Social media is truly an extraordinary place.
As we all know, sadly it can sometimes be a horrid, toxic place BUT it can also be an amazing space, putting you in contact with extraordinary people whom you would not otherwise necessarily meet.
Like today’s guest blogger, Sachin Sharma.
His amazing Instagram post of a few days ago was kindly “suggested” to me by That Great Instagram Algorithm In The Sky, and for once they were spot on 🙂
I did indeed like the post and I instantly started following Sachin. Cheekily, having j-u-s-t become social-media connections, 2 minutes later I asked him for a blog post 😛 😛 and he very kindly agreed.
As I said, sometimes social media is indeed an amazing place!
Sachin has just run the inaugural edition of the Lahaul Snow Marathon but before I share his fascinating race report, will you just take a look at one of his race photos? Do you blame me for being intrigued?!
Despite appearance, Sachin’s race wasn’t hassle-free, so let’s hear the story in his own words, shall we?
“Tried to accept the fact but couldn’t.
I did something which I feel was very silly on my part, something that makes me not able to face myself.
To be honest, this was the 1st time that I didn’t feel anxious or stressed prior to the race. I knew that I had trained well and everything was going fine till this point.
But here’s how things started to go south.
I woke up at 5 am all prepped up for the race- packed all the necessary things, played the UTMB theme song to get all pumped up, laced my shoes to finally start moving towards the venue which was 2 km far from where I was staying. Reaching halfway I saw everyone wearing their bib number, which made me realize I hadn’t put mine on. I started checking my bag and I immediately knew that I had messed up bad.
I rushed back to the homestay, picked up the bib, ran back to the starting line- only to find out that the race had already started 6 mins ago. At this moment, I didn’t know what to do. I looked at my friends who stared back at me with disappointment on their faces. My mind had gone full blank and I found myself unconsciously sprinting toward the other runners who had started way before me.
After a while, I found myself slowly starting to catch up with all the other participants. I had no clue what posting I was at that time.
Running on snow was surprisingly not that hard for me, something which I had assumed during my training runs.
After 20 mins I reached the much chased after “flow state”- time passed by so fast I didn’t even realize that I was only a km away from the finish line.
As I saw all the people shouting and cheering, I knew that I’ve made it to the end.
I asked the race organizing team what my position was. It was 4th. I wondered how much time the winner took and it was only 5 mins faster than my own race time.
Fast-forwarding to today- it’s been 4 days since the race and I still feel all the emotions over and over again but I know that I can’t be stuck in this loop forever. I need to clear out my head, try to accept whatever happened, and focus on the next race.
.
So yeah, this is my unfiltered report of what happened on the day of the race- on the ground and in my mind. It was very hard for me to put in words but I think it was important for me to put this out here, just so that I can get one step closer to accepting it all in my mind and move on.”
Firstly, Sachin my (new) friend, let me say that I really admire your honesty in sharing this. It must have been so incredibly frustrating to know that your oversight almost certainly cost you first place, and I hope that sharing it will indeed help you move in.
And secondly – WHAT an amazing run this looks. It has just gone onto my Bucket List.
When we are chatting about this blog post, I asked Sachin to tell me a little about himself:
“Having had my fair share of the run-of-the-mill corporate life, I decided to make amends and move to the mountains a couple of years ago. And since then it’s been a minimalist existence of trail running, mountain biking, hiking, and the mundane household chores – you can’t escape it all, can you?!”
Sachin also very sweetly asked me to mention his supportive friends who, he told me, pushed him to write the original post – https://www.instagram.com/shivam.tse/ https://www.instagram.com/shivibaijal/
Well done on both the run and the sharing of your experience and I wish you nothing but success in your next adventure…just remember to share your photos, right? Looking forward already.
#keeprunning #keepinspiring
Christine, such nice pics.