...that's who the current Delhi weather is fit for. I'm no Englishman, so woof, woof, but run I must, so I do.
A friend from Kolkata wondered why I hadn't blogged in a while; she figured I must not be running in this weather and must therefore have more free time on my hands to blog. Alas. Free time has been traded in for Paid Time and in paying the home loan piper, the blog has taken a meaty blow.
That said, let me get back to the part of life that is still alive - the run.
This is the lean season for running in this part of the woods. The sun burns everything in its path - plants, cars, mad dogs et all. Morning runs have to start really early, well before 6 am, and that doesn't sit too well with my present work schedule, which involves long calls at night to a colleague in the US of A.
So, at least four days a week, I'm running in the evenings, well past 6 pm.
The Jahanpanah forest is already bone dry, with the more delicate plants surrendering their singed leaves to the earth and retracting their sap into their trunks. The hardy ones are flowering in defiance, their cool shade giving much needed relief to the dogs (the four legged variety :-)
It is in these environs that I start my run. Slow at first and then, letting my body dictate how it wants to run on the day. There's no looking at the GPS on my wrist, even out of idle curiosity - lest seeing how slow I'm going should jinx the run and force me to stop. I concentrate on my running form instead, and let the mental chatter die down to white noise.
The first five hundred metres are a bit of a test but usually, after that, if I listen to my body, the rest of the run is peaceful, easy. I set myself on a 5 km route and do a kilometer or two more if I feel like it, but never push myself to reach beyond the day's potential.
Summer is a period of maintenance for me, of keeping the machine in shape, to make extra demands of it in the winter.
A couple nice things about my current running I'd like to share:
- I find that running in the evening in the summer is generally a good idea. If I start around 6:15 or 6:30 pm, it's couple of degrees cooler by the time I am on my last 2 kilometres, since the sun has dipped below the visible horizon by then. As any runner knows, the body is a lot warmer past the first 3 kms, so the ambient temperature going down at that point is most welcome.
- Jahanpanah is an amazing forest, smack in the middle of south Delhi. As I run through it at dusk, I spot peacocks (regularly) or a lone Nilgai or fox, as they dart through the thick woods on my left, with the impossibly bright lights of the busy BRT (bus rapid transit) corridor barely 50 metres away on my right. With my heart thumping a regular beat to my feet, and gregorian chants or Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in my ears, the whole audio-visual experience is other worldly.
Safe running in this weather also demands a couple of rules to be followed assiduously. The first: Stretch - gently before the run and deeply after. It helps minimize injuries and maximize the full-body experience of the run.
Two - Hydrate. An absolute must, especially in Delhi, where the heat is dry and sweat evaporates so fast, you don't feel the fluids leave your body. You can get dehydrated in a hurry and develop a nasty headache that won't leave you for 24 hours, if you're not careful.
I don't like to carry my drink on 5km runs, but I leave it where I can access it within ten minutes of finishing. Gatorade now has these really handy satchets (in lemon and orange flavours) that you mix with cold water to make a refreshing drink. At 15 bucks for a sachet (of 500 ml mixed drink capacity each), it sure beats the earlier bottled avatar at 35 bucks a pop (for the same 500 ml).
To sum up, yes, it's hot out there... okay, okay, its Very Hot out there. But there are ways to work around it and make your run the high point of the day.
Whether it's the dopamine rush or the invigorating cold shower (or beer :-) after the run that gets you going... go ahead and make it work.
There are a million reasons why its okay to not go for a run in this weather, but if running is your thing, then you've just got to do what the folks at alsoranrunners.info say: Shut Up and Run :-)
i agree shut up and run is the only way to make this work else there is not much else to do...got my trainer fired for not being competent, forget my laziness ;-)
ReplyDeletei had just been thinking of you this day and was glad to see the connection on my email. i certainly have not been doing enough excercising as i focus on my tuition work ( of poor children ). But from Monday i will do a three day fast ( no food at all, water is Ok ). And if you have time may be coffee nearby the park. i did NOT know there was a BRT anywhere near this park. i would do really badly in Orienteering tasks !
ReplyDeletei see neha's posting. i have heard a some of her, good, interesting things to boot. Where is she ?
i leave for the Usa on the 28th. of April. Sankaran.