Picture me: about 39 years old, didn’t do much sports throughout my life, perhaps a few football games, squash or tennis with friends. Did start a bit of strength training in 2019 and some results are visible, but nothing spectacular.

I loved the idea of hikes and nature, but the idea of going for a 4 hour hike appalled me.

I loved the idea of looking good, but the idea of the pulling weights at the gym also discouraged me.

I loved the idea of staying healthy, but the idea of running every day seemed not only counter-productive but also contrary to what I have been raised to believe: “one should not run after buses and women, there will always be another”. I extrapolated that to “one should not run”. Smart, right?

But I always had this idea on the back of my mind that I want to be healthy, full of energy and fit.

My first contact with “fit”

On a sunny day of August 27th, 2007, I was visiting the Schönbrunn castle in Wien, Austria. Its gardens are beautiful, wide, green and big enough to not be crowded. I was pretty chubby and enjoying my stroll.

I didn’t think most of it back then, but the next time I visited it, on November 2014, something happened.

I noticed old people jogging. Very old people. To me, back then, I estimated they were at least 70 years old. I thought to myself “oh my, I couldn’t even keep up with these people” and “what does one do to be able to run at that age?”. I did conclude that I’m an sedentary IT person who missed the opportunity to be a fit person, and I should just accept it.

So I did.

The gadget

Fast forward to 2022, after coming back from a trip, I decided Apple Watch is no longer appealing for me, for two reasons.

One was the opportunity to disconnect a bit from technology, which came with my trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the streets of Ipanema and Copacabana, one does not flash their Apple Watch and not get a big chance to get in trouble.

Reason number two was that after I came back, the idea of having to charge my watch every day prevented it from picking it back up. So I started looking for another watch, as I love watches.

I remembered that a while back I was looking at watches that had tritium luminance, a radioactive luminescent substance that made some watches to glow in the dark for decades (half life of tritium is 12 years).

One of the watches that I really like for their simplicity and because they have tritium was, and still, is, the Nite MX10. Their big numbers, military style, high precision design feels like exactly what I want to wear for the foreseeable future. And they have the stainless steel version that I like so much…

But I didn’t yet order it before I had a trip to my home town in Romania.

The inspirational friend

In Romania, I was amazed how lean a friend of mine looked when I met him. I remember Alin T. being a bit more chubby normally, but when I say him slim fit, I was “What do you do to look that way, man?”.

“I started running” he said. “How? I got a Garmin Forerunner watch which helps keep track and behaves like a coach.”

When I asked “what’s the autonomy after a full battery load”, he said it’s 2 weeks. That’s 14 times more then the Apple Watch.

The seed was planted.

The watch

I started researching Garmin watches. I learned that they’re expensive and really tailored for athletes. Which is something I could only dream of becoming. I already told my wife that I will never be on the cover of any men magazines, meaning my abs will probably never be seen.

But I had the seed. 🌱

What if I could actually run on a regular basis, and start getting into shape. And more interestingly, keep in shape.

And feel healthy.

And feel good. Feel energetic.

And look amazing.

What if?

After some research, including trying out a Garmin Fenix 7 watch which felt a bit too heavy on my wrist to have it all day, every day and night, I tried Alin’s Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar.

The Forerunner 955 is made of plastic, and doesn’t have a very colorful display. But it’s so light that you don’t even feel it on your hand. And it has solar charging (which doesn’t do that much difference, but it does help).

Next step, watch all the reviews I can find on YouTube. Learn what it can do, and what it can’t. What people love about it, and what not. Apparently, it was my best bet.

So I decided to buy it.

My problem? Where to get it from?

I cannot order it as I was on an Europe road trip and would not stay more than a few days in one place. So my only option was to find it at a store that had it on stock.

No shops in Timisoara had it. Then I left for Macedonia, one night in Skopje.

Went to the Garmin Showroom Skopje, and… they didn’t have it.

Then Thessaloniki, Grece. Made a list of shops, went to each of them.

Until, victory! Oroloi & Kosmima shop had it on stock. And it was not even a sports shop, but a jewelry and watches shop. Left the shop €650 lighter, but 100% happier with my brand new Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar Black.

Ok, now I have the watch, what’s next?

The shoes

A long-time athlete friend tipped me that (1) running shoes are very important, get a running-designed pair, and (2) get 2 sized bigger than what I usually wear.

Just a day later, went to a shop and go my first ever pair of running shoes, a €60 Asics.

Now I have everything. What’s next?

How do I start running?

A bit of researching online led me to a 7-videos series from Global Triathlon Network called Couch to 5K.

As I knew about nobody from the running industry, Global Triathlon Network sounded pretty authoritative. So I went with it and watched a few of the videos. What it promises is that you can go from couch-potato to running 5K in 30 minutes in just 8 weeks.

The strategy is to alternate walking and light running, meaning jogging, with more walking and less jugging at the beginning, and gradually do less walking and more jogging towards the end of the program, until one can do just one round of 30 minutes running without dying on the sidewalk.

They had a running PDF plan (now 404), but definitely watch the videos, they’re loaded with running tips including form and common mistakes, which I, as a beginner, did plenty.

Let’s do it 🙌🏻

My first run was on August 24th, 2022, in Siviri, Greece, where I was just after Thesaloniki. I remember my first days, my hart was pounding all the way to 170-180 bpm from just a one or two minutes of light jogging.

It was “immediately horrible” (famous saying).

Even though it started with sessions of 60 seconds jog, those were very long 60 seconds.

The third day, was not that horrible, but still bad.

Second week, the same. I did enjoy jumping into the sea after a running session, even though I didn’t have a bathing suit. I was already all sweat so nothing bad could happen.

One of the weeks I repeated, since my travels prevented me from practicing, so I decided that if I cannot do my 3-times a week running drill, or the running seemed too hard for me, I would repeat that week.

After all, I didn’t have a race scheduled after 8 weeks. If it took me 12 weeks instead of 8, I would still take that as an absolute success over my full 38 years of “not running even after the bus” life.

Then, my first 30 minutes run was on November 1st. I ran 4.5 km in 30 minutes, no walking, just running.

It was just 499 meters short of 5K, but it was the seed of my dreams coming true. I could do it. It was all about determination, ambition and consistent training.

Next milestones

My first 10K I ran in one go was in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I remember almost passing out on the bed after coming home from my very first ever 10 km run. As Chiang Mai is a very busy city, I had to map out a track that went through hospital parking lots, police parking lots, parks and even an university campus.

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Then I finally felt good enough to sign up for races.

First race was a Timotion 10K in Timisoara in May 2023, where I aimed to do 10K in under one hour. Checked.

Then I aimed for a Discoveries Half Marathon in Lisbon, and managed to get all of the 21 kilometers in just under 2 hours. This is my biggest achievement to date.

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Tips and tricks

Some tips that I tried and which help me down the line in my very short running “career”.

1. Cadence. That’s the number of steps you make, per minute, while running. These have little to do with your speed, since your stride length can be longer or shorter. But after some research (YouTube videos and podcasts by runners), I decided to focus on 170 spm (steps per minute). It looks like professional runners that were in the top winners are running somewhere between 170 and 180 spm. For me, as I will probably never finish first, 170 is good enough.
2. Music. I discovered that listening to up-beat music while running makes all the difference. It’s uplifting, exhilarating and makes the whole experience fun and enjoyable. So I was thinking how can I have music and the cadence sync up. The result? Search for 170 BPM music. There are a few playlists on Spotify with 170 and 180 bpm songs, but my all-time-favorite is The Ultimate 170 BPM Training Album. Because it has no words, just light music to keep up the cadence.
3. Headphones. Running outside presents a risk. Cars, busses, trucks and even trains can cut short your running endeavors. Therefore I don’t want to impair my hearing with in-ear nor over-ear headphones. That’s when, in a random store in Malaysia, I found Shokz OpenRun, which have an “open-ear design, powered by bone conduction technology, allows for total awareness of surroundings and bud-free, comfortable listening.” Perfect for safe running.

What’s next?

I’m aiming at getting faster with my running, and currently not entirely sure if I want to train for a full marathon, but I am definitely going to run one marathon in my lifetime and one ultra-marathon as well. I think these are goals to strive for, even if I’m not goal-oriented.

Hopefully I managed to inspire you, so if you’re thinking about running, but don’t know where to start, perhaps now you have at least some pointers.