YouJustRun Podcast

Episode Ten: Health, Fitness and Well-being Mantras from Dr. Arun Agrawal

Dr. Arun Agrawal is a Cancer Surgeon & Oncologist, President of Academy of Indore Marathoners and Convener of the Adventure Club of Indore. He is a fitness enthusiast and has inspired countless others towards a fit and healthy lifestyle. He has run numerous marathons, half marathons and participated in duathlons and triathlons alike.  It was his vision and passion that put Indore on the international marathon scene five years. Now each year tens of thousands of people participate in Indore marathon and other events organized by AIM ( Academy of Indore Marathoners). He can reached on FB at https://www.facebook.com/drarun100 [https://www.facebook.com/drarun100] Show Notes: 2:00 Journey from Fat to Fit started in 1993 when I was rebuffed initially for trekking due to poor fitness 3:30 Started skipping and going to gym. Went on to doing 3000 rope skipping per day and did successful trekking 5:50 Formed Adventure club of Indore in 1996 which has done multiple adventure excursions in past 24 years. 7:05 We have immense potential in our human bodies. We should keep challenging ourselves 10:40 In 2011, Fauza Singh's Marathon finish at age of 100 inspired me to take up running 14:00 Cobbled together group of 12 people in Indore to participate in 2012 Mumbai Marathon. 16:00 Participation started swelling up in next couple years which sow the seeds for Indore Marathon 18:00 First edition of the Indore Marathon with over 15K participants in 2015 21:00 If I can start running at age of 55 then you and anybody else can do it. Age is not a bar 24:00 Running Marathon distance of 42K is a mind game. Finishing a marathon changes your life 27:00 Large % of population suffering from Metabolic syndrome due to bad eating habits and no exercise 32:00 Easy to introduce exercise in your day to day activity. Use stairs, walk more, do household chores etc 34:00 We are not getting obesity but dibesity. 1/3 of world suffers from metabolic syndrome 36:00 Intermittent Fasting can transform your body including huge reduction in weight 38:00 Feasting to fasting. Our bodies are not made to consume food continuously 41:00 Focus on low fat but carb and sugar loaded foods is causing health epidemic 42:00 We have forgotten the ages old virtues of fasting 43:00 Intermittent Fasting is not dieting. Its just adjustment of the time period when you consume any food 44:00 You can't lose weight by just exercising, you will have to work on your food and when you eat it 48:00 Intermittent fasting slowly work towards 16-8, eat during only 8 hour window, fast for 16 hours 54:00 If you have to walk thousand miles, take the first step

Epsiode Nine: P.C. Kushwaha, India's Youngest Multi-City Marathon Organizer

P.C.Kushwaha is the Founder at Thrill Zone and Head (Events Division) at Daily World International Newspaper. While most are busy trying to deal with the newly-acquired responsibilities of a job, P.C. Kushwaha decided to walk a different path. At the very young age of 24, he established his first entrepreneurial venture called Thrill Zone. Young and motivated Kushwaha wanted to raise awareness about the importance of leading a healthy and fit life.   A runner since school, Kushwaha decided to take up a job after finishing his studies and worked for an American company in Gurugram for a few years. However, his calling lay elsewhere. He realized that running contained immense pleasure in itself, and its benefits to the body were just happy add-ons. He had quit running when he took up a job, but the sport refused to leave him. Seven years later he took up running again and was soon participating in every event possible, winning a number of accolades. Since 2013, he has participated in countless nation-wide half marathons. Once his passion was firmly established, he quit his secure job in 2015 and took the plunge to become a social entrepreneur.   He successfully completed the mountaineering Adventure course offered by the prestigious Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, India (NIM), Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand. He is also a Yoga practitioner, certified by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY), New Delhi and Completed Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga (PGDYO)-Session 2018-2019. He has taken extensive athletic training at the JLN Stadium, New Delhi. Today, he has the distinction of having participated in over 30 events - including half-marathons, 10kms, 5kms at varied places like Ladakh, Nainital, Delhi Jim Corbett, etc and several other obstacle races nationwide.   Long-distance running, quite literally, took him places. He traveled all over India, even to the most scheduled spots and places he had never imagined finding himself in. While running he felt free and he wanted to share that experience with his fellow citizens from all over the country. He is consumed by a desire to ensure that his NGO – the Thrill Zone Trust – is able to motivate a maximum number of people to run and adopt a healthier lifestyle.   To achieve his aim of spreading awareness about health, he has now started organizing events all over India. Now he is known as Youngest Multi-city Marathon Organizer, He has successfully organized over 60 events in the last five years in Mumbai, Patiala, Dehradun, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Kathgodam, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, etc.

Episode Eight: Overcoming physical and mental trauma to achieve seeming impossible goals with Anjan Chidurala!

Overcoming physical and mental trauma to achieve seeming impossible goals with Anjan Chidurala!   Anjan is an IT professional who is currently lives and works in Singapore. Despite a near fatal accident that crushed his leg and left him nearly unable to walk, Anjan fought against all odds. The doctors in Hyderabad said there was no chance of saving his leg and told him that he will be walking with an artificial prosthetic leg. However, Anjan never gave up. With mental toughness, he went through a remarkable journey of not being able to stand to running full marathons. He didn’t let his impediment get in the way of achieving something he set his mind to. He has run eleven marathons so far in India and Singapore. His right leg from knee down, bereft of any muscle mass, is a constant reminder of his resilience and toughness.   In this podcast, he shares his journey from the verge of never even walking again to running marathons and inspiring countless others for a fit, healthy life. Anjan can be reached at https://www.facebook.com/anjan.chidurala [https://www.facebook.com/anjan.chidurala] and https://www.facebook.com/BeFitWithAnjan [https://www.facebook.com/BeFitWithAnjan]

Episode Seven: Power Lifting to Power Running - A talk with Anik Raheja, an athlete, a poet, an entrepreneur, a writer and much more

Anik Raheja, who is 35 years old, is an avid weight lifter and passionate runner. Besides running many marathons and other long distance events in past few years, he has been associated with 41 events as an ‘Ambassador’, 43 events as an ‘Official Pacer’, as ‘Face of the Event’ for three events, six events as ‘Pacers Coordinator’, two events as ‘Motivator Runner’ and two events as an ‘Event Instigator’. He has done the highest number of pacing assignments in India with a fine accuracy rate, and now does selection and mentoring of other pacers too. Founder and Director, More Healthy Souls : More Healthy Souls is an organization which creates awareness about healthy living by conducting fitness events and also works as an assistance to help people overcome drug addictions. It manages Jalandhar Running and Cycling Club, Kapurthala Running and Cycling Club, Phagwara Running and Cycling Club, Nakoder Running and Cycling Club etc. Founder and President, RBAI : RBAI stands for Runners and Bikers Association of India, it was formed to deal with the issues either on the part of organizer or participant. It has successfully sorted out several cases and helped many runners get their deserving prize. Other Roles : * Event Instigator and Pacers- Co-ordinator for all events of Thrill Zone (Since October, 2018) * Sports Mentor for "Chaanan Vocational and Skill Training Center" (Assisting children who have Down Syndrome) * Pacers co-ordinator : - Punjab Half Marathon, October 2018              - Punjab Half Marathon, January 2019              - Hoshiarpur Ride and Run, 2019              - Dehradun Half Marathon, 2019              - Punjab Half Marathon, February 2020              - Daily World Marathon, 2020 (To be held) * Run Catalyst, Decathlon Sports Utsav, 2018 * Director, Bholath Running and Cycling Club Ambassador for all events by : * Raceify * Cyruns * Super Athlete Product Endorsements : * Garmin * beetWin * Syrgent Featured in :- * ▪Mid Day Newspaper in context of pacing assignment in Tata Mumbai Marathon, 2018 ▪All India Radio "Khed Jagat" on 6th July, 2019 - Interview and talk about sports and Marathons. Facebook * https://www.facebook.com/anikraheja [https://www.facebook.com/anikrahejaAR] Instagram * https://www.instagram.com/anikraheja/ [https://www.instagram.com/anikraheja/]

Episode Six: Visually impaired Amarjeet provides inspirational Vision and Fitness goals for the masses!

At the young age of 64, today, Mr. Chawla has run 130 half marathons in addition to several full marathons and ultra marathons. He started losing vision at age of 13 and unfortunately lost all his vision at the age of 40. However this limitation didn't sap his courage and he started running long distance in 2004.  He is the only blind person in India to run 100+ half marathons. He has also become the only 60+ year old blind person in the world to run 100+ half marathons. Despite being visually impaired, he has run in most Indian states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, and so on.  He is also the only blind person to complete 160-km run/walk from Mumbai-Pune. Apart from running, Mr. Chawla has also done trekking and mountaineering. He has explored half of Sahyadris, some Himalayas, and done some treks in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Goa. The biggest and longest achievement was when he went to Kailash Parikrama Yatra in 2009. It was a tough one with extremely narrow and challenging patches at some places. 2-4 ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force) jawans escorted him throughout his Trek on the Tibet side. GOALS (in his own words): ● I have plans of running at least 151 Half Marathons and the same number of 10km Road Races in coming years. ● If I get appropriate escorts and enough sponsorship, I wish to climb many higher peaks/Summits of the World. ● I wish to do sky diving and paragliding when I get proper reference. By doing all this, I want to make records and set an example for people that Visually Impaired are no less than the “Normal” people. If you wish to contact him, please reach out at +91-9821362022 or on FB at https://www.facebook.com/amarjeet.s.chawla.5 [https://www.facebook.com/amarjeet.s.chawla.5]