Even worse!

I threw Darts this week.. again... and did much worse.. down to 0.67.. but we won 7 games out of 13 - so basically we won - and one of those games was my win!

Way down there

Dart standings as of last week .. Yeah, I know, not anything to boast about.. But likely I will throw this week, so watch the 'Most Improved Players' section!!!

Should just shut up...

Darts - Lessons Learned

I am a substitute Darts player for my Darts team at work and on the following Thursday, I will get the opportunity to participate in my first game in this years' league. Last Thursday, I spent some time practicing with my team and the single most important tip I got was to 'Follow Through' once the dart leaves your fingers.

Incidentally, 'Follow through' is good advice for life in general. We often take decisions we don't feel too secure about and wonder if we should give up or feel like we should never have gotten into this. Sometimes, if you follow through, your odds of hitting the target increase proportionately. Although,even if you follow through, it is important that you are looking where you want your dart to hit the board. So, knowing your target is vital too.

Just like in life, hastiness in dart-throwing doesn't help either.

My Biking Fiasco

I went biking on Sunday morning to Rock Cut State Park. This involved being up at 6 a.m. - never fun on Sundays. I made it to the rendezvous point at 7 a.m. Only 2 out of 5 of us showed up. I was one of them. This meant that I had to compete against my biking partner, B (who is atleast twice as old as I am and twice as fast. Do the math. )

We headed out - the first two miles were a breeze (for him, not me). This was like a warm-up session before the trail started. Right around the first mile of the "actual" trail (4 miles total) -B said 'Here comes the first big hill.' Now right when he said this, it was as if all the energy was sucked out of me. This kind of heads-up never works for me. Needless to say, I didn't make it up this "first big hill" without getting off the bike. I could see B in the distance, waiting for me to catch up - if at all that was an option. Personally, I thought it wasn't.

When I finally made it to where he was waiting for me (still on the bike), I figured I shouldn't ruin this for him. I asked him to continue and said I would find my way back. Right when I said this, I could never have imagined that 'finding my way back' was going to be the toughest part of my day. Well ... it was. I headed back on the bike trail by myself.

Since I was alone this time, I slowed down and looked around at the trees on either side of the trail. There were bugs and small animals, been a while since I appreciated Nature this way. Strange as it may seem, I did not notice any of this when I was riding this trail the first time. I did not notice that we had crossed close to 5 bridges and that there were some homes on one side of the trail. Now since I did not notice these the first time, I figured I must be lost. I told myself, no need to panic. But there was nobody around. Atleast I had my phone, but even if I called someone, how could they possibly figure out where I was. B didn't bring his phone with him btw so that didn't work out for me either. Each time that I was confronted by two roads (diverging in the yellow wood), I had to make a choice. Just like the poem. This was an interesting experience. Soon after, I encountered two ladies enjoying their morning walk on the trail, and asked them if I was heading back to the 'right' place. Apparently I was! Looks like for once I made all the right choices :)

I waited for B's return, this wasn't much later - what with me being lost and everything. This experience taught me that I should never bike with B again for one thing. More importantly, that biking alone is not all that bad if you eventually find your way back.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Life... after the run

My shin splints are finally better - well they would be, considering that I haven't exercised in 2 weeks. That also implies I have gained a few pounds. Rockford is getting cooler now, but I do love Fall so I am not complaining.

Several times, I think about the run - and the bigger message in all of this. When Dad was still around, he would ask me about my lifestyle - are you getting any exercise? My answer always was - "nope, do not have enough time". All of a sudden, I have a heightened realization of how I entirely ignore my health. This is probably not how I should have learned, but I guess I finally have. And better late than never, as most would say.

Surprisingly, I do like running - I never thought I would. I keep thinking all of these little things are a part of a bigger plan and a larger purpose. Maybe I am becoming more 'spiritually aware' too, but sometimes it brings me down. I do not always agree with what has been put down in Hindu scriptures.

Life after the run ... has been very different, like something is missing. Maybe I need a new goal of some sort, not spend each day as it comes or live in the moment. Big big conflict of ideas in my head right now.... Hopefully I'll be able to make sense of all this.... but it better be soon....

I Can't Live... Without U2

U2 is undoubtedly the BEST BAND in the whole world. You may want to disagree with this statement, but I don't care much for you if you do. Besides, you possibly couldn't justify the turnout (please check images above) any other way EXCEPT that U2 is and always will be the most abso-blooming-lutely awesome band in the whole world. That being said, let me provide a detailed account of one of the most unforgettable evenings of my life.

First the not so fun part. Having been a Chicagoan for about 2 years, one must always remember that public transport exists for a reason. Then again, put a Californian into the mix, and two ex-Chicagoans become a couple of idiots. We drove around in the car for 1 hour trying to park for the event. Mind you, we had a parking permit for the closest parking location to Soldier Field, but that really doesn't count.

So, we make it to Waldron Deck at 5 to 7. The thing starts at 7. A pat on the back for me here - Fantastic tickets, the next best thing would be the Skybox. Row 4 and everything. Great view, open air, the windy city. Could it be anymore perfect?

Snow Patrol opened for U2. Not much of a fan so this was the hard part for me - Sitting through this initial segment. Once they were done, must have been around 7:45 - the stage was being prepped for U2. Now this had got to be the worst 1 hour of the evening. They took 1 hour *YES! 1 whole hour* to prep. Well, this is U2. Alright, I take that back.

Finally, they arrived!! And I saw Bono :) This was one of those great moments - I went like 'Wow, I have been waiting for this, for over 8 years'.
The first few songs ...
- Breathe
- No Line On The Horizon
- Get On Your Boots
- Magnificent > King Of Pain > Blackbird

Bono said a few things about how awesome Chicago is and the next song was
- Beautiful Day

And then, all the songs that are on my iPod :)
- I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
- Elevation
- Your Blue Room
- Unknown Caller
- Until The End Of The World
- Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
- The Unforgettable Fire
- City Of Blinding Lights
- Vertigo
- I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight > I Want To Take You Higher
- Sunday Bloody Sunday > Rock The Casbah
- MLK
- Walk On

This song was dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi
- One > Amazing Grace
- Where The Streets Have No Name > All You Need Is Love

And then Bono said 'Good Night' and left the stage. We all know what that means. And come on, what U2 band doesn't sing 'With or Without You' and leaves. I mean that is next to impossible.

- Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
- With Or Without You
- Moment of Surrender

All the encore songs were performed with Bono wearing a jacket with RED(they were blue for With or Without You) LED's [Recall Amitabh Bachchan's look in Yaarana - Saara Zamaana Haseeno ka Deewana]. Check the picture with red lighting for what I'm talking about.

I must say that I could not possibly put this experience into words - I tried. I just couldn't. I hope the pictures help to get the message across. And well, since the first city they performed in in the US was Chicago - all those who think they are absolutely fantabulously awesome should totally buy tickets and just GO!

To sum this up, It was a world-class event :| There, I said it...

Race Day!

L to R : S, A, J

September 12th, 2009 - 5K Lung Run at Chicago [The Chicago 5K Lung Run is the largest event in the Mid-west that raises money for Lung Cancer Research]

The day started at 4 a.m. for me. I picked up S at 7:00 a.m. and A at 7:30 a.m. We parked at Lincoln Park Zoo, bathed in sunscreen. It was a hot, hot day! We picked up our packets, our bibs and d-tags for time tracking, hydrated ourselves and lined up to start at 9:00 a.m.

Oh .. and, I must mention about my shin splints and the Ibuprofen I chowed down an hour before the race (hoping things would be ok). Not to mention the gym instructors' directive that no amount of pain killers can save me and that I will have to just bear the pain - and it will be worse after the race.

We had warmed up before the race began, so I started out strong. With the first 0.7 miles I figured it was going to be a tough road ahead. My shin splints had started acting up already. Every step was like unbearable torture, reducing my running speed did not help. I walked a few steps, then jogged, then tried to run. I cannot describe my happiness when I saw the 1 Mile marker.

Water was provided at 1.5 miles, I really needed that - the minute that I stopped completely to drink water, the pain simply vanished and I felt like it was all going to be ok, but when I started out again - there it was again!

The 2nd mile was by far my worst performance - I must have walk-jogged most of it.

By the start of the 3rd mile, the pain had lessened in a way that I could sprint all the way to the Finish line. Strangely enough, in the last mile, memories of dad came gushing into my sub-conscious. I had a flashback of all our fun moments together and all the great times, the sad times too, his last few days in the hospital, he had lost so much weight. The cancer was eating him inside. I cried all the way past the Finish line - thankfully my team was there to hug me and console me when I finished.

I really missed dad at the very moment I finished... A finished at 33 minutes and S at 40 minutes... I finished at 51 minutes and couldn't move my legs for the next half hour, the pain was excruciating and I couldn't even get up from the sidewalk . S was rushing to get a medic.

[Race results here]. I am tempted to crack this joke, I got quite a few chuckles yesterday about this : Ok, so here goes ... The number of minutes I took to complete one mile was the same as the time the winner took to complete the 5K. Not so funny when you put it down into words, but anyway.

We raised $2009 against a goal of $1948 that put as at the 4th position in the Top fundraisers. This was probably the highlight of the day!

After I was re-hydrated and the pain had lessened we headed back after taking some pictures, like the one above. We headed back and got some lunch - the afternoon was spent prepping for the U2 Concert at Soldier Field, Chicago at 7:00 p.m.

More on the concert in the next post :)

But I must say this immediately, I've been a big fan of Bono (of course, the music too) and his humanitarian spirit. And nobody could complete my day the way he did. The recurrent theme at the concert was about 'making a difference'. I feel that each and every person who donated to the Lung Run and every person that ran/walked at Chicago yesterday did this in their own little way. The run followed by the U2 concert - 2 life-changing experiences in one day - I feel extremely fortunate :)

'One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other'