Life2.0 - new way of life : by Shalini Koshy
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Tuesday, February 5, 2019
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blog
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I wasn’t someone you would call fit if you saw me; fat was probably
the more appropriate word you could use. I simply lived to eat and I proudly
called myself a foodie. Before a meal was over, I was already wondering what
next to eat. Food was my favorite thing in the whole wide world and was not
only my friend, buddy but also my remedy or substitute for anything in
life…from headaches to heart aches. For 39 years of my life I revealed a
different size and shape of myself every year and jokingly talked about how my
wardrobe displayed clothes from M all the way to XL. Given that, when I was
closing up on 40 I decided that I had enough of being fat and I wanted to be
fit @ 40. I started on the “journey” on fitness by being consistent with my
workout i.e. going to cult and walking for 3-5 kms @ 10 mins / km pace maybe
2-3 days a week. Agreed that this got me to feel better about my overall health
and how I looked, but it seemed like a chore or something I wanted to tick off
my to-do list every day.
But as life would choose to play out for me, I was blindsided by its
curve balls to an extent that it should have ideally left me feeling dejected,
hammered, shattered and lonely. I must admit that my instant urge was to go
back to binge eating and make it the solution to all my problems. However, to
my good fortune, come Captain (as we teasingly call her) to my rescue. I had
barely known her at that point of time but she persistently pushed the idea of
getting started with running. However, there was one slight problem…I couldn’t
run for more than 1-2kms..I found myself huffing and puffing after climbing 1
fleet of stairs. I recall her signing me up for the first every 10K event in
Feb of 2018 and she drew out a plan for me to start practicing 15 days before
the actual event. I chuckle today as I see pull out the “training plan” she had
put together for me then, which had 3 kms of walk/run/walk as part of the
schedule…trust me at that time it felt like a real uphill task. With that event in February 2018 started my
journey on running and a complete transformation of my life. By the close of
2018, I had practically participated in at least one event per month (including
a couple of half marathons), have graduated from the walk/run/walk to running
30K in one go and had logged close to 1500 kms. Along the year in 2018, I
decided to take the casual running to the next level and joined PaceMakers.
Have Pani Sir as a coach for a beginner like me is something only some can
dream about; it brought more routine, discipline and rigor into my training.
While his sessions are ruthless in some sense, most of us blindly trust him cos
– coach knows best – he knows exactly how hard and when to push you. For those
of you who don’t know Coach Pani, don’t get deceived by his gentle appearing
demeanor; he is definitely a tough task master. All of this brought in a
makeover of my body, my mind and soul. My priorities have most definitely taken
a 180 degree change – from wanting to go for late night movies or get together
with friends to getting to bed early so that I can make it for the run in the
morning, from wanting to take the elevator up 2 floors to taking the stairs
several times even if it is 6-8 floors, from curbing an ice cream craving with
a double chocolate protein shake, from saying that I don’t have time to
exercise to making the time by getting up by 4:00 AM – I am indeed a new and
improved version of myself. Of course this version is not liked by many cos I
am not “fun” company anymore that’s alright by me!
The most valuable trophies I have earned during this journey are two things – the first and foremost is acquiring the art of enjoying my runs by not making it feel like a chore and most importantly my “running family.” My new acquired family is an exceptional supportive mechanism for me. I look forward to not just running with them but also connecting with them all the time. This family of mine has been there to push me, encourage me, pull me out of my dark corners and challenging times and get me back on track (literally and metaphorically). I am a “baby” considering my running age but I in love with this new life and way of life.
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