Running Report for 2018

Running:
While last year 2017 was dominated by strength-training, I did up the running this year.

Ran a total of 478 miles this year. Very less, but barely more than those years with my least miles.

Races: Ran mainly MN series for the temptation of their jacket for signing the series in one go. Though I lost the jacket promptly after the first race (facepalm). Love their shirts though - the best design & material.

Kept my races to the minimum, but evenly spread across seasons.

Temp	Name	Date	Distance	Time
18F-25F	Goldys 10 Mile	8-Apr-18	10Mile	2:20:58
54F	Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon	6-May-18	Half-Mara	3:02:39
Pleasant	Music in Plymouth 5K Fun Run/Walk	30-May-18	5K	40 min
69	Minnesota Half Marathon - StPaul	4-Aug-18	Half-Mara	2:57:28
35F Cloudy No-Windy	Minneapolis Halloween Half Marathon	27-Oct-18	Half-Mara	2:54:26

As I end this year, I don't have any specific goals for 2019. But I for sure need to keep the running consistent & increase the miles. The call of the run routes is irresistible.

All of my yearly Run Reports are here.

Wish you all a very Happy & Prosperous New Year !

2018 Movies Experience

After the golden years of Doordarshan, this is that time. All thanks to Netflix & Amazon Prime, I don't remember any other year where I would have seen so many non-Hindi & non-English movies. This is the standout thing about 2018. The supply in Hindi & English was not enough for my demand of new fresh movies.

Thanks to the exciting hype around Mahanati and Amazon Prime, I got to see this movie fresh.
I am not alien to the Telugu universe, but I didn't know much about Savitri before this movie. And yet I was familiar with all other key players of the movie. And Keerthy Suresh's fresh-faced smile is enough reason to watch it. It's been long time seeing a high production value movie on the vibrant times from 50s, 60s & 80s South India. The movie did not disappoint in any area.

Other new discovery from this movie was Vijay Devarakonda as Anthonygaru. Samantha & he are the journalist storytellers of Savithri's & Cinema life. Looking for his other movies, I saw his Nota & am looking around for his other movies in any streaming services I have. I was surprised to know he is Arjun Reddy, of which I knew from longtime but have no stomach to see it.

Meanwhile, my exploration of Bengali lok started with  Guptodhoner Sondhane. Thanks to Abir Mukherjee's star power, I was hooked to a bunch of Byomkesh Bakshi movies & Feluda movies on Amazon Prime.  All these were not this years releases, but I am glad I stumbled into them this year.

The only new movie in Kananda world, that I saw & enjoyed is Katheyondu Shuruvagide. Its unique & calming music is the highlight. The movie location matches it. Thanks to its lovely song "Good Morning", youtube recommended some other melodies like in Kirik Party.

Now Kirik Party is on my wishlist along with Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu. But I don't know when I will get to watch it. Unfortunately the regular fare of Kannada movies is too ultra-masala for my taste. But its heartening to know that interesting Kannada movies are still being made.

Malayalam movies are in such a mixed variety. I left a few off halfway this year. But the one which got me started was a very satisfying Maheshinte Prathikaaram. The location Idduki, the sub-plots & all in between.

Marathi jagaatla movie bagitala, thanks to Netflix. Pimpal has that stirr quality about it. While my kid complained about how sad the whole movie was, I was happy at how many questions it raised, and did not answer because there are none. And while there is no villain, it is just life from different viewpoints. Bucket List was purely for Madhuri magic. It really picks up after the Drunk scene. As cliche as it is, it made me laugh in some portions. Killa was again a good watch for its location.

 

Hindi cinema, no doubt, had numerous brilliant releases for 2018. Good ones got their due in mass love and box-office hits. My personal favorite  list:

1. Tumhari Sulu - worth multiple watch for its story flow and execution by all the actors.
2. Parmanu - such a well made thriller touching on something from modern history. Perfect music & ensemble of actors.
3. Stree - the only horror movie I readily saw in theatre. Its that funny ! Plus made by my fav filmaker pair - Raj&DK.
4. Sui Dhaga - best execution of underdog becomes winner genre. They got the spousal-dynamics right too. Nice to see glamorous actors of this gen in real life looks.
5. Badhaai Ho - If there was any doubt of Hindi movies being in a rut and BHB & above movies are the best showcase to contradict it. BHB keeps us engrossed from the trailor till the movie end. End scene is mixed with sniggers & laughs. Everyone know someone who is like some character from the movie.

I need to blog separately about the outstanding music trends that happened.

My Yearly Movies List here.

Reading list in 2018

All these days I didn't think I read interesting books. Or that I read many books this year. Anything  worth a blog post. Only when I write this post,  I find out that I have really read good stuff in 2018.

The Pursuit of Endurance - Jennifer Pharr Davis

 

My fav Hiker & AT Record Holder published Endurance this year. Book has her usual tone, while she captured stories of some unique people associated with ATK. Each one merits a chapter here.

 
And gratefully her book tour brought her to Minnesota for a talk in the Wayzata library. So thrilled I got to meet her. Her oration is as inspiring as her books. Sadly I had to skip the Hike with JPB around Lake Minnetonka, after the talk.

North - Scott Jurek

 

And then my other fav - our very own Minnesota Ultra Runner Scott Jurek was here on book tour. He spoke at TC Running Room store. It was an outdoor event.

North tells the story by him & his wife Jenny, of their ATK Record hike.

Packing for Mars - Mary Roach

My new fav writer. I can't wait to get hold of her other books.

Cheeky, that's her tone. Chapters on Vomit, Gravity, BM etc are a revelations & wicked funny. And in the midst of all that ride, suddenly on 258 she made me tear up unexpectedly. Unbelievable. Also loved how she made Frank a running gag through the book.

Throne Spirits - by Ashna Kshirsagar & Ellie Abood

Presenting the book by my neighbor. Both my kids read it and highly recommend it.

Gone to Dust - by Matt Goldman

Got hold of this primarily cause author is Minnesotan and the story is entirely set in Edina area. Did not disappoint on any areas - thriller, Edina locality details, Minnesota winter & a personal arc for the Detective.

The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad by Twinkle Khanna

I started the year by reading this book. Now I feel like how far back it was. Book has 4 short stories. Nothing exceptional (actually more of RKN style) but good reading in say airport or insomniac night. Best takeaway is that TK leveraged the 4th short story to popularize Auranachalam's story and eventually went on to produce PadMan featuring her superstar hubby AK.

Origin - by Dan Brown

Not comparable to Da Vinci Code. This one is a Langdon treasure hunt in Spain.

Story was tedious but I waded through it to an interesting last 100 pages.

More fun books

 

First Ladies of Running by Amy Burfoot

Interesting, insightful and thought-provoking book. Chapters dedicated to each iconic runners from different decades. Wish someone would commission the same for Indian women athlete and market them well.

Running for Mortals - John "Penguin" Bingham

is a great book for anyone new in running & has thousand unanswered questions.

Cricket textbooks

Yours

What books did you read this year ? Which one stayed with you ? Which one sent you on a journey of knowing more on the same topic or theme ?

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