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.