A little run is good for the mind

Loreen Alutah Chari
Society Correspondent

RUNNING a normal routine can be so boring.

Once in a while, you have to challenge yourself, your mental strength and capabilities.

Sometimes you find yourself falling off the track, thus you need something to reignite your love for running.

Winter always comes with a lot of undesired effects for all runners.

Temperatures are low and it is too cold to head out, even for a short run before work. Also, the sun goes down faster and you cannot even run after work.

We shall not mention the high appetite which you will not understand its source.

Most runners find themselves piling in a lot of weight, but with little or no desire to engage in the usual workout routine.

How then can someone escape this dire situation?

Lutah Creative Solutions in partnership with Eastview Elites came up with an interesting idea to reignite the love of running under the “Claim Your Summer Body Challenge”.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought all sorts of negative effects that everyone has been dealing with low spirits and some level of depression.

Runners need something to bring them back together — at least in their spirits as they cannot run together in groups as yet.

The challenge was structured in such a way that an individual would run a total of 105km in six days, from anywhere.

However, this had to be done in a structured sequence of 10km to 15km, 20km to 25km then 30km. The challenge was progressive and everyday the runners would have to add an additional 5km to the previous day’s mileage.

This was a test of endurance and patience.

Running itself is hard especially under stipulated conditions.

The challenge was one of its kind as runners normally start with the highest mileage going down.

Through this challenge, each and every runner was competing with their own self. It was not a competition of who finishes first, but rather a competition with that little voice in your head telling you “it is impossible”.

Such competition helps improve your mental game and general perspective on life.

One thing I like about runners is that they may regret having started a race, but they will not stop anyway.

However, when they cross the finish line or hit their target, they quickly forget about all the pain.

You can pick the pride and sense of achievement in their voices.

“So when is the next challenge/ race?” becomes the common question yet they will be struggling to lift their legs.

Initially, the “Claim Your Summer Body Challenge” was targeting 20 resilient runners, but ended up having 100 runners subscribing to it.

Of the figure, 84 percent were confident that they were in good shape while the remainder just wanted to try.

Participants gave various reasons for committing to the challenge.

The motivations varied from the desire to have “sexy summer bodies” to the mere love of trying new things. Conversely, some did it for medical reasons.

The challenge also attracted some corporate partners that came forward with incentives for the participants. These included some Exide Batteries, holiday packages at Cresta Hotels, meat hampers and some sports kits.

To top it off, a beautiful finisher’s medal was also up for grabs.

With such motivation, 93 participants sailed through the challenge. Only 7 participants could not finish the full challenge series.

Many had doubted their capacities but the motivation shared in the Eastview Elites Running Club social platforms kept them going. It is said when you cannot run with your legs anymore run with your mind and crawl if you have to.

The challenge was a serious mind game, and everyone who conquered the full series can conquer anything in life.

It was also interesting to note that running knows no age nor situation. At least six percent of the runners were above the age of 50.

One pregnant lady could not be left behind and she became an inspiration to many, finishing the challenge safely.

We have received very interesting feedback from some of the participants on how much weight they have lost. Once you challenge your body and go beyond your normal routine the body is bound to react.

However, this challenge was more than a weight loss task. It was a challenge to mental strength and the idea was to have better runners at the end of the day. Runners who do not get agitated by just looking at the distance mark.

Many of the participants were half marathon runners. They had never gone beyond 21km. This meant the 5th day, with 25km, was one of the toughest days. But after conquering this, the following final was 30km and a lot easier.

Once you go beyond your comfort zone you create a new normal.

A few lessons were also learnt through the challenge. The biggest lesson being that you can never set limits for yourself.

Be prepared to challenge yourself at any given time and create a new normal.

Life throws a lot of challenges at us, the art of running helps you manoeuvre all difficulties. If there is one thing runners understand, it is that being defeated is not an option.

Eastview Elites Running Club is available on Facebook and Strava.

It is the place where seasoned runners and social runners converge and share ideas, inspiration and motivation.

As a runner one should always have running buddies to hang around with. They are therapists you do not even have to pay. There are more challenges in the pipeline. Join the running community and see how far you can stretch yourself!

The Eastview Elites have also joined the world in running to save water.

Our water sources are under threat due to a lot of waste being dumped into rivers, dams, lakes and oceans. We only have one planet and there is no replacement.

The run which is spread over four days and dubbed #zerowasterun is running from August 5-August 8. This is a virtual run and it will observe Covid-19 regulations.

It was founded by Mina Guli an enthusiastic ultra-runner and environmentalist based in Australia and has spread into many countries with over 5 000 runners taking part in each run.

Loreen Alutah Chari (Captain Lutah) who is Eastview Elites Running Club captain has been appointed as the country captain for Zimbabwe.

There is always a good reason to reason, find one!

Feedback: Facebook: Eastview Elites Running Club, Facebook Group: Eastview Elites Runners, Strava Club: Eastview Running Club