I
confess. There was a time I was attracted to curves. They were an amazing
sight. Every long weekend was dedicated to them. I am talking about those
curvaceous roads the people of Border Road Organization (BRO) painstakingly cut
through the Himalayas. Driving through them was my passion and probably is,
suspended temporarily since I moved away from Delhi. I have also moved on to
find a new love - slopes. Let me explain.
When I moved to Bangalore in 2006, I had built up stamina for short distances up to 4-5km averaging 7-8 mins/km. With superior weather conditions in Bangalore I had hoped to gain further momentum in a short span of time. All those hopes dashed as soon as the rubber sole met the Bangalore road.
Gone to run one fine November morning in 2006 at the famed Lalbagh Botanical Gardens which was walking distance from the place I rented initially. The setting was picturesque. Mr. Golden Sun, as Garv says, beating down in all glory, nice morning breeze and a tranquil pond – or Tank as Bangaloreans prefer calling them. I didn’t have a GPS device then but reckon, based on my speed, it would be a 1 ¾ Km loop around the pond. For the first 1 Km the trail remained flat. And then, the trail climbed up suddenly for the next 500 m. For effect they added some stairs as well enroute. My average speed came crashing down to ~ 9 mins/km. That’s when I realized that I needed to work further on my endurance.
As running into (and out of) slopes is unavoidable in Bangalore due to the rocky terrain, I have gradually built up the endurance. My legs took some time adapting to the rigor of steep gradients without relaxing on speed. Call it Hobson’s choice or habit, I have come to love slopes. I get an extra kick, no pun intended, going up slope.
Last weekend went running with a bunch of office colleagues at the eponymous Killer Kanakpura. I don’t know how it came to be known such but this track, off Kanakpura near the Art of Living ashram, is a great spot for runners (or even cyclist) trying to build endurance. Starting around a small lake, the track meanders past a number of sprawling houses echoing with the unending bark streams of guard dogs. Can't blame them given they rarely see a visitor or two running around their pastures. I was instantly reminded of Delhi’s Mahipalpur –the ‘farm house’ capital of India.
The track at Killer Kanakpura is a labyrinth with various paths available for runners. We stayed on the main road, eventually emerging on Kanakpura for a while before completing the loop on the lake, and then doing another loop in the opposite direction. By the time we finished, we had done a little over 21.1Km. The pace wasn’t scorching but it was fun nevertheless to run with colleagues.
Personally, I was extremely satisfied with the effort. I did this route sometime earlier in Jan/Feb this year. Having huffed and puffed to complete 18Km then, this time I finished strong with enough left to carry on for another few kilometers. The ultimate appreciation came from home - compliments my wife. She mentioned it wasn’t looking like I had to sack out the whole day to recover as I was indeed looking fresh returning from the run. It’s another matter that her unsaid, but an important expectation, was that I could run around to complete some household chores in quick time.
As I was finishing the run that day and reflecting on up and down slopes, RD’s composition from the movie Aandhi started playing in my head, particularly the opening verse:
Kuch Sust Kadam Raste
Kuchh Tezz Qadam Raahen”
When I moved to Bangalore in 2006, I had built up stamina for short distances up to 4-5km averaging 7-8 mins/km. With superior weather conditions in Bangalore I had hoped to gain further momentum in a short span of time. All those hopes dashed as soon as the rubber sole met the Bangalore road.
Gone to run one fine November morning in 2006 at the famed Lalbagh Botanical Gardens which was walking distance from the place I rented initially. The setting was picturesque. Mr. Golden Sun, as Garv says, beating down in all glory, nice morning breeze and a tranquil pond – or Tank as Bangaloreans prefer calling them. I didn’t have a GPS device then but reckon, based on my speed, it would be a 1 ¾ Km loop around the pond. For the first 1 Km the trail remained flat. And then, the trail climbed up suddenly for the next 500 m. For effect they added some stairs as well enroute. My average speed came crashing down to ~ 9 mins/km. That’s when I realized that I needed to work further on my endurance.
As running into (and out of) slopes is unavoidable in Bangalore due to the rocky terrain, I have gradually built up the endurance. My legs took some time adapting to the rigor of steep gradients without relaxing on speed. Call it Hobson’s choice or habit, I have come to love slopes. I get an extra kick, no pun intended, going up slope.
Last weekend went running with a bunch of office colleagues at the eponymous Killer Kanakpura. I don’t know how it came to be known such but this track, off Kanakpura near the Art of Living ashram, is a great spot for runners (or even cyclist) trying to build endurance. Starting around a small lake, the track meanders past a number of sprawling houses echoing with the unending bark streams of guard dogs. Can't blame them given they rarely see a visitor or two running around their pastures. I was instantly reminded of Delhi’s Mahipalpur –the ‘farm house’ capital of India.
The track at Killer Kanakpura is a labyrinth with various paths available for runners. We stayed on the main road, eventually emerging on Kanakpura for a while before completing the loop on the lake, and then doing another loop in the opposite direction. By the time we finished, we had done a little over 21.1Km. The pace wasn’t scorching but it was fun nevertheless to run with colleagues.
Personally, I was extremely satisfied with the effort. I did this route sometime earlier in Jan/Feb this year. Having huffed and puffed to complete 18Km then, this time I finished strong with enough left to carry on for another few kilometers. The ultimate appreciation came from home - compliments my wife. She mentioned it wasn’t looking like I had to sack out the whole day to recover as I was indeed looking fresh returning from the run. It’s another matter that her unsaid, but an important expectation, was that I could run around to complete some household chores in quick time.
As I was finishing the run that day and reflecting on up and down slopes, RD’s composition from the movie Aandhi started playing in my head, particularly the opening verse:
Kuch Sust Kadam Raste
Kuchh Tezz Qadam Raahen”
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