Running: A Metaphor for Life
This is not a technical post. If you came here looking for databases or systems internals, feel free to skip this one. I’ll be back with those soon. This is a personal piece about running and some things it reminded me about life.
I started running as a habit in 2023. Since then I would try to go for a run once in a while. Never consistent enough to call myself a runner, but enough to know I liked it.
My last decent month was June 2025, where I clocked 41km. After that it was a continuous downhill. Once a month for the next few months, and finally a complete stop in November 2025.
The reasons were the usual ones. Work took most of my time. I was looking to switch jobs and the pressure of preparation meant I couldn’t take out the time to go for a run. I gained a few more kilos, and the less I ran, the higher the inertia to step out for even a single run. Even after work settled, I started finding new reasons. Someday it’s too hot or I don’t feel at my best and maybe I should start on a more apt day.
On Sunday evening today, out of excuses, I finally stepped out for a run.
While running I was reminded of things I had realised over the course of my runs. Observations that work as-is for almost any circumstance in life. These are not expert advice. Just things I noticed that helped me keep going when it was tough.
I am writing this as a reminder to myself and to anyone who might need it right now. Maybe you are trying to pick up a new skill and don’t know where to begin. Maybe you are collecting yourself after a setback at work, or dealing with something harder like a layoff. Maybe you just feel stuck and are waiting for the right day to start again. I have been in some of those places, and I won’t pretend a blog post about running fixes any of it. But these are the things that helped me step out the door when I had every reason not to.
Focus on Breathing
When I started the run today, I was almost immediately out of breath. My body was far from tired, but the run started to feel exhausting because I couldn’t breathe properly.
When I first started running back in 2023, I would try to go hard right from the start. I would be unable to continue after a few hundred metres. Running slow didn’t seem like running back then. But breathing is the foundation of running. Getting into a good breathing rhythm lays the groundwork for everything else. The pace, the distance, the endurance. Without it, nothing works.
The same applies elsewhere. When you’re starting something new, a job, a project, a skill, the instinct is to go all in from day one. But if you skip the foundations, you burn out before you get anywhere. Build the base first. The speed would come later.
Don’t Compare to Your Older Self
My run today was very different from how it used to be. I was panting at a shorter distance, had to bring my pace down a lot, and my knees were hurting.
It’s only natural. We won’t resume after a break from the same place we left off. Accept this and just start. You are still starting from a better place than when you started the first time. You already know what to expect, you know the route, you know the feeling. And even if somehow you’re not, after a point, where you are headed matters more than where you started from.
Find Your Rhythm and Don’t Try to Outpace Others
When I started running a few years back once I got past the initial misery, got my breathing under control, and made peace with my pace, I started to notice other runners around me.
I could always find someone crossing me. And every time, I would be tempted to outpace them. I would try to run faster, cross them, and most of the time run out of gas only for them to cross me again later. I would question what I got from this futile attempt. I disturbed my rhythm, got tired early, couldn’t complete my planned run.
It took me a while to learn this. Your rhythm is yours. Someone else’s pace is built on their training, their body, their history. Matching it doesn’t make you faster. It just makes you tired. Run your own race.
Look Up and Around When You’re Tired
On longer runs, I would get tired and while pushing myself, my form would go completely wrong. Shoulders hanging, head facing downward, eyes locked on the ground two feet ahead.
It feels like the right thing to do. Tunnel vision, just focus on the next step. But it’s actually counterproductive. You burn more energy when you break form. Your breathing gets shallower, your stride shortens and everything gets harder.
Lift your head up. Correct your form. Look around. You’ll notice that the park is actually beautiful, that there are other people grinding through their own runs, that you have covered more distance than you thought.
When things get tough, at work, in life, the instinct is to put your head down and power through. Sometimes that’s necessary. But when you have been doing it for too long, it helps to lift your head, take stock of where you are, and correct course before you burn out.
Take Breaks. It’s Not a Sign of Weakness
Which brings me to this: take a break instead of breaking form.
I used to think stopping during a run meant I failed. That the run only “counted” if it was continuous. But taking a break helps you get your breath in order, reassess how far you can go, and collect your thoughts.
A 30-second walk break in the middle of a 10km run doesn’t make the 10km less real. It makes the remaining kilometres better. The same is true for work. Pushing through exhaustion doesn’t make you more productive. It makes your output worse and your recovery longer.
Check Your Footing, Especially When Tired or Eager for Results
If I set out for a 10km or 15km run, towards the end I would just be focused on getting to the milestone. My pace would pick up, I’d get reckless, and I’d stop paying attention to the ground beneath me. But often that’s exactly when I’d misstep or twist my ankle.
Always check your footing. Do not rush to get the result. A mistake here costs you more than the few seconds you were trying to save. One twisted ankle can set you back weeks.
The parallel is obvious. When you’re close to finishing a project, close to shipping, close to a deadline, that’s when mistakes happen. The eagerness to be done makes you careless. Slow down at the finish. Review your work. A bug shipped in haste costs more than a day’s delay.
Always Remember to Smile
And most importantly, enjoy the run.
It’s tough to enjoy when your body is aching, or others seem to be going faster, or you have to start all over again. But smile, because you made a good decision stepping out that door. Be happy you are challenging yourself. Most people are still on the couch making the same excuses you almost made.
And there’s something else. When you smile through the grind, it’s contagious. Let others be motivated when they see you smiling through it. You don’t know who’s watching and thinking, maybe I should start too.
I don’t know if I will be consistent this time. I have restarted enough times to know that promises to myself about running streaks don’t hold up well. But I do know that every time I step out, I come back with a clearer head and a reminder that most hard things follow the same pattern. The start is rough, the middle is where you find your rhythm, and the end is about not getting careless.
If you have been waiting for the perfect day to start something, it’s probably not coming. Today is fine. Your pace will be slow, your breathing will be off, and you’ll wonder why you waited so long.
That’s exactly how it’s supposed to feel.