From Enigma variations, Rob Douglan to Free running

The evolution.

Nature came about.
Man came about.
Nature inspired man.
Man made inspirational music.
Along came Enigma variations by Edward Elgar
Which was ripped/remixed by Rob Douglan into Clubbed to Death
Which inspired Russian Free runners to set their free running video to this tune
And the American counterparts did the same
Videos that followed on had variations of the same music
While some limited that music to serve as an introductory piece, as a mark of respect.

"Running is bad for your knees" - A myth busted

This post is dedicated to all you non-runners out there. Yo, you guys rock.

Any time I tell "non-runners" , that I run during my free time(that's how it comes up..What do you do man..Play football [or soccer for Americans], basket-ball, etc?), they all go: 'Oh that's nice, but uh..I think its bad for your knees'. Man, atleast have the decency to put your prejudice as a question: "Don't or do you think its bad for your knees" is much better than "Its bad for the knees. I therefore don't run nor should you."

People who run or jog regularly(with flexibility in runs), have a feel for their runs, care about their form..questions like, "How does my leg feel", constantly come up when you run. Good form is also aesthetically pleasing to look at. People who run also think of running as a sport. Why else would they be doing it? I don't need to lose weight, I need to gain weight if you ask me. But even if you take up running to lose weight( that's the best way to do it), you would soon stop obsessing about losing weight and focus more on enjoying your runs. And running is not as easy as you think. It involves completely surrendering to how your body feels on any particular day. Do you know how hard that is? You want to go out fast today, you can't. Why? Because the body isn't ready. And why is that? Because it hasn't recovered from the fast run yesterday. And how do you know if your body has recovered or not? That's what you call listening to your body.

People who start walking all of a sudden can do it daily without a problem. People who start running all of a sudden and try doing it everyday, end up with a runner's knee. Again why? Because you are not yet sensitive to your body's signs of inability. I understand its tough to know "how your body feels", I have been through it many times, when I have had a lay off. Its always tough to comeback. If you go back to some of my posts, you would understand that. But that doesn't mean you give up. Its a subtle art of deciding what pace you want to run at any given moment during the run and how far to run on each day.
Following a schedule strictly in running is a great recipe for ending up with runner's knee or shin splits


When I started running regulary 3 years back, I frequently sucummbed to shin splits. Why? I committed the classic mistakes of sticking to a schedule. Run every day at the same pace(atleast slow down on a few days). My uncle who walks for 2 hrs every day, would ask me what's the use of running if you can't do it regularly? Here's my answer: Running is a completely different ball-game altogether. I challenge you non-runners. If you think running is easy enough, go out and run. See for yourself if you can run regularly for a month or even two weeks, make progress and not get injured. Running is a sport, the rules are decided by the body. Simple.

Now, the past three months, I haven't run much..Just 2-3 runs per week. But the good thing is, I haven't had a single indication of pain in my legs during these runs so far. If during a run, my legs started feeling heavy and painful, I would just slow down or stop. But almost always slowing down helped. Its always the initial two-three weeks after a long period of non-running which is really painful, since the body is adapting itself to the rigors of running, to the constant pounding the legs has to take, there is also some losing of weight involved so as to get back in 'running shape'. After that initial phase, running becomes really enjoyable, something to look forward to, not something that needs to be done to attain any specific end per se.

Links:
1) Hal Higdon

Fantastico

It was 3:30 am in the morning. I was feeling really groggy, I had woken up a few hours back and now my body simply refused to listen to my comparatively alert mind. I was contemplating going back to sleep vs doing something productive. And then it hit me. Yep, this body wants some running. Let's satisfy its craving. True, it has been a week since I ran and as I stepped out, and took my first few steps into the run, the body simply took off. I was like, wow someone's really in mood today..bring it on baby. I maintain a running log and I realised that this run would definitely would come up as one of the faster runs in the log in the past few months. Though my bowels weren't empty, I was having a good time, who wouldn't when the body is ready for action. The side-stitches(rawly described as stomach cramps due to food in the stomach coupled with fast running) did crop up later into the run, but I just kept on cruising, striding my legs off. The last 1.5 kms were pretty intense and I was doing 4:12/km or 6:43/mile pace and despite the stitches, managed it well. And the time: 5kms in 23:13 a definite progress over the past three months(earlier times were around 26-27 mins for 5k), considering that I am not running more than 2-3 runs/week. This run reminds me of my days back in campus..We used to do 4kms in 15 - 16 mins flat. I am no way near that fitness now, but this run surely proves an inspiration to keep running and improve my times.

Youtube laughs

Warming up
1) Real funny baby laugh
2) Contagious hysterical baby laugh

Going good
3) Car without a driver
4) Babies again

Real hysteria
5) I am happy, I am relaxed!

And Finally
6) Laughter club - London
7) Laughter club - Virginia

There are a bunch of videos on the tube and I strongly recommend anyone who needs a break to browse through them. Happy laughing!

Tam hip-hop - Yogi B and Natchathra

Though its a bit old, mixing ilayaraja's composition in a hip-hop framework deserves mention: Madai Thiranthu(album: vallavan)

This is the Malaysian band's website: Yogi B and Natchatra
I found the lyrics in a couple of blogs. Some of them are lyrics1 (incomplete but better wordings) and lyrics2 (accurate at many places and complete)

Now, if someone could translate the lyrics to english that would be great. My tam's decent(vernacular) but this stuff goes over my head.

For my reference, I am pasting the lyrics(appropriately combined from the above two) here. I have also pitched in my version(with errors) of the english translation of rap 3 (fast forward 4:02 - 4:46)

makkalukku ne eduthu sollu (Bring it out to the public)

Damn Its gonna blow...Thaavum nadhi alai naan...(I am like the wave of a river??)
Maybe u shud know...Koovum siru kuyil naan....(I am like the koel that sings sweet)
Isai kalaignan..yen aasaigal aayiram..ninaithadhu palithadhu...*2 (I am a wanna be music artist who has a thousand dreams and sees them being successful)

Rap 1:

En urai thuvangum mun..nalla ulangalukku nandri
Nandri thaayae..neeyo idi thaangi..thandhai neeyo sumai thangi....
Pasi Kodumai..Nadaipadhaiyil Urakkam...
Aasai kedakkudhu karanam....Iraivanin irakkam...
Ethanai Yaemaatram..Anudhinam Avamaanam...
Edhayum thaangum ullam ...thodarum isai payanam...
Tholaival gaanam paada vendum Natchathiram...
Thodarndhu poaraadum...kalaignanin manam...
Thottakal thullaikkadhu....anugundu thagarkkadhu....
Avamanam yen uyirai azhikkadhu...
Adhigaram yen kanavai thadukkadhu.....
Karuppinar sollisai maindhan kidakkatum....
Sentamizh sollisiai selvendhar pirakattum...
Viyakka vaikkum thiruppangal ini nigazhum...
Bramikka vaikkum padai...ini thodarum...
Pudhiya parimaanam...padai edukkum...
Natchathirangalin jananam adhai mudivedukkum.

[End of Rap 1]


Damn Its gonna blow...Thaavum nadhi alai naan...
Maybe u shud know...Koovum siru kuyil naan....
Isai kalaignan..yen aasaigal aayiram..ninaithadhu palithadhu...*2

Rap 2:

angara thanduvom matmajothil~adaiyum neram
aay thiru mugam sen nirumbulee kondu garbam
andha sarasaram adangee alambel vaaai thalam.
sutham nilavaadhu adiga budiga natpu nelabey kolabey sedhapey badhbey sedhabey sumandhu thenna maram aaka naanga neeka
vidabey vidabey vidabey vidabey un karunai kalaivaaney
isai thaayey kalai arul thaa nee
ullai needhi indha rap paaatathil aaga mothatthil
pasuthoppol theeya puli anaindhavanukku unna
we lie vallavn manadhil aasai kottai katti pozhuludupokku avan ivan paathu vetti peychu
peychukku ennada peychu pasangala ippo ennada aachu vandha nasaikkal kai kodi serthadhu [Sollarom Le]
varumo theriyadhu vallavanin maru pagudhi annaney pugal keetu padam vidum thodangumey idhu voru

[End of Rap 2]

Netru yen araingile...nizhalgalin naadagam....
Indru yen edhirilay...nijangalin....dharisanam...
Varum kaalam..vasantha kaalam..naalum mangalam...
Varum kaalam..vasantha kaalam..naalum mangalam... Isaikena..pirikkandra...rasigargal rajjiyam....Enakkaeee dhaan.

Rap 3 [4:02 - 4:46]:

Yevanukkumay theriyadhu...(No one really knows)
Unakku sonnal puriyaadhu....(Even if I were to tell you, you wouldn't understand)
Now take you back...flashback...when I was just little...
My circle crumbled..next to the colony temple....
Hey Gundu Payya...unga amma appa chellam...(Hey fat guy, you were your mom and dad's pet)
pattanam maari poanoam...yen'na mazhai vandha vellam..(We changed cities since if it rained it was sweet??)
Pudhiya... pazhaya... ulagugal maara.... Aangilamum ..thamizhum...kalaachaarangal modha...(New and old..A change in worlds..And a clash between the English and Tamil cultures)
Kadupuchinaen'ada indha Hip Hop... (I discovered this Hip Hop)
Andru mudhal indru varai...market dont stop...market dont quit...(Since then it has been...market dont stop...market dont quit...)
Sodhanai Vedhanai..yen kannil thulaiika..Appo thumbikkai yen nambikkai...(Pain, Anxiety, reflected in my eyes..Then did my belief become firm)
Wallaloo..How...Chennai..London...Tamizhan...MC...Mudhalvan...Vallavan...
Rap Music kalai vidhiyin sambrudhaayam...Madai thirandhu..nadhi alai pol yen (Resulting in the tradition of the rap music art combined with my poetic interludes like the waves of a river)kavidhaigal thaavum....

[End of rap 3]

Damn Its gonna blow...Thaavum nadhi alai naan...Maybe u shud know...Koovum siru kuyil naan....Isai kalaignan..yen aasaigal aayiram..ninaithadhu palithadhu...*2

Adhikkarathuva orunginaippu...Isai kalaignargalin anivaguppu...
Idharkku kadavul Kaarana kartha...Idhuvae ezhudhapadum..idai vidaadhu thodarum...Indri amaiyaadha...Isai Thenamudhaagum.

Kavidhaiku enna kattupaadu....Madai Thirandhu alai paayum yen soll isai mettu...Iraivan mattum arivaan...naan sindhiya veyarvai..ratham ..thyagam...


The funny original of the rap remix can be found here: Madai Thiranthu

What's your speed?

According to the special theory of relativity that's no question. Its a fact. Every single object in the universe we know of, you and me included, is always in motion at the speed of light.
What if I were at rest(relative), say I am sitting in front of the computer reading this blog? Then you are not moving through space, but through time at the speed of light(c). Since space-time is considered as one medium in relativity, at any given point in time your combined motion in space and time would be at the speed of light.
And what if you were to be travelling at the speed of light, i.e. to say your speed through space is 1 billion kmph. Then you wouldn't be a time traveller(you wouldn't age at all). This gives a new perspective to time. Its not that time is passing by, it's that we are passing through time(time travellers) and we can control the rate of passing or speed through time, by controlling the speed through space. The sad part is, no one's come up with a way to go back in time. Ok, enough said.

Hail the king - Haile Gebreselassie(Geb)

The Ethiopian who shook up the middle distance racing scene in the nineties creating many world records to his name is now all set to take up the challenge of breaking the Marathon world record time of 2:04:55 set by Paul Tergat a few years back(2003). His recent performances in Berlin Marathon (2:05:56) and in Fukowaka, Japan (2:06:52 on 3rd Decemeber 2006) go to prove that his current level of fitness will ensure that the marathon world record doesn't stay for too long(months??). The performance in a half-marathon is a great indicator of the expected performance in a marathon and Haile has the half-marathon record of 58:55 (see bottom pic). Now, all I can say is, Go go Haile, you are the King.


Some of his personal bests:

1,500 m	3:33.73	1999-06-06	Stuttgart
Mile	3:52.39	1999-06-27	Gateshead
3,000 m	7:25.09	1998-08-28	Bruxelles
Two miles	8:01.08	1997-05-31	Hengelo
5,000 m	12:39.36	1998-06-13	Helsinki
10,000 m	26:22.75	1998-06-01	Hengelo
10 km (road)	27:02	2002-12-11	Ad-Dawhah
15 km (road)	41:38	2001-11-11	Nijmegen
Ten miles (road)	44:24	2005-09-04	Tilburg
20 km (road)*	55:48	2006-01-15	Phoenix
Half marathon	58:55	2006-01-15	Phoenix
25 km (road)	1:11:37	2006-03-12	Alphen aan den Rijn (not recognised by IAAF)
Marathon	2:05:56	2006-09-24	Berlin

Another point to note is that Haile is the only athlete after Kenyan Felix Limo to finish 4 marathon races in less than 2:07:00.

Marathon - A misnomer

A: "I ran the marathon yesterday"
Me: Oh really? ( I wonder when this guy started running, leave alone running marathons)
A: Yeah
Me: How much time did you take?
A: Oh, around 30 minutes
Me: Huh? (A new world record) Oh, you mean you ran a 5km race
A: Yeah, they called the race a marathon

Ofcourse, they would call it a marathon if you ran the full distance of 42kms 195 metres. Anything less than that is called a fraction of the marathon or not-a-marathon. For example, a seattle marathon event will hold a marathon(42kms), a half marathon (21kms) and probably a "corporate" run of 5kms or 10kms. Many people run the 5km or 10km event and get an artificial sense of accomplishment. Do you know that training for a marathon can take as much as 4 months if you start from scratch? And how much time did you train for the 5km run? 3 days? Cut out that marathon crap. You either ran a full marathon or you didn't. Simple. Got to respect the distance man.

PS: This is not to say I disrespect a 5km run. I infact think 5kms is one of the toughest middle distance runs to compete in, but then I would call it a 5km race and not a marathon plus I would train for it, not just land up on the race day and run 5kms for the first time in my life and say "Oh I somehow managed to finish it". Yep, that's a wonder indeed, given you didn't train for it.
Some of my best moments in my running career have been running a 5km in 20 minutes. I have run a half-marathon, but finishing the half-marathon didn't give me even a fraction of the euphoria which running that 5km in 20 minutes gave me. Why? Because I ran the half marathon on a half-baked training of 11 days and well, for the 5km, I had been training for quite sometime.

Alu-gobi-mutter

Alu-gobi-mutter (potato-cauliflower(broccoli) and peas) is one of my favourite curries. I haven't really had it in a long time...probably years. I am right now transitioning from eating crappy food to 'decent' food. A week back my stomach took a lot of beating with all the noodles I was having for my main course and it refused to accept it any further. So I was forced to start cooking rice, curry, etc..something I have feared since I landed here. I mean I haven't tried cooking food ever before, all I had was my mom's recipies for it. But wonders of wonders, alu curry (dry) turned out just ok on the first day of cooking and alu-gobi (dry), yesterday, along with curd rice was just short of being lip-smacking. Now, all I need to complete the circle is either of rasam or sambar. The past 5 years, I have hardly hard any proper south indian meal, relying heavily on chappatis and dal. Why? Because the mess food sucked big time. And even the restaurants outside the campus, only a few of them knew how to make good sambar or rasam or a good meal for that matter.

What I am arriving at here is, the north indian food that's served at the restaurants in india are state-of-the-art in terms of making the dishes(naan, rumali roti, paneer makhani, etc) as they should be, but the same is not the case with the south indian meal. To make a good south indian meal, every single disaggregate component of the meal (rasam, curry(dry), rice, koot,koyambu, etc) should be up to the mark. Even if one of them is done badly(its easy to mess them up), the overall taste goes for a toss. If you want to have a good south indian meal, it invariably has to be a home made one. And if restaurants do prepare them well, there are very few of them(saravana bhavan, etc) and pretty costly(2-2.5 times) relative to most south indian restaurants. This only means that the south indian restaurants have pandered to attract more customers by underpricing the meals and consequently 'averaging out' the quality of the meals or maybe that just is the attitude adopted by these restaurants and no one's looked to change the same. Well, this is ofcourse just my opinion based on my experiences and should be taken in with a pinch of salt and pepper ;)

End of quarter

Yep. Good times.
Came here, got thulped first few weeks with all the things going on in life - searching for apartment, searching for roomate, searching for a bike, searching for buildings and locations..you get the picture.
And then when all seemed well, came the onslaught of assignments. One of the courses I took had 7 assignments, 4 labs, two quizzes, one end term and one term report - Can you beat that? The other two courses weren't that bad.
Adjustment and adaptation to the system took me one month. I learnt that the best thing to do with courses bombarding you with assignments is to just print on a piece of paper the due dates for the assignments from all the courses and atleast know when what is due..eh.
Once, I did that, things were back where they should have been, the familiar nightout/intense workout before due date fundaes..And now the quarter has come to an end. Got to plan some biking trips to exotic locales around here and if possible get some mountaineering in, though it might be dangerous with possible landslides. But I will definitely accept some variations like rock climbing and bouldering though buildering might be a long shot here (I have climbed my house bottom up back in hyd).

On flat screens and plain water

Take a piece of white cotton cloth, dip in water, wring it till no water drips off..i.e. it is just about moist. Switch off your laptop or LCD monitor. Start at the top left corner or any convenient point and in a slow circular motion very very very gently caress the screen. Repeat till you have whole of the screen covered. Now we have all the smudges and marks off the screen. Run time for the whole process - (15 - 45) mins.
Pros - Can save you the frustration caused when you log onto your computer and look at the modern art for a brief while, while the computer loads.
Cons - Time consuming and doesn't work for oily smudges.
Conclusion - To be attempted when frustration reaches its peak and/or when there r lots of free time.

Of snow, slippery roads and the cliched runs

Two weeks back was the first time I saw snow in my life..in reality. I was sleeping longer than usual and as I pulled the blanket closer and looked out the window, I wondered why the rain out the window was so thick and precipitating at a slow rate.
3 hrs later, wide awake, I couldn't stop looking out the window.

Black smoke
In the background
Buildings
all around
And pure white snow
gathering on the ground

My mounting fear abound
Could I run on the slushy ground
When the time came near
Could I withstand the cold weather

For I have missed runs in the past
With disastrous impacts
Not that I wished that happen again
I went out onto the terrain
Painful at first it was
Mangaeable when I avoided the white extras
And fun
When I realised I was indeed doing my regular run


Cliched ending:(Calling some thing cliched and mentioning it anyway, sounds cliched to me now[add loop for the cliched calling the cliched][infinite])

Before I knew
I had a bad flu
I summoned up my might
And took the last right
For the end was near
I had no reason to fear
A run of a kind
To be stowed away
In my mind
To be remembered
When I unwind
From a race of a stressful kind

Abstract/philosophical or 'plain shady' ending:
Consistency they say
Paves the way
For that sought after progressive state
Follow the path
Before its too late

Ah, but its never too late
The choice you make
Only delays the date
For as long as there is intent
Its manifestation is imminent
A time machine would make it easier I know
For I could look into the so called future you know
All said and done
A routine can sometimes be fun
As long as you can maintain one
In the markovian process called 'the run'


I dabble in poetry. That's about it.
Now to mention something about real running eh..

Briefly, I have managed 10 runs in the past 25 days..Not bad I say, but again I can invoke the last but one para of the shady ending to the above poem and say consistency.............

Basically been running 4-5 kms @ 8 min/mile (I must say I am adjusting well to living in america, for I can use kms and miles in the same breath). But as Henry Rono, who's competing in the masters segment, would say in the lets run forums....I am starting to feel less fires in my legs and more lightness...Meaning, my runs are getting better.
But the roads are not good. I repeat, they are not good at all. The gilman trail has some muddy paths, but that's beyond what I run. So I got to long, so that I run comfortable. So long.

Bike Incident II: Lost and found

My bike is one hellofan adventerous bike...It likes to get involved in accidents and likes to get stolen for short periods of time, I believe..

I come out of my department building and usually I just look to where my bike is(20 yards away) and I always find my bike at where I look..Except that tonight it wasn't where it was supposed to be. Were my eyes deceiving me?

What would be your reaction if you were to find your $500 road bike missing?
Mine was.."Oh another one of those unnerving, shocking incidents that's been happening to me lately."

I don't know why but I just ran down the stevens way and as if it were to be, a police car was waiting around the corner and the patrol sergeant was just about to get into the car. I explained to him the situation and he met me again at the scene of theft. The U-lock which is normally supposed to be hooked to the frame of the bike was placed around the parking slot frame..a grave mistake. And the cord that I use to lock the back and front tires of my bike was cut..into two.
The sergeant asked me a couple of questions and most importantly asked if I knew the serial number of the bike. I told him I could get that info. from the bike shop tomorrow. I was given a case number and asked to fill in the serial number of the bike on to the case record asap.
I was kind of annoyed at how casually I was reacting to this situation. I was like, yeah the bike's stolen, but can you do anything about it now? No.

I wondered if the thief was from the campus. Probably. The bike wasn't parked for more than 5 hrs before it was stolen, so this guy probably had to be someone familiar with when and at what frequency people come in and out of buildings, when the roads are deserted and a general familiarity with the workings of the campus: especially with the patrol car doing its rounds every half hour and given that my bike was parked close to the road.

I unlocked the U-lock from the parking frame and placed it in my bag, just in case I was to find my bike stashed somewhere behind the trees or if it were to magically pop up in front of me...somehow.

Now, the thing hit me. It usually takes 5 minutes to get to my home..by bike. Walking would take 15 minutes. I could manage walking daily, but the bike...that's...that's my precious.

I proceeded now in an arbitrary direction towards the gilman trail..Why? I don't know..Some thought that I might somehow find it there. Just as I entered the trail, I saw two bikes of a similar make parked at a nearby parking slot. One of them didn't have a back tire(apparently stolen), the other was ok. The locking mechanisms used in both the bikes were the same U-lock. Lucky bike I thought.
I gave up hope now, the only way I would get my bike was if the guy were to land up at a pawn shop and the pawn shop owner were to notice that the serial number of the bike was one in the stolen bikes list supplied by the campus police.

There's nothing I can do about that too, so I started walking back towards my department and then one guy comes riding a road bike(that looks like mine) and parks it in the exact same spot where I had locked my bike. I run upto him and ask him what the hell is going on. He had an interesting story about his friend stealing my bike and him returning it back. "I had my bike stolen once and it was pretty bad, and I don't know why my friend did that. So I decided to return it."

I was happy that my bike was back and in good shape and after a few more questions I let him go.
A while later, I come out of the department to see a car parked by the road side and our sergeant staring at my bike and going around it and shaking his head. I go towards my bike, and he exclaims, "How..how did you find the bike?"
I thought of telling him that all this was a game, but I let that pass and briefed him on the new development.

The fusion route to Indian classical music

Indian classical music can be broadly classified as Hindustani and Carnatic. One is popular in the north and the other in the south. But they complement each other very well, as can be seen from fusion albums of the two genres of classical Indian music.
One such fusion is the "Remembering Shakti" live performance, which has five greats coming together:
John Mcloughlin - Of the famous Al Di Meola, Paco De Lucia and John Mcloughlin guitar trio
Mandolin Srinivas - Unmatched god and my role model for carnatic music on the mandolin
Zakhir Hussain - The tabla God. Period.
V Selvaganesh - A Percussionist who plays the mridangam, ghatam and Kanjira equally well.. I have seen him perform at the IIT bombay Mood Indigo cul fest and he was awesome.
Shankar Mahadevan (vocal) - Shankar Mahadevan needs no real introduction, as he has sung popular numbers in movies like Dil Chahta Hai, etc and is also popular down south.

There are many songs on the youtube from this performance, but I recommend the following song for a first intro to classical Indian carnatic music:
Giriraja Sutha
Giriraja sutha is a popular carnatic song and is set in the Bangala Raaga and the song is composed by the composition genius Thyagaraja.
Another recommended port of entry is the song Thaye Yashoda set in Thodi Raaga from the movie Morning Raga. Find the video Here.

Here's an instrumental piece where Srinivas and John complement each other very well.
Another instrumental , where the players interact and tease the music, albeit in a pleasing manner.
Remembering Shakti on youtube search.
For those interested in further exploration of Carnatic on Mandolin or for that matter any thing Indian classical, here are some sources for classical Indian music:
Kannada Audio
Music India Online

A final note: The cousin of carnatic on mandolin is carnatic on guitar. And a good exponent for the same, is Prasanna. Here are a few of his videos: Thodi, 2

P.S. If you have come thus far, you might as well watch this one. It resembles dance from Dream

Bike incident - I

Chapter 1


"Aah..ah", I groaned taking in the heaviness of my forehead, looking ahead from where I was. I saw an elderly woman sitting beside me on the side-walk and staring at me in a concerned manner. I dismissed her and looked ahead to see the university bridge, I looked around to see the East lake avenue. The university bridge sounded familiar since its close to the university, but the Eastlake avenue..seemed vaguely familiar. All this was very surreal and..
"Are you alright?" asked the woman interrupting my efforts to know what was going around here. I looked at her, looked behind to see a van approaching me and looked at her again. "Am I in a dream?", I asked her.
No..no, you just fell off your bike..
"I am actually a bit disoriented here.."
Yeah I can see that.

**********
Can I have your name sir?
"Eh..is this an ambulance?", I ask with my eyes half open.
Yes sir, you just had a bad fall. Your name please.
"I will tell you everything. I want to, because I don't seem to recollect much of anything...Please ask me as many questions as possible.."
Do you know what month this is?
"huh..Novemeber..its 9th or 10th I guess"
Do you know what happened before you fell off the bike?
"Uh..I..wait..yeah..I was riding on the East Lake ave..wait I was riding from my home..yeah.so I was riding on the East lake avenue and I don't remember what happened after that"
Do you know where you were headed?
"I must have been heading towards the university"
"Is the injury severe?"
Well, the hospital guys would take a good look at you..but yes you have had some abrasions and deep cuts from what I can see.
Do you know where you live?
"I..I live at..."

**********************

20 minutes hence

Could you tell me where you are from?
I looked up and vaguely saw a man in white clothes, and from the movement of the walls around me, I guessed I was being wheeled to a ward.
"I am from India. Where are you from?...."


*************************
I am Dr. Solzberg and this is Melissa beside you..
"Hi Melissa"
We are taking you to the ER ok, we will get you covered up as you seem to be shivering and Laura would take care of you from there on.

Hi..Mr..uh..C?
"Yeah, that's me"
I am Laura, me and Melissa here would make you feel comfortable and see what needs to be done. Sound good?
"Yeah..do you have another sheet"
You mean a blanket?
"Yeah"

Ok, now we need to wrap this collar around your neck. Hold still while we do that.
No..no don't move your neck..don't help us, we need to ensure your neck is as stable as possible.


************************

Hi.
"Hi..you are..", I exclaimed as I saw a guy coming into the room.
I am Dr. Solzberg, I wheeled you in.
"Oh..ok..yeah"
"Where are you from?"
North dakota..I am actually a norwegian. I told you that remember?
"When you wheeled me in?"
Yeah
"Oh..I dont seem to recollect that.."
"So you are from the land of midnight sun eh"
he he..yeah.
Ok, let me just look at your cheeks here..Hmm..looks like a laceration and a deep gash around your eyebrow, that might need some sutures. Your shoulders seem to be swollen, minor bruises on your hands. Looks like your legs and hands are doing fine, it could have been worse.
"oh.."
Yeah, a lot of people involved in bike incidents come in here in a real bad shape.
"Oh.."
Yeah..you know..broken bones..
"Hmm.."

Hi..I am Dr. Allen.
"Hi..", I looked around to see another white clothed person come into the ward.
So what speed were you driving your bike at?
"Uh..Must have been around 15 miles an hour?", I replied as I wondered if this was
a general enquiry.
So how much is that in Kilometers?
"24 kms/hour"
Must be around 27 kmph..
"No its 24kmph"
Good..your are not doing bad. Ok, I got to go now, you are in good hands with Dr. Solzberg.
"Ha..ok".


We don't know if you have had any head or neck injury, but its standard protocol to take CT scans and xrays ok?
"Allright"
Allright, lets get you started here. I will call in an assitant to wheel you into
the radiology department. Till then, if you need any help, press this button on the remote and watch TV if you like.
"Thanks man"
Sure, no problem.

*************************
1 hr past

Hi..
"Hi..Laura"
Good, you do remember my name.
"Yeah, I seem to have had a short term memory loss and now I am clear about what happened during the incident and can recollect stuff better"
Good, ok we are just gonna change you into this gown ok..
"Fine.."
So, what hapenned?
"I was riding my bike towards the university.."
And you fell off the bike?
"Yeah..it was raining, the roads were pretty slippery and I was late for a meeting"
Hmm..
"Do you know where my bike is?"
I actually don't, the paramedics or the police might.
"The police?"
Did you see any police vans at the accident site?
"I..I actually was blacked out for sometime till the paramedic van came to the site. But I don't recall seeing any police car"
Hmm..ok, you should check up with the Seattle police, they usually clear the site, before letting the paramedics in.
"But mine wasn't actually an accident.."
Oh..well I should still say you contact the paramedics that got you in and the police.
"ok.."

"So, Laura, you are from here?"
Well, my parents are biregional.
"Oh.."
Yeah, from korea and America.
"yeah you look..you look..hmm.."
Ok, I am gonna go out now, but you can press that button anytime you need help before you get wheeled in for a CT scan.
"ok..."

*****************
90 minutes later

Dr. Solzberg walks in with a grim face.
"So what's the scan say", I ask.
Well, I want you to stay calm. Do you have any kind of pain at the back of your neck?
"No..I mean this collar is a little painful for me to move my neck around..but nothing that's painful"
Ok, let me just move my hands around your neck and tell me if you feel any pain anywhere.
"Well..there..yeah there..Its just a tenderness at that point..but no pain"
"But what do the reports say??"
The radiologists' reports indicate that you might be having arteriosclerosis somewhere in the region of your neck.
"What?? You mean hardening of..."
Arteries...which is unusual for a young man like you.

To be continued

Another slump

Man I try, but sometimes things in your life..grad life in my case, takes toll on running. Its been three weeks since I ran...I seem to be repeating the same mistakes I did earlier this year. As georgiamarathoner puts it, "its hard to learn–how to drop everything that's going on in life and go for a quick run and then get back to life again".
Anyway, I went for a run today, 17 minutes on my feet and it was good. Hope to continue in the same vein in the future. Its all hope, that's all I can say. No guarantees. There might be another post 2 months hence describing another major slump or may be not. Let's see.

Forrest gump..er..Dean

Most of you would have watched the movie, Forrest Gump, where Forrest runs across states just because he felt like. That was a movie. What we now have is reality TV baby. Yep, Dean Karnazes and his much publicised 50-50-50 not withstanding, he's decided to run home after finishing his last marathon of the 50-50-50 a couple of days back. Home from where? Newyork. To where? SanFransisco. And how much is that. Ah...atleast 2500 miles(shortest path on google earth).
It looks like 50-50-50(1300 miles) was a planned warmup not revealed by Dean towards his Run back home(2500 miles+).
Way to go Dean. Awesome.
Here are some links for more info:
1) Dean's own blog (sounds like God's own Turf eh)
2) Run back home and Run back home blog with maps et al of his run.
3) 50-50-50
4) 350 mile run
5) Sam Thompson's 51-50-50
6) Thanks to trailrunner, for his post on the same.
7) To finish off, you can get to watch a lot of videos on Dean at this place.


Also if you were to google blog search for "Dean Karnazes", you would end up innumerable blog posts like mine applauding his la super-human effort.

Phd comics rocks

These are lifted from the recent three strips on the phd comics website. For all those who don't know why I am bragging about this website, it's because the website is the best 'virtual/online empathiser' in current literature!

Grad life rocks

It really does. I got to blog for 23+-(+-10) seconds.

(Sun)day

There was sun out today. A rare event in seattle. And the sun was out on a sunday, what's the probability of that happenening. Assuming independence, Prob(sun coming out)*Prob(a day being sunday). But there is some correlation as I have noticed, so the previous assumption doesn't hold true, its like Seattle telling its people, I may be cloudy on weekdays, but I will clear the turf when you wanna play.
Anyway, I ran in the morning and saw people run the dawg's dash 5k/10k. Post running, I went around green lake (a beautiful place and a hotspot for runners) to check out a store. I met a Pakistani woman, exchanged a few words. I bumped into someone who was looking for a canoeing partner, so I was game and we did that for an hour in Lake washington. And to finish off, I did some rock-climbing at the monolithic structures adjacent to the husky stadium. How much better can it get?(reminds me of metallica's tune for the line 'How sweet are you? How sweet does it get?' in sweet amber, st. anger)

More videos

I frequent the coolrunning forum now and then. My frequency increases exponentially when I have run in the recent past, partly because I maintain a running log at their site and having done some data analysis, I proceed to the forums.
So here are some cool videos:
Kenyans training in Newyork - You can see the sheer pace of their run and the form they maintain..They are damn relaxed when they run..a good indicator of your fitness level.

Paul Tergat's last minute of his 2:04:55 world record marathon - The commentary is in german

kutty milestone

Today's kind of a kutty(small) milestone on the comeback trail. I ran 6kms today. Nothing to brag about, but its been a struggle the last few months to get back to running..from where I left off, and considering all that, its good that I am running atleast twice a week on an average and improving. The last time I ran longer than 6kms was on 21st January 2006 according to my running log..which was around 11kms..Yeah I was running big time that time..But somehow lost focus and ended up not running for months till July, when I started running again. My runs in July were a mere 2kms, you can imagine how much of a fitness I must have lost to be able to run 10 kms every other day to just be able to run 2 kms..That's what not running for 6 months does..And there is the psychological aspect to this of how bad a shape I am in..Its tough to go out and run when you are really low on fitness..you would start comparing your fitness now and back then and that's not good at all. Anyway, I am trying to regularise my runs and making it a way of life again, so that I don't go off track in the future.

Downtown seattle

I had to go to downtown seattle last weekend and the reason being the shop(R&M) that I usually buy maggi noodles from, was out of stock. So I decided to check out an Indian store called Souk, located downtown seattle at pikes' place.
Little did I know that a trivial shopping trip would turn out to be a fun-filled and exciting sight-seeing trip....


1) The pikes place market place
2) The fish market here is actually a source of entertainment
3) Souk was a small shop, but I found what I want
4) The scrapers overlooking pikes place
5) A lot of people sing around the pikes place and are pretty good at that
10) The gigantic cranes at the seattle port, amazing to look at from close quarters
15) A lot of people use the ferry to get across town..bike/drive to the vessel and bike/drive out of the vessel at the other end.

Scheduling and priorities

I am NOT running the seattle half marathon. In an earlier blog, I had contemplated running the half provided I put in effort during the "test period". It so happened that I didn't run at all the whole of last week...so where and when I run my second half mary is not known. The thing about grad life is that if you are doing moderate portions of different activities(work, play, state of joblessness, etc), you are doing great! Once one of these activities gets sidelined, things become frustrating.
Excess work -> stressful -> Need for an outlet.
Excess joblessness -> Need to make up for lost time -> Excess work ->stressful->Need for an outlet.
The first chain shows the effect of excess work and its ramifications.
The second chain shows why excess work may arise in the first place.
Now you might argue that one might genuinely be hard-pressed for time. But given that everyone is busy in this fast-paced world, the schedule of any activity in the purview of ones influence area(activities one might be likely to do) is known much before hand to make meaningful schedules that could be followed without real stress.
As in, if I know that I got to do such and such activities within such and such time periods on different days, and if I were to perfectly follow the schedule, there will always be room to be jobless. I.e. my being jobless is integrated into the schedule, reducing stress. So it all boils down to the optimum amount of being jobless, being involved in work and play, i.e. scheduling your activities to meet your priorities in life.

My first night...

...at the new apartment to which I shifted yesterday was uneventful.

What do you......think

I dont care what others think of what I dont think of them..but I do care of what others think of, when it is what I want them to think of.

Seattle pics

1)Drumheller fountain in the university and Mt. Rainier in the background
2)The interstate-5 as seen from the university bridge. The bikes' not allowed on interstates..:(
3)The bridge folds up when a large ship has to pass through...This happens 8-10 times a day.
4) The union bay as seen from the university bridge. The university buildings on the top left and the cascade ranges are right ahead..east of seattle.
5) Union bay and capitol hill in the background..south/downtown seattle.
6) The bike.

We are the robots

I chanced upon Kraftwerks' video on the net. Here's the film on the video and the tube. Its been 10 years since I heard the song.
The lyrics are well..robotic, but the music is pretty good.

We're charging our battery
And now we're full of energy
We are the robots

We're functioning automatik
And we are dancing mechanik
We are the robots


Ja tvoi sluga (=I'm your slave)
Ja tvoi Rabotnik robotnik (=I'm your worker)

We are programmed just to do
anything you want us to
we are the robots

We're functioning automatic
and we are dancing mechanic
we are the robots

Ja tvoi sluga (=I'm your slave)
Ja tvoi Rabotnik robotnik (=I'm your worker)

We are the robots

Amazing Indian guy

"The Amazing Indian Guy(AIG) runs in the night. AIG is also crazy about biking and did a rapid fire bike dash between more hall and safeway, thus combining exercise and shopping. AIG is a vegetarian and is wondering what to have for grub, channa batura at Shalimar or bread and jelly, fruits he bought at safeway. Amazing Indian guy is also smart but lazy to work: he pulls an all nighter to browse on running. AIG does speak english. From the above summary, I conclude that my lab mate is indeed an AIG, as I like to call him every now and then." - AIGs taiwanese lab mate.

We're Lost

This video is pretty funny and is dedicated to KG et al.

Time management

I look at my running log and I find that the frequency of my runs have been consistent across the last two-three weeks, i.e. 2-3 runs/week. This is definitely not enough but I am not able to fit in more runs into a week that has only 7 days. The grad school is definitely a learning experience on how tight schedules could get. Now that I have gotten adjusted to the demands of the grad school, I just need to bring out my time management skills and get those elusive runs in.

Arbit pic

This pic was lifted of a folder on my comp called 'arbit pics'

The elderly gentleman in the pic below is running a 5k race. He ran it in 19:15!!.This pace is close to 16kmph(thrice the speed of the average walker and twice the speed of the average slow jogger). And his age is close to the number pinned on his chest. Go figure.

Tempogression run

Todays run started off as a normal run. My last run was on tuesday and today I needed to run for more than one reason: I needed to get something going in my life other than classes and research; I needed to regularise my runs. So coming back to todays run, I started off at my department and went on along the gilman trail. I have found that I can't run on roads on a regular basis, so the trail serves the purpose of giving my legs lesser pounding when I run. My pace from the start was fast: 7:30/mile to 8:00/mile and then as I progressed I got faster. My return was even faster and at the end, the last 1 km or so, I was touching 6:00 - 6:30 min/mile.
Normally my runs start out slow(say jogging pace of 9:00/mile) and progress to a faster pace as I get warmed up and finish fast - a la progression run. Today's run was definitely a progression run but with a twist..I started fast and the run was fairly intense and was of a shorter duration(tempo run): 22 minutes. So I would classify this run as a tempo+progression run or a tempogression run.

The deadly cycling and running combo

I got a cycle here two weeks back, four days after I landed in seattle, i.e. on 16th sept I guess. And the cycle's proved a good friend so far in taking care of my travel needs and letting me have a flexible schedule. For instance, I don't have to worry about missing the last bus from the university or having to walk three times to and from the university, given that I have stayed at a place that's atleast 30 mins by walk to the university. And more importantly, it has given me the best cross training I can have - the training on the steep seattle roads. I am more comfortable now on going up steep slopes than before. Previously if another biker zoomed past me, I had have a difficult time playing catch up with him/her, but today I had the satisfaction of overtaking a biker who I assume was seriously biking(a bike fitted with two bottles of water plus lubrication bottles), while I was having a heavy bag on the back and was wearing a formal dress!

Also, since I have not been running well(read: zuk running) in the past few months, I didn't feel motivated to run at my current level of fitness. But all the riding I do on the bike has not gone awaste and this cross training has seen my runs, which I currently do once or twice a week, improve a lot. That is to say running and cycling complement each other pretty well.
So today I ran from my department to 60th avenue, I think and back. I planned my run so that I go 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back. Ofcourse, most of the times, the later half of my runs tend to be faster and that was the case today. It took around 15 minutes out and 13 minutes back!!
And google earth told me that the total distance was 5.5 kms. So that's around 5 min/km or 8 min/mile pace, which is great! I am kind of back in form, all I need to do is continue the good work and stay off injuries that may arise from running on hard pavements and/or my need for speed.

I can't believe how I let my fitness fall down so much. This year so far has been my worst in terms of running mileage. Heck, I was running 8kms almost daily 1.5 years back. I guess, I need a race to channel my effort and motivate me more than anythingelse to get my runs in. How does Seattle half marathon on November 26th sound? I am not sure, I am thinking about it. The last date to register so that I shell out only 70$ is october 15th. So I have time to think till then if I really want to run this half marathon. I mean there's no point in running a race, if you don't train well for it. Yeah, you would finish it, but it would be miserable like my first half marathon in India in 2002. I don't want that experience repeated, so my decision to participate in the half mary will depend on whether I keep up the good work between now and october 15th.

The only Indian ultra runner

I am copy-pasting the italicised text below from another blog. I have made a mention of Arun Kumar Bharadwaj in this blog before, here and here. Mr Bharadwaj is so inspired by Yiannis Kouros (the greek ultra running legend), that he has named his son Yiannis!!!
I liked one of the quotes he mentions below.."I’ll want to quit, I’ll want to die. Let me die, don’t let me quit."


Dear friends,
I am an ultramarathon runner and can understand it in a better way being in a state of my present situation. I think people writing here would like my little bio data. It is : How can we transcend ourselves
If we do not challenge
Our Capacities?

Name: Arun Kumar Bhardwaj
Email : a_runrunrun@yahoo.com
Cell Phone : 9213 964 901
Postal Address: Planning Commission, Parliament Street, New Delhi 110001.
DoB: 2 February 1969
Birth Place: Village Baoli, Distt. Baghpat. UP.
Education: B. Com. from Delhi University
Occupation: Govt. Service (Planning Commission, New Delhi) India
Height: 5 feet 8 inch, Weight: 68 kg
Family: Wife :Sangeeta, teacher in Central School. Daughters: Zola & Sofia (DoB 23.9.1998&12.1.2001), Son : Yiannis (12.7.2002).
Years running: On & off for 15 years. Ultras: 6 years

Personal Bests:
1. 180 km in 23.25 hours on 28-29 July 2000 (solo run from Haridwar to Baghpat, UP)
2. 270 km in 33.10 hr on 7-8 November 2001(solo run from Yojana Bhavan, New Delhi to National Ayurved Institute, Jorawar Singh Gate, Jaipur). Indian Record for the distance w.r.t. time taken.
3. 138.172 km in IAU Asia 24 hr Track Championships in Taiwan on 2-3 March 2002.(9th place). First Indian representative in any 24 hr Ultra Marathon.
4. 492 km in Australian 6-Day Race 17-23 Nov. 2002 & broke former Indian national record for 6 days race of 478 km made by Tirtha Kumar Phani in 1987. Thus, became first ever Indian to cross 300 miles in six days race (15th Place).
5. 516 km in Self-Transcendence 6-Days race, New York 27 April -3 May 2003 and became the first Indian to cross 500 km in a 6-Days race (7th Place).
6. 520 km in Copenhagen 6-Days challenge, Denmark 3 – 9 August 2003 (4TH place).
Became first Asian to complete three 6-Days races within one year, and every time with a new national record.
7. Finished IAU 100 Km World Cup 2003, Taiwan 16.11.2003. Became first ever Indian to participate and finish any 100 Km World Cup.
8. 501 km in International Six Days Running Championship, Mexico on 22-28 March 2004 (4th place in age category and 8th Place in general). First Indian representation in any Mexican ultramarathon championship.
10.532.8 km in German International 6-day race, 1-8 August 2004. Placed 15th. New Indian Record.
11. 550 km in 122.45 hr Delhi to Chandigarh and back. Appeared in Limca Book of Record 2005.
12. MIR Marathon, Moscow, finished in 3.56.45 in –4 Deg. Celsius and Rain.
13. 153 km in 24 hr Open Championship of Russia, 7-8 May 2005. Became the only Indian in the history of Russian Ultramarathon.
14. 556.45 km in 20th Australian Six Days Race, 20-26 Nov. 2005. New Indian & South Asian Record. (14th place out of 36 runners from 12 nations, after arriving only 20 hours before the start of the race and ran without any support crew).
15. 521 km Loutraki 7-Days International Race, Greece, 1-8 April 2006 (on a hilly course).

Typical training: It varies but normally 160 - 200 km/week. I sleep 4 hours only i.e. 12 mid night to 4 am and one night sleepless per week.
Injury history: None relating to running. Have undergone four major surgeries of Parotid Tumor between 14 and 17 years of age. I was very weak from my childhood, from the age of 6 to 19 yrs, I was a victim of malaria every year in rainy season. My body weight was only 26 kg when I was 14 years of age and 35 kg at 17 yrs. I, always, was the weakest boy of the class in my school time.
Favourite ultra foods: Totally vegetarian & teetotaler. Honey, fruit juice, banana and sugar cane.
Things I like most about ultra: Traveling, getting to make new friends. It gives opportunity to explore the unknown inner world and give spiritual ecstasy. I like my tears most during my ultras, I love them.
Things I hate most about ultras: Leaving my family waiting for me.
What got me started doing ultras: To produce myself as an example before my daughter that Everything is Possible for a willing heart..
Why I do ultras: I enjoy pushing myself to my limits. I am the only ultramarathon runner in India, a country of more than 1 billion people and that’s why I am facing very difficulty in continuing it. But I know that in future my story will become a great source of inspiration for coming generations and I would be satisfied by that reward. Also, the pure spirit I found in Ultra Marathoners is matchless, celestial and I want to be a part of them. When you run beyond the imagination, it gives a special sense of exceeding.
Ultra goals: 276+ in 24 hours. 400+ in 48 hours. 1000+ in 6 days. I aspire to finish and win every race of SCMT (upto 3100 miler). I also wish to run all state capitals of Indian states from New Delhi with a minimum recorded time.
Favourite ultra quotes: “Never Give Up”.
“If you have indomitable will-power then Impossibility-gate is not an obstruction.”
“When you believe then you can do it. Do you believe?”
I’ll want to quit, I’ll want to die. Let me die, don’t let me quit.

Free running

I saw some videos on free running the other day and found the concept pretty interesting.
To quote wikipedia: "Free running is a physical discipline, in which participants (Free runners) attempt to pass all obstacles in their path in a smooth and fluid way. Free runners interact with their environment using movements such as vaulting, jumping, sommersaults and other acrobatic movements, creating an athletic and aesthetically pleasing way of moving."
People on some 'free running' forums claim that free running is an expression of the soul through supreme athleticism.

There are many videos available on both google videos and you tube.
Here are some of the videos that I saw:


Free running


More of acrobatics than running



Here's a video that includes the founder of this sport, Sebastien Foucan.


So I saw these videos and got a little inspired by them and went out for an amateurish barefoot free running attempt..Ofcourse I wasn't jumping off buildings or walls, I was just clearing some small obstacles on my running route as fluidly as possible.
Now, are there any free runners out here or has anyone tried this out?

Tread mill running

Today I went to check out the IMA(Intra mural association) on the UW campus and since I had registered for classes, I was allowed access to the place unlike the last time. What put me off, when I got in there was to see the number of people on the treadmill. Its like packing a herd of sheep into an enclosure and asking them to go around. They had all be trying to get around but would be in the same place all the while. Ofcourse, that's not an exact analogy and I am not trying to be offensive on the treadmill runners, but my point is running is better done outdoors with all the sights and sounds, unless ofcourse it rains heavily. I might switch to tread mills, given an option, in the dead of winter when the only way you can run is covering up your whole body from head to toe with some sort of clothing or other.

Allright, so I heard that there's an indoor track in the IMA. I went to check that out and well it is a little better off to run on than treadmills, but nevertheless is a bad way to do your run.
And where do serious track runners train on? The husky stadium..bad. Whenever you have the rugby( I prefer to call "soccer" as football as is known in the rest of the world) games coming up on saturday afternoons, you have these people doing band practices and stuff and occupying a good part of track turf all around. I say, I am no elite athlete, but if I want to do interval running on track, am I able to do that. No. Man, back in IIT it was so much better. I would run on roads, and finish off my run with a nice sprint or two on the track. You just need the track to do speed workouts, no where else is a good place for that.
Anyway, I would end this post with a heads up to this video on tread mill running..er dancing.

Banyans

<Slisha feeling nostalgic and hence this post>

One of the memories I cherish of my stay in IITM is the nature abound. I mean I was staying in the smallest national park in India, so it ought to be beautiful. Those deers, the general greenery around and the banyans.

Banyans, especially the indian ones are one of the largest trees in the world. I marvel their thinking, I mean their growth strategy through networking. What's the foundation for a tree..a root right, so they have optimised their growth by producing roots that dangle down and grow towards the ground to get rooted. I wonder, why other trees haven't taken the cue from this tree and evolved in a similar fashion. Intelligent tree I say.

So it might be slisha ob that I am enamoured by banyans and a lot of pics of banyans captured at different places in the campus would follow.
I meant to post this post on the day I took the pics, but the next day was my mtech project evaluation, so I postponed it..till now.


Gen nostalgic pic - The road from ganga to gurunath