Running advice from prawn curry

The last week has been a zero run week for me.

On the other hand, I HAVE seriously depleted the marine life in and around the Bombay coast so I'm not as gutted as I might have been if I had had no practice on an empty stomach

I went to Bombay with the kids for my annual pilgrimage. We lived in Bombay for about 8 years, so i have wonderful memories of it. I remember particularly the wonderful food - prawn gassi and surmai fry at Trishna ( in the days when it was a small sidey restaurant where they sold you alcohol in quart bottles!, not the multimillion dollar industry it is now) and bombil fry at Gajalee, and pomfret stuffed with prawns in Sahiba and Berry pulao at Brittannia ... I can go on, but my keyboard is awash in my own drool..

I also remember running in Bombay. Running on Marine Drive, after office. Running in Priyadarshini Park, on Napean Sea road, with the tiniest loop in the history of running park loops, with one edge skirting the sea. And also running on the Mahalaxmi race course, with its slightly dug up loop, where all the serious runners went to train...

I remember my first race - it was a 5k for CRY, maybe in 1996 or 97. we ran down Marine Drive, from Chowpatty to Nariman point. They called it a Mini Marathon, and i was so excited to be running in anything that was even named a marathon, I practically floated two feet above the pavement the entire distance... Then, we ended up at the Palms, what used to be the Oberoi coffeeshop in the old days, where we proceeded to systematcially chow our way down the entire breakfast selection on offer, before winding up at noon...

Yes, Bombay is my favouritiest city in the whole world - where the food rocks and the running was easy...

However, this time I did no running. The presence of two kids, 7 and 3, stuck to me like tenacious barnacles 24X7 somehow put paid to that aspiration. I was staying at Bandra with friends, so was desperate to run in Joggers Park, which I havent actually run in before. I'd taken my shoes, my shorts and plenty of good intentions, but a bad cold and the kids hanging onto either shoe sort of stymied me.

To cheer myself up from my string of commendable failures and complete lack of trying in the past two or three weeks, I decided to concentrate on the food. So since I didn't run at all and have no progress to report, here's what i ate

1. Pomfret done whole in red rechaido masala
2. Prawns cooked in a seductive coconut gravy with the sharpest bite
3. Prawns Sookha, dry prawns stir fried with pices of onion and garlic and diced potatoes
4. Patranai machchi, fish parcels steamed in a yummy green chutney
5. Iranian berry pulao, with slivers of tart berries and chunks of meat wrapped up in buttery fragrant rice


Yummy yummy yummy. Now the foods just a wonderful memory and I'm back in Delhi. I should have gone out to the gym or the track today but I didnt, since my cold is much much worse, and even walking's making the pounding unbearable.

So tomorrow, if I feel better I shall hit the track. Lets see how it goes. I am no longer so anguished about my lack of progress. If I cant train for it, I simply wont run the half marathon. It wont mean the end of the world.

It's funny. I would have thought going back to the place where I have run so much - not just in the parks, but also, foolishly pounding the roads, running up from Napean Sea Road to Malabar Hill, from Malabar Hill to Walkeshwar, from Hanging Gardens down to Breach Candy... it would have made me feel worse about my current training impasse. But it didn't.

I just realized that running's given me so much pleasure for so long, that it really doesnt matter whether I complete a race or a distance or not. I would like to, and will try to. But if I cant, i wont beat myself up about it.

There's something about the spirit of Bombay that gives you such acceptance and wisdom. And the wonderful food just helps you to digest it....