Marathoner, I am!

I had booked the friday late night spicejet flight from bengaluru to mumbai. The flight was late by over 3 hours. Suresh mama and Siddant had come to pick me up and they waited for around 2 hours. I had sandwich and juice on the way and we were home at around 2 am.
I was in Mumbai! It was Jan 20th Jan. I was there to participate in the 5th Anniversary of the Mumbai International Marathon.
I had prepared for this event for the last 3 months. I participated in a marathon for the first time 2 years back in bangalore. Since then had been able to finish half marathons but a full marathon was still elusive to me... I had participated in the bangalore half marathon which was just a month before this event. I was not in shape as I hadn't practiced much and it took me 2 hrs and 30 mins to complete the half marathon.
Uncle had been also preparing for the Mumbai marathon and he was getting trained at Talwarkar's. At 6 amI dragged myself along with him as there was a small warm-up session to get everyone set for the marathon. We had warm-up and streching exercises and then a slow jog and I learnt from the trainer that we should breathe in through the nose and breathe out through the mouth. All these things and other tips for the marathon were really useful. Finally we went to have breakfast in a nearby restaurant. It was 10:30 am when we finally came back home.
After this I left with my cousin to Navi Mumbai to my aunt's house. The lunch there was simple and I slept well in the afternoon. In the evening we went to a temple and then had a walk in the park with my aunt. Later in the evening went out again for a walk with my cousin. I was totally excited about the next day's marathon. Evening uncle had got a lot of snacks and we couldn't eat much as we had to run the next day!
Couldn't sleep much as I had to get up early in the morning to catch the train to Churchgate station. From there we went to Azad Maidan were the race starts.
It was a great feeling... lots of people from various backgrounds and ages and come down to participate in the event.
I started out walking. After 2 km of walk I started to jog and then maintained a steady pace. Also I tried to stick to the breathing technique that I learnt the day before. I was running alongside my uncle when a Cricket Ball just whizzed infront of us. It was very shocking. Had we been ahead by a second it would have hit one of us. I just thanked God and continued. The Cricket ground was next to the road and somebody had hit a huge six! After 28 kms I couldn't run as I didn't have enough practice for the marathon. But determined to finish I continued walking. It was dead hot in the middle of the afternoon and every minute I felt like quitting... I still had 10 kms to go and I could see only people who were opting out of the marathon. Not much to motivate myself I kept on going. Finally there was Haji Ali and then Marine Drive. There are many things that I learnt out of the Marathon, but the best lesson I learnt is that "When you are close to getting to the finish, it gets tougher, and only the tough make it to the finish". Some other take aways are "Slow and steady wins the race!". Luckily just when I was just getting bored of walking in the hot sun, totally exhausted, I met Superman!! This guy was wearing superman costume and was walking at my pace. So we got into a conversation. His name is Meherosh. He gave me company to the finish line and thanks to him the last 4 kms of the marathon was not so painful.
I have to thank the people of Mumbai for organizing such a huge event. Nowhere in India can one get such enthusiasm and a clean road to run the marathon. Thanks to my mom who has always supported me. Finally to my uncle who had inspired me to win this battle of the mind, his never say die attitude is just great. Thanks mama, you are just amazing! I dedicate this run to my avva (grandma).
Thats how I became a marathoner!

Adobe Tech Summit 2008, Noida

Winds of Change! Yes thats true... Adobe will be undergoing a paradigm shift in the way it does business and it will definitely make a huge impact in the software world.
Adobe today has the potential to become a great software company and I think the stage is all set for it!
It has the Ubiquity, Platform, Loyal Customers and a great Brand Name! Usability, Aesthetics and Quality are the first things that come to mind when one thinks of Adobe products . A company that keeps innovating, it won't be too long for Adobe to become the best software company in the world!
These are my conclusions based on the Tech Summit that was held in Noida this week.
By the way, the tech summit was really great with our CEO, CTO and many biggies at Adobe coming over. The speakers were really good and we had some fun with the Sneak Peaks and Adobe Idol!
Some new products are on its way and I am pretty sure they will Rock!
Finally end this blog with the saying "Only the best Survive"!