#PersonalExperiences
I was fond of running, and in the late 2010s I ended up participating and completing a few 10K and half-marathons (21K). I used to find running & cycling very therapeutic, and it used to help me focus, think, and action the plans I had in my mind. When I think about my life journey so far, most of my strategic decisions were subconsciously taken while cycling, running, and walking.
For the last few years though, I had started ignoring running under the pretext of “work and life”. Slowly but surely I lost the touch, and at a certain stage, I completely stopped running. To add to the issues, over the last 5ish years I developed a severe back pain problem which slowly aggravated.
Sometimes the pain was so bad, that I couldn’t sleep at night, and had to be in a sitting posture so that the back wouldn’t hurt. I visited doctors, had X-Rays & MRI scans done, and got physiotherapy, medication, etc. Over a period of time I started believing that I had gotten too weak to attempt any kind of serious exercise…let alone running 10Ks, half-marathons, or marathons.
However, something changed this year when at NonStop we started talking about cycling, trekking, running, etc. These discussions gave me hope, that I could change for good once again. I started introspecting about how I should be stepping up a bit and doing better; esp. since apparently in some way I was playing a leader’s role at NonStop. Some books and their teachings also persuaded me to do better. I decided to commit… to myself first, and then hopefully become an example (or at least a reference point of success/failure) for my team.
One day I saw a notification related to Mumbai Marathon 2023. For some reason, Mumbai Marathon has always had a special place in my heart.
I decided to do everything it takes to qualify for Mumbai Marathon 2023 in the Half-Marathon (21Kms) category. I also shared the message with the team hoping that like-minded people in the team will join in the crazy!
Also, the fact that once you announce it in front of a crowd, it somehow becomes your moral responsibility to action, made me optimistic about my chances 😅
To apply and qualify, I had to complete at least 1 timed 10Kms run in under1Hr15Mins. This would have been so easy in 2015–17! I fondly remembered completing a 10K in <55mins. I searched for a timed event in Pune, found one, and registered myself. I started practicing and tried to run 5–10–15 mins a day.
The day came, and on 25Sep’22 I went to the venue early morning.
At the starting location, seeing all the other runners and the 10Kms route map I panicked! Maybe I was wrong to attempt this… maybe this was crazy… maybe I had not practiced enough…let’s turn around, go back home, and sleep some more.
But since I’d driven 25+ KMs anyways, I decided to at least start, knowing fully well that I’d have to give up mid-way. The event started, and by the time I reached the 2.5KMs mark my legs were slowly giving up, and I thought this was the end of it all 😛 I decided to push till 3Kms mark at least.
The early morning breeze was helping me push through. Before I could realize it, I was approaching the 4 KMs mark! Now I said to myself — I should go at least hit 5Kms…itna push toh banta hi hai 😄 Lo-n-behold! There came a welcome downslope, and I decided to push some more. However, at the end of the downslope I was (not so pleasantly) surprised to see that the route took a U-turn 🤯
I couldn’t imagine running on that steep up-slope now, and thoughts of giving up started coming again. Just then, I thought: What if I walked some part before stopping completely…so I did just that. I walked for a good 150–200 meters. That’s when a man came beside me from behind. Since I was not concentrating on my running anyways, I decided to observe him 😜
He seemed to be in his mid-50s. He was running very slow…so slow that one could say that he was barely running…maybe just walking briskly.
However, he slowly started leaving me behind. His consistency awed me, and I too decided to first walk faster, and then run some. Some time passed, and now the elderly man and I were closing in on the 8–8.5 KM mark. I took a water break, picked Lakshya’s title track on my phone, and fixed my earphones.
I’ve always wondered how Bollywood and its side-products [even with my best efforts to avoid most of them 😅] impact me in real life. Storytelling and its effects at best I’d say 🙂 It was sprint-time…I didn’t stop till I crossed the finish line.
~1hour10mins back I was ready to give up before the start, thinking it was impossible. As I crossed the finish line — I was happy happy happy 🕺🏽
I just made the cut to apply, and 25 days later I got an email confirming my application and slot to run the Mumbai Marathon 2023 🥳
Learnings for self & NonStop 💡
- Resistance to doing the hard thing is as real as it gets
- We tend to have an (extraordinary) ability to define our comfort levels and stick within them. However, most of the magic is just beyond it
- Once we are out of our comfort zone, we will fail multiple times. However, failures have a lot to teach and contribute to almost all of the subsequent successes
- Incremental improvements might not make sense in the short term, however, they have a real, noticeable, and immense impact in the long run
- Inspiration is waiting to be taken…one just has to keep the eyes open
- Setting a goal is at the core of realizing the smallest of achievements
- Achievements bring definite joy (only if they are not compared with someone else’s)
- Progress is not a straight line…it ebbs and flows
- Commitments are only as good as your self-belief to follow through
- If you have to talk the talk, then you have to walk the walk…there is no easy way around it…no amount of delegation can help here
- Stories are very powerful and need to be shared…
Peace ✌🏽
If you’ve liked what you read, then you might want to glance through these too:
- Building blocks of a multi-million dollar value creation, and then some more
- Finding our Ikigai @ NonStop!
- 6 Years NonStop! Our Story (so far…)
- Ramaa’s Adventures & NonStop — Part 1 (The Mess)
- Ramaa’s Adventures & NonStop — Part 2 (Law of Wasted Efforts)
- Ramaa’s Adventures & NonStop — Part 3 (Rituals-n-Routines)
- Ramaa’s Adventures & NonStop — Part 4 (The Magic Words)
Here to make the community stronger by sharing our knowledge. Follow me and my team to stay updated on the latest and greatest in the web & mobile tech world.
