My Running Life – June 2022 Updates

I had written a post about my running life and goals in March this year. If you are interested to read my first post on running, you can head out here. I have been running since 2015 and yet when I tell people I run, they immediately ask, “HMs/FMs”? (That’s short for Half Marathons or Full Marathons?) And the irony is, that most of the time this question comes from non runners.

In March however, while I had gone for one of my short morning runs, I listened to an audiobook on running slow marathons and was inspired. So I started this plan of adding goals to my running life, that will keep my love for running alive and spice it up as well? That’s how all long term relationships work right? You have to keep spicing things up, changing your goals, adding something new 🙂

In the last three months, I have been able to achieve my goal of running two 10Ks at the pace of 75 minutes and also signed up for 100 Days of Running. Hopefully I will be able to complete my 100 days of running challenge 🙂

So, here are a list of things that I learned, loved and was frustrated about in the last three months of running with my new goals:

• Learned: I used to be a solo runner. Planning any kind of event with strangers on a regular basis used to be anxiety inducing. But now, I realised that I am more disciplined and I run better since I’ve joined my local running group. Somehow, they make me feel calm and slightly less anxious with their dedication, kindness towards newcomers and general camaraderie 🙂
• Love: The feeling of having done a good run/workout daily and bragging about my runs to my family, colleagues and friends
• Not a fan of: Running during my periods. I just hate it. I read a lot about how women runners deal with running during their periods. What they wear for their runs, how they manage cramps, nutrition, etc. But in the end, I simply dislike the whole feeling. So the first three days, I usually skip the whole running routine and go for a brisk walk or a small jog instead
• Learned: Strength training and cross training are really important if you want to improve your core and overall body strength, muscle mass and stamina as a runner. I have tried to attend most of the strength training sessions hosted by the running group
• Love: Running in the monsoons! Not when its actually pouring, but when its overcast and windy or maybe when there’s a slight drizzle. It’s amazing!
• Not a fan of: Waking up at 5:00 am. Or even earlier, especially for a running event..gah! Even more frustrating is that I can never sleep well before a running event because I keep thinking that my alarm didn’t ring and I slept through the event. Not to mention the fact that my anxiety leads me to a poop festival and a rumbling tummy that warns me about impending poops up until the run actually starts!
• Learned: Hydrating before and after a run is of utmost importance. I used to get these terrible migraines every time I ran a 5K. Forget 10K. But with the slow and steady training sessions and proper hydration – no, not just water, but something with electrolytes, juice, coconut water – my post run migraines have reduced a lot in frequency and intensity.
• Love: I can eat more carbs and not feel guilty about it!!!!!
• Not a fan of: Not seeing any major improvement around the belly fat reduction area..LOL..but its ok, I love running and I love eating, so go figure 😀

Goals for the next two months:

• Focus on completing the 100 Days of Running Challenge
• Try to turn up more often for the Sunday long runs and increase my running distance slowly from 10K to 12K/13K. This will mean less or no drinking on Saturday nights…sigh 😀
• Sign up for a few more running events for 10K, preferably one in a different city 🙂

I want to start training for my first Half Marathon eventually. But I want the 100 Days challenge to be over first. A friend and I decided that we will take it slow and also follow Hal Higdon’s training plan for novice – Half Marathoners. If everything goes well, then maybe I will be able to run my first HM by end of this year. But even if I can’t do it this year, I’ll mostly do it next year 🙂

Here is how my Hal Higdon training plan for the 10K went like 🙂

I hope this post was informative for others who have started their journey as runners or already are runners. For the seasoned runner readers here, I’d love to hear about your running goals, training plans, what you learned and love about running 🙂