TCS 10K: Edition 9

Couldn't hit the targeted 46, but still recorded a personal best 47:29.

Bangalore 10K - Edition 8

The TCS -formerly Sunfeast- 10k event is my annual reassurance that my youth is still around (although you could argue that the need for that reassurance is itself a symptom of an impending mid-life crisis). Recorded my best ever timing at 48:48, and what's more, had a lot of gas left in the tank when I finished. Feel I could have shaved off at least 30-40 seconds if I had paced well. Target for next year - 46 mins.

Bangalore 10K - Edition 6

The trend that I noted last year - speed inflation- continues. I finished at 53:16, 2 seconds faster than last year, and yet at 634, I still ended up around 200 ranks down. I have to run a full 78 seconds faster to stay in the top 500. Sigh!

The 10k run - edition 5

Two years ago, I ran the Bengaluru 10k in 55:07 and finished 447th. This time I timed 53:18 and yet finished 459th. One of three things is happening:

• Semi-serious amateur runners from other cities are starting to participate in this event (I did see a lot of Chennai and Hyderabad tees). 
• Bangaloreans are training harder. 
• More and more people are taking up running. 

 Whatever the reason, these stats clearly indicate a speed inflation and are actually quite motivating. Not all stats are that encouraging though. Take this one for its sheer unattainability; a guy from our football gang finished the circuit in 37:12.

The 10k run - edition 4

I want to believe that line from a Dylan song "I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now". Unfortunately, I can't say that about my finish times in the 10k (sunfeast 10k all these days, TCS 10k now) run over the last 3 years. Depressing!

Sunfeast 10K - Third Edition

I finished the Sunfeast 10k in 55:07. The good news is that my rank was 447 for the category I ran in. The bad news was that I was at least 3 minutes slower than last year. And then the deeply humbling news was that the winner of the competitive format completed the circuit in half the time that I needed.

Sunfeast 10k run - second edition

The weather was gorgeous this year. I knew the contours of the route really well. Knowing which parts slope up and which sections slope down, I had imagined, would help me pace myself better. I thought I even had practised better this time. Which is why I was a little disappointed that I ran only slightly better than last year - 53 minutes. I kept good pace till the 8th km, but the energy I had hoped would be there for the last burst didn't show up. The sense of accomplishment that I felt after the race last year was missing.

This morning, however, when I woke up, all the muscles in my lower body registered their protest in unison. You might see me grimace when I climb down the stairs today, but trust me I'm not complaining. I've never felt more alive.

The 10 km run

Reading the Selfish Gene (and the Origins of Virtue after that) screws up the way you think, at least for a while. You stop participating in human experiences normally. Instead, now when you watch people do something, you step out and think what's making them do it? or What's the evolutionary advantage that this behaviour gave us as a species? So this morning while I was running the 10k event in bangalore, I was noticing that there were twice as many people facilitating this event as there were running. Even I did my altruistic bit by egging on the stragglers. There were people on the pavements who had come there just to cheer the runners. And I felt this overwhelming sense of bonhomie towards everybody; the runners, the cheerers, the organisers and even all the people inconvenienced by this event. I could see that everybody was experiencing that feeling too. And naturally, I am wondering what evolutionary plot is behind this feeling. I didn't get the answer but I managed to finish the race in 55 minutes, 5 minutes lesser than I had initially targeted. I felt incredibly proud, despite knowing that those absolutely gorgeous running machines that drop in from Kenya and Ethiopia and other godforsaken places run this stretch in roughly half that time. Anyway, one of the best things about running is the way you enjoy everything else you do immediately after that. The water down your throat never felt better, Masala Dosas were never more satisfying, and I don't even have words to describe the cold shower.

All in all, it felt great to be in that sea of humanity, coming together for a seemingly inane activity, but nevertheless feeling that warm fuzzy sense of togetherness. At the parking lot, trying to get our cars out of the almighty mess, though, we were all back to hating each other.