Running a Half Marathon

Lessons from the journey

Hey friends,

Greetings from Ashoka University, India!

On Sunday, I ran my first-ever half marathon. 

I've wanted to run a half marathon. The idea that I had to train for months just for those two hours filled me with fervent enthusiasm. And so, at the start of the year, and began my training. While I have always been a runner, preparing for a half marathon called for a specialised routine. I ran 60km a week, slowly building up to 15km per stretch. I suspended all my other exercises and devoted myself only to running.

Weirdly, I could feel my body changing. My shirts became quite loose, and my jeans became very snug. Looking in the mirror, I could see my upper body getting slender. Watching how your body adapts to fit your new lifestyle was so fascinating.

I immensely enjoyed the act of marathon training. Fighting through the steady burn in my legs was my tiny victory for the day. Showing up, whether I liked it or not, was my way of proving to myself that I had the dedication to succeed. I felt I had let myself down if I did not hit my weekly goal. If I had extra classes (since I’m at university), I had to find additional time to ensure I didn’t fall behind.

With a decent timing of 2 hours and 13 minutes, I can say that I am happy with my performance. Being my first half marathon, my goal was to get it done in under 2 hours and 30 minutes. On the day, however, I was so full of adrenaline that I shaved off a few minutes towards the end.

Here is a picture of me with some friends I made during the run.

But now that the event is over, I feel lost. It is like I have no direction anymore. I’ve already achieved one of my new year’s resolutions, but the high from that accomplishment soon evaporated. I have no reason to continue my high intensity training.

I learnt that it does not bode well to have a final destination as the goal; once you reach it, you have no motivation to move forward. The habit itself must be the goal. I shouldn’t want to run a half marathon; I should want to be a marathon runner.

I must put this experience behind me and start thinking about the next one. I must take stock of what I didn’t do well this time (like wearing sub-standard shoes; I wore my spare running shoes instead of my good Asics pair) and strive to improve. I will train harder for my next half marathon but will no longer be attached to the final event. I aim to become so fit that I can run a half marathon at a moment’s notice.

Let’s see how it goes!

On an unrelated note, I was appalled to see the amount of waste generated at the marathon. Bottles of water and electrolytes lay scattered across the stadium and the route. Is there any scope to reduce all this wastage?

I find many similarities between running and writing. Maybe I will write about that one day…

Also, for those interested, here is one of my short running playlists. I’ve compiled both instrumental and vocal songs from all over the globe (there are some banger Japanese songs in there 😍).

This Week’s Links

What I think about when I walk about Running: This classic by Haruki Murakami captures the “art of running” very well. It is a short read; it shouldn’t take you longer than I took to run this half marathon!

Creating a character profile: Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about fiction writing. The idea of creating a character out of thin air is so fascinating. Think about it. Characters like Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf seem so real, but they didn’t exist before their stories were published. They came into being purely because their authors imagined them into existence. How cool is that!

Origami Rabbit: I LOVE ORIGAMI. During boring lectures at university, I make origami animals. I do it with every bill I get when I go shopping. Give me a piece of paper and before you know it, it’ll be either a frog or a bird. The idea of transforming a flat paper into a 3D figure moves me beyond words.

I want more people to try their hands at origami. So I’ve found this simple tutorial for you. It won’t take you more than 5 minutes. Give it a shot and see how it changes you!

Maybe I will write about origami someday…

(Side story: I used to make origami animals out of test papers because I saw it as the only way to salvage those pieces of paper.)

Postcard

When I went to collect my bib prior to the marathon, I met a couple clowns. They were called to hype up the event and get the runners excited. I couldn’t help but take one picture with him.

Also, while standing in line, I noticed somebody was oddly staring at me. At first I thought that he must have been taken by my good looks😛, but soon I realised that he wanted to tell me something. After a couple minutes, he summoned the courage to walk up and talk to me.

“Are you an actor” he asked.

Turns out he thought I was Dev Patel, who stared in the Academy award winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. We had a good laugh and as soon as he left, I called my friends and told them what happened.

Favourite Quote

I flush the receipt down the toilet bowl and watch it float like a little hitchhiker - My friend Diya

Have a creative, energetic and inspiring week!

If you’re new, welcome to The Owlet! My name is Ishan Shanavas, and I am an Artist, Photographer, Writer and Student of the Natural World.

Here I talk about my work, along with curating the most interesting ideas on the internet. I confine them to topics like Nature, Culture, Photography, and Art but often fall prey to other genres.

I would greatly appreciate it if you shared my newsletter and work with your friends. It really helps me out :)