Running for Office

Election fever has reached feverish pitch. And, everyone is running around.

Last heard, a number of people are running to join BJP and quite a few people are running away from Congress or refusing to run for their existing seats. On the other hand our friends at AAP, having run away from their earlier job, are back in the market running for a new one.

It isn’t easy to escape the election hullabaloo even if you want to run away from all of this. Last week gone to run at Lalbagh Botanical Garden and there it was staring at my face early in the morning. Ran into morning walkers and some joggers in brand new T’s carrying with them a message for Nandan Nilekani - Together with Nandan. Smart strategy to connect with people who have proven stamina to withstand the sweltering Bangalore Sun come April 17.

I am not complaining though. Roads have either got a fresh coat of tar already or are in the process of getting one and footpaths have a fancier look. Generally roads have gotten wider, though I suspect some of this is got to do with gradual diminishing of school buses off the road on account on summer holidays. Unbearable as the heat may be I look forward to the open and empty roads during this time of the year. No more speeding up and down the crossroads to make way for that Yellow bus.

Sports Ke Side Effects

I had intended to write this as a parting note to 2013. I never got there as December turned out to be a windfall at work. It is another coincidence that this post goes up just as the movie Shaadi Ke Side Effects (Unintended consequences of marriage) is being released.
 

Sports Widow is a commonly used term for a wife whose spouse is alive but non-existent through a sport season due to preoccupation with TV and Beer. I don’t want my readers to construe any gender insensitivity here so this could very well apply to husbands as much.

 

My wife might argue that Sports Widow applies to her and others like her whose husband spend a good part of their weekdays and a large part of their weekends partaking in various sporting activities. I confess. I am usually out of home - gone to run or on the squash court - for good 2-3 hours both days of the weekend.

 

Sometime late in December 2013 I was lamenting to my wife that I have not been running regularly and definitely not anywhere close to 60km/week target I had set for myself. As ever an encouraging soul, she was quick to retort that I was being unreasonable and hard on myself. I was doing just fine, she said. Having learnt wisely many times over not to argue with the lady of the house using words such as logic and rationale, I still went on a limb to pull out some “facts”.

 

Courtesy Garmin 410, here’s what the numbers showed. 

• Gone to Run 1248 Kms through 2013
• Gone to Run only 42% of the days available last year
• Gone to Run an average 24 Kms/week only - way way below the target

So dear honey, for bad or for worse, I will be spending a few more hours outdoors this year! I rest my case.

 

On a totally different topic, I chanced upon this interview in the UK Sports magazine.

http://www.sport-magazine.co.uk/337/sport-deconstructed-5564

 

Worth a read if you’ve been wondering why Kenya produces a large proportion of long-distance runners or if Bolt is a freak of nature.