Hydrating for a marathon

(source: not me)

I usually carry a water bottle wherever I go. Especially if I am running a marathon the next day, and all my friends are busy hydrating for what seems to be a week and I figure I may as well do that too, 'cause you know, you never know the day before the marathon that you may twist your ankle and throw 16 weeks of training (even if desultorily done amidst much stress).

But I forgot.

Plus the rule in the airport is never really clear. Can you carry your bottle through the security if it's empty? Or should you take a sip and show them it's potable? Or will they chuck the damn thing into the trash? So of course I don't dare to carry my good bottles. But a random one lying around the house can be recruited for this purpose easily.

But this time I forgot.

So I sucked it up and bought a bottle of water paying an astronomical amount in both paper currency and mother earth screwing up currency. I drank up a bunch and decided to save the rest for the car ride in Mumbai (bound to be long).

I got on the flight and proceeded to do my usual thing of sleeping from before take off to just after landing, waking up only to scarf up the breakfast they provided (don't recall what it was, I was awake just long enough to consume it).

When the flight landed in Mumbai I woke up and twiddled my ears a bit 'cause they were blocked and looked for my bottle. It was all crushed like. I guess they make these water bottles from cheaper and cheaper plastic of late, and plus all the pressure changes or what not. A bit of OCD made me try to straighten it out a tad but it wasn't important so I left it.

Then this stranger woman sitting next to me says "here, let me". I was fine, I DO NOT MIND I wanted to say but before I could capitalise my letters she grabbed the bottle. And believe this. A stranger of a woman who I had had no relationship with up to the point we boarded that 1.5 hours flight. SHE BLEW INTO THE BOTTLE.

I am not known as a good poker player. She must have seen the emotions clearly go across my face. I am not violent by nature so I could easily resist the temptation to slap her on the cheek. But I was so so annoyed! I am pretty easy going among friends and family about sharing food or what not but *shudder* what was she thinking! I pictured all the germs in her mouth, all the cooties and what not.

I reached my room and gave that bottle a nice big rinse. And yes, I did not hydrate (at least not from that bottle) for the rest of the day.... 

For the love of writing

At the end of it all, when I think about the reasons why I love this little space of mine, it boils down to just that. The love of writing. The joy in seeing words form in my mind and find their way to the keyboard and then on to this nice little template on blogspot.

Admittedly, 2016 has come and gone and I have very little to show for it. I used moodle a fair bit for my course and even that was not with the same degree of enthusiasm as usual. Aside from that, I wrote a number of articles of a general nature for The Wipro Chennai Marathon's public outreach. The most fun I had was when I wrote for our magazine The Rundown. Here have a look at something I recently put together, just some irreverent stuff in the context of The Wipro Chennai Marathon.

From The Rundown, Dec 2016 Edition

I like my alter-ego Maami Thayir Saadam, or MTS. She has gotten around to saying things that I wouldn't have said as Preeti, or KPBM, for that matter. But it's a tag team effort with the one and only ludwig for the column (not that he is a Maami, though he could be I suppose!) and so it may be that we have to fight it out for our space there at some stage, we'll see!

Meanwhile, having finished with the myriad responsibilities of 2016, which left me breathless and with barely a minute of time for myself, I am glad to be back here, doing what I like to do on a Saturday evening! (Having spent Friday evening putting together a little space for my course, over here). 

A page for my current course

I am also determinedly attending to my twitter and facebook handles, I won't repeat what I said over there about the annual pilgrimage to the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, go see it over there, instead! 

Oh I suppose I will do this. The child, monster, as it was referred to earlier times, does occasionally use the opportunity to diss me in public, on her own blog, at The One Blog To Rule Them All  as she likes to call it. Do have a peek and give her some back pats once in a while. I do rue the day I set up the page for her occasionally, as my name is dragged through mud, but I guess it's all a part of the joy of motherhood! 

Till later then. 

Quick Update on the run

I want to write a nice post about it, it was nice, I had so many things I liked. But unfortunately it is the beginning of what promises to be a bad week, responsibilities-wise. So bullet point quick update it is.

* It was great fun. ludwig ran with me.
* I had a 'strong' race. Thats the best way I can describe it. I felt good. Strong. I did better than my usual pace up to 17 kms. Might have lost it a bit after that. But I walked ONLY FIVE STEPS the entire duration of the race.
* Helicopter came too low and tried to kill us since the banners and placards on the side started flying into our running path. In the last 200 m (which is when I would have really liked to sprint and challenge my legs). Bad.
* Folk drum like thing all along the path was great, I paced my steps to match the drums!
* IPOD was fun. Despite the tendency of my shuffle to keep playing Mamma Mia! soundtrack. I was singing once in a while, much to ludwig's irritation (or surprise?)
* One blister. Rest is all fine. No calf cramps. No nail falling off. No recurrence of my December foot injury.
* Time? In the region of 2:10-2:15. Was aiming for sub-2 hours so a bit off that way from goal, but all things considered (like the foot, the lack of uniform training thanks to home situation, busy January thanks to work and home situation, bad sleep thanks to monster again, oh add the humidity too, excuses are aplenty, but who is counting?) I was happy with it.
* Fund-raising effort has gone well. Lots of cute donations. My friends are rock solid I tell you.

I wanted to run again this morning. Perhaps I can manage it tomorrow morning. Really. Not Kidding. Bring it on.

But now I have to change mind-set and do other stuff for the rest of the week and month. I figure if I don't breathe or sleep, I can get to February without incident. Yeah. Its one of those times in Kenny's life...

Mumbai Marathon Stuff

(this is cross-posted at Indiahelps)

It is January. The beginning of the year. This is a particularly special year for all of us as we look ahead, eyes shining with hope. Hope that we have put the worst behind us, hope that the events of 2008 will make us stronger, hope that we will not forget, and hope most of all that we will continue to believe in ourselves.

Befittingly, the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is around the corner, and will be held on Sunday, January 18th, 2009. This marathon is one of the most wonderful events of our city. The sheer positive energy that is seen on the streets during the marathon is remarkable. I hope that many of you will have the chance to experience it.

Much of the effort of runners and other participants in the Mumbai Marathon is directed toward fund-raising for various causes. The event, in addition to being a satisfying exhibition of fitness levels and meeting of personal physical goals, has become remarkably efficacious at promoting myriad noble causes.

We at Indiahelps have a very modest goal for the Mumbai Marathon this year - we want to tell people about ourselves. We have a number of our team members participating in the event. You will find the young and energetic Nihas; and the veteran of four SCMMs, kbpm, running themselves sore at the Half-Marathon. The brilliant ladies Parul and Orangejammies are participating in the Dream Run. Along the way, the enthusiastic team consisting of Sayantani, Aparna, Priyanka, Bala, and Rohini will not only pass on information about Indiahelps but also inspire and cheer our runners. Watch for us near the CST main stage and around Nariman point; look out for our tag-line "Who did YOU help today?"

Wish us luck! Watch for us! Come chat with us!