There had been a modest amount of buzz at the office when
couple of co-workers had signed up for their first 5k social run sponsored by a
local car dealership. They started sharing experiences of their training now
and then, that inspired few others of us to sign up for the event. When signing
up, I had roughly 3 weeks to prepare for the run. As guilty as accused, for
pushing the training to run a couple of miles, to test the level of energy I possessed
at that time, the day already arrived.
I have been walking pushing my two-year old on a stroller for
several months daily. But, the total distance I covered might be around a mile.
Going uphill that is modestly steep to a nearby community park, I had some
basic cardio done each day. Apart from that, a year ago, I had been regularly
hitting the gym with twenty minutes of intense running and walking which served
as a supplement for the weight training I did at that time. So, the maximum
distance I had covered in the past was not more than two miles on any given run.
The day arrived without waiting for me to get know whether a 5k run is sweet or
sour.
The run was on a beautiful calm trail near a lake. I couldn’t
have betted on a better weather than that evening! My manager was the one who aspired
the team members to run. He who had already completed several half marathons
and few full marathons in different parts of the US and the country, was present
on that day to encourage us and to do his own piece of running as well.
Before starting the run, my mind was blank because I was
skeptical how I would feel upon finishing. It was a straight trail, where,
there will be an orange code after 1.5 miles and we must have to run around
that and return to complete the reminder of the run which tallies to 3 miles or
otherwise 5k. Never nervous or afraid, I
started the run along with the crowd (almost 150 people). My colleagues and I
were running together at the same, slow and steady pace. Few minutes and what
seemed to be 0.4 miles roughly, I started slowing down and my friends started disappearing
on the visage of the trial as it convoluted like a snake. There were also some untrained
runners from my office, a few of them were behind me as well. I determined not
to stop running at least until the first half of the race, which indeed was
hard.
My speed was reducing which was evident by the number of
people who overtook me. Running with the dog. Pushing twin girls on a stroller.
Running with kids. Running with a partner hand in hand. I witnessed several
other running ahead of me and soon vanishing from the sight. Several times, the
thoughts of stopping to run and walk, peeped the mind. I was gritty not to give
up though. Tenacity and the zeal are absolutely required for anything to be
achieved anywhere. However, it cannot help you drive a car that is running out of
gas. In this case, I was both the car and the driver. The engine was boiling
and denied running further.
My legs slowed down and started walking. But the arms were
still swinging as if I was running. I gasped for more oxygen which was there in
abundant with countless number of trees around the trail. A few more steps
forward, there was a middle-aged father who was telling his daughter that it is
almost a mile and encouraged her to run forward. I was surprised that I still haven’t
reached a mile. When asked, he said it was 0.95 miles.
Not even half the distance and I am already sucking the air.
I walked forward thinking I will start running after
regaining the breath when an untrained colleague of mine overtook me slowly. Regaining
breath and some momentum, I started running again. My steps were little longer
than his. I overtook him slowly this time.
I stopped. He overtook. I ran forward pushing him behind. I
stopped again. He overtook. This continued as we ran into the other friends who
were on their way back, waving hands at us. Running around the orange cone, I started
running back to where it all started to complete the run. On the way back,
found one of the best things that happened to the universe. Water! Grabbed the
small bottle of water and drank a mouthful. It felt extremely good. On resuming
the run after the few seconds hiatus, I could feel the water juggling inside my
belly.
The stopping and overtaking game between me and the other
colleague continued until I had to stop running for an extended period of two
to three minutes and walked. He started disappearing from the sight as well. On
resumption, there was a lady who must be in her late forties was running with
some gadgets wrapped around her arm and hip. Every minute, her gadget,
presumably a phone, said out loud how much time has elapsed, and distance
covered. 2.1 miles, 2.2 miles, 2.43 miles, 2.5 miles, 2.7 miles, 2.8 miles in
35 minutes. Almost there. But, not quite. My heart was begging for me to sit (or
lie down) and rest. The gadget lady disappeared too.
I slowly strolled down to the finish line and was glad that I
finished the race which I was doubtful at the beginning. I was even more glad that I don’t have to run
anymore. I found where my friends were standing, and I knew each one of them had
a story to exchange with others. I reached them slowly and tried to speak. The
spot between the lower part of the throat until the lungs, felt like as if it
was on fire. The heart did not realize that I had finished the run and was
still beating faster. Excusing myself from the others, I had to go sit and let the
heart beats to slow down. Ten more minutes, I was alright. My thighs and calf
muscles were little sore but manageable.
It was indeed a great achievement and I was proud of myself
then. Went to a restaurant to treat myself with some good carb rich food. When
I reached home, my family was already asleep. I had to consume more and more water
since I was feeling thirsty repeatedly within an hour. I was not able to sleep
probably because my heart did not come out of the panic mode.
Next couple of days, my thighs and right foot felt awful. I
had to allow myself of not doing anything that required too much walking or
standing to get back into shape.
Now, I am much more interested in training and running a 5k.
The goal I am going for is to not to stop even once during the run.
