January 6, 2012

what you should tell your children about today's match

Too often, we whine (ok, I whine! you whine too!) about India's utter lack of nerve in standing up to a daunting task or being diffident in their chase. And that is not without reason. Most of the subcontinent teams usually do the Goran equivalent in cricket. Destroy the opposition on one day a la Sehwag or be devastated so badly that the fans think twice before buying tickets for their next match.

Today's performance was such a welcome change in this regard. 3 of India's batsmen (Gambhir, Sachin and Laxman) played such amazing knocks that I would be delighted to show my kids (and yours) this chase as an excellent way to play the game. The shots by Laxman and Sachin were so outstanding off such good bowling that I have no hesitation in saying that very few Indian chases/attempts to save the match (at least in close to 2 decades of watching India play) would be anywhere close. For lack of anything better as an expression to sum this up, India chased this the "Brian Lara" way. Absolute style and talent shown fearlessly (ok, fine, except for Sachin's dismissal). In any other game or a first innings, this would be potentially match-winning or setting up one such. We were just hampered by one magnificent performance by the Aussies in the first innings.

But it is ok.

One can sleep in peace today having seen our heroes (at least some of them) play a beautiful game. You win some and lose some.
And of course Ashwin must be gutted. What a lovely start to his career!

Look at this way. Pattinson is out for the next match. Sehwag must be raging inside and Rahul will come good once in the next 4 innings. Australia is not flawless. In fact they were only just trying to pick up their pants before we decided to do them a favour by sucking till this innings. They dropped enough catches and their bowlers are not unplayable. We will go to WACA but Sehwag does not even know what a good or bad pitch is. So he shouldn't care. And people like Nathan Lyon can be destroyed when there aren't 3 fast bowlers who have done the damage. So who will bowl us out? Hussey and Clarke?

I am willing to bet that India can still turn this series around.

I am somewhat emotional at seeing Laxman & Sachin bat so beautifully. I have never been so happy seeing a losing team playing. If this is the way to lose, I am ok if we get beaten in this series 4-0. It means that Australia will need to play better than us for 4 more innings. That is unlikely to happen.

Come on India!

P.S. And drop Kohli! Let him take that finger and shove it you know where. I am ok if he is shunted for a while and comes back as another "Ganguly". Look at what Ganguly did in his 2nd outing. May do Kohli a world of good to make his wicket count. And what was Warner on?! He must have saved some 50 runs!

December 31, 2011

Happy New Year

Wish all the readers of my blog a very happy new year 2012.

2011 was the best year of my life thus far. I did most things I set out to do at the beginning of the year - read a bunch of books, write a bit and qualify for the Boston Marathon. It was made possible by two of the best people in my life - Tony Fong, my running coach and Jerry Pinto, who was my best friend in Mumbai, in addition to pushing me to write down my story.

I quit my job and started working for myself as a running coach and a freelance writer. The next few months will show how that decision works out. But I have had great fun so far. I also had a big scare in the form of jaundice, just weeks after I quit my job - thereby leaving with no job, no outlook on the future (since jaundice is a stubborn disease which doesn't go away quickly) and the very basis of my business model - "me" in poor health. But then things turned around, a little slower than I wanted, but surely.

My family made it possible for me to experiment with all this - my brother who has been my generous sponsor and my parents - who went thru a tough patch while I was running to my heart's content in the US.

In general, 2011 was largely fun due to the wonderful & generous friends both in India & the US, who had a role in every nice thing that happened to me. Thank you all.

Here's hoping for more of the same in 2012.

Just like quite a few runners worldwide, I was upset with the death of Sammy Wanjiru who redefined how marathons would be run. It was like the death of Jimi Hendrix if you are a rock buff. I was mostly too shocked to say much when Sammy died as suddenly as he did. Of the several notable personalities who died in 2011, Sammy's is the one that affected me the most. He was a fearless, strong and graceful runner. He apparently had a dark & troubled side too.

My commiserations to those who lost someone they admired & loved. Lets hope for a better year ahead.

Stay healthy. Stay happy. Keep running!

December 31, 2011

Training for the World 10K

On 27 May 2012, India’s most popular 10K race will be held in Bangalore. From the 1^st day of the year, that will be about 21 weeks to raceday.

This race is perhaps the best race in India for beginners who are interested in running as well as those experienced runners who intend to better their timing, since the distance is not as daunting as those in longer races round the country.

I am looking at taking on a batch only in Bangalore of not more than 50 runners for training for this race, starting in the 1^st or 2^nd week of January 2012, by when there will be about 20 weeks to train. For the experienced runners, 16 weeks may be adequate to train. So you can start from February 1^st week but you need to sign up asap.

In short, the following will be key features

1. You will train for 3-5 days a week, of which you will do two runs a week with a group*. The two key runs will be a speed workout and a tempo run.

2. For those who have already run a 10K in the past and are looking at improving timings, I may have a 3^rd run every week.

3. You will get a customized training plan in line with your capabilities (to be assessed using a time trial) and supervision of your training sessions.

4. You will get feedback as needed both at the key runs and at the end of the week.

5. We will set a mutually agreed target in line with your capabilities and performance for the final race.

* You will run on your own on the other days. You are welcome to join me on other days too since I run on 6 days of the week and sometimes all 7 days, but the locations/timings on those days will be at my discretion on the other days.

If you are vegetarian, I can also help you on planning your diet based on my experience. We could examine your diet even if you aren't but since I am not non-vegetarian, I have little experiential advice to dole out.

If you are interested mail me at dhammonia@gmail.com and we will work out specifics like locations, timings, fees, etc. In case you are outside Bangalore and want to work out some unusual arrangements based on email-based coaching (Yes, there is such a thing. Even some sub-elite athletes train like that) wherein I design a custom-training plan, visit you once a month but track you on a daily basis, mail me and we shall work something out.

About me:

I am 33 years old. I used to work as a manager in a premier Management Consulting firm until recently. I just found running more enjoyable and quit my job to become a full-time coach. I have been running for over 10 years. I had no running history before 2001. For that matter, nobody in my family has ever played any sport with any competence. I used to be a plump kid for a while. Then I just grew up to become a fat adult. I just decided to change this one fine day. So I know what it is to train as an ordinary person who has no sporting history. I have run 14 marathons and run a half marathon at least once a week (sometimes two). I started with a half marathon in 2 hours 34 minutes in 2004 and a full marathon in 2005 (in 5 hours 4 minutes) with little training or even an idea on how to train. I just ran them on a whim. So I began training since I thought I could improve with training. As recently as in 2009, I ran 10K in 47 minutes and 51 seconds.

However I ran without a coach till January 2011. My best marathon till then was in 4 hours.

In 2011, I found an amazing coach and trained under him in the US. I ran 2 half marathons in about 1 hour 30 minutes each and a full marathon in just 3 hours 10 minutes, qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

I would love to show you what you can do with targeted training.

I am currently training my first ever batch of runners with a broad range of abilities, who are running in the Mumbai & Auroville Marathons, for both the half and full marathons.

I love to run. It has changed my life. It could change yours too.