4 am in the morning, my alarm goes off, I get out of my bed and hit the snooze button. I tell to myself, 'I will run in the evening'. 7 pm in the evening, after coming from the office, 'I will run in the morning tomorrow'. Then again, 4 am in the morning next day, I use to repeat this cycle. This cycle started in March, after my visit to Bombay and continued for months.
Just a week before my March Mumbai visit, I used to follow my morning routine very religiously. Waking up at 4 am, reading a book for half an hour, running for half an hour and writing a daily journal, that used to be my morning routine. Everything was going super cool, be it personal or professional life. You can read more about those days on - Day - 1 of 30 Day Miracle Morning
Fast forward to the second week of July. I had started reading Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, a Legend in the world of Ultra marathon. I started reading the book in the first week of July. In the book, Scott mentions about vegan diet and how it helped him recover quickly from long runs. This was going to be another chapter in my book of My Life as an Experimenter continues. I started to follow it by avoiding dairy products as much as possible. It was tough in the beginning, especially when I used to go out for dinner with friends. Anyhow, I survived week one.
After the first week, I was inspired by one more quality of Scott, long distance running. 8th July Saturday, I wore my running shoes, almost after 3 months, and went for a slow long run. I successfully completed 10 km in 65 mins. I expected to be full in pain and exhaustion, but to my surprise, I was very much fit and relaxed. So, Sunday I decided to go for another 10 km run and that too I completed in 65 mins.
Setting some context, 2 years back, when I was new to running, I used to run 8 km daily for 3 4 consecutive days and then take a day or two off. I had run long distances, 15 km, 20 km, 24 km in my practice, but never had I done it on consecutive days. This was the first time I ran 10 km for two consecutive days.
Things were not going great in the personal and professional world, so I decided to take up a new challenge which will help me get back on running track. I was confident that, once I get back on running track, I will be able to sort out other aspects of my life. I decided to continue 10 km daily run for a month. Sunday, the day of my second run was a long day. After the run, I went for a movie with my friends and came back late. We had a late night out after the movie.
Monday, the third day. It was obvious that I was not going to wake up early in the morning to go for a run. I came back home late from office (at around 6:45 pm). The earliest I could have started my run was 7 pm, and 65 mins for the run. So, technically my run should have got over by 8:15 pm, it was too late. Again, never before I had run so long and so late. That day I pushed my self, used my Marathon Mental Strength and went for a run. That day it was clear, that no matter how late it gets in the evening, I can always go for a run.
Things went well for another two weeks, running 10 km daily and following a vegan diet. Fast forward two more weeks, Two weeks of running had no visible effect. Neither my weight reduced nor my speed increased. 22nd July, day 15th, I started off slow and steady but I was not at all mentally prepared for the run. I just wanted to turn back, go home and doze off on the bed. Somehow I pushed and finished my 10 km. A 15-day streak Done. In the beginning, I assumed that I would be able to continue my 10 km running streak for at least 100 days, but it didn't turn to be false.
Yesterday I started a new routine. Cutting down my run distance and focusing on building some strong muscles to improve my running pace. I also gave up my Vegan diet. On 22nd the Saturday I had Paneer in the lunch and it felt as if I had done some sin by eating a dairy product. But the dish was too delicious and let go off my vegan diet.
An Ice Cream at night was all that was required at the end to celebrate my 15 Day Streak :)
Just a week before my March Mumbai visit, I used to follow my morning routine very religiously. Waking up at 4 am, reading a book for half an hour, running for half an hour and writing a daily journal, that used to be my morning routine. Everything was going super cool, be it personal or professional life. You can read more about those days on - Day - 1 of 30 Day Miracle Morning
Fast forward to the second week of July. I had started reading Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, a Legend in the world of Ultra marathon. I started reading the book in the first week of July. In the book, Scott mentions about vegan diet and how it helped him recover quickly from long runs. This was going to be another chapter in my book of My Life as an Experimenter continues. I started to follow it by avoiding dairy products as much as possible. It was tough in the beginning, especially when I used to go out for dinner with friends. Anyhow, I survived week one.
After the first week, I was inspired by one more quality of Scott, long distance running. 8th July Saturday, I wore my running shoes, almost after 3 months, and went for a slow long run. I successfully completed 10 km in 65 mins. I expected to be full in pain and exhaustion, but to my surprise, I was very much fit and relaxed. So, Sunday I decided to go for another 10 km run and that too I completed in 65 mins.
Setting some context, 2 years back, when I was new to running, I used to run 8 km daily for 3 4 consecutive days and then take a day or two off. I had run long distances, 15 km, 20 km, 24 km in my practice, but never had I done it on consecutive days. This was the first time I ran 10 km for two consecutive days.
Things were not going great in the personal and professional world, so I decided to take up a new challenge which will help me get back on running track. I was confident that, once I get back on running track, I will be able to sort out other aspects of my life. I decided to continue 10 km daily run for a month. Sunday, the day of my second run was a long day. After the run, I went for a movie with my friends and came back late. We had a late night out after the movie.
Monday, the third day. It was obvious that I was not going to wake up early in the morning to go for a run. I came back home late from office (at around 6:45 pm). The earliest I could have started my run was 7 pm, and 65 mins for the run. So, technically my run should have got over by 8:15 pm, it was too late. Again, never before I had run so long and so late. That day I pushed my self, used my Marathon Mental Strength and went for a run. That day it was clear, that no matter how late it gets in the evening, I can always go for a run.
Things went well for another two weeks, running 10 km daily and following a vegan diet. Fast forward two more weeks, Two weeks of running had no visible effect. Neither my weight reduced nor my speed increased. 22nd July, day 15th, I started off slow and steady but I was not at all mentally prepared for the run. I just wanted to turn back, go home and doze off on the bed. Somehow I pushed and finished my 10 km. A 15-day streak Done. In the beginning, I assumed that I would be able to continue my 10 km running streak for at least 100 days, but it didn't turn to be false.
Yesterday I started a new routine. Cutting down my run distance and focusing on building some strong muscles to improve my running pace. I also gave up my Vegan diet. On 22nd the Saturday I had Paneer in the lunch and it felt as if I had done some sin by eating a dairy product. But the dish was too delicious and let go off my vegan diet.
An Ice Cream at night was all that was required at the end to celebrate my 15 Day Streak :)
I was here . . .
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha
You are Great Buddy !!!
DeleteSome mental strength you have!! The vividness of your blog makes running such a familiar and humanly experience. I liked the hyperlinks back to old posts. Helps put things in perspective. 4AM looks enticing for the office-going populace. When do you go to sleep? Early to bed is a difficult proposition post-college. Old habits die hard.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support and motivation. I generally sleep between 11pm and 12am if I am waking up at 4 am regularly. Sun rises early in Chennai as compared to Mumbai and so it is bit easy to wake up early here.
Delete