My Tryst with Running

After years of complaining how running is so boring an activity, I think I've decided to change my mind and I think I may have kind of cracked what makes people get into running.

For some context, I've had a bucket list since I was quite young. The bucket list has a condition however, that I'm not allow to remove things from the list, I'm only allowed to add items. This means that the current version of myself is trying to do things that young Charu would've been proud of, even if present-day Charu doesn't get it. Anyways, I've had various long distance races on my bucket list for a long time. However, after trying out running a couple of times a couple of years ago, I gave it up - calling it boring.

When my colleague Maddy announced that there's a race happening nearby, I decided this was probably the perfect time to check something off of my bucket list. Considering I'd also have company to practice and keep me on track, me and Maddy registered for the 10k race. We began with our first run on the 2nd of February with the target of simply finishing the race by walking, which is scheduled for the 25th of February.

This isn't unfortunately not a post about how I don't think running is boring anymore. I still hold that opinion closely, that running isn't engaging or mentally stimulating, in a way that badminton is to me. However, when I said I cracked to code as to what keeps runner's going, I said that because I think I'm getting hooked onto running for a couple of reasons.

Running atleast for me personally is a two fold mental battle. Firstly because I've never really continuously ran over 300 meters in my life before I started training, I had very low expectations of what my body could do (which is fair ig lol), but I think running is more of overcoming that and believing your body can do much more. What's been working for me currently, is telling myself I'm going to finish another 100 meters or walk past a particular tree. Once I get there, I try pushing the goal post a little further, and before I know it, I've probably sledged through another couple of kilometers. As I said, the very act of running isn't very stimulating for me, but the feeling I get after a run is hard to explain. It makes me develop another level of respect for my body and what it's capable of. Kind of like feeling unstoppable.

The second mental battle in my head, other than the battle to not stop, is the very act of being alone with my thoughts while I do it. Though I run with Maddy usually in a park, since we run at different paces, it's pretty much an individual activity. I don't spend much of my energy noticing my surroundings while running, so it almost feels like my life is on auto-pilot and I need to sit alone with my thoughts while I do it. As somebody who's trying to actively make spending time alone to introspect, I think running gives me no choice of running away from it.

I know, I'm extremely early in my running journey, but I can't wait to see how it shapes up and if I keep up with it. So far, so good :))