What I talk about when I talk about running.

The common running narrative normally starts with a quest to drop or maintain the weight. This however was not how my journey in running began. I have been an avid fitness junky for years and was a religious gym fanatic. In 2013, I experienced a peak in my gym activities which was soon followed by a plateau, as the body needed a new challenge.

My standard warm up routine, at the gym, included a 20 minutes run on the treadmill. One day as I was going about my warm up, a gentleman who is a runner tapped on the shoulders. His opening line was, “you have a good posture and good running pace, you should try road running.” His advances did not appear to come from flattery, no, he appeared to be a “veteran” on the road. He was one of those people who just used the gym to change and hit the road and for that I took his word and ran with it.

My running journey has been an interesting one. Most people don’t believe in blind running but I advocate for it. One may argue that perhaps if I ran with an activity device, it would have ”bettered” my performance but I never did. I solely relied on intuition - and the body never lies.

I’ve also come to understand that I’m terrible with following training programs. They simply don’t work for me. I like to freestyle and to keep the body guessing. The number of “experts” on the road do not help either. I soon learnt that if you don’t stand your ground, you stand a chance to crumble under peer pressure. I always run my races at my own pace - as dictated by the body, that’s how I’ve learned to conduct my life as well. During races, I zone out the masses and focus on the finish line. It’s best to know what works for you and stick by it.

In 2013, I signed up for the Kaya FM Mandela Challenge - my first race, and I have never looked back. Five comrades medals later I can confidently count myself as a runner, although of late my relationship with running is tricky(LOL). I have been questioning this relationship, as even a 10km feels and sounds like a LONG run. So every now and then I go out for a 5km run to rekindle the love lost for the tar. In scripting this, I even had to put in a short run just to jog my runner memory. It might be that same plateau experienced in 2013 resurfacing, telling me that the body is lusting a new challenge. We will give it time...

Running is more than a physical activity, yes it is one foot in front of the other repeatedly until your heart rate spikes, but it is also emotionally cleansing and awakens the spirit. Of course, I didn’t know this when I started running.

Running enables one to just get out of their own head for a change. For someone that lives in their head, it can get crowded at times and I found that running helped me to declutter. Also to reorganize my thoughts and re-calibrate my emotions. A good short run solves a lot of problems - we call it a boardroom meeting in my running circle. It’s a meeting where I summon myself to the table. Its a check in with self, a therapy that I didn’t know I needed until I fell in love with the tar. It’s a natural happy pill that you won’t find on any pharmaceutical counter.

There are so many benefits that I derived from running to mention but one that I can highlight is that it has opened me up to worlds that I would not have otherwise been opened to. It has extended my interests in other sporting activities. I would have never thought of Iron man but recently, I find myself flirting with the idea of partaking in it and conquering it and other giants. I don’t have a bucket list, I just take on challenges as they come along. Even without the list, the Great Wall of China and Kilimanjaro must be surmounted in this lifetime.

For someone who struggles with belonging, running opened me up to mingling with small groups of like-minded people. Road running has fueled my curiosity, it got me hooked to trail running [a thrill] and I subsequently became an avid hiker. Recently I have also taken to mountain biking. There are so many avenues, worth exploring, that stem from running world.

“Life is for living!”

I am firm believer in one fully experiencing all that life has to offer and maximizing it.