A long time ago, in the ancient past, I started a blog with the hope of being disciplined enough to chronicle everything that I did for managing my health. “A stated public goal becomes a part of my self worth” is what I said. Well, today I stand humbled by the sheer strength of my own lethargy. This blog and the plans surrounding it have been an abysmal failure so far… I have not been tested for my cholesterol in a while, and my exercise regimen hasn’t been all that great either….and I have been running sporadically.
I can chose to blame my travelling, or a social life that has been fairly active, or perhaps the fact that people around me are generally good cooks ! But well lets face it… I suck at keeping up with my exercise regime.
But then as they say, even the worst mistakes, make for good bad examples !
Earlier this year, I drove from Pune on a Saturday morning to participate in the Standard Chartered Marathon at Mumbai… in the 6 km category… the one where you see people dressed as lobsters running in the race. Trust me, for all the experience of the thirty years of my life, I was terribly nervous. Running a 6 km race is not supposed to be a big deal really. Most people would scoff at the idea of even considering a guy to be a ‘runner’ if all he has is a 6 km race under his belt.
For me though, it was different.
I racked my brains during the 3 hour long drive trying to recall the last time I attempted anything to do with sports. I had always been the nerd around. The guy who reads books…. Standing at the starting line of a race longer than a 100 meters with thousands of other sweaty people was never my idea of fun.
Once I arrived at Mumbai, I collected my runner’s bib at the venue, and a bag of goodies full of god knows what. I have seldom felt so out of place anytime at my life. There were guys registering for running a 21 km, or a 42 km race the next day. I was breaking out in cold sweat at the thought of a mere 6 km run !
But run I did. The next day, I ran the 6 km. Along with more than 10000 other runners. The old, the young, organizations with a purpose, or those present just for the sheer joy of running.
I ran without stopping, or walking… and grinned when strangers cheered hoards of us on. Looked up in the sky just to savor the fact that I was running smack in the middle of Marine Drive. When we passed by the Oberoi Trident, their staff was out in full strength waving the Indian flag. I nearly gave up when they threw in a fly-over bridge at the last kilometer, but nothing still beats the memory of the first glimpse of the finishing line once I was on top of the bridge. It all somehow, seemed worthwhile right then.
There are some things that you need to do for yourself. Some things, that remind you at the end of it all, nothing really beats running out in the open on a sunny day. That however much you might travel across the globe and marvel at the beautiful cities and parks, running on the streets of your own country is something that you never really found time to do. Running grounds you, makes you one with the earth you walk on, the air that you breath in… makes you respect distances and slopes. You clench your jaws for an uphill climb, and rejoice in the ease of running downhill… And when you see another runner struggling for breath, you pause and run a while with him… because, well it is the right thing to do.
I have registered for the Half Marathon (21 km) at Mumbai scheduled for Jan 2011. Whether or not my registration is confirmed will be known by the end of this month depending on the results of a lucky draw meant for novices like me ! Till then, all I gotta do is run !
Running to Save My Life ! 