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.

May 6, 2013

Today's run was a new route, complete with exploration and challenges! Running in the Diplomatic Area of Delhi is nice. The streets are wide, lined with trees and the buildings are beautiful. I pass embassies, colonial-era bungalows and monuments to the greatness of the Indian subcontinent. This route, the Moti Bagh 5 Miler, leaves the Diplomatic Area. Could things be that different?

If you look at the map below, you'll see the Ring Road about half way between Mile One and Mile Two. The Ring Road aptly circumnavigates what most people consider to be New Delhi or more appropriately, Delhi as it contains Old Delhi as well. But today's run had me thinking about the Ring Road as a border. Without creating too many generalizations about what's inside and what's outside of the "Ring," I'll talk specifically about what happened when I crossed this particular portion of the border.

The first mile of this run is on one of those wide, tree-lined streets that I talked about earlier. It takes a fun detour over a railway track, passes a huge private park for railway employees (but probably not for the ones that serve tea) and an army something or other. It's nice. Then it crosses the Ring Road, up and over six lanes of dirty traffic on a pedestrian overpass. The minute we entered the neighborhood on the other side, it was like entering a completely different place. The streets were narrow, hot, and choked with flies. All available space was taken up by buildings. While the people on the other side of the Ring Road were walking, jogging (ahem), and otherwise slowly waking up to their days, this side was packed with people working. They were loading and unloading, washing cars, carrying goods to/from market. The contrast was stark. Google Maps had me thinking we were cruising around a park, but it sure wasn't the Railroad Employees private park from our side of the Ring. We ran past a busy market where at least four or five dogs wanted to give us some attention and then made our way back to the Ring Road. This area is currently ripped up for Delhi Metro construction. Up and over another overpass and the run took us back into the (relatively) quiet and clean Moti Bagh North.

Of the multitudinous things that I love about India is the fact that within a mile (1 MILE!) of where we live, we can see and do so many different things. The contrasts are incredible. The first time I came to India and described to people back home I said, "The colors are brighter, the sounds are louder, the smells are more intense." It's a crazy place, and I'm humbled to have the luxury to explore it on my morning runs. 

Thanks to Keir for joining me on the exploration and for pushing crazy splits! Our first three miles were 8:21, 9:19, 9:14. The last two were 7:38 and 6:42. Granted, his gps said we didn't do a full five, so maybe that last one is off a bit, but still. Too fast.

RUN STATS:

Distance - 5 miles

Time - 40:29

Soundtrack - Summer Guide 13, a playlist from an old friend with an obession. Check his blog to get great playlists. Thanks Regan!