Thursday, September 22, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Palo Alto Moonlight run 2011
10K : 52:46.97 (PR : 48:18) . But that's not what the race was about. I had never run after 8:00 PM before. It was almost full moon. It was in the Palo Alto bay lands. It was lightening continuously. Reminded me of the Indian monsoons. I was talking to people on my run at times. I was never in pain during the run. I was hoping it would rain for I never ran in the rain before. I am not crazy enough (yet!) to do a practice run in the rain. Well, it did rain in the last 0.5 miles. It was exhilarating. Anyways, if I am here the next year, I need to do it again.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
What I talk about when I talk about running
That's the title of the book by Haruki Murakami I bought last weekend on my way back from Portland. Bad Decision I must say. One of the worst spent $14 on a book. A trashy magazine would have been a good buy. I've read better blogs. Saad Bhamla's running experiences and Arvind's blog about his first marathon are much more entertaining and they don't even consider themselves as writers.
What is my problem with his book? His thoughts. Thoughts which are mundane (which is fine with me) but he makes them sound as if they are profound and relates them somehow to running. I would have been more happy had it been more about running.
What is good about the book? The forward. It sells the book. Atleast it sold the book to me. Suffering is optional it says (yeah very profound!). Actually I bought the book after reading these sentences "Suffering is optional. Say you're running and you start to think , Man this hurts and I can't take it anymore. The hurt part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand any more is up to the runner himself (the feminist side of me should have noticed this earlier). This pretty much sums up the most important aspect of marathon running." I liked it and bought the book expecting to get more gyaan of this form. Did not happen.
Conclusion: You have to choose between this book and a trashy magazine to pass 2 hours of flight time. I'd pick the trashy magazine. At least I know it's trashy beforehand.
What is my problem with his book? His thoughts. Thoughts which are mundane (which is fine with me) but he makes them sound as if they are profound and relates them somehow to running. I would have been more happy had it been more about running.
What is good about the book? The forward. It sells the book. Atleast it sold the book to me. Suffering is optional it says (yeah very profound!). Actually I bought the book after reading these sentences "Suffering is optional. Say you're running and you start to think , Man this hurts and I can't take it anymore. The hurt part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand any more is up to the runner himself (the feminist side of me should have noticed this earlier). This pretty much sums up the most important aspect of marathon running." I liked it and bought the book expecting to get more gyaan of this form. Did not happen.
Conclusion: You have to choose between this book and a trashy magazine to pass 2 hours of flight time. I'd pick the trashy magazine. At least I know it's trashy beforehand.
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