Returning to running and blogging

My last attempt at making an entry in this blog was on October 21, 2010 - about a month after a microdiscectomy for my L4-L5 disc. I find that its still in draft and incomplete. So this attempt is simply going to be a quick one to break the cycle.

I've been trying to get out of the pre-surgery routine of lots of TV, daily junk food and late awakening. It looks like the extruded disc that I had did more than hurt my back. The psychological impact has been significant. My best habits of getting out of bed early, eating well, staying fit, etc. have all been shot to death.

I am trying to build that base of good habits again. For the last several weeks now, I have been able to more or less consistently wake up at o500 every morning. I am also eating much less junk and there is a less of a tendency to swig at parties or evenings out.

Been reading Robin Sharma and interestingly the first thing he talks about in his book "The Leader who had no title" is about the daily habits of leaders. Ha - someday I'll be a leader without a title as well! (Of course, I think the best way to become a leader without a title is to start with one. Somebody somewhere will likely knock you down and strip it off you - so maybe I'll go and buy one)

Been doing a bit of running now - not jogging much - walking up to Pachaiyappa's and doing 60m strides. Sprinting is still way in the future it looks like. Need to get into some serious weight training before I can do that. Found that put on a track suit between sets on benchpress really helps. Can stay warm and definitely flexible.

Fixing the hack and 2 game changers

Had a rough time finding out how to stop my blog being hacked. Figured out that my blog was configured to receive updates via email. Looks like a virus of some sort has picked up my blogs' email addresses and was mailing them. So after hemming and hawing for several days and threatening complaints to Google (just a generic threat - didn't know who to blame anyway), I decided to disable the email accounts. So far nothing has happened since then. So I think I solved the problem.

Since I am not running because of my back (which I happen to throw out again!), I thought I might as well talk about a couple of game changers. A game changer is a technology or fad that will fundamentally alter an industry or commonly prevalent paradigm - maybe even kill some paradigms. I am now officially hooked to two solid applications that I believe will change the way we work.

The first is something called FeedJournal (www.feedjournal.com). Its a kind of blog syndicater that combines various blogs into a single newspaper like interface. Personally, I read a lot - and I cant always read from a computer screen. FeedJournal is such a life saver that once a week I can print out all the posts from all the blogs that I read and I have a custom magazine with only the articles that I like. I believe this is a game changer because it could potentially change the concept of a magazine over the next 10 years or so. Imagine a world where you didn't have a traditional magazine like Time or Newsweek. Just authors whose feeds go into various custom magazines.

The second is something that could have a much faster acceptance cycle than FeedJournal. I recently saw a presentation for Google Wave and was blown away. Wrangled an invitation right away and was as impressed using it as I was seeing the demo. GW's paradigm is that a Wave is like a thread that you start and share with whoever you want. All those you share with can modify or reply to your wave. Modification is particularly useful if you are collaborating on something - like say a report or a plan. Replying is useful when you are trying to get consensus on something (this is not so cool - since email already does this)

The modification feature is really something to rave about. We use it in my company for our status meetings. So I create a status wave and invite my team to the wave. Each one is tasked with updating their part of the wave. Where it gets really cool is that they can simultaneously update the wave. Think of it as a "merge" in real time - for those who are familiar with merging code.

In real time, each member of the wave can see the other updating his or her section as it is being done. So you can react right away to posts by others and get your plans in sync. For the first time, one-hour status meetings actually finish in one hour as opposed to the several hours it used to take.

Right now I'm not too clear how Google is positioning Wave. But positioned right, I believe Wave will change the way we think about collaboration and so qualifies as a game changer in my mind.

Well until I start running/sporting again, expect a lot of non-running posts from me.

Until next time.

Hacks and race walking

Looks like my blogger account was hacked! So posts extolling the virtues of strange sounding drugs. Rest assured I am not selling them! Thanks to George for pointing it out for me.

In the meantime, my disc prolapse is really killing me. So I have started race-walking. Check out the entry in Wikipedia for what race-walking is.

I can tell you, even though it looks funny, its no where near funny. I have been doing my 200m and 400m repeats while race-walking. What it did do on the first day was chafe my inner thighs pretty badly.

Another thing it did was introduce me to calf muscle torture. Not sure whether thats because of walking or because Im so unfit. Either way started a slow job today. Hopefully my back will sort itself out and I can lose the 3 extra inches on my stomach sometime soon. (Can't seem to lose the extra beers and whiskies though)

Until next time.

Walking on jelly

Did a killer work out yesterday.

800m warmup
400m at 13kmph
200m at 5 kmph
400m at 14kmph
200m at 5 kmph
400m at 15kmph
200m at 5 kmph
400m at 16kmph
200m at 5 kmph
400m at 17kmph
200m at 5 kmph
400m at 18kmph
400m walk to stop.

2 x 15 reps hang cleans
2 x 15 reps push-jerk
2 X 20 reps alternating lunges
2 x 10 reps squat jumps

Whole thing took about 1 hr 15 minutes. My legs had turned to jelly (and remained jelly like for the rest of the day). The 400m repeats have got to the be the hardest workout I have done. I loved it.

Until next time.

Motivation and how to give up.

Been struggling with motivation issues since my Chicken Pox episode and since my annual event ended.

Started playing a little shuttle this last week. Its been good. The workout itself is not that hard. I remember when I started playing squash, it took me a month to figure out how to play it and I got a hell of a work out during that time. As I got better at it, the workout became less and less strenuous. I thought I was getting better at the game.

Actually, I was getting better at figuring out which ball I could take and which I could give up on even without trying. I realized this when I found that I was getting beaten by the same guy with the same or marginally different scores.

The same thing is happening in Shuttle, only faster. Wow - the knowledge of my body is increasing rapidly. In one week, I am able to figure out all the various ways in which I can give up. Picking up some cool expertise!

Until next time.

Elizabeth Vasanthakumari, Golds and Silver, Rome - Big update!

I've decided to keep my posts short and quick. Just like my running. Now realized that short and quick is a life truth.

Anyway, first off did some pretty interesting running in Rome. Not much - just enough to keep me warmed up. The most interesting aspect of Rome, from a running perspective, was meeting Elizabeth Vasanthakumari. She was part of the 1984 SAF Games Gold medal winning 4x400 team along with P.T. Usha. For having been one of the fastest runners of her time, Elizabeth is extremely humble. Just goes to show that greatness doesn't get into everyone's heads.

Well I came back from Rome, and literally hit the ground running. The evening of the day I landed in Madras, I went to JN stadium for my yearly meet. The rest seemed to have helped. I won golds in 100, 200 and 400. Silver in the 4x100 relay - my team was a little washed out from multiple events. I ran pretty strong. Even the 400 - my favorite event - was a class act. Just goes to show good training can make a duck run.

Anyway, after that event, it was finally time for rest. I took several weeks off. Simply going to the gym and doing some light weights. Not so much for a work out but simply out of habit. It was strangely unsatisfactory. I think it was a case of remorse that my event was now over.

Anyway, I walked into Chicken Pox and that ensured that I was in bed for two weeks. Now its been 5 weeks since I was diagnosed - approximately 3 after I was certified as fully recovered. Just started running again. Managed to do a full 30 minutes yesterday.

Now that thats out of the way, I'll try to post shorter more regular posts.

Until next time.

Getting set for the 100!

The last few weeks have been about getting set for my annual athletic meet on the 21st of June.

Been doing a lot of 40m - 120m repeats and some weight training. Feeling fairly fit. But Im not sure my endurance is where it should be. I feel a lot leaner and feel a little tired. But I expect that should go with the one week rest that begins on Saturday. I will be in Rome for that week but there's going to be no running. A lot of walking but no running whatso ever. So that should bring some life back into my legs.

I bought a new pair of spikes this morning. The previous pair that I had bought thinking I will use it during the meet in December is worn out already. The nails are ground down - almost like football studs and the soul is splitting.

A little concerned that I will have had no experience running with my new pair. But I'll have to wing it. I'll get in one session tomorrow and that has to be enough - not much choice.

So the next post is likely after the event. If I get beaten, I wont post for 6 months until every one forgets that I write a blog and then write as if the meet didnt happen.

Until then.