This is a gratitude piece for my community at Adobe India Runners (AIR).
I always had a very strong emotion attached to running - being able to run, feel the wind on my face, travel some distance on my own feet.
Sometimes cherishing the curious look on the face of on-lookers, sometimes just huffing and puffing, and yet feeling the strength in my lungs.
Right through my school to college years, I kept running in some form or other.
Sadly, the regular running was taken away from me when I started my IT Career 7 years ago.
Busy schedules, odd working hours, sheer laziness, no motivation. There were some running spurs on and off, but with too many gaps in between.
When I joined Adobe in 2015, for the next couple of years, I didn't have much idea about the running community here.
Come Yoga Day celebration in June 2018, and the Run organized by AIR (Adobe India Runners): all of a sudden, I was seeing Adobe in a very different light.
A lot of faces I had seen regularly in the cafeteria, were running 5k and 10k, and then comfortably attending the office!
I wanted to do that! I wanted to practice with these runners, I wanted to 'schedule my weekends' to run with the best!
But alas, again the same old excuses of working weekend shifts, travel plans, house chores, etc started to come in the way.
That's when I decided to stay in touch with the community virtually.
After all, we are a technology company: I could stay connected and keep myself motivated even if I wasn't physically meeting these champions, right?
And the ever-so-active WhatsApp group, friends from the same group in the Strava feed, the Sharepoint: all of these became the window of the community for me.
The count of messages grew whenever there was an event coming up, and seeing that, so did my excitement.
I did join the team for a couple of events (Global Energy Race, ADHM'18), and the runners made me feel right at home.
Even without running in practice sessions with them, I was a part of the team AIR.
There were some events I missed since I wasn't in NCR on those weekends (family events in hometown).
And yet, I ran similar distances wherever I was, logging the distance on Strava.
All the knowledge and motivation I needed, it was there on the WhatsApp group.
The discussion on shoes, on breathing techniques, on keeping one-self injury free, it was all there for the taking.
Gyan ki baarish hoti hai is group mein!
I now proudly wear my Adobe India Runners Named t-shirt, and it gives me the same sense of belongingness as my School Football jersey once gave me.
The running journey with AIR has brought me some distance - from finishing the first 5K in 45 minutes, to be able to run 10K in just under an hour, and then attending the work-day in office.
Yes, I can now run 10K in the morning, and still, be able to enjoy the rest of the day in the office!
I do Calisthenics and Yoga on non-running days, sometimes I cycle, and I love doing these all as well.
But when it comes to running - the sense of childhood love comes back.
And thanks to AIR, this love stays nourished, protected, flourishing and growing.
So if someone says they don't have time to run with the team on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or weekends, they can think about one other mode of being in the team: Staying connected, Virtually.
As I said earlier, Gyan ki baarish hoti hai is group mein!
Special mention: the Captain!
An older post on the running journey with AIR:
https://potterperception.blogspot.com/2018/10/2018-running-journey-with-adobe-india.html
I always had a very strong emotion attached to running - being able to run, feel the wind on my face, travel some distance on my own feet.
Sometimes cherishing the curious look on the face of on-lookers, sometimes just huffing and puffing, and yet feeling the strength in my lungs.
Right through my school to college years, I kept running in some form or other.
Sadly, the regular running was taken away from me when I started my IT Career 7 years ago.
Busy schedules, odd working hours, sheer laziness, no motivation. There were some running spurs on and off, but with too many gaps in between.
When I joined Adobe in 2015, for the next couple of years, I didn't have much idea about the running community here.
Come Yoga Day celebration in June 2018, and the Run organized by AIR (Adobe India Runners): all of a sudden, I was seeing Adobe in a very different light.
A lot of faces I had seen regularly in the cafeteria, were running 5k and 10k, and then comfortably attending the office!
I wanted to do that! I wanted to practice with these runners, I wanted to 'schedule my weekends' to run with the best!
But alas, again the same old excuses of working weekend shifts, travel plans, house chores, etc started to come in the way.
That's when I decided to stay in touch with the community virtually.
After all, we are a technology company: I could stay connected and keep myself motivated even if I wasn't physically meeting these champions, right?
And the ever-so-active WhatsApp group, friends from the same group in the Strava feed, the Sharepoint: all of these became the window of the community for me.
The count of messages grew whenever there was an event coming up, and seeing that, so did my excitement.
I did join the team for a couple of events (Global Energy Race, ADHM'18), and the runners made me feel right at home.
Even without running in practice sessions with them, I was a part of the team AIR.
There were some events I missed since I wasn't in NCR on those weekends (family events in hometown).
And yet, I ran similar distances wherever I was, logging the distance on Strava.
All the knowledge and motivation I needed, it was there on the WhatsApp group.
The discussion on shoes, on breathing techniques, on keeping one-self injury free, it was all there for the taking.
Gyan ki baarish hoti hai is group mein!
The running journey with AIR has brought me some distance - from finishing the first 5K in 45 minutes, to be able to run 10K in just under an hour, and then attending the work-day in office.
Yes, I can now run 10K in the morning, and still, be able to enjoy the rest of the day in the office!
I do Calisthenics and Yoga on non-running days, sometimes I cycle, and I love doing these all as well.
But when it comes to running - the sense of childhood love comes back.
And thanks to AIR, this love stays nourished, protected, flourishing and growing.
So if someone says they don't have time to run with the team on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or weekends, they can think about one other mode of being in the team: Staying connected, Virtually.
As I said earlier, Gyan ki baarish hoti hai is group mein!
Special mention: the Captain!
An older post on the running journey with AIR:
https://potterperception.blogspot.com/2018/10/2018-running-journey-with-adobe-india.html
Keep it up
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