My First long adult run experience

Today I did my BHAG??????????, I ran for about 14km in two hours, I didn’t pause Strava for the duration of the ran, and neither did I sit or stop for a rest. 1) Until you’ve actually gone for a run, please accept that you have no idea how long a kilometre actually is?? 2) I know there are some runners out there who may wonder why it took me 2hours to ran 14km? Well let me give you some perceptive,

When I was younger I went to doctor for a flu check up, and the doctor mentioned that I have an irregular heart beat. I went for an x-ray and he then told me that I had a lung ?? infection and I should not run for long distances nor play sports. Well obviously I didn’t not listen to him as I played rugby for most if not all of my school life. And if you play rugby, then you know that running as part of fitness and excersize is inevitable, having said that, the doctors report did discourage me from running as a way of life. 

Therefore running is not something i do at all, in fact I hated it, until recently. I do love to keep fit and healthy and for that I do CrossFit and body building(which I love and enjoy, I’m a little bit of a gym fanatic). Sometimes I do a little run on the treadmill as a cardio warm up before lifting weights but you would have never seen me running or even walking on the road.

Today was obviously a unique challenge for me, I’ve tried to prepare for this run as much as I could before attempting it by running 2 or 3km twice or thrice a week.

This morning seemed to be a good day for my 14km longer run, so I grabbed my running shoes and hit the road. If you know anything about Westville, you would know that it’s very gradient, so you are going up and down all the time, which really puts your quads and calves to the test.

My pace started off good, I would run and walk when I felt like I’m out of breath, I realized that the first 4km’s are the hardest, Im already thinking what did I get myself into, lol and my body wants to give up and turn back but I have to keep pushing, I realized that what really makes you succeed as you run is setting small goals that will help you reach the main goal. For example, I’ll rest when I get to that turn , or that stop, or that traffic light, or even at the shade , lol ?? and you just keep doing that and setting new goals as you go. This is also very true in life as well, you’ve got to break down your main goal to smaller goals so that you don’t get discouraged and demotivated along the way.

Something happens in your body after 5km of running, I can’t explain it, it’s like you just go into autopilot mode, a crazy muscle memory where your body just does the running for you without you putting much effort. You start thinking and day dreaming while you are running, this for me is the easiest and best part of the run, you have overcome the pain of getting started and now you are just cruising. It’s in this state where I actually started writing this journal, in my head of course. The trick is to maintain this state as long as you can because you will cover more distance in less time in this state then in any other part of the run, so you can’t afford to stop.

Dear driver if you see a runner running at a good pace, they are probably in this state and therefore stopping and continuing in the same state takes a lot of effort, therefore please let them pass because it’s way easier for you to stop and continue then it is for them. Secondly there is a reason why runners prefer running on the road then on the pavement, when you’re running every step matters and stepping up and down on the pavement in peoples drive ways and road intersection takes a lot of effort because it messes with you rhythm when running. The trick is to maintain this state as long as possible... it’s like the maturity stage in the product life cycle, every business aims to stay there as long as possible, but we know that’s not forever, the decline is coming.

Somewhere In the maturity stage you hit the decline, now I have ran myself into my second doze of pain, this time it’s more excruciating then the first, my body was telling me that it’s never been here or ever done this and that it was breaking down, I quickly realized that I hadn’t prepared enough for this run. My left hip bone started to hurt so much as if it was dislocated, I was near limping if there’s such a thing when running, my chest pain told my mind that maybe the doctor was right ?? there is no part of my body where I didn’t feel pain, but I can’t afford to stop , otherwise my blood will cool down, adrenaline rush will go away and the pain will become worse, and it would be near impossible to continue with the run.

When I reached my next goal, I slowed down for a walk, by this time I’m at the Durban Christian Centre Jesus Dome (Jesus Dome) and guess what , I still need to go back... i even thought of calling someone to come and pick me up or hitch hiking ????, lol it was tough, i was super thirsty and I had no water with me. I didn’t bring a water bottle because I didn’t want to add more weight, my phone was heavy enough as it is. I do recommend runners to get a smart watch with GPS and Cellular for tracking the run and just Incase of an emergency, because carrying a phone when running is not ideal.

Now I had a new goal, survival! get back home(the finish line) get water and rest my body that is breaking down. So I pushed through that and forced myself to run through... I got momentum back, not the same as the prime state but good enough to get me home.

Now I stepped into what was probably the biggest challenge for me during the run. If you think the second dose of pain was bad, it’s probably because you haven’t been to the third, this is uncharted territory, first my left hip bone was hurting, now both left and right are hurting, my body was cramping, I even felt the wind ?? pushing against me, it felt like I was pushing a scrum machine(okay maybe a little exaggeration there, but you get the point). I was wrecked and toasted black by the sun... this is where you build strength and stamina for the next race, this is where perseverance, focus and determination are going to count the most. This is where your business dies or you say no and try harder. This is where you accept failure or choose to dig deep and push harder than you started. this is where you need mind over matter, this is where dragon hunters are born.

I couldn’t stop, that wasn’t an option, I could slow down, I could walk but never stop , that wasn’t an option. This felt like the longest 2hours of my life, even walking felt like a mission, but now the motivation is to finish, finish what you started and finish strong. I had a goal and I was determined to reach it, dead or alive some would say, I literally dragged myself to the finish line, and I probably won’t be able to walk for a while but the life lessons and personal development I got from that run was priceless. Furthermore, I have more respect for runners than I ever did in my life, and applaud everyone who has ever run the marathon before, you have my respect.

So there you have it, my BHAG / first adult long run experience. Im not the same person I was before the run and I know that next time I will be better than I was today. Its not about the distance, nor the destination, its about the experience, the process, problem solving and overcoming each challenge in order to reach your goal.

Thank you to The Unlimited for giving me this experience, FYI this is part of our journey in become part of this great business that is shifting lives everyday.

#BHAG #welcometotheunlimited #running #TheUnlimited #unlimityourlife