For Steadmans! - The Qutub 16 Miler

This run is dedicated to the Steadman family. Thanks for helping to build a base that will eventually provide a campship to a needy camper at YMCA Camp Miller in memory of Ty Taylor. Anyone else can get a dedicated run by donating here - http://www.ymcacampmiller.org/donate/ty-taylor-campship-endowment/

We had a three day weekend the last weekend of April and I was all set to run the Qutub Sixteen Miler on Friday with the faithful crew. However, the 5am wakeup call was accompanied by a round robin of cancellations. The AQI had taken a strange upsurge for April and nobody (including me) wanted to run in the terrible air.

Dejected and disappointed, I went back to bed. I moped around all day, cursing the various reasons why Delhi has the worst air in the world. The next morning, I woke up, checked the air and saw that it hadn't improved. Determined to boost my bad mood, I pulled my mask out of storage and set out on my own to conquer this long training run.

The Qutub route is a fun one. It heads out of Chanakyapuri, into Vasant Vihar and heads uphill (in Delhi!) to Sanjay Van. Sanjay Van is a continuation of the Delhi Ridge forest, and for better or worse, it has been carefully landscaped and manicured with wonderful running/walking trails. Sanjay Van is also the home of Qila Lal Kot, which is the historic "third city of Delhi." Over the course of the last 5000 years, it's said that Delhi and its boundaries have been the site of seven distinct and different cities.  Qila Lal Kot is now in ruins, but scrambling to the top of its rubble allows for amazing views of the forest and the surrounding city. It's also a cool place to watch planes coming in to Indira Ghandi International Airport.

Coming off the road in Sanjay Van is amazing. Everything is instantly quiet and relaxed. Almost idyllic. People are walking, running and playing in the park. There's a pond!

I ran in the park for a while, checking out the views and even a Sufi Tomb. They say Sanvay Van is haunted due to the high number of these tombs and its proximity to the Mehrauli ruins. 

The focal point of the Mehrauli ruins, the Qutub Minar was the destination for this run, so I eventually ran out of the park and posed for a selfie in front of the Qutub to send to Kate to let her know that I was okay. It was hot - almost 80 degrees and the air was bad.

After a photo shoot with the Qutub in the background, I headed home. It was a long tiring run, but it left me feeling very accomplished and glad that I had headed out despite the odds.

RUN STATS

Distance: 15.65 miles

Duration: 2:03:44

Soundtrack: Shuffle of the songs on my phone

It's go time!

Let's do this.

26.2

For Michael!

Saturday's run was a "get my house in order" kind of run. Discouraged by the Racer X Syndrome Run and the I'm a Quitter Run, I decided that it was time to refocus my energy. I needed to prove to myself that I am in fact, fit and that I can in fact, run a marathon because I am mentally strong.

This Rocky (the boxer, not the feeling of uneasiness)-moment run is dedicated to Michael. Thanks for the donation. It serves to keep me going, even when the going gets tough.

Yeah! Billy Ocean!

I set out Saturday morning determined to offset my lousy hangover from the busted 22 miler. I planned a four miler, the same out-and-back that I've run many a time before. Out the door, turn right out of the driveway, turn around at 2 miles and come back. Nothing glorious, but as they say in India, "I have to do the needful."

I knew it was going to be a good run when I turned a corner and saw a deer. I actually yelled out loud, "YES!" and did a little fist pump when I saw it. A fist pump. By myself. In the woods. What can I say? It geeks me out to see the animals here at the lake. We've seen deer, pine martins, weasels, raccoons, loons, herons, woodpeckers...it's awesome. And it adds some variety to well-plied dead end road runs.

Because this wasn't about proving my distance, it was about proving my mental toughness, there would be no stopping and chatting with neighbors, no checking the mail or no stopping to snap photos on this run. I just needed to get out and do it.

The first mile was all about getting the day before's kinks out. Like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, my knees screamed "Oil me!" as I ran the first mile in 7:27. That's a normal pace for me on shorter to mid-distance runs. Feeling good, I stepped it up for the second mile.

7:00. Now I was inspired. "You're going to kick this run in the buns," I said to myself, ignoring my screaming calves and thighs. Mile three was 7:15, slightly slower, so as Ms. MapMyRun mocked my decreased pace (so it seemed to me), I made up my mind to answer her challenge. Mile four found me turning it up and as I crossed the edge of the driveway, she was telling me that I had finished the last mile in 7:01. This isn't my fastest Murphy Lake 4 Miler, but it was the third best. Knowing that now, it's time to break the record for this route.

I don't intend on running the marathon that fast, but reminding myself that I'm strong, capable and mentally tough is helping me overcome the slump of the last few runs.

I've got this.

There aren't too many more runs to dedicate before the race, so get on it if you're donating!

This run belongs to Michael.

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 miles

Time - 28:53

Soundtrack - Beastie Boys, Hello Nasty

For Andrea and the Curreys!

Last Friday's run was mentally and physically a big one.

I've been struggling with my program due to the end of the school year, the trip back home, lowered motivation and fatigue.

The run before this didn't end well, but I was determined to make up for it. I had my eyes set on a 20-24 miler, the last really long run before the marathon. I had done an 18 and a 20 in Delhi, and my training program called for another 20 miler before the end. The problem though, was that it was scheduled for the weekend that we were traveling from India back home. I wanted to do it earlier in the week, but I just never got to it. I wanted to up it to 22, so I could have a new longest run and get a bit closer to the magic 26.2 mile mark.

As you can tell by the name of the run, I didn't get there. What happened?

1. Physical exertion set in.
2. Mental blocks took over.

Before I left for the run, it was already in my head. I was dreading the distance and whining about having to go. I appealed to my friends for a motivational donation. Andrea stepped up. It helped and I set out to run the Mesabi Trail near my house. The Mesabi Trail is a great bike trail that will eventually be a 132 mile paved bike trail running through most of northern Minnesota. My idea was to run the 11 mile stretch from Eveleth, through Gilbert, to Virginia and back. (By the way, this seems inconceivable after running in Delhi. A run that would take me through 3 towns? Crazy.)

The trail is great. It's extremely well-maintained and beautiful. For the first four miles, I didn't even see another soul. I ran through the mixed forest, admiring the trees, listening to the birds and meditating on the sounds of the hidden streams that outed their existence with their gurgles that proved they were there.

CC: By- Ken Ratcliff

At mile four, I entered the town of Gilbert. Gilbert will always live in my memory as the "Place Where I Bought my Record Player." Our record player is a big feature of Life at the Lake, so whenever I pass through Gilbert, I smile at the memory of bargaining the woman down to $20, then proceeding to spend more on a record cleaning kit and a needle.

From Gilbert, the trail turns west and passes through more forest. This is mining country and the deep lakes along the way are old open pit mines that have been filled with water. The route also passes through a rock cut from 1893, the original path being a rail line. It's very picturesque.

At this point, I was feeling good. My legs were heavy, but it wasn't unbearable and I didn't feel terrible.

Around mile 8, the route turns north and enters the city of Virginia. The City of the Virginia is the "Queen City" of  the Iron Range. It was once a bustling headquarters of iron ore mining operations. Mining by nature is boom and bust, so Virginia has had its ups and downs. The portion of the Mesabi Trail that goes through Virginia is great, with lots to see along the way. It was here that I started to feel a little worn out. There are real live actual hills on the trail, which is something that I'm not used to dealing with and they took a toll. The hills combined with sleep deprivation, poor hydration and a baditude, to be fair.

As soon as Ms. MapMyRun announced 11 miles, I turned around and headed back. I'm not a big fan of out-and-backs, so this may have been one of the fatal flaws of this run. Knowing that I had to turn around and backtrack really got in my head. At this point, I had been on the trail for over 1.5 hours. Knowing that I still had to do that much was tough on my already weak psyche.

My mind started wandering, making deals and building escape plans. It was tough. Approaching 13 miles, I knew that I could make it at least that far without stopping or resting. I've done three half marathons, so I made up my mind to go at least that far. From Mile 13 to mile 14 was an uphill gain of almost 200 feet. That's probably more than all of my Delhi gains put together. At mile 14 I took a walking break.

It was the beginning of the end.

Once the decision to quit has been made, it's very difficult to overcome.

The next four miles would see my average pace drop from 7:59 for the first five miles, to 8:41 for the next, 10:06 for miles 11-15 and finally 12:27 for the final 2.79 miles. My body and my mind had given up. As I quit, I looked at my phone and saw that the Curreys had donated too. Ugh.

I skipped the last four miles of the run, walked the rest of the way back to my car and headed home broken, nervous and weary of my decision I had undertaken to run a marathon. I felt like a let down to my donors and myself.

How to fix this? Luckily, I come from a school where the growth mindset is highly valued. I'm going to learn from this and make it better. I'm going to refuse to let it hinder me and I'm going to run that marathon. And it's going to be great. I'm going to meet my life goal of running a marathon. I can do this.

This run belongs to Andrea and the Curreys.

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 - 17.97 miles

Time - 2:49:21

Soundtrack - Phish, Plastilina Mosh, Primus, Public Enemy (I was in the P's of my music library)

For Marianna!

Friday's run was a typical example of why your donations are so important to me. If Marianna hadn't generously donated, here are all of the reasons why I would have stayed home.

1. It's getting hot in Delhi. Damn hot.
2. I have a bit of a knee thing happening.
3. I'm staying up late trying to catch up on work.
4. It's hot.

We try to run early to avoid the heat, so we left at six hoping for the best. I know it's whiny, but the heat really effects my training. One more week in Delhi, then it's back to cool Minnesota for another three weeks of runs!

As you can see in the map below, this run is themed! After miles and miles, the roads start making shapes in my head. Occasionally, after staring at the maps for hours, the shapes just make sense. This is the result - The Giraffe 4 Miler. The head is formed by taking an alley behind the State Visiting Houses on Kautilya Marg. The ear is formed by taking a lap around the Police Memorial Park. Take a moment to click on that link and read about the park's controversial history. Keep reading to find out why it's so creepy.

The park was never finished. In the center of the park is a large, raised platform. Underneath, there was meant to be a museum. Instead, there is nothing. It's completely abandoned. The staircases still take you down to the dark, creepy space. Picture any abandoned parking garage, half-finished apartment complex or the like from any zombie, drug addiction, kidnapping movie and you have the idea. Bernie and I went down to check it out and with each step we took into the darkness, our hearts beat faster and our steps became slower. It's creepy. Really creepy.

We surfaced, alive, and continued back to school.

This run belongs to Marianna!

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 - 4.13 miles
Time - 33:24
Soundtrack - BS 2000, Simply Mortified

For Ted!

I usually put the map last in my posts, but this one makes me so proud that I have to lead with it.

Although the route is call the Tughlaqabad 20 Miler, I didn't run all twenty miles. I did run 18 though, and it's the longest run I've ever done. Thanks to Ted for the donation and thanks to Ted and Bernie for sticking with me for the whole distance. Adam and Keir came with too, which helped a lot.

I owe a lot to you guys, so without getting too gushy, I just want to say thanks for everything you do for me. I appreciate it.

There were some definite highlights to this run. First of all, the distance. Running 18 miles is tough, but super rewarding. The finish point was an absolute highlight, but I'll talk more about that later.

The first highlight happened just before Mile 4. We were running through a narrow lane when we maybe inadvertently started a "stampede." If you've read my blog for a while you know that we have our fair share of cows in Delhi. Usually they are present, but not a real nuisance and certainly not dangerous. Last Saturday, I was afraid of them for the first time. As we were running past a group of 2 or 3 cows, one got spooked and started running. The other joined and suddenly we were leading the Running of the Bulls in reverse. Not sure what to do, we kept running. A few more cows joined the others and a full-on stampede was happening. At one point, I'm pretty sure one cow decided to take the narrowest path possible and squeezed between a car and the wall. Maybe a rearview mirror was broken. Nobody knows for sure.

The next highlight was a subterranean pedestrian underpass! We crossed under the Ring Road and ended up in a really nice neighborhood. I think we made a wrong turn in there somewhere, but it wasn't too bad.

I can't remember exactly when my next highlight happened, but I think it was around here somewhere. I was the frontrunner, so everyone behind me got a great view of me getting punched in the face. Well, not punched exactly, but as I ran past a bus stop, a guy with his back to me took a big stretch and released just as I passed him. I took a fist right in the face. Unfazed, I ran on while all of my "support team" had a good laugh.

The next stretch took us through a major slum colony, Kalkaji. From there, we left the packed urban landscape and almost immediately hit a dirt road and forest scrub. A quick consult of the map and a question or two to the local chai wallah and we were off to Tughlaqabad Fort. The contrast of the density of the slum and the seemingly countryside environment was crazy. We avoided a few hogs that were cavorting in the mud and the fort was in full view. A short dogleg took us around back into another neighborhood where another highlight of the run happened. A guy chilling on his front stoop talking to his buddies saw us run by and said, "Oh my god. There's the entertainment for the day." I've often wondered what people think of us when we come marauding through these neighborhoods and now I know what at least one thought. OMG.

So Much Love for These Guys. Also Tughlaqabad Fort in the background.

As we worked our way around the Fort, I knew we had an ugly stretch ahead of us. We had a little less than 2 miles on fairly busy, open roads. Although we started at 5:30am to try to stave off the heat of the day, it was getting hot. Like 100 degrees hot.

As soon as we peeled off Guru Ravidas Marg into the Jahanpanah City Forest, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees. It was amazing and a welcome break. The 12 mile mark of the run was in the forest and I was again surprised by one of Delhi's green spaces. It was amazing. Very well-maintained spaces and trails. And we saw traces of one of Delhi's running hashes! There was shreddie along the trail. On on! We really took our time in the park. We were averaging about 9 minute miles over the course of the entire run, but one of our miles in the park was 11 minutes! We actually got passed by an ancient guy that was walking!

Recharged, we set out for the last 6 miles. These were mostly a blur for me. I might have even blacked out for a while. It had been 2 full weeks since my last big run and I was dogging it.

The last highlight came at Mile 18 as we stopped two miles short of home and got into an autorickshaw for a breezy ride home. Awesome.

Thanks again for the run guys, you're champions!

This run belongs to Ted!

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 - 18.36 miles!

Time - 2 hours 43 minutes 36 seconds. Are you kidding me?

Soundtrack - A special playlist created from track #18 songs from various albums

Kicked Out The House	De La Soul	18 of 27
Flipside (BBC Session)	The Breeders	18
Invisible Man (Demo)	The Breeders	18
Soul Plan	Tom Caruana	18
Brand New	Beastie Boys	18 of 28
Intergalactic	Beastie Boys	18 of 19
Push, Make it Work	Princess Superstar	18 of 25
Big Dogs	Method Man & Redman	18 of 19
Blue Flowers Revisited	Dr. Octagon	18 of 20
Staying Alive	Wyclef Jean	18 of 24
Batman & Robin	Snoop Dogg	18 of 20
Project Talk	RZA	18 of 21
War At 33 1/3	Public Enemy	18 of 20
Final Interlude	Pras	18 of 18
My Favorite Things	Outkast	18 of 21
Melody Mix	Oh No	18 of 36
Ms. Wallace (Outro)	The Notorious B.I.G.	18 of 18
Eye Featuring Stacy Epps	Madvillain	18 of 22
Through the Wire	Kanye West	18 of 20
Jayou	Jurassic 5	18
'Till I Collapse	Eminem	18 of 20
The Actuators	Antipop Consortium	18 of 19
Something Big	Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	18 of 21
Video Killed the Radio Star (Live)	Ben Folds Five	18 of 20
The Man Who Sold The World	David Bowie	18 of 20
Something In The Air	Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	18 of 18
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)	Talking Heads	18 of 18
The Transaction	The Sea and the Cake	18 of 23
Hit Me With Your Best Shot	Pat Benetar	18
I Hate You [demo]	The Monks	18 of 19
Skin Trade	Duran Duran	18 of 19
The drugs don't work (live 2001)	Ben Harper	18 of 25
Short on ideas	Less Than Jake	18 of 19
Sunless Saturday	Fishbone	18
Who Holds The Power Ring-	Less Than Jake	18
Are u Just Scared	Big D & the Kids Table	18
The Dilemma	BS 2000	18 of 22
Vuelve	Edwin Rivera	18 of 18
Track 18	Café Tacuba	18 of 18
Indocumentados (Instrumental)	Akwid	18 of 19
Aldemaro En Su Camaro	Los Amigos Invisibles	18 of 19
Tema Del Zurdo	Kevin Johansen	18 of 19
Medley:	Gipsy Kings	18 of 18
Desde La Prisión	Akwid	18 of 19
Us (Live In London)	Regina Spektor	18 of 22
Banana Co	Radiohead	18 of 21

For Michele and Lynner!

I'm a bit behind on my dedicated runs. Sorry! This run happened last Thursday. It's dedicated to Michele and Lynner! I sent out an impassioned plea for $15 to reach the $1000 milestone and they both stepped up independently to push me over my goal. Thanks so much ladies, without your help hitting the pavement is so much more difficult.

This year I've been really lucky to have a lot of company on my training runs. Most mornings when I head down to the gate to leave campus, there's someone there waiting to run with me. Given my occasional flakiness due to off nights with the baby, it means even more to me that my friends are around to help. Thanks guys!

Back to Thursday. When I got down to the gate, there was nobody there. After waiting for about 5 to 10 minutes, I took my solitude as a sign to attempt to break the Nehru Park record. When I have company, we can't really run Nehru, so I haven't been pushing myself as much lately. Since I've managed to hook all of my running friends on trying to beat the record, the competition has ramped up.  The previous link shows my March 24 attempt of 11:10, which was then seven seconds behind the record. My next effort was a massive one, taking 24 seconds off of the record, pushing it down to 10:46. That record held until April 17, when Bernie managed to steal my record away. His time? 10:45. My best time in April was a measly 12:06, so when I set out on Thursday, I knew I had some work to do.

I headed out on my 4 mile route of the park and entered with a mindset to break the record. I was focused on my pace and tried my hardest to push my limits. It felt good in the park, I was running fast and I felt like I had a chance at the record. After the last sprint to the finish, I left the park and felt tired. I mean, really tired. So tired that I stopped my run. My plan was to walk back to school and call it a day. Wednesday is my soccer night, so any Thursday run is a bonus. I quickly looked at my phone to check my time on the loop and saw two things. First, I didn't break the record. My time was 11:05. Second, I saw that I had only run 2.64 miles. I was disappointed with both.

I decided to run home despite my tiredness. When I got home, I spent about an hour analyzing my run looking for a way to cut time. I identified four areas of the run where I can try to push a little harder, but overall, it's getting hard to cut the seconds.

I hope to do it. Maybe it will be on another dedicated run. Maybe we can make a wager, readers. How much would you donate if I can break the current record? Leave your pledges in the comments of this post and when I break the Nehru Loop record, I'll collect. ;)

This run belongs to Michele and Lynner!

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 - 2.64 miles first, then .69 miles more
Time - 18:28, 5:49. The pace on the first run 7 minutes/mile. The last bit, 8:28 minutes/mile.
Soundtrack - The Pixies' new album, Indie Cindy!

View this Course on MapMyRun

For Anonymous!

My anonymous donor has struck again.  He (or she) donates every year in the most humble way with a small disclaimer - "Please don't mention my name or anything."

If you want to be anonymous you can be too. Just donate here.

It's been three days off from running.  A huge group of us went to see the "world's oldest zero" in a temple in Gwalior. It was a mathematically religious experience. I could have accompanied Keir on a run up to the fort where the zero temple is on Sunday morning, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Too tired and lazy.

50 Garlands!

Zero, my hero...

Today, we were back in Delhi and I was back on the streets. I was joined by Ted and Bernie, so the promise of a too-fast run was imminent. These are the guys that are probably going to kill me on the game-ified courses we compete on. I welcomed it (begrudgingly) and we headed out for the Poppy 4 Miler. On the way, we decided on a great way to prank the MapMyRunners on the Nehru Park Loop Course. I don't think we'll actually do it, so here's the set-up. One phone, three runners stationed at relay loops around the park. Full sprints for each of us and the owner of the phone takes down a seriously fast record time. Maybe if the readership of my blog stays flat, this reveal is no big deal?  Would it kill you to leave a comment once in a while, readers?

It was fun catching up with these guys as we made our way to Kushak Road. My training would be a real pain in the butt if it wasn't for my friends, in particular these two. Together with Keir, they are always willing to join me on a run whether it's a four miler or a long 18 miler to Qutub Minar and back. Thanks guys!

The run was good. It seemed to be threatening to rain, but didn't. The first half of the poppy is dog-rich, which is annoying. The dogs on this section of the route get really crabby. Oh, and we also had to split a group of monkeys - "Be braavvve, be brraavve...."

The other highlights of the run included a gigantic dead rat and a Skype call from Bernie's wife. Of course, it didn't slow him down.

The final section of the route was the Last Gasp Course, a course created by Gene to challenge runners to finish strong. It's the last .6 miles of most routes back to school. We turned into it and let loose. I gave up about half way and told the others to save themselves. They left me in their dust.

When we got home, cooled down and started our day, Ted sent an email showing that Bernie had not only beat each of us on the Last Gasp, but he set the course record. He beat Ted by one second. Ted said it was a birthday present.

Happy birthday Bernie!

This run belongs to Anonymous!

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 - 3.90 miles
Time - 29:34
Soundtrack - An Oldie but a Goodie.  Prodigy, The Fat of the Land

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

Motivation!

Thank you! An appeal for donors nabbed three quick donations, taking care of today's, tomorrow's and Wednesday's runs.

Without Becky, today's run most assuredly would not have happened.

It was dark.
It was raining.
My headphones stopped working.
Wah.

Under any normal circumstances, I would have headed back upstairs and crawled back into bed. Training for a marathon takes time, effort and dedication, but a measly three miler can be skipped, right?

Not when there's money on the line. It means the world to me to have people helping out and donating money to inspire me to keep running. More importantly, the ball is rolling. Becky's donation helped to make my total $260. Added to the previous amount in the campship, and we've raised almost $1000! There's still work to be done, though. An effective campship needs between seven and ten thousand to accrue the necessary interest to send a kid to camp every year. Click here to read why it's so important to me to raise money to create a campship in memory of my friend, Ty. Click here if you think you can help too!

Back to the run.

Believe it or not, this was the first time that I've ever gone running in the rain. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but it's not so cold anymore in Delhi and truthfully, it wasn't pouring. It wasn't so bad, and like I said, there was no way I could back out on this run. The big bummer was the fact that my headphones stopped working. I love running with music, so not having anything to listen to put me in a dark mood. Again, thanks to Becky, I kept running.

The route was the Nehru Park 3 Miler. If you're reading my posts (I think somebody does, right?) then you know that this is my speed workout, my challenge run, my future probable cause of puking on a run...well today was a good one. I got my second personal record (PR) on the 1.6 mile Nehru Park Loop course. 11:10. The standing record is 11:03, and I would love to break 11 minutes. Maybe a big contingent donation will motivate me?

The rain didn't keep the visa searchers away from the Pakistan embassy. The translators were under tarps with their LED lanterns busy on their typewriters. Over the weekend, there must have been an event in the park because today there were piles of chairs and tents. Not so oddly, there were few other people in the park today, just a few walkers with umbrellas and a few other runners braving the rain drizzle.

Normally, after I push myself on the loop, I leave the park and slow down quite a bit on the way back home. Today, I decided to keep the pace. Lo and behold, even though I didn't beat the "in the park" record, I did get a PR on the overall 3 miler. It was my fastest time out  of the 12 times that I've run the route this year!

This run belongs to Becky! 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 - 3.0 miles
Time - 20:45
Soundtrack - None. See my whiny comments above.

Running for a Reason 2014!

I am pleased to announce my fundraising campaign for Grandma's Marathon 2014. In the past two years, I have dedicated my training and my races to different charities. This year I'm doing the same.

And I'm very happy to tell you that this year you can help to make a very real difference.

On January 28, 2010, I lost a dear friend. Today, I'm finally doing something to honor his memory. I wrote this after he died.

One of my highlights growing up in Minnesota was going to YMCA Camp Miller every summer.

It taught me so many things about life that I would have never learned staying at home. I made friends, mistakes, and crafts out of leather.

When I was sixteen I joined the staff as a CIT and when I was 17, I was an Assistant Counselor. That's when I met Ty Taylor. He was an amazing guy that had a life story that blew my mind as a 17 year old from Minnesota. We worked together all summer and he was a big influence in my life. He inspired my love of adventure, my ability to laugh at myself, helped me appreciate the simple things that surrounded me and taught me about the value of unconditional friendship.  

After that summer, I never went back to camp and Ty and I lost touch but just like the things I learned at camp, he was always a part of who I had become. Just a year ago, we met up again on Facebook and despite the 15 year gap, it was just like old times. 

Last week, I received the terrible news that he had passed away after a routine surgery.Several of his friends from Camp Miller have been in touch and we are trying to set up a Campship in his name. If we can get together about 7000 dollars, the scholarship will accrue enough interest to be given to a deserving kid every summer. 

I'd like to think that we're giving other campers a chance to meet their "Ty."

In 2010, we weren't able to make that goal. This year, I want to do everything that I can to make it happen. If the money can be raised, Camp Miller will give a deserving kid a campship in his name every year from now until forever. Ty would love that.

Please consider donating. It will help a kid have the experiences that I did and it will motivate me to keep running every day from now until raceday. And beyond, if necessary. Anyone who donates will have a run dedicated to them, and a write-up on this blog!

Here's the link for donating - http://www.duluthymca.org/give/ Just choose the Ty Taylor Campship option.

If you prefer, here's a direct link.

I'm running tomorrow, so who will make the first donation?

A Missing Boardwalk

A run to the sand for the people in the land of sand! Thanks to Jonathan, Sara, Lucy and #2 for the donation. It means a lot.

This run was all about salty air, longboards, beach cruisers, a missing boardwalk and regrowth. It was the only run in Long Beach that I managed to get up the motivation for, due to the kind donation from Skweebs and the kiddos. We were in NY for a few days visiting the in-laws and I had meant to do more runs, but this year has been tough. There are a few reasons for my lack of motivation this year.

1. New baby means less sleep and more desire to stay home.
2. Having finished two 1/2 marathons now, I know what to expect.
3. Breaking my PR really necessitates true hard work, focused on speed training.

With this in mind, my spirits have been low. My times on the Minnesota routes have all been lower this year than they were last year. I know my training has been more slack this year, and I'm beating myself up about it. Getting out the door has even been harder, with me giving up on training runs before they even start.

Visiting New York was tough, because of the memories associated with the twins' birth. This visit we were back in Kate's parents' house, which was gutted the last time we were there. They've been rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy and being back in the house helped restore some normalcy to the visit.  The day I finally headed out on a run, I chose some silly music and took off. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to see new things on my run. The sea air hit me the minute I was on my way and I felt great! People were everywhere, on their way to the beach with their giant cruiser bicycles, longboards and beach gear. A sad reminder of last year's hurricane hit me when I got the beach. The boardwalk is still missing, so I had to settle for a run along the beach on the nearest street instead. The Boardwalk will be rebuilt, Kate's parents' house will be as good as new and I'll realize that even if I don't do as well this year, it will still be a race well-run because I've managed to raise a lot of money for an organization that helped my family rebuild. Thanks everyone.

ps. My pace on this run was great-maybe I shouldn't panic yet.

https://www.coloradogives.org/forellis

RUN STATS:

Distance - 5 miles

Time - 35:28

Soundtrack - Cypress Hill, Black Sunday