One thing about marathon runners is that we have a short memory. Today you may vow: “never again!” and tomorrow you sign up for the next one. After being the Race Director of the Glow run, I said the same. But here I am getting ready to do it again for the Daily World marathon. Last year I measured and marked it and then ran it! This year I have decided not to run, but to be more involved in making it successful. We have a good team. Last year was great (even though some of the kilometer markings I so painstakingly helped put up was stolen even before the race began!) This year, we are planning to make it even better. Have a look at my interview

But I cannot and do not want to stop running altogether. I have a Comrades marathon waiting for me in June. I ran the first one in 2006 and hope to do it again this year.

After the 24-hour stadium run, I ran the Mumbai marathon in 3:19 which is my personal best. Last week I ran the 3rd Punjab half marathon, and today I did a delightful half marathon called the Kikar Forest run. Being competitive can be a curse as my daughter pointed out today. (She won the 10k today while I won the half marathon) Apart from the expectation that you have of yourself, there are also the expectations that others have of you. Several co-runners told me today that the race is for second place since they know I will get first. Pressure! But I still managed to enjoy the run and the excellent brunch afterward.

We also started another 0-5k training group with initially some of my colleagues from our office, Covalience, joining me. But anyone is welcome and if you want to join, just do so with Whatsapp by clicking here. Then please introduce yourself. We run Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the Nature Park in Mohali Phase 8. If you want to run at the Lake instead, Dharminder is planning to start a similar group there from tomorrow. Just comment on this post. The idea is for those who join as beginners will run their first 5k on 8 April during the Daily World Marathon. Anyone wanting to train for longer distances is also welcome to come along.

Now for something on a different note. End of last year some recordings were made where I also took part with the clarinet. Have a look at this (Oh come Oh come, Emmanuel) and this (Punjabi song “Munda Lamba da”)

This turned out to be much more of a diary entry than I planned it to be. While I am at it, I could probably say something about my office where I spent most of my waking hours. I mostly love my work. I enjoy being busy with technology and keep on learning new things. I also enjoy working closely with the people. We build interesting software solutions for small to medium-sized companies and startups. It is the “how” we build it and “with what” questions that I am mostly concerned with as CTO. Have a look at our website.

I foresee a hectic time ahead. We are planning to visit South Africa in June. My daughters will go ahead since my eldest has to write her final school exams. We have to get new visas for India, and there are a lot of preparations to be done.

Keep running

Stephan