Dhoni

Yesterday I sat through the India / West Indies match - right upto the 18th over and even until Harbajhan Singh batted I was counting on an India win. 16 runs look big but I feel it was quite close. Now as India seems almost out of the tourney - there doesn't seem to be any point in picking hairs as to why we did'nt make it.

But, I hope before the next tournament starts - the Indian team is able to bounce back. The team desrves it - on a good day when even 2-3 of our batsmen are playing to their potential we can beat any team in the world.

I guess the one reason for this supreme confidence in the Team is - Dhoni.

The way he leads the team is like a running lesson in Leadership. The various learnings that can be had and more are listed here . Dhoni is truly and inspiring persona.

One of the things which stand out are

• The ease with which he accepts the result. If its a win - he is gracious in his praise and if a loss he accepts the mistakes takes the learnings and moves on.

There is no blame game.The match is over buried - another match a different day start afresh.

How has a manged to distill such traits at such a young age. He is not 30 yet.

He doesnt mince words and takes his critics head on at times but mostly he sticks to being a cricketer - without getting distracted by the entrapments.

Here is what Albie Morkel his csk team mate mentioned recently about dhoni “He is calm and relaxed. If he is upset with something or any player, he doesn’t go out and rebuke them, but goes to the coach. He soaks pressure and brings the best in every player.”

He soaks the pressure. Not many cricket captains come to mind who deal with on field mistakes the way dhoni does. The max is a glare. Thats about it. Time just move on.

The ability to live in the present even in the pressure cooker situations. At any given time it almost feels like he has an aerial view of the cricket field while still being in the thick of the action.

The volume of praise coming his way is not going to end soon . A loss in one tournament is not going to make any difference. Infact, it was just a week before that Dhoni and his men finished a marathon 45 days plaing 59 games amongst themselves as part of the IPL. The players in the indian team were pitted against one another as part of different teams. It would take some time to get back the right dress room atmosphere. Coming into a 2 week event where loosing 2 games in a room can mark an end to your chances .

So lets say it was good the Team got out . Gives us a much needed break from cricket for sometime. Before we again get immersed in the next tourney the championship league - whenever it happens.

Running Update

Been two full full weeks running 5kms daily and 10kms on sundays. There was only one day when I didnt run and that was yesterday. Feels real good.

For sometime now I have been thinking of forming a Running Group in this part of Bangalore - Banaswadi/ Kamanahalli. There are a few regulars - not sure how many of you are on RFL. If you are why not lets get in touch and work out something.

The idea came up as I was unable to go for the Sunday runs as it clashes with my other schedules for the day.

So I end doing the 10km circuit alone. Not that I am complaining. But, I guess it would be more fun with company.

Here is the scanned version with the route highlighted and key stations mentioned below.

RFL has also called out to people interested in starting a local chapter in the respective areas. Around 20 are needed to make it.

Auroville Marathon -2

The race day

Reached certiude at 5:40Am. A small crowd had gathered maybe a 100 or 200.
I hogged half a dozen bananas and finished of the electrol.

The countdown started 5 minutes before and sharp at 6:00 AM we were off. There was a bit of a melee during the early part , it cooled off after the first km or so. then on, it was mostly each man to himself. Everyman running to the beat of his own drum. This time my strategy was to preserve as much of my energy as possible for the last 2-3 kms as that is where we waste a lot of time walking, when running deserts us.

I kept a slow pace but maintained it till almost 14-15 kms. Also I took brief rests whenever I saw a water booth. From 50 feet or so before to another 50-100feet after i just walked as I drank the glass of electrol and banana. This provided brief rest periods and i guess all that paid off in the end.

This time since I was running with a time target in mind I missed out on the scenic beauty of this marathon. Running through mostly unpaved muddy paths filled with clay and somtimes a half buried rock - makes this a alltogether different experience. I remember passing the "Grace" , The "Tibetan - something " . While passing grace I was thinking about "Amazing Grace" i dont know why? The birds sang their usual numbers, the drummers beat their drum like last time - i had actually intended to take a lot more snaps along the way but my mobile just hung - so I turned it off - thinking it muast have been due to some sweat seepage. But luckily no such thing happened.



Self Portrait @ 10km mark

Between the 18th and the finish line there was a stretch of open ground which was, I felt the toughest part of the race - as by then the sun was beating down - Managed to walk run that strech and the last km or so was a dash. Entered the certitude at almost max speed with lot of clappings and cheer and as I crossed the finish line received a fantastic hug from a grey haired pony tailed gentleman and got garlanded by a pretty lady with the medal ribbon. ( would'nt mind if it had been the other way round too).A few others congratulated and WOW! the race was over - was I happy!!!. Not the least for the Hug at the end .

Then I was surrounded by family . The kids were witheir story of how they participated in the 2km race and finished it. I collected the T shirt and had my leg massaged by a Sikh co marathoner. Well , hats off to his spirit. I did'nt get his name. It felt great after the massage - though the toes got a trifle crushed in the process.

We had a short wait in the que for pongal and Vada followed by a much longer wait for Dosa / Sambar. Both waits were well worth it.

Sat around and Chatted for another hour or so before we left for the room as I wanted to catch some much needed sleep prior to the drive back to bangalore.

Today the times came in , I did the half in 2:14:45 and placed at 94. Not bad at all. Target is to finish the next half marathon inside of 2:00 hrs.Achievable.

I am running the 10km "strides for life" run on Sunday. Hope to find some familiar faces.