A Sprinter’s Meditative Experience

Lavanya Raghuraman

ON YOUR MARK… GET…SET…

The heart beat rises
Ears become so sensitive to the slightest sound as the whistle would be blown any millisecond from the word ‘SET’
Sprinters with their backs bent, Knees positioned , fingers on the crease
That’s a sexy sight to watch as well as experience.

You slightly look up, see the tidy and calm muddy tracks waiting to be clouded with the dust from the thuds of the feet
The bends of the tracks gracefully carved in white on the ground and
FWEEEEE , the whistle is blown

That adrenaline rush , oh!!! that adrenaline rush when you start running
Every thing becomes silent except
the sound of the heart beat pounding your ears,
the voice inside pushing you to run faster and faster

You accelerate your pace further
and  gradually the rhythm sets in.You become aware of the noises around,the whole ground witnessing the race and the crowd roaring the names of their favorite sprinters.

You suddenly realize your name is in the air in unison
The energy gains mileage manifold
You run faster
You are close
So close to the finish line…
You did it
Yes ..You just did it!!!

Is it not an elated experience?

I would like to share my own experience as an athlete in school. I was a very active sportsperson. I played both indoor and outdoor games with so much passion.

We had this 400 meters race . There was a girl in school who was a jet speed sprinter and she always bagged the gold medal no matter what. That day, I was one among the sprinters. I knew she was my competitor and my chances of finishing the race first was bleak. She did not seem to be in great spirit because she had received her Maths answer sheet and she had scored  80% . 80/100 is considered a bad score for a first rank holder by the way :).  It had a huge impact on her.  Her mind was cluttered .

So, there we were on the start line with our hands on the marks. The whistle was blown..

As always, She had a huge leap in terms of the distance covered but within a 100 meters , i  had overtaken her by a few yards. I could not believe it at all .

Suddenly, the cheers were for me. It helped me accelerate my pace even more  It paid off. I enjoyed every moment of the race after that.  I won the 400 meters race while she came second.

How and why did this happen?

A girl with excellent stamina and a track record of ‘all wins and no losses’ had not emptied her mind  that day. She kept running  with her mind elsewhere. It weighed down on her.

On the other hand,  there I was, with my mind focused and goal set although my stamina was not as great as hers. On a lighter note, My maths answer sheet was awaiting to reach me ,post lunch . I was a horrible student when it came to Mathematics anyway .

It was a deep learning experience for me .

Mind is such a powerful companion given to each one of us. The thoughts we feed in or filter out , either accentuates our physical and mental will to better ourselves or derail us from the path by draining us down . It can toggle either ways based on how the switch operates.

Who operates the switch by the way?

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Lavanya Raghuraman

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