to run or not
I feel weirdly good today about writing this post. I started running in January this year. Treadmill and on road. After my first 5k (run + walk) in a rush of excitement I jotted down the feeling of achievement. By the end of the day when initial joy was taken over by exhaustion and other bodily tiredness, I told myself let's do a few more runs and then write it down. Then one day while running on the treadmill I did something terribly wrong, while trying to change my running technique and hurt an ankle ligament. In the world of pain killers and ankle support I missed out on 3 weeks of running. The effective advice from the doctor being wait till the swelling and pain goes away and then start rebuilding. (also the very well known and effective R.I.C.E. rest, ice, compress, elevate mantra).
Post that I immediately stopped running on the treadmill and stuck to cycling in the gym and running outside. After 3 months, today I ran my first 5k with a 50 meters walking break, to regulate my breathing.
And I told myself stop being hard on yourself and celebrate a bit. Hence the blog post.
I get a mentor, a teacher next week and things will change for the better from next week onward. Before that I am just going to relax a bit and share what all I have learnt about running. I still do not have any philosophical take on it, because most of my time while running is spent on focusing on the next 100 meters or terrain and how I am not going to max myself out. This is what my first 3 months have been about.
* Running in group helps a lot better than running alone. I joined** a group which meets every sunday (weekdays also but I am not yet motivated to get out often on weekdays). Its interesting to know better runners and learn from them.
* I have learnt that I walk/run in a slightly wrong manner (took me 28 years) which causes me the recurring ligament strain. I am consciously working on improving my techniques.
* Exercise after running is much better than before. I know you need a bit of warm up. But my experience tells me that a few stretches are enough to get you going.
* I experimented with listening to songs while running. It has the benefit of letting you focus on the song that's being played rather than how tired your body and mind feels, but when out in the open I prefer not listening to songs.
* I strongly believe that your body develops its own technique while running and hence I prefer sticking to the one I have developed. There are only improvements in the pain areas which I think I need to work on for now.
* Shoes matter. A lot. I am still in search of an affordable great pair. (the internet opens you up to so many articles/blogs/communities that its tough to choose!)
* Being used to yoga has helped me a lot in regulating my breathing during runs. Of course the common advise is breath through your mouth a bit so that lungs are not unnecessarily pressured. Bottomline yoga helps!
I was talking to a friend today who also runs and he told me how much he loves the sore pain afterwards.
I am not kidding but the peaceful sleep at the end of a good run day is the best thing I have worked on to get for myself, in a long time. And that makes me want to run more!
** A friend asked me for company and that's how I ended up showing up regularly. Can never be thankful enough for this!
Post that I immediately stopped running on the treadmill and stuck to cycling in the gym and running outside. After 3 months, today I ran my first 5k with a 50 meters walking break, to regulate my breathing.
And I told myself stop being hard on yourself and celebrate a bit. Hence the blog post.
I get a mentor, a teacher next week and things will change for the better from next week onward. Before that I am just going to relax a bit and share what all I have learnt about running. I still do not have any philosophical take on it, because most of my time while running is spent on focusing on the next 100 meters or terrain and how I am not going to max myself out. This is what my first 3 months have been about.
* Running in group helps a lot better than running alone. I joined** a group which meets every sunday (weekdays also but I am not yet motivated to get out often on weekdays). Its interesting to know better runners and learn from them.
* I have learnt that I walk/run in a slightly wrong manner (took me 28 years) which causes me the recurring ligament strain. I am consciously working on improving my techniques.
* Exercise after running is much better than before. I know you need a bit of warm up. But my experience tells me that a few stretches are enough to get you going.
* I experimented with listening to songs while running. It has the benefit of letting you focus on the song that's being played rather than how tired your body and mind feels, but when out in the open I prefer not listening to songs.
* I strongly believe that your body develops its own technique while running and hence I prefer sticking to the one I have developed. There are only improvements in the pain areas which I think I need to work on for now.
* Shoes matter. A lot. I am still in search of an affordable great pair. (the internet opens you up to so many articles/blogs/communities that its tough to choose!)
* Being used to yoga has helped me a lot in regulating my breathing during runs. Of course the common advise is breath through your mouth a bit so that lungs are not unnecessarily pressured. Bottomline yoga helps!
I was talking to a friend today who also runs and he told me how much he loves the sore pain afterwards.
I am not kidding but the peaceful sleep at the end of a good run day is the best thing I have worked on to get for myself, in a long time. And that makes me want to run more!
** A friend asked me for company and that's how I ended up showing up regularly. Can never be thankful enough for this!