Author: sanju

I have come up with a plan to improve my running economy.

So, what’s thst? Running economy? 😎

It is about the efficiency with which you run.

Still not clear.!

Ok, let’s get into details :

1. Your deep breathing.
2. Cadence
3. Core

So, first let’s talk about deep breathing:

When we run, we inhale and exhale. This is about breathing. A lot depends on how well we can breathe during the course of the run.

How do you breathe?

With lungs or diaphragm. Diaphragm breathing is long and deep breathing. It can get you into better use of oxygen.

So, how do we go about breathing from diaphragm. If you have been running for over a year, you have it in you.

Our body is designed to adapt to better performance on prolonged practice. It’s juts that you may not be aware of it.

With awareness, you can take it to the next level. I have noticed that I have increased my efficiency in the last one year.

Now, I want to improve it further, so I am implementing some deep breathing exercises.

Yoga :

It is one of the most effective ways to improve diaphragm breathing.

Sit on a mat with legs squatted. And do anulom and vilom.

You an find the illustration here :

Intentional deep breathing:

While driving a car or simply glaring at you monitor could be best moments for deep breathing. When ever you are sitting along and you don’t have much to talk or think about, you can try this.

Remaing two others will be taken up in further posts.

As I dig deeper into my heart and mind to understand the magic I wove in the past 2 years, I understand few fundamentals.. So very clearly.

1. People are fundamentally good. And they want good for themselves. They want to  bring good things to themselves.

2. But, there is a world out there to rob them of their goodness for their own good. This world tells them all the wrong things in the garb of goodness.

3. Simply because, it benefits them. It benefits their pockets.

4. Drinking and smoking are marketed as social habits. I have always felts left out in such gatherings. Not once, not twice, not thrice… Several times.

5. Many of us just give into such habits because we want to be social beings. There is no greater benefits that one thinks or finds.

6. But, once, once you are into these pits, it’s forever.  It was easy to lose oneself but now increasingly getting difficult to find oneself.

7. I never thought that being away from such things is good for me. I simply did because it was social for me. It was anti social and like an evil.

8. And when I was getting bogged down by the world’s fakery, I used this potent power to shoot through the roof and emerge victorious.

9. The love that you possess for your body is born out of social values you have inculcated.

10. So, being social in a way that rejuvenates you is far better than following the big followings.

If you are part of minority like me, celebrate. Celebrate your teetotaller status.  I celebrate my status by running, what do you do?

Recently, I got a call from one of the ace athletes from my college days.

Before this, the last time we spoke was 3 years ago. He called me to “congratulate me on finishing my first Marathon”.

It is always a privilege to be valued and appreciated by people whom you look up to. So, every word they mutter is gold.

He complemented me on my 2 years journey of running. And said, “slowly slowly, you are now running a marathon… That’s wonderful”

It is a wonder to me as well. But, the point that I want to make today is not about running a marathon.

It’s about the prime purpose of running. This happens to us, all the time, in almost all walks of life. We tend to forget, why we started.

Why we got married and now kids?
Why we started working and making money?
Why we made friends?
Why? Why? Why?

And therefore, I want to tell you, why I started running?

I started to run at 38 years of age. I was over weight. I was suffering lifestyle diseases. I was under stress and depression.

And so, one day, I discovered that when I ran, I could be better. I enjoyed the process of running.

These were the days, when I would run in ordinary shoes. I did not have any tracker like smart watch or app to record my runs. I would wear cotton T and sweat profusely while I ran.

But, I felt on top of the world after every run. I would be happy. I would be joyous.

My running in the morning filled me with energy and hope. I lapped my first victory of the day with running.

Running for me represented a ritual. A sign of vitality.

And so, in the last 2 years, I have always kept this JOY of running as my GPS. I gradually graduated to running in technical shoes, and bought a lot of technical gizmos… Learned and picked up the running lingo. Probably, I can teach a class on running.

The result is: I am injury free. I have not suffered a single injury.

I am saying this because, I am seeing this being forgotten by many. The question, “why I started” has faded and therefore, for them, the question is, “how can I be faster?”.

For them faster is better. Every day, I come across profiles where people are back to square 1. Their running has stopped.

They are undergoing treatments. And this is what saddens me. They have forgotten the golden rule of driving big results.

To deliver and accomplish, you need to be in the game. so, you need to stay injury free.

The same holds for our work life and relationships. When we start to expect the wrong things, we start to suffer.

My running is spiritual. It has taught me to treat my relationships and my work the same way. I always keep in mind,

Why I got married and have kids now.

Why I started to work.

And I want you to remind yourself, the “simple, yet profound reason” of why you started.

Please don’t be lost. Hold on to your “purpose”.
🏃‍♂🏃‍♂🏃‍♂🏃‍♂🏃‍♂🏃‍♂🏃‍♂🏃‍♂

2 things I wanna talk here :
1. MORNING LETHARGY
2. Addiction to Sugar

Today, I got up at 7 am. When I woke up, my mind told me, “it’s cold. Every one is cuddled up. Just go back and sleep for some more time.”

I would have done it. I know that.

The morning lethargy is a constant sport spoiler. It never goes.

Despite this lethargy, I was able to step out of bed in minutes. I stepped into my running shoes and moved out.

This is the victory that I have found. The conquest over the mind.

Our mind will always seek the easy ways. It never wants to be in trouble. Anything that requires some kind of effort, the mind goes into resistance mood.

Running a marathon can be done by anyone. Yes, it’s possible to run on a day when thousands others are giving you company in broad day light.

You have amazing support system. You have the allocated time frame and it is more of a festivity than a grind.

But, waking up early morning is a struggle. It will stay forever. You need a power to overcome this every day.

This is why, I plan to run 1200 KM this year. I spread it evenly through out running 2 to 5 km every day.

This is how I have led to discipline and lead myself into the world of happiness and health.

Anything worthy would come to you when you have the command control system (your mind) working for you. Not, against you.

The second thing is about sugar intake. This is your biggest enemy to take on if you wish to get healthier.

All that fast food and the junk eaten on the road side stalls are about sugar dips. The tea, the samosa, the jalebi, the pizza, the soft drinks.

Sugar is addictive. You almost face the same kind of struggle that you face with your morning wake up call.

Not just because, you can’t give it up. You may but your social set up would make attempts to keep you addicted.

Where ever you go, you will be offered biscuits and tea. You will be feeling thirsty and if you see coke, you will pick it up. They are the most visible items on food racks.

Sugar should be studied. It is harmful and a cancerous material. It can lead to impairment in metabolism.

The diabetics are just a small category who should be away from sugar. Each of us, require to be cautious in our sugar intake.

Sugar intake is also termed empty calories. On the one hand, they build up your calories. But, on the other hand, they are not going to be useful or provide any nutritional value.

So, I believe, these two, are vital phenomena to be aware about for those waging a war against obesity in particular and illness in general.

Inspiration is like an electric charge that is transmitted from one person to another person.

Having a lot of it from people around me, I have noticed a clear pattern in those who kick my ass…

They are the ones whom I can relate to.  The stories of people who are having almost the same set of challenges are the best inspirers. 

I love to see them removing daily distractions of life to move towards their targets.

This helps me to find the micro steps that are most crucial.

The legends may be doing great things and rocking. But, I know for sure that we are at different planes and it would be absurd to listen to their wisdom.

May be there are among those who stay humble to their core and love to confess their pitfalls.

But, many just grow out of their spaces and leave it for eternity. So, whe they talk, they just talk from their angle. So, no use.

I am telling you this because of one incident. This guy is a runner whom I follow on insta.. He achieved his personal best so far. But, he is deeply upset. He claims that he achieved it with a deep injury in his leg.

He finished the full in less than 3 hrs. I don’t understand his theory and therefore, I can’t relate to him.