Beyond Running

The best thing about 2014 has been that I have gone beyond running.

I have taken up swimming regularly and I have bought a cycle, the last I did was 10 kms and hopefully by the end of December I will manage to do at least 50 to 60 kms every time I cycle. Yes, I love running but it is more inspired from the fact that these activities seem to supplement and build help strength in improving my run, I have gradually noticed that swimming also helps in strengthening my wrists, which I have had a major issue with – couldn’t do planks during core strengthening exercises without feeling pain. And now when I do planks or bridge poses, pain tends to be lesser since I have been swimming regularly, there is not much pain. So it sure is supplementary.

Cycling is helping to strengthen my quads – muscles just above the knees and of course help in balance, focus and generally help improve confidence while on the road as well. We’ll we how much good it does beyond this; but as of now going good; really good.

It’s just that I now need to increase my distances now and forget time.

Its been around 4 years, a little more that I have been practicing, I have got into fitness via the outdoors starting from my interest in running, which happened back in 2009 and I have been participating in the SCMM marathon ever since.

Wait a minute.

It started way before that – with my passion for the outdoors – via trekking. Yes. Of course! That was since the time I was a kid, the very first trip that I went on with my grand father – he used to take us all the way to this place a couple of hours away from Bombay called Ganeshpuri and we used to trek through a forest, there were these gorgeous trees, at time I was a kid right, so I remember them as these huge tall trees with the most potent rain soaked smell. I was just amazed walking ahead on that soft spongy soil with my head craning away to wards the sky searching for the tip of those trees and you just look around in awe and you are just walking with the butterflies. It was gorgeous. It was beautiful. It was the outdoors.

So it started then and over the past two to three years I see myself veering towards a lot of fitness activities in the outdoors. So it’s not just walking on a trek in the outdoors, it is running trails in the outdoors or it is cycling. Fascinated with the idea of cycling from Bombay to Goa, which is something that Odati Adventures has been doing and something I hope to be a part of in early 2015. As well as swimming in the outdoors. Ironman Dr. Kaustabh Radkar has been conducting camps to get people familiarised with outdoor swimming which is another fascinating activity. He has participated and completed 24 triathlon races; so that’s quite an inspiration. I have been practicing my swimming since a while now and I think I am ready to go out in the outdoors.

Come to think of it I do have a little bit of experience swimming in the outdoors. Ah yes, I have done my Open Water Dive certification in Maldives swimming in the open ocean with manta rays, and then again in Turkey exploring underwater caves; there you get another element in the outdoors!

So you see, I’ve been quite outdoorsy and I just want to extend this element of being fit via being outdoorsy to everybody around. I mean, humans are meant to be outdoors, we are not meant to be sedentary so how about we get out of our cubicles and Lets Be Outdoorsy!.