First Stride

It all began on this the 1st day of March 2013. The first day of the month! Like most fitness/weight loss “I need to fit into that skinny jeans this year!” resolutions that are taken on the first day of the each month, my conversations with myself were none different. Perhaps the only difference was that this time, I was determined, and I had a definite goal in mind- to run the half marathon that was coming up in July. Even before I decided to begin my training I had signed up for the run, used this as a “no excuse phenomenon” for fighting my demons. This is the time-tested trick that I use for all my races until today! 

Going back to my grueling first day of running- just as I was tying up my shoe lace, I recalled my childhood days of playing table tennis at the club every other day, and the high intensity cardio workout my dance classes put me through every weekend. I stood at the front door for a minute and imagined myself running. Like in comic strips, you could draw an imaginary cloud over my head. In that cloud I was running…running like a deer, graceful...with a smile. Running through the breeze! Self-confidence touching the mercury, I told myself “this is easy!”  As I started running, in less than 400 meters, my cloud vanished! The self-confidence meter burst with the pounding noise that my heart was making, I lost every positive thought as I gasped. I didn’t know which was louder, my panting noise or my heart pounding. I was less than 400 meters away from home and all I wanted to do was just walk back home. Yes, just walk back or may be roll back home. As I dragged myself home, to describe how my brain processed my self-image in one line, I would say “Unhealthy unfit individual who has ruined her fitness by doing nothing!”

I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. I felt a huge weight pulling me down, making me weak. I sensed defeat, felt challenged, and the only thing I wanted to do was take on this challenge and taste victory. After almost passing out on the couch, and being close to giving up on myself, an idea came to my mind. I decided to break the 13.1 miler into smaller chunks, which looked very achievable. I visualized the finish line, the medal, and the sense of achievement, which have been a driving factor to keep at the war between my mind, and my body. I paced myself better, and jogged the following day; in a week I was able to jog a kilometer without a break. This is when I realized that a lot of endurance running is focused on the simple rule of breathing right. Focus on your breathing and you can conquer the track! I kept at this, and jogged everyday, and increased the mileage week on week, initially with an incremental rate of 100% which eventually reached a flatter 20% week on week. This was not easy at all!

I pushed myself harder every following day, and finally reached a point where I didn’t have to push myself mentally. I did not get there miraculously; the benefits I gained from running paved the path for me. It has been a pleasurable journey ever since, that I enjoy, share, and preach. I would be lying if I told that I have never had to push myself after that, but it was more about pushing my body, and my willfully excited mind has done a great job until today. This post is dedicated to all those people out there taking their first stride, and looking forward to many more to come.

Even today, I remember the 1st day of March 2013 so vividly, the heart pounding, the legs cramming, and the little voice inside that said “give up…we can do this tomorrow”. The secret is to push past that, and to push today!   

#FirstStride #Keep@It #EndlessMilesToGoBeforeYouStop