Being inspired by a speaker in a Toastmaster club in Singapore I decided to run a marathon. It seemed almost an impossible dream for me, yet I wanted to give it a try. I signed up for the Standard Chartered Full Marathon in Singapore in 2012. Never in my life had I run a marathon and I knew it is not an ordinary feat to achieve. I was in my mid-forties then. I wasn’t a great runner but I thought that this would be a really cool thing to do to prove that I can do something impossible.

With determination and confidence, I began my training for the marathon. Indeed, it was very hard for me to train after work as I had a full-time job with the Republic of Singapore Navy. Though I didn’t enjoy running, I had to prepare myself mentally and physically to finish the marathon. Experts say that you need to train for six months for a full marathon (42.195 km) and four months for a half marathon (21.098 km). In my case, I just had four months to build up the stamina for a full marathon. If you participate in a marathon without adequate training, you might get injured or it could be life-threatening and in most cases you may not even be able to finish the run.

Finally, the day of the marathon arrived and I was at the venue with much self-doubt, nervousness and stress which most first-time runners usually feel. I was more worried about what others would think of me if I didn’t finish this marathon. How will I look at people if I cannot finish the run? What a shame would it be? I even felt like my reputation would be at stake if I didn’t complete the run. I felt like I had made a bad decision and even regretted posting it on social media. Professional runners from all over the world came for the marathon as there were lucrative prizes for the winners. I felt totally out of place as most of them looked like real runners. But deep inside I had the intense desire to complete the run and secretly believed I could do it. I used self-affirmation to take charge of my chatter box which kept reminding me of what could go wrong.

Finally, the marathon was flagged off and I had no choice but to run. Because if I stayed where I was, people behind me would have run over me! It works the same way in life; if you stay where you are, you will not grow, and you will not achieve anything worthwhile.

I kept going despite the negative thoughts but gradually, my body started showing signs of fatigue and my muscles began to ache. But I persevered and I finished the 42 km run in five hours and twelve minutes. It was a moment of great joy and fulfilment for me, and I believed that if I can run a full marathon, I could do anything. My self-esteem shot up to the sky. From that day my life changed, the way I look at problems changed. I began to dream big.

Read the full article by subscribing to the print magazine or the digital edition.

The post A marathon can change your life! appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Braving the rains, 450 students of St John the Evangelist High School, Marol, Mumbai, ran a mini marathon for the cause “Save Aarey Forest”. They covered a stretch of 4 kms right from Aarey Colony to the school grounds, winding down the streets of Marol Maroshi Road right up to Marol.

The mini marathon was organized to make the youngsters, boys and girls aged between 8-15, the future citizens of the city, aware of the fact that they too have a collective responsibility in saving the environment and conserving it.

The Monsoon Marathon was truly an enriching and inspiring event wherein some students triumphed, while others were quite satisfied as they attempted to complete the entire marathon.

— Sr Josefina, RJM (Principal)

The post Johannian Monsoon Marathon appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Social Responsibility Forum (SRF), a club of NMIMS University, was established to contribute to society and to those less privileged. NMIMS is a prominent university strongly attributed to the education and the values that it imparts (Anil Surendra Modi School of Commerce is the brainchild of NMIMS University).

Since its start, SRF has always attempted to create awareness and a sense of accountability in the masses. Events held by SRF each year are crafted with passion and precision to invoke a sense of social belonging among the less privileged and social responsibility among the participants of these events. We have taken up grave issues ranging from woman trafficking to drug abuse.

Aarambh, our flagship event, is an enthusiastic 5 kilometre marathon, which calls for spirit, enthusiasm and energy among its participants. This year the event will take place on February 10, 2019 at 7:00 a.m., and starts and ends at Taj Lands End, Bandra West, Mumbai. Along with the satisfaction of contributing to the welfare of beneficiaries of the NGO we are collaborating with, participants will also get the thrill of competing against like-minded individuals.

Like each year, this year also we run for a cause that we believe in: fighting child sexual abuse. Any funds collected go towards the NGO dedicated to the cause. This year, we are collaborating with the NGO Arpan. Since their inception in 2006, Arpan has directly touched lives of over 200,000 children and adults through prevention, healing and training programmes. Through their partnerships, they have reached out to over 880,000 children and adults.

Child sexual abuse is a form of abuse that includes sexual activity with a minor. A child cannot consent to any form of sexual activity. When a perpetrator engages with a child this way, they are committing a crime that can have lasting effects on the victim for years. We at Social Responsibility Forum stand strongly against it and intend to take empowering steps towards this.

To be a part of this noble initiative, contact Sakshi Agrawal (+91-82914 19115)

The post Aarambh ’19 appeared first on The Teenager Today.

I witnessed the New York City Marathon this morning. I heard there were fifty-one thousand participants this year and I am sure that nearly half of New York was out cheering them as they ran. There was a loud shout as the first runners came into view. The crowd went into an ecstasy of clapping, cheering and fist-pumping, cheering them to their glory, as music from various music systems filled the air.

But not for a moment did I see even any of the participants look at us. Their faces were intent, bodies resolute, eyes fixed. They had only one purpose, to win. I doubt they heard the crowd. I’m sure they saw nothing except their goal. I saw muscles straining, but did not see tiredness or fatigue. By the time they reached my spot they had already run twenty miles. They had another six miles left, and no shouts, or applause clouded their hearing except the sound of exultation as they crossed the finishing line.

Lelisa Desisa clocked 2 hours 5 minutes and 59 seconds as he came first.
Nearly an hour later, even more, came hundreds of others. But there was a difference. I saw the same straining muscles, the same resoluteness, but I also saw them acknowledging us, smiling as they heard someone shouting their name, waving as they heard the cheering of bystanders urging them on.

Every cheer that went up helped them in the next stride and the next and the next. These were not the professionals I’d seen an hour or more back, these were those who wanted more than anything else to complete those twenty-six miles and go home to friends and family and shout, “I completed the marathon!”

I’ve been told that the feeling of triumph one gets after finishing such a gruelling race is more than the victorious feeling after most other achievements.

Read the full article by subscribing to the print magazine or the digital edition.

The post The marathon appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Have you marvelled at the number of people that participate in a marathon in any given city? Aren’t you a bit inspired when you see people run the full marathon (42 kms) or the half marathon (21 kms) but couldn’t build on that sudden impetus?

Well, turns out, running isn’t that difficult. You just need the initial push and prolonged consistency, both though, easier said than done.

There are quite a large number of people in this world who have run miles and miles and have inspired a generation of great runners. When you start out as a runner, one should have absolutely no goals. The whole effort is to enjoy the feeling of movement.

If a person can follow these basic principles, then running becomes very easy. Metres will turn into kilometres and there’s no looking back.

A simple way to start is to buy a digital watch and run for time. Maybe you can run for 10 minutes or 20 minutes. If you can achieve that for a fortnight, then you are ready to move to the next level.

How does one choose the next level? Simple! Increments should be at the rate of only 10 per cent. For example, if you are able to run 10 minutes and you have become comfortable running for that much time, then you increase it by 10 per cent. In other words, you improve to only 11 minutes, then 12.20 minutes and so on and so forth.

It always pays to remember that the slower your progress, the more grounding you are gaining. There may be people who move from 10 minutes to 20 and 30 and 40, but doing this will not help you at all. In fact, it will only burn you out faster.

Secondly: Take running week by week. Once you have achieved some kind of proficiency in running then you look for peaking towards the end of the week. Let me explain: Generally, as a rule, most runners do not run on Mondays, Tuesday is for easy run, Wedneday is slightly more tough, Thursday either you take it easy and run as much as you did on Tuesday, or take a break. Friday is fairly intense but semi-long distance and then Sundays are for LSD. Not the drug but in running, it is called the Long Slow Distance.

Sundays you run the longest distance/time and run 10 to 30 seconds slower per km than your average heart rate. If you can run 30 kms over three hours then you take 6.30 minutes per km for the Sunday run.

Once you have achieved more than a fair amount of proficiency in your running and you are physically and mentally ready to up your running then you need to include a few training methods.

Read the full article by subscribing to the print magazine or the digital edition.

The post Get Set… Run! appeared first on The Teenager Today.