I was in Austin recently to cheer my brother run his full first marathon

- 30,000 participants (across 5K, half and full marathon)
- 100000 fans
- 1050 feet of elevation
- 4000 volunteers
- 22 aid stations
- 11 cheer stations
- $64 million in economic impact
- 1st place men's full marathon: 2 hrs and 13 min - which is a course record
The expo before the race was a lot of fun - got to see some cool new products
Race day started bright and early.- actually it was early but not so bright.
Before the race, my brother had mapped out where we could see him: the start, mile 6, mile 19 and the end
I had made a couple of signs. "The Devil Wears Strava" (which got some recognition!), "26.you" and an inside joke with my brother related to LeBron
The atmosphere was so much fun. Cheering on strangers, seeing other people cheering and just so many good vibes
The finish line was full of energy and love
I had such an amazing time just being on the sidelines.
And I had such a great time interviewing my brother about his experience

- Injuries are the worst because you need to stop and let the body recover
- Amount of time that training takes - just have to arrange your life around it.
- There are chapters to the race -
-- First 13 miles is full of supporters
-- Miles 14 to 18 was a tough stretch - it got hotter and the crowds thinned out
- The Austin race is notorious for being hilly; miles 12, 18 and 26 featured brutal inclines.
- The finish line was a mix of exhaustion and elation
He said that he loves running because "You put in the work and you get better"

Let me know what you think of the episode. Are you a runner?

Got any tips for aspiring runners?

Email me: [email protected]

In this episode, I talk about a recent movie I had the privilege of watching, Laalo. This movie is in my mother tongue - Gujrati - and teaches a very important lesson through the Hindu religion. In this episode, I talk about the movie, the records it broke, and how the movie affected me personally.

Email - [email protected]

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Happy 2026!! In this episode, I stay true to my name and ramble about everything I've learned whilst having this podcast. Additionally, I share my visions for the upcoming year!

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Hi, this is part 2 of a series about my family's recent vacation to Italy.

Part one was about Florence, a fantastic experience.

This one is about the Amalfi region - near Naples, in the southwest part of Italy.

We took a train from Florence to Naples and enjoyed the experience. From Naples we took a taxi to the town of Praiano, about 90 min away. The drive was along the side of a mountain with the sea on the other side. Some really beautiful views.

We stayed at a family owned hotel called the Tramanto D'Oro with absolutely gorgeous view of the coast and the mountains.

We hiked up to a convent in the mountains and I am really glad we did that. The entire hike was beautiful and the views from the convent were worth the 1200 step hike.

And we met a group from Liechtenstein there!

We enjoyed delicious food and small, cute stores in the village.

I got to practice my Spanish a little because there was a sandwich place where the lady didn't speak English, we didn't speak Italian and so Spanish it was.

We took the taxi back to Naples and spent an afternoon there. Very different vibes than Florence and Praiano. We enjoyed a traditional Neapolitan pizza - very floppy but very good. Also tried a fried pizza and I must tell you - it was much better than I had expected.

Shoutout to Quinn who emailed me after hearing the Florence episode. She had visited there a couple of years back.

You can always email me at [email protected]

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Hey friends, I just got back from an amazing vacation to Italy.

Our first stop was in Florence. What an amazing place! Full of history and culture and art and natural beauty!

I enjoyed the food (pasta! gelato! panini!), the Tuscan countryside, the stunning art.

Here's my description of my amazing few days in Florence.

Have you been there? What do you think? Email me at [email protected]

A big thanks to Daisy from Florida who wrote to me about the previous episode.

Please listen, subscribe and share

And email me: [email protected]

I am a member of the Harvard Microbiological society and I recently wrote an article about vaccines fort their blog. In this episode, I read the article out loud!
You can also read the entire article titled "Vaccines - More Than Just a Needle" at 
https://medium.com/@harvardmicrosociety/vaccines-more-than-just-a-needle-b586b26c9a2d

Overall, I think vaccines is one the most interesting topics, because of all the history as well as how they work!

Email me at [email protected] with your feedback and suggestion for future episodes, or about anything else, and you will get a shout-out!

Thanks for listening, and as always listen, rate, and share!

I finished Freshman year of HS! It wasn’t exactly what I had expected but to be honest, But I am not exactly sure what I expected.

Here's my main tips: 

Be open – to people, to try new things, to new experiences

Be open to new friends and friendships

Be involved with school activities – sports, clubs etc. – which helps you meet different people.

I really enjoyed homecoming because it created so many classic high school memories. Another highlight was my AP Human Geography class. Though the class was stressful, I loved the teacher and met a lot of good friends!

Now that it's summer, I am picking up a couple of hobbies!!

I love crocheting – and I have made baby blankets, plushies etc.

I am also now learning to sew and to make a quilt

I started because I saw a documentary on Netflix called “Quilters” which is about a group of men in prison who are making quilts, and it looked so cool!

Also I am also co-hosting a local radio show. Can you believe it? Me on a radio show!

If you are in Dallas-Ft Worth, tune in to FM 104.1 on Sundays at 5 PM and call in!

Listen to the episode for more details and more about how I'm spending my summer!

What about you? How's your summer? Doing anything fun? Learning anything new? Seen any fun movies or shows?  

Email me at [email protected] with your questions, comments and a list of things you are doing this summer

And shoutouts to:

* my best friend, Sandhya

* my cousin, Shruti

* Dakota in Oklahoma – who emailed me about my Las Vegas episode

As always, listen, rate, and share!

Shout out to Ms. Daisy – I love how she tells everyone about my podcast. Thank you, Ms.Daisy!!

And shoutout to Emma from Ohio – who listened to the podcast episode of my mom discussing her composting and emailed me!!

In today's episode, I talked about my experience in speech and debate. My older brother did debate in HS and loved talking to me about his experiences.

When I was in middle school, I wasn’t planning to do debate – I thought it was for nerds. But, I joined it in 8th grade to pick an easy class.

Then, I took debate in 9th grade mostly because I was expected to by my parents and brother. I was planning to do the bare minimum in the class!

Then came my first debate tournament.

I chose to participate in extemporaneous speaking – where you have to prepare a 7-min speech within a 30-min of being given a topic. I also participated in “original oratory” – where I had to prepare a 10 min speech on a topic of my choice. I chose “Overthinking” as my topic.

I met an amazing group of sophomores at the tournament and I met other people from other schools and started to have a good time. I also ended up watching one of my friend's rounds and loved it! I ended up getting placed 3rd in the tournament for the extemporaneous speaking!!!

I then found out there was another tournament my birthday weekend in Amarillo and I asked my parents if I could go. I was so excited when they said ‘yes’

It was a really fun weekend and I had a great time with my friends. I did really well in my events and became super close with my team. This is when I truly understood debate culture – it is such a welcoming group of students and everyone’s watching out for each other.

I realized that I could be actually good at this debate thing, and that I really enjoyed it!

I made qualifying for the state tournament my goal.

So I decided to go to every tournament in my 2nd semester and I worked REALLY hard before all the competitions.

But I didn’t do as well as I had hoped for. It hurt so much – I was so bummed after every tournament. I have to give a heartfelt thank you top my coach- Mr.White, and my friends who always encouraged me to keep trying! I could not have enjoyed debate this year without them.

Unfortunately, I did not qualify for the state tournament which was frustrating.

But I then decided to focus on the district competition because they was a qualifying event for the national competition.

I then decided to switch topics in my original oratory – I switched from “Overthinking” to “emotional desensitization”

I worked so hard on editing and my delivery. I qualified for semi finals at the district competition (yay!) but I didn’t qualify for the national competition. It was hard and sad, but I'm so so proud of my friends who qualified.

I am also so so proud of myself and all that I achieved this year! :) I am so happy I proved myself wrong and found debate as something I truly belonged in.

So if there’s anything that you are hesitant about – just try it. You may just end up enjoying it.

I encourage you to try out for speech and debate. There are SO many events that I am sure you will find something that interests you.

Email me: [email protected] if you have questions about speech and debate or about anything else! You will get a shoutout!

As always, listen rate and share!

I learned so much in this chat with Coach Calie – about managing stress, my diet, about giving myself grace, about focusing on the full picture.

Let me know what you liked about this episode.

Here’s some highlights from our discussion:

- We have over complicated our lives.

And focusing on habits has a huge impact on our lives       

- Typically, when we think of health, we think "doctors". Doctors focus on specific areas and usually prescribe medicines. But health coaches focus on lifestyle and daily habits. They look beyond the symptoms and focus on root cause. They empower the patients to improve their own lives.

- The way we think of ourselves is a very important part of staying healthy.

- Teens are under a lot of pressure. Too much information from social media etc. Take time to think who you want to be.

- Focus on yourself and stop comparing yourself to other people.

- Stress can be different types – some of which can be reduced by looking at your routine.

Important actions:

- Never skip meals

- Eat well-rounded meals - Pick plants on your

plate at every meal. And make sure to eat fiber. 

The occasional bag of chips or Starbucks is OK –

but as long as your body has good nutrition first.

- Calm down before eating using simple box breathing

techniques

 Instagram: @CoachCalie

Website: CoachCalie.com

One course is free – for all girls and women

Other course is more detailed – geared for women over 35

 Interview with Nic (my soccer coach and Calie's fiance) was episode #75:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LEv0yEPTXnmfADSGw0s2V

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riyas-ramblings-ep-75-a-chat-with-my-soccer-coach/id1503527022?i=1000644959750

Shoutout to Ms. Daisy (my mom's friend) and to Darshana, my friend. Email me at [email protected] for a shouout!

Remember, listen, rate, and share!

I got to see Lebron LIVE! O M G! So much awesomeness!

We went to a Dallas Mavericks – LA Lakers basketball game last week and it was SO MUCH fun!

Unfortunately, both Luka and Kyrie were injured. But we did get to see LeBron and Bronny play.

It was pretty cool to see Lebron dunk. That clip that went viral? I saw that in person!

And then Bronny came in for a few minutes too. How cool is that! To see both Lebron and Bronny play in the game! :)

I have been to NBA games, baseball games, MLS soccer games and have watched the US Women's Soccer team play.

I am hoping to go see the FIFA World Cup games in Dallas!!

Do you like watching sports? Who is your fav player? Have you seen them live?

Email me: [email protected] to tell what you think of this episode for a shoutout!!

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