Running

So you know these days, if you don't post it on the internet, it didn't happen?

Everyone, I participated in a running event.

Before you try to undermine my accomplishment by saying "This must be the 5km-thing..." -- let me confirm it -- it was the 5km-thing.

So, I'm not born to run or do any hard sports. It's not my personality. I just need to be in a good shape (relatively). But boredom and probably a little bit of lunacy made me sign up for a "fun" run several months ago. The last time I ran was probably in school. I wasn't really bad at it, I just hated it. It was tiring.

The next step was getting a pair of running shoes because the sole of my last pair broke about two years ago. How's that possible, you ask? If you don't wear your shoes, they can just break. So I bought the cheapest non-ugly shoes that I could find two weeks before the run -- right at the point where I started to get nervous and ask myself, don't I have to train for this? So I managed to train for four days, out of ten that I originally planned, for about 2.5km each. Why not 5? I got bored. By the time I finished 2.5, I felt like I still have some energy left. So my thought process was, I must be able to run 5km if I have to, right?

Then the actual day arrived. And guys... this is strange. The run was actually fun! Ok, I know you athletes are looking at me with disgust right now, but the good thing is, 5km run is practically for everyone. If you've ever hesitated about participating in one before, let me encourage you to just try it and ask your friends along. Just run for how long that you can, then you can just walk, talk and have fun with your friends.

By the time I finished it, I'd already fantasized about running my first marathon. One accomplishment that I will surely be extra proud of for the rest of my life. Then I started to map the distance. Forty-one km is the distance from my house to IKEA and halfway back. I sometimes avoid the need to go to IKEA and back by car... and now I want to run there? So my fantasy moved on to half marathon. Which is like mostly running to IKEA and getting a cab back. So it's only half the torture... It sounded better for five minutes before I realized a torture is still a torture, even if it's cut into half. Finally, I settled for 10km. It seems more logical. Yes, next year I'm going for 10km, leisure. I can't believe that I'm saying this, but if you are still contemplating about running -- do it (safely). It's really not that bad (if you don't have to do it very often).