Running is like a roller coaster. One good run, one bad one, but you have to trust that the next one will be better. Here is the story of my running journey. Something that seems so easy and natural for some, and so complicated for others. The most important outcome from it is that even when you cannot see or measure progress, you are doing better than before.
Oct 2023
This began on a weekend that my family was visiting. As we were driving by the outer loop, I saw a lot of people running, and I did not have any hobbies yet, so I told them that I was going to start running on Monday. On Monday I saw a friend for lunch and asked him if he wanted to go on a run. I saw a tiktok that said you should start with run/walk intervals and thought 5k was an easy distance to start. Little did I know, 5k is not a short distance for total beginners! But they made it seem so easy. I put on my “running” shoes, got my airpods, and headed to the outer loop to run/walk our slowest 5k ever, it was more of a speed walk with a lot of gossip involved. I remember barely being able to go upstairs after it. The next morning we did the same thing, and then every other day.
As I said, this is a roller coaster of emotions. The lows started when I started feeling shin splints. I bought a pair of running shoes, which did not come with the magic cure. It was frustrating to be wearing my runner costume and not being able to run a mile without pain. The month when I had self-diagnosed my possible shin stress fractures, I tried to rest but continued the run/walks a few times a week and kept them shorter. I made every change possible, like buying another pair of shoes, but kept running through the pain.
Very focused on my shin pain, I forgot to look at my heart rate, which was at its max for almost the entirety of my runs. While I was focused on trying to run without pain, I forgot about endurance, and as the months passed, it was like I kept going back to square one. I would question myself because I had been constantly running for months at this point but when I looked at my heart rate it was as if I had never touched a running shoe before.
I went back home for winter break and met with a running expert, who corrected my running form and gave me a more structured run/walk plan with intervals. After that (and another pair of running shoes) at least I had overcome the shin splints problem. However, the heart rate didn’t show progress even with the new training plan, whose focus was to help me run for longer periods at a lower heart rate. In January 2024, I saw a lot of information about the Houston marathon and decided to sign up for the half marathon in 2025. My goal was just to finish the race, the time did not matter. And just to clarify, I had never been a runner before. So I made a compromise with myself to train for a complete year and thought that after the race either I would love to run, or it would be my first and last big race.
4 months before the race, I started taking it more seriously and followed a plan that increased my weekly mileage. Now here comes the high point and twist of this roller coaster. Towards the end of the training, I fell in love with it. I had never experienced the “runner’s high” or felt good during a run. However, out of nowhere on my longest run before the race, 10 miles, I felt better than during any 5k run I had done. As I was running every week more than the week before, I noticed what perseverance and constancy make to everything. During every long run I saw myself crossing the finish line, I cheered on myself for how far I had gone. The feeling of doing better/more than what you had ever done feels amazing. I remember looking at my watch every week for the additional rolling mile and just thanking my body for what it can do.
Right before the race, I thanked myself for how far I had gone, and for staying committed even when it didn’t seem like it was going well. When I was at the start line I looked at the huge wave of people waiting to start what would mark the end of a training cycle. I couldn’t help but cry by thinking that everyone had a very personal story of what led them to be there. Some people had their reasons printed on their clothing, and others, we carried it in our hearts.
The biggest lesson and my mantra for the race was that comparison is the biggest thief of joy. I trained my mind to avoid comparing myself to others. When I catched myself thinking about how seniors could run way faster than I could, I remembered that they have probably been doing this for decades! I enjoyed the entire race at my “party pace”, which can be considered very slow, but I am not ashamed of it anymore. I learned that the race is the party for all the sacrifices and training done for months. I had only trained because I had already paid for the race, and when I say I’ll do something I better finish it. Since I was actually doing it, despite all the “So are you still planning on doing the half marathon?”, with an underlying message of “I don’t want you to suffer” I wanted to stay injury-free and not end up in the ER after it. Along the way, I met other runners, and learned that not everything comes easy, that discipline is more important than motivation. A few months after starting the running journey, my running partner and I did a 5K race. I remember him telling me to remember how slow, tired, and sore I was after our first ever run, in comparison to after that race. I take away that the small improvements don’t always go unnoticed, we just have to watch out for them.
