There is nothing quite like taking up a new (healthy) activity to galvanise one’s energy and enthusiasm levels.
And that would be?
Oh, my latest obsessively favourite thing to do in Delhi.
Which is, quite simply, to run.
I am enjoying it so much so that I am starting a new section of my blog to talk about running in and around Delhi.
Talking the walk, as it were.
A quick bit of personal history, before we start.
I used to jog back in the 80s/early 90s, but aging knees took their toll. I have had a double arthroscopy x 2, and have been very nervous about putting my knees at risk, so, quite simply, I stopped running.
Whether or not that was the right decision is neither here nor there, but the fact remains that for nigh on 20 years I never ran. I walk a lot, and always have done. The prospect of hours of walking bothers me none. All those gruelling hours walking in Ladakh on a climbing trip this summer didn’t faze me at all.
But the idea of, say, running to my local market was just not on.
So much so that I used to worry what would happen were I called on to rescue someone (my children, for example, when they were tiny) from the jaws of death. I seriously used to worry that I would just not be able to run.
Fast forward to summer 2013.
Back from my fab climbing trip in Ladakh, complete with avulsion fractured right shoulder, I went for physio at Back2Fitness.
Wasting time on Facebook one day, as one does, I discovered that Dr. Chauhan, who runs Back2Fitness, was putting together this running programme (that’s a lot of runs in one sentence).
I signed up for it and the rest is history.
The 14 week programme called “Couch to 6km” was aimed at women, and aimed at getting them running.
Two of the country’s main health magazines, “Prevention” and “Women’s Health,” had come up with the idea, took it to Dr. Chauhan, a serious ultra marathoner in his spare time, to oversee the training, and thus it was that a group of us met once a week and started running.
Just like that.
The programme started on 14 September, and fittingly enough, we all of us, every single one of us, completed the 6km Great Delhi Run exactly 3 months later, on December 15th.
And we are all continuing, our sights set now on 10k and then, who knows….
I won’t bore non “Couch to 6km” members with a blow by blow account of how we all went from hufffng and puffing, and almost giving up because we couldn’t even manage half a km at a stretch…suffice it to say that these 3 months have been a life changer for us all.
I say that advisedly, since at our celebratory post-marathon lunch, we all had similar stories to recount. Of feeling unfit, of feeling out of breath, of never thinking we would be able to complete a 6km…and there we were, running cheerfully through the streets of Lutyens Delhi last Sunday.
And all feeling so much better for it.
I blogged a little about the marathon on Sunday night – here’s the link – so I won’t repeat myself.
What I will say is that I have a feeling that for many of us (& our poor long-suffering coach and mentor, Dr. Chauhan) the Great Delhi Run was just the start of something.
I think this enthusiasm is going to run and run.
Pun very much intended.
Tine (that’s what i said i’m going to call you), at the risk of getting all emotional once again, let me just say that Couch to 6 K was the best thing that happened to me in a long, long time. I discovered my passion for running a year back, and I feel so, so, so happy to share it with all you crazy women (and the gent) now. Here’s to more running, living and blogging! cheers! xoxo
Don’t tell me you have gone from 0-21k in a year….
You will too under Doc’s guidance, I’m certain. And, I began with a 10 k in 5 days last June (vanity, vanity). So in that sense the progress hasn’t been terrific, I would say.
OK, Katha, am now seriously impressed…and a tad crushed…10k in 5 days = 2k per day = I’m hanging up my running shoes.
Christine you are an inspiration for me with your spirit, enthusiasm, and the speed with which you run. I can’t believe that you have had knee surgery and can still run so well, and here I am struggling with my shin pain…
All the best with the blog and keep running, and keep posting all the interesting things that happen when you run. Loved the langur/dog video.
Cheers!
We salute you Christine! An inspiration to a lot of us. The fastest runner and the sweetest one in the group :-). Have loved your blogs, whatever little i have read and with your new blog section on our newly discovered running passion, I will look forward to it! Auntiji ( as we all call you ;-)), cheers!
Hey Swift lady, we are glad to be running with a sport like you. We shall all hopefully goes miles together … cheers to you and ‘Couch to 6K’ ( we will soon have to change the name though 😉 ) … Looking forward to reading more on you ‘Running Diaries’!
Yes, we need to discuss that name of ours…now that we are off the couch!
Your writing just made me relive our entire journey upto the Great Delhi run. My eyes are welling up so I ll end here. I look forward to running with you and the rest of us…happiness is pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and you guys make it all so much easier. Thank you christine for this beautiful piece.
What a journey …. Most awesome thing I have done after college ….And not to forget the fun of doing it with the best gang ( doc and all girls). And yes … Swift lady … Watch out I am just a wee bit slow right now … But ready to shock u in a bit !
Here’s to always …. Happy Running & even more happy group Run Days !