The long walk.

I will never forget the tragedy the migrant laborers had to undergo. I did not visit or witness any of this personally but some images like the above came up and they will keep haunting me ...I hope the poor in my country get back on their feet switfly and have better times in 2021. 

The passage below from an article in The Hindu made me reflect . Saving it here as i do not want to forget this memory anytime soon. 

"Perhaps it was humanity they looked forward to when they got home, a humanity which the city had fooled to display.In their minds , the village was the place where they were not a statistic . Where people knew each other by their names even if it was stigmatized by caste "

 - From an article in 'The Hindu' dt. 28-Jun-2020.

Half Lion

In my opinion , there are 2 Prime Ministers who did most to the growth of India and also remain the most underrated. One is the former PM  Mr. Manmohan Singh . The other PM and perhaps the most 
underrated of all would be P.V. Narasimha Rao.

  While he was the PM , I remember everyone including me  mocking him for having a poker face showing no emotion at all.  I could only recollect some of the bad things from his tenure (like the Babri Masjid incident) to name one.

 Half Lion by Vinay Sitapati changed my perception on Narasimha Rao . Now I understand why some economists and investors consider him to have done the most among all the PMs of India .  All while staying away from the glare of media spotlight.

It is unfortunate that his legacy is not celebrated much . Happy to see some interest from the current ruling parties.

Anyone interested to know more about Narasimha Rao, should read Half Lion.

Here are some events/quotes from the book that I liked.

"When he returned to India , Rao carried with him electronic equipment - a life long hobby - and stories of American technological prowess. His youngest son Prabhakara was an engineering student at that time. Rao brought him a calculator made by Texas Instruments" - pg 49

"Ever the technophile, Rao brought manuals to read on his own , and within fifteen days, told the specialist he was redundant. Over the years, Rao would master two computer languages COBOL and BASIC and would go on to write code in the mainframe operating system UNIX"  - pg 67.
  (On Narasimha Rao's interest towards computers).

Scattered through the Arthasasthra are a range of upayas (techniques) to prevail upton the enemy. These are sama, dana, bheda, maya, upeksha, danda - concessions, bribery, division, trickery, indifference and finally punishment - pg 140 .

Rao had learnt from his fiasco as chief minister to neither show exultation nor claim credit.. he refused to present his own industrial policy , and throughout  Manmohan's budget speech, pouted next to him without speaking at all. At eight that night, after spendign the day orchestrating the biggest change to the economy since independence, Narasimha Rao hosted a perfunctory dinner for the prime minister of Mauritius - pg 131.
 (on how subtly the economic reforms and  liberalization announcements were made by PVNR).

The first mobile call in India was made in July 1995 , it was between the telecom minister Sukhram and Jyoti Basu, the communist chief minister of West Bengal - pg 161.

In his spare time, Rao, brushed up on this Spanish, the last of the ten languages he had learnt to speak. with fluency. He also took to playing the piano and warded off arithritis - pg 298.

How does one use power to do good , if gaining and holding power requires one to do evil  - pg 298.

picture courtesy - https://twitter.com/S_Sivakumar/status/1277094096566226945 

Some tips on running intensity .

 As you become a serious runner working on certain goals (PBs , Ultra finish etc) , it is important to be mindful of the intensity/effort you put with the runs . Proper planning, consistency and discipline goes a long way in seeing the improvements that you expect.

This was the main idea of a recent webinar from Sunil Menon, founder of Menon Fitness Systems. I loved the talk. Very simple ideas that anyone could follow pretty easily.

Here are some notes that I took from the webinar. Sharing them here for my own reference. (All pictures are copyright of Sunil Menon)

The talk started by comparing runs with mutual funds. Just like  mutual funds (Small,Mid, Large cap) , runs at various intensities come with their own risks and ROIs.  And it is always good to plan your runs based on ROI. 

A higher ROI in this context means = You improve your Max Aerobic Pace, reduce your chance of injury, decrease the recovery time, improve your VO2max etc.

Without going into actual HR zones, we could characterize runs into  'Intensity zones' Intensity 1 to 5.  1 is very easy and 5 is very hard. 

Intensity 1, 2 : 

To increase your mitochondrial capacity and Aerobic. (Fatmax) .
If you are someone who is not keen on PBs or timing, and just want to keep fit, stay in 1,2 runs. 
ROI - Graph above represents a typical ROI you get with

 

Intensity 3 is good but the  ROI decreases very less quickly. There is no base building at this intensity.
So, when to do  zone3 runs.When closer to your race. 4-5 weeks. TEMPO workouts etc happen in Zone3. Usually , your race pace is in Zone3.

Intensity 4:
Returns high. Short term . Do once or twice in a week thought the marathon training.
However, duration will vary. Initially it will be less intense compared to closer to race.

Intensity 5:
High returns. High risk (injury) 1-2 mins max.
Use this for VO2 max, LT etc. 
Intensity 4 and 5 increase your VO2max.

A good training plan : Is a mix of Intensity 1,2  and 4,5 runs.  
4,5 = Speed workouts.
High Intensity workouts are still important . However, keep the volume will be low during the initial phase.  Intensity workouts can be done only like 1-2 mins Increase their use 3-4 weeks closer to race. 

Key takeaways:
* It is always good to check the ROI chart and plan runs.
* Being consistent is very important. e.g: 1 week 60k and next week 10K will diminish the gains from week 1.
* During speed workouts, when you are fatigued , better to slow down and stop so that you come recovered and avoid injury for the net day .
Do not  push as there is no ROI once you are fatigued.
* Spreading workout at different times of a day gives cumulative benefits and its a good way to improve on your goals, especially for triathletes.
e.g: Elite marathoners do 'Doubles' . ie. fartleks or speed workouts in morning and then recovery runs in the evening (to flush the lactic acid).

Some use cases :

Summary: There is nothing called a junk mile/junk run. Each run has its own benefit . Its better to choose the one that best suits you for that day and phase of your training. And the most important ingredient for success is consistency .


Notes from Sunil's talk on 'Junk Miles' -  https://www.instagram.com/p/CBmn3WUljyP/
Many thanks to Sunil for a really insightful talk. Got a good perspective on planning my runs.

Think on these things.

As part of our education , I have always been someone who wanted to 'achieve something' or 'be better'  or 'become something' . I think its not a unique experience. Many of us have been told by parents, school and our family and neighbors to 'have an ambition' . "What do you want to become when you grow up ?"  is a frequent question .. JK tries to explore these dilemmas and questions , to expose what he thinks is more(most) important.

A wonderful book and I highly recommend this for a parent or a student to get some clarity on the important things in our life. 

Quotes/passages that I liked: 

"To inquire into deeper things of life, the mind must be free , but the moment you learn and make that learning the basis of further inquiry , your mind is not free "

"there may be the state of learning , when you do the thing for the love of itself." 

The understanding of what you actually are is far more important that then pursuit of what you should be- pg 197. 

Beliefs are a curse, they divide people and create antagonism.

To be free of sorrow, one must be free of the desire to do hard- and also of the desire to do goo.. The so called good that is equally the result of our conditioning. 

once I begin to understand what I am , then I shall never compare with another person - pg 124.

Our present education system is rotten because it teaches us to love success and not what we are doing. The result has become more important than the action - pg 126.

It is good to hide your brilliance under a bushel , to be anonymous, to love what you are doing ant not show off . You are jut a creative human being living anonymously and in that there is richness and great beauty  - pg 126. 

Relationship is a mirror in which you can see yourself , not as you would wish to be , but as you are .- pg 133

To see the fact without trying to alter it , just to see exactly what you are is an astonishing revelation - pg 134.

you are afraid of what you are ,which means, you have no confidence in yourself. That is why you try to be what society , what your parents and your religion tells you to be - pg 170

The function of education is to give the student abundant knowledge in the various fields of human endeavors and at the same time, free his mind of all traditions. 

what is needed is not philosophy or belief but for the mind to be free to investigate , to discren , and to be creative - pg 175.

you see, your education does not tell you how to think; it tells you what to think - pg 179.