Running through Mysore City

As soon as I saw the ad for Half Marathon as part of the Dasara Celebration, I immediately decided to participate. One, running through the city of Mysore was very attractive and two, after having run 10k's for the past few years, I was looking forward to moving up. Since my unfulfilled goal is to run a Full Marathon, this seemed like a good opportunity to test my physical ability.

I trained for just over a month. Since I was already fit enough to run a 10k under an hour, it was enough time. In my only other previous Half in 2005, I had cramped up badly around 14km while doing the up slope near Windsor Manor in Bangalore and only barely managed to limp to the finish line. I had to make sure that it would not happen again this time which meant better preparation. Towards that I ensured that during my training I ran a couple of ~15km runs and finished feeling good enough to continue for another 5km. Also, planned my food properly in the last week, avoiding fried food while loading up on carbs and water.
My training routine can be viewed here.
I key thing I felt after the fact, was a good week 3, where I totaled about 46kms with one run of 16km at just outside my targeted pace.
So, when I boarded the train to Mysore on Oct 1st, I had a good feeling, though still not sure, if I could achieve my goal of finishing under 2hrs. Dinner and stay at my Aunt's place was perfect. Ate 3 roti's with lots of potatoes and kept gobbling Bananas all the time. Drank several bottles of water, so much so, that I had to get up 3 times during the night to take a leak. Maybe I overdid it a tad bit there..but since I did not feel thirsty during the run, it seemed to have helped. In the morning, just a apple and Banana and I got dropped at the Venue by my Uncle and BIL.
A small crowd of 250 runners got behind the tape for the flag-off around 6.45pm. Then came a delay of about 30mins to accommodate the whims of the local official who wanted to give a speech and do a mock run for the TV! Crazy is all I can say.
Finally we were set free around 7.10 or so.. and I got into my rhythm quickly. The runners stringed out shortly and I was soon running by myself. Initial few kms had a significant gradient which took away quite a lot of my energy to keep up the pace of 5m45s/km that I was targeting. About 6kms in the middle was around the Kukkrehalli Kere on the bund which was quite pleasant. Coming out of there, we hit a steep climb where I was forced to slow down..and managed only a 6m15s 14th km. Thankfully, the rest of the route was on a down slope (what goes up has to come down, eh? :) ) and it helped to gain the lost time back. I managed to give a good finish in the end to finish a comfortable 30s under 2hrs. The satisfaction of finishing is of course the primary reward! Next up Full....

Route map from my GPS tracker
Official timing of my run (Bib # 1079)
A mug shot to show I was indeed there! :)

Some training tips I gleaned from this experience for other aspirants.

• 2 months of preparation is good unless you are already a regular runner with about 15km/week, then 1 month should do.
• Ensure you do at least a couple of long runs, about 15km, at around your targeted pace.
• Don't overdo during other runs and exhaust your body. One or two 7-10km runs along with shorter but faster runs should be enough. I mixed my training with other sports like Badminton and Basketball to keep fit. It helps to break the monotony of training.
• You should asses your ability and set your goal quickly, then train towards that. Under estimating will leave you unsatisfied and over estimating...well...can leave you with cramps well short of the finish line! :)
• Pace yourself properly in the race, that is, not more than 10% variation from the targeted pace. I never like to stop or walk even at water stops. Don't get excited on a down slope and run too fast. If an up is too strenuous it is fine to slow down a lot. Ensure at all times, that you do not feel the burn in your legs. Increase pace in the last few kms as per how your body feels. Good... go for it and finish strong. Tired... then keep the pace and finish comfortably.
• Food is important. No fried or outside stuff for at least a week to keep it safe. Lots of carbs from Potatoes, Bananas, Apple,  Rice, Pasta, Bread, etc. Hydrate well the day before. Pee should be clear the previous evening. Plan your water stops during the race to get enough water to avoid getting de-hyrated.
• Stretch well after the race else the muscles will stiffen up later on and it will take longer to recover. Walk around for 10 to 20 mins and cool down. 
• Nipple burn is an issue for this long a race. I used vaseline and it worked. I saw one runner with a large blood patch in his chest! So, beware of this problem.

Good luck and hope my tips help you in your attempt!

Political decay in India

Disgusted from watching the worst kind of politics being played at the state (BJP, Yediyurappa, Reddy Brothers, Mining scam, Kumaraswamy, Justice Dinakar, ...) and at the National level (DMP, UPA, 2G scam, Adarsh Scam, Posco and many others), I sent these thoughts to Deccan Herald for their Letters to Editor section.

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As we read the political exposures and the responses from the accused, it appears to me that India has now entered an era of "No Shame". Gone are the days when a person in power took responsibility for his actions and resigned in shame or immediately took remedial actions with due apologies. Now we have people who instead of facing their short comings or blunders prefer to point fingers at others with the same problems. Does this mean it has become all right in our great country to be corrupt, lie or make monumental mistakes as long as there are others who have done the same and gone scot-free? I sincerely hope not else we have entered a deathly spiral which can only end in anarchy.

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It got published. But what is the use really other than a bit of ego-boost that my name appeared in print. Do those people who are in power read them and change their mind even infinitesimally? I really doubt it.

Still, I wanted to expand a bit on those thoughts for my own gratification here in my private world that is my blog.

I am not savvy with the intricacies of the scams or how some fraud gets pulled off. What I am truly concerned as a citizen if India is that the most(50%+?) of the people in power, elected representatives as well as the salaried bureaucracy have become completely bereft of any ethics and morality. Most of them are focused only on making money or consolidating their power. There is no sense of service or working for the greater good of their constituency in particular and humankind in general. Not even the bare minimum required to avoid public ridicule. The pleasure one probably gets when accomplishing something in the public domain which will benefit only the community at large seems to be completely lost on them. The main driving factor has become fully selfish.

They do not worry that their actions will cause irreversible damage to a city or state and its future population as long as their own kith and kin get the spoils. When confronted with proof of their selfish law breaking they either lie or point fingers at others who have done the same. How can they be so disgustingly devoid of any moral fiber? It truly boggles my mind.

Will Anna Hazare's Lokpal bill bring about some change? Maybe. A little. But unless an under current of cultural change in the ruling class is brought about, it will only mean that once the bill gets passed, the morally corrupt people will think of new ways to pillage and plunder while avoiding Lokpal scrutiny rather than change their ways. I do not believe the fear of prosecution will matter to them.

How? The only way I can think of is if a morally and ethically perfect but strong leader and organizer emerges out of the scrap heap that is now the political class. He or she can set the tone that others will eventually follow and it will hopefully become the culture. Anna Hazare for PM anyone? :)

Will it happen? One can always hope!

The urban dilemma: Save trees or build infrastructure

In recent days there has been lot of discussion, rallies, legal action against tree felling as the local administrators move aggressively to improve infrastructure in our garden city of Bangalore or Bengaluru. Which is more important or what does one pick when the twin goals conflict?

I confess right at the start that I prefer trees to pretty much anything else. They are the reason Bangalore is what it is today and we should try our utmost to retain that unique city ambiance.

But I cannot help asking myself, how much of a hypocrite am I, considering that I too need and enjoy so much of that very same development that I am vehemently against. Take for example, the apartment I am living in. I believe a nice Mangrove was destroyed by the developers in 1999 to build the complex. Every time I go to a new mall or take a drive on the new roads, I feel guilty. Were they worth the trees and open space that was lost?

If we look at it in an unbiased way, we can see that both are essential in different ways. Trees to retain the ambiance and provide a healthy atmosphere while a growing city constantly requires infrastructure.

What is the right balance between conservation of urban greenery and development then?

Lets look at the following statement. True of false?

We can potentially cut all the trees and widen roads to the max extent along with flyovers and underpasses. Parks can all be made into parking lots or malls or office spaces. City can be with absolutely no greenery anywhere.

Possible? Imagine being able to park easily, drive comfortably on flyovers everywhere with no leaves or falling branches. A lot of down towns in large cities are already like that.

Tough to counter convincingly, I feel.

It is mostly a strong gut instinct for me on why I think the above will be a disaster. Still, some points(facts?) I could come up with to support my position:

- No trees! No breeze and it may get too hot even to step outside.

- Sounds of the city may increase tremendously as trees absorb a lot of it now.

- Pollution could potentially increase many times without trees to absorb some of the dust particles leading to dangerous health concerns.

- It could be very bad for our health when we lose *all* the oxygen producing trees/plants while at the same time increasing co2 producing cars.

- Critical bio-diversity will be lost. Birds which need the trees to survive and also play a part by eating insects and rodents will not be able to survive.

Any more?

I feel there is a hard balance somewhere which if we cross by reducing greenery below that level we will cause the city to die a slow death. It is imperative that it is known and kept in consideration when the city administrators work on infrastructure projects where greenery needs to be sacrificed. They should always look for solutions which does not lead to reduction in greenery and err on the cautious side which is to sacrifice infrastructure for conservation.

More greenery or open spaces is never harmful. Less is what we should be worried about as they can never be re-created!

How I reduced my Cholesterol without medication!

Its been more than 2 months since I created a draft for blogging this and never got around to finishing it. Today just might be that day...

It all started when an Insurance application of mine got rejected for medical reasons. I at 43, who can run 10k under 1hr and play basketball with college kids was taken aback. How could this be? With some inquiry, the reason was found that my Cholesterol was high. So high that they rejected insuring me! Did that mean they thought chances of me living beyond 10 yrs was too low and they feared making a payout? geez.

Anyway, it set off red flags in our family and I made that long pending appointment with our family doctor to get my blood tested. The results came back..and ya...it was high. Total Cholesterol at 230 (30 over high of normal range) with the bad stuff, LDL at 160 (10pts over max)!

The doctor was concerned enough to immediately recommend drugs, which I duly declined and requested her to suggest other methods. She looked dubiously at me, probably wondering if I was capable of following what she was going to suggest. Maybe I looked earnest enough and she suggested the following, giving me 3months to get it back into normal range.

Diet:

- Morning breakfast: Oatmeal along with black dry grapes, pistachio, almonds, fig, etc. Avoid brown dry grapes(sugar) and Cashews(cholesterol). [I took this for 4 days at least in a week, using Diet Horlicks milk as base to mix Oatmeal and dry fruits in along with a chopped Yellaki (small) banana or apple]

If there is something nice for breakfast such as Dosas, eat the above stuff and then maybe one dosa so that you don't miss out on it and feel miserable. That is, you don't have to sacrifice the usual stuff to follow the regimen.

- Dinner, we usually have Chappathis. I switched to Plulkas which is prepared without oil.

- Lunch, I reduced the amount of rice I ate.

- I consciously avoided or reduced snacking in-between meals. At buffets or family functions, I ate normally but declined second helping of fried or fatty stuff like sweets.

- Avoided yellows of eggs. Reduced or did not use butter, ghee when preparing food.

Exercise:

I was already quite active with running and Basketball. She suggested adding badminton once a week to the routine. Since I had played this game competitively, it was a great workout. I did not over do all this.. just about 1hr a day for 6 days a week.. maybe 30mins more on game playing days.

After about 4 months..(ya, took an extra month just to be on the safe side), did my blood test and waited expectantly for the results.

Lo and behold.. I did pass the test as required by the doctor.

Weight down by 3kgs.

Total Cholesterol came down to 201. (drop of 29)

LDL came down to 130. (drop of 30).

I took it happily like a student to the teacher and nearly held out my hand for some stars from the doctor which I think I deserved! She did not give that... but...congratulated me and said follow the same routine and I should be fine.

So, hopefully she is right..and for the time being I avoided popping a pill every day.

In the bargain, I feel better and fitter.

Sharing all this here, so that someone out there will also be able to use my new found wisdom in Cholesterol control by natural means! :)

Simple ways to conserve

I have this lingering suspicion that most people equate conservation to just recycling plastic. Few of them expand it to switching off lights, saving water and maybe planting a tree or 2.

Surely, we can and should do more than that.

So, I write this long pending thoughts on how I perceive conservation as.

First Reduce, then try to Reuse and after that Recycle whats left.
(You can see many more R's at Saahas website (http://www.saahas.org/) where I volunteer whenever I can.)

Some ways each and every one of us can conserve and save the precious resources of our planet:

1. Reduce use of plastic covers. Just get into the habit of carrying a coir/plastic bag and let the shop keeper know. Most will oblige as each plastic cover costs anywhere from 40ps to 5 Rs. When you buy something like a loaf of bread or packet of chips, decline the use of another plastic cover to put it in! Carry tupperware or other utensils for take-outs from local Darshini's.

2. Don't waste food, especially at Buffets. Take little of unknown items and get more only if you like it. Instead of piling something that looks nice and then find out you don't like it! People argue with me on how that saves food since the hotel/hosts have already cooked it anyway. I feel, once we all eat the right amount of quantity without wasting, they will adjust the estimations accordingly and what they prepare for say 100 people will come down. Also, food left over in many cases is donated.

3. Walk locally. Try and walk to all close locations. Anything up to 1km (15mins) and even 2km (30mins) should be doable. You get a workout, save petrol and reduce traffic congestion! If you have to drive, combine the errands in that direction so that you avoid multiple trips. Check, if a phone call/letter is enough.

4. Use less paper. Print only when required. Be judicious in the use of tissue papers at restaurants. Reuse blank papers. Don't throw away sheets which have one side blank. Use it for rough work like sketching or tests for kids and then recycle.

5. Reduce your consumption. There is too much stress on convenience. Think many times if youe need that new dress/shoes/gadget/book/pen/car/.... This is a tough choice in our materialistic world. However, if we opt out of even 10% of our purchases, it will make a huge difference overall in resource consumption.

All these points should be gently passed on to our kids to help them develop good habits early in their life.

If you can think of more, please add in the comments below.

Lets try to be smart and not doom ourselves and the future generations..

Story on superstition

Deccan Herald published a story I had submitted today. Its on superstition and how kids find it easier to fight the conformance to them than elders who have a whole lot of history behind their convictions. Its up to us parents/adults to not let our own fears and insecurities which have no basis on facts to pass on to the next generation.

Check out the story at:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/75916/white-socks.html

5 Point Idiots!

We saw the movie 3 idiots several months back because of high recommendations from friends. It was entertaining as most hindi movies are with the extra touch that comes with Aamir Khan movies. Then of course, the controversy of "Is the movie same as the book" and "Why was Chetan Bhagat's name not in the initial credits" flared up. So, curious, I finally bought a legal copy of the book Five point someone. (so that Bhagat also gets his share from me, in the name of fairness).

Having experienced both movie and book in my "unbiased" way, here is my take on the controversy.

The movie is most certainly based on the characters and plot created in the book. But I dont agree it is an adaptation of the book. The characters and plot have been twisted and molded significantly to suit the audience for a Hindi Movie. Chetan Bhagat in his blog on the controversy states that movie people claimed it was only 3-5% from the book while some movie critics said it was more like 70%. I put it at about 20%.

I felt the movie script writers moved away from the plot fairly quickly and even the characters (Ryan => Rancho, Hari => Farhan) are very different while only Alok => Raju was fairly close. Most other characters in the movie were also different and it had new ones like the servant kid, Joy Lobo the brilliant practical student who commits suicide, profs 1st daughter Mona. The book had Prof Veera who was given a miss in the movie. New situations were made up in the movie like the chase to find the disappeared Rancho, Mona's delivery, Joy Lobo and his un-manned helicopter, Rancho becoming a brilliant topper, wedding surprise with Pia, etc. The book had some good spots that were dropped in the movie: the complete canteen/ice-cream parlor college ambience, research project with Prof Veera, C2D Co-operate to Dominate, Hari's slow developing romance with Neha, etc.

The book: It is a typical Chetan Bhagat style of writing. Simple, corny in spots yet engaging enough to finish it quickly. I liked several spots where I felt it elevated itself a bit like Hari's dream of Cherians Graduation speech, the situation where Hari gets caught with Cherians shirt. Overall, the book is more down to earth and depicted the college rat race and lifestyle better than the movie.

Movie: The script writers did what they had to do to make the story sell on the big screen. They mangled it and added more corny (read unrealistic) situations to make it a masala movie. Rancho character is too much to digest but makes a good hero, I suppose. Ending is typical movie style.

I feel both movie and book were superficial and were written to attract the average viewer or reader. Sad, because the story had a lot more potential to be a serious work along the lines of Hollywood movies "Dead Poets Society" or "Good will hunting".

As for the controversy, Chetan deserved better recognition for the original story and plot on which the movie is based. I think he got it anyway even though it was not in the form of movie credits. However, the movie is not an adaptation of the book by any stretch of the imagination. So, rest easy. You both deserve accolades.

Unanswered question: Was the very public spat a shrewd move by both parties to sell their products?