Dear Caesurians,

We are often stuck in the middle of the week without any idea where it is going. We spend Monday and Tuesday still missing Saturday and Sunday. We arrive to Wednesday with the hope for Friday’s evening. Around Wednesday and Thursday we actually get the job done. But in those hours between Tuesday and Wednesday we wonder around, not willing to embrace the week that started without our approval and not yet ready to give up weekend that ended without our consent.

So here I am, Adil, writing this newsletter on Tuesday, stuck somewhere between, half in the past Sunday, half in the coming Friday, not really being present and thinking about everything, everywhere and all at once. The life is sometimes just like that — a waiting room, where we do not really want to be, but it feels like a waste to leave it now.

The duality of feeling stuck and not wanting to do anything, and at the same time wanting to do something is one of many conflictual forces that constitute mine, and yours, a kind Caesura reader, everyday hustle.

Thank you for being here today ❤️.

👟 I Started Running 2 Years Ago

Yet something was different that evening. Around 6.30PM I took the tram number 6. Street lights have been slowly turning on, but the dark has not yet consumed the city. 

I was staying inside the tram, looking out the window, seeing people walking, getting out from offices, going for dinner or traveling home. 

Cafes were attending to early visitors, Starbuckses full of latte grande laptopers, local coffee shops full of fragrant espressos served for people seeking extra shots for after work hours.

The city was stuck somewhere between evening and night. Yellow color was giving streets a warm glow, turning cafes under trees into charming oases calling you to hide away.

I checked the date on my phone and realized that it was exactly two years since I started running. On the 25th day of the month of October, the year of 2020, in the heart of pandemic lockdowns, around 7.36PM in the evening, Central European Time, I was laying on my couch in my old apartment. Then something just hit my mind and I thought, “wanna go for a run?”

“Why not?”, I said.

Just like that. There was no planning and I had not seen this coming. I am the person who always hated running, especially in school years. I never have ran longer than 5 minutes in my life before. Just like that, a thought came to my mind, and I decided to see where it will lead me.

I installed Nike Running app, downloaded a guided run, dressed in some ugly form of sportswear and whatever “sports” shoes I had at the time and went out. I decided I want to enjoy the riverside view and went to Elisabeth bridge, or the white bridge, as I call it.

I had a really tough sweaty run of around 1.9 km, feeling the heavy weight of my body crashing over the hard surface, legs getting weaker, heart jumping out of my chest, breathing through mouth like a dog and consuming large amount of cold air in a chilly night. Yet, I survived that run, without stopping, making a full circle and that surprised me. I did not make a bet on myself and turns out I should.

Looking back at that moment now, I empathize with my past self. It takes a lot of mental effort to start something new. In my case, ignorance was a bliss and I was pretty ignorant and sometimes dumb. I enjoyed running and just went for it, not really thinking about any other aspects of running, like how to dress properly, what is correct technique, what is good warm up, what is the right breathing technique, what are tactics and strategies to run longer and easier.

Over 2 years, my running journey had ups and downs and I gathered some experience that I can share with you, a kind reader. 

If you ever decide to go for running — please do. Just go for it and enjoy. Do not think about goals, or your athleticism, body or anything else. Just go for a run and see what it has to offer — and then you can decide if this is something you like or not.

If you do like it and want to explore it more, then I can give a bit of advices — not professional running or running-related health advice, as you should seek out those from certified experts. Rather, some general guide on what can help you, and has helped me, to enjoy my runs and be consistent with them when I just started.

  1. Start slow. Really, start slow. The start of your run should be the slowest possible tempo over the whole course of the run. Slowly, but naturally, your body will increase the speed once it adjusts to the act of moving legs quickly. But to run stronger and longer, you have to let the body, as well as the mind, to adjust. Save your energy for later, when in the middle of the run you will eventually get tired. Do not burn fast in the start, manage your pace, your breathing, your thinking, your expectations — put everything in slow motion. And do not compare yourself to other runners who are already outrunning you — everyone has own journey and it quite might be a dude is preping for a marathon.

  2. Run with a view. One thing that kept me consistent with running is the view I enjoyed during each of my runs. Despite the riverside being windier and colder than the inner city, I enjoyed running there because the view was inspiring. The kind of view when you think about life and feel that you are doing something really meaningful and important for yourself. Feel that this city, and this river, for this short period, is your running playground and yours only. Being able to look back and see all the ground you just covered and being amazed that you could actually do it is another thing that helped to keep getting back to running. If you do not have any views, run to explore your city and see the places you never been before.

  3. Music is a lifesaver. Hip-hop was my pain killer, energy booster and personal soundtrack to all of my runs. It is amazing the extent to which a run becomes much more joyful, brighter and energetic when it aligns with the beat in your headphones. When I did not want to run, I thought about my favorite albums and playlists I get to re-listen because I always wondered how my favorite songs will sound during a run. Nike Running app gives you the ability to name each of your runs, and in the first few months, I named runs after albums I listened during running. That was my way of making runs memorable and unique.

  4. Invest in running shoes. You will save yourself from pain and injuries, and in general will keep your legs safer and healthier if you invest in a good pair of running shoes. When I started running I never thought I will get injured because I never expected that I will be consistently running every other day and never thought you can get injured unless you are running marathons (dumb). But you can and you will if you do not take care of your legs. Study the surface you planning to run on — is it a concrete, grass, trail, special running surface (which is usually much softer than any other surface) or road? Then go to sports store and talk to specialists to understand what kind of shoes you need — and there are many of those types. I did not, and after several months I got injured and could not run without getting a pain, not fully understanding why, until I researched the shit out of all running traumas and eventually bought myself a high quality pairs of running shoes.

  5. Focus on enjoyment. You are too early in your running journey and you do not need to set any goals and expectations or learn special techniques or strategies. Focus on making your runs joyful, which in turn, will make you want to comeback to them — and that’s how you develop consistency. Creating a safe mental environment around your runs, where you can be physically active but mentally relaxed is a good start. Nike Running apps have time or distance-based audio guided runs and they helped me a lot in the beginning, making my runs meaningful, engaging and making me understand the value of those runs. I eventually stopped using them because over time you develop your own mental system of checks and balances, but every once a while I go for a run with an audio guide. Running with audio guide is like having a coach and friend running next to you.

But it is much better when you are your own coach and friend.

My first ever running route: from Elisabeth Bridge (white bridge on the photo) to Chain Bridge (the next one) and back. Photo is by Dan Novac.

✍️ Quote of the Week

The mind is alive when it is flexible and adaptable. It can be updated, take new form, endure change.

The mind is dead when it is fixed and immovable. It cannot absorb new ideas or thoughts. It is stiff and brittle.

When we lose our ability to adapt, to move with the environment, to tolerate new beliefs and reshape our old ones, our mind is at risk of becoming outdated. The fixed mind becomes a relic.

By James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits.