South Asia Earthquake Relief: An Appeal

Yesterday, Nov 8th, was the one-month anniversary of the devastating earthquake that struck South Asia - northern Pakistan, and Indian and Pakistani Kashmir. The scale of the destruction has been astounding. What's more - one month after the quake, survivors in remote areas are still in need of immediate treatment, relief and evacuation. There is also a desparate need to provide shelter. A brutal winter is coming to the Himalayan region, and a massive second wave of death is expected, if efforts aren't stepped up to help the 3-4 million made homeless by the earthquake, who have been left to face the winter without any form of shelter.

The situation is truly dire, and a race against time is on right now to help the survivors. It is upto each of us to contribute in whatever which way we can to help the effort.

A wide array of organizations, including many groups of the South Asian diaspora, are coming together to organize a fundraiser that will benefit earthquake survivors on both sides of the border. It is, (appropriately) called "BEYOND BORDERS" .

Beyond Borders [Saturday Nov 19, 7pm - Berkeley] will feature an assortment of performance art, including Indian/Pakistani classical (vocal and instrumental), spoken word, dance, and much more. But more importantly, every dollar you contribute by way of ticket purchase or donation, will go directly towards earthquake relief.

100% of the proceeds from the fundraiser will be sent to groups that are engaged in relief and rehabilitation efforts on the ground in Pakistan and India and are committed to an equal and just distribution of resources among marginalized and deprived communities, irrespective of biases of gender, class or religion.

I am part of the organizing committee for the event, and if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, I recommend this as great way to contribute to earthquake relief - knowing that the money you donate will be well-used, and enjoy what should be a truly wonderful evening.

More info and tickets at http://ektaonline.org/beyondborders

If you cannot attend the concert (say, you are not in the SF Bay Area) but still wish to contribute to relief efforts, you can make a donation ONLINE.

We CAN make a difference, and the time to act is NOW. Let us step up and do our part.

For news and latest information about the quake and its aftermath:
Check out The Guardian newspaper (UK)'s Special Reports on the Earthquake. And the BBC's South Asia Quake - In Depth page. While the mainstream media in the US has already forgotten about the disaster and moved on cover more spicy news stories, it is heartening to note there are atleast some outlets around the world that are giving the disaster the attention it deserves.

And if you are the blog-surfing type, be sure to subscribe to http://quakehelp.blogspot.com - from the same folks that brought out thethe SEA EAT (South East Asian Earthquake And Tsunami) blog & wiki, which gained worldwide attention at the time of the earthquake and tsunami on 26th December, 2004. Many of these folks have remobilised to aid in the relief efforts after the south asian quake.

The Relay Story - Episode 2

[Note: Part 2 of a 3 part series. See Part 1 here]

Sun Oct 16, 12.00 am: The Van 2 crew of Chris, Jaime, Trevor, Mary, Angelique and myself found ourselves at a Denny's all-night restaurant in Corte Madera (just north of San Francisco). We had just finished one whole set of legs (all 12 of them, approximately 70 miles total) as a team. Folks from Van 1 were running their second set of legs, and we had around 4 hrs left to kill before our turn would come again. The Denny's was rather crowded - considering it was past 12 on a saturday night. We could spot a few other folks at other tables who were looking tired, yet semi-hyper - clearly another running team. We too were surprisingly energetic given the time of the day - we actually had some intelligent conversation - including an analysis of the merits of TV watching and video game playing on kids - while we were guzzling down some seriously hearty food. Boy, that meal of pancakes, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes tasted really swell at 12 in the night.

Sun Oct 16, 1.30am: We made our way to the spot of our next rendezvous with Van 1 - just south of the Golden Gate Bridge. Incredibly exhausted, I had already started dozing in the van on our way back from Denny's - I was immensely glad I didn't have to do any driving. Trevor, who claimed to be on "British Time" had taken over from Chris (who did the bulk of the driving), and cheerfully drove us to the van exchange spot, just off of the Presidio, south of the bridge. Our van's turn would come again around 4am or so, so here was our opportunity to have a couple hours of sleep. Some of us slept in the van, while the rest of us stepped out to try sleeping in the open, in the lawns near the Golden Gate bridge. It was a crisp, and cold night. But my sleeping bag felt warm enough. Plus the sky was really clear, with zillions of stars visible. I lay down and promptly fell asleep - it was probably the best 2 hours of sleep in my whole entire life.

Sun Oct 16, 3.45am: My blissful sleep was interrupted as it was time again for our Van to get into the action. Our team had crossed the golden gate bridge. Oh, what I would have given to have another hour of sleep right then! Trevor, fresh as ever, took over - his leg would take him through Golden Gate Park and drop onto the Great Highway - along the ocean. The rest of us took to the van to reach the next exchange point. Chris had taken over the driver' s seat. I continued to use every opportunity to doze. But as we pulled into the parking lot, I couldn't help opening my eyes. We were right alongside the ocean and were greeted by the sight of a full moon, reflecting off of the ocean and causing the whole ocean surface to glow. Quite spectacular.

Sun Oct 16, 5.00am: Jaime then took over from Trevor, and ran a hard leg through the still-dark night. He handed it over to Mary for another tough leg in the dark. Running was furthest from my mind during this stretch- all I could think of was sleep. As Mary started on her way, I finally started to freshen up and get some coffee into my system. Mary handed it off to Chris at around 6.50 am - the sky started to lighten up, and first hints of pre-dawn started to become evident.

7.26am: It was time for me to start my second leg. I wasn't feeling fully rested, but the coffee had made me wide awake and a bit jumpy. This was a 3.7 mile, "easy" leg. The first mile-and-a-half was all downhill, and I got off to a brisk start. I even overtook a runner within the first half-mile - woohoo! Most of my run was along Skyline Blvd. The day had arrived, alright - sun rays were starting to make it over the hill on the left, and on the right, mist rose from the surface of Crystal Springs Reservoir - just an incredible sight. I barrelled into mile two, and this is where the rolling hills started - hey, this was supposd to be an "easy" run, where did the rolling hills come from? Soon, I wasn't feeling all that good anymore. I realized that I had started off too fast, and was quickly running out of gas. The next mile was really tough even though it wasn't nearly as steep or as long as the hill from the night before. So much for this being an "easy" leg! The turn at towards the very end of the run eventually came, (but not nearly soon enough). I got roadkill-ed by a few more runners in that last mile, but that was the least of my concerns now - I was just willing myself to finish somehow. What a contrast from the previous night - those 7.1 "hard" miles didn't nearly feel as hard as these "3.7" easy miles! I turned onto Canada road - how much more to go, I wondered, as I was fading fast. But a few hundred yards later, there was the exchange, with people milling around. Angelique was waiting to begin her next leg. I pulled in, feeling really happy to just be able to finish my leg after that miserable last mile. Checking the time, however I realized I had done the thing in less than 26 minutes, translating to just over 7 min per mile! Waay faster than I'd ever expected. No wonder, it felt super-tough!!

[The team at the Canada College interchange, while waiting for Angelique to come in. Two legs done, still looking good! ]

8.15am: We headed to Canada College, the spot of our next rendezvous with Van 1. The Van 1 folks were looking a little too fresh - it almost seemed like they'd actually gotten to sleep! Angelique came in around 8.45 and handed over the "baton" to Angeline (see picture on the left), and we were officially done with two sets of legs - ~130 miles done. Only one more set of legs to go. Canada College was to be our stop for the next few hours. We were desparate to get some rest, and the college actually was nicely set up for the purpose - they opened up the gym room for runners, and turned down the light, and rolled the curtains, making it one large bedroom. Showers, coffee, breakfast, etc. were also available. I considered sleeping, but then decided against it because the coffee in my system still seemed to be working. Instead I hit the showers, got myself more coffee, and something to eat. Halfway through my breakfast I realized I was a walking zombie - the exhaustion was setting in - yet I was too wired to get some sleep. The sun had come out in full force. I found a shady spot by a small tree near where our van was parked, sat down, and closed my eyes for a bit. The day had come too soon. And in a few hours, we would be barrelling down the roads once again, and pushing our bodies to the limit one last time. Did we have enough juice left in us? Only time would tell.
[To be continued...]

22 miles is a LOT of miles...

This past sunday's long run was the longest of 'em all, thus far. But more than the distance, all 22 miles of it, it was the time - 4 hrs 20 min - that felt really long. Not long in the sense that you felt really bored and wanted it to be over with - but more of a feeling of time itself slowing down to a crawl.

As usual, it was 8 am when we started - but it being Oct 31, we had just readjusted our clocks and switched from Pacific Daylight Time to Pacific Standard Time, which translated to an extra hour of sleep overnight. And I was grateful for that. There were 5 of us from our "4-hour marathon" training group that showed up - Doug, Roger, Esther, Debbie, and yours truly - we have become the sunday regulars over these past several weekends. Our training group had started out 15-20 people strong in August - but since then we've had people injured, others dropping off, etc. And some others who are still training, only not with us on sundays. Our coach/captain/philosopher/guide Cristy was there as usual - she was supposed to be training for this marathon but got injured - which is a real bummer if you are trying to lead a marathon training group! Amazingly, she has continued to guide us in our efforts, including keeping us company on our sunday runs - mostly being there alongside us on a bike, timing our mile splits on tempo runs, or sometimes running some short stretches with us as she recovers, and always checking in on folks, offering tips, advice, and such. Man, that's committment. Having her around has made such a huge difference for us.

It was a beautiful day as we took off. The plan was to run all 22 miles of it on pavement/road. Not nearly the funnest way to run 22 miles, but given that the actual race would also consist of running almost entirely on pavement, this would be good training (I guess). We started off at Nisene Marks St. Park in Aptos, but instead of running into the forest as we usually, we ran towards Capitola. From Capitola we were to take the "Wharf-2-Wharf" route in reverse. (The Wharf-2-Wharf race is a highly popular fun 6 mile race from Santa Cruz to Capitola). After hitting the Wharf-2-Wharf starting point, we were to run for one further mile (to complete 11 miles one-way) and then turn around.

The first half was great. I don't remember too much of it running-wise. We were chatting away about all and sundry, the day was sunny but there was a cool breeze in the air. And the scenery kept changing - from the quaint (yet sadly super-commercial) village of Capitola, through East Cliff Dr and all the surfing hotspots, along various lagoons, past people playing beach volleyball, along the levee of the San Lorenzo river, through the beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. We sure are lucky to be able to live and run in such an interesting setting.. At the 10 mile spot, Esther and Debbie decided to turn back - they wanted to do only 20 miles total (I use "only", purely in a relative sense, mind you). We were now reduced to 3 folks - myself, Roger, and Doug. The trio of us went about a mile or so further, until the lighthouse, and then turned back, pretty-much retracing our steps.

It was past the 14-15 mile mark that I started feeling it - the cumulative effects of the distance we'd covered, and the duration for which we'd been out running. The conversation slowly died, the day grew hotter. I felt like I had to maintain my rythm perfectly, put one step after the next. One misstep and I'd probably injure myself and collapse.. Everytime we'd stop at a water stop, the legs would start stiffening in no time, and we had to hobble back for a bit before normal motion would get restored. My body was clearly on "edge", you had the sense that you were pushing the limits of your system.

These last miles felt like nothing else I can remember - usually, if you are running hard, you end up feeling completely out of breath, or your legs are screaming in pain and all the lactic acid accumulation, etc. But here, I was breathing well, my legs weren't in pain, and so on - just a sense that the overall energy level of my body had dropped.. and alongwith it, brain capacity, the ability to think deep, have an articulate conversation, etc. In the last couple miles Roger and Doug were still talking about something, but I wanted no part of any conversation, my brain was only able to process superficial stuff - "Ok, here's a car. Ok, the car went by. The car was a green Honda. Ok, here's some grass. There's another plant - hey, there's a hill, here it comes. Ok, here we are, running up the hill. Still running up the hill. There, that hill is done. Oh - there's one more, up ahead." (and so on).

When we finished, it was a good feeling - we'd crossed the 20 mile barrier in one piece! The marathon would just be 4 more miles! But if this experience was anything to go by, I know that those last 4 miles would be like nothing else I've known.. And I now have developed new respect for those folks that run marathons in 6,7 hrs - putting your body on edge for 4 hours was challenging enough, 6-7 hrs must be quite something! Clearly, a marathon is not solely about running, it is truly a test for your entire body and mind.

The Relay Story - Episode 1

[Note: Part 1 of a multi-part series. Read previous posting for details]

SAT, Oct 15 - 7.00am: The morning of the relay. After all the planning and preparation, we were going to embark on this crazy trip today. I had my cuppa coffee, and set out to make sure I had packed everything I needed, per Linda's checklist.

Leading up to the race, there had been a huge amount of team preparation that went into it. Most of that work was done by Linda, our team captain. She along with a bunch of others in the team had done this relay multiple times before, and they knew exactly what the deal was. All I had to do pack a few sets of clothes and my running gear, and even this was neatly laid out on a checklist that Linda had made for us! This is how I like it - just show up, let people take care of you.

SAT, Oct 15 - 8.10am: This was the scheduled time for me to be picked up by the van that was leaving from Santa Cruz. Sure enough, the van was there on the dot. I hopped in - the van already had 5 others. Soon after, we picked up Mary, and were on our way to Calistoga. This was going to be "Van 2" at the relay, i.e, it was going to hold runners #7 through #12. Me being runner #11, this was going to be my home for the next couple days.

Linda, our captain, was driving the van (it was her van) - but once she reached Calistoga, she would hop on to Van 1. The rest of the folks in the van were genuine Van 2 folks - Chris, a colleague of mine, an experienced runner, with a wicked sense of humor; Trevor - an ultrarunner who'd just finished a 100 mile run earlier in the year, and the perfect complement to Chris; Jaime, who was so fast he'd probably do the whole relay alone in half the time we'd all take as a team; and Angelique and Mary, both of who had miles and miles of running experience between them, and more importantly were very laid-back, relaxed and happy-go-lucky.

SAT, Oct 15 - 12:15pm: We arrived in Calistoga, the starting point of the relay. We were duly joined by Van 1 and the rest of its folks - Angeline, Tom, Tim, and Joe. Wait a minute, where was Marc? We learnt that Marc had to drop out due to a late attack of stomach flu - and so we were suddenly reduced to a team of 11. No matter, the three brave men in Van 1 decided that between themselves, they would each run an extra leg to compensate for missing Marc. 3 legs seemed daunting enough, and now these guys were going to do 4 legs? Yikes. Well, it was great that these folks stepped up to the plate and made it a non-issue.

[L to R, Front: Joe, Mary, Linda, Angeline and Jaime. Back: Tim, myself, Angelique, Chris and Trevor. Tom is missing in this photo]

Our team's starting time was 1pm. We picked up our bibs, and got down to the task of decorating our vans, and looking at all the cool stuff on the vans of other teams. Chris was humming a song that seemed to have been written specifically for the purposes of this relay. It goes something like this:

Everybody looks good at the starting line
You can hit the ground running like you are shot from a gun,
but going the distance is the hardest part, son...

1.01pm: Our team's starting time finally came around. Angeline started off with a small pack of other 1-pm starters, and we were officially underway. We split - Van 1 got on its way to the next leg, and those of us in Van 2 headed out to do the tough task of finding a place to eat and relax. Our turn would come after the folks in Van 1 took care of the first six legs - in about 4 hrs or so.

3.30pm: After a hearty lunch, we were lazing around in Napa. Hey - weren't we supposed to be in a relay? It felt kinda anti-climactic. We were looking forward to actually getting to do something.

4.30pm: We reached the first interchange - where runner #6 (Tom) would hand off to runner #7 (Trevor). Vans crowded all over the place, runners getting ready. Ok, this was a real race after all.

5.16pm: Tom came in, handed the little wristband (which was the equivalent of the baton) to Trevor. For those of us in Van 2 , the race had finally begun. After seeing Trevor off, we hopped into our van and drove to the next interchange to pick up Trevor and drop off Jaime.

A view of the interchange point in Napa, while we waited for Trevor to pull in.

6.16pm: Trevor pulled in with a big smile on his face, and handed off the "baton" to Jaime. As Jaime took off we lost no time in getting back to our van and hustled down to the next exchange, since we knew that Jaime would be *really* fast.

Jaime takes off, as sunset approaches. Angelique, our time-keeper, notes down the Trevor-Jaime exchange time

8.50 pm: Our van pulled into the next exchange point, which was at a high school. Jaime and Mary had already finished their legs. Chris was on the course, running what probably was the hardest leg of them all, an 8.9 mile killer. I was due next, and I was having the butterflies in my stomach. I'd been waiting all day for this. I stepped out of the van, to warm up - and there was a stiff, cold breeze in the air. It felt kinda odd - I had just spent all of a very beautiful day, inside a van. And now, on a cold, dark night, I was getting ready to run. As I jogged around the school, I noticed that the crowd was an odd mixture of people, some, like me in their sweats and shorts, and others, a bunch of young folks who looked extremely well dressed. Oh - it was prom night at the high school.

9.23 pm: Chris pulled in, and from the look on his face, it was clear that he had just been through a most-brutal run. He was hobbling a bit too, which had us worried (he thought he'd twisted his ankle but luckily it turned out to be a false alarm). I took off into the cold night, wearing a reflective vest, and a headlamp, to light up the evening and keep me safe. (see a (headless) picture of me below. Hey, I was running too fast for the camera!). This was a 7.1 mile "hard" leg. The first three miles were flat, and through the city streets. They were well lit and all, but it was a bit annoying to have to stop at a couple of signals. Things got better as I reached "D" street shortly after mile 2 - the rest of my run was going to be on this street.

The hills started at mile 4, and would continue on through the end of mile 5. I had already been "roadkill-ed" (i.e., passed by runners from other teams) a few times, but I was feeling good at the bottom of the hill and that's what mattered. The road was now quite away from the city. There were no street lights anymore. I recall thinking earlier that it would be spooky running in the middle of the night through some lonely road - but now that I was on one such road, it was actually beautiful. The full moon was out - and it lit up the hill sides. I could see a couple of runners ahead, by the reflection of the moonlight on their vests. As we climbed up the hill, I realized that I was actually gaining on one of them. I focussed on him for the rest of the climb. Soon enough, we reached the top of the hill.Two more miles to go, all downhill. I had almost caught up with this other person, we were running on two sides of the road now. I decided to step it up a notch. Pretty soon, I overtook him (yeah! my first roadkill!) and was now coasting along. I couldn't relax though, as this person stuck right behind me and had the pressure on. A few more twists and turns, and just as I was starting to tire and wonder how much more we had left - I came around a bend, and suddenly - people. A relay volunteer cried "runner up - 159" (that was my team number) - a very pleasant sound indeed. A few more yards, and there was Angelique, waiting. I handed her the "baton", and pulled to a hard stop, and my legs almost buckled under me. It was 10.21pm, and I was done with my first leg. Quite a feeling.

10.50pm: We reached the next van exchange - a cheese factory in Marin county. The Van 1 folks were already there, ready to start their next set of legs, and we were ready to take a break. Angelique, our van's last runner, arrived around 11.10pm after hustling through a 4.8 mile "hard", hilly run, and handed it over to Angeline from Van 1. We had just finished one whole set of legs as a team. Whew! We figured we had around 4-5 hrs to kill, and decided to find something to eat first, followed by some sleep somehow, before our turn would come again, at around 3.30-4.00 am. The fun had just begun.

[To be continued...]

The Relay Story - A Preview

I realize that it has been more than one week since my last posting, and I want to assure you that I have neither disappeared from the face of the earth, nor have I decided that this running thing wasn't such a good idea after all. Rather, I have been hard at work on behalf of you all (atleast this is what I want you to believe), writing up an account of the relay I participated in, a couple weekends ago. The thing is, that account is turning into quite a novel. If you thought my other posts were long - well, brace yourself. So what I ve decided is to break it up into multiple (3, maybe 4) episodes, which will be released over the span of the next week or so.

In a nutshell, the relay was quite a trip. I had a fantastic time. Can't all be categorized as "fun" - but it certainly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I lucked out - I ended up with a really good group of people. Folks who were good, solid runners, but not obsessed about every single detail. As a team, our goal was to have a good time, and we didn't really worry about racing all that much. Despite the lack of sleep, cramped van-space, etc., a cheery attitude and good humor carried us through and made it a nice trip.

Episode 1 is out today for your reading pleasure. Enjoy, and send those comments/brickbats.

Asleep at the Heel

This is what my relay team calls itself. Yes, that's right. T his weekend I am abandoning my traditional long run, for what promises to be quite an interesting trip - the "relay".

The Relay, as it is simply called, is a 199 mile team run, from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. It starts tomorrow (Oct 15) and ends on Sunday (Oct 16th). Some people I know have run it for a few years now, and this year their team had an opening, and they asked me if I could do it, so here I am.

So here's how it works: Each team consists of 12 folks, and the 199 miles are divided up into 36 legs, with each person getting to do 3 legs each. Runners are ordered from 1 to 12, and each runner in a team gets to do a set of legs corresponding to the number. For example, I am number 11, so I get to do legs 11, 23, and 35. The legs are also ranked by difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard and Very Hard) and overall, the runners are also given an overall difficulty level (1 being the most difficult). My difficulty level is 4 - and my three legs are "Hard", "Easy" and "Hard". Kinda complicated? yeah. But it all adds to the fun.

Oh and did I mention we don't stop running through the night? There are many teams participating, and based on the teams "running ability" the starting times are assigned. Our starting time this year is 1pm tomorrow. We are split into two vans - runners 1-6 in Van 1, and 6-12 in Van 2. Given that each person's leg is ~6 miles, and that'd take ~45-55 min each (say), Im presuming it will take until 9-10pm or so to get to me for my first leg. The way they've timed it is such that the person who gets to run golden gate bridge will do so, around midnight, on a full moon. Now how's that for timing?

So - my legs are #11 (7.1 miles, Hard, in Petaluma), #23 (3.7 miles, Easy, in Skyline Blvd above San Mateo), and #35 - (6.5 miles, Hard, in upper west Santa Cruz). Total 17.2 miles. Now that can't be all that hard, can it? Considering Ive already done 18 miles at a stretch in my long runs.
But I suspect that the challenge here is in managing to sleep between runs, figure out when to eat, etc. and running at some really bizzare times. And in staying in a tiny van filled with 6 sweaty people for a day and a half. Should be a quite a trip. I'll tell you all about it when I get back! Time to get some sleep now, as this might be the last chance at getting a decent sleep for a couple of days.

The battle with the food belt

I am finally getting around again to writing about running, after a haphazard week or so. There was my apartment move to deal with - and then, the south asia earthquake - and we are all still coming to grips with the scale of the tragedy. Some local organizations that Im involved with are starting to work toward supporting relief efforts (fundraisers are being planned, etc) so I expect some of my time in the next few weeks to be occupied with that.

Regardless, my marathon training is still on - though I'd stopped writing about running for a little bit, running still has been going strong. Today I wanted to write about one of my recent runs, including an unusual struggle and some unexpected help that carried me through...

Our long run two sundays ago was an 18-miler. For me, and for other novice marathoners in the group, this would be the longest we would have ever run. I was pretty excited. Also, I had learnt my lessons from our 16 mile run two weekends ago - when I had just carried water for the entire run and ended up feeling wiped out. I was sporting a brand new, fancy water/food belt - a thing that you wear around your waist that contains a slot to hold your water bottle, plus pockets to store away some energy bar or sports gel. I was feeling good, feeling very prepared with my food belt, gel packets and gatorade mixed-water. This was going to be a good run.

I started running with Ted, slightly behind the rest of the group. Ted's a mid-thirties guy, he is a mathematician, as well as a pastor (quite a combination). He's a pretty good and fast runner, but this would be his first marathon too, and so he's doing some of the really long runs with the slow group, i.e., our group. He's quite a chatty guy and it didn't take long for us to start having a few laughs. All was well until half a mile - when things started sloshing around me. I realized that my food belt had loosened from its resting place around my waist and was now going up and down against my tummy! like a hula hoop. Of course, it had never occured to me to try the thing out beforehand. I had to stop. Ted, nice guy that he was, also stopped, and waited till I adjusted. I thought I had it nailed this time. We resumed running and had just started conversation again when the belt became loose one more time. Hmm - "maybe i had it on too tight. lets try loosening it a bit, and then it won't feel the pressure" - didn't work. "Maybe I should wear it lower." Not quite. "How about higher?". Nope. With each of these stops I became increasingly annoyed. I suggested to Ted that he should leave me to my plight and get on with it, that I'd join him and the group later. But he insisted that it was OK, he was determined to run with me no matter what. We got into a pattern - each time I had to stop, he would try and help me out with the belt. And then when we ran, he'd patiently engage me in conversation, trying to get my mind off the fact that I was wearing this awkward belt. By now we couldn't see the rest of the group ahead of us anymore - they were a few minutes ahead. Thankfully however, Three miles into the run, things improved considerably - I found a semi-decent neutral position for the belt and it held there for a little while. A mile later it started sloshing again, and I decided that I would just ignore it. At 5 miles I took the water bottle out of the belt and decided to carry it in my hand - and the sloshing reduced considerably. At mile ten, when we were back at my car (we were doing a 10 mile loop followed by an 8 mile loop to get our 18 miles) I dumped the contraption into my car, and the rest of the run was a breeze. In the end, 18 miles was accomplished without feeling too bad, and a new milestone was reached!

Now that I've had time to reflect on the run, I realize what a difference it made to have Ted along in those early stages of the run. If he'd left me and run with the rest of the pack right from the start, I'd probably have imploded on myself, that's how frustrated I was feeling. What's even more remarkable is the fact that he kept stopping whenever I stopped. To appreciate that, you have to know that one of the things runners HATE most is stopping intermittently when they don't want to. It upsets their rythm, screws up their timing, makes them stiff, etc. etc. If I were in his position, I'd probably have taken off and joined the rest of the pack! And yet, my day was salvaged only because he hung around with me for those first painful 30 minutes. Here's to you, Ted. I owe you one.

[ Check out the features of the food belt in the image. Quite fancy, don't you think? Now if only there was a way to actually wear it....]

And what happened to the brand new food belt, you may ask? well - it has figured out it needs more training before it can join me on long runs. So its going to take it easy for a while. Meanwhile, Im reverting to tried and true stuff - my old bottle strap to carry in my hand, plus shorts with pockets to keep energy bars and keys and what not (wow, what a concept). Who needs new technology?

Tragedy in South Asia - please help

The move to my new place finally got done last week, and I expected to get back to writing up my running stories tonight - but these past couple of days, things have been shaken by news of the earthquake in South Asia. As you all know - on Saturday this massive quake hit the North Pakistan/Kashmir region, resulting in tens of thousands dead (and still counting), many of them school children - the lives of millions devastated. Friends of South Asia, a South Asian community organization in the SF Bay Area that I am involved with, along with other Indians/Pakistanis in the area are trying to figure out what we can do to help. At the very least we can all donate generously. Go to the earthquake wikipedia/wikicities page at http://pakistan.wikicities.com/wiki/Earthquake_10-05 to get latest news, info, photographs, personal accounts, etc. as well as various donation options.

more running stuff coming tomorrow...

I'm still here - and will be back REAL SOON!

In case you are wondering - no, I have not disappeared from the face of the earth. Only thing is, my time-availability + internet access have been rather sketchy over the past few days. This is because I m in the middle of moving apartments, and living a nomad's life right now. I should be done with all of that craziness by this weekend - but in the meantime, the list of things I want to share with y'all has been growing everyday.. Lots of interesting stories to tell!

Here's what's cooking:
- my 18 mile run this past wknd and some "unusual" struggles
- October - the "monster month"
- the "relay" - a 200 mile, 12 person team run that I'll be doing Oct 14-15
- What do runners think about when they are running? (I will build off of a question asked by Parul in a comment to a previous posting)

... and much more. So be sure to check back this weekend.

ah.. wednesday evenings..

I suspect that no one else looks forward to 5.15 pm on wednesday as much as I do. Because that is the time I get to get up from my cube at work, change, and head down to track. Wednesday is "general workout" night at the Santa Cruz Track Club (SCTC)

Hmm, where do I start with the track club? I ve been running for nearly 3 years now, and have been with the track club for the past 2.5 years. It is a big part of how running has become a key part of my life.

"Track" is actually a rubberized asphalt athletic track at Soquel High School here in Santa Cruz county. Every wednesday at 6pm, members of the track club gather here, to do a "speed" workout. The group of folks is quite a mix - young (as well as old) speedsters/sprinters, some of the fastest in the county, middle-aged marathoners, ultra-runners who'll run 50 miles without thinking twice, etc. But they are not all. It also includes folks interested in running but looking for someone to run with - a new runner trying to run their first 10k, a 10k runner aiming to run a first marathon, someone coming back to running after a year mired in injury, a group of runners who are not known for winning or being fast, but just for running, year after year, mile after mile. Anyone who's running for whatever random reason, and at whatever speed, and whatever age, will find something to like at the track club. The club is all-welcoming, and there is no judging of anyone based on how fast or how slow or how smooth or how cumbersome they are.

This assorted crowd of around 30-40 people every wednesday is presided over by Coach Greg Brock. Every wednesday Greg comes up with a prescribed workout that's designed to just push you to almost your maximum thresholds, while guaranteeing that you won't go over. And each week he comes up with a different way to do that. Each week you think - ha - this sounds easier than last week! But by the time you are done with it, you are forced to have second thoughts. Another thing - Greg insists that you are running with/against yourself. The workout prescriptions always indicate that we should "run this at *your* 10k pace for the first lap, and *your* 5k pace for the second lap", etc. And over the weeks, as one figures out what "your 10k pace" actually is, one also finds a group of runners that's at his/her speed.

Oh, and before we actually start running, there's a whole routine - stretching for 10 min, followed by push-ups (15-20 depending on who's leading the group), followed by a jog around the track, followed by more stretching, followed by more of those god-awful push-ups. Then we do a couple of sprints around track to get really warmed up. And then, we come together and go through the rest of the community ritual - new faces get to introduce themselves, people who raced the previous weekend share their exploits. News gets shared, birthdays celebrated. And then, finally it's time to run.

This wednesday we had to do 3 sets - each set consisted of a 600, 400, 300, 200, and 100m run, with 200 m jog in between each of them. The goal was to run the 600 at current mile pace, and pick the speed up a little above that for the 400, a little bit more for the 300, and so on. The idea also is to do a 'net negative split'. In this case it translates to doing each set faster than the previous - i.e., when you are ready to run the 600 the second time around, run it a little faster than the previous 600. Sound confusing? So did it to me for the first 3 months...

I have been running lately with John, (who's in his late 40s/early 50s) and Marla (who's in her late 20s/early 30s). Their speeds are more or less similar to mine. Plus, John is one of the most steady people I've run with. He can announce what pace he wants to run a lap before he runs it, and nail it down to the second. Kinda like in a game of pool where you have to name your ball and pocket and send it exactly where you said you'll send it. And given that my watch has been out of commission, it was an especially good choice - this would prevent me from going too fast in the early sets and being unable to finish the workout.

Sticking with John and Marla turned out to be a good idea. We were pretty steady throughout, feeding off of each other. In the last set we tried to go all out, and I tried to run the last 300 faster than I should have, and ended up feeling like my legs were jelly for the last 100. Man, how far can 100 m seem sometimes! But overall, I felt pretty good about myself, feeling like I m finally back to nearly 100% after spending nearly 6 weeks in July/Aug fighting "walking pneumonia". We ended the day with 'Carl's cool-down technique" - which is a formula suggested by Carl, a fellow track clubber - running slow for 3 loops around the track does wonders for avoiding pain, stiffness and soreness after the workout. Not two, not 4. 3 loops exactly.

Regardless, I ended up feeling just a tad sore than usual - atleast one of my legs felt like lead throughout thursday. I suspect it's just a product of my increased mileage these days.

I m getting ready to move apartments in the next few days so won't be writing much - but am looking forward to this weekend - for our 18 mile long run. Obviously, this will be the longest distance I'd have ever run. That's the beauty of marathon training - every week you break your own personal record. Will report on how that goes...

A (not-so) lonely 12 miler

Our long run this past weekend was a 12-miler. Long runs, one every weekend, is THE main thing we do together as a group. Typically our long runs are on Sundays, but this time it was on a saturday due to some scheduling issues. I ended up going to the anti-war rally in San Francisco on saturday, and so had to miss the group run. But I was determined to get my mileage in for the week, so I decided to step out by myself on sunday morning, and do the 12 miler alone.

Our group weekend runs usually start super-early (by my standards) - 8am! But this sunday, since it was just going to be me, myself and I doing the running, I could start whenever I want! I decided to make the most of that, slept in later than usual. By the time I had added some gatorade mix into my water and parked my car by the santa cruz harbor (the starting point of the run), it was 9.30am! But I was feeling good and raring to go.

The course involved a long loop around the harbor, then along the santa cruz boardwalk, followed by running along the roads and pavements on the hills adjacent to the coast - running from the east to the west end of Santa Cruz. The bulk of my run was along this stretch of road called "west cliff drive" - which is a road that runs along the hilly bluffs that overlook the west santa cruz oceanfront. A paved walkway also runs along this stretch of road. And the moment I stepped onto West Cliff, I realized that this wasn't going to be a lonely run after all. The trail was bustling with people - runners, walkers, people with dogs, cyclists, moms and dads with kids in strollers. Looking sideways toward the ocean - waves crashing into rock, boats sailing, surfers attempting to tame waves and losing in that battle, and so on. It is such a different experience from say, running in the forest (which is what we did the weekend before). Running in the forest is truly beautiful, but there was something to be said for running amongst the hustle and bustle as well. I was thoroughly enjoying it.

The goal of this weekend's run was to get used to the feeling of running at our target marathon pace. The idea is to start off by running easy for the first 3 miles or so, to warm up. Then to run the next 4-6 miles at marathon pace - i.e, at around 9min/mile. And then run the last 3miles easy to wrap it up. My "marathon pace" stretch started at the beginning of west cliff drive, all the way to Natural Bridges State Park, and back. I didn't have my watch on me (currently broken after its battery died and its replacement didn't work), so I had no absolute way of monitoring myself... instead I decided that I would just run at a slightly higher level of exertion.

I cruised along till the turnaround point at Natural Bridges just fine. I had already done 3 miles at "marathon" pace. It was in the next mile that I started to feel it, and for the first time during the day, I started looking forward to the end. Still continuing on, I decided that I would resume people-watching to amuse myself. Turning to my left, looking at some of the houses that overlooked the ocean, I saw three kids sitting on the patio of a house. They looked at me, and then, hesitantly, waved. Almost as if I was in a passing train or something! I waved back, upon which the kids waved more vigorously and gave some of the most beautiful smiles I ve ever seen - and then the road took a slight bend and I lost them. Just a fleeting moment, but my spirits were lifted immensely. The next mile was breeze. Midway through the mile, I realized I was cruising and feeling extremely good about myself. Was this the fabled "runner's high"? Or was this just a result of those kids waving at me? Whatever it was, it really made my day.

I ran the last "marathon pace" mile hardest, and was ready to take a break by the time the 6 middle miles were done. Only 3 more easy miles to go. Soon, I was at the west end of the harbor. My car was at the east end - almost there! But these last two miles would turn out to be psychologically hard - since it involves a big loop around the harbor, a small channel of water separating the the two sides. You can see the other side and the end point, but you are just out of reach. Soon enough though, it was all over. As I reached the end, it was 11.45am, and the fog was starting to come in! It seemed like the fog had been just waiting for me to finish up.

The change of pacing during the run took its toll - I had sore knees and shoulders through sunday afternoon. Icing, and 9 hours of sleep that night helped quite a bit. But I must say I m looking forward to the next time I'll get to run alone on West Cliff Drive...

Its official: Im running my first marathon!

This week, I finally went ahead and did it - I registered for my first marathon! So - after MONTHS of rumination, back and forth, and after 3 different times over the past month when I *almost* signed up - I finally managed to gather the guts to go ahead and make the committment. So there's no turning back now.

I am running the California International Marathon (referred by people lovingly as Cal International). Sunday, December 4th, 2005 it will be. Exactly 10 weeks to go.

Cal International has quite a great sound to it - surely it conjures images of the great outdoors in this immensely well endowed state. You must be thinking - hmm, california - probably its a run along some stretch of the spectacular coastline? No, not quite. Well then - maybe a run through the grandness of the Sierra Nevada? Nope, wrong again! Well - it runs from Folsom to Sacramento - not exactly the most scenic part of the state. And no, I couldn't figure out whats so "international" about it..

But here's what's makes it GREAT for me - it is known as the 'fastest race in the west' - which, to us novice runners who don't care too much about speed, translates to - EASY!. Its a flat, net-downhill course, thanks to the fact that it is a one-way route. The weather also should be mild during that time of the year. (so long as it doesn't rain). And from the pictures on the website, looks like it might even be somewhat pretty..

Another reason for choosing this particular marathon is because of my track club. As some of you may know, I am a member of the Santa Cruz Track Club (which makes me sound like an athlete or something - but believe me, I m not) The SCTC is basically a gathering place for folks in the local community that are interested in running. Old and young, runners of all stripes and skills and speed (including folks who are just starting to run for the first time) are welcome here. The SCTC is a huge reason why running has become a part of my life in the last couple years. Hope to write more about SCTC in a later post, but I digress for now..

Where was I? Oh yeah. At the track club, in fall, folks band together to form "marathon training groups" every so often, aiming to train 3-4 months for a marathon at the end of fall or early spring. Last year there was one which had me tempted for 5 minutes, before I realized it was going to consist of all the super-speedy crazy guys. This year though, there is a different (read - normal) group of folks that also came together to start a marathon training group, aiming for a 4-hour marathon. And while I had no clue whether I was capable of running a 4-hr marathon or not, I knew some of the people in this group, and I have been more-or-less able to keep up with them during our short workouts on wednesdays - and that made me feel that this might actually work.

The big reason why marathons are such a big deal is because of the fact that doing it requires a lot more than just running ability to do it. Many people will tell you is that the marathon is in many ways a metaphor for life. Whether you are a novice or a great sprinter, one thing still holds - you cannot run a marathon without training for it. And so it requires discipline, diligence, perseverance, patience, and all of that good stuff. And after a point its not really about running ability, but more about making that committment, week after week, day after day - to go out and put in the miles. And hence, it REALLY makes sense to have a support group - or atleast a group of folks who are going through the same suffering, to go on those loooong, runs with, and who can keep you honest.

So here I was, thinking about a marathon (especially since in the last couple years I have seen quite a few of my friends and acquaintances do the thing) - and here there was, a group in my track club, consisting of normal, non-speedy folks forming a marathon training group just when I was starting to have some free time.. seemed too good for me to pass. And when my colleague Martin, who had never breathed a word ever about running before, suddenly mentioned out of the blue that he was running a marathon in Dec, I couldn't keep giving myself the same old excuses anymore.. [And his training efforts as it unfolds, continues to be quite inspiring]

So here we are. As of now, I am about a month into the training, and feeling at home with this small, motley crew of ours. The long run mileages are starting to climb - I already broke my personal record for the longest run last week - 16 miles!. Weekly mileage is starting to get past the 30 mile mark. The increased frequency of running and increased mileage are also making "running" a more central piece of my life than it has ever been. (This blog is a product of that). Which is good and bad, in some ways. And also starting to make my legs feel 10 pounds heavier. But, no injures so far, touch-wood. And am sure, as the mileage increases, there will be newer challenges to overcome, and richer experiences. I'll get to feel the "runners' high" (the result of increased endorphin release by the body causing you to feel really good, and feel like you can go on forever. Runners report it on especially long runs). And "The Wall" - the point in your run where you apparently feel, physically and psychologically that you CANNOT go on - a common thing that happens with marathon-level mileage, typically when people pass 20 miles. And many more unknowns.

Looking forward to all of that...

Why a running blog?

here's a top-10 list:
10. Got too much free time, i guess
9. Everyone else is writing a running blog, why shouldn't I?
8. to explore the blogosphere and its potential, from the inside, not just from the outside
7. to maintain a journal of my running regimen and make everyone else that's not running seem crazy
6. the fascinating psyche (read - craziness) of runners i know of, and the running community
5. to hear myself out loud. read my thoughts. over and over. (i m a narcissist)
4. to be even more engulfed with "running this, running that, blah, blah...
3. to get more energy, support and drive, from y'all in the process of running my first marathon!
2. to raise funds to support the cause of my cousin, who is fighting Leukemia (more on this soon)
1. to be really cool

got anymore reasons in your head as to why I should be writing (or NOT writing?) lemme know. leave me a comment.

Posting number 1

Birthday of my blog. Nothing to say, yet, but Im sure, words will come to me. soon.