My first 10K run
9 months after I started running
Running my first 10K happened 3 months after I ran my first 5K and 9 months after I started running. Though I used to run every single day, I realized after a routine medical test that I may end up losing muscle mass if I am not balancing running with strength training.
As my weight is a tad below the minimum BMI recommended for my height, I became conscious of not losing any more weight. That's when I was researching about strength and weight training — to avoid injuries and to put on some much-needed weight.
I have never set my foot in a gym before in my life. So, I was wondering if I should just let go of the inhibition and start gyming. I went to the gym in my apartment complex to do dumbbell routines after watching some YouTube videos.
As I entered the gym, I was told that I cannot enter unless I carry a pair of dedicated gym shoes. Fair enough. My first lesson in the gym training. It made sense as they wanted to maintain gym hygiene. Just then I saw a gym attendant — Prasad, a well-built man, coming out near lobby where I was being educated of gym etiquettes.
Instinctively, I asked him if he would train me. He looked a little baffled at first. Since he is a local who seemed to understand English but can't speak, he seemed a little reluctant or simply doesn't know how to convey what he wanted to convey. So I repeated my requirement again and he told me to come regularly before we talk about formal training and fees.
He was reasoning that people would just stop coming after a couple of days. I thought that is a general code among gym trainers to not jump at the business prospect immediately. Anyway, I started going to the gym every other day, alternating running and weight training.
Yesterday, I was supposed to do my routine 4K today after the day before yesterday's strength training. That was the plan until I ran 2K. After that, I stopped for a water break for a minute. Feeling refreshed, I started running at the same slow pace. As I set the heart rate in my watch at Zone-4, it kept beeping to remind me that my heart rate was too low. I said that's fine and kept running at a slow pace.
Endurance is more important than speed. Thus, I ran and ran. I was going to complete the 4K mark. I told myself to push further and make it a 5K. When I reached 5K, I was determined to take to 7K. All the while stopping for just a minute every 2K for rehydration.
After having run 7K, my form was still intact though the upper part of my feet started paining a little. I could cover 7K with little to no discomfort because I made sure I was rehydrated at regular intervals. And after rehydration, I did simple stretching — bending forward to touch the ground with my fingertips, standing straight and bending legs backward till it touched my butt.
Now, only 3K to complete my first ever 10K. That was motivation enough to continue the run and achieve the milestone. I was simply following what I have been doing throughout 7K — run at a slower pace (Zone-3 to 4), rehydrate and stretch every 2K and think only about the kilometre I am currently on.
This made it simpler and easy.
I went past 10K in just under 9min/km - 8.58min to be precise. Though it is not a good pace, I was happy that I could run for 1.5 hrs in a single go. Post that, I continued to do the customary 100m finishing stretch to account for stoppages during the run.
Thus I completed my 10K — 9 months after I started running with nothing more than miserable stamina. But with the growth mindset fueling my consistency and my consistence snowballing into a 10K, it was and is always going to be a forward march.
Every kilometre I add to my running rally, the fuel is only going to well up leading to an ever-expanding horizon of possibilities - replenished by consistency motivated by the growth mindset.
Photo courtesy of:dsmacinnes@unsplash
