Sweet Revenge and a bit of training for the big bash!

A lot has been happening on the bike since my Anchetty ride.

Having taken that failure in spirit, I still couldnt get it out of my system, and I had to miss all the longer rides to keep the balance within the family.

So I signed up for the Sira 200 km brevet, which would do for a while as my revenge for the Anchetty failure.

Cutting the long story short, for want of space for other updates, I did it. It was a tough one, since my back ache (of which I have a nice long history) acted up again, and my fellow rider from my apartment Thenappan, had to keep spraying Moov at every single halt. I almost emptied the new spray I bought, numbing my back to finish the ride just under 13 hours. It was by far the slowest 200km I have done - but that didnt matter. I finished in time, and the feeling was Sweeettt.

No clicks during the ride, and I remembered after we ended the ride that I should take one for posterity :)

Thats Thenappan and me. Pain in my lower back still showing in my face :)

Training for the Kanyakumari Expedition

Oh yes! I am doing my dream ride, starting the 09th of August. A separate post will follow soon, but for now, I am training as much as I can, doing a lot of rides, attending a week's conditioning bootcamp, cycling workshops etc. Will it suffice, I will know in a few days. But Boy am I pumped up or what!!!

So we are 4 from my office, and one of my biker friends - so in total 5 who will be riding, and 3 of my buddies from office have graciously accepted to be our support system. I am also supporting a charity for kids, and this is the marquee fund raising event for this year in my company. So a lot riding on the ride, so to speak!!! :)

Did a 85 km, a 130km, and a few 40+ km rides after the Sira brevet as training rides. Did my first 8km run during the conditioning camp and a lot of such small sweet achievements. All of that in a different post soon.

I've had loads and loads of fun the past two weeks. Some photos to save some of those moments :)

L to R: VK, Atul, Ram, Shasti, Thenappan. VK, Ram, Shasti, and myself ride to Kanyakumari.

Halfway mark, around 64km done, not a sweat broken :)

Sun takes a little bit of toll, but the face is just the "get me beer" face.

So, its an eventful life. More about it sooon.

I'm training for a Marathon

Well, I hope this declaration on my blog will keep me on my toes. I dont want to be laughed at after proclaiming here!

So that gives me something to live up to. There is a marathon at Bangalore in December, details of which I should obtain.

I plan to cycle down to Hosur from Bangalore and back, over a weeknd in November. Should set dates yet, but the training for that will depend on me buying a cycle as soon as I get back, by October.

Keeping Aug 1 as the start date, I have 4 months till Dec 1 for training. I dont have company here, so a major disadvantage since we can push each other if we are more than one.

Anyway, let me see where I head with this.

"Running" Commentary

And so, I've succeeded in running long distances (by my standards) continously for 3 days now. Sat, Sun and Mon.

Yesterday was a very interesting one since it was raining, and no one else was on road. And no one at the park too.

There are few moments that linger for a long while. I completed a super-long run, huffing and panting I reached the spot I had chosen to visit everytime at the park, with the ducks and swans waiting for me, a slight drizzle falling continuously; no other sound except for the birds, and soft music playing on the ipod, the sky a dull grey; i descended the steps to get closer to the water and sat on the wooden plank put up for the anglers. I sat there for 15 minutes just absorbing time and the scenary. Something to experienced to be knowing what it means to have such a solitary moment.

Simply Lovely! Kept me in high spirits all evening, and yeah, I slept like a baby!

Lee Valley Run

This Sunday was a good day in terms of running after a long gap of a month.
But I didnt have the trouble and the mind jitters I had the last time I ran a long distance for the first time!

And it gave me such a high that I ignored basics and kept running. And suffered enough pain on Monday and Tuesday to know better. And today, am hitting the roads again, and the confidence that I am in a better shape is pegging me to try a milestone today. The maximum I've run continously is 4 km, though I claim to have covered around 7 km, its a mix of walk and run after the 4 km mark. Today I aim to do an extra km continuously.

One of my apartment-mates has a small pot belly coming out and he is in the same mental state I was, when I came to UK in March. An extremely anxious state to just make the fat vanish. I've learnt that it cant be done in a day, and he realizes that too! Today will be a test for him. After numerous futile attempts, I managed to put mind over matter. And it should be his turn today. It is bright till 9 pm here these days and thats great! Time is on my side and I can probably slow down for him.

And the greatest compliment I received this week is, when my apartment-mates were talking about something, one trying to explain about a friend's activity to the other in conversation, he said "arrey yaar...my friend is thinner than Anand"!!! And that my dears is the GREATEST compliment I can ever receive; to be considered fit and slim! That sure does keep me going these days when I tend to oversleep or just succumb to the comforts of the house! Coz there is a history of everyone calling me fat when at school. Unashamedly posting here, I used to be called "Idly".

Ah! Dare call me that NOW!