For Keir and Bernie!

The last Delhi Dedicated run of the year! This one has to be dedicated to Keir and Bernie, my faithful running buddies. Ted also belongs in this entry, but he got his dedicated run already.

These guys have been my rock during my training for Grandma's Marathon this year. They could easily be running it with me because they've run as many miles as I have. In fact, I usually end up following them, so it's safe to say that they would be ready for race day.

Sadly, Keir and Ted are leaving Delhi this year, so this run is my last with them for now. I'll miss you guys.

This morning's run was a surprising twist in my multi-year training program. Last year, my final Delhi run was in the Ridge, and so it was this morning. I didn't plan to end the year the same way, but since Bernie and I offered Keir the choice of routes the day before and vetoed him, we knew we owed it to him that morning. He looked at us with such disdain when we announced the wrong shoes. But sweet justice! Ted also has a pair of "Ridge shoes." Once congregated at the Gate, Ted ran back to his apartment to change and we set out.

There's not too much that would stand out in a dramatic, exciting blog post about this run. No dead bodies in the woods, no missing pirate ship, no flux capacitor. So instead of an action-packed summary, I'll opt for a mushy love letter to my friends:

Guys, thanks for:

1. Time well-spent. We always spend our runs chatting and laughing. It's pretty amazing how often I'm smiling during a grueling workout.
2. Being a great decompressor. This year has been stressful and having these runs has been a blessing.
3. Challenging me. Bernie created a course in the Ridge, but when we all run together, we don't compete. That said, the competition has been fierce this year on the courses that we run and like good friends should do, these guys push me to my limits.
4. The bonding experience. The shared memories that we have from countless runs has created an incredible number of in-jokes, anecdotes, close-calls and stories that will always connect us, regardless of friends that move away. For years hence, I'm sure I tell tales of Ted's fear of monkeys, and Keir's willingness to run straight into a pack of them. And I get to look forward to more runs with Bernie in August and beyond!
5. Sharing my passion. You guys all think the same way about running that I do. It's a chance to get out and explore, it's a way to stay fit, it's a chance to hang out...You get excited about MapMyRun statistics, crazy routes and talking about it all ad naseum. If it wasn't for you guys, I'm sure my wife would have shut me up long ago. As it is, I know I talk to her about this stuff too much, but she humors me.

Thank for everything.

Love,
jason



Obligatory blog entry pieces below, with one extra.

Did I say we don't compete when we run together? I didn't mean that.

This run belongs to Keir and Bernie!

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 - 4.94 miles

Time - 39:11

Soundtrack - The Band, Greatest Hits. (Nice woods music!)

For Auntie Sandy

Today's run was for my dear Auntie Sandy! It was designed for her for three reasons:

1. She donated. If you do it too, you get a run.
2. As she is a lover of the great outdoors, I left the city streets and headed into the Ridge.
3. Because she's trapped in the frozen north, this was a special run in the heat of the emerging Delhi summer. Maybe some of the heat will make its way to the Northland.

As you can see it's getting warm here in Delhi. It seems to be a bit late this year, which is nice. Knowing that I have over 2 months of training left before I head to Minnesota isn't as nice. Obviously, running in the heat isn't ideal; that's why I usually run at 6am.

However, a 6am run wasn't in my stars this morning. The boy is getting very close to being able to sleep through the night and the past several nights have been great nights of sleep for all of us. Last night was a struggle, with a good chunk of awake time from 4-5:20am. That meant 20 minutes of sleep and a run, or an hour and a half of sleep and sanity. I opted for sanity.

I was able to shift my run to the afternoon, so I headed out for the Ridge 5 Miler. I've written about the Ridge before on this blog. See my first Ridge post here. Today's run was not nearly as dramatic as that one. Thankfully.

As I entered the Ridge today, I was overcome with that distinct scent that can only be a dead animal. I couldn't see it, but it couldn't have been far. The next sight was a huge macaque. They can be terrifying and unpredictable. The road into the Ridge is usually covered with them and so far they haven't attacked me, but I hate running past them.

After passing the gauntlet, the next sight is a small Sufi temple. From there, it's off the road and into the woods. I was hoping to see something really cool to write about, but there was nothing too crazy. A giant cow, a few creepy dudes and a bunch of peacocks. Rumor has it that the largest Asian antelope, the Nilgai has been seen in the Ridge. I would love to see it.

The run was tough. It was hot, fast and my legs were dead. But, it's five more miles done! To date in 2014, I've run over 220 miles, so I'll well on pace to reach my goal of 800 miles this year.

This run belongs to Sandy! 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 - 4.98 miles
Time - 37:09 (my fastest time on this route!)
Soundtrack - Hip Hop Shuffle. Some real gems including Microphone Fiend by Erick B and Rakim and Rockin' It by the Fearless Four!

The One With All of the Peafowl!

Today's run was a 6+ miler through the Delhi Central Ridge. The ridge is "Delhi's Green Lung," and the home to several species of plants, birds and mammals. Read about my first solo in the ridge here.

To learn even more, I found this e-book from 1991. The History section is worth a read!

It's meant to be a protected area, but as this site explains, there has been much encroachment into the area. It's a shame, because running in The Ridge is an absolute pleasure and a distinct change of pace to the hectic streets of the city.

Today's run was an idyllic 10K through the wooded trails of the ridge. Today, those trails are maintained by the army and the President's Bodyguard, a calvary unit of the Indian Army. The PB are stationed at the Presidential Palace, near the Central Ridge and maintain the trails that were originally set up for the British Viceroy in order to exercise the horses. The story goes that our outer loop was the Viceroy's and the inner loop was The Lady's Loop, reserved for his wife (and her possible indiscretions, ooh la la). I'm still looking for a source to verify this...

There is always something to see in The Ridge. Today it was peafowl (my wife reminded me the other day that there is no such thing as a female peacock; those are peahens). On the route today, there were at least 12 of them, most of them taking flight. There are few "bird things" cooler than a peacock in flight. Their bodies are so big and their tails are so long, that it seems impossible that they can take to the air. At one point, a group of three took off, with one flying left, another to the right and the third straight ahead. It was awesome.

This run belongs to Lynnea! 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 - 6.86 miles (a bit extra due to some backtracking)
Time - 58:57
Soundtrack - None. My phone was almost dead, so I skipped the music to save battery.

Birthday Weekend Runs!

FRIDAY

Friday was my 38th birthday. I woke up early, ready to run. Much to my surprise, when I walked out of the bedroom, I saw that I had just received a message on my phone. It was a running buddy, checking to see if I was heading out for my usual 6am run. I quickly replied that I was and hurried downstairs, eager to have someone to accompany me on my birthday run.

After a warning that he didn't want to run one of my "quick runs," I proceeded to follow him for the duration of our three miler.

The route was the Statues 3 Miler, one of the first routes I created on my MapMyRun account. It leaves campus and passes what is alternately called the Salt March Statue, The Dandi March Statue or the Gyarah Murti. This image depicts Gandhi's march to the sea to protest the British tax on salt. From there, it progresses to Teen Murti, another statue that gives the name to the complex containing Jawaharlal Nehru's residence, now a museum. After that, the route turns back to school for a quick 3 mile loop.

Thanks Keir for the surprise and a great start to my birthday!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 3.02 miles
Time - 23:42 (my sixth fastest time on the route-must be out of shape!)
Soundtrack - The Beatles, Revolver






SATURDAY

Saturday morning I headed out for a group run at 6:30am. Over the last few years, several teachers at school have dropped in and out of our informal running group. Many parents have joined also. Saturday morning it was three parents, a local ultra runner and I.

I arrived to the gate in the dark with two different shoes on, one street shoe and one trail shoe. After establishing the fact that no, I wasn't gettting dressed in my sleep, I produced their partners and we decided whether we were hitting the pavement or hitting the woods. A six mile street route was decided upon and we headed out to Sarojini, a local market (in my street shoes, the trail runners stayed behind). It's a fun route, so I was excited to get started. See this post from last year for more info about the market and the route.

The first leg of the route had us cutting across Nehru Park. For the past five years, I have been running, playing ultimate frisbee and hanging out in this park. On Saturday morning, I came across something for the first time in the park. It was a suspension bridge! And it was painted in rasta colors. Each slat was painted red, yellow or green. I was so giddy upon finding the bridge that I actually let out a goofy scream! The five of us hit the bridge running and as you could expect, it was a bouncy trip. Our strides went crazy and the bridge was all over the place. We loved it. The guy that was walking across in the opposite direction though, he probably thought something else.

It was a cool start to a run that would continue along the theme of discovery. Instead of sticking exactly to the route, buoyed by the excitement of Thursday's run, I set out to find a secret back way to Lodhi Garden. We found two locked gates, a secret escape route from a plant nursery, a row of hidden shacks and ended up on railroad tracks. After dismissing the possibility (for now) of a secret way to Lodhi, we set back on track and finished up the route.

I love running with this group, everyone's really nice and of course, it's great to have company.

Also, this route usually looks like Marvin the Martian, but on this given Saturday, the lines were adjusted a bit.

RUN STATS:

Distance - 6.28 miles

Time - 54:10

Soundtrack - De la Soul, Buhloone Mindstate and the Clear Lake Auditorium EP (more goods from the Valentine's Day free download!)

SUNDAY

Damn Google Maps. Sometimes your run just gets 3 miles longer.

On Sunday, I decided to continue my exploration of Delhi and thought I'd try a new direction. There are relatively few options of "which way to go" due to the railroad tracks, the airport and the closed roads around the presidential palace. After studying the maps on Saturday night, I decided to try a new six mile route on new roads. I knew it would be a risk based on the fact that I didn't know what the road would yield and sure enough, as soon as I got there, I found that it was in fact a closed gate into military land. That's also typical for this part of town. I decided to keep going, but I knew that it would lengthen my route.

The adjustment route was supposed to be about six miles. I headed up through the ridge to a new section of Delhi that I've never seen. It was fun to be in a new part of town (Rajender Nagar) and I saw some cool new things. However, the route is along pretty busy roads so I'm not sure that it will become a regular feature.

Like I said, it was supposed to be about six miles. At one point during the route, I wasn't sure which way to go. I guessed, and guessed wrong. It added another three miles to my route. Like I said, sometimes your run just gets 3 miles longer.

In any case, it was nice to go for a long run and to know that I can do it. It's also fun to think about which parts of town I can explore when I start my longer runs (16, 18, 20 miles).

RUN STATS:

Distance - 9.33 miles

Time - 1:14:13

Soundtrack - Danny Brown, Old and CVRCHES, The Bones of What You Believe

Running Into the Unknown

“Mistah Kurtz - he dead.”

This one was for Keir, my dedicated running partner who always keeps me going and Marianna, a generous colleague.

On today’s run, I felt like the protagonist of Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” Like Marlow, I was heading into the unknown, the dark spooky jungle. I ran The Ridge alone this morning, for the first time. There’s a sense of foreboding when running The Ridge, because the entrance is lined with a gauntlet of monkeys. They set the tone for your attitude while on the run. If they’re gone, it’s a peaceful day in the woods. If they let you pass, you’re on edge and anxious. If they come at you...

Today, it was a successful negotiation of the monkey labyrinth and the accompanying anxiousness. After passing through the gauntlet, I entered the ridge forest. Questions immediately began flooding my mind. “Will I remember the turns?” “Will I get lost?” “Will I be attacked by wild beasts?”  I should have been enjoying the respite from the Delhi concrete, but instead I was overcome with doubt and fear of the unknown. I was watching each corner carefully, waiting for monkeys, cows or bandits to jump out at me and leave me like Kurtz. The fact that the ridge is a wild jungle-like setting didn’t help calm me down.

As I ran along thinking about Conrad, Kurtz, and Marlon Brando in “Apocalypse Now,” I started analyzing my fear. I had no reason to be afraid of The Ridge, but the very fact that it was unknown to me made me nervous and afraid. We tend to fear the unknown. Meditating on the fear of the unknown, with my annual departure from Delhi three days away, I started thinking of my previous trip out of Delhi. It was November and we were heading home to deliver the twins. We had no idea what was in store for us, but we were anxious. We knew it would be difficult. We knew it wouldn’t be easy. We knew we were coming up on the hardest times in our lives, but we had no idea what that would mean. Every day we headed further up the river, into the heart of the unknown but instead of finding a “hollow man,” we found ourselves. We made it through and out the other side. I wondered  what this next trip home would yield for us. I knew that the grieving process would begin anew, when we gathered with family and friends that we haven’t grieved with yet. I knew that returning to the lake with one fewer child than we had planned on the previous summer wouldn’t be easy. I ruminated on all of this while running the ridge alone. Every step brought me one step further and I found the right turns, avoided the imaginary demons in the bushes and made it out unscathed. I was sure the same could be said for a trip home to Minnesota.

The soundtrack for the day was intentionally the new John Denver tribute album, “The Music is You.” A nice country album for a run in the woods, I thought. Unintentional though, was the last song I heard as I emerged in one piece from The Ridge - “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” Indeed, I was leaving on a jet plane. A jet plane that would bring me and my family home and into the unknown yet again.

A video about the ridge - https://vimeo.com/110863559

RUN STATS
Distance - 5 MilesTime - 42:42 
Soundtrack - Various Artists, The Music is You: A Tribute to John Denver