Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Bigger Loser

Since the time I started running long distance in 2005, I have run 17 races so far (one full marathon, six half marathons, one 15K, two 10Ks, and seven 5Ks). I have been proud of the fact that I have always managed to improve upon my times in these races. Occasionally, I have even managed to win a winner or runner-up medal in my age-group, but that has always been a bonus for me, because my aim has been primarily to finish faster than I did before. Unfortunately, I failed in accomplishing that aim today. I ran a 5K today and finished in 22 minutes 10 seconds—1 minute and 13 seconds longer than my previous 5K time. Disappointing!

Success makes you happy, but failure makes you think. And so I wonder why did I run out of gas today? I sure started a bit too fast and ran out of energy early in the race. I overestimated my abilities. And I definitely didn’t train enough. It, of course, shows on the scale. Over the last 15 years, I have had a constant weight of 62 kgs (or 137 pounds). My parents, of course, didn’t like it—they thought I was too skinny—but I was happy that age didn’t put a paunch on me, the way it did on most my friends. Things, however, have changed during the last couple of months—no, I haven’t developed a paunch yet, but I have definitely gained a little over 2 kgs (5 pounds) in just two months. Guess, I have been eating too many ice-creams and running very little. Since my weight stayed constant over 15 years, I guess I assumed that it will stay that way forever, and I slacked off. Since I have been continuously improving on my times in races, I must have automatically assumed that I will improve this time as well, and that was my biggest mistake—I got used to my time improvements and unconsciously assumed them to happen automatically. No wonder I lost today.

It’s time to get back to work now. Failures happen. We learn from them and move forward. That’s the way to grow; NOT by adding inches to one’s waistline… Ha! Ha!

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