“We run not because we think
it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves.The more
restricted our society and work become,the more necessary it will be to find
some outlet for this craving for freedom.No one can say you must not run
faster,or jump higher than that .The human spirit is indomitable”.Words of
wisdom spoken by Sir Roger Bannister,the first runner to have run a sub 4 mins
mile.He was born in 1929 and he set this record with minimum training while
practicing as a junior doctor. His record lasted merely 46 days and though he
pursued his running,he also went on to become a distinguished neurologist and
Master of Pembroke College, Oxford before retiring in 1993.
Why and how does
running satiate that craving for freedom in our minds? Science says its all
about the dopamines and serotonins and adrenaline. But being a sucker for
things from the heart , I like to romanticise the whole idea of running!!
For me, running puts things
so much more into perspective and so helps me experience the emotion of giving
my all to myself! When you run hard and give it your all ,you can clearly see
what you are made of and how, when given a chance ,you can work miracles!
Thanks to my own running ,the
huge running community and how running has become like a fitness religion,I now
have this huge number of facebook friends,our only common threads being
humanity and running, I guess. I know few of them personally ,just a few!! But
their stories keep coming up on my timeline and I see each one of them so
deliriously happy about their running and running achievements . These are
people very very well accomplished in
their professions, educated from the most premier of institutes,
globetrotters-living the good life one would say!
But it is obvious to see that
the finishers’ medal ,the chip time and the fitness resulting from running are
not the only things driving them to run. The feel good factor and the way it
transcends positively into all other aspects of life play a major big role I’m
sure. One just becomes more confident ,independent and disciplined. So many
positive side effects!
When you are running a
marathon or a half ,your worry shifts from ‘how to get out of this rat race?’
to ‘how can I finish this race in this much time?’ . From a life full of
worries and long to do lists, here you have a chance to set yourself free from
the unbearable formalities of society. Here you are learning the meaning of
tough love and practicing tough self love!!!Fancy that! Enticing surely!!!
Running is such a big
teacher.Its like personal development in action and who are you accountable to?
Only yourself!! No one bossing over you ,yet you are pushing yourself out of
your comfort zone to better yourself. And then the joy of true accomplishment,
like quantum leap steps at a time.Can you imagine a better deal than that? I’m
sure and I hope you are running those long distances for some of the same
reasons as me.
If you are a reasonably fit
person and go for your executive health check up , no doctor is going to prescribe marathon
running to you. They will only advise you 30 mins, 3-4 days a week of exercise(you could just walk that much !)and maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. But we run much more than that, don’t we ? Even
though we are recreational and amateur runners? We want that PB ,we want to run
more and more!!And then we want to win too-and why not? What’s wrong with aiming
high?
Come to think of it, marathon
running listed under your hobbies should impress any potential boss too I
guess. Afterall,it’s the epitome of determination and endurance!!! For folks
not getting any younger like me, apparently long distance running improves with
age unlike 99.99% other sports merely because of increase of base mileage. I
like that! So if you LOVE to run and it’s not something you are forcing
yourself to do ,it’s all win win!!!
If some of us are running
merely for bragging rights, to look fit or to lose weight, I hope and pray you
fall in love with the sport someday, like I have. It’s a love for keeps!
Running has set me free. A few miles on the run and I am free of all unhealthy
emotions. It’s a no fail recipe for me!!
