Motivation is the key to success!
How many of you make resolutions on the new year to become fit & healthy? How many of you are healthy today? Do you know the reason?
Let me tell you how I decided a week after Jan 1st, 2019. I am a cyclist and have never run more than 5km. In the race to make resolutions, I thought about running a half marathon before Mar 31st, 2019. Guess what? I managed to run a half marathon on the 13th day of practice.
Running is not difficult unless you make it so!
I set a goal of 21 km. My first run was 2.2km. I started feeling tired after 2–3 km, so I consulted my cycling buddy Shekhar Damle who had run a few full marathons five years ago and now has registered for another half marathon. He shared a few tips to run longer. The very next day, I ran 5.1 km.
I was thrilled and told Shekhar that I did 5 km today, then he asked me to join him for 8 km. Since I was confident so joined him on Sunday in BKC, and instead of 8 km, we both did 10 km, followed by a celebration at McDonald’s.
A refreshing day started after the run. Later in the afternoon, I have received a WhatsApp text from Vineeta, who congratulated me for my first 10k run and motivated me to register for the upcoming half marathon on Feb 3rd at Bandra Fort. Only 22 days left to practice for the half marathon.
Here becomes our team of three I Vineeta and Shekhar. 🥂
We three decided to run for 15km on the Carter Road — our next milestone. I got to meet a beautiful lady, Miss Vineeta. She had finished her first half marathon and preparing for the second.
She pushed me to run my first half marathon, looking at my potential.
Now 21 km was the next milestone. We all again planned to do this on the TATA Marathon scheduled day. Yippee, I finished my first practice half marathon in just 13 days.
And Vineeta gave a treat for my first 21k, and we had a fabulous breakfast with free coffee at Le Pain Quotidien Powai.
And another 21km run on Feb 3rd at Bandra Fort, I was able to finish 1 minute faster than the practice run.
Few learnings from the practice:
1. To begin with: run slower, run longer
2. Eat and drink appropriately during practice days
3. Enough sleep is necessary to run fresher and faster
4. Have Muesli with dry fruits soaked overnight
5. Shoes matters a lot — I used New Balance 680 V5
Thanks, Shekhar Damle and Vineeta Sharma, for motivating and guiding me throughout the practice.
AkBansal
