My beloved watch

I have this digital stop watch that I got when I realised that having a stop watch to track work outs made sense. It is now about 9 years old and I found out the other day as to how much it means to me. I was returning from the Nike Run meet last Sunday and I got a flat tyre. I am glad it was a Sunday morning with thin traffic and a lot of time on hand.

I got the spare out of the boot and went down on all fours to jack up the car and replace the flat. I must have lost my touch for being a handy man with tools cause I suddenly realised I had broken the strap of my watch. I muttered under my breath and stowed it in my pocket. I got the spare replaced and reached home in a jiffy. Bryan, my dear son, on seeing the broken strap said, "Da-da, you can use my stop watch". It was a piece I'd got for him since he too had graduated into a distance runner:-) Also, the numerals on his watch dials are a lot bigger and I don't have to squint like I do with my watch - age! (I'm rolling eyes:-))

That night, I wanted to set the alarm as usual and found to my dismay that Bryan' watch alarm seemed to malfunction. Imagine my plight when I realised that the watch thats stowed next to my pillow for comfort, assured by the certainty that I'd be woken up, was no longer there. I had a fitful night' sleep and had to wake up to a "fire-alarm" ring from a bedside clock that was a spare in the house. I grumbled that morning as I made my coffee since I was woken up rather rudely - signs of becoming an old grouch?

I went to work that day and immediately got a watch repairer to restore my watch to its pristine glory - and he did it for a mere 50 rupees:-))) There it was on my hand that evening and I set the alarm once again that night and woke up to its gentle beep. I smiled as I pressed the start button for the stop-watch before beginning my run. After all, it had tracked 14 marathons so far and I need it around for a while. I am hopeful it will last; afterall, its a Japanese "Casio". While it will keep time without losing too many seconds in the coming years, I am not certain about my own times in the marathons to come. Brace yourself Dan; you will shuffle across the finish line some time - not too soon Lord, please!

The desire to play

In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play. - Friedrich Nietzsche

I look at Bryan going out every evening, lobbing the football with its thumping "Dhup, Dhup, Dhup.." and I am transported to a time when I was in the lane. I used to do the same, arriving at 4:30pm in the hot afternoon sun, waiting for the guys to turn up for a passionate game of football. There were those frustrating moments when some SOBs used to take afternoon siestas and their moms were loathe to wake them up. I used to wonder, "How can these guys sleep when they know we have a match to play and its going to be sun-down soon??" Well, they probably did not share the same passion for football as I did.

I can understand why that game of football is so important to Bryan, even though his exams are round the corner. I know that its his release, his passion, his life! I know that if I stop him, he'd probably go crazy sitting in the house and may even lose his ability for retention and recall:-)) I am in a reverie now and I can see my exertions, my sweat, the grin as we get back and meet the girls who probably found us macho (wink); and, yes the clink of glasses at the local "cold-drinkwalla" where we pooled money for the sherbets. I remember my, now fat, friend Bamoo joking with one of the guys that never paid up, saying, "What will you drink?" and the guys goes, "I'll have a Rush" (an aerated drink in my time) and Bamoo says, "Please rush home":-)))) I am chukling now and the maid is wondering if my overseas tipple has caused me to lose my marbles:-) So much for memories. Time to pour a small one and dream a lil' more. Dojo comes trotting and curls up as he realizes my mood is mellow.

An unusual government

I was informed by an elderly gentleman at the Acropolis ruins in Athens, that the Greek Government cares for its strays. That answered my question about the number of dogs that I saw on the streets of Athens. All of them would wag their tails and turn over on to their back for a tickle in the belly:-) I noticed that the people that walked by were careful not to step on them. The most stiring sight of all was a poor old man that shared his food with one of the strays. The dog seemed to jump up and paw him, as if thanking and acknowledging him for his unselfishness. The man was patiently tearing open, what seemed like a quiche, and offering the contents for the dog. I wish every government would learn to be so kind hearted to animals.

Istanbul Calling

The Istanbul Marathon had all of 7000 runners in the marathon and it began without too much fan-fare. The run begins with crossing the Bosphorus which is so very breath-taking in its vast expanse of a calm but mighty river and tiny houses nestling on its banks. There are up-hills for the first 5K during which I kept a watch on my heart rate. There were no km markers and I was lost as to what pace I was running. I finally saw a km marker a while later and it said “7.5 kms”. I checked my watch and realized I was too fast. From here on there were km markers every 2.5K and I reached 10K in 54:16 – too fast Dan! I found my RPE was just about 6 and there was no need to panic. I then decided that I’d see how things turn out if I aimed for sub 4 hrs. I had no target time in mind when I came for this marathon and decided I’d play this one by ear. I had a horrendous travel schedule during my two week taper and I had one of the most unconventional tapers – with no runs for 7 continuous days, I ran a 29K on the Sunday before the race!

The rest of the course was flat and I ran strong enough to predict a 3:54 – if I could hold, what I think was a scorching and suicidal pace. I was running alongside side an elderly woman who was dragging her feet with a rustling noise and was surprisingly swift, despite it. I reached the half marathon mark in 1:57:26 – very impressive Dan! As you can see, if I double it, I’d get a 3:55; a slow down of only 1 min.

At the 29K mark, as we ran across the chip mats, a Parisian asked the volunteer as to what km point it was and the guy replied, “25 kms”. I laughed and told the Parisian that the guy didn’t know what he was talking about. The Parisian was surprised that I had traveled all the way from India for this marathon. He seemed to be running strong and surged ahead with a, “I wish you good luck”.

The first realization that the pace was taking its toll came at the 30K mark which I reached in 2:49 instead of 2:45. I was hitting the “wall” now because I reached 32.5K in 3:04 – the first sign that a sub 4 hr finish was slipping from my hands. It would be a tall order to do the balance 9.7K in 55 mins; not with my condition. My breath was raspy now and my calves screamed for me to slow down. Well slow down, I did because I was now doing 5:55/km as I reached 37.5kms in 3:35. It was depressing at this juncture to see scores of runners reduced to a walk. It was tempting indeed to join them because I was now wheezing and using my arms to drive my pace. The pain in my legs made me wince and screw up my eyes. Every runner alongside could be heard gasping for breath. We were still 4K away from the finish; an eternity at this juncture in the race.

The Parisian was now way ahead and I rued about the fact that this part of the race was a telling story indeed – about the ones that grooved and those (like me) that gasped. The 39K mark made me look up in consternation as I saw a huge climb and runners were now reduced to a shuffle. I was aware, from the elevation chart that this climb would do me in; however, it was enough to shift the balance and make 90% of the runners walk. I shuffled on with my chin buried into my chest and saw that my chances of even a 4:02 were evaporating. I trudged up the unending climb and cursed the organizers for this cruel joke. I reached a sign that said “500m to the finish” and I found a new strength to my stride. I saw Monsoon and Bryan and waved out; I’d not failed them after all. I crossed the finish line in 4:07:23. A memorable race in the lessons it taught me. I limped and hobbled around reveling in the aches that seized my limbs. They were nothing compared to the challenge I’d endured in the last 7K. It was time for some beers, the Turkish aperitif “Raki” that I’d taken a predilection for and a delectable spread of meats with pita bread. Well, I wouldn’t mind a Turkish bath followed by a look see at some belly dance:-)

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win. - Sir Roger Bannister

The Nike Run Club

When Arvind, from Runners for Life (RFL), called me a few weeks back saying, "Dan, we'd like you to train runners at the Nike Run Club, being started in Mumbai", I felt a sense of exhilaration. I had finally made reasonable distance in my quest to make running a popular sport and to be able to coach. I felt honoured and when RFL asked me to recommend another coach, I lost no time in mentioning Savio D'souza, the guy who lived in my neighbourhood and who is India' only international marathoner, now retired and coaching.

My earliest memories of Savio were his lean build and his skimpy shorts, as he returned from his runs on Marine Drive. I used to know of 5000 and 10,000m distances in Athletics in my youth and was really proud to know years later, that Savio had outrun a Kenyan to win the Pune International Marathon in 1985 with an impressive time of 2:35 - in those years when distance running was not yet a boom even in USA!

The first Nike run began on Sunday, Oct 4 and I was very apprehensive. I was asked to be there at 5:30 to meet the Nike people and get introduced. Fortunately, my credentials were appreciated, especially RFL vouching for my technical knowledge and my ACE certification helped too. Besides, most of the runners that turned up showed they know and appreciate me, and Nike noticed this. In fact, they went out of their way to check if I was comfortable. I had a cheesy smile on my face when they handed over Nike merchandise worth 10,000/- rupees and asked me to change to everything Nike:-)) I changed to a Tee and their shoes but left my shorts on as I don't like track pants. They seemed apologetic and informed me they'd get me a pair of shorts next time.

The runners were registered and assembled and Savio had disappeared to meet his own runners at Nariman Point. We waited for him because I did not want to steal the show by starting the warm up without him, though Arvind kept asking me to. I was a wee bit non-plussed at the warm up initiated by Savio as it was a bit old world and had stretches incorporated, contrary to fitness recommendations. I went along with it and was relieved when we finally decided to run.

I accompanied Jyothi, Director - Communications, DHL and Monsoon' friend as she is 53 yrs old and had turned up just because I was conducting the run. She had covered my Berlin and Lausanne experiences in their in-house magazine "Velocity" and has always been hesitant to ask me for tips on fitness. We did a 4K walk-run together which really set her spirits soaring. At one point of time, she was frantically wiping sweat off her forehead and she asked me, "Don't you sweat?" and I matter-of-fact replied, "Sweating depends on fitness level and effort", to which she stopped and roared in laughter saying, "My God, I should have known than to ask something stupid like that to YOU, Daniel!".

We finished the run with a cool down, hi-5s and a promise to meet next sunday. Bryan, who was very content with his time in the 4K, and I, returned home feeling a sense of achievement. I handed over the track pants Nike had given me, to Bryan, who promptly tried them on for a perfect fit. Nike had got my size wrong!:-) Do I look that puny?:-))

Failed workouts & good deeds

I have encountered my worst week of workouts. There is the speed workout that went south because I could not hold the target pace and had to cut it short. Then, on Sunday, I had made an elaborate plan for doing marathon pace in my long run and was excited about it. I had 3 of the Colpal runners for company and everything seemed to go according to plan except that I woke up with a queasy stomach. I have to hurl expletives at Bamoo because it was his idea to go to "Martin' Hotel" on Saturday afternoon and gorge on everything under the Goan sun. The end result is that the Prawn Pullao probably did me in.

I started my run and found it increasingly difficult to hold my pace. After 4K I realised that I would need to visit a porta potty:-) Heck! there is no porta potty in that jungle and I had to hang on for dear life until I had completed 9K before I could rush into the Aarey bushes with a bottle of water, gratefully taken from the nearby pump house. I realised after this, that my long run would have to be "canned". I did another circuit and ended up walk-running the last 2K. I threw my towel in, in disgust. I can ill afford to have failed long runs considering that I have a marathon to run in less than a month!

During the week I had handed over 5000 rupees to an animal lover that rescues strays. She was indeed vocal in her gratitude and I had to remind her that I was the one, only giving money; whereas, she was actually picking up helpless animals from the streets and taking them to the hospital. Three days ago, she found an abandoned Persian kitten that would have certainly died, had it not been for her kind heart. The event was reported on the front page of the DNA after which she was deluged with calls, from people wanting to adopt the dear little thing. Finally she acceded to the request of a relative of an Aarey walker who promised that they would care for the kitten. God will certainly bless her.

"Colpal runners, unite!"

Everything seemed to be in place. I had provided sufficient motivation for the Colgate-Palmolive runners' group to get together for a long run that was a long time coming. I had designed some customised workouts to fit the course at National Park and everyone had their distances laid out and target times set. The appointed hour was 6:15am on Sunday and the venue, National Park gates. I hurried over, having got held up at the parking lot for my "Bullet", only to find that 3 runners had dropped out. I was not surprised but I was certainly dejected.

We did not allow this killjoy to affect our enthusiasm and got our run underway forthwith. I was to pace Aalok and we had 2 loops scheduled with a tempo burst thrown in to prepare him for a fast finish in his next race. I found much to my disappointment that Aalok was running a pace faster than I'd set for him. Much as I subtly tried to coax him to a slower pace, he seemed to speed up even more. I somehow felt that he thought, it was I that was tiring:-). As soon as we got to the tempo segment of the work out, Aalok seemed to find some unnatural groove and I barely kept pace. My subsequent entreaties to slow down as a 2nd loop is coming up, fell on deaf years. Predictably, Aalok ended up walking the last 4 kms.

Madhu, Roshni and Manisha succeeded with their individual work outs, except that Manisha had a sudden injury to her knee at the 9K mark. I returned home to a well-deserved beer and some brunch comprising ham, eggs, cheese and croissants that I'd got from "Hyper-City". We had a large and typical Sunday lunch at home with all the meats one can think of and a nice snooze after that veritable banquet:-) Evening involved taking Dojo and Monsoon for a drive thru' Aarey Colony where Dojo decided to find a nice spot to answer natures call and Monsoon struggled up some slopes with a walk that she felt was much needed after the Sunday lunch:-)