I believe a personal level of acceptance (Read Previous Post – Why I don’t love Running) has helped me understand and look at the concept of ‘running’ in a completely different way. It is nothing elaborate, just that I feel a lot freer whenever I run, jog, or sometimes ‘waun’ (walk+run).

All along, I wondered – why conform to the norms of training? Though I never took any active measures to ponder what or how I wanted to run. Now, I want to know more.

I realise the importance of training to suit my body type and to get better with time. I had some ideas, and reading perspectives and runners’ life stories helped me get few ideas on various elements associated with running.

However, it is important to start testing those perspectives one by one. I ran, ran from time to time before realising I was not enjoying it. Instead of holding on to it tightly, I thought about rediscovering the touch by starting from scratch.

Most would know instinctively what’s möglich and what isn’t? It is a matter of effort, and it might involve some time (proportional to effort) to trust those instincts and enjoy the process of training. Be it anything, work out a pattern. Here’s what I did:

When I realised I could use the treadmill to train myself (I was not too fond of it before), I thought, why I never fancied myself training on a treadmill early. It’s simple – I never gave time to treadmill training nuances and instead preferred running outside, where I could control speeds and choose roads at will.

Now, I still love running outside but what’s changed is that – I do not mind using treadmills. Acclimatising to ever-changing seasonal weather also helped me to decide to give the treadmill a go.

Ok, coming back to the pattern. This technique is a work in progress. More work has been done, so I can comment on the progress I have had so far. Have a target time and commit to engaging yourself on the treadmill – it helped me define a direction because it was a personal project.

I would suggest ‘music’ helps – but it masks the feelings you undergo during this training process. I prefer to hear my feelings out during training and focus on achieving a zone where I just run, oblivious to what’s happening around me. Again, choose the method that aids you to train better!

I get a lot of ideas if I listen to my thoughts on how to make this process of training better.

Start by selecting a raw walking speed, a factor that indicates the km/h or miles/h. When you start to feel comfortable walking, shake up the order – plan to move outside your comfort zone gradually.

I devised a test on myself to simulate the outdoor running conditions at will. No, it isn’t the 3D views of my surroundings! I continuously increase the speed by 0.1 km/h every 30 seconds. I start my training with – say, 7 km/h (again, this is my comfort zone). A gentle walk for about a minute or two, and then I start jogging. The moment I begin to jog, I increase the speed by a factor of 0.1 and continue this trend every 30 seconds.

Now, my concentration is focussed on those 30s and multiply into as many intervals as you can. My target is not to run more than 5km at any point in time. Start at some speed, run, walk, jog for some time and track your progress.

We all love change for the better. The more challenging part is the path. I believe humans are creatures of evolution and not a revolution in the long run. So keeping this in mind, my training involves a gradual increase in speed.

It does not harm you and will only improve your fitness levels and, more importantly, the confidence levels. Who doesn’t want to feel better? This method of training is one such way of creating ‘those feel-good factors’ within you.

And why am I doing this? I believe in testing my abilities and move towards excellence, if not perfection, during my lifetime. So I pick up hobbies (trial and error), habits that trigger my brain, fuel my creativity, and test my limits.

I love experimenting with something I fancy or inclining to shake up the norms from time to time.