Running - and The Circle of Life!

It had rained a bit yesterday night, and the morning air was thick with the smell of the earth! It was damp and cool and fresh, all at the same time. It was my 'gym day' today, but I decided to ditch the gym for a run! And it was good that I did!

I laced up, put on the music, activated the app, and was off!! And although I was listening to music while running and sipping water intermittently, I was also conscious of the cool morning breeze ruffling through my hair (whatever's little left of it!!) and of the curious expression of the passers by seeing the (foolish) grin on my face. I was at peace with the world! There is something about the little shortening of breath, of the stride that evens out after 8 to 10 minutes, of the way the hands move, that adrenaline rush or the 'runners high', that made me feel good about life in general!

Today, while running, I happened to look up! And I saw a beautiful sight! The roads of the place where I live is lined with trees of Gulmohar - bright red flowers, Amaltaas (Laburnum) - bright yellow flowers, Eucalyptus - no flowers only leaves - and some others (whose names I don't know). Well, today I noticed how the morning sunlight lit up the fresh green leaves of the Eucalyptus trees. I almost felt like eating them (the leaves, that is)!! And while not all the Amaltaas trees had flowers, the ones that did were a riot of yellow! Same story with Gulmohar - fiery red!! Not for nothing is it called the 'Fire of the forest'!! And to think that just 2 weeks back, these trees (except Eucalyptus) were such a sad sight - no flesh, only bare branches. Like skeletons out of some horror flick!!

Which brings us to the 'circle of life' part of the heading. Its evident that what dies must come to life again. What withers away must re generate. Whats gets bare and ugly must become full and beautiful. And I was thinking these thoughts and feeling the sun on my face, filtering through the bright green leaves! I guess that's the reason why I was smiling, and was generally happy (not to mention the excellent music)!! The overall lesson is also to have faith. Just because things look dreary and bleak does not mean that they will stay that way (and vice versa). Have faith, but do your job honestly and to the best of your ability. This is very important, to be able to enjoy a good night's sleep!

Also - and I've mentioned this in my earlier blog as well - I enjoyed the stretches where there was a bit of a headwind. The tailwind stretches reduced my effort and probably my overall timing got better. But it was the part where there was a gentle incline and the breeze was against my face, that I enjoyed running the most. Today, I also noticed one more thing. Once I got in my 'groove' I was running almost effortlessly. Towards the latter part of the run (I ran slightly more than 8 kms today, owing to the paucity of time), I began to slow down due to fatigue, I guess. That's when I realized that not only was I not 'in the groove', there was no breeze either!! So, maybe, just moving ahead in life is not enough. One has to have a certain 'default' speed with which to move, if one has to 'feel the headwind' and enjoy the process. Now, this goes against the grain, in the sense that lesser effort should mean more enjoyment because the result is the same. In my view, though, if one enjoys the process, the result will become immaterial (actually, this is The Gita's view, which I whole heartedly endorse). So, to train the mind and body to become impervious to the outcome, as long as the effort is honest, steadfast and the 'default' speed is good, I guess, should be one's objective.

One more lesson that I glean from the process of running is the importance of setting goals. I normally run 7 kms on weekdays and anywhere between 10 kms to 15 kms on weekends. Surprisingly, I feel the same fatigue, the same pain in my calves, glutes and ankle irrespective of the distance!! How can that be? If I feel tired at 7 k, how can I feel the same tiredness at 15 k? Well, in the latter instance I've conditioned my mind to command my body to stretch. And therein lies the trick. The goals have to be such that they stretch me - physically, mentally and even otherwise. And I don't mean just the work related goals. I mean even in my personal life, I should do activities that I am not comfortable doing (as long as they are 'permissible' activities) and then enjoy the process!!! Challenging status quo, in a healthy, responsible way is important, to be Happy!

These and myriad other thoughts flash through my mind when I hit the road, almost thrice a week. Frankly speaking, I do it more for fun and to stay fit! You can dismiss the above as the meanderings of an over active mind. Just thought I'd share my thoughts with my friends!

So long ladies and gents!

Until next time!

Varun