Running Barefoot

Why use a spoon if you can have your food with 'god given' hands...
Why use toilet paper.................................................................................
Why run with shoes if you can do the same with your own feet.

Well, that's what I did today at the stadium here (3rd time though)....The grass on the edge of the ground did help a lot in cushioning the feet. When you run with shoes your feet do not feel the real impact due to the cushion provided in them..Hence when you transition to barefoot running, the first run would hit your calves hard as it happened to me 4 months back, and I had to take 2 weeks off from running.
But the real benefits of barefoot running are improved form or style of running...I notice that I naturally land more on my toes and midfoot as against landing on heels in the case of shoes.
Initially the stones and other sharp objects ( luckily I am running in a stadium) could cause a lot of trouble, but soon the feet would get adjusted to it and become more rougher and tougher...

There are people who run on the roads and that too in a marathon..www.barefootrunner.org.
Hmm..It will take some time before I attempt running barefoot on the road.

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.

A practical joke.

Life can get too monotonous out here with the case-studies to be read daily..So I decided to pull one on this popular guy(we are a group of 10 here in IIMA) called KG.

We are provided with telephones in each room with an internal 4 digit number xxkg (where x,k,g belong to (0 - 9)). So I call this guy KG..xxkg..This is how the conversation goes...

Start time: 22:15.

Me: Is the number yyzz xxkg ( My tempo really slow to reflect the typical chennaivasi and the voice a little modulated) ??.
KG: No it is ylzz xxkg...(pause)..Is this amith*?
Me: No this is Neelakantan and I am a good friend of your father.I..(break)
KG: Yes sir, please tell me sir (very attentive)..
Me: So, I have come here on an official purpose and I shall be there here till tomorrow night.
KG: Yes sir, please continue...
Me: I am based in hyderabad working at DRDL, I had been to chennai briefly and your father had requested me to deliver you a package...
KG: Yes sir..
Me: So can we meet sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening...
KG: surely sir, where are you right now, sir?
Me: I amput up at a place called vastrapur, I believe it is close...(break)
KG: It is just 1 km away from IIMA, sir.
Me: So can we meet at say the IIMA gate at around..(break)
KG:..Can I have your cell phone number, sir?
Me: (pause)..Yeah..note down..
KG: Yes sir..
Me: 98932 43527
KG: Yes sir, I got the number..Your name again sir?..
Me: Neelakantan*
KG: I will surely contact you tomorrow..
Me: Good, So kannan*, you are doing a summer programme here I believe..
KG: That's right sir..
Me: And you are a part of the 5 year dual degree course at IITM or..?
KG: Yes sir.
Me: Yeah..your father had mentioned that..You see your father and me go a long way back..
KG: (cutting me short)...Sir, I will surely call you tomorrow sir...
Me: Ok Kannan*, good bye..
KG: Good night sir..

Finish time: 22:22

Now, I had mentioned this to a guy called SS* at around 1:00 am in the night..We had a good laugh. I asked him not to blurt this out until the next day's lunch..

Come the next day...

We have this presentation by 2 groups(including KG's group), the session get's over by 11:30..
But the lunch here starts only at 12:30 pm..So we decide to head to the library. Now I got involved in searching for some journals/books for my project and by the time knew it, it was 2 pm. Hmm..SS* might have revealed the true Neelakantan to KG and everyone would have had a good laugh.I didn't think about it till 5 pm, when one of the ten guys, NJ* told me what had happened....Man did I have a good laugh..

KG comes to the common room (Dressed to kill) at 2 pm. Every one is seated watching a movie..He says.."Machan, I have to go to MDC (the telephone booth) to make a call".

Now, SS* starts laughing..He blurts out in bits that it is me and not Neelakantan who had called him..KG tries in vain to explain to the others sitting out there that it couldn't be me..he tells out the details of the conversation...SS* is thoroughly enjoying the moment..but others don't seem to understand.
As everyone gets a hang of what's going on, there is an uproarious laughter..KG doesn't seem amused..He tries convincing SS* that this can't happen to him..But SS* by now is out control, rolling on the floor...Finally KG calls the number(after 15 minutes of denial) to prove that he was right..but alas..the number didn't exist...

Well..I met him in the evening, and he still claims, that it wasn't me who called him...wow, what a day! These are tales that shall be told for a long long time to come.....

( * - These names are used to protect the privacy of those concerned).