Running & Living- Analogies to delve on: Food for thought...

                                                       

IS RUNNING HARD WORK?

Is Running hard work? Let us compare running with life and try and see the analogy and learn how running teaches us to live our lives:-

Starting to Run:-  Yes, when you started running, did you enjoy waking up and wearing your running shoes and getting out, when the rest of the people in the house were busy dreaming and snoring in their sleep? It does take a lot of will power to get up and get out of the house early in the morning, isn't it? Then as we start running, every muscle in the body screams initially to stop, till the body warms up. After about 10 minutes of warming up, it starts to feel alright as the running rhythm takes on. Very soon, after some considerable distance of running, the mind starts playing games, and fatigue/tiredness takes over and you start wondering why the heck are you running at all, what for, why is it necessary etc....  Once again, mental strength plays its role, where you make up your resolve and don't give up and continue to run to complete the distance you had decided to run when you started off. The greatest feeling is when you complete what you set to achieve and then the entire day goes off well till the next day begins and again the same story repeats itself. Isn't this a great lesson in life?

Anything we start off doing in life, the same mental evolution happens. All of us have our own choice to make, either we remain in our comfort zones and continue to dream and slumber or we make up our minds and get out of our "bed", put on our "running shoes" and take up new challenges. The start is always unnerving and difficult as there would be many forces acting against us in our minds and it takes great mental strength and perseverance to overcome these thoughts, and soon as we continue and see a little progress, the rhythm takes over and we reach our new comfort zone. Very soon, fatigue and tiredness literally takes over as you start wondering whether these efforts are fruitful and why are you even putting in so much of hard work? The lesson from running is to be applied here and if we continue to "keep running" and persist in our efforts, very soon, the end would be visible and we would be able to achieve our set goals.

Training schedule and setting goals:- Caution! Whether running or life, goals that we set have to be practical and achievable. In 'running' , if we set a very hard goal as compared to our physical and mental capacity, we might be able to achieve it, but not without hurting ourselves and injuries would force us to stop running to allow recovery and once again we have to start from the scratch to train ourselves. Again this has its analogy in life, if we set a very hard goal beyond our physical and mental capacity, the chances of failure are imminent and is likely to set us back ( recovery period) and it would lower our confidence, so it is always better to go for " low hanging fruits" and as we gain confidence, slowly reach for higher targets. That is why when we train for running, we always start with low hanging fruits i.e 5k run and as we gain confidence, we slowly and steadily increase distance. In running, pace is generally used to measure performance, but it is important to remember that pace is only a by-product of   running and training consistently.

"We worship Form":- Perfection of form has always been the mantra in running, no matter what distance we run, at what pace we run, it is important to run in perfect form. This holds good for anything we do in life. I keep telling my children that if you are doing anything, do it well. Don't just try and finish something, you must try to achieve perfection in any action that you perform, whether it is making the bed, brushing teeth or any activity that you do, so that this becomes a habit. As you sow, so shall you reap. Only if we cultivate these habits, will we be able to transform ourselves into a strong personality and character. The analogy of "form" during running to "perfection" in actions in anything we do in our life is thus another important lesson.

Variation in Training:- In running, a consistent training schedule including strength training and cross training is critical to keep the body free from injuries and make the body and mind stronger. Similarly, in life, we must learn to do things differently to keep moving out of our newly acquired comfort zones as well as to keep our brains ticking to find new solutions or "think out of the box". For eg. take a new route to work, or  try to write with the other hand, or anything that challenges us mentally as well as physically. We must learn to face our fears and overcome them, and as this becomes a habit, we are moving on a successful path and living a better and fuller life. 

Running and Hard work: We always have a choice to not run and continue a comfort filled life sitting and watching television or listening to music or doing any activity that doesn't tire us physically or mentally. Life in today's  modern technology-filled world is spoiled for choices: X-box, video games, android apps, blogging the way I am doing right now are all activities that are done in the comfort of our homes in sitting position or lying position or any position that is lazy and comfortable. Why am I sounding as if I am against something which seems very normal? Because as we evolve in our running life, we get to learn more and more about our body and mind and get closer to nature. What I have realized is that hard work and improvement/ growth both physically as well as mentally are critical components in life and the moment we stop hard work, we stop growing. ( Caution: Growth is not measured only monetarily because money and power both can be earned without hard work, however, monetary achievement can be a measurement parameter the way running pace is a parameter to measure improvement in running). I believe that if we are consistent and persevere in whatever we do in a perfect manner, then we are sure to achieve success both monetarily as well as in our personal growth and the story continues and growth keeps on happening irrespective of age and time. Even today, if we look at the lives of villagers who have an active life of farming, it is highly probable that they have much better and healthier lives as compared to most of their urban over-stressed contemporaries. Discipline and commitment are extremely important virtues that need cultivation and running long distance enables us to cultivate these two virtues to the maximum. 

Human beings are designed to run/ walk/ stand. Sitting cross-legged on the floor with spine erect ( "sukhasana" in Yoga) seems to be a natural and correct position for all the biological functions of the body. However, for the last few decades or maybe more than that, most urban dwellers have got used to sitting on chairs, sofas etc. In all our daily sitting positions, our core gets disengaged as the spine loses its erect  form. The debilitating effects on all the important joints of our body mainly the hip and knees are quite visible in the elder population. I don't remember hearing about any sage/ seer suffering from arthritis even though they sit for hours together in "sukhasana" doing meditation. I also hardly remember seeing any sage/ seer being depicted having a paunch or being fat. There must be something really good about "sukhasana" then. Running long distances for longer durations and doing stretching exercises coupled with cross training and strength training, compensates for the "lazy sitting" injuries that we daily inject into our joints while at office and home relaxing in front of the idiot box or the computer. Indian toilets were a good exercise for the hip flexors, adductors and abductors, but alas, most of us have changed to the "comfortable" western commodes. The western world has had a huge influence in making us very comfortable, but destroying our ability to live naturally and keep our bodies and mind stronger.  So running not only makes us physically stronger but also mentally alert and makes us aware of our body and it's requirements to maintain strength and flexibility while increasing it's endurance/ stamina.

This is therefore a food for thought for all runners and non runners to ponder as to how we can make our lives more interesting and get closer to nature and keep improving and growing from strength to strength and achieve much higher milestones as we continue moving ahead both in life as well as running. I would like to end by saying:-

  

My first half marathon

Place New Delhi
Event: ADHM 2008
I have been running since the age of 18-19 , that when I joined the Naval academy as a cadet. But somewhere, I was not the "athlete" kind and I was more an academics variety than an outdoor kinds. Nevertheless, we had to run 9-15 Kms every Sunday - we call it the cross-country race and it was a mad competition. I always managed to come somewhere in the last barely managing to complete the race.
So in 2008, I am posted at Delhi and thirty six years of age, and have managed to continue going for runs somewhat consistently say three - four times a week, but restricted to five kms and at the max 10 kms. Therefore, 21 kms will definitely be a first time. But I say to myself, as a cadet , I have done 15 comfortably... so another 6 will not be difficult... after all it is only a mind game.
So i prepared myself for running ... but just one month before the d-day, i observe a kind of black thorn in my leg ( sole of the feet just below the toes... exactly the place which impacts the ground .. and it is painful. I try to extract the thorn... and then I realise it is not a thorn but a corn.. basically my shoes were old and the continuous chafing has caused this problem. So i visit a doctor and she tells me to stop running and gives me a treatment of some lotion and corncaps and scrubbing everyday. The corn becomes worse and bigger and more painful. So I give up the idea of the half marathon. But I have already registered and collect my goodie bag and BIB . It was 300/= in 2008 for entry in ADHM. And we got a magnificent deal in the GOodie bag. Ther wer items in it worth at least 2000/= ... Things like face creams, shampoos, deodorant, chocolates... the bag was full.
On the marathon day, I woke up and since my house was close to Nehru park.. the starting point.. I could hear the noise of the crowd... that was the moment... I decided to go for it.. So i put on my socks and shoes and tried to run.. ouch... it was paining.. but then I said, I will get over the pain and get used to it once I start running.. So i left home with butterflies in my stomach not knowing what was going to happen.
At the site, there was pandemonium.... huge crowd, a lot of known faces and then the race started... I started off very well and very soon we were running on the roads towards the safdarjung airport and i was comfortable very soon.. I mean i got used to the pain in my foot. I slowed down my pace as i was not able to keep up with the guy who was running with me... I reached India gate and was psyched to see people in hordes already on their return leg. The distance seemed too long... I was feeling tired... and leg had started aching badly.. distance was about 13 km completed. So I did the most stupid thing ... I thought Ill stop anmd walk for some time.. and that was the point I got my thigh cramps... and calf muscle cramps... and toe cramps.. I was screwed... At this point I was overtaken by 100's of people... people in twenties... they are very young, so it was acceptable. But when I had an old man ( about late fifties or early sixties ) overtake me, I couldnt take it.. I strarted jogging again...but I could not keep up to his pace.. i spoke to him.. he says he normally does it in 2 hrs 10 min.. I was shocked... The horror of horrors i saw a verrrry old man running.. he was 83 years old... then i saw a man with an artificial leg running.. I have never in my life been more ashamed and humiliated than what happened here. I am a defence offcier who has undergone cadets training and today I am struggling to complete a mere 21 kms. What physical fitness are we talking about? So i managed to somehow limp and run and barely managed to reach the finishing point in 2hrs and 40 minutes. But I was elated and happy that i completed my first half marathon successfully... But I also understood that there is a long journey ahead of me and I needed to improve on my running tremendously...