Bits World 5K Run: Register on BITSAA

One of the most interesting TED videos I've watched!

Is Cycling a BUMmer?

I thought so . . . especially the first week of buying my bike, having to cope with a lot of Saddle pain. But as I got used to the phenomenon, and supported by a ten quid gel filled cushion, I think it is a pretty good work-out.

I like the 40/50 minute bike ride to work. It is my point of contemplation / relaxation, very similar to running, although not that stress free. Bike rides are a bit irritating, since you are not the most vulnerable roaduser, and you apparently have to respect road rules, unlike runners. The whole thing can also be a bit dangerous or scary, especially when you are overtaking a 16 wheeler, a bus pulling over, an accelerating Aston Martin wanting to show-off its low-end torque and some 100 similar situations. The worst part is the flat tyres and the Do-It-Yourself that follows when you wrestle with a tyre lever under dimlights trying hard to get back home before freezing in the cold. I've had to face the situation twice, and they weren't very pleasant days!

However it is still a great feeling and a high to get noticed when the smart red bike zips past the girls (wink wink), when the odd fella passing you greets a good morning mate!, when the taxi driver stops to let the lone cyclist pass and when you cycle your way at 30kmph on the bus lane laughing your ass off, when the losers with an expensive car wait in the traffic :) (I hope my friends with a car dont read this post)

I enjoy the 9 mile ride every day and evening and recommend to all those souls wanting some light sport/activity!

This is the route I take to work

Starting up!

Starting-up/being part of an initiative is a rather interesting experience, comparable to none. I was never able to relate to the excitement of entrepreneurs, nor the seeming insanity of grad students jumping to start-up or bootstrap their companies. But there have been definite moments I have observed lot of spirited entrepreneurs who were driven purely by passion.

My examples are not the Ambani's or the Narayana Moorthys' although those are exciting stories I've read on paper. My first instance is a normal street vendor I used to see daily when walking to catch my bus to school. He used to sell flowers early in the mornings. But slowly he started alternating his days with other commodities like rangoli powder, vegetables, fruits until finally I stopped seeing him. I will only be right in guessing that he outgrew his humble beginnings. The second guy I've seen is my dad, who started up a proprietorship on a highly competitive and capital intensive petroleum by products manufacturing, processing and supply. When I graduated, the CEO of my first company was the next interesting personality. His face used to light-up when he talked about the product space he was positioning his company and how he expects to capitalize on the niche he has chosen. I saw many other instances then including a couple of college buddies jumped into their own ventures which was great.

My first hand at it (although not for a living) was when a friend invited me to join an initiative of a running club for my college. In the past 3 months, it has been a great feeling working on something I've enjoyed over the past couple of years, Running. Things are at a very small scale, and we are not even on our feet in terms of a sizeable membership, buzzing activity, events etc. We are still discovering and expanding our club to include many runners and get more "feet on street". But just to work as part of something you are passionate about is a great experience, and I can now understand the joy and pride of the "real entrepreneurs" out there!

What I do weekends!

Friday eve conversation:

Mr. D: Jetairways have made all their planes linux compliant. apparently, too many windows on the plane already

Me: oh ok, I thought they did not want their windows to cause a CRASH

Being a Cyclist

To the untrained eye, cycling does not seem much of anything. It is not as difficult as running, it is not as easy as driving and still cyclists looks like an absolute show-off. What with their coolers, flashy bike, lights, gears and the tights. I can imagine why almost all roadusers hate cyclists!

I started cycling to work almost 3 weeks back and it has been quite an interesting experience as of now. Ofcourse it is a good way to stay healthy, especially if you are not the kind who goes out of your way to workout and keep fit. There are some of these dudes flaunting their calf muscles, which are as big as a 150 pound woman who's worn heels for 20 years. On the other end of the spectrum are the ones who use it as a means for short commutes - the ones with folding bikes, mountain bikes with huge tyres, 1960's styled retro bikes etc. And then there are these confused bunch, not too serious but not too pointless, on a decent bike but not the perfect flashy gear, the category I fall into.

When I was running, I used to love the considerate pedestrians making way for the runner or taxis slowing down to let the lone runner pass. The willingness to excuse an erring runner or pedestrian is very high in London. However, cyclists are demons - they travel fast, jump signals, sometimes unpredictable and evenslow you down sometimes if you get stuck behind them. However, I am slowly learning to respond to these emotions of the traffic and still enjoy my 13 km ride each way to work. The respite I get is a 5km stretch from my house to Putney Hill, probably one of the most beautiful roads to cycle or drive through. The crazy patch is once I enter Chelsea, when all hell breaks loose.

Still I'm loving it and look forward to the early morning rides! :)

Edinburgh Marathon 2010, Here I come!

My previous posts would make it obvious that I am in a real low of my running days. What with injury and complete substitution of running with cycling over the past fortnight, and no plans to re-start running for sometime.

But still, this did not deter me from registering for the Edinburgh Marathon happenning on the 23rd May 2010. It will be the peak of English summer, and the right time to run in Scotland, I presume. Really excited about this run. This time I inted to train carefully starting 20 weeks before D-day!

Apparently Edinburgh is the fastest run in UK (source: Runner's World), one of the best runs in Scotland and a paradise for people wishing to set their personal best (PB) timing!

Can I conquer my 4:30 this time! I will!

PS: I kind of talked 2 innocent souls (one colleague and another college buddy) to sign up with me :) Spread the joy!