Our Story
I am Muthu Vinayagam and I am a Software Performance Engineer in a Tech company. I am also an avid learner developing my skills for my work which I love passionately. I started my running journey in 2016, with a simple 30 minute walk in the park. With consistent practice, I improved and my first marathon was the Major Mukund Marathon in Chennai. I saw other runners and I was motivated and have now become a running enthusiast and a fitness freak. Its my best stress buster. I participated in several running events and challenges (like the 100 days challenge) and I also do many self-supported runs ranging from 5KM to 42KM.
I seek and gather information about running shoes, running form, types of runs (tempo, interval, long), warm up & cool down workouts for a run etc. I strive to find the best version of myself in any activity I engage in.
Our chatbot idea begins...
On 8th Feb 2025, Chennai Runners conducted a stadium run in Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, at Egmore. Volunteering to support my chapter - Tambaram Thunderbolts, I spent the whole day at the stadium and witnessed several events. In the veterans 400 m relay, a man 55+ years old, fell down while running. He quickly picked himself up and started running again to win that event for his team. That made a distinct impression on me and that tenacious sportsmanship was inspiring. I also had an opportunity to interact with several athletes and understand more about selection of shorts and tee shirts, nutrition, workout routines, the importance of sleep, and all vital aspects of running performance.
Beginners to running, have many questions when they start - how to begin, what kind of shoes to buy, whether running barefoot is good or bad. This chatbot - Grabbolt is an interactive and easy way to answer these questions. It's designed to deliver answers to basic questions on running, cycling, workout, and nutirtion.
It is highly recommended that beginners find a mentor or coach and join a running community to keep themselves motivated and to progress towards their goals.
There are several AI assistants to plan your running schedule. Grabbolt is simply one easy way to interact and tap into the knowledgebase I have gathered. It also taps into other AI algorithms for answers.