Pace and Pain

Today, I prepared myself for a 10k.

I started at full pace in the first kilometer and was dead by the end of it. I thought I’d at least manage 2km continuously, but I couldn’t. So I slowed down to a much lower pace.

In my past runs, whenever I ran at a slower pace and someone overtook me, I’d speed up to match them. And overall, I’d end up losing on pace. This time, I decided I wasn’t going to compare. I’d just hold my own pace. Interestingly, my pace improved.

One of my best learnings today: never compare yourself to others. It only burns you out. Focus on your own journey.

The second one came at 8km. My whole body was screaming at me to stop. My knees and legs were hurting a lot. But I kept telling myself,  “ it’s just a small pain. It’ll be gone after the run.” I didn’t make a big deal out of it.

I trivialized it until I finished my 10k.Had I given that thought too much weight, I would have stopped. It's the same with many hard things in life. The more importance we give them, the more pressure we create.

It’s crazy how every time I finish a 10k, I come up with a new analogy between running and real life. I’ll most probably write a full essay on this on Substack. Do follow along.