The Lab..

This week we did "The Lab"...Its a 3.5 mile loop done 4 times. We did the first one as a warm-up. The next two were at a higher pace called the MGP - marathon goal pace. The idea is to run at a speed you want to complete your marathon in.

Last year around this time I was limping around because of "*@#$**! shin splints!". But, this time I am not at that bad a state. Actually, the run was good. Gaurav (The A+ student with Team Asha...has been the most regular for runs/workouts/seminars etc. in our team) and me did the next 2 loops at 8 mins a mile (though the intention intially was 9 mins). The last loop was a cool down loop. Overall, we did 2:06 at about 9 mins a mile for the 14 miler. This is probably a PR for me!

We also got our much awaited "Neon Yellow - Ignore me if you can!" Asha T-shirts. Our coach, steve had this to say - " You guys are LOUD ...as usual!".

We had a great Pasta dinner party the previous day. Well, I messed it up a bit with some burnt barbeque style 'Palkkad pasta'. I would rather not comment a lot about the pasta...I have got 'shredded' enough by junta for it!!

I will soon have more information posted on how instrumental the marathon efforts were for the different efforts Asha was invoved with over the last year.

I will be posting information here and also will send personal mails to every donor who helped me succefully raise $5424 and beat my target of $200 a mile last year!!

It was an unforgettable experience...the feeling of crossing that finish line..and more so the feeling of reaching the fundraising target.

I sincerely hope all you ppl out there would help us reach out to and create more opportunities for the underprivileged we all strive for...

Did you think I would stop..

Mile 1....a year of schooling for one child
Mile 2....a year's total living expenses for one child
Miles 3..4...8...Certificate courses in vocational training for mentally ill destitute women
Miles 8..9...13..A year's salary for teachers at a school for the mentally challenged
Miles 13..14..16 ..A new building for a school in interior India
Miles...18...20...22....24...

Did you think I would stop ?
This is just the beginning for them ....

A typical morning ...

Wednesday morning 12:10 a.m. I finally noticed that I can change the time on the blog posts ! I will have to get up at 5:15 a.m for my wednesday morning quality work-out. Today its going to be a bit easier...

2 miles warm-up
1.5 miles hills
2 miles cool down
Foot drills and stretches.

I hope my shins and calves don't give me trouble ! The last long run was pretty bad...the first 14 miler of the season..

The answer is in more questions

Why should children be working in inhuman conditions at factories, garages and other places, when they should be studying? Why should children be traded like cattle for prostitution? Why should children be denied the right to education because they belong to a particular "caste", "sex" or "religion"? Why should women who can't fend for themselves (because of being mentally disadvantaged) be forced to the streets and go unnoticed by almost everyone? Why should poverty, suffering and injustice thrive so easily right in front of our eyes?

(For people who think they have seen it somewhere before, yes..I have re-stated it from my last year's runner page)

Who are we ?

Asha For Education is a non-profit organization with 0% overhead. This means that ALL the work is done by volunteers (not employees), and that ALL your donations will go to the various ongoing /future projects. Asha for Education is a secular organization dedicated to change in India by focusing on basic education in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. The word 'Asha' means 'hope' in Hindi.

What do we do ?

Here's a small subset of the activities we do: Funding schools for underprivileged kids, Training teachers, Vocational training for women in slums, Rehabilitation and training for children with special needs, Schools for poor tribal children, Educating children of prostitutes and backward classes, Providing educational kits and funding school rents, Efforts towards eradicating bonded labor, Schools for the visually impaired, Orphanages for young children, Schools for kids who were dropouts, Schools for the children of landless farmers and daily laborers, Schools for mentally challenged children, Training camps for young women that teach personal health and hygiene and awareness of women's rights, Efforts towards eradicating child labor.

Why are we a team ?

We are a team b'cos we are a group of 16 ppl who will run 500+ miles over 5 months to train for a marathon. Finally the goal is to run 26.2 miles!
(Want to know more about the team ? Know the team )

The program fundraising idea or 'pledge' is a novel one - it provides runners like me, the team support and training needed to prepare myself for the marathon and I in turn, raise money and awareness for Asha through my personal network of family, friends and supporters.

At least by running the marathon, I show that I am pretty serious about my intentions. Of course, the suffering or sacrifices that I have to undergo would be nothing compared to what the underprivileged kids and women go through.