This post is the first in the series of our new project in which we interview young people who inspire us by doing something new and making their lives better. Below are excerpts from the interview with Yamini Girey who inspired us because she’s quite recently become a runner! What a healthy inspiration, don’t you think?
Read on…
1) We understand you recently started serious running. Why so late?
“I have always wanted to follow some sport/physical activity with serious interest. I have dabbled in badminton, tennis and followed yoga over the years. Due to lack of company/nearby facilities to play these in my current neighborhood I could not indulge in any of these. On a personal level I am also striving towards living a positive, resentment-free life. Hence I took to running. Since it’s a sport which can be enjoyed in a solitary way, it solved all the above problems for me. It started as a fun and relaxing activity. But once I started realizing how much I am yet to learn about myself and how much I can improve my running techniques, I took to training seriously. I have just begun and I hope the journey continues. Lateness is relative though. I have come to know runners who started as late as their 50s and are still running.”
2) Why did you choose running over other exercises?
“I used to dabble in a lot of activities and needed something which I could stick to without going to any gym (I don’t like gyms). As I am trying to progress towards living a simpler, hassle-free life, running suited me. I just needed (good enough) shoes, some music on my phone and I could start running anywhere.”
3) Running is quite common in the West. Do you think India makes it tougher?
“This is tricky for me to comment on because honestly I have not run in foreign countries or even any other Indian cities. But yes I can guess we have more infrastructure issues like bad traffic, no dedicated lanes for runners etc. I tackle this by running during early morning hours i.e. before 7 am or going to places where its safe to run. As a girl, the safety issue does come to my mind a lot, so I make sure that I tell someone at home (my brother usually) where I would be going for a run. I think that would be same if I run anywhere else.”
4) What’s the biggest issue you had on start?
“To keep getting out there and run. I started running with a friend and joined a very active and enthusiastic running group (Pune running). We would run with members of this group on Sundays. Meeting amazing and inspiring people, along with the incentive of a hearty breakfast post runs kept me motivated initially. I had breathing issues which started surfacing over more than 5km distances. So I followed a training plan with dedicated runner friends, which helped me get over these troubles by helping me improve my stamina. This also made sure I was following a routine and getting out more regularly. The positives have been tremendous and luckily I have not had any major injury. So this keeps me motivated to try newer things with running. (e,g. I am now training to improve my stride rate)”
Isn’t it absolutely wonderful to be doing new things and enriching our lives? Thanks Yamini for allowing us to publish such wonderful insights into her routine and allowing us to see how running could potentially be a life changer and have great impact!
What new did you try recently ? 🙂
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