Hiking and running! These are two of the best outdoor activities that one can indulge into. And don’t think of me as a bluffer when I say, I love both of them dearly.
Although I do run quite regularly to keep my fitness levels in check, especially right before when I am planning my trips up to the mountains, hiking; I am yet to give a shot at. But, I guess you could give me a benefit of doubt here, as I have trekked a lot in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh and have gone as high as 13,000ft.
So, it made all the more sense to me to attend the Decathlon Warm Up- Edition 1, organised by Decathlon, the French sporting goods retailer in Gurgaon recently.
This workshop intended to provide some fine points on running and hiking, and it delivered much to the hype that was around it at the beginning of the day.
One of the youngest and also seasoned hiker; Chetan, shared his experience of hiking in different corners of Ladakh, but what impressed me the most was that he not only concentrated on sharing his experiences, but also educating the audience on how and what kind of preparation chart one should follow, before they venture out for hiking- to make life easy!
I mean, if someone asked you- How to pack your backpack efficiently, what would your reply be?
I am sure you would think; is there a way to do that? Well, bloody hell there is!
A basic, yet important, point that I learnt here was that the heaviest items should be placed on top of your sleeping bag inside the rug-sack and close to your spine to create the right balance and not over-stressing your back. You need to have the weight equally distributed in your rug-sack, so that nor should it lean forward, nor fall back, when you put it on the ground. If it sits still and straight, then you have done a good job (pat yourself on the back).
There were also discussions on the technical part of hiking and how one should go about it which was an enlightening experience for me. I hate to admit it, but I was a bit jealous of him too when I saw the pictures of the places that this young gun has been to.
I also took a round inside the humongous store of this retail giant, and was instantly impressed with their overall range, plus the options that they had available for all kind of sports gear under one roof!
Be it shoes, accessories, bikes, racket sport, roller sport or football, each and every product seemed to be made of high quality material with excellent finishing touch.
Pictures below will tell you what I am trying to convey here.
If you happen to be in Gurgaon err Gurugram, then do drop into Celebration Mall, Sohna Road and visit Decathlon store on the ground floor.
And to stay tuned to the latest updates from them, follow their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DecathlonSohnaRoad/
– Sandeep Verma
