How I earned back my beer

#ashquotes

Running is a Metaphor for life says Meb Kpflezighi and I?couldn’t agree more.

?For those who have read my earlier blog posted 4 years ago ‘The day I earned my glass of beer’ you may remember how running helped me get back on track and pulled me through a very difficult time in life.. But more importantly how running taught me patience and working through pain and frustration to reach your destination.

However, running is indeed a metaphor for life. While I was at my leanest self, fittest I have ever been in my 40 years and happiest in most areas of my life I took all of it for granted. Having successfully moved from barely able to run 100 meters to comfortably running 3k, 5k, 10k and 15k I set myself a new goal for half marathon.

My goal to run a 21K was just the natural next step and So I thought all I needed to do now was to start running ?more and longer to achieve this goal. However this goal was not as straight forward as I thought. I kept getting injured which put me out of action for three months at a time.

Running, from being a source of enjoyment, relaxation and meditation had become stressful, frustrating and a constant source of disappointment. After three months of my first injury break I started running again and slowly regained some part of my usual running fitness but still I wasn’t running fast enough and long enough and that kept me stressed and unhappy. Subconsciously I started running faster and longer than I was comfortable with and was back at the physio therapist table in 2019 November putting me out of action for another three months.

The COVID pandemic followed and we faced one of the toughest lockdowns anywhere in the world. While this lockdown gave us opportunity to be with Family longer it also meant?we were watching more television, not exercising, eating and drinking ?too much. The three month lockdown and another three months rest before the lock down ?meant I had not run for 6 months and had regained all the weight I had lost during my transformation in 2018 when I took up running.

I looked at my self in the mirror I could not believe I had done this to myself all the hard work that I had put in to get fit had gone down the drain .

?I set my self a goal to run a 21k, my first half marathon ever in 2020 giving my self 12 months to train, convinced that I can regain my fitness through running again. To cut the long story short I was back at the doctors MRI table with torn ligaments, Ruptured EGO and broken heart.

?I was being advised to give up running by well-meaning friends, relatives and colleagues. Some advised my lifestyle (drinking and smoking), my love for food, my body structure, my age, my job, my genetics and my horoscope ?? were not suited for this kind of weight bearing sport and I should try yoga, gym walking or cycling instead.

I was starting to reconcile to the fact that running may not be an option any more. I started cycling and swimming to compensate. However the disappointment of not being able to run and to have never run a half marathon was hurting me. I kept wondering if I had given up too easily “because deep inside I knew why I was failing.”

My running goals needed sacrifices. And the problem was I wanted to achieve my goals without the sacrifices. I also realized that I had forgotten the first lesson I learnt from running and that is patience,

I was brutally honest to myself. I drew up mental personas of runners who regularly run long distances in my age group. Three things stood out:

1)?????They were almost all non Smokers and very occasional drinkers

2)?????They were very lean and

3)?????They were part of a running program

I was still injured at the time and had about 5 weeks of rest remaining when I gave up smoking. I had the most terrible withdrawal symptoms as my body started to heal. Add to it the urge to have just that one. But I prevailed. It took me 7 weeks to feel that I was not using my will power anymore to stay away from the stick. I felt I had paid my first installment of the cost I would need to pay if I was to achieve the Goal.

Many would know that losing weight and quitting smoking at the same time is very difficult as when you quit smoking you tend to be more hungry. So this was another journey that was not going to be easy. I went on an intermittent fasting program to cut my fat, stopped drinking altogether and watched what I ate. I started seeing visible results from week 4.

The third part of the mission 21k was having a coach. This one came in all too easy. I have been running on a route where I have seen a few of my fellow society members run. One such member during a casual conversation asked me why I was limping. Like a true runner I went into every minute detail of what had transpired in the last two years. I asked him if he knew of a coach who could help me get back to running.?I was talking to that coach. After researching him later I found out that he was an elite Distance runner, A retired air force officer, A Boston Marathoner and had been a podium finisher in most of his races.

I joined his training group. It was embarrassing to say the least as all the other runners were running at twice the speed that I was capable of, that too without breaking a sweat! ?But what I learned with them was a very important lesson. ?Everything in life needs a plan. A plan that cannot be all intensity or all casual.

So after almost 6 months of training with my new Coach and having last smoked 9 months ago, I was at the starting line of my first half marathon. That indeed was an achievement as it meant that I had already run upwards of 18k in my practice runs to be able to be at the starting line.

My first half is behind me now and I will surely run more but this is not about running. I am too mediocre a runner to write about running. It is about the lessons I have learnt along the way.

Some success can be achieved by merely showing up. Your skill, aptitude and a small amount of commitment can get you to reach your average goals. However when you hit upon a goal that becomes elusive, takes you out of your comfort zone, that is when you need to introspect.

Coming back from repeated ?injury and achieving my elusive half marathon goal required me to make changes to my approach that hold true to all aspects of life. The lessons I have learned this time around apart from the usual (Discipline, Commitment and patience)

1)?????Do not take any thing and I mean anything for granted. It takes more effort keeping your fitness, skill, knowledge, money than getting it.

2)?????Don’t plan alone. A 100m race and 100k race is not the same. Similarly, all life goals are not the same and need different approaches. People who have done them can advise you better.

3)?????Pay the Cost: Being in denial is one of they key reasons we fall off our quest of achieving our goal. Every one knows the cost and there is no other way but to pay it.

4)?????Build up to your goal gradually. You cannot get to your goal in a shorter period than is possible, trying that can lead you to let it go completely.

What I will learn if I ever plan run a full marathon we shall see but the ‘beer’ is ?Metaphor of the satisfaction of the success for me like Marathon is metaphor for life.

Special Thanks to my Coach, Parag Dongre and co-runners Ankit, Vedanshi , Sriram and Ghanashyam who I looked at for inspiration through out this journey.