Fire in the Belly, Run Run Run.....

This is my first blog and I want to share my motivational slogan "Fire in the Belly, Run Run Run..".

The timeline goes back to early 1980's when I was studying in A.G. School at a small village called Piranoor situated on the Border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The village has a good climatic conditions as it is very near to the Southern tip of Western Ghats and in Tamil known as Podigai Malai. This mountain range has special mention in almost all Tamil epics due to the famous water falls and for its picturesque beauty. 

At the school during play period we were asked to line up in a circle and the teacher used to sing "Fire on the Mountain" and we all used run in circle holding each other and shout "Run Run Run". At first I did not know the meaning of the words used as there was only one subject in English and all other subjects were in Tamil.

After the school, I used to play outside my house along with my cousins. In the evening just after sunset we could see some fire on the mountain. My elder cousin suddenly used to shout in Gujarathi "Hey look there is fire on the mountain" and I use to pester him with lot of questions like "How that fire gets lit up there? Is there anyone living on the mountains? Who will put that fire off? etc., and one day I finally got the answer from my elder sister that the fire lights up automatically!!!! I asked how? She explained that the dry bamboos grown close to each other gets  friction due to strong winds and in turn gets heated up and at one point fire lights up. This is called wild fire. 

After this explanation and understanding the meaning of the words of the rhyme, we regularly used to look out for fire on the mountain and once seen we would all shout in chorus "Fire on the mountain, Run Run Run..." The mountain fire used to be regular during summer and we enjoy our summer vacation evenings running by chanting those words. 

During school days I used take part in all types athletic events and finish within the first three places. This continued till my higher secondary having few school level championships to my credit. During college I lost touch with athletics and then marriage which made totally away from any form of physical exercise. 

But I realised there is something I am missing and after nearly a gap of 15 years when I was surfing through Internet and came to know about "Chennai Runners" and joined the google group. I was a silent audience for nearly six months reading all the mails by the group and after the recent Auroville Marathon, I could not wait any longer and took that first step to join the runners on their weekly runs from Dimensions Gym from first week of March and been regular from then. 

I got to know some real marathon runners like Ram, Harishankar, Ramesh a.k.a Tigerswamy, Ramani, Narayanan.....and got some useful tips and got hold of some basic gears like dry fit tee, running shoes, road id and advanced gear like Garmin Forerunner 405 to keep my running log updated.

And this slogan struck me when I had to write a motivational phrase in the Wrist Strap and gave a brief thought and finalised "Fire in the Belly, Run Run Run" which is now engraved on my Road Id.

I have now decided to make running as part of my life. 

At last my favourite poem which I learned during my 8th grade at Kodaikanal

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening   by  Robert Frost.

"Whose woods these are I think I know. 

His house is in the village, though; 
He will not see me stopping here 
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer 
To stop without a farmhouse near 
Between the woods and frozen lake 
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake 
To ask if there's some mistake. 
The only other sound's the sweep 
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 
But I have promises to keep, 
And miles to go before I sleep, 
And miles to go before I sleep."

The last stanza coincides my running desire and I would read as

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

 But I have promises to keep,

 And miles to run before I sleep,

 And miles to run before I sleep." 

Thanks for reading my blog and be generous to comment.