My Tryst with Running

Post the successful completion of 5K (Confessionsof First Time Runner), though I had vowed not to run, I continued with the training program. It was convenient, in open space and with the best company ever. I diligently attended all training sessions, but never went for any long runs. Though I had registered for AHM 2017, I didn’t see myself as a marathon runner. I was happy doing what I was doing. It had drastically improved the quality of my life. I was feeling more energetic, my tolerance levels improved – both physically and mentally. I was able to last a full day without getting irritated or frustrated or yelling at anyone. People around me noticed and commented on the changed personality and that was motivation enough to keep going.

Everything seemed fine and gradually the intensity of training increased. Suddenly I started feeling exhausted and tired throughout the day. I was falling sick too often with aches and ills. This was two months into the training and two months to the AHM. I didn’t understand what was going on. Family members as usual said I needed to give up the training, and that I was trying too hard. My dad, a walking fanatic, reiterated that daily walk should be enough for my fitness goals. My mom, though encouraging, thought her little girl was over-tiring herself. For once my better-half, who never objected to what I did or didn’t, ratified my dad’s thought on walking. It seemed I was surrounded by naysayers and it was difficult to get over that kind of negativity. To prove them wrong, I went through a medical check-up. Turned out I was deficit on Vit D and Iron. Might be it was coincidence or might be I should have taken care of my diet during the training sessions. So the regime of supplements started and I gave up on training. Instead, I started working out on my own. Doing the stretches and runs on my own, restricting the runs to 3-4K.

Come August, the month of AHM, anxiety levels grew. I was registered for 10K, I wanted to do it but my confidence levels were rock bottom. How can I hope to run 10K when I was yet to cross the 5K mark? There is a concept of sweep bus, which would go around after the cut off time and pick up the stragglers, I didn’t want to be on that!!! I never felt this bad even before my board exams. Of course, there was constant encouragement, too. Especially from a colleague at work, he regaled me with stories of his first 10K and   made me realise that everyone went through the same phase. I was missing my running gang. One week before the run, I started attending the training again, mainly to be with the gang and get motivated. Bless each one of them, it worked.

Run Day finally arrived. There was a rain prediction for 48 hrs the day before race. I was apprehensive about running in rain, though people kept telling me that it was an amazing experience. But as with all weather predictions, there was no rain on the day. Perfect weather. We were at the venue by 6am, 10K run was to start at 7am. My target was to complete 10K in not more than 2hrs. Modest, but realistic goal.

The first 2K were too easy. My pace was around 8 mins/km. I was elated, didn’t feel too ardous. The 1:10hr pacer was within sight. Dare I hope?

The 3^rdK was tough. That’s when the ascent started and my pace started reducing. It was brutal and I was ready to give up, but there was no transport visible. Suddenly slope descended and I literally rolled down the hill. It gave the much needed respite.

4-5K - my pace was improving and I started feeling better. I was still doing fine with 1:20hr pacer within sight. Not bad I thought to myself. I started walking uphill and running downhill and before I knew it I crossed the 5K mark. I bettered my own record!!!!

At the 6K mark all hell broke loose. Two people collapsed in front of me and ambulances were on their way. It was scary with all the sirens and the volunteers running around. A word about the organisers and volunteers, they were superb. Organising an event at that scale is an herculean task, and the volunteer group was ever encouraging and supporting. I was especially impressed by the school kids lined up to cheer us, it was sight to see.

Then came the toughest challenge of all - the Gachibowli flyover. Luckily for me, by then the serious runners had crossed and most of the people were like me, walking (dragging their feet would be more apt) up the flyover. Suddenly I realised I lost sight of the 1:20hr pacer. I peeked at my watch and my average pace had climbed to 10 min/km. Damn. But then I told myself it’s ok you are here to complete not compete.

Slowly we trudged and crossed the 8K mark, but the 9K mark took forever to appear. The lady next to me wondered if she missed the 9K marker, I said no. As if responding to the mood my player started playing “Azeeb dastan hai, kahan shuru kahan khatam, yeh manzilein hai kaunsi….”, I literally laughed at the irony despite the situation. And then we entered the Stadium, never did any arch look so welcoming. That’s when the theory of relativity finally sunk in. When I was a regular to IIIT, stadium was next door, I would come out of IIIT and take a U-Turn at stadium to head back to the city. In those days, especially when there was traffic, the U-Turn seemed to come too fast, now the distance between the IIIT gate and stadium entrance seemed a mile-long!!!!

Inside the stadium was festive atmosphere with all the music and happy chatter of runners, meeting with their family, friends and co-runners.  I was exhausted and at the same time elated. I did it, I completed the 10K without giving up. I couldn’t believe it.

Post-race: We booked a cab to get back home. The minute I sat in the cab, it felt sooo refreshing and relieving. But at the time of alighting the cab, the pain was excruciating. It was a repeat performance the rest of the day, be idle for few minutes and then any movement proved to be a torture. By the next day afternoon I was doing just fine. Dare I set my target for half marathon!!!!

Confessions of a first time runner

In the recent past, we have been bombarded with images of runners, advertisements about marathons. It feels like every one in Hyderabad has started running. It was hard not to get intrigued and drawn into that world. This year that is what happened to me.

Let me start from the beginning. I was confident that I was pretty much in good shape, my weight was under control and i walk a lot compared to my peers and try to take stairs whenever possible. But, last year a trip to Bhutan changed my perspective. All the walking and hills we climbed made me realise the shape my legs were in. I couldn't walk for more than 10 minutes without having a muscle cramp, i couldn't walk fast, i was just loitering about. It was a rude awakening. I decided I needed to get into shape. So what should I do? Obviously my morning walk, yoga and diet was not working. I was not able to fit Gym or active Yoga into my schedule. Sports activity was one option but finding a partner proved difficult (my life-partner having abandoned me on this venture of mine!) Then I came across a running enthusiast and found that people get trained for running, you are not completely on your own. That should work for me. Once trained, I can run on my own without any dependency. The only hitch - I never ran in my whole life, even as a child I always avoided running, no idea why.

Thanks to the multiple useless forwards on WhatsApp groups (i am not going to get irritated by them again), I came to know of couch-to-5K run program. It is a 8 week course, where experts guide you through the process of running, give you tips, the dos and don'ts, and at the end of the 8-week course you would be ready to run your first 5K. Simple, right, so I rushed to sign up before I got a chance to rethink and change my mind and vowed I will not revert on it, till at least the end of the 8 weeks. And boy oh boy that was the longest 8-week in my life.

Week 1: It was pretty simple. The coach kept it real simple and I breezed through it without a hitch. I was beginning to think I overreacted, I seemed to be doing just fine. The coach used to meet us three days a week and then we were supposed to work on the exercises rest of the week. Easy. End of the week, my legs started hurting. Calf muscles were the worst, coach suggested change in shoes - the ones I had were not for running hence were giving me the trouble. I obliged and bought a pair of running shoes.

Week 2: That is when all hell broke loose. The sessions became intense, we started running and I couldn't run beyond a minute. Legs hurt the entire day, I was limping in office. I was in a dilemma. Some said I should push myself, ignore the pain, just go with it. Some said listen to your body, slow down, why torture yourself. Whom do I listen to? And the biggest demotivater of all "Is it worth all the trouble?" The days when we were by ourselves were the worst. I got a fitbit and the figures were pretty depressing. By the end of the week it was 2 minute non-stop run. Time to call it quits.

Week 3: I took couple of days off from the entire running exercise. I had two people telling me I give up easily. That did the trick. I needed to show them I am not a quitter. I re-evaluated my approach. First, I was not in it to win marathons. My objective was totally different, I am trying to get into the habit of a physical activity. I want to get into shape and be able to run. That's it, anything beyond that would be a bonus. So speed did not matter. Second, I rephrased my goal. I am not aiming to be a runner, I will survive these 8 weeks and complete the 5K at the end of the 8 weeks in a decent time. With that in mind, I revisited all my reading material and started looking for stories that matched my requirements, instead of reading about the glorious and spectacular medal wins.

There was another thing I realised. My priorities were proving to be an hindrance. I was being obsessed with the work I needed to accomplish at home and then at office, I was not able to concentrate and enjoy the one hour I had assigned to myself. I needed to think about myself and what I was doing to myself before I let anything external bother me. I had not been happy with my lifestyle and had decided to do something about it. And now that I was doing it why am I feeling guilty about it? I decided to change my thought process, too.

Week 4: With this changed outlook, I survived 4th week with minimum humiliation. Another thing I realised was I needed some company at least to tide me over initially. Though we were having training session weekly thrice, there was a group that met every day. I started going with them. That is when I realised company matters. We were partners and we corrected each other, encouraged each other and shared our strengths and weaknesses. With this new found friendship running started becoming fun. That is when I achieved my mini-goal - I ran 10 mins non-stop. It might sound silly but from 0min-run to 10min-run was a big deal and I was super elated.

Weeks 5-8: That small 10-min run milestone carried me over the rest of the training sessions and before I knew it, our 5K was round the corner. To boost my spirits, I registered for Pinkathon 5K and completed it in around 50 mins.

My first 5K: It was good, but still there were times when I really wanted to give up. For the first 2k, it was fine but then it was a torture. There was a lady singing and running, I still cant figure out how she did it. She was singing the song “Ruk jaana nahin, tu kahin haar ke” which loosely translated to don’t give up, your goal is beyond all these hardships. It tided me over for the next 1k. Till then the route was along busy roads and it was self-motivating, seeing so many people around. The final lap was within desolate roads and with an incline. I nearly gave up when our mentor met me. He encouraged for the last leg. Told me not to look at my fitbit to see how much more, but just keep on going. By then I was walking. And miraculously the finish line was there. People waiting with the medals. I DID IT, I COMPLETED MY FIRST 5K. Never will I attempt running again!!!!!!!

To be continued.....(10K)