A decade of running

On 5th January 2025, I ran a 10k race. It was quite a special race for two reasons. Firstly, it was my first race in my sasural, Pune. And secondly, it was exactly 10 years after my first 10k race at the Powai run in 2015. That marks a decade. It is a long time and in this time, I've cumulatively run over 10,000km which is more than the distance from Mumbai to Capetown, South Africa. But both these runs couldn't have been more different. Actually, the difference was me and my relationship with running. 

10km 10 years apart

The beginning:

Back in 2015, the only motivation to run the 10k was to get a timing certificate to qualify for the Mumbai Marathon Half Marathon. There was no preparation for it, and a huge a sense of achievement on getting across the finish line. Cutting across to 2025, I knew how I had trained for the race and I knew how fast I will be able to run. And crossing the finish line was a different achievement, a little cherry on the cake baked through months of regular training. It has been such a beautiful journey and it has just taken flight. 

After another half marathon at the Mumbai Marathon

The first couple of years had me dabbling with running two half marathons. I had no idea on how to train for a race and it showed in the results. I felt like I was almost dead at the end of both. That was when I felt that I could do better by following some sort of structure in running. I was consistent for three months before the next Mumbai Marathon and I felt a lot better while running and crossing the finish line. And that was when my running trajectory changed forever.

Love blossoms:

Running is seen as an individual activity where you can do what you want, without depending on someone. That is what had made me pick it up as a way to gain some fitness. But in 2017, the view of running with a team surfaced in my life. I joined a local running club where I made some amazing friends. One of them was instrumental in getting me out for a run a day after the race, without which I may not have found the energy or inclination to turn up again the following day. The group helped me learn a lot, get my routines right like stretching, strength training, etc. We ended up running several races through the year and the running group expanded my social circle in a big way. Running is such a beautiful leveller where you could be running with a student or the MD of a big company, but you are just united by the task of getting one foot ahead of the other over and over and over again in a rhythm.

Running my first marathon

But all good things come to an end. I left this group after a couple of years as I trained for my first full marathon. I got some great mentors and guides who helped me prepare well for it. But something else happened during this process. I started loving the process. The act of going out for a run became my reward. I was looking forward to every single run. Running was no longer a chore. I crossed the finish line of my first marathon at the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2020, with a HUGE smile on my face. In a couple of months, came the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that ensued. Once things reopened, I got back on the roads with the same zeal. But in 2021, I got hit by COVID just before the second wave. On recovering and getting back on the roads, I realised one of my biggest virtues which I had discovered. PATIENCE. While the world was going crazy about how difficult it was to run, I realised that the cardio-respiratory system needed time to get back to the levels it was at before the break. And that was extremely rewarding. None of the NO PAIN NO GAIN nonsense was followed and nor was it required. 

By the end of 2022 I was in much better shape than the pre COVID-19 pandemic stoppage and I was preparing for my next full marathon. I had my sights set on a big time barrier and I was training hard. And on raceday, I messed up! I didn't get the timing I wanted and it affected me quite badly. I didn't realise it until I ran a race with such demons in my head, with such crazy self criticism that it was demoralising. I credited it to some challenging times at home but that wasn't it. Then an incident got me to see the mirror. I had turned from someone who loved running to someone who was obsessed about the end result i.e the timing. I was giving control of my happiness to the clock. I managed to wrest that back. And then the tide started to change. I started enjoying my runs again. My runs became my mode of meditation again. And I was loving it!

The best year. So far:

2024 was arguably my best year in running. In the start of the year, I ran a timing at the Mumbai Marathon which I had hoped I would set "some day" back in 2016. A few weeks later, I paced the 2 hours bus for another half marathon. When I put up my hand for the same, I felt so good looking back at how long I had tried to get past this timing milestone and there I was, in a place to help others cross the milestone. 

Power of persistence. Pic inspired by Michael Phelps

Later in the year, I had set my sights to conquer the same race where I had encountered the demons in my head. I trained for it while also learning to be a marathon coach. And as I did this, I was my own student too. The result? I achieved a distant goal I had set my sights on back in 2017, with a brilliant training block and race. And then just to top it off, I ran my half marathon dream timing. How big a dream? I had set my password based on it, thinking that it will be some time before I get to do it. Enjoying the process and doing the right thing day after day, week after week and month after month, got me what I yearned for. 

Over the last decade, running has brought me some great joy, some sadness, a lot of friends and a lot of amazing memories to cherish for life. I am grateful for being able to run on my feet and for all the people in my life who have made the journey so beautiful!! My story is just one of the many examples of how something as tiny as a little run could transform you as you give it time and become an amazing part of your life!!