Trail Running

It has been a really long time since I blogged....here is a renewed attempt...

Over the years, I have grown to love running. Until a couple of years ago, I liked road runs, lots of people cheering on, trying to better one’s own time, until I discovered the joys of trail running. It has been a wonderful journey of self-discovery, of planning & running long distances alone, of accepting injuries & coping with them, of believing in oneself, of exhilarating runs, of frustrating runs when things just don’t go right, of serene lovely sunsets across the bay, of humbling hilly runs in heavy downpour, of running under the cloak of darkness with only a headlight leading the way, until slowly, magically, the sun rises & life starts anew, simple and grand at the same time; and all the ups & downs seemingly metaphors for life. I can run for hours, alone, think about a plethora of thoughts, then purge myself & forget everything, especially the mundane existence of daily routine; I can keep running, listen only to my breathing & my heart beating and lose myself in the silence, a silence that is beyond words…it has been as close as I can get to meditation & prayer.

This year, I have chosen to run the Annapurna Ultra Marathon. On 1^st of Jan, 2012, I will be running a distance of 50 km, starting at Pokhara (about 6 hours north-west of Khatmandu by road). It is touted as one of the world’s most beautiful runs, with great forest trails, rivers & narrow bridges, absolutely fabulous views of Annapurna, Manaslu & Dhaulagiri ranges of the Himalayas. It is a moderately high altitude run, reaching about 8000ft above sea level and I am hoping to make it to the 50km finish line within the 13 hour cut off time. I have been training for this since July, and over the 6 months, I am close to completing about 800km of training runs –including the Mt. Diablo Trail Half marathon that I did in September, and will be doing a 50km run at the Bangalore Ultra marathon on Nov 13^th, followed by the Coyote Ridge Trail Run on Dec 10th.

Running for Asha Projects – A very Special Run!

This run is a very special run, for very special people. As most of you know, I have been running for the last few years to support Asha for Education projects. Asha is an organization committed to grass roots education for the under-privileged in India. It is a zero-overhead organization, and I have personally seen how the money goes 100% directly into execution of the project without any administrative costs. Thanks to all of you, I have received tremendous support in my previous such efforts.

This year, I have chosen to raise funds for Shristi Special Academy, a center for holistic support and development for special children in Bangalore. Special children (children with autism, cerebral palsy, etc.) are heavily marginalized by the society and social stigma. Shristi’s mission is to empower such individuals with developmental disabilities (Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities) to realize their potential through training, leading to self-reliance, independent living and better quality of life. Shristi has reached out to over 1000 such children since 1995 and has helped improve their quality of life. It has a well-qualified staff of special educators, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech/language/music/story therapists, psychologists, counselors.

If you are interested in learning more about Shristi please contact me, or visit the following links:

http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=602

www.shristispecialacademy.com

Please support me in this very special run, and join me in raising funds for Shristi. You can donate by sending me a check in the name of SHRISTI SPECIAL ACADEMY.

Thank you for reading through this,