Priya
She sounded excited about her weekend run in Bangalore last Saturday covering a distance of 16 km, in a super cool weather. For those familiar with Bangalore, it is the Indira Nagar-Cubbon Park route, with 2 loops around the park. A small set of serious runners, she says, made her run in a new place with a new group comfortable. Unlike some who had it easy, running distances is something she had to work towards.
Meet Priya, who has been running with the group since August last year.
After having tried almost everything from Bharathnatyam to Kalari, “running is the only thing that was left out” says this young mother with a smile. A Chartered Accountant, who also holds a masters degree from ISB, has taken to running since last year. It was her Bessie twin, Meera Sridharan, who planted the thought of running for TWCM, and brought her to the group.
She still recalls the first day when she could barely manage running for 500 mts. “But my competitive instincts prevented me from giving up. I finished my first 10 km run with a good timing last year in my maiden race”, she says with pride. However, that came with a price – it left her with a severe ITB issue.
Ignoring the condition, she ran the Auroville half-marathon last February that further worsened the problem. She learnt the hard way, the importance of taking it easy, listening to her body and most importantly, correcting her form. She began fixing each one of these things. While giving herself ample time to recover, she joined Quad, a cross-fit training camp for strength training, and practiced running by observation. She figured out that each one had a unique running style irrespective of whether they were fast or slow. Through trial and error, she narrowed down on a running form that suited her. Ever since, she seems to be managing her runs without much discomfort.
For a person who has always led an active lifestyle, running just feels like a natural extension and an uncomplicated activity. She uses her run time for streamlining her thoughts –be it strategizing business ideas or thinking about her daughter’s homework. Besides finding her run days very productive, completing her daily run leaves her with a sense of accomplishment that she looks forward to.
Talking about Bessie Flyers, she feels the group has greatly helped her through her running journey. Though the flyers come across as a casual bunch of blokes – constantly playing up a funny prank or a teaser, they always motivate her to focus on the goals ahead.
Beating the odds, Priya is more than motivated to pursue running seriously. Recognizing her limitations, she feels setting smaller goals is the way to go. As she gears up to scale her next benchmark of running a half-marathon in Auroville with a timing goal of 2:15-2:30, she also seems well aware of the importance of being injury free.
Running a start-up that requires frequent travel, managing a family and being socially active, she indeed wears multiple hats – each demanding its share of time and more. Despite all that, it’s sheer will power that pushes her out of the bed and on to the track.
Join us at Bessie tomorrow, and meet this young lady, who believes in working her way through everything in life – without giving up.
Bessie Flyers run schedule for Thu, 4-Sep:
HIIT @ Bessie beach
Assemble: 5am
Start at: 5:15 am