The Lady in Red...

A friend had posted her photo on FB. She looked like an ordinary Indian Mom. The kind you see everyday at Shivaji Park - wearing a simple saree and sensible pair of shoes getting their exercise in. Mostly you see them at the katta, catching up with their friends. But this one was different.. She was running the Mumbai Marathon.

Her gear was unfussy like her . No Nike shoes, sweat bands, special T-Shirts made of space age wicking materials. She wore a red saree. The kind that is comfortable, most probably cotton . She wore normal running shoes. She came to run and that's what she did...

I am amazed, inspired and humbled by this lady. It would have taken so much perseverence to continue running in Mumbai - with it's weather, it's traffic, with the demands it's hectic life makes on everyone's schedule. To maintain a regular running practice that would enable a person to run a marathon requires a level of commitment a few of us can manage. Add her age and it becomes a feat that is laudable indeed.

She made me think of all the excuses that I come up with - the weather, my feet, my gear, the loud noises my treadmill makes and I realised that all that is nothing but fluff. I don't really need the weather to be just right or my clothes or my body. I just need to make my mind and do it.

So I am going to make her my inspiration and strive to workout everday.. Just show up on the mat every day and do the best that I can.

When I am her age, I hope to be as healthy and run with the same spirit.

Pic courtesy : NIKS DK Photography.