More than the miles: Looking back at 6 months of running
Firstly, I apologise for the rather flat-sounding title.
I mean, it kinda is the same with running itself. Monotonous, repetitive, nothing quite exciting. But hold up, let me start from the beginning.
It all started one day in late August 2021. I was bored out of my mind in my hall room and figured if I don't expand my energy, I won't be able to sleep that night. So cardio-hating-me got out of the door and went for my first run in about 1.5 years.
It was just 2km or so, nothing great about it.
Few days later, I figured that it would be a waste if I don't keep the habit, so I went for another run. Two runs turned into four, soon I was on my eighth, and... you get the point.
At that point my only motivation for running was that I didn't wanna waste the effort I had already put in to start the habit. Same idea behind my strength training, and even for maintaining this blog.
A few weeks passed and I began to toy with the idea of running my first 5k. Gave myself one month to train and in early October I ran my first (broken) 5k at Sentosa, no thanks to the rain. The next week, I did a proper 5k. Yay.
My goal was to hit 10k before 2021 ended, and I'm so relieved I did it one cool December Saturday. It blew my mind, cos I never ever thought I would be capable of running a 10k.
Before I started running, the furthest I could run was the standard 2.4km and I would be absolutely spent at the end of it. Now, I'd say running has grown on me and I do an average of 4km per easy run. (Still, 4k feels like quite an awkward distance.)
I just wanna put out three reasons why I'm still running about 3x a week till this day.
1. Life is too easy
Am I wrong about this? Look, we spend our days in air-conditioned schools and offices, butt glued to our chair with all the snacks and comforts of the world within reach. I'm not saying I don't face any challenge in life at all, but seriously compared to how I believe we're made to live, our first-world life is too easy.
We don't have to farm for food, we don't have to hunt, nor do any back breaking work. Life is too easy, too comfortable. Again, not ignoring all the hardships in this world right now, but when I run, I remind myself that I'm made to do difficult things and overcome them. And enjoy the sucky process.
2. We were made for hard things
There is just something special about watching athletes conquer ultra-marathons, destroy an entire field of Cross-fitters at a competition or soldiers successfully pass out from a gruelling course. I believe it's so powerful cos it shows the human spirit and the grit that we don't see in everyday life.
And I haven't even talked about the shared experience of doing something hard with a bunch of strangers. To be fair, I haven't had an official race yet, so I can only imagine what it must feel like to cross the finish line with so many people with one same goal as myself. Absolutely beautiful.
3. I want to do something for myself
Running is as personal a journey as it is a communal one. A huge part of what keeps me motivated is proving to myself that I am capable of more than I can imagine. The human body is really amazing. I mean, the fact that it can be trained to do extraordinary things is mind-blowing.
Nobody forced me to do this, and in fact I can quit anytime. But I know I have not hit my fullest potential and I will continue chasing that for as long as my body allows me to.
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So, my goal is to run a marathon by end-2023, bar any limiting factors like restrictions or unexpected circumstances. Still looks a little unreachable, but if goals don't scare you then why make them in the first place?
The furthest I've run so far is 11k, and I hope to get a half marathon in by this year. It's literally a very long road ahead, but it's gonna be fun. Hope you'll join me and start running too, but if not, you can just keep me accountable on Strava.
