The Runner in Formals

There are moments in endurance running that go beyond pace, distance, or personal bests. Moments that stay with you—not because of the finish line, but because of what you felt when you were nowhere near it. Let me recount two such events in this post - Somewhere Around 35 Km The first was during the  Vagamon Ultra , a 60 km trail run through some of the most rugged terrain in Kerala. I was running with UltraR and Cheetahji—our trio, moving mostly in silence. The 35 km mark had that surreal feeling: you’re too far in to stop, and yet the finish feels impossibly distant. That’s when she appeared. A woman, dressed in modest clothes—likely from a very humble background—stepped out from the side of the trail. She carried a bag and without a word, offered us some kind of fruit I’d never seen before. Instinctively, I shrugged and moved on. So did UltraR. But Cheetahji paused. She was speaking rapidly in Malayalam—none of us understood a word—but there was something in her tone. Slightly ...

9 Authors – 11 Books – 12 world’s best sportsperson & 11 key takeaways parallel to our work... My 2022 in books was focused on biographies… & many of them were Sports Bios. While reading them and recently while going through my notes I realized the clear parallels we can pick up from them in our work streams. I have not mentioned what work episodes/learnings they evoked for me; because every one will relate to a different incident, a different manager or colleague when reading about what these ultra-endurance athletes felt about in their own lives. Why is this post here? Needless to mention most of the athletes I read about our Elite UltraRunners :)

At My Pace, there’s a lot of Misery.  Self reflections post Tata Ultra & Vagamon Ultrail 2022.... I am not your fast athlete that blaze thru the course. In the holding area at the start of any Ultra, I am usually the exception in the overall field of super fit humans who are 20 years younger than me. Unlike most of the participants who have trained and devoted major part of their T-3 months to training * – & they have reached the location 3-6 days early to get used to weather and go thru the course, I have probably finished a long sales meeting a night before & then hopped onto an odd time flight to reach the start point. I have probably labored thru long work weeks and made training time by mostly carving out hours from weekends/avoiding parties/shutting down all TV/running during early hours on a work travel. All varied reasons that lead to – AT MY PACE THERE’S A LOT OF MISERY…  At the finish line.. Misery converts to Magic But there’s Magic in the Misery. I run ...

  Amongst the top TP talks doing the rounds of corporate alleys, along with the transfer/promotion rumors very prominently appears the STEPS discussion {imagine the rage if something appears along with corporate gossip!}. Almost everyone has a wrist tracker that’s quickly flashed to show their average steps counts. The race to 10k steps a day to be healthy… First things first – this isn’t a post against those chasing STEPS and really showing remarkable discipline at it. More power to you! You are miles ahead of people with very less mobility & I am sure this is going to have a positive impact over your overall fitness and health… My provocation is walking steps with a work con-call in progress, mind working rapidly on numbers is an Exercise or Exertion?   Are the 5000 steps taken during a morning 3-4K run/walk equal to the 5000 steps taking during coffee breaks? Are the 5000 steps taken while wearing a proper running shoe equal to the 5000 steps taken in your for...

Every day we come across someone who is on a ‘PLAN’...   Mostly a purchased Diet Chart that prohibits a lot and promises weight loss, health & in some acute cases six-pack abs. & since it's a purchased plan, the discipline displayed by people is awe-inspiring! For almost many weeks you can spot them resisting evening snacks, measuring their food intake in bowls (some even delivering fantastic precision by calculating in grams), and skipping the beer pint that they would've wholeheartedly cherished! In process draining all their positive energy and making life dull in following a fitness expert's Diet Chart!   Running in the last 6+ years has made me interact with "real" fit people who don't kill their food and drink desires, rather enjoys the good food/drink experiences. We don't pack quinoa and oats in our tiffin boxes and never skip evening office snacks. We eat chips when we feel like and don't subscribe to Dieticians who would have ...

Entrepreneurship is a state of mind, & it can be attained even in a job; & that moment when your organization shares your passion is pure bliss. Under the  NIVEA INDIA  Incub8 program there came an opportunity to pitch for a personal care range exclusively for runners. From concept to commercial launch – what an enriching journey! An amazing opportunity to think like a manager & runner at the same time. A brand created from scratch - Just for long distance runners. I have personally put the products to 100s kms of mileage check thus far under severe humid conditions - & NIVEA products always ace any quality checks ;) ;) Eat Healthy – Train Dirty – Earn the Sweat – Beat the Odour #hereforthelongrun   #NIVEAMen42K   #ItStartsWithYou   #NIVEAMen *in pic : the 42K range along with my most hard earned metal *can buy at : Amazon or at all leading retailers in metro cities

I firmly believe that annual sales conferences are an ultimate tool to drive team engagement & alignment on business goals. A day well spent with all team members under one roof discussing the sales strategies gives you super rich dividends for many months of business & an unparalleled camaraderie. I have attended amazingly charged-up sales conferences in my formative years wherein the leaders so clearly defined the opportunities and expectations that the entire business year delivery used to get safeguarded. In my current & last positions as a Team Leader I have also tried to get as much nitro-boost from sales conferences as possible. One of the tool that I have used consistently is getting an awe-inspiring guest speaker to talk to the larger team. Often times listening to someone from an absolutely unrelated field about the struggles & critical wins and what all transpired around them helps deliver a strong message for what all can be done in our routine ...

The 3-Legged Stool Concept for a Healthy Life My approach on balancing the life with Running.. The 3 legs of a stool approach… How the stress of Professional & Personal Life, gets balanced out by bringing the third healthy & something-only-for-me angle… Also my long held belief that it need not be just running or a physically draining sport to keep the stool balanced – but can also be an activity like singing, dancing or guitar… I am absolutely against the views that forces people to go on diets or stay away from the food they love – as it’s not sustainable over a long period of time…. An apple a day keeps the Doctor away – A Samosa-Pav sometimes also helps keep your happiness at peak :) ** Addressing an audience from Nivea India at Mumbai on the occasion of Health Day

Things only Runners will understand 1.     Vaseline is Important! Even more important than water! As I wrote only long distance runners will understand ;) 2.     A holiday must be planned only after checking Strava segments of the destination… 3.     Your running buddy knows about you as much as your spouse. In some cases even more! 4.     You are normal if the sight of a bad smelling port-a-potty brings smile to your face 5.     After 30 Kms the F word replaces commas in your sentences

Why should one hire a Runner???  1.     Discipline – An individual who puts his body to extreme endurance for months so as to cross finish line of an event few minutes before last years’ time, will definitely be the manager who reaches office the first and handles his outlook calendar the best 2.     Turbulent Market Conditions – An individual trained to go non-stop in excessive heat or punishing monsoon, on terrains with crazy elevations; even when his body is shouting obscenities at him, can definitely handle the curve balls of market forces and competition tactics to safeguard business in turbulent times 3.     Perseverance – Marathoners are hard coded to persevere. They run the last 10 Kms with their heart when body has already given up – Imagine the perseverance levels such individuals will bring to meeting rooms or long duration projects! PS - but obvious – discussing not about a long distance professional...

The Beauty {or the lack of it} in DNF Both knees jammed… Intense vomit sensation… Bleeding chafed body… The GPS watch chirped 24 Kms complete… A KM more to go… A right turn shortly towards a ~600 mtr climb to Gandhi tekdi and back… & then to the finish line of the most grueling run of Mumbai…  The knees collapsed, body said NO, the mind became weak, heart didn’t cared – instead of taking the right turn I straight walked towards the finish line – Closing my painful BNP 25Kms Endurathon 2016 experience at 24.xx KMs… Almost back in senses and while traveling back to home, received a message on my running club’s WhatsApp group.. Names followed by timings of all the participants.. In the last line of the message –  Ashish Joshi – D.N.F. I have spent almost last 45 mins to come up with a line to describe that feeling… But mere words are not enough when you have actually let your own self down! Too ashamed in my own eyes… Why the hell did I missed...