My mind wants me to run more, but my foot is tired...

I was good at sports in my school days. I always bagged a prize in athletic sports. But as I grew up, I had to concentrate more on studies, and all running activities/sports were left behind. Now, after almost a decade, I have got a chance to enjoy it allover again. Thanks to Adarsh! Thanks to life! :)

We registered ourselves for the upcoming marathon. Adarsh would be running for 22Km and me 7.7Km. He has had enough practice and is confident. But its not the same for me. I had to start my drill from scratch. I did face some problems during the course of practice. I was aware of the general running rules, yet I did not follow some due to which I faced a few severe pain and strain in my foot and ankles.

I am writing this from my own experiences. Some basic stuffs that you ought to know before and during your run:

1. Get the right running shoes.
2. Always do warm up exercises and a little stretching before you run. It is very important that your muscles and body is warmed up to avoid a muscle catch or nerve twist.
3. Drink enough water (before,during and after the run) and stay well hydrated.
4. Always run on flat surface. Avoid uneven surface. This is very important and you wont realise until you experience it yourself. If you compromise on this, you will end up hurting your knee/ankle soon - just like me. :'(
5. You will definitely sweat a lot. So wear the right kind of clothes that breathes and help you feel comfortable.
6. Always listen to your body. "No pain No gain" simply does not work here. If you feel the pain, immediately stop and rest yourself. Pain is an indication from the body asking you to stop doing what you have been doing. So, simply give it a break.
7. Eat healthy - Follow a well balanced diet and make sure you do not eat junk food at least on the day of your long run. If you are running more than 10Km, you definitely need to follow a strict diet atleast a week before your run.
8. You can give yourself a 5-10minutes massage for your legs (ankle, knee, shin muscle) every weekend, which helps your joints well lubricated. Over a long run, this will surely prove beneficial.

Even after taking these extra care, you may simply end up with a sprain or a strain. In such cases, you need to follow the simple RICE treatment.

RICE is an abbreviation for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation

• Rest - The pain indicates that you need rest. So stop any such activities that could increase the strain and rest until the pain reduces.
• Ice - If there is swelling, then apply ice several times a day.
• Compression - You can get an ankle guard or a compressive bandage so as to support you ankle.
• Elevation - Elevate your ankle above the heart level when you go to bed. This reduces your swelling.

Even after all this, if it still bothers you, immediately seek help. Go to a doctor, or get a good foot massage from certified professional massage centres. don't sit back and wait for it to heal all by itself ;) like the way I did :)

And then, after your recovery phase, simply drink a litre of water, get on to your fav sport shoes on, ON YOUR MARK, GET SET and GO! Rock it!

Marvels of Acupressure

I started my marathon preparations from December second week onwards. It was exciting to prepare for a long run. I was keen about noting time, distance and speed. The first time all I could run was 1.5Km which took me 10:56mins to complete. It was an easy run. I ran thrice every week and increased by 1Km by the end of the week. I went on well until 4.5Km. I took around 6mins/Km which I consider good enough for me. But then one sad day, this disaster had to happen :'(

Don't know when and how exactly it happened. I did not twist my leg anywhere, may be running at this rate was not fair enough for my flat feet. My right ankle started aching. I knew something was awry. As always, I neglected it and thought it would be fine in a day or two. So, again after 2 days I set out to run. But this time I could only run half a kilometer. Something was seriously wrong and I knew I had to listen to my feet. I went back home immediately and applied some oil and massaged my foot. Alas, it didn't help much. After few days, we got an ankle guard which supported my foot and helped me to some extent. Adarsh insisted that we go to a doctor, but I was reluctant and lazy as always. Pills never worked on my foot ever. I have had sprains and pain in my foot earlier. But they always heal themselves.

15 days of pain and it was high time I do something than just massage, internet guidance, multivitamin tablets and pain killers. Adarsh's manager, an athlete himself, suggested to go to a Chinese Acupressure Center who was specialized in bone ache, muscle pain and sprains.

I now either had to go to the doctor or try this new stuff. Going to the doctor only makes me gulp more tablets. Yuck!!! I hate pills. So, I did some research on the web about Chinese acupressure and thought it was best to give it a try.

We took an appointment and headed towards China Town after work.
The treatment was 25minutes of massage and it cost $20.

The specialist studied my feet and asked if I had any history of sprains or fractures. He soon learnt the exact point of pain. It was amazing. He applied pressure with his thumb and forefinger. Of course it hurt a lot when he pressed at the point where the pain originated. He kept saying "no pain no gain" every 10 minutes. :) I had to bear the pain. He continued applying pressure in different rhythms for nearly 40minutes with his aromatic massage oil.

To my surprise, he could pin-point the pain which I myself did not know. Earlier, I simply massaged my sore foot with visible green veins which had popped up due to strain. He then advised me to take 7-10 days rest though I could carry out my usual activities the normal way. I was advised not to run long-runs for next few days. He almost promised me that the pain would reduce soon.

We returned back home feeling satisfied. A 25 minute massage, which he actually did for almost 45 effective minutes. This was the best treatment I have ever had. The pain during the massage actually made me feel good. Because, now I knew the precise point where it hurts. I knew the pain would soon vanish. I had a good sleep and as you would expect, it was less painful the following days. Now, a week after the treatment, the pain is gone. I would rate 10 on 10 for the wonderful service provided at Chinese Acupressure Centre.







Thanks Eric!

Go Veg!

Every person who eats non-veg food must check this video and every single vegeterian must have this video to show to the rest :)

Check the below video...



For more details check out: http://www.goveg.com/

Bread Pakoda

It was my last day at Kelly Services and I thought I will have lunch at Amara Food Court - so far that been my fav food outlet in Tanjong Pagar :D
I chose North Indian Meals. It had bread pakoda as side dish. Instantly, I knew I had to try it out :)

Over the weekend, I prepared onion pakoda, and kept a little dough aside for bread pakoda.
Here's the recipe of it:

For pakoda dough:
- 2:3 measure of rice flour & gram flour (besan)
- Chilly powder
- Salt for taste
- Soda (baking soda - optional)
- bread
- Sauce/ ketchup/ chatni
- oil to fry

Pakoda Dough: Mix the 2 flours, chilli powder, salt & soda with little water, until it forms a uniform dough with even thickness. Do not add much water. It should be moderately thick.

Frying: Heat the oil in a pan. Cut the bread slice into 4 equal pieces (2-6 pieces as per your convenience). Dip the bread pieces in the pakoda dough completely and put into the frying pan with hot oil. Fry the pakodas until they turn golden red on either sides. Use tissues to take away extra oil if you are health conscience ;)



And here you are done! Serve it hot with ethenic South Indian coconut chatni or with ketchup.
Bread Pakoda and a cup of hot coffee will be the perfect nosh on a rainy day with your partner, friends or family!

Enjoy the taste of it.


(P.S:- There are variations of preparing Pakoda Dough. If you are running out of rice flour in your kitchen store, then you can mix maida. Or use just the gram flour alone. If you want some more crispyness, you can add 1 spoon rava to the dough. Also, a tip for those who are concerned about the fat contents in the pakoda: You can add some finely cut onion peices to the dough. Onions helps reduce the oil absorbed by pakoda. Note that adding baking soda increases the crispyness, but again, if you are concerned about health, then take this out of your recipe list).

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009

It was December 6th, 2009. Early morning at 5.30 we were out - all set for the THE DAY!

Adarsh was participating in the Singapore Half Marathon event, and we were very excited about it. With three months of preperations, Adi felt it would take less than 2:15hrs to complete half marathon.

The event started at 6.30 in the morning and there were thousands of people taking part in the event.

Check out the below video of Singapore Marathon 2009.

Event: Adarsh in Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009.

Date: December 6th 2009

Venue: Singapore

Time taken to complete: 2:06:18 hrs

Photography/Videography: Rashmi

Call it Sandizza or Pizzwich...

Call it what ever you want - "Sandizza" or "Pizzwich"... I am sure you will love the taste of it.

I am switching my job in another 3 days, so I hardly have any work at office these days. I go late of office, browse the net, chat with old friends, take long tea breaks, leave early and spend time my own way. If at any point of time, you are serving notice period in your office, do call me and ask my suggestions on how to spend time effectively in office, while pretending to be busy at work. :)

Well, today I reached home very early and I wanted to try something new.

Lots of rabbit pics and video... no mood for that. Already did some shopping during lunch break today, so no mood for shopping either. Adarsh is not going to return back home before 9.30pm today. He is too busy at the gym preparing for his upcoming marathon! So I thought why not gratify my taste buds. I sometimes roast the bread and have it with coffee. I did the same today , but at the end of it, it tasted fantastic. You can try it yourself. Here is the recipe of the so called "Sandizza". If you are not happy with this name, you can call it "Pizzwich". Well, idhara naamakarana maadidhu naane! My Name, My Recipe, My Taste... Hope u'll love it too :)

Ingredients:

Bread: 2 slices

Veggies (tomato, capsicum, onion, cabbage): chopped into small pieces

Shredded Cheese: as per requirement

Tomato sauce/chilly sauce: for taste

Olives: for taste (optional)

Method:

Roast the bread on either side. Smear it with some ketchup(tomato/chilly sauce) on the surface. Over it, spread all the chopped vegetables. You can add olives if you want the salty taste. Strew the shredded cheese evenly over the veggies. If you do not have shredded cheese, you can as well use the cheese slice & cut into small pieces. Once all these are done, keep the bread in oven for 30 secs until the cheese melts... and then you are done. If you see that its become soft after heating in oven, you can roast it once more in the pan. (make sure you don't roast the toppings. Roast only the other end).

You can try varieties in this. Make a layered sandwich, or roll them up and make bread rolls. Play with your creativity and enjoy the taste!

Cheenikai kadbu - Sweet Idli

For many of you cheenikai kadbu must be a new dish. Well, to simplify, let me call it sweet idli.

We had a holiday at India this October for Deepavali. All of us had loads of fun shopping, bursting crackers, eating sweet dishes and meeting friends/ relatives.
My mom had prepared varieties of sweets and snacks for us that tickled out taste buds. Everyday we would find a rare dish placed on the dining table. Cheenikai kadbu was one among them.

After two weeks of fun and relaxation, we were back to routine. Both of us went to office, spent evenings at gym or at home. Over the weekend, Adarsh went to the market to get veggies and fruits and there he comes with this vegetable - cheeni kai! Well, that's pumpkin for those who don't know.

He wanted me to prepare cheenikai kadbu. He had loved the taste of it at India. So there I go - another experimentation in the kitchen. I called up mom to jot down the recipe. Mom, as usual began explaining her recipe. Yes! she thinks I am still a teenager struggling to cook. So she describes the recipe with precise details. :)

Ingredients:
Cheenikai - Yellow pumpkin(grated): 2 bowls
Jaggery : 1 bowl (grated or cut into small pieces)
Rice Rava(Akki rave): 1.5 bowl
Coconut grating: 1 bowl
Cashew & raisin: 15-20 in number (optional)
cardamom for taste, pinch of salt.

Method:
If you don't get to buy rice rava in the store, then you can grind rice into small pieces (size of medium rava) and use it. Roast the rava in a pan for 2 minutes until it turns slightly brown. Keep it aside for 20-30 mins.

Mix all the above ingredients well with the roasted rava with a spatula or in hand :) . While mixing you need not add water. If at all you want, add very little - a sip or two. Just to spice up the dish and give better taste, I thought of adding some cashews. So, add roasted cashew and raisin to the mix. After mixing it thoroughly, keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.

Then, use the idli plates and fill the plates with the mix. Boil it in the idli cooker(similar to how you make idli). Serve hot with ghee.

This is one of Adarsh's sweets and he loves it for breakfast. Anything that is healthy, anything that has vegetables - he is sure to love it :)