I clocked the last 2 runs at an incredible pace ( by my standards )
10Kms in 1 Hour 2 minutes.
If you are a pro I can hear your chuckle. But this is a 37 year old who had not run or worked out till 35 years of his life – and was never those athletic types.
And here I am – clocking better and better timings.
July 2012 I did 10K in 1 Hour 8 minutes
May 2012 I did 10K in 1 Hour 18 minutes
Nov 2011 I did 10K in 1 Hour 35 minutes
Feels as if my pace is increasing. The real reason for better timings is nowadays I don’t take any breaks while running – not even slowing down for a walk. I am getting efficient in running. My pace seems to be the same.
I am growing well when it comes to running!
And this makes me happier.
But this happiness will not last long. I will be gloating over this 10k timings for another 2 or 3 runs and my happiness will wane. Then I will be setting a new target – either 10k under 1 hour or 12.5k.
Why I am doing this? Why am I not satisfied with my new timings? Am I greedy?
This running-growth-happiness is – I believe – is human evolution in a nut-shell. We always keep looking for faster, stronger and higher records.
Recently I heard an Oxford University lecture on brain – “Dopamine” floods the brain when the records get broken and makes the brain happy. And the brain wants more and more records to get broken because of this. This is a positive feedback cycle – which in turns lifts mankind as a whole.
Marathon ( 42 Kms ) was once the ultimate test for human endurance. But the last few years runners are pushing 100Kms and more.
Take any other field – we have invented Flights and can travel to anywhere around the globe quickly – but why aren’t we resting on our laurels – why are we exploring Space Travel – why do we rejoice when records get broken – be it the Olympics or the world record for maximum hot dogs eaten?
Because in Growth lies our Happiness.
And in Growth lies our evolution to a better species.
Sorry if I have disappointed you since i did not touch on the negative aspects of growth that leads to global warming, amassing illegal wealth, corruption etc. in this post – I am on a runners high now 🙂
