Picking up the Distance

Running six or seven miles for a couple of days after going run-free for a while is always tiring but invigorating. Along the road where two gas stations opposite each other symbolized the overbuilt suburbs now exists free space and a run/bike path. Change happens slowly but inexorably.

Toys, Kids, and Happy Meals

San Francisco bans Happy Meals - chicagotribune.com: "San Francisco's board of supervisors has voted, by a veto-proof margin, to ban most of McDonald's Happy Meals as they are now served in the restaurants.

The measure will make San Francisco the first major city in the country to forbid restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar and fat.

The ordinance would also require restaurants to provide fruits and vegetables with all meals for children that come with toys.

'We're part of a movement that is moving forward an agenda of food justice,' said Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the measure."

Marathon in DC

While in DC for the Rally happened to run into a number of runners who were in the Marine Corps Marathon. One runner had also done the Vancouver marathon and described running in Stanley park rainy weather. Gave me inspiration to train for one more marathon.

The Struggle

Running after returning from vacation- out of shape physically and mentally.

Back to the flatland

The first evening run in a long time. Fall tends to shift the momentum from morning to evening, until the Standard Time changes take effect.

Stretching..just a little bit

Phys Ed: Does Stretching Before Running Prevent Injuries? - NYTimes.com: "Stretching is, of course, a contentious issue in sports. The bulk of the available science strongly suggests that static stretching before a workout not only does not prevent overuse injuries but also may actually hinder athletic performance. “There is a very important neurological effect of stretching,” said Ross Tucker, a physiologist in South Africa and co-author of the Web site The Science of Sport. “There is a reflex that prevents the muscle from being stretched too much,” which is activated by static stretching, inducing the muscle to become, in effect, tighter in self-protection. Past studies have found that athletes’ vertical jump is lower after a bout of static stretching than with no stretching at all. They can’t generate as much power. Meanwhile, other studies have found, like the new track and field association report, that static stretching seems to have little benefit in terms of injury prevention, particularly against the overuse injuries common in running."

Healthy run

through Miami- lots of places to get good food!

Shreveport in the good old days

Was a nice place to go running before conducting business the Louisiana way.

Nature's Stairmaster

Looking forward to the hike up the Grouse Grind trail, considered Nature's Stairmaster.

Ranch to McMansion

While out running this morning saw a couple working on their yard- one of the few ranch houses left on the street. All others have been converted to monstrosities.

American Dream

I beg your pardon, mama, what did you say My mind was drifting off on Martinique Bay It's not that I'm not interested, you see Augusta, Georgia is just no place to be...

A great tune by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Dam-ed if you run

Running near the Hoover Dam is scenic and quite invigorating.

LSD

Running from Evanston to LSD and coming back on RIdge...an interesting trip.

running puns

http://www.runtheplanet.com/community/humor/jokes.asp

Question & Answer

Q. How do crazy runners go through the forest?
A. They take the psycho path.

Q. What kind of shoes are made from banana skins?
A. Slippers.

Q. Why do bagpipers walk when they play?
A. To get away from the sound.

IIM pre-placement: Offers start pouring much ahead of schedule - Jobs - News By Industry - News - The Economic Times

IIM pre-placement: Offers start pouring much ahead of schedule - Jobs - News By Industry - News - The Economic Times: NEW DELHI: Pre-placement offers (PPOs) for students of the country’s top notch business management institutes, IIMs, have started pouring in much ahead of schedule.

PPOs are made by companies to candidates who intern with them for around two months during the summers. Early offers indicate employers want to retain talent ahead of the final placements in January next year. Better corporate earnings over the last one year has boosted job prospects in the country as companies are looking to expand operations after going slow on recruitment with bare minimum increments till last year.

Companies across sectors are looking to hire and they would surely use PPO as a medium to lap up good talent from across IIMs as there is a sense of familiarity on both sides, said a senior human resource executive who recently moved from a pharma company to one of the country’s biggest conglomerates. “The war for talent is definitely going to be more intensive this year,” he said requesting anonymity.

Picture this: IIM Calcutta has reported 37 PPOs, more than twice compared to 15 such job offers received by its students in the same period last year. This means that nearly 10% of the batch already have a job offer, a mark they could achieve only around October last year.

“Last year nobody was sure how placements were going to shape up since companies came out with fewer PPOs. This year, early offers have given us much more confidence and placement prospects for our batch are already looking brighter,” said Paromita Chakravarty, a student from IIM-C, who recently received an offer from an FMCG giant.

This year, PPOs at IIM-C include those from consulting firms McKinsey & Co, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Co and AT Kearney besides international banks such as UBS, Nomura and Morgan Stanley. Majority of the offers from these banks are for international positions like Singapore, London and New York. Apart from MNCs, Tata Administrative Services and Hindustan Unilever have also offered jobs to students at IIM-C. About 18 students are also going through pre-placement interviews at the campus, most of which are likely to get converted into PPOs in the coming days.

IIM Lucknow has reported 22 PPOs so far, from recruiters such as McKinsey & Co, BCG, Hindustan Unilever, Aditya Birla Group, Essar Group and L&T. Although, a number of companies have give PPOs already, the real rush of PPOs would be felt only by October, said IIM-L recruitment coordinator Rahul Tom Joseph.

Both IIM-A and IIM-B did not disclose the numbers but said that PPOs have primarily come from consulting firms and a few investment banks.

At IIM-B, PPOs started coming from July and the institute says the numbers are at par with last year. “The trend looks healthy,” says IIM-B placement head Sapna Agarwal. “If we go by the sentiments during final placements for students passing out early this year and the PPOs being offered now, the scenario looks quite bright. But we need to be cautious and invite more companies, since our batch size is larger this year,” she added.

IIM Kozhikode has received one PPO while 15 of its students are in the process of pre placement interviews by companies including Tata Motors, HSBC, Deloitte, Escorts, Citibank and J P Morgan.

IIM-C placement chairman Prof Amit Dhiman is hopeful that the institute would attract more PPOs than last year. “PPOs are usually seen as a reflection of how the coming placement season is going to be. So far, placements 2011 look more promising than 2010,” he said.

Those involved with placement coordination cells of the IIMs say while PPOs this year has been much better, they are yet to see the good old days of 2006 and 2007. The economic slowdown in 2008, however, made companies cautious, a trend that changed only marginally last year.

Don't Run. Just Sit.

NYC airport trades fast food for sit-down service - Yahoo! Finance: "Forget about greasy french fries, soggy pizza or that sandwich that's been sitting out for hours. Filet mignon, crispy duck confit and crab cakes are taking off at the airport.

Delta Air Lines is putting 13 new restaurants, bars and cafes in its LaGuardia Airport terminal by next summer, opening the first four Saturday morning.

With travelers waiting longer because of more extensive security checks and flight delays, airports across the country are swapping out fast-food joints for sit-down restaurants. It's part of a trend of airlines serving their customers before they board their flights, said air industry expert Terry Trippler, owner of rulestoknow.com, a website dedicated to airline rules."

I like long walks...

especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

from http://www.jokesnjokes.net/funny.jokes.amusing.humor.laughs/Sports/jogging001.htm

What are 20-somethings running on?

What Is It About 20-Somethings? - NYTimes.com: "...The 20s are a black box, and there is a lot of churning in there. One-third of people in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch. Two-thirds spend at least some time living with a romantic partner without being married. And marriage occurs later than ever. The median age at first marriage in the early 1970s, when the baby boomers were young, was 21 for women and 23 for men; by 2009 it had climbed to 26 for women and 28 for men, five years in a little more than a generation.

We’re in the thick of what one sociologist calls “the changing timetable for adulthood.” Sociologists traditionally define the “transition to adulthood” as marked by five milestones: completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying and having a child...."

Jackson Browne: running on full at Britt | MailTribune.com

Jackson Browne: running on full at Britt | MailTribune.com: "Jackson Browne opened his first Britt show in over a decade with Warren Zevon and Carl Hiaasen's arch 'Seminole Bingo,' of all things, a 1995 number that could be ripped from today's headlines. That was after Browne remarked on the absence of chainsaws, a reference to the timber industry supporters that greeted him and Bonnie Raitt by revving the snarling tools of the trade throughout the environmental benefit the two singers put on that night.

Browne, still trim and boyish at 61, was joined at the top of the show by old pal and guitarist (and all things stringed) extraordinaire David Lindley, for a warm, acoustic set. The two men have collaborated for almost four decades. Lindley played on 1973's 'For Everyman' and other Browne classics including 'Late For The Sky' and 'The Pretender.' Browne, in turn, produced Lindley's best-known album, 1983's 'El Rayo-X.' They show little or no signs of slowing down."

1981 Dream Mile Oslo - Ovett, Cram, Walker & Byers

A great video on Youtube...

Getting bugged

by mosquitoes running around everywhere- and getting bitten while running takes the fun out of a tiresome activity.

A Summer

That Ran Away...

The mystery behind the East African runners

BBC Sport - East African runners: what makes them so dominant?: "Put 'East African running' into a search engine and you'll get thousands of results exploring the question of what makes these long distance runners so good.
Everyone is searching for the secret explanation so what does the research evidence point to? There is not one simple answer but here are my thoughts.
In athletics terms many people associate East Africa with Kenyan and Ethiopian distance running. Intriguingly, the majority of these runners come from three mountainous districts beside the Rift Valley: Nandi in Kenya, the most successful district, and Arsi and Shewa in Ethiopia.
Some people say that since these runners and their forebears live and train at altitude, they're bound to be good. 'Altitude natives', through long-term exposure combined with endurance training, have increased red blood cells which is one neat explanation of their excellence in endurance events..."

Potential NYM winner

BBC Sport - Athletics - Britain's Mara Yamauchi hoping to win New York Marathon: "Britain's Mara Yamauchi is hoping for a double success in New York when she takes part in the city's marathon.
The Japan-based 36-year-old won the New York City Half Marathon in a course record time in March and will make her debut in the full event in November.
She chose not to compete at the recent European Athletics Championships in Barcelona in favour of taking part in a race in the autumn.
'New York is an iconic race. I will give it everything,' said Yamauchi.
'I can't wait to return to New York and race against the best marathon runners in the world."

Cathy to be run out, after 34 years

`Cathy' comic strip ending after 34 years - Yahoo! Finance: "The comic strip 'Cathy,' which has chronicled the life, frustrations and swimsuit season meltdowns of its namesake for more than 30 years, is coming to an end.

Cathy Guisewite, the strip's creator, said Wednesday that deciding to end the comic strip was 'excruciating.' The comic has won several awards, including a 1992 National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1987, and at its height appeared in 1,400 papers.

'It's just been really unbelievably agonizing to make the decision,' Guisewite said in a telephone interview from her home in the Los Angeles area. 'The strip has not only been the most astonishing form of therapy for 34 years, but doing a daily comic strip for the newspaper set a certain rhythm for my life.'

The final 'Cathy' strip, will run in newspapers on Sunday, Oct. 3."

What a Bull...

Jordan to introduce Pippen at the Hall of Fame ceremonies...Brings back memories of Evanston and the glory years of the Bulls...

Fifteen year gap doesn't make a scratch

Reuniting with a childhood friend after a gap of fifteen years brings back many memories. The warmth and affection that was created in the early years last many lifetimes.

Why Run?

"...It helps me live better." George McGough

A good, long run is like creating great music- food for the soul. Unfortunately, unlike a great music score, a good run cannot be "stored" and reproduced.

Marty and Arboretum

As we drove to the Morton Arboretum the other day I was reminded of Marty, a colleague in the nineties. He was a good distance runner and we ran together quite often. Sadly he died of a heart attack while scuba diving.

Parc du Mont-Royal‎

A great place to run or walk in Montreal. The only downside is the odious "French-only" culture.

Visit to Shenandoah Valley

in the late eighties was a fabulous experience. Driving up the mountains and taking the hairpin bends!

Fictional Run

Reading the Stieg Larsson book "The Girl...Hornet's Nest" in one sitting consumed all the time between 9PM and 6AM. While the story is quite interesting, the endurance test is quite as challenging as running a race in humid conditions.

RUnning in LA

was quite an experience. A friend's wedding in Malibu presented a great opportunity to run in LA.

Pitt is not the Pits

Running in Pittsburg through CMU and other nearby places is quite enjoyable and interesting.

On the run...

Reading the book " The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories From the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands" by Margaret Regan reminds one of the troubling, touching movie 'El Norte" by Gregory Nava. It is clearly one of the best movies of the eighties, along with other great ones like Running on Empty, Local Hero, and Stand by Me.

Looking back...

Living and Running last year in Gurgaon, and building some good friendships- friendships that will last a lifetime.

Whizzing through Baltimore

Baltimore is an interesting study. Parts of the city are just great for runners, while some areas are rather disconcerting. LaBradford Smith, who played for the Washington Bullets and poured 37 points on Jordan in one game in Chicago, provided good material for conversation with the Baltimore denizens.

Running in Nashville

has been entertaining. Humid weather aside, the city is pretty and visually interesting.

A Cingular Experience

Back when Cingular was a major wireless service provider I visited its office in Atlanta with our sales folks. Had some great runs in Atlanta, especially in Alpharetta and in Peachtree.

Running in Boston

is an interesting experience. The architecture and the culture make for an educational run.

Willow and Run

Driving on Willow Road in Glenview the other day brought back memories of the days I used to run to Willow Road from Evanston. A beautiful stretch of scenery.

Triathlon

One of my students recently finished a triathlon- it reminded me of the two times I did a "team" triathlon with my friends. We won in our category once and placed well in the other race.

Dawson's Run

Andre Dawson is going to be inducted into the Baseball's Hall of Fame. In addition to being a great hitter, he was a quick runner and an excellent athlete. He also had a steady and quiet composure. A nice gentleman who richly deserves the honor.

names from the past

Good marathon runners include Gelindo Bordin and Douglas Wakiihuri.

Dell Inc. paying $100 million in SEC deal - Yahoo! Finance

Dell Inc. paying $100 million in SEC deal - Yahoo! Finance: "Computer maker Dell Inc. is paying $100 million to settle civil charges that it fraudulently used payments from Intel to pump up its profits to meet Wall Street targets over five years, the government announced Thursday."

Under the settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, company Chairman and CEO Michael Dell also agreed to pay a separate $4 million civil penalty.The settlement culminated a five-year investigation by the agency. While the $100 million fine was far from the largest penalty levied by the SEC, the decision to charge a sitting chief executive of a major company and reach a seven-figure settlement with him is rare. Founder Michael Dell is one of the most prominent figures in the technology industry, credited for revolutionizing the PC market by making the computers cheap and widely accessible.The SEC had accused Michael Dell, former CEO Kevin Rollins and former Chief Financial Officer James Schneider of playing a role in the company's alleged violations of disclosure laws. Schneider and two other former executives were charged with taking part in the alleged fraudulent accounting.Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, is the world's third-largest PC maker behind Hewlett-Packard Co. and Taiwan's Acer Inc. The company's net income was $441 million in its fiscal first quarter this year, which ran from February through April.The SEC said the company also failed to disclose to investors large payments it received from Intel Corp. in exchange for not using central processing units made by Intel's main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Those payments enabled Dell to meet its quarterly earnings targets, the agency said. After Intel stopped the payments, Dell again misled shareholders by not disclosing the real reason its profits had dropped, according to the SEC.The company, Michael Dell, Rollins and Schneider falsely portrayed the means by which the company met or surpassed earnings targets from 2001 through 2006, the SEC said in a civil lawsuit. Without the payments from Intel, the agency said, Dell would have missed analysts' estimates in every quarter during that span.The company and Michael Dell neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing. But they did agree to refrain from future violations of the securities laws. The company also agreed to improve its disclosure process by hiring an outside consultant and expanding its training of employees.The presiding director of Dell's board, former senator Sam Nunn, issued a statement saying the board believes that the settlement is in the best interests of the company, its customers and shareholders. The board "reaffirms its unanimous support for Michael Dell's continued leadership and the management team in its ongoing commitment to transparent accounting, integrity in financial reporting and strong corporate governance," Nunn said.Michael Dell said: "We are pleased to have resolved this matter. We are committed to maintaining clear and accurate reporting of our periodic results, supporting our customers and executing our growth strategy."The SEC also named Rollins, Schneider, former regional Vice President of Finance Nicholas Dunning and former Assistant Controller Leslie Jackson in the suit.Rollins agreed to pay a $4 million civil penalty. Schneider is paying a $3 million penalty as well as $83,096 in restitution and $38,640 in interest. Dunning is paying a $50,000 penalty. In addition, Schneider agreed to a five-year suspension from working as an accountant for a public company; Dunning and Jackson agreed to three-year bars.The SEC said its investigation of the Dell matter and the possible role of other individuals continues."Accuracy and completeness are the touchstones of public company disclosure under the federal securities laws," SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said in a statement. "Michael Dell and other senior Dell executives fell short of that standard repeatedly over many years, and today they are held accountable."The company said last Friday that it was getting closer to settling the SEC's investigation and had proposed settlement terms to the agency's enforcement staff. Dell already had set aside $100 million to cover the potential cost of the settlement.The company first disclosed an internal inquiry into its accounting in 2006, and said it was notified in August of that year of the SEC investigation. In 2007, it restated four years of earnings after it found that sales had been overstated by $359 million and income by $92 million.

A Young Garden

Today a young lady drove to our house to pick up some ferns. Her daughter, about seven or eight year old, loved running around in our garden. Before leaving she said "Mom I got lost in there" with a sense of fun and exploration. She liked the vegetables, flowers and butterflies. She left with a small gift of cucumbers from our garden.

It feels good to see the young ones get involved in gardening and get excited.

Running at noon

on a ho,t humid day gives one plenty of time to think cool thoughts.

Learning to Fly

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed in Chicago recently. The song "Learning to Fly" is an excellent tune. "I won't back down" and "Free Falling" are also great songs.

Crossed and Countried

Trying to keep up with college students on the cross country team proved to be a quite a challenge. Two decades of time does take its toll on the human machine. However, the ability to last long distances does not deteriorate as quickly as speed. Closing the gap with the young kids is one cool reward on a really hot day.

Humidity Hurts

Running today, in extremely humid conditions, proved to be too warm. Distances can get dramatically long.

Runners and Dogs

usually don't make for a friendly mix, but these days it has been fun to play with dogs while running. As long as the dogs are restrained and under control, they are fun. Ran into two year old Haley, a dog that was all over me but was very friendly and playful.

Runner's definition of Insanity

Running in the middle of the day, during the peak of summer. The penalty is also acceptable- being tired for the rest of the day.

Johnson Park

in Piscataway, NJ brings back many memories of running. NJ, though a dump for the greater part of Newark and surrounding areas, has its redeeming features.

San Francisco

Running on the Golden Gate Bridge and the nearby areas is one of the fondest memories from my time in California.

A Jerk- y affair

Went out for a run this morning, and as I was coming back saw a young lady wave at me. Sweating profusely due to the hot weather I did not quite recognize her but waved back, and slowed down to see if it was someone I knew. Apparently we had seen each other running. She was running strongly, and I decided to see if I could keep ahead of her. Behaving like a jerk, I took off rather than saying hello. I manage to keep ahead of her for a while until I was going to take a different path. I did wait for a few seconds to see her come by and told her that she was a GOOD runner. Wish I had been more polite and joined her rather than race her.

McLachlan-ian memories

In the early nineties I had a young lady friend who was also interested in the music of Sarah McLachlan. We also enjoyed discussing the music of other singers like Tori Amos and Natalie Merchant.

Turn It Up: Sarah McLachlan defiant in face of Lilith Fair's ticket slump: 'You can't go back': "McLachlan, who has sold 40 million albums, faded from public view in recent years while dealing with personal issues. Her marriage of 11 years dissolved, and she put her energies into rearing her two daughters at home in Vancouver.
���
In that time, she didn’t write many songs, but she never strayed far from music – she found herself at her piano almost daily, “just noodling as a release more than anything.”

“I was going through a tough time emotionally – coming to terms with being 40, being a single mom, going through a divorce,” she said. “It was a huge adjustment, a shift in a perception of how my reality is shaped, and it took a while to start moving forward again.”"

Spain's Bull Run

Spain clearly was the better team today, and the football gods and goddesses ensured that Spain's bull gored the Dutch. An enjoyable football game.

Getting Race Ready

is always challenging. How can one ascertain if he/she is ready?

Telling about Tellabs

While out running this morning, was stopped by a high school/college kid who altered his running path to talk to me. I was wearing a Tellabs T-shirt and his father worked for Tellabs. He asked if I knew his father. I had left Tellabs quite a few years ago but am fond of the company. It was an interesting chat.

Sprint-ing away

Back when SPrint was one of my customers I visited Kansas City. It is a decent place for runners, but not very exciting.

Running up the Stairs

of the Hancock Tower was a fun experience...but quite demanding.

A good run

The White Sox, after looking terrible for the first few months, have put together decent runs. Now they are in the thick of the Central division in AL.

So Far Away

Sometimes, the finish line seems so far away...it's time to listen to Dire Straits' So Far Away From Me, or U2's I still haven't found What I'm looking for.

Hot and Steamy...Run

What makes a person get out and run at noon on a hot and steamy day? Sitting in an air-conditioned room with a nice book feels more attractive. Running on such days provides a good window into the lives of others- kids jumping in a fountain, adults walking or resting, and dogs cooling off. Frustrating part is the tiredness after the run- lingers all day.

Heading South...America, that is.

Argentina and Brazil showed that they were nowhere as good as their rankings seemed to indicate. Germany looked good, while Paraguay, another South American nation, lost a tight match to Spain. All hopes rest on Uruguay, which was lucky to win yesterday.

Ghana kicked out

by Uruguay. It was sad to see Ghana miss the penalty kick in overtime and lose in the penalty shoot-out.

New Orleans and San Antonio, but not Houston

New Orleans is a great place for running, with interesting sights and a beautiful waterfront. SO is San Antonio, with the Riverwalk. Houston, on the other hand, is not quite a runner's paradise.

Music to my Feet

A supremely gorgeous day- 24 C, sunny, pleasant breeze. Went out running and thought about the criteria to use to select the 10 songs to put on the cell phone to listen to when stranded in a place with no network. Had a fine run, and came up with the following filters the songs have to pass to make it to the list.

1. Should be able to listen to it anytime, anywhere, in any mood.
2. Should move the listener
3. Should be outstanding on at least one attribute
4. Should connect one to faces, places, or times
5. Of the songs that pass 1-4, songs with multiple singers preferred to solos (more bang for the buck).

Tsvetana Shines, Announcers Whine

Tsvetana Pironkova, an unassuming tennis player from Bulgaria, played intelligent tennis to defeat the brute force driven tennis of Venus Williams. She was polite and controlled when answering questions after the match.

On the other hand, the extremely partisan ESPN announcers volleyed one cliche after another throughout the game. Getting paid by the word appears to be the modus operandi.

According to Yahoo, Ms. Pironkova is from Bularia...

A year ago...

Running in Gurgaon, in Delhi's intense heat, and experiencing the life of a fast growing city. Running in the complexes in DLF Phase V was quite an education.

Running ugly

is when the mind is not into running and the legs feel tired, and one's compulsive need pushes him forward.

Mind-ful(l) of tricks

The mind can play a lot of tricks on the runner. If a runner is used to a particular route, a route between the same end points that is technically shorter can feel much longer.

Shoe-in not a shoo-in

Finding the "proper" running shoe is one of the most challenging tasks for a runner- it's no shoo-in.

Runner's Delight

Good food with great company.

A good finishing kick

has allowed the USA football team to advance to the knock-out stage. Good going.

RUnning in Wheaton

A Run for the Animals 4K in Wheaton quite a few years ago, in the nineties, was memorable. The 4K is a distance where one can run fast without worrying about finishing.

Men, today we die a little...

Emil Zatopek, one of the greatest runners of all time, also gave us some memorable, philosophical quotations...

A runner must run with dreams in his heart, not money in his pocket.
Emil Zatopek

An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.
Emil Zatopek

Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.
Emil Zatopek

If one can stick to the training throughout the many long years, then will power is no longer a problem. It's raining? That doesn't matter. I am tired? That's besides the point. It's simply that I just have to.
Emil Zatopek

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.
Emil Zatopek

It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.
Emil Zatopek

Men, today we die a little.
Emil Zatopek

My running was very simple; it was out of myself.
Emil Zatopek

The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He's the center of a team - doctors, scientists, coaches, agents and so on.
Emil Zatopek

There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race.
Emil Zatopek

To boast of a performance which I cannot beat is merely stupid vanity. And if I can beat it that means there is nothing special about it. What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.
Emil Zatopek

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.
Emil Zatopek

What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.
Emil Zatopek

When I was young, I was too slow. I thought I must learn to run fast by practicing to run fast, so I ran 100 meters fast 20 times. Then I came back, slow, slow, slow.
Emil Zatopek

Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.
Emil Zatopek

You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don't fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that's reasonable, and then gradually raise it.
Emil Zatopek

RUnning by IIT

The old Chicago Marathon route used to take one past the Comiskey Park area and by IIT. Have k pleasant memories of running in interesting neighborhoods- one restaurant which served tea was very tempting to stop by during the run.

Enjoy now...Pay Later

Today was one of those days when the body moves effortlessly and running becomes a genuine pleasure. However, like all enjoyable things, there is a price to be paid. IN this case, one runs too fast and pays the price the rest of the day.

Runners' High

Top athletes in a number of sports run quite a bit. Jeff Thompson, the feared Australian fast bowler, and Walter Payton, the great Bears running back, used to run quite a bit during training.

Personal marathon

Pushing the body to its limit- is an interesting exercise. The thoughts that race through the brain, the legs that drag on...

Shrinking distance

All of us who used to do more than hundred miles a week are now down to twenty miles or so per week. Slowing times.

A complement of a Compliment...

Earlier this spring, I was going my office at IIT Madras one day by literally hanging outside a campus bus, with one foot on the bus step and one wrist holding a rail. Coincidentally the wife of a colleague of mine was inside the bus and noticed my acrobatics. Some time later, during a dinner, we talked about this event and she commented that I did not appear to have lost my touch with life at IIT. That was a compliment that complements my other compliments.

Speedwork...

May provide many benefits. The temptation to rest at home is tremendous.;

Driving runners crazy

Are people who drive imposing SUVs and are a) not sensitive to the people around their vehicle, or b) who like to intimidate the runners on the road or c) who like to hug the edge of the road. Of these b) is perhaps the most common reason for the excrescence to nearly run down runners on the road.

Paying the Price

The fees for running races have gone up quite a bit- $60 for a half marathon and $100 plus for a marathon are considered reasonable prices. Of course the event has to be organized, water stations have to be provided and many other elements of the race have to be accomplished.

Waste of running

The world cup opened today. Two games, 40 players (excluding goalies) running up and down for ninety minutes, and both games ended in ties.

Running Brooks no Sloth

Advertising - Brooks Sports Takes Aim at the Fun Run Crowd - NYTimes.com: "Fortunately for Brooks, running is booming. In 2009, 43.9 million people ran at least once, compared with 31.4 million in 2000, an increase of nearly 40 percent, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association. The number of marathon runners more than doubled from 1990 to 2009, jumping to 467,000 from 224,000, according to Running USA, a nonprofit group; half-marathon runners increased even more sharply over the same period, to 1.1 million from 303,000."

The Long Haul

It is interesting to delve into a runner's thoughts when he or she is going for a long run. Hauling the body over long distances takes some effort of body and mind. One lapses into thoughts and does not realize how the time passes, until the body sends signals of pain.

Running over Oprah...

Barbara Ehrenreich: Breast cancer diagnosis leads to an expose of positive thinking and the pink ribbon cult - chicagotribune.com: "n a phone interview, edited and condensed here, Ehrenreich talked about her latest book, High 'Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America' (Metropolitan Books,$23)."

...

"Q: You say you decided to look into the cult of happy out of a combo of anger and curiosity. Did you uncover any surprises in your research?

A: How widespread the ideology of positive thinking is in America. There's almost no problem for which positive thinking has not been proposed as a solution.

Q: You hang some of the blame on Oprah?

A: She's not the only one, let me put it that way. Her show has promoted one kind of guru after another or motivator, or something. But you could also put some of the blame on Larry King and Ellen DeGeneres and others that I'm not aware of."

A Round Robin Escape

Yesterday a baby robin was flying around in our garage. Frightened, it refused to leave, and we were concerned for its safety. Eventually, just talking to it made it get low enough to the ground and then fly away. It left a 'robinesque' picture in our minds...

An Uphill Climb

After more than a year, it was nice to be able to run till the end of centennial park and then go up the hill near the Tower housing the Carillon. Climbing hills gives an exercise to the stomach that cannot be obtained by sit-ups or ab crunches. It is also more entertaining than running on flat roads surrounded by McMansions.

An Italian Run

Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win the French Open. Her perseverance is quite impressive. One good run deserves another, and I hope she does well at Wimbledon too.

No rain-out when out running

This weekend is expected to see a lot of rain but one needs to push forward...one step ahead at a time.

Running...but not in elections

Why are elections referred to as races, as in "the race for the California governor's position...?" While there is a winner in a race, the runner is typically running against himself/herself. In politics, the race starts with the showering of criticisms on the opponents.

Running 8 miles

After many months, the old legs managed to get through nearly 9 miles in good shape. This is a good confidence booster- perhaps longer runs should be the goal for the future.

Stepping up

to a 1oK is a big deal if one has not been running the distance for a while.

Competitive running

is a good way to push the body to its limit. But these days the entry fees push one to financial limits as well.

Morning or Evening

Which one is better for running? An evening run at the end of a hot day is very tiring, perhaps more so if one is outside for most of the day. Still, it feels good to ea a hearty dinner after a good hot run.

Steaming ahead

Going out for a hard run on a hot day right at noon can be downright warm, as it was today. However, compared to running twenty miles, a fast six miles on a steamy day is like downing a cold one.

The hot and seat of it

A hard run today has tired the body quite a bit- lack of practice easily reduces a system to shambles.

A Running Start

always helps, if one is oriented in the proper direction.

The fun runs

Running in Silicon Valley, from Stanford to HP and up on Las Gatos and Los Altos- is quite an experience. It is also tough on the body but exciting and quite relazing.

Running in the arboretum

Morton Arboretum is heaven on earth for runners. Working in Lisle it was wonderful to be able to run up to the arboretum and then run inside. Great training for races.

Honesty in Running

The other day I went out running and when I returned my brother asked me how far I had gone. What is an honest answer to such a question? 'I don't know' is perhaps accurate but doesn't address the query. Should one estimate a low speed and therefore a low distance, just to error on the side of conservatism?

Back in Purple Land

Northwestern...the place where many of my running memories and romances took place. DK was one young lady I used to play racquetball with quite frequently. Shared many good times- watched some good movies together. The move to the western suburbs has showered its own rewards- had some good runner friends at the place of work.

Running...low on gas

Driving to the airport with the gas tank nearly empty is not for the faint of heart. A runner knows how to reach inside and finish a race, but petrol is a resource that is consumed to move the vehicle and petrol exhaustion is akin to a runner's collapse.

Covers

Thanks to my brother I heard several cover versions of Cat Stevens' Wild World and Father and Son, and Beatles' It's a hard day's night.

Good music to run to.

Not so distant past

Getting up at 5 AM and running more than fifteen miles in cold weather...wish one could go back to the past.

Great Runs

The Cubs are doing badly, once again. However, two names from the past, Greg Maddux and Jamie Moyer, stand out as two ex-Cubs who have had a great run in the major leagues.

Abebe Mekonnen

Another fast Ethiopian runner in the 80s and 90s...brings back memories of the big races of that era.

An odd distance

The common distances being 100m, 5km, 10K and the marathon 42K, the Chicago Distance Classic that I ran was 20K, an odd distance that's a double 10K but slightly less than a half-marathon.

Photographic memories....in a Runner's way

One can frequently observe a group of people visiting a place, and one person taking a picture of the rest of the group. A simple gesture, which I have made quite a few times recently, is to offer to take a picture of the entire group. I had an opportunity to do that with a group of school teachers in Chennai, and today near a bridge on my morning run. The receivers have a photo to go with the memory, and the runner has a memory of the photo op(portunity).

Running...behind the curves

Sometimes it is better to trail than to be ahead...

No Downer in Downers's

I used to run in Downer's Grove for a few years. While the fun is not anywhere near what it is near the lake, it was still enjoyable.

A distant feeling

It has been a while since I have run a really long distance- and experienced the feeling of tired legs and exhausted mind. Running from South Boulevard to Sheridan and then up north to Tower road and back- that gave a runner enough time and space to take in the world and take on the distance, and make some good friends.

Collecting the miles...

Unfortunately one cannot "use" miles run the same way as airline miles. No frequent runner program for oneself.

Running laps indoors

is boring..but something I did for speed work at NU's gym. It was also convenient to shoot hoops right after running laps. Ah! The good old days.

It's not cricket...but better

In the early nineties I ran in a few races in Evanston- one was supported by the YMCA of Evanston. Still have the T-shirts from that race.

Running a Gukde rave

Running for New Places

Looking for another fun place for running...Evanston itself can be revisited.

When cricket's not cricket

As a kid I loved running and cricket. However the twenty 20 cricket played these days bears no resemblance to the three or five day cricket matches played in the past- when there was value to strategy rather than to slugging. Funny aspect of this 20/20 is the number of players who are run-out.

Ran for Miles - written and sung by Gemma Hayes.

Thanks, VG.

Well I got myself a new day
And I got myself a second chance
So I headed to the bus stop
And the sun, the sun was warm on my back

Today I ran for miles
Just to see what I was made of

Today I ran for all that was mine

Well I got myself a song inside
And I got myself some full blown daylight
Wanna tell you just how hard it's been
Trying to talk myself out of jumping

Today I ran for miles
Just to see what I was made of

Today I ran for all that was mine, yeah

Today I ran for miles
Just to see what I was made of

Today I ran for all that was mine
Just to see what I was made of

Today I ran for all that was mine, yeah

B 'Cause

A number of my students are walking or running to support causes, especially the fight against Cancer. It is very encouraging.

Synchronized running...the next big sport

Having gone to a concert and watched all violinists play in unison, I realized it is time the runners learnt Synchronicity.

A hike to Lake Cook

One of my longest runs was from Northwestern, Ridge and Noyes, all the way to Lake Cook Rd and back. It was an exhausting feat, and took a long time to recover. The advantage of fresh legs!

Fast in Evanston

I remember running a 5K at Northwestern many many years ago and finishing first, for a prize of $15- a grand amount at the time. I could run fast, and was training many miles- always a good ingredient for a racing recipe.

Running memories

Listening to the Mukesh song from Andaz took me back to my days in St. Pauls and Little Flower. Those were the days when we played cricket and raced each other on the streets of Himayat Nagar. They were also the days of Enid Blyton and Conan Doyle. Sanjay Khorana's version of the Mukesh gemTu kahe agar still resonates in my ears.

Back to the Prairie...The Path is clear

The Illinois Prairie Path is a great boon to runners. It spreads out in multiple directions, and one can run a good distance on the non-concrete path and enjoy nature and other runners and bikers. Always grateful to the people who made these kinds of things happen.

Picking up the Pace

As the spring progresses, it is time for runners to pick up the pace and do longer distances. The key requirement is waking up early enough in the morning.

LBW- Lendl, Borg, and Wilander

Three of the finest tennis players bring back great memories- the greatest of them all, Bjorn Borg, with his cool excellence, Lendl with his consistency, and Mats with his great court coverage.

Borg could face McEnroe in Champions Series in US - Tennis - Yahoo! Sports: "Borg is participating in the 30-and-over Outback Champions Series event in Boston that begins Thursday with eight entrants. If Borg beats Mikael Pernfors in the opening round, he’ll meet the winner of a match between McEnroe and Mats Wilander.

“With all the great matches we had in the past, it’s always something special to see John’s face on the other side of the net,” Borg said by phone from his home in Stockholm."

Engineer MBAs- at IIM and at IIT-M

it is interesting to note that in the competitive MBA slots at IIM-A and IIT-M, engineers dominate.

It's engineers galore at IIM-A-Education-Services-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times: "Unlike last year, the number of girls entering the coveted institute fell sharply. For the 2009-11 batch, as many as 19% of the entrants were women, a sharp rise from the 2008-10 batch figures of 6%. This year, however, just 11% of the successful candidates are girls.

While 369 out of a batch of 385 are engineers, only one student from the arts background has made it to IIM-A, and only nine students, or 2% are from the commerce background, as against 4% last year. The others have a degree in science. The institute has maintained the percentage of candidates with prior work experience, at 61% of the total batch. The previous batch had nearly 60% candidates with work experience.

With the third and final round of implementation of the non-creamy layer-other backward caste quota complete, the strength of the current batch has gone up from 315 to 385. While 182 candidates belong to the general category, 104 are from the NC-OBC section, 87 from SC-ST and 12 from the differently-abled category.

In a shift from last year’s practice of offering tutorials to students from the SC/ST category who are weak in communication, mathematics and computing skills, the institute has broadened the scope to include students from the general category as well."

Arizona..once for runners, now one better be running

Arizona is a great place to run- beautiful mountains, wide-open spaces, blue skies. But the new "immigration" bill signed off by the Governor will force all runners who are not Caucasian to carry a number of IDs just in case they are stopped- not worth the trouble when one can run worry-free in neighboring states.

A London Fun-Athon in a Marathon

It appears that the London Marathon this year was a lot of fun. Shoes off to Kebede and Shobukhova for posting fast times.

BBC News - London Marathon runners set new world records: "Several world records for running in fancy dress have been broken as up to 36,000 people took part in this year's London Marathon.
Princess Beatrice, the first royal to complete the race, was in a group of 34 who set a record for the highest number of interlinked runners to finish...

Emmerdale actor Tony Audenshaw said it meant "everything" to have become the fastest celebrity to finish the marathon this year and also the fastest ever as a baby.

He crossed the line in three hours and 13 minutes saying: "You can forget about the 100m record; this is the record people are interested in - the world's fastest baby in a marathon."

Account manager David Ross, 42, from Sutton became the fastest-ever cartoon character.

He dressed as Fred Flintstone and carried an inflatable club during his run, which took three hours and seven minutes.

"I got a bit tired saying 'Yabba Dabba Doo', but it's a very proud moment," he said. "It's been a good day."

Police officer Jill Christie wore a Superwoman outfit and took the record for quickest female superhero..."

A Bolt of Speed

Bolt Anchors Jamaican 4x100 to Record Win at Penn Relays - NYTimes.com: "A record crowd of 54,310, most of them cloaked in the Jamaican national colors, turned out to watch Usain Bolt, the men’s world-record holder in the 100 and 200 meters. He did not disappoint them. In the “USA vs. the World” program, Bolt anchored his 4x100 relay team to a Penn Relays record of 37.90.

Heading into the final leg, Bolt’s Jamaican Gold team was nearly even with both American relay teams. Bolt received a clean handoff from Marvin Anderson and almost effortlessly sprinted away from the American Ivory Williams to win by a clear margin. His split time was an astonishing 8.79 seconds."

A Volcanic Price...

A Marathon Just to Reach the Starting Line in London - NYTimes.com: "Bedford said the London Marathon organizers paid $230,000 to ensure the most competitive field would be there. The majority was for a $170,000 charter flight from Madrid that brought 20 runners from Africa and Europe, including the reigning Olympic champions Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya (also the defending London champion) and Constantina Dita of Romania. All 20 wheelchair athletes were in London or on their way, Bedford said."

Green running

Runners like me keep pounding the earth, so it is imperative that we tread gently. It is nice to be able to run in forests or on a beach. It was very nice to run inside IIT, where one could be close to nature, with deers and monkeys and crows and other birds and animals. Shoes made out of recycled rubber are widely available, as are vegan shoes. A good runner can observe nature during running and then go back and examine it in detail. One cannot help but respect the nature that yields us an immense array of fruits and vegetables. One of the best aspects of living in Chennai was the access to really fresh fruits and vegetables. The papaya we used to get was so sweet - because it was allowed to ripen naturally.

let's run, not run nature into the ground.

No Runners

An interesting sign on a walking trail in the Morton Arboretum - No Runners, aand there is a picture of a bike with a line across- so no biking and running along the trails. Understandable, as the trails go through wooded areas where there might be birds and animals, and also people taking a walk or studying nature.

A great run...

Ms. Lorena Ochoa is retiring from tennis. She provided great excitement in ladies' golf, along with Annika, with whom she shared a winning smile.

Lorena Ochoa Announces Her Retirement From Golf - NYTimes.com: "Lorena Ochoa is retiring, just as Annika Sorenstam did two years ago, leaving the struggling LPGA Tour without its No. 1 player again and depriving the sport of one of its great ambassadors.

Ochoa, probably the best-known athlete in Mexico who is not a soccer player, announced her surprise decision Tuesday and will discuss her plans Friday."

Inflation- in prices and in G.P.A.s

Another story about the increase in G.P.A.s over the past fifty years.

Plenty of debate about what this means- but it should be noted that G.P.A.s are calculated after a student's actual numerical score in a course is converted to a letter grade.

In our private liberal arts college "Regular grades are defined as follows:

A - Superior

B - Above Average

C - Average

D - Below Average

F - Failure"

Most schools have definitions along these lines.

Since B represents a 3 on a 0-4.0 scale, an average G.P.A. of 3.3 (in private schools) can be interpreted to mean that the "average" student (based on the mean G.P.A.) in these schools is somewhere between Above Average and Superior in performance...which seriously begs the definition of "Superior" and "Average" in the grading scheme. The entire grading scheme is a real academic performance. Interestingly, back in my engineering days at IIT (India) our report cards just showed our "actual" performance...the % achieved in every course.

Want a Higher G.P.A.? Go to a Private College - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com: "Over the last 50 years, college grade-point averages have risen about 0.1 points per decade, with private schools fueling the most grade inflation, a recent study finds.

The study, by �Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy, uses historical data from 80 four-year colleges and universities. It finds that G.P.A.’s have risen from a national average of 2.52 in the 1950s to about 3.11 by the middle of the last decade."

Cheruiyot does a phenomenal Boston Marathon

Phenomenal running by Mr. Robert Cheruiyot in the Boston M. My favorite runner-student MS posted a great time as well. Way to go!

Cheruiyot -- not that one! -- wins Boston Marathon - Yahoo! Sports: "Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot won the 114th Boston race Monday, finishing in 2:05:52 to shatter by 82 seconds the course record set by unrelated four-time winner Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot. American Ryan Hall, who finished third last year, missed another spot on the podium by 2 seconds, but his time of 2:08:41 was the fastest ever for U.S. runner in Boston.

“Today was a breakthrough day,” said Hall, who was 6 seconds faster than Bob Kempainen was in 1994. “Guys are paving new territory, and that’s good for us, too.”

Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia took the women’s title in 2:26:11, sprinting to the tape to win by 3 seconds in the event’s third-closest women’s finish. Russia’s Tatyana Pushkareva smiled and waved at the TV cameras as she closed what had been a 90-second gap, but she could not quite catch Erkesso on Boylston Street."

No De-Icing Needed, but Hot Sox are...

An interesting sports time in Chicago- the Cubs and Sox look awful, Bulls will get cooked in the first round-and the Blackhawks are carrying high expectations on their shoulders.

Forty to Fifteen

A little more than two weeks ago it was running in Chennai in 40 degrees Celsius. Today it was 15 in Chicago...quite a cold feeling, but nevertheless more pleasant to run in.

A Marathon Eruption

Volcanic Eruptions Affect Hundreds of Runners’ Travel to Boston - NYTimes.com: "As many as 600 entrants from Europe may be unable to get to Boston for Monday’s race because of volcanic eruptions in Iceland that have disrupted trans-Atlantic flights."

Getting to racing form

After a decade of non-racing, it is time to train for serious racing...

Against the Wind...

running against the wind...a great classic by Bob Seger and the SBB. Gorgeous 80 degree weather in Chicago makes it heavenly for runners.

A Maniacal feeling of being In My Tribe

In My Tribe- a wonderful album by 10,000 Maniacs in 1983. The song Peace Train introduced me to this band, and Natalie Merchant remains one of my favorite singer/songwriters, more than a quarter century after that album.

An IIT run

It's been more than a week since I returned from IIT Madras. Running in the Chennai weather was a fun experience- though it became tougher as the summer took hold.

Untarnished High Praise

Two young girls playing in our courtyard stopped by to admire our garden. Both of them came up to me and said "you have beautiful flowers in your garden." The innocence of youth makes these remarks so remarkable- and bring great joy to the gardener.

A gorgeous day

April 10, 2010 should go down in the record books for an example of a "perfect" day- mildly sunny, pleasant 75 degrees, slight breeze, low humidity, and greenery all around.

A runner's irresistible candy.

A Sad Commentary

Watching the IPL games on TV, the viewer is treated to a corporate-sponsored commentary- the Indian Media have taken sponsorship to a dramatically high, hitherto unscaled, peak.

Of cliches and silly points: "This thread of communication, though, is getting strained at IPL as commentators look to forge stronger bonds with sponsors. So a resounding hit over the boundary is “DLF Maximum”, with no regard to the fact that more than six runs can be scored off a ball if an overthrow is added to the mix. The fall of a wicket is a “Citi Moment of Success”, giving the impression that the successful player owes something to Citigroup, the global financial powerhouse.

A good catch, like it or not, is more than that — it is a “Karbon Kamaal Catch”, perhaps suggesting that the player could not have held the ball as well as he did but for the mobile handset brand."

Back in Stride

Getting back to running on a dreary, cloudy, drizzly day, is not easy but once one is out it is easy to find one's stride.

Amazing Spring

Many plants in bloom, gorgeous flowers in abundance, greenery all around. Kids running around. Now is the time to get back to running.

Slow tortoises pay the price...

It is quite sad and disheartening to see the human pursuit of food and entertainment result in such destruction. Tortoises are, like all others, beautiful creatures that enliven nature.

Tortoise's Beauty Contributing to Its Downfall : Discovery News: "Entire regions were found to be devoid of the tortoises. Locals informed the scientists that armed bands of poachers had taken away truckloads of tortoises to supply open meat markets in towns such as Beloha and Tsihombe. Remains of the poached tortoises were also found at processing sites where authorities recently seized the meat.

“Areas where scores of radiated tortoises could be seen just a few years ago have been poached clean,” said James Deutsch, director of the WCS's Africa Program. “Back then, one could hardly fathom that this beautiful tortoise could ever become endangered, but such is the world we live in, and things can – and do – change rapidly.”"

getting back...into running groove

Returning to 60 degree weather from the high nineties feels rather cold..time to hit the road again.

Formula 1 not a formula

Some of the MBA aspirants claimed to be avid followers of Formula 1 but have not heard of the legendary Ayrton Senna. Some others claimed to follow NBA but were not aware of the single game scoring record of Chamberlain.

Perhaps these folks should stick to a simple sport, like running, and just RUN it.

Distant memory of Distance Runs

Taking classes at NU's downtown campus on Saturday's was fun, because after the class I would run for an hour and a half and then return home. The luxuries that time and space can afford!

Making running mandatory

Too many kids with too little to do and parents just AWOL.

Mobs Are Born as Word Grows by Text Message

By IAN URBINA

PHILADELPHIA — It started innocently enough seven years ago as an act of performance art where people linked through social-networking Web sites and text messaging suddenly gathered on the streets for impromptu pillow fights in New York, group disco routines in London, and even a huge snowball fight in Washington.

But these so-called flash mobs have taken a more aggressive and raucous turn here as hundreds of teenagers have been converging downtown for a ritual that is part bullying, part running of the bulls: sprinting down the block, the teenagers sometimes pause to brawl with one another, assault pedestrians or vandalize property.

In the Heat of the ... Mornin'

The temperature and humidity is climbing quickly, and so is the discomfort level for runners and walkers.

Racing Oxymoron

Recently there was an auto race in India that was being telecast on NDTV. The station, like its western counterparts, made it into a bigger than life event. But the worst part involved calling the event the Green Race. Nothing is green about wasting gasoline and increasing pollution- perhaps NDTV can sponsor truly green races.

A Juma Memory

Going back to the late 80s and early nineties, Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya and Juma Ikaanga of Tanzania dueled in a few marathons. It was great fun to watch the latter, who looked frail but could power his way through tough competition. Unfortunately he finished behind the leader at Boston a couple of times.

Marathon Season....Rotterdam and London

James Kwambai – favourite in the 30th Fortis Marathon Rotterdam

ROTTERDAM – Top athlete James Kwambai (http://www.fortismarathonrotterdam.nl/james) is returning

to the Coolsingel to put something right. The Kenyan doesn’t want to be taken by surprise

again on Sunday 11 April during the 30th Fortis Marathon Rotterdam. Last year his compatriot

Duncan Kibet passed him, just before the finish, after an exciting sprint to the end. Both

Africans were awarded 2.04.27 to their names. Only the Ethiopian world record holder Haile

Gebrselassie has ever run faster.

Off and Running

WOnderful weather in Chicago for those runners itching to get out.

Whale Runner...

Whales Dying in Record Numbers Near Argentina : Discovery News: "Southern right whales are dying in record numbers along Argentina's Patagonian coast, resulting in the largest die-off of great whales that has ever been documented, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Since 2005, a total of 308 dead right whales were recorded in the waters around Peninsula Valdes, which is an important calving ground for this species. Eighty-eight percent of the dead were calves less than 3 months old. That means about 28 percent of all calves in the region appear to be dying, and no one knows why."

Gated running

Getting to three of the four gates at IIT is not bad at all, especially when the temperature and humidity can get a person hot and sweaty. However all four need to be covered to be regarded as a geuine run.

Gate-to-Gate

Another hot day for a good run from one end to another...the surprising aspect is that one does not get too thirsty running in this weather.

Partners in Run

If one had to pick a a person to go running with, who would that be? It's an interesting question. Oprah? Jordan? Clinton? Jon Stewart? Colbert? Rosa Mota?

Having Fun

As the temperature goes higher and tempers start flaring it is time to chill and get the miles in...too much time watching TV can be dangerous to one's temper(ment).

Crazy or Lazy...

Traffic in Chennai or Delhi is enough to drive one crazy. Little space to walk- is one more reason for people to avoid walking and get their own vehicles, which results in even less space for pedestrians. Then people will drive to gyms to get exercise...

A hot dilemma

Should one run early in the morning and get it out of the way (as my students often refer to the pain of attending my classes) or should it be an event to be enjoyed in the evening, when the body has had the whole day to limber up and exercise? It is a tough one for a serious runner. One key variable is the temperature. During the winter in Chicago, it is dark and cold at 6AM and at 6PM, so one could run in the evening (if one prefers) and the weather would not be a factor. Here in Chennai, the temperature is in the mid 80s early in the morning and in the low nineties in the evening- again not much of a difference. One can sweat a lot deciding when to run in this city.

Trite...but True

I was at a bookstore yesterday and happened to read a few passages from the book "The Last Lecture" by the late Dr. Randy Pausch. One of his messages is to "work hard." Rather obvious, one could say. And one would be right- especially if one was a runner. If one wants to be good, one should be good about putting in the hours.

How Time Runs...

Keeping time can age runners quickly...when one realizes he/she is not as fast as in the years past. But, to paraphrase Calvin's father, the runner has not slowed down, time is moving faster.

Easy Seven

Covering the four corners of IIT today took about an hour. A distance of about 12 km or 7.5 miles, it was by far the longest run in recent times. Hot, but enjoyable.

Running...in fear

Folks who followed Indian cricket in the seventies remember players who were intimidated by the fast bowlers of West Indies and Australia and used to step away in fear. Players like Brijesh Patel, A. Gaekwad, and Sudhir Naik who were prolific scorers in the domestic circuit simply failed miserably when playing against foreign fast bowlers.

In is Out

Personal Best - Winter Training - Faster and Safer Indoors? - NYTimes.com: "The sad answer, exercise researchers say, is that you really cannot get the same training effect with indoor substitutes. That’s not to say that indoor training is useless, but rather that it has real limitations, with differences that sometimes are subtle, but significant.

“I think most athletes know that,” said Peter R. Cavanagh, an exercise researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle. “That’s why they are out there in all seasons.”

The most obvious difference with indoor exercise is a lack of wind resistance, Dr. Cavanagh said.

“The important variable here is speed relative to the air,” he said. For example, if you are running at 8 miles per hour into a 10-m.p.h. headwind, your speed relative to the air is 18 m.p.h. Dr. Cavanagh explained in an e-mail message: “Work done against air resistance can be extremely costly because the ‘drag force’ (force caused by air resistance) is proportional to the square of speed and the power required to overcome drag force is proportional to the cube of speed.”"

Stomach's the problem when there's no stomach for running

What makes a person who gets up in the morning with no enthusiasm for running go out and run a decent distance at a fast clip? Need to study the research on models the brain runs to position the body for an activity like running.

Lot of Air...Polluted air

Air Pollution Slows Down Women Marathoners - Yahoo! News: "Dirty air could hinder the performance of women in marathons, a new study finds.
Linsey Marr of Virginia Tech evaluated marathon race results, weather data and air pollution concentrations for seven major U.S. marathons in cities such as New York, Boston and Los Angeles, where pollution tends to be highest
Multiple runnings of each marathon were evaluated, from eight to 28 consecutive years, depending on the race.
The top three male and female finishing times were compared with the course record and contrasted with air pollutant levels, taking high temperatures (which can negatively impact running performance) into consideration.
Higher levels of particles in the air - also known as smog - were associated with slower performance times for women. Men, however, showed no significant impact from pollution."

Running..into nice people

We were invited to tea by a wonderful couple yesterday. The ancient Indian hospitality is still alive, at least in certain people, and hasn't been run off the planet completely. At least, not yet.

Running...on exhaust

Pollution levels are so high here that running after 7 AM can be very dangerous to one's health. The pollution from the exhaust fumes of vehicles is perhaps the cause of many health problems, detected or not. It is sad that the US model of automotive transportation is being copied here, and the number of vehicles on the road is increasing by double digits.

One needs runners and walkers and high speed comfortable trains, not more cars and trucks.

A "hot" runner

Running late in the morning can really heat up the runner...something to be experienced.

Cannot run away from this either...

Add billions of mobile phones to the world's e-waste problem: "With the great global surge of mobile gadget use has come a tsunami of cell phone garbage, the United Nations warned on Monday—especially in India and China. And that's on top of tidal waves of computer, video receiver, and kitchen electronics junk skewing about the planet in all the wrong places. All in all, global e-waste is growing by 40 million tons a year, a study by the UN's Environmental Programme concludes."

Cannot run away from this...

Stand Up While You Read This! - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com: "It doesn’t matter if you go running every morning, or you’re a regular at the gym. If you spend most of the rest of the day sitting — in your car, your office chair, on your sofa at home — you are putting yourself at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, a variety of cancers and an early death. In other words, irrespective of whether you exercise vigorously, sitting for long periods is bad for you."

IPL mania

but no running mania.

Endu"RUN"ce

The days are warming up rather quickly, and running has to be done earlier in the day...Anyone can stay in an A/C room 24/7, but a runner has to face the heat or get out of the business...

Missing the Chennai Marathon...

For a runner it is tough to miss a race because he/she was not aware of it. So it went with the Chennai marathon, held Sunday morning. Winning times have been quite good in the past.

Running in an Indian Summer...again

Running in Delhi last summer was a "hot" experience- Chennai is giving runners a "good run" for the money..and it is not all "hot air"...

Cold Chicago...does not warm a runner's heart...

Last summer I became good friends with RR...the relationship would have progressed much further had it not been for a few hurdles...one of which was Chicago's weather. Both of us enjoy running..but for a California gal Chicago does not seem like an attractive destination.

Setting World Records at the Chicago Marathon

It is interesting to note that the first world record set at the Chicago marathon was by Steve Jones in 1984. The next world record for Men at Chicago was set by Khalid Khannouchi in 1999, a lapse of 15 years, despite the reputation of Chicago as a fast, flat course.

On the women's side, the first world record was set by Catherine Ndereba in 2001, and was followed by another record in 2002, set by Paula Radcliffe. Since that time there has been no world record set at Chicago- by men or women.

Are records eluding Chicago, just like good politicians? Is it getting too warm?

Chicago Distance Classic

Chicago Distance Classic by the ALA is an excellent race. It covered 20K or 12.5 miles when I ran it, but has apparently been increased to a half-marathon. it is held in August, when the summer is winding down in Chicago.

This is a real run...a sad run.

Sacramento River salmon run collapsing, data show - latimes.com: "Despite a historic shutdown of coastal salmon fishing, the number of salmon returning to the Sacramento River is collapsing, according to preliminary data released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Returning fall Chinook salmon numbers have dropped to their lowest level since monitoring began in the 1970s, the report said."

a matter of distance

Amazing how the mind makes the body get used to distance. A kilometer used to be a long way off twenty seven years ago..now even a few miles don't appear to be that much to cover.

Taster's CHoice

My first big race was a half marathon in 1987. I was training for two years to run a marathon, but there were no sponsors that year for the Chicago marathon. The organizers held a half marathon instead. It was one of my fast times. WOnderful memory of that race.

Way back in Memory Lane

Thanks to Youtube!

Not running after a Big Mac...

McDonald’s sales rise globally, decline in U.S. - Food Inc.- msnbc.com: "McDonald's Inc., the world's largest fast-food chain, said Tuesday a key sales comparison rose 2.6 percent in January, as strong overseas sales more than offset a decline in the U.S."

‘M*A*S*H’ No Match for Saints

TV Sports - Super Bowl Dethrones ‘M*A*S*H’ as Most-Watched Show in History - NYTimes.com: "New Orleans’s 31-17 victory in the Super Bowl on Sunday on CBS generated more viewers — an average of 106.5 million — than any other television program in United States history, defeating the 1983 broadcast of the final episode of “M*A*S*H.”"

Black Beer''d Ghost is Beer'd and Boned

No shortage of researchers and subjects willing to prove the health benefits of beer.

Beer Good for the Bones : Discovery News: "As wine gets showered with publicity for its heart-fortifying, health-boosting effects, beer has maintained a reputation as a dietary wasteland, full of empty calories. But beer, according to growing research, has some powerful nutritional properties, too."