New - Running Shoes

Its been almost two years now that I am running on thin sole shoes. I was inspired by the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. In this book he explains the benefits about barefoot running. He sites examples of special breed of tribal who can easily run 100s of kms without a sign of fatigue. One of the specialty of the tribe is that they use flat and hard soled shoes/sandals. This is in complete contrast of  modern day cushioned shoes.

2016 Mumbai Marathom

I was also fascinated by good cushioned shoes. I started my running with a moderate cushioned shoe. It really felt good and comfortable. Back then I was running only 3-4 kms daily. Things were going good and suddenly a book into my life as a gift - Born to Run. I also researched a bit and came to know about many ultra-marathoners like Milind Soman, Scott Jurek, etc who run barefoot or use very thin sole shoes. After reading the book, I decided to try out barefoot running. I was (and I am still) scared about the stones, blades, glass pieces etc on roads. It may cut through my barefoot and hamper my running. So I decided to go for least cushioned shoes, ie Canvas shoes. Good thing about canvas shoes is that as time goes by, the sole thickness keeps reducing because of the wear. This helped in smooth transition from cushioned shoes to almost barefoot running. I ran my first half and full marathon in these shoes. The pair requires a replacement every 2 to 3 months, depending on my run distance and speed.

Aqua shoes 50

After almost 2 years and using more than 8 pair of canvas shoes, I am now going for another transition. I am experimenting with Troibords Aquashoes 50. You can get it from amazon or decthalon shop. I bought one from Decathlon shop for 500 Rs. This is actually meant for use near beach or rocky slippery terrain. I decided to go use this for running, why? Because it has really thin sole, 1 mm only and small rubber studs in bottom for a firm grip. The sole is really flexible and gives me a perfect experience of barefoot running. Secondly it is ultra light weight. I haven't measured but it is too light. It has a fabric on it which fits tightly on foot and also takes the shape of your foot. Thanks to this fabric, my pinky finger injury is reducing. Weather you have a broad foot or flat foot or any construction, this shoe should fit. Also the fabric is netted, so your feet remains well ventilated. It is too easy to get into these non-laced shoes. Lastly, you can use this without socks.

Today was my third day with this shoe and so far all is well. I am doing almost 2 miles on flyover and 1 mile on flat road. I am assuming that I will be able to use one pair for 3 to 4 months. I would recommend this shoe for anyone wants to try going barefoot. Make a note - A slow and steady transition is required to go from cushioned shoes to these ones. Making an abrupt change will give rise to joint or calf muscle injuries. Drop in your experience, suggestions, feedback , queries or just a Smiley. I will be keep you updated regarding my experience with these shoes.

Keep Running and Stay Fit !

Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith

7 am in the morning !!
Coffee shop is some 30 metres away from. People are all over the places have some hot coffee while chatting with their friends and colleagues. Televisions lined up and playing news channel so that people of every age group can watch or atleast pretend to watch.
There are people having coffee without any colleagues and there are few people chatting without coffee. I am surrounded by human beings of each possible type.
30 year old someone is busy on phone discussing about his today's presentation. Then there is a 14 year boy holding his not so smart phone near his ear for almost 10 mins now, i wonder what is he discussing about and with whom. May be his new world changing idea or his recent achievement in last week's school sports meet. Boy looks much more energetic than the guy next to me who is discussing about office work.


Apart from coffee house, there is a toy shop, purse shop and what not. there is also a gift shop selling all the costliest items in the world at a premium rate. Not to forget my favorite book shops. I was actually standing in front of one of the book shop for good 5 mins starring at the shelf. i was looking at different book covers and doing a mental check about which book I read, which ones are in my bucket list and which are ones that I hearing it for the first time.
Subconsciously I was taking a note of all the free space available in the display and filling it up with new launches yet to be come. Reading - there are few newspaper racks having all the latest happenings of the world. For a change, I am not reading a newspaper today. A new gang of three friends just came in my line of sight, reminds me of Dil Chahta hai.

7 am in the morning, people in this age can't be imagined without smart phone. There is a guy and a girl at different locations busy clicking selfies. So yeah, selfies are now so much gender specific. I am trying my best to get into atleast one of the picture. Some are busy chatting on phone, while very few are playing games. I can also see some people struggling to get their phone charged at free power outlets. Some are busy updating today's presentation on lappy. Some Gen-Z, current generation, guys are busy watching old but funny episodes of friends.  I watched Friends last year assuming that it will help me improve my English for so called CAT exam for MBA.
People are anxious, majority of them look happy and few look neutral. Few look confuse and are running up and down and asking for help at inquiry counter.

7:30 am in the morning. This is all what is happening on my left hand side. If I see straight, I see Milestone kind of numbers reading 4, 5, 6 to infinity. Housekeeping staff busy cleaning the floors and seats. There is a good amount of security, let me not get into detail of it. There are screens showing timetables of today's schedule. Some advertisement boards for smart phones. The ceiling is made up of tubes forming a truss and covered with thin metal sheets.
On the right there are people wearing reflective jackets and busy doing their work. Looks like its very routine job for them. There are buses, trucks, road train, fuel tank and AERO-PLANES. Yes, i am at the airport. A plane just came in at the terminal where I am sitting. looks majestic and let me not delve into the beauty of the plane. Travellers and baggage getting off loaded at one end, at the other end there is a long queue of passengers waiting to board the same aircraft.

What am I doing here. I am at Chennai domestic airport waiting for my Mumbai flight. this is one of my routine visits at home. A long routine visit.

Leap of Faith - This was my FB status a month ago when I was at the same place and going Mumbai for Holi. The title seems catchy and you may or may not find a direct relation between title and post content. For me, Leap Of Faith, this is what is constantly running in my mind.
That trip was planned just two weeks before the departure for some special reason. I was trying to dive into an unknown territory and hoping that I would get results that I had dreamt of for so long. I am really glad that my manager approved my last minute short trip. I enjoyed my trip at home. The only issue is I wasn't able to accomplish the task that I had planned. That was a good learning lesson for me. May there was really no need to go for that impromptu visit, anyway, past is past - can't change it.
This time again I am trying to accomplish the same task. It is matter of trying and trying till I get there. There was a phase after the last trip that I gave up on my dreams. Somehow, after some encouragement from books and stories. Strong motivation from my friends, I am back to where I was a month ago. This time with a stronger sense of purpose and a deeper conviction. I am trying to dive into the unknown in a hope that all my past good and evil deeds will form a net and catch me.

8am in the morning - My English, i can't find proper words. This may well turn out to be yet another crazy step/chapter in my life book, but I have decided to go for it. There are lot of things that I have done in the past which I shouldn't have. Some were non-logical, some were crazy some were pure stupid. Those past actions give me strength to take my next future crazy step and I am proud of it. They say ask and don't be afraid of rejection. Just a change of seating location for me at the airport. So, there are some personal leap of faith and some professional. Three months have already gone by 2017, there hasn't been much of difference in my life as seen from outside. I tried miracle morning, continued for 50 days and then again went back to being old me by not being consistent.
But let me tell you, there is some change in my attitude from the inside. Have read around 7 books in last three months. Many more books to read in next three months. 100 days of running challenge is also going to start from April end. So, lot of activities lined up.

My flight just came in and it is time for me to board. See you guys later.

Please do leave your feedback and comments below.

Are You Giving Your Best

One of the life changing questions that I ask myself these days. I seriously don't remember if I picked this up from some book or ted talk. The source doesn't affect the effect this question has on me.

Have read articles in which people say ask yourself - What would you do, if today was your last day? I tried answering this question and became sad after answering it. I would like to be in Mumbai with my parents and near and dear ones and let them know how much I loved them. If today was my last day, then I wouldn't spend time running miles and miles, or cycling by keeping bum on saddle. I would spend all my money and eat as much dark chocolate and Brownie as I want.

Few positive things did came out of this question, I started conversing more with parents and near and dear ONE. I started sleeping really less (it backfired and since a week I am back to 7-8 hour sleep pattern). I started eating loads of chocolates. Negative side - I stopped exercising for few days, I started spending on unwanted stuffs. I was not focusing much on work and studies. I was totally carefree. Then suddenly Happy Realisation Moment occurred and I changed the question. Still not sure if its my own creativity or from some book, but the question did wonders.

Are You Giving Your Best !

This is my new Phone wall-paper. Whatever work I am doing I ask myself - Are you Giving Your Best ? If the answer is no, then I go back 15-20 mins in time and redo the in a better (if not best) way. The change is slow but steady. Let me start from morning - I started waking up early again. Running some 3 to 4 miles daily, eating healthy breakfast and doing many other activities. There might not be a huge impact now, but the change has started taking place at slow and steady rate.

At work - At times I have to do some meshing activity (related to finite element analysis). I am not too good at meshing and somehow my productivity used to drastically go down as soon as I start meshing. But since a week or so, after meshing few parts, I ask myself, Is this the best that I can give? If the answer is no, I go back to the mesh part and make it better, if not perfect. While making a presentation, I will insert few images in my presentation and then just casually check my phone to see if I have any new notifications and then the above wall paper pops up, Am I giving my best, again, if the answer is no, I will go back and change those images. Small small improvisation, expecting huge impact :P

I have customised a coffee mug too. The other side of it contains a promise that I made to someone. Let me not get into detail of the other side. It has made its own impact and I will surely share that story someday, but not today.

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