2018 Marathon - A disaster

The title says it all and I can stop this blog right now. because that is all I have to say about it everytime I think about it.
But experiences are meant to be shared, good or bad. What is the value of an achievement if there is no loss. what a point of conquering when there is no defeat what is the point of success if a failure has not been experienced.
Compared to the year before I put in slightly more training distance and thanks to my new work location had the perfect spot for running. With my workplace just two kilometres away from from the largest part of Europe; the famous Pheonix park.  it was a very nice way to break up the workday since I start quite early in the day and a good run during lunch broke up the day quite well. I slept better, ate better when training.

Dublin experienced unprecedented winter weather this year and I for one was quite undeterred. I remember going out running when It was just three degrees and upon doing that repeatedly I had frostbites on my toes. My wife panicked that my toes had to be chopped off. Drama as always.

What I noticed was I was far more comfortable in running at low temperature without thermals.

One big change for me was when I was out running from where I resided because this year we moved home. After staying put fo reight years at a single place by end of June moved to a new place closer to my wife's workplace. The running route around marvellous to say the least. The Herbert Park, the Sandymount strand, the Irish nature reserve and botterstown park all within two kilometres of my place. Outstanding natural beauty and it was a joy. The terrain was also very flat and offered sand and grass. The new place is not much exciting. But what It did offer in dollops was inclines. I need to explore more to find new interesting routes around the home.

Coming back to my marathon preparation. With over a thousand kilometres of foot pounding my overall cardio had greatly improved. My VO2 max was it all-time best of 59. A sub 45 minute 10K was a walk in the park for me. (quite literally in Pheonix park)  I was never that good stats in any of the years before. I broke my personal best time for a five kilometre, ten kilometres and a half marathon distance at 1 hour forty minute,  henceforth my optimism about the marathon was at its highest.
after clocking more than a thousand kilometres on last years runner, I continued the tradition of going for a new one just a month before.  Broke in the new Asics shoes.
Finally, it was the end of October and as all Octobers that have gone post. this one was filled with anxiousness. The factor that changed drastically just a day before the big day was the weather., The bloody artic wind had timed itself to blow in from the north pole on the exact morning of the run. I was checking in on the weather every hour to see if it would turn any favourable. But alas,  the trajectory stayed put. early mornings was expected to be between minus two to three!  Definitely not something I was prepared for mentally. Collected the race pack and the fanfare at RDS was great as always. From my previous residence, RDS was a two-minute walk from my front door and the start line and the finish line was a fifteen-minute walk. All that convenience is gone forever now.
Did not sleep well just worried about how I will take it on. I had to dig out the thermals from the abyss of the closet. I might be able to pull off the first fifteen without a thermal but I was not sure once past the thirty-kilometre mark when the sugar level is low how my body would react to such low temperature. It was not worth taking the chance, so I had to go with it.
the temperature was zero degrees. Got on to the tram at Glencairn and was relieved to see a few other participants get on board. Wish each other good luck. Buy the time the tram reached Stephen's green the luas was jam-packed with all carrying race pack. It was a short walk to the baggage area and then to start of the green wave. I had never had to use the loo before a race but might be due to whether I had used twice. Twenty thousand people on Fitzwilliam street gave it a great ambience of excitement. On the queue to the portaloos, there was a man with his own toilet roll. One could tell what his state of mind and body was at. It is wonderful starting a race here with the Irish, its all about chatting, having a few good laughs that do lighten up the mood.
As always the first six to seven kilometres I had a disastrous pace because with all that many runners on the road there is no way to get a clear path. The supporters would lean in one after the crown onto the oncoming runner that funnelled us even further. Once we hit my training grounds, the park things opened up and were able to pick up the pace. My ETA at the 30-kilometre mark was 3 hours thirty. My wife was joyed to see that and she and my daughter made their way to the finish line to greet me.

But had to say seriously lost strength, I had to pee once more, mid-race. A thing that I had never ever done before. I had many gels this time, which I had not trained for at all this time with. Not once! At the thirty-five km mark, I saw the pink balloons with 3:50 go past me. I could not help myself further. Just had to get to the finish line . just past the finish line within 100 meters, had to take a knee and throw up all the water mixed up with gels out. My body was rejecting it all. Some state of shock I must say. That level of tiredness is a whole another level.


To add to that was some frustration when garda had closed the road that was the shortest to the Luas stop. had to take a long way around and it was no way to treat folks that are so spent. I had to have a heated debate with the Garda and he could completely empathise and that is all he could do.
Met up with my wife who made a horrible decision of taking the taxi. for an hour she tried and not one to be available. I sat on the kerbside shivering till my bones rattled. I decided to get on to the packed luas where some kind folks offered me water and a place to sit.
got back home and took my shoes off and got into the warm bed with the jacket still on and trust me, under twenty seconds I was asleep. after a good hours nap woke up. The body has still not recovered from the arduous activity . was rejecting the food and all sorts.
As any other loving wife who is witnessing all this go on with her husband, she gave out in bucket loads and asked me to swear never to do it again . to keep her happy (and calm) for the day I did agree, but only to do this thing secretly.


I have come to understand my own limitations, I might not be built for endurance races. But I do not mean I stop at it. Giving up is not an option.

Dublin Marathon 2017

My sixth marathon and definitely the best ever. Thats how I can sum up the whole experience in a single line. We all know in case of marathon to get to the "best ever" situation; it can't be all described in one line.  Not in a paragraph either. There is lot of hard work and the operative word is LOT. Litres of sweat, several tens of hours , tens of chocolate bars , hundreds of kilometres and two pairs of shoes.
Things that I did to make a difference this time.
Step 1: Hang up the Wheels
Every year my training was mixed with cycling and running . I was not 100% on each activity . This year I changed it a bit. By June I stopped all of my cycling. Literally the bike did not move from July to October. I had to get ahead of the "Red balloon" (4 hour mark) that was the only target.

Step 2: The Tech
Bought myself a Garmin Fenix 3 fitness watch. the top of the line sort watch. The amount of data points it started providing was amazing. Not only run cadence., but metrics such as Left right balance, Vertical oscillations , VO2MAX etc was definitely a major help. On the first run I realised my got was landing bad, My  attempt for a longer stride was costing my cadence, I bounced a little higher than required and my VO2MAx was just in mid 40's which is good. But Good won't do it. I started changing my technique based on these inputs. SO much so that I had the best 10K run ver. At 43:28. Which literally blew my mind.  My the endow my training
 At peak my VO2MAX is at 57 which is superior. That is top 10% of all Garmin users are in that category .

Step 3: The Training
This is where it made 75% of the difference . I do have issues with following a strict calendar to do the traning. Because it does not know my work situation or my family situation. Work situation was bad. Though Garmin offers plenty that one can load up into a watch and do the drill, I could not accommodate it But that I did do this time was use the weekly training plan tweeted by the amazing @dublinmarathon . That roughly said what distance must be run every day of the week. thats it. Not the time or what the pace. I used that as a guide and managed to get an hours worth of running weekday at lunch. I was doing 10K every day Monday to Friday by the time It was early October. where as in June I would have struggled badly to do a 10 K on consecutive days.
The total distance I put into running this year alone is 60% higher that previous. A huge leap. This is what matters.

Step 4: The nutrition
Me being a vegetarian does not help much in getting lots of proteins in. SO early during the training
I did invest in  some good protein powder. I must admit that without that the five day back to back 10K would have been impossible. Recovery times greatly improved from 48 hours to just 19 hours after each 10K. Second I started to move away from using Gel bars . wanted to push the limits as to how much the body can supply energy with. By the end of training , I was able to do a 20K in 1:45 with not a single gel or any food at all. This could be because of the protein powder I am taking. For longer distances I carried around small mars or snickers bars . Throughout the year ! I had so heavily relied on gels the last five years.

Step 5: The Gear
I started my initial couple of months of training with an ASICS light weight trainers but after putting in few hundred kilometres on it,  few weeks before the big day got myself a slights heavier ASICS with a much firmer sole . It did definitely absorb much better. It was worn in perfectly before the big Day. My body is so acclamtised with the fine Irish weather, I see that not once did I have to use a thermal wear even when the temp dipped to just 7 degrees. I was more comfortable running at 7 degrees than at 17 degrees. I am definitely Irish now.

Step 6: The final preparations.
Training was going strong . the race predictor on my watch said I would do the marathon in 2:50 which is next to impossible for my mind. just 2 weeks previous to the Oct 29th I tried to do a short run but a sprint . 400 X 4 at sprint pace. Was able to easily get a PB of 4:00 Minutes for 1k. But that did cost me. I had a cramp on my left few hours later and  came to a pint that I had to scarp a training run because I could not take a single step. I thought, this was the end of it. Felt really awful that I could not get the training done till the end. There is no point in powering though this pain because it may damage severely and ruin my race. I massaged and nursed slowly in getting back to doing decent distances. The pain persisted  every run after that. My left right balance was out the window and this was costing my pace. But I had to sacrifice pace to keep the leg working till finish line.
The weekend previous to marathon day, I was with my family friends in Co Claire. My last couple of runs was  to the Cliffs of Moher from where we stayed, Liscanor. a good 11Km run in those beautiful landscape was just the right training needed for the mind. To make me feel that this pain in the leg and the hours of training is all worth it.

The D day :
The Marathon this year was special. It was the largest participation ever in the 38 year history of the event. Registration was closed out at 20,000 people months ago. 16,000 people actually participated.
Goody bag collected. The Day was clear, Wind speed was very low and temperature was about 9 degrees which is ideal. I was in the blue wave. 4:00 to 4:20 . I realised soon that this was a mistake .
thousands were on the streets all set. For the first 12 K my pace was just at 5:00 min/km which is far lower than my average of 4:35 min/km . This was because of the wave I was stuck in. I was constantly blocked . Some were enjoying the chat with their fellow mates while running and I don't blame them and they have no space to give me to go ahead. I don't blame them. I twas me who undermined myself that I registered myself the blue wave. The lan in my left leg arrived on for the first 13K. At the top of phenix park is where I got some room to get to my pace. the next 15K after that went smoothly avg. at 4:45 min/km. I started taking in the chocolate bars I had strapped on to myself. Constantly hydrated myself . The crowds were extremely supportive. I did go well past the Red balloons at the first 10K mark.
Half marathon distance came up at a good 1:49 km. The legs had stopped complaining for the strange reason. L to R balance was BAU now. So keep soldering on.I did hit the wall not as hard as all the preiouvs attempts. The last 10K is where I had to go for some high speed walking because the lactic acid build up in my thighs. It was hurting quite bad. Just 2km to the finish line is where my home is so my little one and wife were there to cheer me on .
So I kept it and there was the finish line beckoning at me . I had to give it all at I got. So I did.  Just past the line had to lie down on the tarmac at a side for a few minutes. Was really uneasy. The medic did offer me help. I was fine, or so I thought. Then I did something that I have never done before. Throw up! It was just at the stomach juices what was built up. That has never happened to me before. But left a lot better once that was out. limped back to my bike eager to see my kiddo. The second medal her daddy got for her. Now she looks at the medal like a toy but I am sure some day she'll look at the ones I have and be proud of me. Thats all that I want. One Day I will run this marathon with her and beat her  ( evil laugh.....)
And for all the ones who says age will slow you down.... Just defined it.every year I have made nothing but improvements. I have a mother set of balloons to chase in 2018!

Holy-days

Every year we got back to home usually around December to make the most of the Christmas holidays. A nice extended long break is what we get. Tickets are booked much in advance.
This time since we had more than 160 days count down clock many ideas popped up my head.
We decided to skip the regular relaxing break instead do something that my parents and my my wife's parents would enjoy. My wife and I also thought together it would be loads of fun. So it was a full pilgrimage tour.
My little one had to get her head tonsured(shaven) since its a Hindu tradition  to do so. WE always did have plan to go to the temple of Tirupathi in Andra paradesh. That was definitely the first on the list to visit. My wife's parents were also willing to join us, so I booked the train tickets for them to get to Bangalore. My sister and nephew were also in. My brother in law was busy at work so he dropped out. that would be just a one day visit, at most could be two. We wanted to do more, see more, visit more places. The next more popular destinations was Madhurai and Rameshwaram. Both on the south eastern part of Tamil Nadu. With little bit of logistics planned and a lot of convincing for my wife's parents we decided to visit those two places. Booked train tickets for all since it was easily available.  Couple of days later  my uncle back in Kerala were also interested in joining us so booked tickets for them as well.

Chapter: Tirupathi
Nov the eighteen we flow out to Bangalore and on twenty fifth is when our first temple Tirupathi was scheduled at. The five seater hatch back at home needed newer tyres and the people carrier needed some little servicing. Tirupathi was 280 km from Bangalore and there was ten of us and two cars.
Perfect. the plan initially was to stay overnight at Tirupathi and come back, but then there was some changes to come back on the same night. WE had to wait for the folks from Kerala to arrive that morning. We had a driver arranged to drive the hatch back since we were short of a driver.

By ten we were all set to leave Bangalore. Just crossing the first 50 km of Bangalore city took more than two hours. Then on the roads were good all the way. My sister and I took turn at the wheel and getting to Tirupathi was breeze. Our time slot we had booked for the visit and we got there at half four. just in Time. Tirupathi is the worlds richest Hindu temple with more than hundred thousand visitors each day. The crowds there in unbelievable and I did not want to put my daughter through that so they stayed out . It was such a rush that its not a great experience to just get to the sanctum sanatorium. literally three people every square feet.  My only concern was that I would loose everyone of my family in the crowd since not one person was around me. We were all separated. But miraculously within few minutes we all met each other which i really found hard to believe. AS we went out again there was sea of thousands of heads and none of us had a mobile on us and it was dark, so I was  sure we would spend ages trying to find my sister and my wife. Again to my surprise within minutes I found them as well in the general area where I had asked them to stay.

It was time now to get the head shaven. My daughter was absolutely cranky and i wouldn't blame here. But just as we entered the complex another Miracle. She just fell asleep. A kind woman agreed to do it and she was butter smooth in shaving her head off her hair. She did not even wake up once. I was looking at this and told myself I will give her company and  sat right behind her and had the man there to shave my head off as well.

When she woke up, the first thing she did was to feel her head. The sensation of just skin up top would have puzzled her. She i appeared before her and she was not sure if i was her dad. I just had a beard and mustache and plenty of hair the last time she saw me. that was twenty minutes ago. But when she heard me speak she did recognize me which was a relief.  had our dinner and we stared the long drive back to Bangalore. I was tired if it wasn't for my sister could have returned on the same day. By one am the following day all ten f us were at home. Nice and resting in our beds.
Chapter: Rameshwaram.
On the twenty seventh evening we had the train to Madhurai, four hundred and eighty kilometers from Bengaluru. Eight of us had our seats/berths reserved on the same coach right next to each other,  we uber'ed two taxis to train station and we were off on the second leg by eight PM. Train journey is such a less taxing travel as compared a car journey. we reached Madurai junction at eight in the morning. Dad and I went out and arranged for a mini bus to take us all to Rameshwaram, which was one hundred and fifty kilometers.

The package was good since it involved two days of hiring the mini bus as well as lodging for all at Rameshwaram. Enroute we had our breakfast at one of the finest south Indian cuisine i had been to. The whole place has great service, was extremely clean and food was delicious. BY noon we were at Rameshwaram, after some not so great lunch we rested in the rooms for a bit. Then we decided to walk to the historic temple of lord shiva which was just ten minutes away. There were hundereds queued up already. Since it was eveing puja time, the door was closed and we ended up waiting for more than an hour. Once we had the previlge of seeing the idol we had the rest of the evenings to ourselves. the ladies went around shopping near by for some minor jeweler .I went about looking for shells.. Rameshwaram is renowned for sea shells. Headed back to the room for a good nights sleep. India's most famous president of all time was from this city .The house he grew up in was just 5 minutes walk away from the lodge.
Next day we had some serious plans. The temple hosts twenty one different wells and water from each well has a different taste to it. Even if they are few feet away. WE negotiated a package with the local agent and he escorted all of us to each of this well one by one. At each well he drew a small bucket of water and poured it on us. This ritual is supposed to cleans of our sins and I went with it. Twenty one bucket of water later we were done. Children seems to enjoy it like a water theme park, the elders were at the most devoted during this. It means a lot for a Hindu to be at this temple once in their life time and go though this cleaning process. The evening we rested, the next day the plan was heading back to Madurai. The following day we stopped at at smaller known temples atop  hill, then at a beach just after the palmer beach. My nephew and my little one seemed to have a blast in the pristine beach.
Chapter: Madurai
 We reached Madurai and checked into the lodge, we had the whole evening to ourselves. after a little bit of rest, we walked to the temple which was just twenty minutes away. The temple there is what makes this city. Its massive. The towers at twenty stories tall. there is not just one tower, three is seven. From any where in the city these magnanimous towers could be seen.I had been here when i was a kid. Too young to appreciate the wonderful architecture.

This time i was extremely observant. The scale and the sheer details really is out of this world. how could people with very simple tools all those centuries ago build some thing of this scale and size. Incredible. Took us a couple of hours to be blessed with a view of the goddess Meenakshi. It was truly a very spiritual feeling. Even that late in the evening, there were thousand of devotees. The entire temple complex spread over several acres. hundreds of shops lined the corridors selling merchandise.
Madurai is the textile capital of India and one thing that an unanimous yes among-st the ladies was shopping. We walked to one of the massive massive malls I have been to where it was just fabrics and dresses all over. spread over four floors, this place needed two six hour session to just have a glance once. I was just baby sitting while my mom, my sister, my aunt, my wife and mother in law all shopped like crazy. Clothes were cheap in price .
The following day we actually had the whole day to ourselves. Our train back to Bengaluru was scheduled that evening. We hired the same travel operator to take us around the city that day for a visit of all the local attractions. WE first headed to Tiruparnakundram temple. It actually is a massive hill made of solid granite. Wonder how that back in the days they carved out a temple into this rock. Not just a couple of feet, but several hundred meters into this stone hill. hundreds of steps to go up through the inside of the hill to reach the diety. Pillars , floors , ceiling and all carved out of rock.
WE then headed to the madurai Palace. It was a grand monument. It could have been curated well. scribblings on the massive pillars on walls did weave a story of how a grandeur of an era has been abused by the less intelligent folks. There were several exhibits of archeological findings there. Scruples as old as three thousand years! Awestruck i was. We then visited the gandhi memorial. A well taken care of building. It hosted the history of India quite well. The story of India is quite complicated and makes one realise how less we understand of where our ancestors have gone through. The exhibits finally ended with the actual piece of cloth that the mahatma himself was wearing on the day he was assassinated. It was blood stained and all. Quite a vivid image i have of that exhibit in my mind.
Most of us were done my lunch time touring the city. WE have a good five hour gap for the train to arrive. We all went back to shopping at chennai silks.
At the train station there was an incidence where i stood up to bullying. The toilet keeper was harassing poor travellers for money to use the Toilet. I warned him once and he was verbally abusive to me. I quickly got hold of the station chief. He got his deputy. We walked down to this person. He instantly turned to be the most humble person ever. Quite a remarkable difference in a man whom i met few minutes ago. I tweeted the railway ministry as well and it was quickly directed to the Madurai station chief. For the time we spent at the railway station he was being nice to people  using the toilet. Not sure how his behaviour changed later on. Back to Bangalore then. Wonderful few days in gorgeous Tamil Nadu. A host to great temples, fantastic history and a super cuisine of south indian food.

Chapter  Male Mahadeshwara
We spent few more days in Bengaluru. My wife and I had several dental issues that needed addressing. But that meant we had few days in Bengalure as well. So why waste time. My sister and I thought of a good one day trip that can be achieved over a weekend. So a good two hundred kilometre distance we had heard o



f a temple of lord Shiva called Malemahadeshwara .
Sorted out the route but what are as a surprise to us and a negative one at that was the severe lack of any amenities on route. No good restaurants , not many petrol stations. we had a very bad breakfast where we had to bin almost the entire thing we bought. My wife and daughter were throwing up all over the place and made a mess go the cars back seat. The temple was atop a hill and those twists might have been a drivers delight but for the passengers it was horrible. After few more throwing up stops we some how made to the temple. This temple was close to the border of Tamil Nadu, Salem. So majority of the devotees who came were from TN. There were long queues and it was held up as always in most temples that some over religious devotee wants to witness the idol more than anyone else for longer. Selfish B**rds is one word I can think off. At the end of it after our due prayers offered we were at the large open air auditorium for the free meal that the temple offered to all its devotees. I Must not judge free meals offered by temples but it was not too bad. hygiene level was adequate. We spent some more time walking around the temple area . I can distinctively remember that the elephant there was not as well decorated as a temple in Kerala would have been.
WE then headed back to Bangalore and that was lot of kilometres covered on a single day. we had a close call with one of the lunatic biker coming head on to us and we had to swing b violently to on coming traffic which was a  BUS! My brother in law was in good control and we all had a heart attack . A fright that we cannot forget.   Everything is memorable. Good or bad. Reached home late and night and that was the end of it.

Chapter: Kollur
Once all of our dental issues were sorted at Bengaluru we headed to Kasargod. Few days of visits to friends and family, we had time on our hands. THe usual selves we normally are, quick decision and within an evening we decided we will visit few temples on the west coast. Father, mother, Wife, my daughter and myself in a seven seater MUV. Plenty fo space so off we started at seven amm towards Kollur. A temple two hundred kilometers north. We had to drive through Mangalore a busy city. The roads were excellent to driving was easy. We reached the temple just few minutes ahead of the puaj at noon. WE narrowly missed a massive queue. After the darshan, we had the Prasadam/lunch at the temple. It was one of the most simple delicious food I ave had and its unbelievable this is offered free of cost to thousands everyday round the year. Speaks volumes of how important a temple is to the locals.  The drive it self was fantastic since the temple is right in the thick of the dense forest on west coast. The air, the smell of the fresh vegetation, the massive age old trees was something i enjoyed every meter along the way. On the way back there was a butterfly sanctuary which i intended to visit, but my adamant father insisted we keep driving ahead.

Chapter: Murudeshwara
Seventy kilometers further north along the coast line is this famous temple of Murudeshwar. Lord shiva temple. Back in the days it was small temple in spite of it holding a significant spot in the mythology.

Now This turned out to be one of the best decision we have made since being spiritual and religious is all good. but trow in a little bit of fun and then its even more memorable . There was an imposing large ,I mean very large gopuram. which is the main gate. It was twenty two stories tall. I kid you not. The tallest temple gate in the world. Behind the gate atop a hill was the largest idol of lord shiva. What a sight. The idol is another eight to ten stories high. The beach by the side was the perfect spot to rest up. I got ourselves checked into one the good rooms right but the side. We went down the beach and my daughter had a good time on the beach and so did we all. Spent close to an hour and half there. The room had fantastic views all around. Front widow shows you the idol and gate, the balcony view is off the vast ocean Perfect. The humidity as quite high as anyone can imagine . After a good nights rest we woke up to a amazing unforgettable sun rise. The sun peeked its head up from the east over the mountains while its rays struck the top of the gate and the idol. I happily clicked away to my hearts content in all settings.
We then visited the temple and headed out back towards Kasargod but there was one more stop.


Chapter Udupi
I had been there couple of decades ago and my memories of the ancient town with significant importance in hind mythology had gently erased. now the infra structure had vastly improved and we could easily find a good spot to park the car and walk in easily to the temple. This temple had the idol of lord Krishna showing his back to the main door. To view the idol a small window to the back of the sanctum Santorum was the only way. That is because back in the days, when the legendary poet Kalidasa , a person of lower caste was not allowed to enter the temple he sang away in praise of the lord that the idol is beloved t have turned his face around . That is the story and its a good one. Since then , every person of every religion and faith have been allowed permission to enter. The one main note worth feature was the free meals offered to the thousands of devotees who come here every day. I repeat. its in thousands. The meal is not too shabby either. it was one of the most delicious simple meal I have ever had. Relished the offerings of the lord I must say and with gratitude we left from Udupi back towards home. On the way back we did stop at a Ganesh temple that my dad insisted we visit. Too much of devotion for me in a day but that was it. Buy late evening we reached home and what a trip that was. Enjoyed every bit of it. More than two thousand kilometres on the clock and so much of beautiful memories created with family.

Was definitely not built in a day

Of all the many places we wanted to visit, this one was definitely in the top ten. WE just back from the Hungary holidays in August, so my wife was no in for another holiday this soon. But I decided to surprise her and book another trip.
Booked flights and hotel via Expedia. The hotel was very close to the Vatican city walls. just an eight-minute walk. This was a four-day visit and we departed from Dublin on a Friday morning at half four. Since we realised that security is super quick when we have a kid we took it easy.
It was a three-hour flight but we spent one hour just on the tarmac on Friday morning due to air traffic delays. Just from the window, I could count up to eleven planes lined up behind us.
Ciampino airport in Rome was 40 minutes away from the main city. We first had some coffee and carrot cake at the airport and two facts we experienced for the rest of the stay. Just latte means, just warm plain milk, second coffee served here is not as warm that you'd expect it to be.  But nothing is expensive by Dublin standards. the best of coffee cost only a euro fifty and the best of carrot cake was one euro eighty-five cents.

We got ourselves a  48-hour Roma pass that allows us to use all transport and entrance to anyone museum. We took the public bus plus a metro to Termini, which is a major central station for Bus and underground metro. I am surprised in all of the 4 days we were there, we never used the metro train except for the first day. Had a good goats cheese sandwich from moocha and carried on. Bus route number 64 from termini took straight to the hotel Gravina.
The hotel was top class and the reception agent was very helpful. Gave us all tips, helped us with information as the best places to visit. Provided maps and details. We rested for few hours. Rome was much warmer than where we came, so it was comfortable to walk around. The Vatican city wall was just a short stroll away. We headed there and fact number two hit us, the old part of the city which is most of it is all cobbled street is not buggy friendly. My mate had already made me aware of this earlier. As we entered the large square in front of the Vatican the scale of monuments here hits you. Hundreds of huge pillars all around and several tourists there bore the same expression that we had. Of awe.

It was dusk and the Sun was gently setting behind the massive dome. we Stood there absorbing the ambience of the setting. We walked down the long road towards the main street where there is a castle/ fort.  THere was a busker entertaining the crowds with massive soap bubbles which entertained my daughter for a good long while. AS the skies got darker we walked back to the hotel room and conveniently next to the hotel as a very good pizzeria. WE dined on some authentic bruschetta, pizzas and some good local brew of draft beer. Fact number three, pizzas anywhere in Rome is amazing. They are delicious, offers several tens of choices and very good value for money.
Saturday morning after our breakfast at the hotel, we first headed to Colosseum. Bus Route number 916 is what we used and, at the stop where we had to switch to the next bus, we decided to walk. The best thing we did. WIthin a minute of walking, we ended up in the "Altare della Patria" .  A national monument in honour of the first king Victor Emmanuel who unified Italy.

Very imposing structure of the massive scale. had several flights of stairs to get to the second level. From there we headed back down and the Colosseum was a fifteen-minute straight walk from there. But it took us more than an hour to complete that walk because on either side of the road was several archaeological excavations and sites. Just having a quick glance at these ancient ruins and look at the intricate mosaic of all of the marble flooring makes me wonder, this is so unreal that thousands of years ago there was such fine craftsmanship. It's a kind of flooring that I would love in my own house. Good design and good craftsmanship are truly timeless.
AT the gates of the Colosseum tourists flocked in thousands and by no way could we have queued up there for hours to get in. THanks to the Roma pass we had, there was no wait time at all. Straight in.
As we made it into the level zero and looked into the arena we realise that true grandeur of this monument. How as such a large structure built in the first place. Some of the pillars are smoothly carved up granite pillars 3 feet wide, 20 feet tall and brought all the way from across the oceans on wooden sips. How!
Even the barbaric acts what went on in this venue for the entertainment of the crowds is also something which is an inhumane/ insane act at a different level.  We made our way up the super inclined stairs to level one which offered a much wider viewing of the space. Cant help but think of the fact that these same stairs were used by the ancient Romans thousands of years ago.

After some cliche touristy pictures we made our way around the outer corridor where there were several exhibits and models on how the Colosseum would have been in its full grandeur back in those days. Soon after we exited and had a fantastic sit in Pizza. We walked back the same street we walked up observing the archaeological dig ups on the other side of the road.
Thanks to offline google map our next venue was the Pantheon. There was a long queue there as well but did not take that long to get in. The size of the dome is what takes your breath away, the on close observation the intricate and highly detailed stonework all over is equally impressive.  It's now a church, but was once a Roman temple . all were asked to quieten down, but this request had to be placed every five minutes. Such was the steady flow of visitors.

One the way back did some shopping for the little one and something to snack on. Back at the hotel to our dismay we found that all the day tours that we wanted to get on were all sold out. We were able to get two seats on the "Taste of Italy" day tour. THough unintended it was just as fun as we could have expected. Headed out of the city towards Cortona in Tuscany. Beautiful countryside villages which unlike normal villages which generally lie in the valleys. These little towns are on hilltops. For obvious reasons of good visibility to detect enemies. The steep cobbled stone roads were challenging enough for us, but wonder how the folks do this every day, day in and day out. The guide explained on how grapes are cultivated and harvested. The different types of grapes etc.. There was an open weekly market fair going on which made the experience even more genuine. On the windy roads down noticed several cyclists make their way up the mountain. what an amazing location and landscape to train. The next stop was Montepulciano, another hilltop town but here there were some very old wineries. The one we went to was four hundred years old. We met the master wine taster who is still doing his duty at the age of eighty-five. We were explained how to read the barrels and how wine is actually made, stored, bottled and even labelled. Tasted several samples of wines.

Some just two years old. Some more than five. I am no expert, but if I focus hard I could tell the difference. From smell to the aftertaste, how it felt as it went down the tube, everything had a subtle difference.

We shopped for some simple wooden toys there and we made our way back to the bus. it was lunch time and we stopped at a restaurant deep in the countryside. We were in for a treat for an authentic Italian four-course lunch with ample varieties of cheese and bread thrown in.
Fact four, dishes don't have to be complicated with many different types of spices to make is delicious. Simplicity is beautiful.
heading back to Rome was a tiring experience because the traffic was super heavy. Took more than one hour just to travel 20 kilometres. It was the Sunday evening and everyone was heading back in.
A memorable day tour since the green line tours picked us up and dropped us back at the hotel which was super convenient, especially when you have a two-year-old and a buggy to lug around. A bottle of wine, while we dined, was the perfect remedy for a good night's sleep after a long day.
The final day in Rome was slightly dramatic at the end .

We had a lazy morning , headed out of the hotel after packing all of our stuff . we checked out at ten AM. My wife and to shop for some gifts. Rosary and fridge magnets and all. We walked down the awards the Vatican and continued t walk by the north side of the river. Its quite note worth that the architecture of all the buildings all around stands out. We walked towards the large park at the north side of the city which must have been just a 4 KM walk. it was a short hike up the side of the hill where we spent some time in the serene park. a very large park. SO large that there were bikes to rent to go about. My little one had good time running around freely. it was a good view of the city from there  as we overlooked a square.
Headed back down and walked down the south side of the river. On the tourist map there was a  landmark for a basilica. We found the place and it was as impressive as it could be. Beyond expectations. Thats the nature of the buildings there. From exterior it looks so un assuringly simple . But once you set in get ready to be blown away.  it was on one of the high streets and there were plenty of high end stores. Never seen so many lingere  stores lined up . Finally my mrs found a good retail shop "Mango" where I did my duty of minding the kid and she shopped for herself and my sister.

We could see that this street connected straight to the national monument from there. The mental map of the city gets so much richer the more w spend our time on foot there. We must have walked a lot that day. I would say 15 km the least. We got back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and we headed to Termini. The flight was at eight PM and leaving at five should be safe enough; God were we wrong . The notorious traffic meant that we would recutting into close. The shuttle coach runs every 30 minutes or so and but the next coach we could get was at seven six So we had to take a taxi . We got to the airport by seven . went though the routine security and some last minute airport shopping for chocolates. Got on to the plane and the three of us went out like lights. End of a fantastic trip. Truly fantastic .
One thing was decided as we touched down at Dublin Airport, got togo back for more.. Pompeii, Scilly, Florence, Milan... there is so much more Italy has to offer.

Buda or Pest

Mrs started with new job and by the policy no personal leaves allowed during probation. Abiding by that we could not have family break. Until there was this one day where her manager walked up to her to ask  "why are you not taking any holidays?" .  Obliging to such generosity is being respectful . Her team mate was always on about the city he is from . Common lunch table topics was about his home city and how wondrous it is. We did not need much inspiration  to choose a city break.
Because identifying a holiday destination is a pain. Too many variables to be evaluated. Her team mate was kind of enough to give all the details of all things that may be visited, places to stay away from, best things for kids to do etc...
We booked the hotel and flights for the bank holiday weekend in August. Time to bring out the "Days to holiday count down app" . Something to look forward to. Only a week later while on my way to wedding with my buddy Dave did i know that he and his Fiance are great fans of the same place. So much so that they even got engaged there. Now that made me take a look at the app everyday twice as much. I was also made aware that currency there is Fornito and  things can get really cheaper there. Double win!!
It was an early morning flight and on a bank holiday weekend airport can get super busy. After receiving multiple alert emails from the airline i decided to be safe rather than sorry. We were there three hours well in advance. At five AM it was the busiest I have ever seen Dublin Airport terminal 1 at. But me and my little family were though the whole process in under 15 minutes. The power of having a  toddler with you at airport is supreme. Security checks done in priority and assisted. Super! But that did leave a lot of time for us at the airport to have a snooze.
A flight duration of three hours was not fantastic , thanks to the same annoying toddler.  It was her first holiday in Europe and this time she was registering the fact that she is ina . metal tube and its going up. Her look outside the window and back at my face twenty times during lift off was priceless.
At the airport after getting some currency exchanged i felt like a super rich dude for few minutes. Exchange rate was 1 euro is to 300 Forinto . Thousands of cash in my hand. Finding way from airport to hotel was not too complicated. Transport was super cheap. three day unlimited access to all forms of transport for hte both of us was just Euro 20. What caught us in true surprise was the heat. Man was it hot! 37 degrees. I might be from India , but my body has truly acclimatized to the Irish weather and anything above 20 is hot for me. 37 degrees is something that I haven't even experienced in India .
The hotel we checked in at was fabulous. Had an AC ! we rested for a little while and got out during dusk. The hotel  was at central location accessible to all trains, trams and busses.  The city was beautiful and busy. we wandered about the squares and decided to hop on to a tram on the Pest side of the city. This is all unplanned. The tram stopped at the parliament. and god was a it a beautiful building. One of the best I have seen in Europe. We spent the evening here since there was a pool which the little kiddo enjoyed wading in.  Way back Mrs tried a hand at shopping expecting things to be cheaper, but where . we stayed , it was a tourist hot spot. So everything was Euro converted to Forinto.
Dinner was at one of the restaurants . We sat outside and there was this constant fine mist of water sprayed to keep everyone cool . Best fresh Pizza, mushroom risotto and soup I have had. THe fact that i remember what I have had speaks for itself.
Following day we decided to head to the baths which Budapest was famous for. The bath is a thermal batha nd at that heat ice cold bath is waht is preferable. We were allowed in for a look around. My Mrs would never get into a swim suit so the option of trying out, ruled out. we headed to the zoo right opposite . Huge zoo and plenty to see. My daughter was truly entertained. All the animals that she sees on her favorite cartoon were all alive and kicking for real. The butterfly sanctuary and petting zoo was her favorite. we spent four hours there and was able to cover just the half of it. It was noon and even after gulping two liters of water  each, none of us had pee'ed . It was that hot.  Potable Water fountains were every where which was a huge relief. We headed to the hotel for a snooze and resume exploration later on.
By four we decided to . cross over the bridge closes to us and that we did. But what i did not mention to my Mrs was my intention of hiking up the hill at the other end of it. That too with a buggy. My little daughter was all in for it.  It was a good climb up to the citadel .  Must have taken us an hour. The entire trail was through wooded area so it was not too bad. When we reached the summit my wife stared giving out and was delighted we did get up here. The views were spectacular.  Totally flexed the zoom on my lens. Bought the most expensive lemonade at four euro each. Total rip off of the tourists. By the way we had been warned of this before we came over.
We headed back down  by six and hopped on to  the tram that traversed the Buda part of the city . we spotted a children's play area and we hopped off there.  She has a whale of a time playing there. It was funny to see most kids running around in just diapers and i dont blame them at all.
After while just when the sun decided to set we thought this was the best time to take the river cruise and boy was the best move made. We got on to the one and a half hour river cruise and to see the city with the orange backlit sky was splendid. THe highlight was the parliament all illuminated. Priceless . The buda castle also looked great but we knew we did not have enough time to check out the museum there. It was the most peaceful evening we have had. Soaking up the views and the reflection of the lights on the waters  was enthralling. The city had many bridges, not one of  them looked looked industrial. Each bridge looks like it stood for an era and was a piece of art.

That night the three of us slept like logs. Tired is an understatement.
Following day we had little time time so we took the tram to the Budapest city park.  We got off at the Hero's square which is ten times as much as trafalgar's square. WE wandered into the park. There was a rehearsal going on for some music fest. By noon we headed back to the hotel to checkout. Took the train to the airport. There was a huge mall where we had to transfer to a bus from the last train station. We had our lunch there and my Mrs engaged in her favorite pass time while i minded the trouble maker.
Security check was super quick again but the weather wasn't cooperative. we were grounded in the aircraft for one hour because of a thunderstorm that we could all see from the oval windows in the distance.
Finally back to dublin to the super comfy sub twenties and felt great to head back to the urinals.

Marathon 2016

My fifth ever marathon run coincided this time with the one hundred year celebration in Ireland. Last year was a disappointment and my blog back then reflected that. the Illusory red balloons. This year was nothing different. End of story. Well, though I was not completely satisfied, I should not complain either. I did slightly better than last year. Just improved by another four minute. The same kind of gain as before. There is something different to the experience as compared to the last one.
To begin with, this year my outdoor activity has been split. I have done as much as cycling as I have been running . Clocking a  total distance of 490 km running, while I put in 1960 km in cycling. in the past one year alone. It's quite shocking to see these stats by the end of the year. Kind of blows my mind away , that in total I spent over seventy thousand calories in just running and cycling.

The training for my running this year was split into two, The first quarter I was focussed on getting a 10K run in 45 minutes. I managed to get that done in 45 minutes. Which were 5 minutes better than the previous year. The rest of the year was mostly cycling and majority of the running, well over one hundred kilometers  in the last month of October alone.

This was my Achilles heel in training which I only realized later . The week previous to the big run managed to get 27 km run done in two hours eighteen minutes with a  respectable Avg heart rate of 171 bpm. That gave me the confidence that I could pull this off easily. (proved wrong later) .
the bank holiday Sunday was finally upon me. Collected my race pack from RDS next door. I got a sense that this was huge this time. well over 19,500 participants this time. My chip number 10800.

Sunday the 30th was the best anyone could expect weather wise. It was a nice thirteen degree with gentle breeze under 6 kph. To my own surprise, I was not wearing a thermal wear. I had not worn it throughout 2016! The turnout was massive. seeing close to twenty thousand people on the street is amazing and quite a rare sight. I was inspired by few of the participants I noticed at the green wave. A soldier from the Irish army in full gear. A firefighter in full gear . There was the now common, superman, and batman. The green wave has the flag off at ten past nine. I started off with a slow run, 6minutes for the first kilometer. it was kind of congested to pick up any pace. But I was determined not to up the pace and keep it slow and steady. The focus was to get my energy level up till the finish line. was aiming for a pace of just under five minutes thirty which would keep my heart rate at a comfortable 170 bpm.
The kilometers kept ticking ant I was holding a steady pace till the 32nd kilometer. I was already in celebratory mode. I had just another ten kilometers to go. The three hour fifty pace keepers were right beside me. All I had to do is dig deep and keep the pace steady.  Few tips that kept me ticking was nibbling away at the free jelly beans handed by the good Dublin folks. I had a banana handed out by a kid, which I am very grateful for. Also kept sipping water to keep hydrated. All is going good, right; WRONG!
After that I cannot explain what happened, I could not keep the pace, I was fighting with myself to keep running the whole distance. I decided to walk 100 meters for every 900 meters of running. That's the only way I could see myself getting to the finish line . This one stat of my pace  alone is self-explanatory .

It has to be mental because I did not have any cramps , nor did my muscles tighten up. Mysteriously I had lost all the energy and my body was not able to deliver them. I had three gels and that was not doing it for me. The red balloon went past me again this time, to my total dismay when I was just three kilometers from the finish line.
My daughter and wife were by Merrion road, outside my home to cheer me up. That gave me some joy. I had to keep chugging along at least for them. I had seen many collapses along the route, but what broke my heart is when a chap fainted just 100 meters from the finish line. The medics rushing to him was the last thing I remember. I had to take ten steps walking at that point thankful that I am still able to walk. The final 50 meters mustered all that I could in me and crossed the finish line. I thanked the lords. I spent well over 40 minutes just sitting by the curbside on Merrion square park. tried to get some food in me. gently limped back to my bike, made my way to home to sleep for two hours straight.
What a day!! Dublin Marathon Vs me is still 1-0. But I am not giving up just yet; am I .