
As a post-note, I have run a half-marathon, but I am yet to attempt a marathon, which through some concerted effort and time should happen in the future, but that ofcourse is not the culmination of this blog, it would on the contrary be something to jumpstart this blog onto new vistas.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Home away from home

Having stayed at IITM for atleast 4 years, home is synonymous with my room, comp and the ever comfortable bed. Ofcourse, the one thing lacking here is good food for which I had to take recourse through a short break to Hyderabad.
The one good thing about my dwelling at hyderabad is that it is located in the outskirts and has a rustic, laidback feel to it. The added fact that it was monsoon time, transformed the place (as I saw it) into a lush green belt, comprising large expanses of fields and open grasslands all around . This could only mean one thing to me; my running experience would be enhanced with all the visual treats to distract me from the rigors of running and pave the way for enjoyable memories.
One of my runs has peculiarly stuck in my memory.....Transmission lines passing above , supported by towering transmission towers every few 100 metres, humming their own tune, threaten to snap at you; not a soul in sight and the path is undulating and strewn with cobblestones. Its getting dark and I am still a few miles from home, my shirt is soaked full of rain water accumulated over the last 45 minutes, and I hear rustlings in the nearby bushes. Dogs howl in the distance sending a chill up my spine...Good thing, I have been on this trail before, for if I were to stray from the path and get lost, spending a night here wouldn't be a great idea.
This once happenend the last time I was here and because I had chosen the wrong trail from the main road, I had to rely on my instincts, passing through fields and searching for used trails, keeping a look out for any signs of human life and most importantly not stopping from getting too tired running all through..That day I had reached a temple and I was really relieved. I soon saw some workers nearby and they directed me to the nearest main road. I reached home, albeit a little late - 1 hr to be precise.
Trail running is a unique experience as against running on roads or in the city and much more satisfying than the latter. I would be back in Hyderabad hopefully, for the proposed half marathon to be held on september 24th at the stroke of midnight..http://www.aims-association.org/Directory.htm