Since we’re all staying at home and I achieved the title mentioned milestone by running while we were still allowed to run outdoor, I thought to share here about how running changed my life.

On May 17th, 2015, almost five years ago, I left home with the goal to run for as long as I could at a low pace. My weight was over 90 kilograms and there were almost 20 years since my last one-kilometer run. That day, I was able to run one mile at a 7:30 min/km pace before I lost my breath. The next days the muscular pain was hard, I could barely walk and I was able to run again only one week later for two kilometers.

From that moment, for every run, my goal was to stop running only when something in my body couldn’t continue. I was either losing breath, or my feet couldn’t keep the pace, or my liver or other internal organ told me to stop. In two months I reached the 5-kilometer mark. One month later I could run 10 kilometers. And in September, four months since I began to run I was able to run 18 kilometers. Very happy with my achievements, I registered for a half marathon (21.1 km) race in October 2015.

I was reading about other people’s experiences running a half marathon, how difficult it was for them during the race and how well they felt after they finished it. For me, it was a great experience only the first five minutes after the start. Until then I was running alone for five months and suddenly around me, there were ten thousand other runners. Because I was very excited I began to run too fast for my abilities and soon the energy left me. That race was a very painful experience and I felt no satisfaction once I finished the race after two hours and fifteen minutes of run.

I’ve learned from that painful experience and kept training. Next year, in May 2016 I finished the half marathon in two hours and four minutes, a considerable improvement. I was finally happy after a race. In the same year, in October, I finished it in 1:54, reducing the time by another 10 minutes.

In 2018 I joined “Trupa lui Fane” and achieved my current personal best time in October same year 1:46:46 based on the guidance I got from Stefan Oprina, our coach.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned during these five years of running.

It’s better to run in a group than only by yourself. I’ve been running three years alone and two years in a group. While I was running alone, my posture was incorrect and it took my coach a lot of time trying to adjust my running posture, which is better now but far from perfect.

While running alone I did no warm-up and as a result, I had many injuries which kept me from running for long period of times, even for one or two months.

Let’s say you can buy a book and start reading about how to properly train, but the experience of a coach weights a lot. He can see what is not ok with your running and can make recommendations based on his experience.

Running in a team is a really fun experience. In a team, people will encourage you because they all know how hard it is to run a half marathon or longer distances. They will also congratulate you on achieving your results or on finishing your races.

Running improved my health very much. Before running, I used to get tired easily. I also got cold easily. Since I go to the dentist every year I noticed a big improvement in my teeth’ condition due to running.

When you are running long distances you learn not to give up. As a chess player before I started running once I lost a game I used to lose other games as well. I couldn’t focus well. Running taught me to keep fighting and after a lost game to be able to come back. I would say that running long distances is a boost for self-trust.

If you run for, let’s say, 20 kilometers in the morning, you will feel great for the rest of the day.

I did lose weight, about 20 kilograms, you can see it from the pictures above. The best part of it is that I could still eat anything I wanted without any diet.

I met many people and learned about interesting life experiences and this enriched my horizon.

If you are a middle age person with no experience in running and you want to run there are many books and posts on social media about how to create good behavior.

But, more important, you need motivation. In this aspect, the trigger is very important and it will differ from person to person. Some run for fun, this is the smallest percentage, but they do exist. Obviously not the case of someone who starts running in the 30s, 40s or even later. For others it’s the competition, they like to compete and to win. For some it’s because they want to stay healthy, many runners are in this category. There are people who run to brag about it: “I do run marathons”. For some, it’s about their dreams, for others their demons. Some run to deal with grief and some to avoid life. Some people run because they want to learn how to fly, others are put in motion by the last verse from “Divina Commedia”.

Running it’s a fight with yourself, it’s about how you can control your emotions and a way to know yourself better.

Dear reader, find your inner motivation and running will help you deal better with life. Running it’s not an easy journey but it’s a beautiful one and it worth trying it.

This was my story and it still continues. If everything goes well, I will reach the 10000 km run milestone in less than three years from now. Since this post was a personal story about running, I thought it’s appropriate to end it with the soundtrack of the movie “Running“.