For Kathryn!

Today's run was for Kathryn! Thanks for donating, your gift is going to help lucky kids go to camp in the name of an amazing man, Ty Taylor. I know he'd appreciate your generosity as much as I do. Other readers can donate here to get a dedicated run like Kathryn.

The name of the run is the Back Door 5 Miler. It's inspired by the sneaky entrances to some areas where it would seem that I shouldn't be running, but nobody has stopped me yet. The name is inspired by a crocheted sign on a high school friend's back porch that said, "Back door friends are best!"  You know, like "You're the kind of friend that doesn't have to come through the formal front door. You're family." You know, like that.  Right?

I was happy to be joined by Keir and Ted on today's run. It means a lot when my friends support me. Some support with donations and some support by joining me on runs. As crazy as it sounds, my morning runs are some of the best times that I get to spend with people. It's uninterrupted time. Time to chat, time to laugh and time to do and see new things.

The first "back door" was the back entrance to the Safdarjung Railroad Station. I found this backdoor the day before my birthday. That day represented a small turning point in my mentality for runs. That day I decided to explore a bit instead of being tied to my routes. It's been fun since then, taking a left when I normally take a right, turning around to take another look at a hornbill or a peacock with gloriously long tail feathers or scrambling to the top of a boulder to survey the tops of the jungle trees of Sanjay Van (wish I could link to a description of that run-last Saturday's 17.5 miler, my longest ever. Maybe I'll write it up even though there was no sponsor).

Like last time, there was no guard to protest our entrance to the backside of the train station. There was however, a gate that was slightly ajar with a chain and padlock six inches off the ground. Good thing I noticed it before it sent me careening to the ground! Once in the rail yard, we were doing a set of stairs to cross the tracks. Beneath us was the Maharajas' Express Train, the $7000-$23,000 per 7 nights luxury train (Does it say something that the train always seems to be in the station?). After crossing the bridge, the next right turn was out through the in door, combined with the quickest security check ever via the metal detector.

The next "back door" comes at the end of the road that the station is on. Before the Leela Hotel was built, it was possible to run to the end of this road, run through a scrubby field and head toward Sarojini. Once the hotel came, so did the walls. The property was surrounded by walls blocking the path out. In fact, two years ago, I almost got stranded on a railroad bridge (think Stand by Me) as I was trying to work my way around. Nowadays it's an always (knock wood) open gate that allows passage through a yard? mosque? something? Anyway, one can get through.

Moving on to the next "back door." This one is a back entrance into a government housing development. If you're from the US, this might sound like a place where you DON'T want to live. Here though, it's the set up. If you get a government job, you often get perks like free housing, cars, bags full of money, etc. New Moti Bagh is a recently constructed area with Weeds intro-style tiny boxes, high-rise apartments, a park, an amphitheater, underground parking and a distinct US suburb vibe. It's actually a great place to run! It's quiet, clean and very different from the neighborhoods on the outside of its walls. Again, the security guards at the swing-arm gate didn't seem to mind as we entered, so in we went.

In my efforts to combine all of the secret passages and backdoors of my recent runs, we headed to the final "back door." This is the one from Rachel's run on March 27. It's the door in the fence that opens to the private walkway between the Railroad Officer's Bungalows and the golf course. It ends at a private bridge over the tracks to another housing development for railroad employees.

Finally, the run passes a large slum colony and spits out between two embassies. Then it's a short distance to school and the run is done.

I was happy that all of the doors were open today. The Back Door 5 Miler is a great run to have in the cadre of training runs and a great one for visitors! Why not come visit in Delhi and let me show you something?

This run belongs to Kathryn! Your generosity is truly humbling. Thank you so much.

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of our friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 4.92 miles
Time - 38:23
Soundtrack - Nirvana, Incesticide and Jane's Addiction, Ritual de lo Habitual (90s Alt!)

For Lloyd!

This run is for DJ Boring. Hit him up on Facebook. He donated mad ducats for my cause and you should too. Here's the link!

Although today's run was sponsored by DJ Boring, it was anything but. Here's why today's run was awesome.

1. Ran in the rain for the first time for real.
2. Ran to Old Delhi and back.
3. Ran farther than I ever have before.

This morning I woke up at 5:30am to get ready for my run. I took the dog out and realized it was raining. Typically, this would give me pause. Today though, I was determined and excited to run. I checked my email to see how many people were bailing. "Is anyone running?" one email read. "I have to." I replied.

I have to. 

When I wrote it, I thought I was just talking about staying true to my training program for the marathon. As the day progressed, I realized it was about much more. I don't feel good when I don't run. Running is my excuse to get out and see Delhi and today's run was the ultimate sight-seeing adventure. I headed downstairs, sure I'd be the only one, and lo and behold there were four people waiting to run along with me.

I rejoiced and headed out for today's 14 miler. 

The run through the rain was fun. I was wearing a raincoat, but not a running raincoat. Unsure if it was keeping me dry or causing me to sweat more, I kept it on as we headed away from school towards the Presidential Palace. The rain had cleared the air and it created the perfect conditions to see both the Presidential Palace and India Gate. Normally, the pollution hides one or the other, so today I employed the tennis match strategy as I turned my head right and left as I crossed the Raj Path, enjoying the view.

Our run continued past Jantar Mantar, one of my favorite places in Delhi. It's an observatory that's almost 300 years old.

From there, we circled around Connaught Place until we hit Minto Road and headed into Old Delhi. The transition from Delhi into Old Delhi is as stark as the names would suggest. Immediately, there are more people, the roads get narrower and a sense of change as tangible as flipping a light switch is apparent. After a quick consult with the map, we were off to Turkman Gate, one of the original entrances to the walled city of Shahjahanabad, the seventh city of Delhi. The impressive walled city of Shahjahanabad is considered by many to be Delhi's high point.

Turkman Gate

From the Turkman Gate, the run got really interesting. At this point, the route turns inward to the heart of Old Delhi. The streets were crowded with people, covered in puddles and offered a lot to do and see. Most people greeted us warmly and encouraged us as we pressed forward.

Finally, after two correct guesses in the confusing maze of Chawri Bazar, we reached the half-way point of the run, Jama Masjid. Jama Masjid was the center of Delhi's religious life in the late 1600s and continues to be today. It was built by Shah Jahan, the same Mughal emperor who ordered the building of the Taj Mahal (which coincidentally, I'll be visiting tomorrow)! Might be a good chance to sponsor a very special Agra run...(just sayin').

A loop around the mosque and we were on the way home. We ran past the Delhi institution, Karim's restaurant. Karim's is a must visit for Mugal food in Delhi. The street vendors were also hard at work. However, we had no desire to stop and taste this guy's offers.

Yes, this is a bowl full of goat heads.

After we circled back to the Turkman Gate, two of the crew jumped into an autorickshaw and headed home. That left three intrepid runners looking for the 14 miler. Lee, Tara and I kept at it, headed back toward the diplomatic area.

As we passed the Le Meridian hotel, we saw another runner stop to ask directions of the guards. We crossed the street and asked if he needed help. When he asked where we were going and we told him that we were headed back to the Diplomatic Area, he asked us if we knew of a guy called Jason Coleman. Surprised, I told him that I did in fact, know of the man. He told us that he was on our mailing list, but hadn't ever joined us for a run. He was trying to run the Kessel Run and wasn't sure of the next turn. We set him on his way, and I felt like my enduring legacy in New Delhi had been realized. At least one other person has run the streets that make a drawing of the Millennium Falcon. My work is done.

We kept pushing and made it back home. My farthest run ever was finished. Thanks Lloyd for the inspiration and thanks friends for the company. I'm truly blessed to have such good people around me. You make me better.

This run belongs to DJ Boring!

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of our friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 14.66 miles
Time - 2:08:31
Soundtrack - The White Stripes, Thin Lizzy, The Thrills and U2.

For Heather and Skweebs!

I'm over 10% of the way to my stretch goal! I know that $7000 is a tall order, but I really want to provide an enduring campship in the Memory of my dear friend Ty Taylor. He loved YMCA Camp Miller and providing the opportunity for a needy camper to experience it via a scholarship in his name would be amazing.

If you haven't donated yet, please do. Follow this link to donate. And here's a crazy thought. If each person that has donated was able to convince one of their friends to donate just $10, it would be another $110. See if you can convince someone today!

Today's run is for Heather and Skweebs! They both stepped up yesterday with donations, so I was extra motivated to get out of bed at 5:40am to go for my five mile run. This was especially helpful, due to the fact that the boy child was up at 4:25 and didn't go back to sleep.

The route today was a five miler that I've only ever run one other time. The last time was May 6 of last year. It's a good route, with a fantastic "India contrast" aspect. The run starts at school in the Diplomatic Enclave of New Delhi - wide streets, lots of trees, and very few people on the streets at 6am. I decided to take some photos today, since Heather is one of the most prolific photo sharers I know! This first shot was taken from the pedestrian bridge that separates the embassy area and its private golf course from the neighborhood of Moti Bagh. You can see that the construction of an expansion of the Delhi Metro is in full swing on this route.

The next picture is something that I've noticed on my past trips over the walkway, or as they call them here, "Pedestrian Overbridge." I love the texture from all of the old, peeling notices.

As I wrote last time, the shift from the Diplomatic Enclave to Moti Bagh is crazy. Immediately upon turning into the neighborhood, the streets narrow, the trees disappear and the buildings triple in height. There were people everywhere getting ready for their day. The run progresses past shops, guys washing cars, washing themselves, sweeping yesterday's trash, preparing today's tea and greeting the day, each in their own ways. Some were on their way to the Gurudwara to worship, some were reciting mantras to the sun as it poked over the trees and others were poking their heads from their beds in their market stalls. These are the reasons that I simply cannot run in the park everyday. There's way too much to see.

The last time I ran this route, I missed the turn to re-cross the Ring Road. Today, I did the same thing. The difference, though was the Metro construction. The ubiquitous blue metal walls that simultaneously close off the city as they strive to open it up were everywhere. I couldn't find a way out! Dead ends turned into dead ends. I backtracked, re-strategized and hit more dead ends. Finally, as it always seems to do here in India, an opportunity presented itself.

A chained gate with just enough squeeze space to make it out to the road! You can see the lock just under the leaves, the sun coming up over the trees and the pedestrian overbridge! The only sticking point was the guard that wouldn't let me over the bridge. He pointed in the direction from which I had come and I was resigned to find another way across. Not too soon, I came upon what I thought was the first bridge from the beginning of the run. Once I was up and crossing, I realized that it wasn't the first bridge but it was, in fact, the bridge I wanted. A quick cross, ducks and dodges of parents taking their kids to school and I was back on my way home. All told, the wrong turns, dead ends and backtracks only added about .64 miles.

The final piece of the run is familiar territory and as I passed this water tower, I decided to stop and take a final pic for the day. It's always struck me as interesting and I've often thought about taking a photo, but haven't. So today, for Heather and Skweebs, I did.

This run belongs to Heather and Skweebs!

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of our friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 5.64 miles
Time - 45:07
Soundtrack - Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - Fever to Tell, White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

This is what the run is supposed to look like, underneath you can see how I messed up the Ring Road crossing.

For Dr A, Lynner and Star Wars Nerds Everywhere!

Much of the credit for today's run goes to my dear friends Dr. A and Lynner. Their support of me over the years and their generous donations (follow this link) went a long way to provide the motivation to get me out on the streets this morning. It means a lot to me to have them be a part of future kids' experiences at YMCA Camp Miller. It's an important place and the Ty Taylor Memorial Campship is an important tribute to an incredible influence.

And now, today's run - one of my favorites!

"Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs."

 by Doug Kline

I've been waiting for today's run since September 27, 2013. That's the date that I created the 11 mile Kessel Run. After a few years of running Mother Theresa Cresent, I noticed that the curve around the back of the Rashtrapati Bhawan might just be the beginning of a good picto-run. With just a bit of playing and some lucky roads off of Safdarjung Road and I had a workable reproduction of the Millennium Falcon, complete with the cockpit! 

The only catch was the fact that it was an eleven mile route. In the fall, I just wasn't able to get my mileage up to the 11 mile range. Everything's changed. Now my mileage is up and I've been keen to do this run for a while. Today I got my wish! Extensive emails were sent to the runners group to drum up interest and I was able to sway Bernie. He was worried that I'd try to cut several parsecs off of this route, but he agreed to come anyway. For which, I'm grateful. It's hard to do the longer runs by yourself. I'm also glad that he didn't shoot first. 

The morning was nice in Delhi. It's surprisingly still not too hot. There were three groups of runners this morning, which bodes well for the next several weeks of training. I expect to have lots of company as I move through my program. My primary concern for this run (apart from the distance) was not getting lost in order to preserve the appearance of the Falcon. I really didn't want to take a bunch of wrong turns and end up with some wonky approximation of the beauty that "will make point five past light speed."

The cockpit was the first piece of the drawing and it was all on new roads for me. Sure enough, we got a bit turned around, but the overall effect is still close. You can see my wrong turn here. The next snag came at mile 4. I had to ask Bernie to stop so I could take out my phone and double check the turn. I didn't want to mess up the GPS art! With the turn successfully negotiated, we were on our way on another brand new street. We ran past the Vice President's House, which got us talking about the government of India. We knew that there is a Prime Minister and a President. We also knew that India has a parliamentary democracy. Our tour had introduced the new data of the existence of the VP (or at least his/her house). Yesterday's run was focused around the upcoming elections, so I decided a bit of research was in order to clean up these confusions. Side note - this has been one of my favorite side-effects of running in Delhi. Most days I get home from a run and immediately get on-line to find information about something I saw on my run that day.

Here's the brief outline of today's study:

• The Vice President of India is Mohammad Hamid Ansari and he has a house on the Kessel Run
• He makes $2,808 per month
• India is actually a "federal parliamentary democratic republic"
• The PM is the head of government an the President is the head of state
• There is a bicameral legislature with an Upper House (think US Senate) and a Lower House (think US House of Reps)
• The elections being held this year are "not really" for Prime Minister
• They are for the "Lower House"
• The majority party in Lower House elects its leader as Prime Minister

Sorry for the civics lesson, back to the run. We passed the Presidential Palace and headed through the forward hold into the second fork of the Millennium Falcon. Another 180 degree turn and we were completing the outline of the ship. There were a few hairy moments crossing the street today, traffic seemed to be busier than normal. It was almost like piloting through an asteroid field to attempt escape from Imperial pursuers.  Almost. The next big site on the route was the Gole Dak Khanna, the round post office from April 28's run from last year.

As we turned onto Mother Theresa Crescent to complete the drawing of a smuggler's modified Correllian Engineering Corporation's YT 1300, my phone rang and I received a request to stop at a pharmacy on the way home to pick up some medicine for the boy. Not a problem, as it was on our way.

On the final turn out of the Falcon's outline, we spied one of the other groups that had left for a run with us in the morning. We all had a laugh, exchanged hellos and kept running. As Bernie and I approached the pharmacy winded, struggling, tired and sweaty, we must have been a sight. We were laughing and happy, satisfied with our run and looking forward to seeing the route pop up on our MapMyRun dashboards. When I asked for the medicine, the pharmacist must have thought it was for me and that I needed it ASAP. Assuring him that I was fine, it took all I had to not say,

"She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself."

This run belongs to Dr. A and Lynner! Thanks for answering my pleas for donors!

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of our friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 11.12 miles
Time - 1:03:16
Soundtrack - Hip Hop mix of Das Racist, Digable Planets and the Digital Underground

For Sara!

Today's run is dedicated to Sara Taylor. Ty's widow. Her husband was an inspiration to me and now she's inspired me to run and write. I wanted to do a special run for her and I think today's run was just that.

"There are times when fear is good.

It must keep its watchful place at

the heart's controls."

~Aeschylus

What is it about fear? We seem to spend an inordinate amount of time avoiding it, talking about it, hiding it and overcoming it.

Over the weekend, I was in Bangkok. The four miler I ran took me through Lumphini Park, the home of anti-Thai government protestors. As I was nearing the park, I wasn't sure what to expect and fear started creeping in. What would happen in the park? Would people see me as an outsider and resent my presence? Would I even make it into the park? I had read about a running group that switched their weekend runs to another park. Was it because they were afraid to be in the park? It turned out fine, pleasant, in fact. In that case my fear was unwarranted and I felt silly. I was also scheduled for a 12 miler during my stay in Thailand. I mapped it out on MapMyRun and obsessed over it for at least three days. I planned it, visualized the turns, reviewed the map, counted lefts and rights, counted bridges, memorized landmarks and proceeded to avoid the run. The first day, I had a six am wake-up call, answered it, got up and didn't run. Why? I was afraid. Afraid I'd miss a turn, afraid I'd get lost, afraid I'd be lonely, etc., etc.  The next day, I put out an appeal for donations and reset for the next day. Again, I woke up early. I got dressed in my running clothes. I was ready to go, but something was keeping me back. I couldn't get past the fear of the unknown. 

I was bummed that I couldn't summon the courage to run, but resigned myself to the fact that it was okay. There are bumps in the road. Like Aeschylus says in the quotation above, sometimes fear is warranted. Maybe I saved myself from something terrible. Or maybe I just wimped out. When I got back to Delhi, I checked my email and found out that Sara had donated. I was devastated. I felt like I had let her down big time by not running what might have been a special Bangkok run, with lots to do and see.

Then I proceeded to not run for two more days because the boy child was not cooperating. Sleep, it seems was not important to him.

Today, I got back on the road, hoping that something interesting would happen. Today is election day in Delhi, so I planned a run that would take me past the current Prime Minister's house and the Presidential Palace. A friend had made a similar run the day before and said she ran past hundreds of police, keeping the peace. I saw the parallel to my Lumphini Park run and thought it might provide interesting fodder for today's run.

The run started innocently enough. About two minutes into the run I watched two guys with a stick scaring a monkey out of a tree, trying to send him back across the street into the Ridge. They often come and terrorize homes near the Ridge, so this seemed "normal" to me as I continued my run. A right-hand turn at the Salt March statue and I thought I'd be entering the martial law described to me the day before. Not a single police officer was in sight. I turned toward the Presidential Palace and after another right-hand turn - FEAR. Real fear set in. Monkeys were stretched across the entire street. On  a good day, I can summon up enough courage to run past monkeys, but today something was different. As I tried to "tsk-tsk" enough monkeys out of the way to create a channel to run through, I was four or five monkeys deep. I had drifted from the curb to the middle of the street with monkeys on both sides. That's when the big, ugly dude dead center turned to me, hissed and bared his fangs. 

I stopped running. I took a breath. I remembered that alpha animals sense fear and attack weakness. I tried to stay calm. I tried to be tough. Then he started moving toward me. Then two of his big, ugly friends joined him. I walked backwards faster. I almost tripped over their buddy, who had came up on my left-hand blindspot. I tried to go alpha with a loud yell.

It worked. A little. I gained enough space to at least turn around, abandon my route and recoup. Just then, a guy came up on a motorcycle, turned it off in the middle of the street and took a look at the monkeys. After planning his route, he turned his bike back on. He looked at me and I asked in my best pantomime if he would take me through. He said, "Of course." I hopped on and we made it through.

Wimpy? Maybe, but in this case I think Aeschylus hit it right on the head. There are times to conquer your fears and other times when you must let your fear guide you safely through a troop of monkeys.

So, what is it about fear? How can we learn to trust it when we need to, but not dissuade us from growing? Maybe there's a lesson to be learned in this run. Perhaps we can mitigate our fear of fear by taking it one step at a time, like training for a marathon, by asking for help and by putting faith in the hope that the outcome will leave us better than before.

ps. After The Monkeys I saw a Navy officer polishing a brass cannon and a guy on a bicycle in a t-shirt and track pants. With an assault rifle. Incredible India!

pps. If you zoom in on the map below, you can see the moment of The Monkeys on Dalhousie Road just after Mile 2. Look for the backtrack!

This run belongs to Sara! Thanks for everything.

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of our friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 5.13 miles
Time - 39:37
Soundtrack - Beastie Boys, Root Down EP and Some Old Bullshit

For Lacey!

Today's run was for Lacey. She stepped up and I stepped out. You can help too, just click and donate!

It's easy to find reasons to not run. Especially when you're in Bangkok.

...

I'm in Bangkok for a teacher's conference. I'm learning a lot during the day and spending the nights catching up with friends that have spread out around the globe. It's been a lot of fun, but it can be distracting from my running program. I lifted off from Indira Gandhi International Airport at 5:35 am on Thursday. Believing Thursday was a wash, I spent the afternoon at the pool, doing some reading about reading. As I walked past the gym, I was suddenly inspired to hit the treadmill. A quick elevator trip of 28 floors up and 28 floors down and my workout desire stopped cold. I had already made up my mind that I wouldn't dedicate a treadmill run to Lacey, but her advanced math and science background would have helped as an additional motivator. I had been planning a four mile run, and I was ready. The treadmill though, was only prepared for me to work out in kilometers. After an embarrassing amount of mental wrangling, I was able to push start. Thursday, it turned out, was not a wash.

Friday was. There was no way I was running Friday morning. Sorry Lacey. I know that you'd understand how a trip to Mikkeller might inhibit a morning's workout.

I resolved to not let it happen two days in a row. So last night, I was bound and determined to run this morning. Undeterred by my friends' unwillingness to join me, I called for a 6:30 wake up call. The incredulous tone of operator's voice when he repeated the time for the wake up call almost made me second-guess myself, but I said, "Yes," and drifted off to sleep.

The unintended theme of today's run was one mile for each hour of sleep from the night before. I'll let you do the math on that one dear readers. The hotel is not too far from Lumphini Park, which seemed like a good destination for a run. The first leg of the run went down the street where every stray dog in Bangkok seems to live. Luckily, the Thai street dogs seem to adopt the "Mai Pen Rai" attitude of their compatriots and there was no doggie drama. The next leg was a little less than a mile along Rama IV Road, a major Bangkok street that cuts through the Central Business District. The city was just waking up, so not too much was happening this early in the morning. I did stop to snap a pic of this huge wat and the nice clean streets.

As I got closer and closer to Lumphini Park, I started noticing Thai Army outposts and my vague awareness of what was happening in the park slowly started to become more and more concrete. Lumphini Park has become the temporary home of anti-government protesters. There were people everywhere, with high levels of organization. Tent cities, water distribution, toilets, showers and more were helping to keep the peace in the park. There were plenty of early-morning risers walking and jogging along the paths in this rare green space in the urban sprawl of one of Asia's largest cities. Distracted by the throngs and the business of the place, I ended up adding a bit more to the run than I intended to. As I was leaving the park, an old Thai gentleman was on the stage singing a song, warming up the crowd. People seemed to love it and I would have loved to have taken a short video, but I was hesitant to take photos in the park.

I headed back to the hotel, showered, breakfasted and got back to work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Thanks for the motivation to keep me running!

This run belongs to Lacey! Thanks for helping out!

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of my friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 4.7 miles
Time - About 36 minutes
Soundtrack - Wolf Parade, Apologies to the Queen Mary