Running is fun. There is no doubt about it. Running takes you to a different level of happiness which you would not experience in any other activity. There is some kind of hormonal secretion which gives you immense happiness. I have experienced this many times. No matter what the distance is or what the time is, there is a moment of joy in my every run. Along with the sheer joy there are times when I experience irritation during the run. You are running at the pace you have set for yourself, when a situation crops up which is not favourable. This makes you feel angry. Due to such a situation your rhythm breaks and you are forced to take a step back. More often than not the situation is not in your control. You have to take a pause and then start running again. Below are some of the irritants which I have experienced in my 10 years of running.
- People asking for direction – This is by far the biggest irritant while I run. I am running on the road. I am holding on nicely to my target pace. I have run a substantial distance and suddenly a pedestrian or a vehicle stops next to you. The person looks with hope at you and asks you ” Er excuse me, Do you know the way to such and such place ? I look at the person. The person seems lost. He has the address. He also has his google map opened. But is still unable to find the direction. I take pity on the person. I stop and tell the person the direction to his destination. Once he moves on I walk a bit for around 20-30 metres and then start running. Because if I suddenly start running then I might catch a cramp. I blame myself for stopping and helping a stranger but the helpful soul inside me feels happy. In this the biggest sufferer is my running soul. It is slightly difficult to get back to the running form now.
- Shoe lace coming loose – This is another irritant which I always want to avoid. However good your shoe is or however good you have tied your lace, there are times when the lace does not stay in place. It comes out loose. Apart from you the people running or walking past you also realise that the lace has come loose. They keep indicating you by various sign languages. Some of them are quite funny. Now since the lace has come loose you have to find a spot where you can stop and tie the lace. I try to find a place where I can rest my leg a bit higher than the ground and then tie the lace. Because if I stop in the middle of the road, I will have to bend and stretch over which may give me cramps. Usually I find a parked car and then rest my leg on the tyre and then tie the lace. This way I don’t have to completely bend. Another problem which I have faced is when I bend completely, I feel a little dizzy which I want to avoid. That’s another reason why one should always find a place to rest their leg higher than the ground. One trick to ensure the lace does not come out is to tie the lace in the middle of the shoe and not on the side. This way I have realised the lace does not come out.
- Sneezing – It so happens that you are allergic to some things. And unfortunately that thing hits you while running. Due to this you get continuous sneezes during your run. Now I am not sure if anyone has experienced sneezing while running, but it shakes up your entire body. This happens especially if you are running and you get sneezed. If you stop and sneeze then nothing much happens but while running if you sneeze each part of your body gets its impact. Unfortunately you cannot do anything if while running an allergen enters your nose. Few of the common allergens are dust, pollen, sea wind, any particular smell you are allergic to. The best way to tackle this is to stop and finish your sneezing and then continue with your run. If you sneeze while you are running you might get a cramp in some muscle in your body.
- GPS watch not catching or losing signal – Now there are some watches which needs to sync GPS with your mobile phone. If you have this kind of watch then it is always advisable to sync the AGPS and then go out for a run.Imagine you are done with your pre run stretches and you push the button on your watch and you get a message which says ” AGPS not synced” just thing how angry and irritated you would get. This is a common problem when your watch does not auto sync with your phone. At this moment you feel like kicking yourself, but you can’t do anything except start running and just record the time. The other thing with GPS watches is that while you are running you get a buzz on your wrist and it says “GPS not available”. The running parameters are not recorded in that time period which irritates you.
These are some of the irritants which I have experienced during my runs. If you have anything which irritates and makes you angry during your runs, do put them in the comment or email me by going into contact and filling up the form there.
Once again, Happy Running !!!