Marathon running events are a
full-fledged craze now and India has more than 100 events registered online and
new events are being created constantly every month. When I started running marathons, and I look
back at how and why I started running marathons, probably one of the main factors
was to participate in an event. And then, it was kind of an addiction each year
to participate in the same event and do better than last time. I was getting
more and more addicted as each year my timing was improving and my “facebook
likes” were only increasing and my self esteem was sky-high in the running
domain. As the years passed by, and I felt that I was stagnating or had touched
a flat in my improvement, and whenever I
tried to push myself, I was getting some injury, but being conservative and
cautious by nature, I used to pull back and recover and then again start
trying. In retrospect, I now realise that somewhere the bug of events had
bitten me then and I was being carried by the “wild horse” rather than me
riding the horse with control and caution. FreeRunners happened to me in 2014
and till SCMM 2015, the event bug was strong within me. But somewhere deep
within, I was introspecting as to why am I running, what is the reason that I
love to run, and was searching for answers. So in 2015, I decided to abstain from events as much as possible and continue running long distances on my own, and also if I do participate in
events, do not mention about it too much on Facebook and restrain my desire to
tell the whole world about the event. I have not been very successful in this as
the mind is tempted very strongly to run events and write blogs, so is the
reason I am writing this blog too. But the main reason why I am blogging now is
that I realised something during running this last year and I feel like sharing
it, maybe it would be help some runners out there.
There are two issues I learnt
about, one is the concept of running properly which is related to “form” and
“breathing” which I have talked about many times in my earlier blogs (click here to read about it), and for which I am ever grateful to Jeetendran Nair and
FreeRunners group, where we swear by the manifesto of the group and train
everyone to run properly. The second and
main issue in this blog is the “freeing” of the mind especially when we run in
events. I am only discussing
recreational runners here and not elite runners/ competitive runners. In
recreational running too, there are competitive recreational runners especially
in the senior categories, who aspire to be on the podium and win prizes and
trophies, and there are runners who want to qualify for international marathons
like Boston etc.. and they may not be able to avoid the pain and suffering that comes along with pushing your bodies to the
maximum in these events. However, when it comes to the other recreational runners,
who are not competing for positions on the podium or specific international events
selection timings, need not suffer and endure pain in each event to achieve
their PBs. Timings are important to benchmark your performance and to act as an
feedback to train properly and probably focus on learning to run properly, but
obsession of timings while you are running, is it really necessary? The answer boils down to
only one thing- Training. Have you been consistent in your training?
Consistency and proper training throughout the year will always ensure that you
grow stronger and stronger and are bound to improve. However, a cautionary
note:- I strongly believe that each person is unique and different and coaches
can only guide the trainee with respect to the correct style of running, and
try and enforce some consistency and persistence in the training and nutrition
patterns. The ability of the body of each individual to respond and perform
will be absolutely different for each individual and that needs to be
respected. Some learn very fast and yet take longer time to recover, some take
long time to learn but have got excellent recovery and many such permutations
and combinations exist. Further, each
day is different and no one can say what will happen on the final day of the
event, even stalwart veteran marathoners have faltered and had DNFs in events.
That does not in any way make them bad runners, just that the particular day
was not a good day for them. Hence it is
always about human dynamics and it’s response to multiple factors being way too
complex than we can imagine and articulate. It is however very important for
every runner to train well to understand their own bodies and mind well, so
that they can feel and realise the signs of thirst, heat, fatigue etc. and take
timely corrective actions during any run. Also, runners tend to lose their form
when they are tired and if they are alert, will be able to realise and feel the
difference when they break their form. The pressure of timing cheats the mind and
runners tend to push themselves unnecessarily, most of the times doing more
harm than good. If you are in touch with yourself always, the probability of a
strong finish during any run is the highest. Running is more like meditation
where you are constantly looking at your mind and body and realising what is
happening within you as you run. This of course comes with practice and has to
be practiced during training also.
Another factor is social media
where the craze of putting up pictures on Facebook and boasting of PBs etc. has
become a routine. Yes, all of us go through this phase as we evolve as runners
and there is nothing wrong in basking in this social glory to feel good about
yourself, but I feel that running is an enjoyable sport by itself and attaching
too much of importance to events and PBs etc. is kind of externalizing the
aspect of running to an extent that running any event leads to anxiety and
tension of performance. Recreational runners should enjoy running, whether in
an event or otherwise, and if you have been training consistently throughout
the year, every week and every month, then this one event of a Full marathon
and maybe two events of half marathons in a year, should be treated as just
another long Sunday run and run with ease. The chances are very bright that you
will finish very strong and the timing may also be slightly better than what
you do on a normal long Sunday run. But the icing on the cake really is the
“strong finish” and the good feeling after the run because you are relaxed and
there is no fatigue, other than slight soreness in the muscles and knees after
a FM, which is normal. Be realistic in
setting targets for events and be happy with the results that you get. You
train for one more year consistently and keep running in events without tensing
yourself on timings and see the improvement. Running marathons recreationally
is all about enjoying yourself and learning to run in a relaxed manner without
tensing your mind or body.
Running in early mornings is a
pleasure as you can always witness the rising Sun and absorb the warmth and the
positive energy and minerals of the first rays of the Sun while witnessing the
beauty and resplendence of the Sun changing shape and colours and getting
diffused within minutes into the sky and lighting up the morning. You get to hear and see a variety of birds
chirping and playing around and wonder how much noise they make and try and
identify the birds by the different sounds. The sound of the waves in the ocean
for the coastal runners is another beautiful music to the ears. Nature provides
us enough entertainment to keep our minds occupied and relaxed, yet we want to
ignore all this and fill up our mind with unnecessary tension and anxiety,
which only acts as poison to the body, as muscles stiffen and lead to cramping as soon as energy levels are depleted.
Therefore, I am writing this blog
to evangelise what I define as “FreeRunning”, where we learn to run keeping our
minds free and relaxed, body( muscles) relaxed, and we enjoy and
appreciate the beauty of the surrounding environment while we run. Of course, all this is possible only after we
learn how to run properly and practice the running form and breathing
consistently and persistently till we get to a point where it becomes part and
parcel of ourselves, just like we eat food or brush our teeth, when we don’t
have to think about how we are doing it.
So signing out with this food for thought to Run Free and enjoy the
feeling of running where it transcends all pain and suffering, in fact, makes
it blissful and peaceful. Yes, it is possible to run effortlessly and still get good results!
Cheers to Happy and Peaceful FreeRunning!
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