Saturday, February 16, 2013

Running at 30,000 feet

I am a walker.

I like to walk, I do not mind walking long distances or for long periods.. sometimes, my weekends have been walkends.

I have read about the runners’ high. but have not fancied running. maybe because it is much more work than walking.

as I saw many of my friends into serious running, I used to wonder, what keeps them running. they asre all very passionate about running and have developed their own techniques to stay fit, ,better their own records and plan nwell ahead to aprticipate in running events.

with the marathon being a significant aspiration.

with training clubs like runners for life, I see many new converts to running. this is not limited to bangalore. in chennai or chicago as well.

from the selection of the right shoes, to the proper methods of rehydration – and techniques to run a half marathon without any fluid intake – it is all a question of mind/body training, I heard from one of the runners.. – each person develops unique techniqies to run and challenge themselves each time.

I have also found that it is easy to get a runner to talk! and they make good conversationalists or inteersting bloggers such as this one.

recently, my flight from delhi to bangalore was more like old-time train journeys.

contrary to the silent, boring next seat neighbors who are not keen on any conversations, the two co-passengers seated next to me were articulate and we discussed various topics and shared our views.

it turnedout that one of them was a runner. who narrowly missed registering for the auroville marathon that was held recently.

talking about running experiences, a couple of stories he narrated were interesting to share:

a couple of years ago, some of the participants had suggested to the delhi marathon organizers that keepping a supply of oranges along the route will help the runners in the hot weather.

the organizers had taken this suggestion seriously and the following year, they had some stalls with oranges that the runners could pick up as they ran past.

except that these were whole, unpeeled oranges!

based on feedback again, they seem to have improved this by keeping peeled oranges now, that the runners could consume much more easily!

at the mumbai marathon, the runs was to be flagged off by actor Bipasha Basu. everyone was waiting at the start line and when the event started and the clocks were started, nobody ran! everyone was watching Bipasha, expecting her to start the run..

by the time they realized that the clock was already ticking and started, they had lost a couple of minutes – with the result that the timings for everyone that year were slower than the previous.

I have never analyzed why I like to walk. maybe some subliminal influence of one of my favourite heros – Phantom, the ghost who walks!.

1 comment:

Shashi said...

A very humourous and interesting post.

One of my cousins in Mumbai participates every year in the marathon and he easily runs stretches of 20 kms of more. He is 48 and I am amazed how he managers to do that with every passing year.

I once asked him and his reply was that after running for a certain number of kms, the mind looks forward to running more and more. This gives the runner the required impetus and he starts feeling less and less tired. Only during the end of the race, the mind is able to grasp the magnanimity and slowly starts giving in. At that time, he feels exhausted more than ever. Some good psychological food for thought for me.

Personally, I too prefer to walk. Somewhere, in the back of mind, there is a thought that if I keep running at this age, I will get knee/joint problems at a later age. At that time, I may not be able to walk even if I want to !

On stamina, on flat surfaces, I can walk for day long on ends. Difficulty is when I have to walk on steep surfaces.

During my teens, I remember walking for 2 hours in Vijayanagar area (Bangalore) searching for a friend's house ! That's when I relaized my true "potential" :-)