I ran a 10k: My experience

It is my first time running a 10k in years. I used to run regularly back in 2019, at Agara Lake, Bengaluru with Sketchers Go Running Club. I maintained a decent running form and regularly run 5kms at Agara Lake. It was a beautiful experience. I think during one of the runs, I had a spasm on my left leg. It persisted whenever I ran longer and I couldn’t treat it. I stopped running after that time.

I did not run after 2019, although I did trek a few times, including recently in Switzerland ↗️ . I did not take running seriously till I joined Mitra Run, which I initially signed up just as a volunteer. When I saw the venue, IIM-Bangalore campus, I was excited and decided to run the 5k. After that, I slowly took up running and on one fine day saw that there was a running event, TuffMan ↗️ happening in the near future and I decided to sign up for it.

And so, I picked up this challenge to start running again and level up myself to run a 10k. On the event week, I completed a couple of 5kms runs and I was more or less confident that I can complete a 10k. The time limit for completing a 10 kilometers was a generous 2 hours. I knew that even if I slowly run, I can complete the 10k distance in 1.5 hours.

The Actual Run

The run happened on the Nice Road and the organizers blocked one direction of the road. I started the run slowly, walked many times, but kept pushing myself to keep going. I had to distract my mind many times and told myself to not look up or forward or even question how many kilometers are left. I kept smaller goals like “Count till 100 and then I can stop for a small break” only to start another 100 count before stopping. I also kept looking down and tried to create a tunnel vision for myself to keep going and not worry about whether I am tired or not.

Towards the end, I could feel the energy of the participants and the volunteers. Everyone was pushing themselves to complete the last couple of kilometers by running their best speed. I also absorbed this energy and pushed myself to complete the run with a lot of energy. And eventually, I completed the run.

I did a shabby 1 hour 26 minute run. Not bad for someone who started after a long time.

Do you run regularly? Let me know about your running experience!