Imagine intentionally losing a hunky muscular body in college (the body that girls go crazy about)! While people mostly do it because they find some excuse to not go to the gym, very few people do it out of choice. And shedding the muscle mass and those chests and biceps for a marathon or half marathon might get you the tagged as a mindless person or something on similar terms. However, life is all about what you feel about yourself, and not about what others opine about you.
That’s exactly what Tarun Walecha did. He had got a great looking body in college but realized having an overtly muscular body does not necessarily translate to being fit. However, he has always been into fitness. He was into judo, table tennis, cricket, etc. in school but missed it due to college. So, after a few years, he realized he needed to get back to sports and that’s how he got into the gym. There was no vision behind that.
He then switched to running and currently he is the Pinkathon ambassador and a part of Super Sikh Run squad, along with a marathon runner.
Tarun says running is not just a sport, it is more of a lifestyle and at the end of the day, one should ensure that one does not lose the fun of running.
He was conned into running
Tarun’s running journey started after he was conned into it by a buddy. One day after an Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, Tarun’s friend showed him his medal while they were out drinking. Tarun says he had no idea that every finisher gets a medal and he felt his friend had finished on the podium. He then decided to do the same. In 2011, he signed up for his 1st marathon.
‘Running with 2 bodies’
When Tarun got into running, his friends and fellow runners made fun of him saying he was running with 2 bodies. It was then that he decided to lose his gym body and shed about 9 kgs. He says running has also been about realization. He says he now feels he is fitter than what he was while doing gym.
Struggles Lead to Evolution
Tarun’s struggles in running have been more about evolution. When he started running there were not many people running and there was hardly any enthusiasm either. There used to be just 1 ADHM. For the first 3 years, the only thing he did was 3 ADHM. There was nothing happening. Now there is an event happening every weekend.
He says nobody knew about things. There were no markers during the races but now there’s far more awareness.
Tarun Was Taunted To Better His Run
Tarun completed his first half marathon in 2 hours and 46 mins. He was thrilled and felt like ‘a boss’. Moments later a lady older than him taunted him by saying she had taken less time than him and the high flying Tarun was back on the ground. He then started learning and evolving.
He later started a running group to help other learners and guide them because he had nothing when he started but didn’t want others to feel the same.
‘I have 4 hours more than person waking up at 8:30’
Tarun sleeps at around 10-10:30 in the night and wakes up by 4:30 am, He goes for a run and by 8-8:30 he is done with training and everything else. Someone who wakes up late, they have less time. Tarun says, “I have got 4 more hours than a person waking up at 8:30.” He says it’s about what you want and prioritizing those things.
He urges his friends to catch up on breakfast rather than after dinner. He claims you have time to kill and want to distract yourself that’s why you meet friends and he gets these things while running.
Training
He has a fixed training schedule and sticks to it. If he to hit the gym on a particular day, he directly goes to the office from there to save time. By the time people are just waking up, he has already spent 5 hours of his day doing something productive.
Tarun says earlier things were taught less technically and scientifically. From just under 3 hours he completed the race in 1 hour and 38 minutes in 2018.
He says every minute is critical and keeps reading and analyzing what he is doing to ensure he improves every time he wears his running shoes.
Diet
Tarun says it’s vital to realize how critical things are, especially with age. As a runner, you need specific nutrition. You need to take care of the intake of protein, carbs, etc. Your muscles react differently to different things at different ages. You cannot monitor those things through diet and that’s where Fast and Up came to play in his life.
Fast&Up
He says Fast&Up helped him meet his elementary and critical needs. Tarun feels 90 percent of running-related issues arise because of a lack of hydration amongst runners.
He has always credited Fast&Up for his evolution as a runner. He uses Fast&Up recharge, immunity, and multi-vitamins.
Suggestion for budding runners
Tarun suggests it’s important to go back to basics and that’s exactly what he advises the budding runners, who look up to him for inspiration.
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