Why does India fare so poorly at the Olympics?

Let me begin with a confession. I have spent the better part of the last two weeks with my eyes glued to the TV screen and my buttocks glued to the couch. It's an irony that the Olympics which embody the zenith of physical activity have turned me into a couch potato. Thanks to the non-stop coverage on 4 different channels, and my newly acquired toy, the HD-recording TataSky setbox, I have been able to record the Games on two different channels, while simultaneously watching an earlier recording on a third channel. And thanks to watching only recorded versions, I have been able to fast forward the deeply regressive and offensive Hero motorcycle commercials (the ones where the women are called 'chidiyas') and the annoying Tata docomo ads (to be fair to them, even the best ad when repeated a zillion times can be annoying).

As the games progressed, it became quite clear that India was not going to drastically improve its performance over the previous years, and before you pounce on me and point out that we have doubled our medal haul, let me remind you that its a double of three. It's the same 'low-base' effect that affect most of our national calculations, including economic growth. Six medals for a large nation is a pathetic showing by any standard, and here I am not even getting into our exact population, since I understand that that is not entirely fair given the circumstances in which a large number of people live. Having said that, I have the deepest respect and admiration for all the medal winners and all the other athletes who fought valiantly on the international stage. A special mention must be made of OGQ (Olympic Gold Quest), and their efforts. I have met Viren Resquniha and the dedication he and his team have is amazing.

So, to get back to the original question of our perennial poor performance, let me try and answer it with a little bit of science and a lot of my own thoughts, for whatever they are worth. Let me preface it with the disclaimer that at the end of all my thoughts, you may be more confused than when you started.

The Nature Vs Nurture Debate:

In a lot of human endeavour and human health, scientists have forever tried to answer the question of how much of what happens to us is due to genes, versus the environment. There is no doubt that there are genetic factors at play which influence sporting performance. The most stark examples of that are the Jamaicans and the East Africans. Jamaica has a population of 2.8 million people (about one fifth of Mumbai- sorry, I could not resist that), and has had a monopoly on both the men and women's short sprint distances, over the recent past, and East Africans have had that same monopoly over middle and long distance running. Our muscles are divided into three different fiber types; 1, 2a and 2b. Type 1 are also called slow twitch muscle fibers, and as the name implies they are designed for distance rather than speed. Type 2 are fast twitch muscle fibers, of which type 2 b are essential for explosive speed, the kind needed to ace the short distance sprints. The percentage of fiber types is largely genetic, and world-class sprinters are born with a large amount of type 2 b muscle fibers. It would be scientifically accurate to say that if you did not have a significant amount of these, there is no way you could be a world class sprinter. Clearly the Jamaicans have an abundance of these, though they were 'discovered' only recently. I think it was Merlene Ottey, the great woman sprinter who threw open the doors of possibility in the 1984 Olympics (incidentally, Merlene is still competing at the international level, at the unbelievable age of 52, but for the Czech Republic now). Ever since the floodgates have been opened, the Jamaicans have dominated. Similarly the East Africans have dominated long distance running, over the past few decades, and they are blessed with an abundance of Type 1 muscle fibers which are fatigue resistant and allow them to glide like gazelles over long distances. The Jamaican and East Africans have been 'discovered', but there are several other parts of the world, which are just discovering their potential, such as The Bahamas in sprinting, and Uganda in distance running.

Both long and short distance running, as well as several track and field events at the Games require a large amount of 'genetic gift'. But, most of the other events at the Olympics don't. You don't need to be born talented to excel at fencing, or badminton, or table tennis, or synchronized swimming. Yes, talent will help, but will not be the deciding factor in success, unlike the sprint events. The point I am trying to make is two-fold.

1. Genetic talent or the nature part of the nature vs nurture argument, cannot justify our poor showing at the Olympics, since very few sports are heavily dependent on raw genetic talent.

2. India is a very vast country, consisting of varied ethnic groups. I am sure a dedicated search will unearth several groups who have the right muscle fiber structure needed for track and field events. One group that comes to mind are the folk who live in the high mountains, and have a superior ability to utilize oxygen and therefore perform well in long distance events.

The 'lack of interest' debate:

Culturally, I do not think that sport has ever been a priority for Indians. A recent worldwide study showed that Indians are a relatively active group, compared to several other countries, though I doubt that. My feeling is that this included the country as a whole, and as we know a large part of the country is under-served by road and mechanized transportation, making physical activity necessary for survival, as opposed to something done voluntarily for health benefits. Besides cricket we really don't give a damn about sports, and even in cricket our performance is at best lukewarm, considering that our population is more than all the cricket playing nations put together. We have always viewed sports as something that children do in school, and that too for a limited period of time, so that their academic prowess is not marred. In whichever city you live in, look around at the scores of billboards advertising 'coaching classes', and think about when was the last time you saw a hoarding which promised to make your child the best runner or tennis player. However, in spite of the lack of overall interest, we do know that there are parts of the country, which are crazy about football, such as Bengal and Goa. Put together, their population is far in excess of nations which excel at the game, but still we feature nowhere. I really don't have a convincing explanation for that.

The killer instinct:

There is a theory that we are good at sport, but lack the 'killer instinct' which is necessary for winning at the highest level. In my opinion, there is some truth to that. Take tennis for instance; over the last few decades we have had some fabulously talented players, but the one who made it to the top was Leander Paes. In pure strokeplay, Leander was clearly not the best of his generation (and I have had the good fortune of having played with most of them), but what set him apart was his strong mental strength. His lack of strokes was made up by agility of mind and foot, and I am willing to gamble that had he the strokes to match, he would certainly have been in the top ten in the world in singles. As a nation we seem to have taken that old saying to heart, 'its not the winning that counts, but the taking part'. This seems to reflect clearly in our approach. If you heard the commentary or read the news articles, it was apparent that we thought that being in the quarterfinals or semis was 'good enough' and we were not expected to ever challenge the top few seeds, especially in badminton, boxing, or wrestling. Why ? Most of our athletes in those sport were in the top 20 in the world, and therefore should be expected to win at the highest level, rather than have an attitude of 'reaching this far is good enough'. When pitted against the best in the world our media and athletes are satisfied with putting up a good fight, which often means winning a few points. Contrast that with the killer mindset, which has guided American sport in the recent past with the dictum, 'winning is not everything.....its the only thing'.

However, amidst all this gloom, the silver lining is that we have won more medals than ever, and that should spur on a whole new generation to perform better. Mary Kom, Yogeshwar Dutt and others will serve as heroes to the country, especially those in their hometown, who will know that it can be done, and in human endeavour that's often all that is needed for success. Much like the 4 minute mile barrier which stood for decades, but once Sir Roger Bannister broke it, it was broken repeatedly in that same year. Our medal winnners this Olympics will serve as the Bannisters of their generation, or closer home, they will serve as Tenzing Norgay did to a whole generation of Sherpas to reach the highest point in the world. And when they do so, cynics like myself will have to start blogging about why Indians are so great at sport.

Born Free......Ruled by Garmin (and the refreshing tale of Bhupendra Rajput)

It was 4 am on Sunday morning, and as I went through the last minute check of my equipment (my cycling equipment !), I went into a mini-panic. The screen on my Garmin had frozen, and consequently, so had my brain. We were about to embark on a 200 k training ride from Panvel to Pune and back, and the thought of doing it without a functioning Garmin, freaked me out. Once again technology came to the rescue, and in the light of the moon (and the golden arches of the adjacent McDonald's), we browsed the net on our blackberry, and googled out a solution to the problem. All was then well with the world, and we went on to complete a strong 200 k ride. If all this sounds Greek to you, let me take a step back and explain. Garmin, is a company which makes GPS-enabled devices, which 'talk' to satellites orbiting the earth and give you live feedback on your distance, speed, average speed, etc etc, as you run or cycle. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have possessed one of these since the past 3 years, and it has changed my running and cycling completely. I have become a data junkie, and like all junkies, cannot function without it. The plus side is that thanks to all this real time information, I have been able to significantly improve my endurance event times, but it has come at a price. The price is the loss of "absolute freedom" that running free is able to give you. I always envy those who are able to step out of their house, and just go for a long run, without bothering about trivialities, like time, distance, and pace.

 Which is why I was thrilled to run into (and run with) the embodiment of such a runner, this past weekend in Pune. Bhupendra Rajput is no ordinary runner, and i would like to share his fascinating story with you. I had gone to Pune for the weekend to conduct a sweat study for the Pune Runners Group, along with my friend and colleague Venkat and was privileged to have dinner with Bhupendra. At first glance Bhupendra comes across as a 43 year old mild mannered sales manager of an engineering company, which he is. It's only when you know about his 'other side', will your jaw drop. Mr. Rajput is the winner of the 160 km Bhatti Lake run in Haryana, which was organized in 2011. Besides that he has run several 100 + km runs all over the country, the latest being the Thar Desert 160 km in April of this year. With this impressive resume you would imagine that he has been a life-long passionate runner, with a very competitive edge, but nothing could be further from the truth. I spent a good part of the dinner, and my run with him next morning trying to figure out what makes this man tick, and was left with more questions than answers. I will make an attempt to reproduce our conversation, and beg your pardon for minor inaccuracies in dates and times.

 Bhupendra had never run long distance in his life, till he came across a billboard for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, in January 2006. Just for a lark, he decided to enroll (those were the days when marathon entries did not 'fill up'in under 48 hours). Enroll he did, and completed the 21 km distance in an amazing time of 2:30 hours, without any training. He then did a few more half marathons, and upgraded to the full in 2009. Sometime in September of 2011, a friend of his was planning a 150 k run in Pune, and informed Bhupendra about it. And he decided that he would join him !! Remember, that his previous maximum distance was 42.2 k. Most runners have their weekly schedules planned well in advance, and would never run more than a few km in excess of their schedule. And here is our friend Bhupendra, who without hesitation, and without training, decided to run three times his previous longest run. It was beyond my comprehension that someone could do this, and I repeatedly asked him what his motivation was. His only answer was that he wanted to see if he could do it, but was confident of the fact, that if he needed to stop running at any point, he could always complete the distance walking. To complete this amazing story, he managed to do the distance comfortably, and then went on to participate in the Bhatti Lake 160 km run in Haryana, in which he came first. Bhupendra to this date runs without a watch, and it's absolutely refreshing to come across such individuals who participate in the activity for the pureness of it. More power to him and his legs. We wish you all the best, and trust me, we will be following your every step (though we may not be able to keep up after a while).

 Details on the Sweat Study can be found at: http://youtoocanrun.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/sweat-rate-study/

Did it ! Mumbai to Pune and back on a cycle: 329 km

Jaideep, Prashant, and I just cycled from Mumbai to Pune and back, covering a distance of 329km in the process !
As unbelieveable as that sounds, what is far more incredible, is that three idiots on a bike (I take liberty with my two friends here :) ), could raise more than 85 lakhs in ten days for children suffering from cancer (more details on the NGO below) !

Here is the detailed account of how it all took place for those willing to undergo the suffering of reading about our dream ride on April 1, 2012 (the irony of the date does not escape me).

How did it all begin ?

Jaideep and I have been friends since the past 12 years, and have always done our outdoor endurance runs together. As age and injuries have caught up, we decided to spend some of our time on a sport which is kinder to the joints, and therein was born the cycling bug. We did our first 100 k on May 3, 2009 and it seemed a big deal at the time. We did not increase mileage much, until we decided to do something truly challenging for ourselves and the decision to cycle to Pune was born sometime at the end of Nov, 2010. I was about to turn 40 in a year, and I would like to think that this was not a mid-life crisis decision (though I guess most men look for a fast car and a faster woman to tide over that one). We trained for it and closer to the big day, decided to use the 'event' as an opportunity to raise funds for St. Jude and Akanksha. We were very pleasantly surprised, when an email to family and friends ended up attracting more than 15 lakh Rs. in the span of a week (yes, it did help very much that one of us is an investment banker). During our training rides we bumped into Prashant and realized that we had one more guy who was crazy enough to come out cycling at 3 am on a Sunday morning when most people were trying to figure out ways to beat the breath analyzer test on the way home from a party. Prashant had spent many years biking in the US and even with very little training was able to ride along with us to Pune last year.

It would be fair to say that the 'athletic achievement' was the prime motivator last year, but this year we were driven by the desire to do something for the kids at St. Jude and knew it had to be 'special' for us to go back to our friends and family like Oliver Twist to ask for one more helping for a good cause. We threw around ideas, and 250 km came up as a real challenging number. We looked at the map and figured that besides Mahableshwar there was no other location which was specifically that distance away from Mumbai. We then thought about going to Pune and returning till the 250 k point, but somehow it did not sound right to say we will by cycling to Pune and back to somewhere between Khopoli and Panvel! On one of our training rides one of the three wise men (yes, i am being sarcastic) came up with the bright idea of going to Pune and coming back to Mumbai, and much to his surprise the other two wise men agreed. Technically one could start from Chembur and finish at Pune univ and return to Chembur, for a total distance of about 280 k. While that sounded most sensible (in a relative sort of way), the wise man suggested that if we were going for it, we might as well start from the tip of south Mumbai, so that we can do 320 km which in the endurance cycling world is known as a double century (200 km). Once again the other wise men agreed and the three idiots (and now I am not being sarcastic- ask our wives) were quite happy until they realised what this entailed.

The Actual Ride:

I will bore you with our training details in a separate blog, for those masochistic enough to take more of this, but to get back to the point, we were all ready in our cycling gear at the gates of Mumbai University, at 7 pm on 31st March, with our family and friends in attendance to flag us off. More importantly a group of young kids from St. Jude were there with a twinkle in their eye and a smile on their face (to avoid infection while undergoing cancer treatment, they wear a surgical mask, but the smile came through). Seeing them there deepened our resolve, and made me realise that those smiling faces would carry us through the next 15 hours, come what may. We were gaily dressed in bright yellow and black (no pun intended), colors of the LiveStrong jersey and cycling shorts. We have written to Lance Armstrong for his 'support' and not heard back yet, but will keep trying.

For the first 50 km till Panvel, we had the Mumbai chapter of Hell's Angels (a.k.a investment bankers in leather jackets and Enfield bikes) to be our outriders, and they were superbly effective at their task. The way they revved their mean machines to frighten away taxi drivers who dared to steer onto our path, made me shudder at the plight of the corporate folk they cut deals with during the day. Besides, I think the taxi drivers knew that Jaideep was on the road and they need to steer clear (sorry, thats an inside joke). Following close behind each bike was a car with drivers trained to stick to the cyclists rear wheel all the way through in a scene reminiscent of the Tour de france (minus the speed of the cyclists and the backdrop of meadows of sunflowers, though fuming trucks and ST buses more than made up for the ambience). I am convinced that Prashant's driver, Sanjeev has a job waiting for him in the professionaly cycling circuit, the way he nimbly cut off speeding motorists and dogs alike.

We hit Panvel at an average speed of 25 k/hr and were all set to leave after a quick food and 'call of nature' stop, when Murphy's law struck. Jaideep, who had not had a flat tire all season had a flat in the rear tire. Luckily we had spare tires (besides the ones around our waistline) and after a quick change we were on our way, only to be hit with another flat in my front tire. We tided through that one too, and were on our way to hit the Bhor Ghats from Khopoli to Khandala. It was a half-moon night and there is something surreal about putting all your effort in a concentrated manner on just one goal, which is to keep the pedals churning and moving the bike forward. The only other time you experience this complete laser sharp focus is weaving through Mumbai traffic (on your cycle)at peak rush hour and every sense you possess is heightened to a level of alertness you can never achieve in daily life. Once we passed the temple on the final bend, we knew the worst of the Ghats were over, and the only obstacle remaining in the next few km were the 'chasing dogs' which live on a strategic spot on the flat portion of the ghat, past the temple. Luckily they were not interested in our ankles this night, and that too passed.

We hit Khandala in 4 hr 26 min (sorry, but I am addicted to data), and took a pit stop at Kamats. I am convinced the right term is 'piss stop' since that is what really happens, but someone coined 'pit stop' out of politeness. The next stretch from Khandala to Pune saw us at our best, and as we were approaching Pune, I was convinced that we had this one 'in the bag'. I would pay for my optimism (the right word is 'cockiness') about six hours later, but thats another story. Prashant was his usual pragmatic ( i call it pessimistic) self, reminding me that it's not over till it is over, and of course he was right. At Pune university, we retreated to the warmth of our cars and got all geared up for the second half and took some pictures to prove we were really there. A group of policemen seemed quite amused to find 3 old men in spandex, cycling at 2:30 am, but were quite good natured about it and bade us well, as we left.

In the interest of finishing this before you fall asleep, suffice it to say that we had a strong ride till Khandala and thoroughly enjoyed the feel of zipping down the ghats with the help of the light of the moon (and our cars). At the end of 250 k all three of us were riding very strong, and all that remained was a short stretch home. To make the home stretch easier some of the Hell's angels had traded in their denim jackets for athletic t shirts and their Enfields for trek cycles, and joined us in our ride. Also, at Panvel we had a convoy of cars with family and friends following us.

Somewhere between Panvel and Vashi my body decided to remind me that it was sitting hunched on a cycle for the past 11 hours and that reminder did not go away till the finishing line. I freely admit that the last 25 k ( to use Jaideep's words) were 'not trivial'. What made it easier (or harder) was that both Prashant and Jaideep were riding wonderfully strong. We had decided to return via the 'long way' through Dadar, Worli, Peddar road and Marine Drive so we could ride along our home stretch, which further lengthened the ride by 9 km (another one of the brainwaves of the three wise men, which i was cursing at this point). Jaideep and Prashant were waiting for their laggard friend at Wilson college and we rode as a group, for our moment in the sun, with cameras flashing all round from cars of friends. As we rounded the Air India building bend one of the BEST drivers nearly knocked down some of the cyclists, and looked almost disappointed that he had missed such easy prey.

We entered the home stretch to be warmly greeted by the kids from St.Jude and suddenly all the pain and discomfort was over when we stood next to them to click our final pictures.

For those as crazy as me about ride stats, here is the garmin data from my watch. We did the 320 km stretch in 13 hr 11 min of ride time, and including stoppage time it was 14 hours 4 min. The 329 km, University to University stretch took a total time of 14 hr 30 min.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/164001246

Below is a short write up of St. Jude. If you would like to donate please contact them or e mail me at ascontractor@gmail.com, and I will put you in touch with them.



St. Jude Child Care Centre: www.stjudechild.org/ St. Jude Child Care Centres is an organisation founded by Nihal and Shyama Kaviratne that provides free housing for children and parents that come to Bombay for cancer treatment. Typically, all these children live outside Bombay and are not in a position to take care of treatment AND pay for a place to stay. Most of their treatments are subsidised through various trusts that Tata Memorial, Wadia and Raheja hospitals recognise but what St. Jude does is make sure these kids finish their entire treatment by providing them with a place to stay and all the emotional support that comes along with it. At present they have 7 centres - 1 in Mhasker Hospital, 2 in Parel run out of the Indian Cancer Society building and 4 in Kharghar.

Mumbai to Pune and back...need your help to support us for 320 km

HI Friends,

I am writing on the blog after a while, and have now vowed to update it on a weekly basis. In the meanwhile, I have been training for some extended torture on a bicycle seat. Last year, my friend and I cycled from Mumbai to Pune non-stop in about 7 hours. We decided to solicit monetary support from our friends and family to help underprivileged children in the area of education and cancer support. What started of as a fitness goal, led to a collection well in excess of Rs. 15 lakhs. Your support overwhelmed us and this year we have decided to set a staggering target for charity, and the fitness goal is secondary. Please read our request below and lend your support to brighten a child's life. At the end of the blog, I have put up some links which covered our ride last year.


Dear Friends,

To those who know, we are back again ! To those that are seeing this for the first time, we solicit your monetary support for a good cause and your prayers as we cycle from Mumbai to Pune and back non-stop, for charity.

The three of us, Jaideep Khanna, Prashant Mehta and, Aashish Contractor are keen amateur athletes who also have an interest in charity. Every year we plan our training schedule around a fitness goal, and to ensure that we stick to it, we use it to achieve a philanthropic goal. Over the past couple of years we have approached colleagues, friends and family to raise money for worthy charities using the one big event and our participation as a draw.

Last year we set ourselves the goal of riding from Mumbai to Pune non-stop, covering a distance of 175 km. The ride was not part of a formally organised event and was entirely self-funded. We used the ride to raise money for St. Jude Child Care Centre, an NGO that works with children suffering from cancer and for Akanksha, an NGO engaged in providing education for under-privileged children. We were quite successful, raising over Rs 15 lakhs from our network. This amount was raised entirely from individuals, not from corporations.

This year we have upped both the monetary target and the physical challenge. We hope to raise more than twice the amount we did last year and cover nearly double the distance. Our charity goal is to raise money for St.Jude's and this time we are targeting a significantly larger corpus, hopefully well in excess of Rs 30 lakhs. In the last week, a very close family member of mine has been diagnosed with cancer and has just been operated for the same. Her brave fight has made me more determined to complete the ride strongly, and your monetary support will go a long way in helping the fight against cancer. We do appreciate that many of you already have a favourite cause which you support, and if you wish to donate to it instead of St. Jude, that's fine as well. The purpose of the ride is to use the cycle as a vehicle to benefit the underprivileged.

On April 1, the three of us will ride from Mumbai University to Pune University and back again, covering a distance of 320 km, including the Mumbai-Pune ghats. To put the physical challenge in context, the distance is much longer than the longest stage of the world's most gruelling cycling event, the Tour de France. In 2011, the longest stage was a flat stage of 226.5 km. During the 14-16 hours non-stop that we expect to be on the bike we will face temperatures ranging from 20*C to over 40*C. In training we have dodged erratic truckers, rowdy motorists, mad dogs and assorted potholes; hopefully, it is no worse on D-day. In order to minimize some of these obstacles, we will be riding through the night.

To speed us on our way and to give us motivation when our legs are flagging, our heads are sagging and our butts are reminding us that they were not designed to be planted on 5 inch wide cycle seats for 15 hours at a time, please donate generously. St. Jude Child Care Centres does wonderful work with very sick children. They are contributing to society in ways that are an inspiration to all of us and, most importantly, reaffirm the generosity and selflessness of the human spirit.

We ask you to pledge an amount per km of distance that we cover- for example, Rs10 per Km will result in a Rs 3200 pledge, Rs 100 will result in Rs 32,000 and Rs 1000 per km will result in a Rs 3,20,000 pledge if we make it to Pune and back. To establish a minimum corpus, the three of us are pledging Rs. 3,50,000, of our own money.

Please be generous in your support. The kids need it. The three of us will definitely need it.

Regards,

Aashish, Prashant and Jaideep

P.S. We will write again once the ride is over with details of how it went and also with instructions on settlement
P.P.S Please forward this to friends who you think might contribute
P.P.P.S. In the event that you wish to support a charity of your choice, please let us know the amount of your pledge and the name of the charity. After the ride is over, we will arrange to have the amounts collected from you and delivered to the charity of your choice.

St. Jude Child Care Centre: www.stjudechild.org/ St. Jude Child Care Centres is an organisation founded by Nihal and Shyama Kaviratne that provides free housing for children and parents that come to Bombay for cancer treatment. Typically, all these children live outside Bombay and are not in a position to take care of treatment AND pay for a place to stay. Most of their treatments are subsidised through various trusts that Tata Memorial, Wadia and Raheja hospitals recognise but what St. Jude does is make sure these kids finish their entire treatment by providing them with a place to stay and all the emotional support that comes along with it. At present they have 7 centres - 1 in Mhasker Hospital, 2 in Parel run out of the Indian Cancer Society building and 4 in Kharghar.

Profile
Aashish Contractor, 40 years, Preventive Cardiologist and Head of Department of Cardiac Rehabilitation at Asian Heart Institute
Prashant Mehta, 43 years, CEO, Komli.com
Jaideep Khanna, 47 years, Managing Director and Head of Corporate and Investment Banking, Barclays, India.

Links describing last year's ride:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/from-mumbai-to-pune-nonstop-on-cycle/778957/

http://cyclists.in/profiles/blogs/mumbai-to-pune-for-charity

http://www.stjudechild.org/News/Article/?story=Peddling_hard_for_St._Jude's

Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77215868

Blood (literally) and sweat en route to running 21.1 km.

Imagine this :

It's the Friday before your first marathon on Sunday, and you are out on your last training run, to keep the muscles warmed up and ready for the big day. On the last 50 meters of the run, you hit an obstacle on the road, and go flying forward and land directly on your face and knees.

To make matters worse, you are on blood thinning medication, which does not allow the flow of blood to stop. If that was not enough, imagine you have asthma, and a history of epilepsy which can make running hard. And to top it all, you have had open heart surgery two years ago and have never run after your school days. And did I mention, you are 68 years old!

Before you cringe any further at my imagination, let me remind you that truth is indeed stranger than fiction, and such a person in flesh and blood (with a little loss of it :)) does exist and this unique individual is Surendra Dasadia.

Every year more than 70 heart patients from the Cardiac Rehabilitation department at the Asian Heart Institute participate in the Dream Run of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon to prove to themselves and to society that heart disease is not the end of life, but is a new beginning. To further drive home the point, another 15 or so participate in the half marathon. Each year, several Dream Runners want to 'graduate'and move to the half marathon, for which they consult with me in the month of July. Last year, there was a 'fresh' batch of 6 patients wanting to upgrade to the half and Surendrabhai was one of them.

Let me be honest and mention at this point, that I was in mixed emotions about his participation. On the one hand, his enthusiasm was palpable and that to me is the most important ingredient in endurance training, but on the other, I was skeptical about his ability to 'go' the distance, especially to run it. He had started jogging for the first time for a few hundred meters in June of 2011. To make matters complicated, he had an epileptic attack a few weeks later and had to be hospitalized for it. At this point I tried to dissuade him from participating and could see that he was clearly dejected. My heart went out to him, and we arrived at a compromise, that we would take a week at a time, and make a final call closer to the end of the year.

In mid September, he joined our friend and chief motivator, Mr. Venkatraman (who is an inspiration himself) for outdoor runs at the MIG club. At the end of this post, I have copied the training plan Venkat put him through, for those interested in following his progression. Surendrabhai was remarkably regular in his training, both at cardiac rehab and with Venkat for the outdoor runs. Day by day he progressed, and by early January he looked ready and raring to go.

On that fateful morning of Friday, Jan 13, I got an SMS from Venkat which informed me of Surendrabhai's fall, and both of us were very concerned, about his injury and health. Surendrabhai was also very concerned- not about his injury, but about the fact that we may ask him not to participate !

Participate he did, and he finished in a very respectable time of 3 hours and 14 min, and what's more important is that he stuck to all of Venkat's pre-run commandments.

1. Complete the distance,
2. On foot and
3. Enjoy the participation

There are many kinds of heroes in this world, from whom we can draw inspiration. You have the swashbuckling hero who runs into a burning building and rescues a damsel in distress (do they exist outside of the movies ?), and then there are the quiet ones, who look just like you and me, but what differentiates them is their sheer determination to rise above the ordinary. Surendrabhai is a shining example of the latter and exemplifies the words of Rudyard Kipling, in his epochal poem, IF.

"If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them, "Hold on!"

We will continue to draw inspiration from him as he climbs greater heights.

VENKAT'S POSTS:

This was posted the next day Dec 17th, 2011

So coming back to SD and his training plan.
First some don'ts
- Since he was epileptic there was going to be no pushing him into 'stressful' situations. Stress is a known trigger for epilepsy incidents.
- Also since he was asthmatic no anaerobic training either.
Besides the above, here is something by way of his training background.
- He was already running on tread mill for about 30 minutes each time for 3 times a week at the Cardiac Rehab. His HR used to be under 150 at the end of each run.
- He also did some minimal weights for strength training.
With this background, he wanted to do the HM and felt that he should train with a group so that he can be motivated better. With him going to Rehab for 3 days a week, it was decided that he would join me for runs 3 times a week. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays were deemed the most practical based on the calenders of both.
He has been very punctual and regular. Very driven. In the first few weeks, I wanted him to get the mental exposure / sensory overload to running on the open ground. The enclosed ground at MIG was very suitable for this purpose since it gave him a protected environment to start running. Far better than running on unpaved roads.
His initial focus was on feet time. He was slowly graduated to combinations of running with walking. He began with first two days of only walking around. I wanted to be sure that his 'chassis' can take the load in progressive basis. After that he was told to run one length of the ground ( 100 mtrs ) and walk 3. Slowly the mix of running was increased. No attention was paid to his pace at all. As long as he ran comfortably it was OK. He voiced an opinion ( often ) that he could do better than this, since aerobically he was doing 30 minutes on the treadmill. I assured him that I was slowing him down for his own good, since his body should be able to adapt. I also assured him that a stage would soon arrive when I would be 'pushing' him and he would find excuses to avoid training. It bought a smile in him, knowing that he was a go-getter by nature, who was being restrained in the initial phase of his training.
All along his strategy has been to do a run/walk. He is quite happy with that. He also knows that his proportion of running will increase as he trains and his walking will decrease. After about one hour of feet time..which was about 3 weeks into training, he did his first Kalina loop of 9 kms. Again a run/walk but he did it quite comfortably.
On the Sunday that Raj ran his second 100 kms, he came to Marine Drive and did 14 kms ( two loops ) and went home very happy.
In a progressive manner he has been slowly inching up his distance and last Sunday he did 18 kms. Today again he did 18 kms and I must add rather very comfortably. Dec 31st, he is determined to do 21 kms.
In order to meet with his business commitments, he has taken to taking flights to Ahmadabad and Baroda so that he does not miss training.
He has had no injuries, which was my major fear. He ices himself religiously after each run. He ensures that he controls his diet on evenings prior to training so that he does not face digestive issues.
He also does steam inhalation on mornings before the run so that his chest passages are clear of phlegm.
I learnt today that out of the 11,000 or so runners who register for the HM, only about 7,000 show up at the starting line. In each of these 7000 there is a 'human interest' story like SD. I felt that if I did not share one such story then I would be doing injustice to the readers of this forum who are the silent majority and each one of whom may have something similar to narrate.
Cheers...and more as we go along.
Venkat

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Posted on Dec 20,2011

I have told SD that there are 3 objectives for the SCMM 2012. They are:
1. Complete the distance,
2. On foot and
3. Enjoy the participation
He has often come to me and told me the distance that he did on the treadmill and at what speed. Even today he calculated his projected timing and was hoping to do it within 3:30 hours. I do not want to set any time goals on him. I have told him how to improve things it is a multi-year plan not a few months plan. But after each run the notes that get compared are the time, distance and speed metrics. This is what I want to avoid and this is what I meant when I said that recreational running often talks in the language of athletic running.
As can be understood he is an aggro Type A personality. He wants to do it all in one year. My fear is that he should not do too much too soon and then suffer injuries which would invalidate not only him but the entire old folks running movement in the eyes of the non running society.
Most times my main job is to slow him down and hold him back.
Venkat

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Posted on Dec 27, 2011

My first concern when SD wanted to be trained was his level of physical fitness...in short his chasis..and how much of beating it could take.
We had about 3 months to go..and I knew that about 2-3 weeks would go in getting his body to rigors of running 3 times a week. Once he passed this test, then it would mean scaling up his time on feet till he did a decent mileage, decent enough to see him through his 21K on Jan 15.
It did help that he was a regular at the Cardiac Rehab for 3 days and was doing 30 minutes of tread mill on regular basis. But however the first order of day was to see how he does on open grounds. Having known that each sides of the MIG ground is 100 mtrs long and the perimeter is thus 400 mtrs helped. He was started with a few days of walking only.
He was feeling that I am making him do lesser than his capabilities, but I also knew that the bio mechanics of running on open ground are different from doing it on a treadmill.
Having passed this test he was slowly put on increased combinations of walking / interpersed with running. Different combinations were worked through...one side run / one side walk..then two sides run / one side walk etc..he kept progressing satisfactorily.
One of the milestones for him was to run a full round non stop....he was thrilled to being able to run 400 mtrs in one go.
His next milestone was to run 2.5 rounds in one go...which happened after a few more weeks....he was thrilled to being able to run 1 km in one go.
When he had come to doing a run/walk for more than one hour or so on the grounds..he was taken to do the Kalina loop on open roads..9 kms of run walk. He was maha thrilled.
And so on he progressed...when on Saturday the 17th Dec he ran/walked
18 kms..everyone in the group cheered him with a standing ovation. He was told that doing 21K on Jan 15th was now a given...but SD was made of more firmer resolve. He wanted to do a 21K run next week.
So last Sunday the Dec 25th I got him to do the NCPA / PM Bath, 3 laps of 7 kms each. He adopted a 200 mtrs run / 100 mtrs walk strategy and did it in under 3:30 hours. We started at 6:30 am to simulate the near conditions of the run day. And finished by about 10 am or so...
He was thrilled...and now the taper starts for him. Today I met him and he complained of some DOMS...but natural and understandable. I have lent him my foam roller so that he can recover better.
Cheers to SD...
Venkat

The full discussion thread is at...it ofcourse went into all tangents
about competitive running v/s recreational running...but a very
interesting read nevertheless.

http://runnersforlife.com/group/mumabimarathonrunners/forum/topics/sd-does-21

From 136 kg to 2:17 in the Marathon in 11 months !

The ninth running of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon was held yesterday, and once again it was a joy to see the city come out and run, in all its vibrant colors. As Medical Director of the race, I am privileged to come across several stories of exceptional grit and determination. I would like to chronicle some of them, with the hope that they will serve to inspire thousands more.

I have realized that in endurance events, as in life, all it takes for man to achieve what seems impossible, is to know that it is possible. The 4 minute barrier for running the mile (1.6 km) was considered to be unbreakable for decades, but once Sir Roger Bannister broke it in 1954, it was done several times more, in that year itself. I do hope that some of these tales will make people revise their views of what they consider impossible targets.

The first story I would like to share is that of Nithiij Arenja. Before we go any further, I must make a disclaimer that Nithiij is a very close friend, which gives me the advantage of knowing the 'full story'.

Nithiij has struggled with his weight, ever since he was a young man studying in England, and at his peak (or should I say at his nadir) topped the scales at a whopping 160 kg. His weight has yo-yo'd over the last 15 years, but has mostly remained in the red zone. In February of 2011, he was 136 kg, when he decided that enough was enough, and he had to turn things around, for his health's sake and for the sake of his young family.

He went on a low cal, low fat diet and included a high volume of exercise in his daily routine. He had his 'Polar' wrist watch and heart rate monitor on at all times, which was a surrogate for the amount of calories he burned during the day. His aim was to create a deficit of over 500 cals daily. As expected, in the initial few months the pounds fell rapidly, and that spurred him on to increase his exercise volume even further. The next phase of inspiration to lower the weight even further were the comments and look of awe he got from people he had not met in a while (more than a few of which were young ladies, I might add). While all of this sounds fairly mundane, it's important to know how much good food means to Nithiij. He truly enjoys his food, (whether it's from a roadside dhaba or caviar and foie gras), and an occasional drink or two, or three.

As part of his exercise routine, he started jogging /walking on the treadmill in September 2011, and this proved to be a struggle initially. When there is a 100kg weight pounding on your knees, they will protest and they surely did. However, he did not let this setback pull him down, but on the contrary it spurred him to increase the distance. As he lost further weight, his ambition grew and on more than one occasion I have chided him on getting 'too greedy', and I am happy to say that he has proved me wrong. In November he ran more than 10 km at a stretch for the first time, and in the beginning of December I entered him for the Stan Chart Mumbai half Marathon, without his knowledge (being medical director of the race does have some privileges). I revealed this information to him only in the middle of December, since I was unsure myself of his ability to run 21 km. To complicate matters, he developed a bad flu at the end of the year, and was out of commission for over two weeks. Rather than make him give up the task, as it would do for most of us, it only made him more determined. To make it more meaningful, he decided to run for Indian soldiers who had been paralyzed in the Kargil war (read his appeal below and do suppor the cause).

On the eve of the marathon, I had a long chat with him and worked out a 'sensible' strategy, which would have him finish in 2 hr 45 min. Nithiij being Nithiij, wanted to do it in under 2:30, which I felt he was not ready for. Well to cut a long story short, I was on medical duty at Hotel Ambassador, and it was 8:15 am and the early wave of half-marathoners were coming through. Suddenly in the distance, I saw this black and yellow spandex covered thin man running towards me, and I looked at my watch in disbelief. There he was, looking pretty fresh, and kicked about the fact that he had proved me wrong- again. Nithiij finished in an amazing time of 2 hr 17 min, and is an inspiration to me and all those around him. Here is his official race timing and photos.

http://www.timingindia.com/raceDetails.php?event=scmm12hm&bib=23845

http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event.py?event=Sports%2FCPUK%2F2012%2FMumbai+Marathon&new_search=1&match=23845

Oh, I forgot to mention one little detail- he is now 83 kg ! Thats a 53 kg weight loss in 11 months. Nithiij is happy to share his weight loss tips and efforts, should you like him to. He can be contacted at narenja@gmail.com.
Read below, his call for support for the soldiers' charity:


A CALL FOR SUPPORT,


I am going to attempt the 21km Mumbai Half Marathon on the 15th of January and I am making this attempt for a cause I feel strongly for:

The paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre in Kirkee, Pune:
http://para-rehab.org/..


This is a Fauji institution set up for our soldiers medically disabled by spinal cord injuries. Most of them fought for us in Kargil and were badly wounded in war. I wish to highlight their need for financial support and run this 21km for their cause. This is a wonderful institution , please take a minute out and read this article:
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?213641


Contributions can be made by cash/ crossed cheque in the name of "Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre" and I can have them collected and handed over to them after the run on the 16th at the Army Office in Mumbai.


Our soldiers deserve a second chance at life- So grateful for your support

The Importance of Pacing and Pacers

There are 3 days to go for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, and most runners are discussing their 'goal' time and how to get there. In my capacity, I am lucky to interact with several runners and I am amazed at their lack of a plan to hit their target time, or a plan which is clearly not going to succeed.

The best way to succeed is to have a plan, which takes each km into account. Most runners talk about positive and negative splits- which basically indicates whether your first half is shorter, or longer than the second half of your run. Going by the nature of the Mumbai terrain and weather, I think its very difficult to do a negative split (faster second half) for the full marathon. If you are not used to setting a pacing schedule for yourself, the easiest way would be to try and achieve an 'even' pace throughout the run.

Make a simple excel sheet which has the goal times that you need to hit each km marker (or you can split the race into 5 km segments- though you risk losing accuracy by doing that), miniaturize the sheet, and keep a printout in your pocket. Trust me, even if you are good in math, after 25 km in the blazing sun, your mind will not be functioning at its sharpest. Of course, an even easier way is to get yourself a GPS enabled watch, and adjust the 'virtual partner' to your goal time.

If your goal is to run at any of the times, that the pacers will be running at, then I strongly recommend running with a pacer. It takes away all the tedious calculation, and all you need to do is stick with the group. You need to choose your pacing group wisely, and I would suggest selecting a group, which is within 5 minutes of your goal time for the half marathon, or 10 min for the full marathon. Any further and you risk 'blowing out' too soon if you are with a faster group, and risk not meeting your goal time if you are with a slower group.

Here is a link for the various pacing groups for this Sunday's marathon:

http://www.procamrunning.in/scmm//pacesetter.php#MyAnchor

And here are the top 5 reasons why you should run with a Pacer in the SCMM. These reasons have been sent to me by my friend, Mr. Venkat, who is the pacer for the 3 hour bus for the half marathon.

1. You are in safe hands.

- Pacers know the route well and being accomplished runners know how best to tackle the distance. They are skilled in completing the distance and now running below their race pace have a lot of 'reserve' to do things well. You are in safe hands.

2. They do the maths.

- Pacing can be quite a complicated affair. And when you are mentally exhausted numbers can befuddle you. Pacers run with a pacing chart / plan / strategy and know their numbers. They can get you there without you having to do the numbers. You mentally run more 'lighter' and enjoy the event.

3. Gain tips / advice.

- Pacers being experts have quite a bit of knowledge under their belt.
When running along they are quite willing to share running tips with you. An interesting conversation all along with the Pacer and with others makes the distance very light work.

4. Running in a group can be fun.

- You have a choice on race day. Run alone and suffer it out. Or Run along with the pacing group and enjoy the picnic. And Pacers know how to motivate you as the Peddar road flyover comes in or the Sun beats down on you on Marine Drive.

5. And lastly - It's free.

- That sure is a clincher...running with a Pacer is free...courtesy of the good souls who agree to run slower than their own race pace and Procam the organizers of SCMM


HAVE A GREAT RUN.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN TO THE MUMBAI MARATHON 2012

The Final Countdown Begins- 7 days to go!

WHERE SHOULD YOUR TRAINING BE TODAY?

Full and Half Marathon:
By this point, all the hard work has been done and you should be in ‘taper’ mode. You should have completed at least one long run of 30 km or more. If you have not done that, you should reconsider your decision to run the full marathon, since without adequate preparation, the chances of injuries (even serious ones), increase greatly.

During the last week, the hardest thing for those who have trained regularly, is to REDUCE your usually weekly mileage. After all, you have been running 30-50 km per week, and now you have to cut back drastically. I recommend running 2-3 days this week, and the distance should be between 5-8 k, at a relatively relaxed pace (though one of the runs can be at your 'race pace').


GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL:

Irrespective of your age, it would be a good idea to obtain medical clearance from a registered medical practitioner/doctor allowing you to run in the event.

Please review the following questions before Race Day:

 Has your doctor ever said that you have a heart condition and that you should only do physical activity recommended by a doctor?
 Do you feel pain in your chest when you do physical activity?
 In the past month, have you had chest pain when you were not doing physical activity?
 Do you lose your balance because of dizziness or do you ever lose consciousness?
 Do you have a bone or joint problem that could be made worse by a change in your physical activity?
 Is your doctor currently prescribing drugs for your blood pressure or heart condition?
 Are you pregnant?
 Do you have insulin dependent diabetes?
 Do you know of any other reason why you should not do physical activity?

If you have answered YES to any of the above questions, we strongly recommend that you seek advice from your doctor before you run the race. Do not run if you have been suffering from any sort of virus or fever in the TWO weeks prior to race day. If you feel feverish, or have been vomiting, have had severe diarrhoea or chest pains or generally are feeling unwell, then it is unfair to you and your family to risk serious illness and become a medical emergency. Most medical emergencies during the race occur in people who have not adequately trained or are unwell but do not want to miss the race.

Tips for the race and the day before:

1. Make sure you get adequate hours of sleep the night before the race. Actually, make sure you sleep very well on Friday night, since its quite likely that the night before a big race you may not sleep too well.
2. One the night before race day, have a dinner rich in carbohydrates as that is your main fuel for exercise, but do not overeat !
3. Have a light snack before leaving home. Arrive at the start point well before the start time to avoid last minute anxiety and chaos.
4. During the race, run at your own pace. Avoid getting carried away by those around and running at their pace.
5. Consume water or any other oral rehydration fluid at regular intervals. Ideally, you should know your ‘sweat rate’ and consume fluid in proportion to it.
6. If you experience any chest discomfort, unusual shortness of breath, nausea or giddiness during the race, stop and take rest for a few minutes. Seek medical help if the discomfort persists more than a few minutes.
7. Write down your emergency contact number, and any significant medical history at the back of your running bib
8. There are several medical aid stations along the way, as well as at the finish line. Do seek help the moment you begin to face a problem, rather than wait till the last minute.
9. Have a wonderful race !