5 things that helped me run 10k

This is not an excel or visualization post. So feel free to skip it 🙂

As told earlier I have finished my 10 k run today (actually 13 k). Even though running 10 kilometers is not a big deal for many people, it is a HUGE deal for me and I thought I would write a small post sharing my experience of crossing this important milestone.

1. Ice cream: I love ice cream. But I know damn well that even a scoop a day is dangerous for me in the long run. So my wife put in a quota system for my ice cream binges. If I ran 3-4 times in a week, she would allow me to have a few scoops in the weekend. Now I don’t feel guilty when digging in to that black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream.
2. Ipod: Like most working people, I also dont have much time to listen to good music. I use running as an excuse to escape to melodious world where songs and lyrics would motivate me. When I am running I carry only 2 things, My keys and an ipod. No phones, no internet or anything. Just music and the road.
3. Nikon D40: Believe it or not, a digital SLR camera is the motivation for both of us to go from usual night walks to a running couple. That is right! When we wanted to buy an SLR, we decided to link the camera with running. For every kilometer each of us runs, we would allocate a dollar to the SLR fund. With in 3 months we had 450 or so tick marks on the calendar and we bought the camera. But once we are used to running the motivation wasn’t really necessary.
4. Commitment: A friend called me today morning and asked me if I wanted to go skiing. I said a no even though I know he would be disappointed. I didn’t want to fail myself when I said I would run 10k.
5. The Sheer Joy of Running

If you had never ran or thinking of running this is probably the time to start. I am lousy example, but if I can run 13k then you can too. When I first started running, I ran 0.5 km and panted and vouched to never to go near anything that looks like a treadmill. But thanks to motivation from friends, I have discovered amazing benefits of running. I hope you will too. 🙂