After last autumn’s Bucharest marathon, I tried to keep training so as not to grow out of shape. When some knee injuries prevented me from running, I went to the gym. It didn’t really feel like I belonged there, but it was better than sitting on the couch, potato-style (not that I have a couch anyhow).
For the winter holiday, which I spent in Vienna, just like a zillion other Romanians as a matter of fact, I took my running gear with me. It was not the usual routine you imagine about holiday. I woke up very early in the morning, like 6 or 6.30, put on my running shoes and off I went to explore the city at running speed, just before sunrise. This brought me two wonderful experiences.
Since we arrived in Vienna on Saturday evening and we stayed very close to Mariahilferstrasse, which is the main shopping area of the city, my first impression was a madding crowd, rushing in all directions to finish their Christmas shopping. I had the same feeling at the Vienna Christmas market, this electric Babylon, where people of all languages of the Balkans and Eastern Europe were stepping on each other’s feet in order to get stuffed on yet another cup of Gluhwein and some weird smelling potato donuts.
Imagine therefore my surprise when the very next morning, I got out in completely empty streets, covered with a blanket of immaculate fresh snow, and I had the city all to myself, like this giant deserted museum. With snowflakes melting on my cheeks and the music of Nick Cave pumping into my ears – “Get ready for love” – I realized that this was one of the most beautiful pictures of my life. And it was running that offered me this moment.
Another defining experience came as I went running towards the Schoenbrunn gardens. As I reached the gardens, the forest was covered in thick fog. It was still dark, but you could feel the dawn as the sky was turning dark blue. And as I ran on the alleys of the palace, one by one, the statues of the park came out of the fog in front of me, like these mysterious eerie creatures coming from a fairy tale land. It was so beautiful! A huge smile spread on my face and I just wanted to share that moment of beauty.
I ran as well when returning to Bucharest. Not so early in the morning and not so alone. Here you have all the time regiments of vigilant dogs watching your every running step and sometimes jumping and barking at you. Because, in their simple and happy minds, no good person would run if he/she doesn’t have anything to hide. Right? I hope that’s what’s crossing their mind and not simply: lunch is served! This is how I got to turn into an anti-stray dog crusader, filing complaints to local authorities. And guess what? It works! I wrote to the authority for the surveillance and protection of animals (ASPA), under the authority of the Municipality of Bucharest. They went to Politehnica park and took 28 stray dogs. Which, of course, will be much missed.
Yet, even after all this running, I wasn’t really up to the challenge of a full half-marathon. However, when Narcis Găvan and Ionuț Simion came up with the idea of joining their team for the Gerar half-marathon, I accepted gladly. And I thought I’d make pull up quite a nice running number. I was the youngest member of a team that, together, was 113 years old. My ambition was to finish under two hours. I was sure this could be done. After all, in October I reached 21k after just a bit over 2 hours. And that was because I saved energy for the second half of the race. Well, all these ideas turned out to be false in the end.
I ended up being the slowest member of the team. That’s right, the youngest, and, to my shame, the least fit. Unlike me, Ionuț ran with the ease of Zatopek and the speed of Haile Gebrselassie. OK, not quite at that speed. But he was very comfortable throughout the race and, had it not been for me dragging the team, he and Narcis could have indeed finished under two hours. In the end it wasn’t that bad. We finished side by side in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 35 seconds, which was a better time than the one I had at the half-marathon in June. And for that I had trained intensively for three months before. It also highlighted the advantages of running during the winter. While you might get some problems because of the cold, you don’t get dehydrated like in the summer. That improves your performance tremendously.
Also, compared with last year, when I started running only in March and I let myself put on weight all through the winter, this time I ran an average of 50 kilometres per month and I am much leaner. Signs are therefore encouraging for another year of breaking my records. I am now determined to run more than two marathons this year, with perhaps the next full marathon in Cluj. Yet, for me running is more than just a game of numbers.
I took to running in order not to run from myself anymore. This idea dawned on me sometimes at the end of last year when I was thinking of the many good things that running brought to my life. Before, I was always seeking for something outside of me. Something like a change. And not finding that, I got frustrated and unbalanced.
Yet change is seldom an external factor. True and meaningful change comes from within. Running made me spend more time with myself. It made me patient; it helped me see things in the long run and made me plan. You are planning all the time while running. You are planning your training schedule, your calories intake and the diet, but also the next kilometre while you run. It made me value the fruits of long-term effort and of gradual accumulation. Progress might come in leaps, but, in order to be able to make such a leap, one needs a long and, sometimes, painful period of gradual build-up. This may sound like the Hegelian and Marxist idea of progress and history, but I feel it is true, at least from the point of view of my running progress.
So, let 2013 unravel its surprises one by one! I’ll be ready to grab them as I run along…
Mihnea
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