About Running

I wanted to write something on this topic since quite some time. I am running since last few months and it has brought a kind of metamorphosis in my life.

My romance with running started earlier this year may be around February 2011. Thanks to my annual health report. My Cholesterol and Blood Pressure levels were slightly on upper side. It was a bit surprise for me, because I have a very active life and was particular about my diet.

Although there was nothing to worry about, I took it a bit seriously. I tried to dig into the root cause of the issue. Finally, we agreed upon the root cause: slow metabolism rate of my body.

I thought about two alternatives to get rid of this: Running and weight exercise training. Out of these, I chose running. I am a bit sluggish in doing gym/weight exercises.

As I started running, each and every muscle of my legs rebelled. During the first run, I could hardly run for 100 meters. But I tried to continue and slowly my body (Particularly legs) got used to running. Slowly, I increased my running up to 5 km without any break. On weekends I tried to push more and even touched 10 km at a stretch.

During the same time, I came across a book “Dare To Run” written by Amit seth. In this book, Amit has mentioned about his quest for running and his journey from starting to run for few meters to completing Comrades Marathon, in South Africa. Comrades Marathon is one of the toughest human marathons, which includes around 90 km of running, across hilly regions of South Africa.

This book gave a real boost for me and became a true motivating factor. Though I started running for maintaining my fitness, very soon it became my hobby. And at the moment it’s more than just a hobby.

When I start running, most of the time, my mind is overflowed with thoughts. But after some time, the thought process ceases. Then there comes a point where, my mind is free of any thoughts. I just try concentrate on my breathing. I get detached from the world around. My soul gets connected with god and I feel a kind of relaxation through out my body. Then I talk with my sub conscious and affirm that each step taken is guiding me to move towards my personal mastery. Then running becomes a spiritual way to connect with almighty, it becomes meditation for me. At the end of each run, I feel a sense of calmness and fulfilment. And to be honest, that period is the best one throughout my day.

Lessons Learnt:
Running has also taught me a few lessons.

• First of it is being patient about end results. A few months back, I tried to run in spite of severe pain in my left foot. Finally, it resulted in Ligament fracture and I could not run for next 2 months.



• Second lesson I learnt is to live in present and concentrate only on the task at hand. During the run, I focus all of my attention on the next step.



• Overcoming the mental barrier. The only factor which keeps us away from our personal mastery is our mind, the thought process. The same mind which was creating a mental block for me to run even 100 meters, obeys my determination to run 10 km now.

What next:
Continue running as much as I can and get benefitted from it. I am also eyeing for a Half Marathon on 6th Nov 2011. Right now, I have only 4 weeks of practice left. Though I haven’t tried any distant running since last 6 months, this looks a bit challenging. But I am still hopeful to make it. Currently i am struggling to run for even 2 km at a stretch. But i am determined to run as much as i can. So keeping my Fingers crossed and hoping for the best. !!!!!!!!!!!