The 10k

I completed my first official 10k last Sunday the 26th of March 2017. I ran it with trepidation. Not only was I not prepared physically, I wasn't in the best shape mentally. The end of March is usually a nerve wracking time. To the outside world we're all hot shot entrepreneurs with no-one to answer to but the fact is that's far from the truth. Atleast for me. The mental stress brings other challenges. Bad diet. Smoking. Drinking excessively. Semi-sleepless nights and a guilt that comes from not being able to achieve any larger goal in entirety, whether it be in time for family or in complete focus to the enormous expectations at work. Be that as it may, I woke up at 5am, strapped on my under armor kids, donned my mumbai city fc jersey and drove down to BKC for the KISNA Half marathon - sponsored by some random jeweler who in my mind had no business being associated with such an event, but then who am I to judge? The run was a beautiful one. For someone with serious lack of preparation and only 4-6 km runs in the past 3 months under his belt there was no reason for me to finish the run. My Mapmyrun app was on full flow and I set training mode to 5:59 per km as the speed I wanted to achieve. That was it. No other guiding force. The result? No guiding force beyond that was required. I powered through the 10k on a hot pre-summer day like a legend. I must have finished in the top 10% of runners as I could see the numbers that had come in before me. It felt brilliant. I felt strong. I realized, this was it - the 10k was the perfect test for my fitness levels on a regular basis. All I needed to do was sign up for every 10k over the course of the year and ensure that I keep myself ready and waiting for each run - the results will let me know where I am , emotionally and physically. I let out a lot of rage in this past run. I screamed in my head, I screamed out loud, I pushed my legs and body at the 8k mark where everything went to lead. I did mini internal races with other runners and smiled to myself as I saw them wane after a grueling 600-900m stretch where we would go pound to pound, almost knowingly in a manner that only male egos can justify. This is a drug. I am hooked. What's next? DC Runner's log March 26th 2017: 10km in 59:39. Average speed: 5:57km/hour 27 degrees Celsius, Hazy/Windy conditions/74% humidity Stats courtesy: Mapmyrun APP

A ping

A ping distracts me as I board a non-descript flight back home back from a perfunctory celebration where I play my part the role requiring a character far too mature far too unaffected by the turmoil in my mind even for my liking. yet I play it effortlessly. A sign of a grown-up man or just one too tired to express dexterously what he truly feels without overt discovery. The ping distracts me from my well heeled white sneaks from my overpriced t-shirt paying homage to a sportstar also in his waning years both of us bolding on to a past glory in our parallel universes mine not just parallel but embarrassingly delusional. The ping is of that social network that tells me you appreciated a visual. what are you thinking when you see it ? Me hoisting my son aboard my shoulders those broad, ample shoulders you ran your fingers across in a shivering night where passion lay bare And empty promises seemed anything but. A ping that reminded me of a liaison reduced to a perfunctory relationship drawn by societal and haphazardly penned down Lines On a non descript flight Back home.

Chronicle in no particular order 12th march – same as 13th march dinner. Rest of the day was ok. 13th March – no cars for dinner besides gobi aloo ki sabzi. Ate a concoction of vegetables with dahi. Didn’t work out at home due to water issue and had to be awake to fill the buckets. Weight at the end of the day is 91.8 14th March 2013 – 8:56am (post breakfast) weight is 91.1 . Didn’t go to play as I missed the alarm! . Lost 700 grams since yesterday! I think just staying off carbs at night will be a good start and might help me shed 2-3 kgs. The tough part is going to come after where I have to start watching (atleast partially) what I eat over the course of the day. Cut down the katar-matar, breads, chocolates, sweets, cold drinks. Drink more water, eat more fruit and just generally try and keep a check on the hungry eyes concept. The eyes are more hungry than the stomach. That’s what needs controlling. LET’S DO THIS!!! 15th march : great workout in the morning. 7 games of squash + 1000 skips in total (batches of 250 – 250 before the game and then 200-200-100 after the games). Feeling great and ate well through the day. Ended up doing some serious drinking at night with 2 beers in the early evening + atleast 8 pegs of scotch. Watched what I ate and didn’t over indulge in the carbs although did eat a bunch of random snacky crap. 16th march: Woke up to not TOO bad a situation with the reading showing at 90.3. Healthy breakfast of 2 egg whites, toast, hot water with lemon and a little bit of watermelon. Feeling strong. Will play for sure today and burn some serious calories. Have friends over today so need to watch the drinking amount again. Feeling good. 16th march: Excellent work out. 7 games of squash, 500 skips before it and 55 crunches on the mat which I carried with me after. Felt a bit exhausted ‘cos of the heat but am burning some serious calories. Mega drinkage at night with Saumya + ate quite a bit of snacky nonsense etc but should be one of the last days I drink before heading to LA in the 1st week of april. If the next 2 weeks can be intensive work out + diet regimes, I should easily knock back a couple of kgs. 17th march: slight hangover. Eating oranges, a banana,and drinking hot water with lime in it. Replenishing required. Weight check pre-lunch was 90.5kgs. Did I mention that this weighing scale of mine shows 1kg more than the actual weight? So I’m down to 89.5. Will do a workout at home today for sure.

Every man needs a goal. Every blog needs a man with a blog.

Ok, the title is ridiculous but I had to say something. I have it now, finally. A goal. I mean it's not like I havent had goals before but in the last 3-4 years, it's been more tactically oriented. Getting married was strategic but if I had tried to chronicle THAT experience, there would be noone to write this blog on account of the brain damage I might have suffered. Just kidding, organizing the wedding was awesome and I had a blast. Coming back to the goal. It's simple. It's called 80@30. Yes you read it right, 80 (eighty) at 30 (thirty). What is 80@30 you may ask? Oh you didnt ask? Then why the f@$% are you here? Ok sorry I didnt hear you ask so was checking. 80 at 30 is my goal to be the fittest I have ever been since the day I was 18 till now. You might think on reading this that I was an unfit kid/teenager. Not at all. The truth is I was fairly athletic all through school but college introduced me to AIESEC; AIESEC got me to Bombay. Bombay took me to Agra. Agra took me to Switzerland and Switzerland got me back to my beautiful Delhi in a round, lovable , rotund shape that was great for hugging but not so great for figure-hugging clothing. You get the drift. AIESEC was all about working 15 hours a day and then partying hard the remaining time. Bombay was about bonding with a bunch of amazing individuals and that bonding meant a LOT of alcohol consumption amidst enormous levels of stress that most 20 year olds should be legally BANNED from facing. Agra was , oh man I cant even begin to explain Agra. Switzerland was chocolates, wine, lots of love, cheese , more wine, more chocolates and gazing at mountains instead of walking towards them. The last 4 years have been awesome. Discovered squash, rediscovered badminton, continued my affair with Basketball and can safely say that I'm above average from a pedestrian point of view in all 3 sports. It's been good. An average of 3-4 times a week of waking up at 5:30am (yes you heard it right) to go play at the CWG siri fort complex has been the norm. I feel fit, I have great stamina BUT I am getting old. The body doesnt have the metabolism it used to have and as you've already realized, I love my drink and I love my food. A certain friend of mine has introduced me to some amazing new food since we started working together (again) and that has taken fat levels to a whole new planetary system. Somehow I stay balanced through it all but the scale is tipping. The paunch is more prominent. The buttons on the well fitted shirts are starting to moan with the effort of keeping the tyres under wraps AND I tend to find myself unhappy with the weight I'm carrying around. This is the physical reasoning behind 80@30. 80 kgs by the time I turn 30. Today on te 14th of March 2013, I am well on my way. With less than 8 months to go , I must polish off more than 11 kgs whilst ensuring I don't go crazy, desperate, obsessive, irritable or generally obessive in the journey. Tomorrow, I discuss the psychological aspect behind this goal, this journey. It's going to be awesome.

are we back?

I noticed that this blog is my "url" on twitter. What was once the ultimate space for personal prose has now been replaced, blasphemously enough, by a 140 character microcosm. More astonishingly, the microcosm might just give this more wordy world a revival of fortunes.

Amazing.

The question still remains..are we back? Or is this a random musing on a monday post noon scenario which will soon be gone with the return of a frenetic pace of activity?

Time will tell.

Decent article on Blah in 'Campaign' - 25th March 2011

the truth

I count myself blessed. Having been a part of AIESEC, having visited the country and having made friends (albeit over a relatively ‘shorter’ duration) that I count as truly fabulous – the match on Wednesday is nothing more than 2 tremendously talented teams coming together to thrash it out for a chance to win the ‘cup that counts’. The media’s billing of this being a ‘purani dushmani’, the political drama, the animosity, the abuses, insults and insinuations are shocking and a bit embarrassing. I was far more aggressive in the Australian match because that team embodies an arrogance, disdain, childish and unsportsmanlike behaviour seen rarely in champion sides. They’ve rattled our cage and deserved to be booted out. Wednesday will be epic – but purely as a match, nothing more.