It all started with a very childish desire of a small town young lady moving to a high-profile Metropolitan. The desire was nothing but to just have one glance of her teenage crush. Moving to Mumbai was like halfway through the fulfillment of the wish. However, even after two years and a half in the city when this girl failed to feel the man with the naked eyes she decided to just track him down. This is how I ran the first run of my life, dream run 6 Km and yes the motto this time was just to have a look at the very handsome John Abraham for whom I had fallen for ever since he was a model and I a studious school kid.
A view of him from a far off distance of almost half a kilometer and I was recharged totally which made me jostle and run in the midst of the huge crowd. There were people flagging their banners, people in different costumes and themes, some dancing away to glory, lot of entertainment on both sides of the road, loud music, etc etc. By the way, believe me this was almost ages after I was running as I always stood last in sprints during the school sports day selections. With people mostly enjoying the walk and few even the tea on the way, I decided to run throughout. This was the day when I felt the excitement post run. The day when for the first time I saw the excitement and spirit on the face of the marathoners.
Another 6 Km run, a fortnight later for a charity event for the visually impaired kids and I decided not to stop. I started going for regular jogs sometimes with friends and mostly alone. Alone as the solitude gave me time to not be judgmental about anything and just enjoy the moment. Although I used to be shit load scared of the street dogs, being surrounded by them on few occasions and screaming the hell out, I did not stop. From 6 Km to 8 Km and one medal to my bag, I started pushing myself towards better timings.
Before every run I used to set my target time and be happy or disappointed based on the result. Irrespective of the result, I already used to have a new goal again for the next run. At one occasion during the initial days, when my target was 45 mins for 8 Km run and I achieved the target by a second completing the run in 44 minutes 59 seconds I was thrilled. Few of my acquaintances and friends had started doing the 21 Km by this time. I used to be in awe of them wishing somewhere in my mind to be among them at some time in my life. But considering my frequent collapses because of low blood pressure and dehydration I used to take a step back.
It took a couple of years for me to realize that I have the potential to do anything and the best way to move ahead is to challenge yourself. One day I finally decided to participate in a half marathon and told some of my friends. While some of them genuinely told me its unachievable there were many to encourage. I started checking out websites that gave tips and schedule for half marathon training and made a plan in my mind. Being a regular to gym, I decided to practice only on Sundays, increasing the distance by a kilometer or two every weekend and do this for at least three months before the run. By this time I had already registered for SCMM(Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon) Half marathon on the very first day the registration window had opened. My target for the final run was 2 hrs 30 minutes. Within a month of practice I was confident that I will be able to achieve my target. But as Uncle Murphy has to always come in between, I injured my feet one day while practice. I was suggested by the physiotherapist to stop running for few weeks(thankfully it was not 6 weeks like the first time I got the injury a year back) to recover from the pain.
Three weeks and no run, with only a month to go, I was under enormous mental pressure as completing a half marathon was a dream which I had been chasing for past couple of months. With the encouragement from my friends and gym instructors I decided to hit the road again. 3 fifteen km plus runs before the final day and I was still not confident to finish it on time. A day before the marathon while working for a project release in the office, that also happened to my birthday I decided that whatsoever happens I am going to run the complete 21 Km without thinking of the time, and the result would be a birthday gift to myself.
Couple of weeks before, a friend of mine who had already completed 4 full marathons told “After 10 km, its all in the mind. Just don’t give up and you are already at the finish line.” This is what I had been thinking on the final day and when I saw the last 1000 meter indicator I was overjoyed. 10 minutes later I was at top of the world as I could call myself a marathon runner. The icing on the cake was finishing my first half marathon in 2 hrs 15 minutes much before the personal target and getting another opportunity to see John Abraham. Not only this, but I also got to see my name on top on the display board of the gym.
Thanks to all the encouraging words, few inspirations, many motivating friends plus family, the strangers who cheered during the run, I could reach my dream. A dream just needs self-determination a will to challenge yourself for kick start. The rest just happens. However, one dream should always end with a new dream. I did celebrate the finish but somewhere my mind desires to run a full marathon one day. Once again my mantra for this desire is ‘Dream, Challenge, Chase!!!’
Someone has rightly said,
“If you never chase your dreams, you'll never catch them.”
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