Skip to main content

‘Beat the Lockdown’ Run/ Walk

My apologies to the civic minded and upright, law abiding citizens🙏

This post is neither a call to arms nor an instigation to break government-mandated lockdowns in this COVID19 pandemic. Rather it is kind of a survival guide for the running junkies (and indeed the hardcore morning walkers community too) who can't do without their daily fix 🤗. 


How best to get your fix without upsetting too many people or getting hauled up by the patrolling police. Here goes:

1.          Start real early in the morning🌃Preferably around 5 am, before dawn. Not many neighbors are up and about (and neither your family members!), so less people to castigate you😝. Running or walking incognito (hopefully!) in the receding darkness of the night lessens your guilt also😜. After the night's patrolling, the police waalas also tend to be at the nadir of their alertness and enthusiasm. What to say of the stray canines, they too deign that time of the day too uncivilized to make the effort of barking and snapping at you. 


2.          Look the part. It might be Lockdown, but that is no excuse for being sloppy or shabby. Put on your proper running gear and step out purposefully as if it is race day. Head up, shoulders pulled back, no slouched back, strong confident strides when you run/ walk. Let the sweat pour...look every bit the serious runner/ walker, so that nobody messes with you. And yes...do MASK UP. A surgical or a cloth mask through which you can breathe comfortably, covering nose and mouth, for the entire duration of the run/ walk. You might have to cut down on your pace or duration of the run/ walk, but there is NO excuse for NOT wearing a mask. 


3.          Stick to your colony roads or running tracks/ routes close to home that you are familiar with. On them the stray canines recognize you, so do the neighbors and probably the police waala too. They generally hold you in good regard and wouldn't mess up your run. If any unforeseen circumstance forces you to abort, then you know which gully to duck into and thereon it's just a short walk back home. 


4.          As always, Lockdown or not, run/ walk against the traffic so that you can be alert to any oncoming threat, be it a speeding vehicle or the police patrol. Do keep an ID and some cash also with you, to deal with any eventuality. 


5.          When crossing the police barriers, it is always a good idea to salute the police walla, smile and wish the guy: Jai Hind or Ram Ram. It has worked every single time for me. It gives the police walla some respect, brightens up his duty routine and also allows you to continue on your merry way without being hauled up.                           

 

There you go, those are the tips to survive the Lockdown and keep running and walking🏃‍. On your way🙌. Have a great run/ walk👍. 

Psssst....don't tell anyone that I gave you these bright ideas😅

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Enough sleep, anyone?

One common myth, which I have almost convinced myself in my case too, is that you can acclimatize your mind and body to do with less sleep without any negative effects. As a doctor you pride yourself about this. However, as the years roll by and you listen to your body more and analyze yourself with detachment, one reaches the conclusion that you DO need MORE/ ENOUGH sleep. That gets us to the question of how much is enough sleep. The answer is pretty straightforward, no ifs and buts: 7-9 hours a day for ages 18-64 and 7-8 hours for age 65 years and above. And why: Because it is linked to your emotional, mental and physical health, quality of life and safety. Inadequate sleep leads to irritability, poor concentration, anger and depression. Sleep is important to process new information and remember it. Sleep deficiency is linked to higher incidence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and strokes. Not to forget lower immunity, making you more prone to infections, especially virals. Sleep
4 comments
Read more

Simple Joys

It's a battle between the Joy of Running and Joy of Achievement    Technology has 2 sides to the coin, doesn't it? No doubt it makes life easy and makes things possible that we could never have even dreamt about. On the flip side, it complicates our lives. We hardly realize, but the present world is a prisoner of technology. Take away all the technology for a couple of hours and we are at a total loss and panicking....the proverbial 'fish out of water', thrashing about and almost asphyxiating.    How does this rant have a connection with running? My humble submission: Recreational running was supposed to be all about unconditional fun, to enjoy; not worry about targets or goals, not be controlled by technology.  Let's face it: The vast majority of us are not even close to the elite level or international competition class. And the fancy shoes, sports watches, running apps and motivational talks are not going to get us there.  If you just want to be better than yeste
4 comments
Read more

Success

This is not terribly original, but: Success is the end result of overcoming Failures.    Rarely, if ever, one achieves his/ her goal in the first instance. Even if, seemingly, someone accomplishes a target at first attempt, there is a lot of hard work and preparation that has gone into it that the others don't get to see.  Achieving success is a process and inevitably one encounters disappointments and faces failures along the way. Each failure teaches you something and each disappointment that you overcome, makes you stronger. The whole game is about learning from failures and pushing away disappointments. Do that....and success is guaranteed.  Have the mental strength....failure is the biggest motivator. And quite the contrary, fear of failure is the biggest hindrance to success. Nothing comes easy in life....there are no shortcuts in life. Be fearless. As long as YOU know that you've given it your 100%, and maybe some more, then there is no shame in failure.  I, for one, hav
4 comments
Read more