Running Is Hard!

Runs Training log Dan Patrascu-Baba 25 April 2024

My very first run was around 1.8 km long. I completed it in around 30 minutes and I couldn’t move for 3 days afterwards. It was a dreadful experience as all the muscles in my feet seemed to be aching at the same time. I could barely sit down and stand up from a chair. Obviously, I asked myself “why would you do this to yourself?” And I was about to give up running, because running is hard!

However, I had previously registered for a 5km race that would take place on May 12, 2024. The problem was: I pitched this to all my work colleagues and friends. So, I was in a very awkward position. On one hand, I really wanted to give up. On the other hand, that would have made me look like a fool in front of a lot of people. And my pride couldn’t accept that! You see, pride might come in handy sometimes.

Therefore, after around 5 days of recovery, I created myself a Strava account, I bought a pair of running shoes, a running belt to put my phone and my keys and I was leaving my home to run again.

Pride still does its job!

I live in Timisoara, Romania and there is a stadium nearby. A lap around the stadium is around 900m long. That’s probably the place where I’ll do all my runs. I set myself a goal to run/walk 3 laps around the stadium. I didn’t care about pace, distance or anything else. I just wanted to get those 3 laps in, no matter what!

My mindset quickly changed after a few hundred meters, when my muscles already started to ache again. I felt some pain even in my lower shin. I remembered all the pain from the previous 5 days and my first instinct was to quit, because running is hard.

But there was my pride again, constantly reminding me that I can’t simply do that. I needed to just make sure that I would be able to complete those 5 km on May 12 and then quit it for good. But to get those 5 km I certainly needed to train. So, I slowed down my pace to an extent I could use a turtle as a pet running with me and I kept running.

To my surprise, my body started to feel better after another 500 m and after the first kilometer I was confident that I would be able to complete those 3 laps. And I really did it! A total of 2.7 km in 22:33. That makes an average pace of 8:21 min/km. This is obviously a short distance and a very low pace, but I was so proud I could get it done. To me it really felt like completing a marathon.

Let Those PRs Flow

A very nice thing about apps like Strava and virtually all fitness apps is that they use gamification a lot. After I saved my Strava activity, I noticed that I had 15 achievements and the personal records (PRs) kept flowing. PR in 400m, PR in 1 km, PR in 1 mile plus personal bests on all segments of the route. Just imagine a total rookie completing a run in the pace of a turtle but still setting a lot of PRs. That felt really good, even tough I knew how bad it actually was. It bumped my motivation to whole new levels.

Running is hard, but it’s also rewarding. Walking back home, those PRs kept popping trough my mind motivating me to improve on the at the next run. Pain was not that bad anymore at that point. And I’m not sure if it’s only about pride, but at that point there was no question for me that I would go for another run the day after tomorrow.

And I did it! And two days after once again. Never stopped again, never questioned again why I would want to put myself through all of this. It’s true, I was getting less pain with each run and that pumped me up even more. By now it’s been 1 month already. Running is hard, but it’s also contagious. If you try it out, just get over the first couple of runs and you’ll see that I’m right about it!