Arjun Khemani

I love to run! I run almost everyday. And it’s something I can’t stay without. All runners have some sort of a connection with the sport. And so do I. So this is my running story.

I started running when I was around nine years old. But I haven’t been consistent with it. My father used to run long-distances and I’d tag along sometimes. It started with a three kilometer run, the first time when I ran with my dad. And even a reasonably fit person who has tried running more than 2 kilometers straight for the very first time, knows how hard it is to do so! But I remember running the three kilometers non-stop. It felt good to do something like that but it was really difficult and literally breath-taking. After that first experience, I’ve had many other ones. But not until this year, 2021, now when I’m 15 years old, did I really get that connection with the sport.

So, in between when I first ran 3 kilometers and the year 2021, I ran on and off. Sometimes, the breaks would be of weeks or even months, other times of only a week or a few days. Very inconsistent though. Surely, it meant that I didn’t like running that much during those times. Back then, I could do about ten kilometers and then getting really tired. I remember precisely in 2020 when the lock-down was imposed and I didn’t really get that much physical activity, when the lock-down was released a little bit, I went to run with my dad again and I seriously couldn’t even run 2 kilometers non-stop without starting to run out of breath. And so I would go home disappointed and blaming myself for “forgetting how to run”.

This happened quite a few times and then I thought that this was enough. I had to start all over from the basics and try to reach a 5K in a month or so. And that’s exactly what I did, I slowed down my pace, I aimed for a little less distance and after a series of runs and practices, I had learned how to run again. I could do a 5K. After some of those, I could do a 10K as well. I was happy to get back on track.

But when the year 2021 came, I changed my tracking app from Runkeeper to Strava. And that may well have been a big reason for my affection for running that is with me right now. Strava is principally the Facebook or Instagram of running. And all your runs are “posts” which your friends or followers can see and give “Kudos” to. At the time I had like two followers but that didn’t matter, I still don’t have many. But just the feel of a new app tracking my runs and some cool features made running so much more healthier for me. I’m still not sure if it really was that that made me change my views about running but it was something.

On 1st January, 2021, I remember running a 10K. So I made a goal to run a half marathon (21.1 kilometers) in the year of 2021. And that became a goal that constantly motivated me to push harder on my runs. And with incredible pride: I completed that goal on 19th June, 2021,when I ran 21.1 kilometers non-stop for the first time. And today, exactly 4 weeks after the first, I ran the same distance for the second time.

But about how I trained and ran, that’s a whole other story for another day. Right now, though, I just feel amazing about running everyday and would never want to change it. So I’ll just leave you with: Keep running. Always.

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