Toyoda san

Back to work after couple of days of drowsiness. Weather wise - it was cold and gloomy and snowy everywhere. Followed the Congressional testimony of Fed. Chairman Ben Bernanke in the morning and in the afternoon it was the interrogation of Mr. Akio Toyoda of Toyota.

" I am deeply sorry for the accidents that people have suffered," Mr. Toyoda expressed. He also stressed on the part that the company's priority has always been " safety, quality, and volume"

Toyoda san, apart from an apology, stressed the company's determination to put safety as the highest qualities.

The interrogation was about 3-4 hours long.. It was still going on when I left the work. It was good listening to Mr. Toyoda's Japanese, as he spoke in Japanese throughout the interrogation. I sort of wondered why he had the interpreter. Nevertheless, it helped me refresh my Japanese. I felt nice that I could still understand the language after all these years.

For some reason, i felt the questionnaires or the way the questions were too harsh.. but i guess that is the JOB of those congressman. They grill you and grill you hard till the end...

Antibioticss

Been Sick for last few days.. the antibiotic is making me feel drowsy and weak.. Could not go to work last week... and again today. Drinking lots of water and cranberry juice, yet, I do not feel good!!

This is the update :) nothing exciting really....

Too Big to Fail

So I had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Andrew Sorkin, the author of " Too Big to Fail."

I have not been reading books lately, not reading at all I must admit. It was a whole different thing back in Boston. Truthfully speaking, I blame the train system here in Chicago.... Well... "why"- why the train system one could ask... The train system back in Boston was the subway system, where upon getting in the train you would have no choice but to either read the books,newspaper or to simply stare at the 'pitch' black tunnel outside the train window... until you reach the " Charles MGH" station.. where all of a sudden you are introduced to the.. I mean " THE" most scenic /panoramic view which truly encapsulates the beauty of the city. It is so so phenonemal! Charles river, the prudential tower, the dome.. ah... ! One of the bestest ( not really sure if there is a word called "bestest," if not, then I just created one ) views of Boston... I really enjoyed the 4 season everyone morning at this particular stop.....

Anyways, before I get off track again... the reason- why I do not or I should say-- why I am so less motivated to read during my 1 hour train ride from Evanston to Chicago is primarily because of the view as well. It is not much of a scenic route, except when you getting close towards the city.. ( as you can embrace the enriched architectural skyline) nonetheless, I find myself enjoying the view outside the window.. Sometimes, I look at the people, sometimes I look at a building and to top it off --my complements the view..

On the other hand, I, however, leave the apartment with two newspapers i) Wall Street and ii) The Financial Times (FT).. ... which usually ( I should bluntly say always) does not get opened until I get to my office at 9:00. I get to work, turn on my computer and then skim the newspaper.

For somereason, last week, I decided to open the FT and ended up reading an interview with the Adithya Mittal, the CFO of the Mittal Industries... The last question the interviewee was posed with was " What is the current book you are reading..."

" Too Big to Fail"-

This book had come out in July ish.. I had not heard about this.. So I note down the name, get to work, google the book, and do a quick read of the summary. It was bascially about the financial crises. It was also listed as the NY times best seller. It must be a good book i ponder.....

I get home and tell about this to Pras. The following week he sends me an email saying, Andrew Sorkin was going to be speaking at Kellogg's downtown campus. Wow... what a coincidence. I quickly put down on my calendar. Even though we had a semi blizzard that day, I decided to head to the downtown campus after work and get the opportunity to hear the story from the author himself...

Too Big to Fail-- is the book about the Financial Crisis. The fall of Lehman brothers and the subsequent government bailout. The book debut at No. 4 best sellers at NY times. Andrew is the financial columinst at NY times and has his blog in the NY times as well and is well known person in the financial arena.. He virtually had the chance to interveiw all the major players of the Wall Street and those involved in the finanical crises.

His talk was so interesting. It was sort of like a story telling. Since he had interviewed all the players, the whole talk was basically an anecdote of his interactions with different leaders/CEO's .He talked about his interview with the players from Bear Stearns, then Lehman Brothers, then AIG, and Citi... Goldman Sachs and so on.. Some of the things he said completely took the audience by surprise...For eg. the case where he talks about the conversation with Jamie Dimon ( JP Morgan ) and Vikram Pandit ( Citi). How BoA initially had an interest to buy Wachovia before purchasing Merrill Lynch... All in All, the overall story told by Sorkin was very interesting, very politicized..

I have yet to read the book... attending his talk has sort of given me a broad view of the book. Those who have read this book say, it is a must- read for anyone who wants clearconcise picture of the decisions that led to Lehman's bankruptcy and the resulting chaotic weeks on Wall Streets.

Marathon Story

Chicago marathon.. I was aiming on running one of the world's TOP 5 marathons. 1. Boston 2. London 3. Berlin 4. Chicago 5. NY

I started walking towards the start line. The roads were all closed.. Michigan Aveue, which is usually packed with cars was literally EMPTY..I was walking in the middle of the road. I would never ever get to do this otherwise. It ws unexpectedly cold that morning... 0 to begin with.. I was not prepared as to what to wear.... I thought I was going to be ok with what I had.. but towards the end of the race.. apparently, it was not.

I went to the bathroom.. and then started stretching. The ambiance was GREAT! Choppers on the air... news reporters... 35,000 racers, the spectators, the family members..... it surly pumped up anyone's adrenaline! It was almost 8:30.. the race was about to begin... I walk towards the start line... jammed pack with all the racers. The American National Anthem Begins and BOOM!!! the gun shot.. THE RACE has officially begun... and I started running...

It was cold.. the gust of cold wind gave you sort of uncomfortable feeling... but with the roars of gushing crowds it soon became a minor distraction.. I started running and looking around... It was amazing.. Everyone clapping at you.. people chanting your name.. What a good feeling!!!

Soon it was mile 2.. then mile 5...

I stopped for the Gatorade. I did not have to worry about getting Dehydrated since it was not going to be hot. However, I had made a goal of drinking a lot at the drink station. Since it was so cold.. Little did I know that drinking a lot would some how equate to stopping for a bathroom a lot as well... In the beginning.. especially, mile 5,6,7... the wait line was at least 2-3 min in the bathroom which somehow made me loose time.. I had a 12/mile pace but with the bathroom stop... I was few min behind my calculated time.. Mile 10 I see my husband.. and I get my energy back..... I told him I was going to see him in Mile 20 next.. He would have to take a train to get to mile 20.

The scenes of chicago during the run was so fun. Different town had diffrent parades, bands cheering all the marathon runners. It was all so exciting.. My music was good.. I was enjoying running.... then mile 12.. my headphone started to make screeechyy sound... I tried to work on that several times but gave up and started running with out the music.... which was something I really had hard time.. however, knowing that I had no choice, I started running looking at the spectators and counting the kids. This sort of distracted me from the "mile marker' and it made my run little bit easier..

Soon I was in the hospital district... mile 15 I think... At this point, I was getting tired.. I knew China town was soon going to be next route.... maybe in about nest 3 miles or so.. I was looking forward to running in the china town. At mile 15, they had also provided the "sport shot" which I was sort of accustomed with. These "power bar shot" was always recommended to get used to before the big day otherwise, it could totally upset your stomach.

I had never tried any of the power shots during my "half marathons" or the "20 mile run." However, everyone told me to take this for my marathon as it was really helpful. So after my 20 mile run..... during the last 3 weeks prior to the marathon, I had done the practice run with the "Gu shots." The taste was yuky.. but it really helped. Personally, I had preferred the jelly beans.. which was helpful too..

On the real day,mile 15, taking the shot helped me.. It did not make me tired. Mile 17....China town arrives... yeah... I can feel my body getting tired. I could feel the blisters and my knee cap slowly hurting. I had both my knees wrapped by the bandages... which was not that great of an idea cause I think I had sort of hampered the blood circulation... Mile 17.. I took the run/walk strategy.. I would run then walk and then run.. but I was having hard time..

I had not :hit the wall".. not yet... Having completed the 20 mile run about 3 weeks ago,Ii had the confident to finish up to the 20 mile without any problem.. after that, I had not a single clue... ... Soon mile 18... running in the Chinatown.. little kids waving at us and passing bananas... I was not in the mood to eat anything... yet, i stopped and took a small pieces of cut bananas from a little girl... During the race, I had made a friend from Chicago, whose goal was to finish the race in 5:35min...It was her second time...

Mile 19... tired.. more tired and I think I had hit the wall... both my legs started feeling numb... I still tried to run.. it looked funny.. but I running on my heels... Mile 20. and you could see the skyline of Chicago... That was my destination... At this point, lot of people had dropped out. There were people escorting the dropped out runners in their cart. Some were getting massaged, some were simply resting..

"Listen to your Body.."

Should I drop out.. No! I think I can keep on going..

At this point, there were very few runners running... . Either people had dropped out or the runners were way before us... It still made me feel nice seeing that I was not amongst the last ones..

The runners were cheering for one another and we started running in a small group.... soon Mile 21. I took out my milkybar and sneakers and started chewing on them... it did not help me a whole lot but still gave me little energy.

Mile 22.. walking slowly... i think at this point, I have pulled the muscles on both the legs..It was hard for me to even walk. I pass the train station..Seeing the condition, the train master asks me if i want to take the train downtown.. "No" I said and kept on moving forwrd.

Almost mile 23.. I get stopped again.. this time by cops. " Do you want a ride.." No! I will keep on going...

I was almost there and did not want to give up... 3 more miles and this will be the biggest achievements of my life.

Mile 24... My destination was almost there... At this point you could see all the racers with the medals... It gives you motivation. I wanted to finish the race. I will finish the race...

Mile 24 and 1/2. Condition= Limping...

The Volunteers stop me again asking me if I was ok. I said I am fine. At this point, I decided to take off my bandage, but was worried of the outcome. What if I cannot stand up... what if I cannot even more... I gradually opened my bandage and it sort of felt better...

Mile 25!!! yes.. Almost there.. I call my husband to come and help me finish the race. I wanted him to be there during my last mile... and there he was..

I had few more blocks to go...

Again, I started visualizing the finish line.... everyone cheering for me

At this point, everyone on the street was cheering us... " You are almost there.. couple more blocks..."

This slogan gave me gush of energy..

Mile 26!! yes.. the last 385 yards.. maybe 3 blocks and at this point you come to the realisation that you have actually finished the marathon!!!!

I cross the finish line ... It still seems surreal.

The guy asks my husband if he wants to put the medal for me. Prasanna puts my medal. What a nice feeling..!!!

I finished the marathon on my First attempt!!!

It was all in my mind... and I did it!!!

i

My body was sore for 3 days. I could not move and was sleeping for 3 days.. but that Pain was the pain of a JOY!!!!!

Thank you Jason for inspiring me to start. Thank you husband for pushing me, encouraging me and helping me get to the finish line.. .

The lessons I learnt!!! :-

1)If you do it from your heart!!! you can do anything!!! :)

2) Surround yourself in a positive environment where people will make you believe that you can do it.

3) Discipline is an integral part.. even though I was not strictly disciplined, I would have done way better had I was one..

4) Stretch = Pre and Post the run!

Spirit of Marathon

" I am going to run a marathon," I said to myself after meeting Jason Sissel. But deep down I knew that 26.2 just seemed impossible.

Jason Sissel, whom I was introduced by a fellow colleague had worked at Morgan Stanley for 8 years and had lot of connection in the Chicago's Financial area where we had recently moved. I had gone to meet Jason with a hope of expanding my network, but I came back with a notion of running a marathon which sort of changed my life.

Jason had recently quit his job and had opened "Endure to Cure, " a pediatric cancer non-profit foundation with the goal of raising at least $3 million for the cause by doing endurance events around the world. He had done several marathons, ultraman and Ironman around the United States and also had a goal of climbing top summits in the 7 continents including Mt. Everest. When I shared my experience back home regarding our recent trip to Everest Base Camp, he seemed very intrigued. On the other side, I was more curious to know about his experiences with the Marathons and the Ironman.

Seeing my curiosity, he asked me if I had done any long distance running. I love swimming and had done indoor running but never had I ran more than 5 mile. In Boston, my husband and I, would always cheer the runners at Boston Marathon but never had I thought about doing a full marathon. " It is all about up here," Jason pointed his head." If you are prepared mentally, then you can do anything. You have done the base camp, Marathon should not be hard for you." " You should sign up, " he said before we finished our meeting.

That day, all I thought was about the Marathon. I went to the gym and ran 2 miles. I am going to do a marathon I said to my husband who simply smiled.

I started meeting Jason more frequently. The more I met him, the more encouragement he would give me on doing the marathon. He gave me a positive vibe which made me want to do the marathon even more... then again.. would I be able to ?? I would go to the website to register, but then would browse other stuff and would never finish the work. Then one day, I signed up for the marathon.Voila!

Since the deadline had already passed for the registration, the only way to get the spot was by running for a charity. Team World Vision, was a charity that helped kids in Africa, and I signed up with them.

The next few months was the training months. Winter hit Chicago and the city was covered with snow and wind. I was less motivated to run outside which was very important. I would run in the treadmill, but it was nothing like running outside.

Months past by and I was still running inside. I was afraid to run outside. It was cold and I would always make an excuses. Then one day I ran outside and could barely run a mile. It was so hard to run outside. The wind, the concrete road, the presuure on my feet. It looked difficult. I could barely run 1 mile and I had a plan of running 26.2. By this point, I had already told my family members about the plan on running and had started raising money... within first 10 days, I overreached my goal of $600, the minimum requirement for the charity.

Pressure mounted even more. Raising money meant commitment towards doing the marathon. I gradually started running outside and followed a training regime... and then I got hit by injuries. Apparetnly, I was not stretching enough, which caused the stiffness of muscle and as a result, weak knee cap.

I had trouble walking after I finished my first 10 mile outside. Climbing downstairs was too painful for me... this meant at least 2 weeks of rest and going to the Physical therapist. During this time, I focused on my strength trainning and doing lots of weights with a hope of strengtehing my knee caps and hips.

My body was slowly improving. At this point, I had changed my focus to running outside. I was mentally prepared to run outside every day and I followed. My husband would drop me off at the beginning in the Lake shore drive trail and I would run for two hours every night. Slowly I started developing a stamina. I also registered for Chicago Half Marathon and a 20 mile run.. which is one the BEST decisions.

My boss at work who had ran the marathon said, " If you finish the 20 mile, you can finish the marathon...". Well, I have to finish the 13 mile first... ". My half marathon was slowly approaching... However hard I tried to be disciplined, I found it hard... My knee cap was hurting.. then my back started hurting.... then my left knee, then my right... I would get home at one hour commute and then eat a snack and take a nap... and start to run from 7 in the evening till 9:00. Sometimes, I would just not get up from my nap.....:)

The day of the half marathon- Feelings ? = Scared as hell.

I seriously had something inside my stomach that made me feel like puking. I was nervous. What if, what if I don't maintain the 12 mile pace, would they kick me out from the race? What if I can't finish... I had all these questions in my mind. The race was going to start at 7:30 from Southside Chicago.. I had my alarm for 4:30, but somehow, the morning of the marathon I did not want to go. Alarm went off for the third time and I did not want to partake in the race. My husband had to literally drag me out of my bed. I had to remind myself that it would be ok, if i do not finish.. it would be fine.. no worries...

The Race Feeling= Anxious!

As we approached closer towards the South Side Chicago, we could see all the tables lined up at the side of the road with the Gaterode drinks, then there was mile marker and then.. the runners.. all pumped up. I got more scared. My husband dropped me off at the start line and went to park the car. I checked my gears and stretched and then voila, I was one of the runners... Gun Shot! and it began..

Turned on my music.. and there I was running... Mile 1 finished.. checked my watch... 12min per mile pace maintained.. " good one.." I told myself...

Soon it was 5 mile.. and there I see my husband.. how exciting.. I screamed at him, waved him and continued my pace... Mile 6... and 7..... I stopped for the gateorade and again continued the run.. it was feeling good... Mile 10.... at this point, I knew I could do it. I visioned crossing the finish line and continued with the run.. and there I was!!! The finish line... I received the medal..! Wow.. what a sweet victory. Aside from couple of blisters, I was feeling good!!! This gave me a bucket full of confidence!

The following weekend I had the 20 mile run with the Chicago Runners Association. The race was going to start at 6:30am. I had a 4 mile run in the middle of the week and was " sort of" ready for this run. 13 mile was the furthest I had run. If you were to follow a trainning regiment, you would have done, 15, 18 and then 20 mile. I was jumping straight from 13 mile to 20, so I had no idea of what to expect.

That morning- Wierd feeling .

I had my left leg covered with a bandage and I was not 100% comfortable with my running. I might have to take the strategy of Run/Walk, I thought. 6:30, the gun starts and then there I was running... The sun rise over Lake Michigan was so beautiful... It made the first half of the run so much... 13 mile this time was an easy run.. ... At this point, I remembered what Jason had told me about the run. He had said, once you finish 13 mile, it would be so easy the next time you do it. 14 felt fine..Gaterode and a trail mix.. I could keep on going... and then mile 17, I hit the wall.

Hit the Wall is the term the runners use when you have absolutely no energy left and you feel tired and feel like quiting! At mile 17, I could feel my blisters on both my foot. It felt like the blood circulation had suddently stopped and I could feel numbness. I wanted to stop but I did not want to.. Mile 17 1/2 then 18... 2 more to go I said... Gotta keep on running Deepti.. Keep on running.. Focus Focus.... Mile 19... ok.. ok.. 1 more mile to go and I am there...

Where is mile 19 1/2 now.. It felt the longest one ever.. why would's the 20 mile come? Where is it? Is it here yet?! 5 more blocks?! Oh my god.. really... ok.. C'mon.. keep on going .. keep on going... and.. all the cheers kept me going and thennnn.. the finish line.... Finally...

20 mile was brutal... I had not taken any energy bar/or gel shots.. bad idea... for the full marathon, I need to .. or I should say i have to take the energy bars!

20 mile is the furthest you run before the marathon. The last 3 weeks is known as Taper week where you actually let the body rest and run less than 20 miles. Since I had problem with my knee cap, I did not do much of a run that following week. The week after, I had no luck more than 5 miles.

The weather in Chicago had decided to get really cold all of a sudden and it was a flue season. The Thursday of the Marathon week, I had a tingly feeling in my head... For some reason I had a feeling of catching a flue... ekkkkkk.

All I did was eat and rest.. I ate ate.. It was time to load myself with Carbohydrate and protein... On Friday, I felt worst and I was beginning to feel anxious. " You are not running if you have a fever," Prasanna said. I wanted to run.. I had watched the movie, " Spirit of marathon," and had already visioned of crossing the finish line.. I wanted to do this, and yet, I was scared. I went to the expo and got my packets and energy gel and bars. Getting able to see Diane Kaster, the American bronze medaist was another plus point. I was pumped, I felt like my energy was slowly coming back.

Saturday -- All day rest.. and eat.. Protein, pasta, pizza, tandoori, nan and icecream. Evening- I started to lay all my clothes for the Race next morning. Prasanna made me a name card for my shirt. I was all set for the morning... I guess

Next morning, Alarm rings at 4:15... Time to get up. I get up.. Feel good.. Feel better than the last couple of days. Gradually progress towards the running mood.... It is the big day for me today... I have been trainning for this for past 7 months.. " Will I be able to finish?" I ask my husband..... " Yes, if you do it slowly.. do not over do and listen to your body.. " he says...

Please knee cap, be good today! Do not ruin this day.. Help me finish it.

1 pack of oatmeal and omlete and a tea and I am all set to go.

I go inside my bedroom and make a pray to lord Ram and my grandparents and my aunt, who will be watching me from heaven. Lord, give me strength for today, I prayed.

I left for downtown with anxiety. The train was filled with all the runners.. some eating bananas, some energy bars... I looked at them and thought "today I am going to be one of them..." Spectators on the other hand looked excited.. with the camera's around the neck and holding signs to cheer the runner..

Downtown was packed ... with the runners.. It was cold.. 0 degree celcius I think. I took a long breath... Am I prepared for this run ?