Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2012

Completed the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2012 held yesterday. Was running with a bad back, without training (because of the back). No further injuries occurred except for a couple of blisters which have bandages on them now.

The run was good, the course flat & the weather bad. High humidity and a lot of sun. Kept myself well hydrated with lots of water and when I was lucky a couple of Gatorades. Met several runners before, during & after the run. All looking happy & chirpy.

There were a couple of downsides to the ADHM, but not worth recounting. It was a well organised run with plenty of water en-route, music (some of them playing highly motivational songs like Bhag DK Bose Bhag), some people on the road to cheer (more than the previous ADHMs).

Finished the run with a fantastic breakfast of tandoori aloo paranthas, an hour long massage, some sleep & beer.

Below are the race timings :

SCMM Full marathon report - V - Running route map

Though all the run reports had been posted post the Mumbai Marathon, the route map had not been posted. Here it is now :

The distance really looks mighty now ! I am surprised at myself. The Map is thanks to my   Garmin Forerunner 210.

A fun Sunday run on 25.03.2012

Gand Masti running on Sunday. (as said by running partner Sanjeev Chhabra).

Went where the heart went. stopped in small parks to play on the slides, get on the swings, follow BFF (beautiful from far) ladies who turned out to be FFB (far from Beautiful).
Went to our fav earth station again. Here's the route. Click for a larger view.

Went for a game of squash which also turned out to be awesome.

Running in Germany

This time when I was in Germany, I made it a point to take advantage of the cooler weather and run.

I ran thrice in the 5 days I was there , once near Hamburg and twice in Bremen. Maps below. Click on the image for a larger view.

The first image is the Uetersen Rosarium - In the summers the Rosarium is lush with roses of innumerable varities & names. The two small ponds make for a beautiful picturesque setting, making this a popular wedding location. Some pictures below.

Image 2 & 3 are from the Bremen Buergerpark  - The park is huge, simply huge. It houses a luxury hotel, couple of ponds, lakes, a small zoo with ducks, peacocks, elks, goats, cows, etc.,  restaurants. Running here was a lot of fun. My timings were way off as I would stop every now and then to take pictures.

Kanpur Central Railway Station Mobile Charging facility...

I was in Kanpur for a day on the 2nd March. On the way back, at the Kanpur Central railway station they had this huge board with a gazillion power sockets for mobile charging. Very traveler friendly. So there were all these guys with their red blinking chargers in the sockets charging their phone. And then there was this stray dog  passing by.  For some reason I found this picture worthy and here it is :

1st Rose Half Marathon

I hadnt run much in nearly a month, so when I got an email announcing a half marathon in 3 days time, i jumped on it. Now ever since completing the full marathon, i tend to think of HM as kid stuff.

In preperation of the 1st Rose Half Marathon, which was to start from Nehru Park and was going to be nowhere near the Rose Garden (why is it called the 1st Rose HM once again?) I took out my running gear :

1. Running T shirt
2. Running Shorts
3. Sweat wicking microfibre Undies
4. Five finger Socks
5. Running cap
6. Running glasses
7. Running Shoes (Nike Free 3.0)
8. Band Aids for the nips
9. Anti chafing cream
10. Water Bag (similar to Camelbak)


There were about 30 people registered for the half marathon starting from Nehru Park.  Maps were available to those who wanted one, water station placements were announced. We started up with a warm up session .

The run started on time. Both me and Sanjeev Chhabra were laggards trailing behind Alfredo and his friend. I was already tired at 2.5 KM (competently challenging my view that any run below a full marathon was now easy)

Sanjeev & Me (left)

Alfredo (right) & friend

We were in for an easy run with target to finish in 2.30 - 2.45. We ran upto India Gate and up to the presidents house.

On the way back on Rajpath we came across a huge group of abt 150 people dressed in black marching, beating drums, waving placards, and shouting some slogans in support of women and against sexual harassment.  The group was eclectic. It included some cyclists (the pro kind), some bikers (thinks Harleys, Enfields, Suzukis etc.) without the bikes , some runners like us. Yes. we dropped out of the formal run and walked with them back to the President's house. wore black arm bands, shouted a few slogans, signed a petition. That was abt 14 K ( a few U turn were thrown in between). 

 Heres a video I took loaded on you tube :

While waiting there we run into the Doc and the Honeyman. I complained to the Doc abt his impossible made possible run (www.thehigh.in) and placed an order with the Honeyman (excellent fresh & organic Honey from Preet Dodhani - preet.singh@dancing-bees.com)  some chatting later, sharing a couple of war stories, we decided to head back to Nehru Park with a mutual promise between Sanjeev and me that we will finish the Half marathon distance. So we headed back with the Doc and Preet. Doc making jokes of my recently acquired roundedness, until we had to finally send him off to run at his own pace (which was i think atleast double of ours).

To push us to finish the distance we described in excruciating details with recipes (even though I dont cook) the breakfasts we were gonna have. Me a Tomato-Cheese sandwich with diced cheese, tomatoes, green chillies, salt, pepper between two breads in a sandwich toaster made crisp, so that the crunchiness gives way to the melting better, the sour tomatoes and the spicy chillies. Sanjeev was going to make omlettes with 4 egg whites, onions, lots of garlic, cheese, salami, peppercorns, black salt OR chatmasala, every spice in the spice box).

With watering mouths we reached Nehru Park and realised that we had done only 19. Sanjeev's friend Harshad and his wife were waiting for Sanjeev (Sanjeev had Harshad's stuff in his car) and luckily for me and the kindness of Harshad's wife I got some orange slices which tasted like nectar.

Doc was waiting for us and told us to run away and finish 21 so me and sanjeev went on for 1 k and turned around to finish the 21. At this time we decided that we must climb every small hill we could on the way. I was dead tired (i was tired from 2nd KM onwards) and was aching in my calves but was happy to finish off 21 as planned.

Oh yeah - the 1st Rose marathon guys were all finished and gone before we returned so missed the stretches, refreshment & certificates. But fun was had by all.

SCMM Full marathon report - IV - Run report

Woke up at 3.30 AM to be able to reach the venue by 5.00 AM (Azad Maidan opposite Mumbai's famous Victoria Terminus).

Had slept great and woke up with a clear head WITHOUT a single of thought of  " I must be F***ing crazy to be on a holiday and waking up at 3.30AM to run 42.195 Ks in the heat and humidity of Mumbai. I should go back to sleep". Got dressed - I had kept my gear all ready the night before.

In my bottle I took Gatorade mixed with water.

As I came out of the hotel dressed in my gear and clutching my 3 bananas, I came across another marathoner (working with Microsoft, dressed in a Microsoft shirt, talking high of Microsoft Mango coming from Hyderabad, sorry mate, I forgot your name) getting into a taxi. So I ran upto him. He took one look and asked me to get in. We reached VT, crossed the VT and exited to the side of Azad Maidan and there he found his running group from Hyderabad and I found my 5.30 bus.


I joined Rahul's 5.30 bus and followed it till 20 K. The bus followed the programme of every KM marker we walked for 20 steps. Every water station, walk another 20 steps. The routine was awesome and had I trained better I should have been able to follow and finish with him. The Bandra Worli sea link came and went. It slowed me a bit but not much. But 20 K was when I started lagging and at one point had to get off as I was getting exhausted. I had remembered some good advise from fellow runners and had prepared some food for the run, some bread, butter, jam / marmalade with salt sprinkled on them.

I remembered various discussions on R&L forums about cramps and only remembered water & salts as the things to have to avoid cramps. I had started with Gatorade in my bottle and tried to refill as many times as I could get my hands on it at different watering points. At around 27 K there was no more Gatorade Was having watered down Gatorade till 35 K when I decided that I was going to be a candidate for cramps, so I switched to electoral as I thought it to be the next best thing.

The Mumbai citizens did what they always do, Cheered the runners ! They were awesome, out in big numbers armed with food, fruits, water, sprain sprays etc. I thanked as many as I could for turning out and they were thanking me in return ! What warmth !

On the return loop we were on that part of the route , marine drive I think, where there was direct sun  and no shade. That was killing. I was thankful for my dri-fit microfibre clothing, incl microfibre undies from R & L, my cap and sunglasses.

At around 38 K mark I cam across an angel. An angel with a bottle of cool water and a cool mist spray. I stopped in frot of her bowed to her. Took off my cap and glasses and said give it to me. She sprayed the cool water on my face which was heavenly. I then asked her to spray on my head as well. She, however, knew better. She poured the bottle on my head. I could feel the steam and the cold water trickling down the spine to my shorts my bums and I relished. relished the wonderful feeling. Most wonderful at the time.


I was tired now and couldnt run continuously for over a 100 mtrs at a go. I dint stop. I pushed myself to walk faster. Thanks to my   Garmin Forerunner 210.   I could keep track of my speed and therefore could convince myself to run / walk faster to be able to keep to my target.

Was very happy with my under 6 hrs first marathon. Couldnt stop smiling. No aches, pains or cramps. Decided to skip the beers at Leopold as Rahul told me to get a cold shower ASAP. I had not realized till then the aspect of over heating. Reached my hotel. Had 2 glasses of Glucose. Took a cold shower, got into a bath robe. Had a beer. Had a sandwich. And slept away !

However, the next day, I caught a cold and a cough. I read on it online and found that this is pretty common as the body has low immunity after being exerted too much.

Took me 10 days to recover from the cough and cold, but all is well.

SCMM Full marathon report - III Music

In my previous posts I have talked about several of the motivational videos that I go through on the morning of a big run. This time was planned to be no different.

However, due to a quirk of Apple iTunes, my iPad did not have those videos ! I had to rely on the some my fav high tempo music tracks to pump me up (at the same time allowing my baby to sleep).

The music tracks running in my mind specially when I was at my weakest were only 2 & one motivational ad from Saucony :

- Dirty Dozen Brass Band - My Feet Cant Fail Me Know  



- Ram Sampath from movie Delhi Belly Bhaag DK Bose Bhaag  



- What is Strong ? Saucony @ You Tube

SCMM Full marathon report - II - Acknowledgement

I just have to thanks my fellow runners who have played a part in me getting to my 1st full , running my first full and finishing my 1st full healthy, safe and injury free.


Sandeep Srivastava - Technical and nutritional expert - His indepth reasearch and willingness to share the knowledge he had on what all to eat, drink and maintain the salt levels to avoid cramping. Worked like a charm and made it seem so easy. Plus his encouragement and making me run that extra 300 mtrs during my longest training run of 31.66 Ks 3 weeks before the full.





Sanjeev Chabra - Seemingly slow runner. But you DEFINITELY have to acknowledge the consistency, preseverence and the surprise rabbit hiding in that skin. FInished his full in a little over 5 hrs ! Awesome job. He taught me to persevere and keep at it, slow, head down and keep pushing...



Rahul Verghese - What can I say - organised the running in NCR. His 10 K runs every month in Gurgaon got me running. His Running & Living events got me intouch with all the running people I know. During the SCMM 2012 he was the pacer for 5.30 hrs and was so perfect that the group finished in exact time ! I stuck to the group for about 20 Ks then lagged behind as I couldnt keep up the pace. Those 20 Ks were cheating as I did not realize they were done until I started getting tired. Full of energy, smiling , laughing, singing songs (chorus as well) taking pics. Swell !



Shiv - Goaded me into my longest training run. His guidance on what strategy to adopt including not to watch the clock but to aim to finish. He brought me to reality against my impractical thoughts of 5 hr finish ! Met him both before and after the marathon and found more words of encouragement.





My biggest and staunchest supporters are however my family, who forgive me for waking up super early and skipping out on family time specially on weekends.




Sunina & Rudi - My wife and baby son who accompanied me to the SCMM 2012 without complain. Constanly encouraging me, motivating me and telling me that they knew I was going to finish the race, without a doubt. My training was accomplished only due to Sue kicking me out of bed to go train !






Dad & Ma - Their pat on the back and the encouragement goes a long way. Their confidence that I can do what I set out to achieve straightens my back even when my energy is down.

SCMM Full marathon report - I Results

In 2011, as I was running the half marathon and coming over from the Sea Link on to Marine Drive (queen's Necklace), I looked on the otherside of the road and saw a bunch of runners, some shirtless, some fully clothed, running, walking and I thought " Man ! These guys are Heroes ! Gods ! I am a lousy halfie running half marathons and boating to my family and friends and they further boast about me. " Thats when I decided to do a full marathon !

A year later on 15th Jan 2012, I was the guy on the other side ! The halfies were looking at me and possibly (hopefully) thinking the same ! I was the God and the Hero at that time for those moments. There were certain moments when I felt truly the mortal I am, but I quickly lost track of them.

And when I finished... I thought I will have tears in my eyes on completing my first marathon . But no, just one big SMILE that just wouldnt wash away ! I did it ! Though I didnt do it alone. There have been many helping hands to do this and they shall all be counted with their own dedicated post.

Here are the results of the run :

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2012 -Marathon 5:40 Start
Bib Number	2250
Name	RISHI MADAN
Gender	MALE
Category	OPEN
Overall Rank	1169
Category Rank	830
Gender Rank	1098
Split@2.7 Km	00:20:11 at an Avg Speed of 8.03 Kmph
Split@15 Km	01:52:14 at an Avg Speed of 8.02 Kmph
Split@20 Km	02:29:29 at an Avg Speed of 8.03 Kmph
Split@27 Km	03:26:37 at an Avg Speed of 7.84 Kmph
Split@28 Km	03:36:55 at an Avg Speed of 7.74 Kmph
Split@29 Km	03:48:47 at an Avg Speed of 7.61 Kmph
Net Time	05:55:26 at an Avg Spped of 7.12 Kmph
Gross Time	05:59:28

To check your timings at SCMM click on Timing Technologies

Here comes the highway to Hell !

The Mumbai marathon is around the corner. I am a bit scared. Only a few long runs and no running on weekdays for more than 3 months ! And no running at all in the last 3 weeks !

Good news - that niggling pain below the right knee is gone. Bad news, haven't tried it out yet !
Another Good news, I have lined up my family members to give me gifts, if i complete my first marathon !

Here is the route of the Marathon, looks real mighty looooooooooooooooong. I will be earning those gifts. Really.

I will be singing and praying what the Dirty Dozen Brass Band are singing below :

Zurich Airport

What a setting for an airport. Look out and you see nice blue skies, white fluffy clods and swiss alps !

Bremer Tabak

Bremen City was once known for its tobacco growing and processing !

Here's a pic of the Bremen Hauptbahnhof (Bremen Central Train Station) :




Of course, as soon I knew this, I had to become the owner of their Cigars (Cigarillos). Shall try them soon and post my experience.

Selling Parfum via Wide buck teeth ?

On the flight I saw an ad for a perfume in the inflight shopping magazine and I was completely confused.


Both the things are not what the photographers / models / advertisers aim for when presenting such a shot - do they ?
Or did they actually get what they wanted with such vivid recollection and reproduction ?

Eye in the sky !

Was sleeping on the flight. When woke up and twisted my head to the side (not as painful as it sounds) and I see the sun cresting over rough clouds below :

Here's another view :

The Blues Brothers

What a fantastic movie ! The awesomeness start and just never ends ! Anyone who likes the classic jazz, R & B, blues, soul specially the legends music, will love this movie.

Dan Ackroyd & John Belushi are awesome in this movie. The fun part, their costumes remain the same (in fact the SAME) throughout the movie.

Here's more info on The Blues Brothers Costume

The cameos played by the real musicians like Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles are awesome. Must Must watch.

Some video links from you tube :

Cab Calloway Minnie the Moocher

Aretha Franklin Think

For more information click here for the IMDB brief The Blues Brothers

A funny thing happened ...

This funny thing happens every day ! He has only one policy - IGNORE DAD. I change his diapers, burp him, walk him to sleep. Love him. but who cares - its Ignore dad policy at work all the time.

Perhaps the reason for this, I can fathom.

Credit of the sketch to the original artist. Reproduced from Cartoon Stock

Thanks guys for excellent work.

Drunk !

You may have seen drunks sleeping it off, limbs akimbo, mouth wide open, lost in their own world with no idea whats happening around them. Something like this guy :



Well here's Rudy, punch drunk, on milk !

Rudy & Sammy

This is Sammy the caterpillar, Rudy's favoritest toy.



This is Rudy, during his daily conversations with Sammy.

The Christmas Sunday run (contd.)

My Garmin Forerunner 210 is now connected to my notebook and am able to upload my route and view it on google maps.

So we ran two different courses yesterday.

RUN 1 - was the tradition, oft done Nehru Park to India gate via Rashtrapati Bhavan. route. Flat, shaded and beautiful early morning. The view of India gate as the sun is rising, the cyclists, skaters, walkers, joggers, hawkers and gawkers complete the scene. You dont see T shirt and shorts clad runners passing by on cold, foggy mornings like this one.



RUN 2 - took us to Nyay marg which was sunny and very low traffic. The best part was that across the road from UP house, Jharkhand house, etc is central ridge area. We ventured across the road into this area. This also houses the Delhi earth Station which is an ISRO facility. Right here, we also came across 2 old world markers stating this to be the estate of Princess of Oudh Click on this link to read the story by Indian Express. The route of the run is here, at the north most point you can see the route taking us into the ridge and thats exactly where we saw the boards.



When we were nearing the end of the first run we, saw searing past at atleast 200 kmph a Yellow Lamborghini. At the end of the 2nd run, there raced again another Lamborghini at roughly the same speed, this time a white one. Those cars sounded beastly and oh-so-fantastic. However they were f***ing dangerous as these guys could definitely not apply their brakes on time. The lambos could probably react but the drivers, i do not think, have that experience. Exhilarating but sad.

A good run in any case. No cramps, a bit of muscle soreness and a slight niggle on the right knee but that shall pass by end of the day today. RICE - Rest Ice Compression & Elevation will do its work.