The Zeal To Grow

This is the second time I'm doing a Full Marathon (FM). And when compared to the first one , this is way less dramatic (only 2 months training compared to 4 months and no injury scares/doubt of participation) and hence the post itself is much smaller. Marathon Thoughts It is October. I guess the registration for SPCM 2020 has started. I'm thinking. It's been around 2 years since I did my first FM. I did a Half Marathon (HM) in July (DRHM 2019) and achieved a respectable timing of 2.04 hours. Should I improve my HM timing or do a second FM ? I did my first FM in 5.15 and I thought there is definitely good scope of improving that time. Panneer (friend of mine and an ultra runner) was also pushing me to do FM in SPCM 2020. Okay, I I will do another FM and probably bring my time  under 5 hours.  But the training needed for FM is too long and much difficult when compared to HM.  By Googling, I found a short 8 week (2 month) training plan for FM . I made slight modi

The all-age exercise Walking is that simple of an activity where we just need to keep putting one leg in front of another as slowly as we can. It is something that we learned on our own as a baby and since then it has been with us. People of all ages can walk without too much of an effort or training. But over the years we have got lazy and now we avoid walking as much as possible. Even if the distance we have to walk is about a few 100 metres we resort to vehicles. Imagine how fit the previous generations(or younger version of ourselves) were who used to walk kilometres to go to school or market. We just need to rediscover that lifestyle. (PC: Google) Health benefits Before I tell on how to rediscover the lost walking lifestyle, let me start with some benefits on walking (most of them are associated with any exercise): Strong legs - carrying our own weight over and over, our leg becomes real strong. Strong core - the core muscles that stabilise our posture will get

Introduction I haven't been much of a baby person. I have never really spent much time with babies all this time. But the last 2 years have been really special for me. It was made special first by my niece and then my daughter. Both of them have taught me a lot and brought a whole lot of new perspectives into my life. Yes! baby :) Carefree I envy the way babies are so care free. Watching them play is so heart-warming. They don't care about the outcome, society, judgements or just about anything. Very straightforward and they do whatever they like. Of course as grown-ups we need to provide them their needs and a safe environment. But for sure we can take a leaf from their book for a break from our restrictive and stressful lives. Finding happiness As grown-ups we often struggle to find happiness in life. It is surprising the way babies find happiness in the things we least expect from. They are so successful in their search for happiness that will put us to sha

Prelude Well, it all started with the Marathon training last year. I had training runs every Sunday for a marathon I had registered. The runs used to start at around 5 in the morning. It means waking up in the wee hours of a holiday, driving for about 20 km(up and down) and then running for around 2.5 hours. So, what bliss in the world are we talking about? During the 4 hour time frame from around 5-9, I indulge myself in various experiences that forms the essence of the bliss. Running, relaxing at the beach, breakfast after the run and driving.  Stage 1 - Running Without a doubt, I can say that running is a passion of mine. Running takes my mind to a different level all together. It gives me so much of peace, clarity of mind, contentment and of course the physical fitness. Put on some music while running and heaven will be in sight. Earlier I used to run a lot, but these days I have reduced the mileage to prevent injuries and to squeeze in more strength training. Still I

What is a digital signature? In short it is a piece of data sent by the sender to the receiver to establish the identity of the sender. Upon receiving the data, receiver can identify if the sender is the one it says it is. It is made possible by making use of Asymmetric Cryptography . Sender encrypts some data with the private key, to generate the signature. The signature and public key will be sent to the receiver. Receiver decrypts the signature using the public key and compares the decrypted value, to the expected data (data encrypted by the sender). Both the sender and receiver has to agree beforehand, on what will be the data they would be using. Wiki Link:  Digital Signature Node.js Implementation - Sender const crypto = require('crypto'); const privateKey = `-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----MIICXQIBAAKBgQDCtTEic76GBqUetJ1XXrrWZcxd8vJr2raWRqBjbGpSzLqa3YLvVxVeK49iSlI+5uLX/2WFJdhKAWoqO+03oH4TDSupolzZrwMFSylxGwR5jPmoNHDMS3nnzUkBtdr3NCfq1C34fQV0iUGdlPtJai

                      VS  Both swimming and running are excellent forms of exercise. It is very difficult to pick one of the two. People usually do a mix of both or pick one based on their preference or goals. Comparison: Effect - Swimming is a full body exercise. In addition to leg kicking, upper body(arms and shoulders) also needs to work hard to drive forward. Running is more of a lower body exercise. Core needs to be strong to have a good running form. But while running, upper body is less used compared to lower body. Injury - Running is more injury prone. Gravity takes its toll while running. Every step during running, creates a reaction force from the ground which travels up the body and can lead to injuries. Depending on the running speed, the force can be up-to 4G (4 times the body weight). And for the same reason, lots of strength training should go with running. But while swimming, because of the buoyancy of water, gravity won’t cause any trouble. Hence swimmin