Am I elated or what? Super elated though in a lot of pain as I share. I had a power-through Saturday morning. I ran my first 10 miles non-stop! YUP! Believe I did. In case it does not add up, 10 miles is equivalent to 16km. Roger that. This was me who could not run up to 500m without expiring six months ago. So it is possible guys, you can surely do it. Up until this past Saturday, the most I’d done was 7 miles. Completing the 10 miles was a huge accomplishment for me and the feeling that comes with such a feat is indescribable and creates a hunger for greater accomplishments. Pushing boundaries brings you closer to being extraordinary.

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence”. Confucius

But don’t get it twisted, the 10-mile run was quite hard! I ran for 10 miles, then walked another 3.5 miles home. Those 3.5 miles were the most difficult and worst of my life till date. It took me 2 hours to cover the initial 10 miles, and almost 90 minutes to complete the walk home. My legs were heavy like they were loaded with lead after running, and I was dehydrated. The worst part, while on my 11th mile, my tummy took the turn for the worst. I will not share the details of what happened at this point, but just note that pushing the boundaries in physical exercise can also activate some internal functions of the body particularly in the GIT. Unfortunately, I did not go along with water or any drink, and literally had to beg an orange seller on the way for an orange to both quench my thirst and inject some sugar into my bloodstream. The worst was that as I walked, my legs got stiffer and I was close to calling for a car to come get me, or taking a cab or okada, but I made it home on my two legs. I really pushed myself hard this time and I knew it. I would call that my first real experience of Physical exhaustion.

As I have read on many other blogs, running is really all in the mind and you can go as far as your mind can envision. I woke up Saturday morning and decided I was going to try to run 10 miles, even though I had no idea what it would take. I was planning to run 140% more than my farthest distance until then. So I hit the road and started out at a good pace. As usual, miles 2 and 3 are always difficult because your mind is not zoned in yet though your heart and legs are good to go. Somewhere in your head, you want to quit, so you battle the mind. By mile 4, I was in the zone and kept going until I got to the 7th.

The initial thought at 7 miles was whether I could get to 8 and so I kept telling myself I could and I was going to make it. So I kept going. Miles 9 and 10 were hard! I literally powered through and became a zombie. I just had to keep running until I heard that Nike app in my ears saying I had covered 10 miles. My joy was however quickly cut short though by all the physiological reactions that followed including the pain in my shoulders, thighs and calves. All the same, I was glad I did it.

As I ran though, lots of thoughts crossed my mind even as I passed by other folks either running or walking – it was quite a busy Saturday morning. I kept asking myself what were the thoughts that made me achieve this feat which I could share with readers (please note I was thinking this even before I had completed the run). So here’s my list of thoughts that helped me:

• “Just run one mile at a time”
• “If you stop now, you won’t complete the set goal, and it means you will live to run it another day, and have to go through this same pain all over again. Choose which you prefer!”
• “Who are you running for? Why are you running? Why is 10 miles good for you?”
• “If you don’t complete this, you can’t share it on your blog!” hehehehe
• “Think about all the fat burning as you run, think about your tummy that needs to be flat, think about your thighs firming up and toned. Think about your heart and your blood pressure regulating.”
• “You can do this. You can do this. Just keeping putting one foot in front of the next”

All these thoughts kept racing through my mind amongst many others like work stuff, personal issues, future plans and interesting sights along the way. For instance, I saw three dead snakes on my road trail – all had been driven over, two tiny ones and one really big one coiled up at a road junction. I also noticed some very beautiful estates along the way and nice houses in one of the neighbourhoods I ran past, which I would never have noticed if I was not passing by on foot. Of course, I had my music playing all the way, gospel music as usual, and the weather was very cool and breezy which helped. Thankfully, while the clouds gathered, the rain did not pour.

I am sure you are wondering why I am now a running advocate. I will leave you with some of the benefits I have personally observed with running and constantly increasing my running distance goals.

1. First for sure is that running accelerated my weight loss process at the beginning
2. There is a great release of endorphins after each run that just increases one’s happiness index, reduces stress and I tend to worry less
3. Running in the mornings gives me a lot of energy for the day and makes me alert
4. It has been a memory boost for me. My thoughts are better organized and I don’t forget quite as much as I used to
5. My muscles are tighter, body is toned, and I am losing inches all round (not necessarily all good as I have lost considerably at the bust and hips regions *smirk*)
6. Improved breathing and sleep
7. Lower resting heart rate, which is an indicator of the pumping efficiency of the heart
8. Increased physical endurance and mental power!

So there you have it. I had a great weekend by hitting another milestone. Next is to run a half-marathon (13.1 miles), sooner than you think. But first I need to recover from this last Saturday. The heels of both feet are inflammed and the muscles are experiencing DOMS again! My appetite was also crazy, which is understandable as I must have depleted all the glycogen stores, and so there was a need to load up on proteins and carbs to help my body quickly recover. I suggest you try running some day, just like I did, start with the first step and push your limit often.

Have a great week and let’s stay focused on accomplishing our goals in all areas of our lives. Thanks for reading and for your support.