Its not everyday that Lance Armstrong comes to your doorstep!

I was walking back home in the evening when I noticed a huge crowd queued outside my apartment. Turns out Lance was coming to the cycle shop below my apartment in an hour for a book signing. And in order to meet him, you needed to buy his book. Nice marketing strategy eh!

My neighbor and I decided to join the line coz lets face it, people had driven from out of town to come and meet him right outside my place!! After an hour's wait, we finally got to meet him. Not much of a meeting considering he wasn't really talking to people. Just signing the book. This was the only pic I could take of him. There were atleast a 1000 people in line so nobody was allowed to pose with him or even get chatty.

In control!

You know you've had a good marathon when

- you feel like you just started half way through the race
- you are talking to people known and unknown at different sections
- the whole thing seems like a blur as it went by so quickly
- you are elated as you cross the finish line but you don't want to stop running
- your last mile is your fastest (ofcourse, the downhill finish helped)
- you run the entire race at an almost even pace(maybe I should have been a pacegroup leader)
- people on the sidelines are yelling "You look smooth" and "you've got this" at you
- it almost feels like a sunday morning run
- the person giving you a massage after the race says your legs don't seem that tight at all

Such a contrast to my first one back in February. The way my body fell apart during that race, I just did not want to go through that again. Which is why I ran this race a little slower than I probably could've. But its well worth running within yourself and enjoying the experience. I'll have other chances to go all out. Ofcourse, the group of people that I run and train with had a large part in the whole experience being so memorable. It also helped that I've run different sections of the course so many times and knew exactly what to expect. I did have a time goal in mind. And even though you can never be sure how your body will respond toward the latter stages of a marathon, I never had any doubt that I'd achieve the time.

Things that I really liked about the race

- the fluid stations were placed perfectly at even intervals and with gu brew!
- there were people on the sidelines cheering the runners throughout the course.
- so many familiar faces running alongside
- perfect weather
- volunteers who actually knew what they were doing. often times in marathons, people giving out fluids dont do it right, nor do they call out what fluid they are holding out.

After the race, I was walking around the finisher's area, when someone called out to me. I turned and looked at him. He had his feet up on a desk under the comfort of a tent wearing shades. I'll call him ABCD boy:
ABCD: Hey, u there, are you from India?
me: yeah
ABCD: so did you watch the race or did you actually run it?
me: i ran it
ABCD: and u finished it? how did u do?
me: yeah i finished. it went pretty well
ABCD: so is that what that necklace is for?

Now before I could respond to him, another guy who had just finished the race interjected
"That's not a necklace, its a finisher's medal. Learn the lingo before you show up at a running race!!"

Runners are a tight lot. Gotta love 'em!

So that was the inaugural Santa Barbara marathon from my perspective. Now I'm off to gorge on all the ice-cream I've stayed away from these past two months!!!

That belated birthday post!

I've been a tad pre-occupied with the events of today morning which explains the delay in this post. More on that in a following post. But in many ways 2009 was very similar to 2008. Did many of the same things (visited a new continent, india trip, lots of running). Kept up all the resolutions I had made a year ago.

And yet 2010 promises to be full of changes. Its both exciting and unnerving. But I can't help but feel optimistic.

26.2 at 26.2!

Its interesting(atleast the geek in me thinks so) that I ran my first marathon, this past February, aged 26 years and 72 days or 26.2 yrs. That was a remarkable coincidence given that it matched the distance in miles that I would have to cover to finish the race.

I had decided on running the Austin Marathon more out of a desire to get the first marathon out of the way than being competitive. I had tried the latter last year and failed to even show up at the starting line at San Diego because of a broken tibia. So this time I took the conservative route. Don't train too hard, just make sure you give yourself a chance to run the race without any injury. This strategy isn't all that hard to follow especially with my frequent vacations that happen over the winter months, including my two week India trip(during which I ran all of 20 easy miles) which ended two weeks before the race. In any case, I was glad I happened to make it to mid February completely injury free. Seemed like the hard part was over.

The race began in great conditions, overcast and cool. I decided I'd aim for a finish time around 3:40-3:45 (hrs:mins) which is around 7mph. Seemed like a reasonable goal given that its just slower than what I run all my easy runs on most weekends. I thought I'd start with the 3:30 pace group, just to make sure I start well and have breathing room toward the end. Things were going better than I expected during the first half. So much so that I was running ahead of the 3:30 group till about mile 12. I passed the half-way point in 1:45 feeling great. I ran through mile 16 still on pace.

And then I fell off a cliff. At the start of mile 17 I suddenly couldn't lift my left leg. I'd never felt like this before in a run. My lungs were feeling fine but my legs weren't cooperating. I could barely walk. It was so sudden and so dramatic that it was hard to react to. There was no prior warning. I should have predicted this given that I had never run more than 18 miles at a stretch before. The pain was steady and piercing and it was around my left thigh and hamstring. The whole leg felt like a huge log. I figured it was a cramp or something and thought it would go away in a bit. I stopped and tried shaking it off with a couple of stretches which only seemed to aggravate the pain.

Up until now, I had paused only at two water stations and that too for a couple of sips of water. Suddenly I was in search of the next aid station ready to down a whole bottle of fluids. I walked the entire mile until I got to the next water station. Gatorade had never tasted so good before! I decided to walk the next .2 miles and then try running again. I was barely managing to lift my legs off the ground now and I had been reduced to a slow jog. People were now passing me by the dozens but that didn't worry me too much. Survival was my only concern. I made it to the next aid station at the end of the mile to claim my prize, two full glasses of Gatorade. I would repeat this 0.2 mile walk/0.8 mile slow jog for the next 6 miles.

The miles now seemed increasingly longer. This was exaggerated by the fact that I wasn't wearing a watch. So I had no way of telling how slowly I was covering these miles with a walk/jog or how long it would take me to finish. The occasional cheer of encouragement from the spectators wasn't doing me much good. The pain was barely manageable during the walk and more than masochistic during the jog. On mile 20, I was contemplating quitting but I was somewhere in a residential neighborhood in a city that was completely unknown to me with no money. I had no means of communicating to my friend and sole contact in the city, who was waiting at the finishing line, to "rescue" me. The only way to meet him again was to get to the finishing line. That was enough motivation for me to finish this thing.

Around mile 23, I had now been on the road for over 3 1/2 hrs, I felt hungry. This was really unexpected. I had a couple of GU gels and a few slices of oranges that were being handed out by some thoughtful local residents. This seemed like a good time for a lunch break with all the free fruits on offer. But I had a bum tooth at the time and I had already had my fair share of pain. So I sauntered along.

By the time I finished, more than 4 hours after I started, I didn't feel anything. Even the pain I was experiencing during the race was gone now. The muscles were just sore. Usually most people who cross the finishing line at the end of their first marathon go through a gamut of emotions - relief, elation, pride, maybe even disappointment.I had nothing. Emotional numbness is a surefire sign of a Pyrrhic victory.

On paper it sounds impressive. I had run 26.2 miles at a stretch. But I hadn't really, atleast not the second half of it. This is a footrace, so its best to run it that way. Atleast I know I can only improve from here on!

The king awaits his coronation!

Roger Federer - the GOAT!

When it finally came, the win against Robin Soderling was straightforward, clinical and dominant. Much like most of his previous 13 grand slam victories. By his own standards these last couple took a while coming but it was only fitting that he pulled level with Sampras' record at Roland Garros. That once and for all puts him above Sampras in the all-time pecking order.

My argument for Fed as the greatest ever is simply based on the way he plays the game. He is the single most gifted tennis player I have ever seen. And in the early years of his dominance, 03-06, the way the game was played allowed him to fully display his all-court game. There is no shot in the game that he can't play with elan. He is the only player who would have probably dominated any era the way he has this one. And if Wimbledon hadn't slowed down drastically over the years, we'd still be seeing him serve-and-volley his way to a title. In this French Open, his touch with the drop shot, from both flanks, was a sight to behold. Quite the contrast to a certain Mallorcan's heavy topspins. Just watching him wield a racquet is one of the great joys of watching the sport.

But like in any other sport, players are not measured merely by skill and talent but purely by success. And today that validation came for most of the doubters. He has now won everything there is to win and he's only 27. For me the one statistic that stands out the most, that is even greater than his 14 slam titles, is his streak of reaching 20 straight grand slam semi-finals. And 15 of the last 16 finals. Something like that is unheard of in the open era. Speaks volumes for his consistency, his ability to stay injury free and his desire. And the only person he has lost to in his slam finals is Rafael Nadal. He has never had a Soderling day. Given how competitive the men's game is, that is the most remarkable of statistics. Ofcourse, I'm sure all of us would like to see Rafa back across the net on the second Sunday at Roland Garros, but its upto Nadal to hold up his end of the bargain.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't take away from Fed's hunger and motivation for playing the game coz I think he has a good 3 years left in him and London 2012 at Wimbledon would be a great place to end his career with a singles gold.

But until then, lets enjoy the privilege of watching the greatest player of all time!

Cooking therapy, dining out and the yin and yang of it!

I think most people in my generation tend to cook not from a great desire for cooking or experimenting with food (although i do on the rare occasion like to make new dishes). We do it simply coz home-cooked meals are easy on the tummy as well as the wallet. I'm sure there are a few who do it coz they run out of restaurants to eat at and even more who do it coz they cant be seen alone in a restaurant, neither of which is a problem for me. I feel eating an equal number of meals at home and out (like me) is a good balance to have. Atleast helps keep boredom away while maintaining a sense of discipline. And it also helps you appreciate the other more from time to time. I suppose you can be adventurous with food regardless of whether its made at a new eat-out or home-cooked.

I dont know how many people have felt this way but I find cooking strangely therapeutic. Cooking always puts me in good spirits, regardless of whether I'm making something elaborate like an arachu vitta sambar or the simplest of things like pasta. It gives me a feeling that things are right. Its quite relaxing in a way. I'm sure a lot of us who work tend to cook on Sunday nights and I think it puts you in a good mood and gets you ready for the work week ahead. Ofcourse, the fact that I like eating my own food also plays a small part in it.

I realize a lot of this probably only makes sense or is applicable to people who are at a similar stage in life as me but I'd like to think that its a nice lifestyle at any stage in one's adult life.