Just Keep Running!!

It has been a few days, hasn’t it?

No, if you haven’t wondered already, I do not have specific days that I post on because I do not want to post any content that I had to rustle up in a few days. I want to provide good content, hence the irregular posting.

So here I am again. Hello! Recently I was on a trip to the city I used to live in before I moved to this one like I mentioned in one of my previous posts. I also met up with a friend whilst I was there. But that wasn’t the real reason for our visit.

We were there for… drumroll please… a marathon!! Yes!! My father has been doing marathons for really long, and very soon, my mother and I followed. No, neither did I do the full marathon (42 kilometres), nor did I do the half (21.1 kilometres). But I did do a ten kilometres run. My second one, in fact. Why am I telling you about this, from my tiny little phone screen, you ask? Because running a marathon is one of the most exhilarating experiences of one’s life, and once one starts, one does not want to stop. We, the running community, want everyone to join in.

Everyone.

If I liked it, so will you. So let me tell you about my running experience, and why I like running early in the mornings, even though I am part panda.

My first paid run was on 17.May.2014, in Dallas, Texas. I ran five kilometres with my aunt, uncle and their two daughters. I didn’t run through the entire thing because I wasn’t fully prepared. But I ran through half of it and walked the other half.

Crossing the finish line was awesome. I never thought running 3 miles would leave me happy and satisfied. But it did, and I’m happy that it did.

After coming back home to where I live, I reminisced about all the good memories I had on my trip abroad. The highlight, without a doubt, had to be the run. So then, I got my dad to sign me up for another 3 mile run a few months away, on the last Sunday of August (the one that I and my family run every year.).

I wear, it seemed like with every run, or “marathon”, as I called it earlier, crossing the finish line became more and more magical. The satisfaction of completing something that you’ve worked so hard for is so…erm…satisfactory, that you feel like doing it again and again. No. Not just cross the finish line… Work hard, train hard, and finish another run!!

I had loads of fun with these runs, and I and my dad, and sometimes my mum, did as many runs as we could.   I never thought that I would enjoy running by choice. I did say I was part panda…

With the progression of my runs soared my energy and my motivation to run more and more… and I loved it!!

Last year, while registering for the August marathon, we discovered that there was no 5-kilometre run. There were only 10k, 21.2k and 42k runs. So I made the decision running the 10k. A good decision, really.

And so I did it. I completed my first 10-kilometre run. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy at all. It was crazy (keep in mind, we are talking about a good crazy here.). It was tiring. It was gruelling.

But above all, it was magical.

The “500 metres to go!!!” sign was the signboard that I had been waiting for my entire life (or so it seemed like)!! then I went into don’t-stop-till-you-drop mode and gave it my all for those 500 metres. There were people cheering me on. Complete strangers, telling me to run faster. And so I did. And I finished it.

With a huge smile plastered across my face, I ran towards the finish line and crossed it. The moment I crossed it, there was a medal around my neck, and another crowd of complete strangers cheering for me and the people running with me at the same time.

There were tears of happiness in my eyes. I could not express my happiness in words. I still can’t. the experience was so awesome, I signed up for my second 10k run the next year, that is, this year.

The second marathon was amazing as well. Not much of a difference in my timing, but a huge difference in my way of thinking. During the entire run, not once did I think of how much my legs hurt, not once did I think of when the torture would end. Okay, okay, you got me. Just once, though, on that final flyover. Believe me, that flyover is deadly!!

And again, there was a smile on my face, tears in my eyes, a medal around my neck, and another run to brag about.

So let’s bring it down to the lesson of the day:

RUN!!!

Sincerely,

She Who Likes to Read.