I met my future self for a coffee

to tell her about the laborious challenge she set for her 24 year old birthday self

This one’s straight from the hot, stabbing pain in my legs. I’m quickly jotting stuff down to log so I don’t let the contents evaporate, again! Istg I wrote an entire novel around running 24k when I was doing the first 10 odd kms, and yet, here I am, starting afresh, with absolutely no memory of any of it.

I’ve been running for 7 months now, and milestones haven’t hit big on me at any point in time. There’s always a better pace I can take on, could always run more and could always start earlier. Running gets you drugged in many ways, but overworking my body without any self-appreciation tops the list for me. And that’s why this is a serious note to my future self, that scrolls past my low-baller self-esteem, to tell her that she has cracked stuff that she thought was impossible at some point.

I wrap up my birthday in a mosaic of cakes, books, letters and heartfelt wishes, but I’m deadly nervous for the run that I’ve taken up on the day following it. I don’t remember how I came to want to run 24 km without having done anything more than 16.5 km previously, but I remember thinking I could surely do a challenge.

The night is too old

Now, place where I come from, you won’t see a lot of runners at an ungodly early morning when it’s not a race day. Naturally, when I start to run, there’s no one except for garbage trucks and nocturnal dogs giving me company. It’s almost so dark that my NRC recorded it as a night run. But thanks to my playlist, this was the easiest 10 km I’ve had. The grooving and vibing hit so much better than a rave with no one looking. With whatever energy i had from the previous night’s carb load and the electrolytes this morning, the start wasn’t only decent but was beastly when I ran comfortably for over an hour straight. This might be an easy feat for some of you, but it’s the most I’ve been able to do ever. After a brief stretch at a 10, that hunger so voracious to cross the 12 km mark as quickly as possible, comfortably beat my lack of sleep from the previous night to the finish line.

A quick health check- all good, my energy looks good, music slaps, and the weather with its drizzling little charm is screaming ‘run baby run, you got this’. With this eutopian running platter, I run another 2 km, and my friends join me for the rest of the 9 odd kms I’ve got. Now, as a cherry on top, I’ve got cheerleaders who share the same high for my last few remaining kms.

You know these books that’s got these too good to be true tropes? us stupid wishful thinkers always know what the plot twists are like, but we pretend like we didn’t see it coming. Likewise, despite having drawn out a very elaborate checklist on the things to do the night before the run, I missed out on switching my phone charger on. (Yes, I track with my phone and watch. And hello? mistakes happen)

Now, I’m at 15, with my toes already bruised with blisters and a phone with 15 per cent charge. After a little bit of running without music (um, mixing things up, you see) I submit to begging my dad to bring me the charger. Thankfully, i wasn’t running very far away from my home, so his disapproval for long-distance running didn’t fully materialise into a full-blown speech when he reached.

Now that the charge is no longer a problem, the race leader position is regained, mentally. With that energy shift and a lot of motivation from runners passing by, I pull through a feat of 21 to take the last pitstop at a gym close by. But by this time, I’m full of energy, and my blisters did not dare show up after the whole charger fiasco. Although my knees and ankles hurt, nothing can truly beat the runner’s high, especially at the brink of that finish line.

I quickly call up Renegades from X ambassadors to the save, final stretches done, electrolytes taken, and the sweat is all wiped off to fly the 3 remaining kilometres. A little bit of walking, talking and motivating myself later, I’m at 23.55. A quick tip: friends who hype you up at the face of an empty road and rainy weather are hard to come by, so say those thank yous and give those hugs where they’re due. And, 500 metres later, with nothing less than a celebration, I did complete what I set out to.

And if you’re asking how my legs feel- They’re deeply troubled but pleasantly happy.

Um, talk about peeling oranges :)))

Sure, there are many more starting lines to take, but here’s a small reminder that sometimes, it is all in the head. It’s all in the wiring. You know, maybe the universe does have a way of conspiring with you if you want it bad enough. To the future me that’s still sticking around - these goofy little milestones are the real metrics of progress for those delusional tasks that you’d like to take up on. Go ahead and do anything you’ve been wanting to anyway. You’re good with setting goals after all.

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The rest of you readers, thanks a lot if you’ve stayed till here to read the footer. It’s my wishful thinking that capturing these adrenaline firealarms turned pleasant memories into a string of texts can help at least a handful of others who have read it. I ideally wanted to leave a detailed checklist of the things that I do before any run day, which might help anyone who’s new and getting into running. I’m afraid I’ve to save it for another post because this post is already as long as a 10 mark essay, and it’s those rare times when I’m sticking out when my eyes beg for some rest. It’s so much fun (and a little daunting) recalling the events of a day as a clean log that would make sense to both you and the later me. For now, I leave with the hope of seeing you in the upcoming episodes of my living fantasy and with a reminder to sleep on time and drink lots and lots of water.