When life gets overwhelming, it helps to break it down into parts - compartments. I realised something this morning: most of my life (and yours too), atleast three quarters of it, can fit into a single training run. In about 90 minutes, I could circle the entire universe of my adolescence. In November, a day before my wedding, I went for a run outside. Note that I got married in Bombay and India isnt the easiest country to navigate being on your feet! Once again I realised how humbling running can be - I'd grown up thinking that the walk from my house to school was a tremendous hike. Turns out it was barely a mile.
The seemingly epic bike ride from home to the shop that sold my favorite 5 stars? That was half a mile. In fact, I discovered to get the miles I needed, I had to circumnavigate every neighbourhood I used to hang out in. Inside a 11 mile loop I fit:
My pre-school, grade-school, the houses of all my childhood friends, the public park where I learnt to swing on a swing-set, the church I hung out at where all the cute boys went (I was 12!!), etc etc. At first, this was scary. 75% of my life took place inside that training run. Later on however, I realised there was a bright side and it was this - running breaks down barriers.
All of these landmarks once seemed worlds apart. But when you learn to run, you learn that you can conquer any length with enough persistence and time (perhaps less time if there are jalebis at the end - *sigh*).
Distances that were unfathomable simply become new challenges. Hard long runs make short easy runs easier and shorter. Your perception of what is far changes. What used to be a whole mile away becomes something that is just 10-15 easy minutes down the road.
When you see just how those feet can take you, this small world becomes even smaller.
I found a 1km path and went back and forth 10 times for a 45 minute 10k. I didnt push myself at all - it felt easy and natural.
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