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That thing called running!

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Laks09, Jul 16, 2014.

  1. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    The run was different today. There was something about it that felt special without me being able to put a finger to it. I got back into my car for the drive back home and wondered why it felt so rejuvinatingly different today. Was it the empty trails? With no other runner around, the trails felt like they lead to nowhere in particular. Maybe the path flanked by a beautiful creek and vegetation oozing with nature all around looks prettier at sunset. Maybe the slight breeze added character to the trees that danced to its tunes.

    Oh wait, it must have been the two graceful bobcats we saw as we passed the cosy homes at the end of the trail. I've never seen such beautiful bobcats before. They always looked eerie to me. It could have been M, my buddy, trying to chat up about nothing in particular but still keeping me engaged with the small talk. By now, anyone reading my posts know that I love to chat. I can go on and on and probably that one on one chat gave me the peppiness I now feel.

    It could have also been that loop where we always run a couple of times a week got really easy for us. Those hills no longer feel like hills, they are just there for us to practise on.That could have been it. I just felt the pavement melt below my feet, a skip in my step and a lightness of heart. Nothing on my mind, just M and I on that otherwise deserted path. We slowed to let a little girl on a scooter pass and I reminisced about those carefree childhood days. Maybe seeing other people's kids made me think of my own and gave me some joy.

    Then I remembered the phone hidden under my seat. And it hit me. I didn't have a gadget on the run. I didn't have an electronic voice prompting me at the completion of every mile. I have no idea how fast or slow I was, no idea how far I really ran, other than knowing the approximate loop distance. I didn't run for the sake of meeting a pace or a distance. I just ran for the fun of it. Just put one foot ahead of the other, took the time to slow down and actually see things I normally don't, took the time to stop and drink and talk afterwards without looking at my messages and running into the car to rush home.

    Today I learned what it feels like to actually love running for the sake of running. Nothing was on my mind, my hectic day remained out of my head. All I had for company was my favourite running companion and the sounds of nature. Nothing artificial spoke to us or steered us. We ran as slow or as fast as we felt like and had a fabulous time. Today onwards I can say that I love to run. All these days it was a cardio activity but today it feels like a passion. Isn't this what runner's high is all about?
     
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  2. VaniVyas

    VaniVyas Platinum IL'ite

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    Hi,

    Nice write up. For the past one month, I have also developed a liking towards running. I don't want to use a better word, coz I have not started doing my home work for it. I know with my body I cant run. I need to start with walking. One day will surely change walking to running.
    It will be dream come true for me.... But I first want to make my walking habit consistent.
     
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  3. aashuabhi

    aashuabhi Gold IL'ite

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    Amazing write up Laks. I felt like I was running with you looking around at everything and in the end felt the joy of completing that run. Amazing...
     
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  4. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

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    Yay! Gadget and goal free laks! Welcome to my world. I drive DH nuts not taking the watch or the phone and pretending forgetfulness when I get back. He has caught on my trick and no longer asks me. Now that run you had sounds like meditation to me and it might have been a runners high for you but you know for sure now, that you run because you like to, you want to! Because it is a passion. How wonderful.

    Enjoyed the write up. Keep more of it coming.

    PS: When I read the title I jumped out of my seat almost and once I saw your name, settled down comfortably in my seat back again to enjoy reading. And oh those domesticated bobcats!!! Another story!
     
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  5. Kamla

    Kamla IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Laks,

    Enjoyed your run! Almost inspires me to wear my sneakers and get out there :) The temptation to smell the fresh air and feel the breeze in my hair and cheeks is tempting. As is my wont, I will have to be happy just reading your post for I have a pile of laundry waiting and the lunch time is nudging slowly but steadily towards me!

    L, Kamla
     
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  6. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    A fabulous post!
    Jayasala 42
     
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  7. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi Vani,
    I'm a new runner too. I started running a few months ago, so I'm still a novice. If you can walk for 30 minutes non stop then go for it! Try some couch to 5k kind of programs or device your own. Even if you are dead slow, if you can all, you can run slowly, complet the program and then build speed. Try it.

    Thanks for the FB! Fun induced workouts are really something that I need right now. I don't have the enthusiasm to do anything otherwise, these days. I'm glad it's enjoyable.

    Sabi,
    I now know what you mean about enjoying the run without gadgets. I'm glad I find running invigorating. I now can get out the door as a stress buster.
    Whew, encountering animals that you don't see often is still somewhat baffling for me. I'm a pet lover but these guys lurking in the vegetation and then scaring both themselves and me in the process of running away isn't too much fun. It's nice to see creatures about though. It adds character to the trail!

    Awww, Kamla. I understand what you mean. These days it always a pre-dawn or late evening run for me. For one, the temps are horrible outside and then again everything else that we have going gives me no time for running. Of course, that never ending pile of laundry is always going to be there. I wonder if we can magically dispense off laundry and other chores and help ourselves to an overdose of fun!

    Jaya Ma'am,
    thank you for your feedback!
     
  8. JustAnotherMom

    JustAnotherMom Platinum IL'ite

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    Wonderful post. I could feel how much you enjoyed your run :)

    Congrats Laks
     
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  9. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Laks
    Can the good old English be more picturesque than this? You run and it races! That you make me feel all that you felt in your run with this narration is no exaggeration. I hate to quote again and again my favourite running scene ever, that of Forrest Gump's! When I was going through your last lines, I could capture in my mind that serene look of contentment in Tom Hanks' face! A great piece of writing Laks but then that is what you are known for. That beautiful underplaying of your excitement comes out so well through your well chiselled narration.

    I have also done a bit of running when my two legs were well coordinated limbs of my torso some two decades back. In fact, the memory of my last run is so clear in my mind. That was one of those humid dawns of Chennai and some dark clouds in the east kept challenging the Sun to dispel the last vestiges of the darkness of the night. The street lights were as ineffective as ever. I was there running through the streets towards the beach trying to see my way through the dim light. The occasional headlights of passing automobiles made my task even tougher. The brand new running shoes that my daughter had gifted me saved me from being run over by the speeding cars as my shoes gleamed in the luminance of their headlights.

    Suddenly I found myself unable to move an inch. I thought I had suffered a stroke or something due to this ill advised running! Then I saw that my left foot had got into a huge heap of fresh dung left over by some cattle after a night long feasting on the city's bins! I looked like Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker with two different shoes in my two feet, one in gleaming white and the other in coffee brown! When I reached home, my wife had some choice observations to make about my failing eyesight, failing hearing, low reaction time, choice of streets for running etc. etc.

    I now do all the running in my mind. In fact I enjoy it a lot more than you people do!
    Sri
     
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  10. PushpavalliSrinivasan

    PushpavalliSrinivasan IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Laks,
    That thing called running! After my school days when our team came first in a relay run And I was one of the runner ,that was the one I can remember.
    OMG! I forgot the recent one in the year 1997, I ran to catch a flight holding my dil's hand and it was instrumental in winning the finest post in IL!
    Thoroughly enjoyed your write up,
    PS
     
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