Sasmita: 49-year-old Marathon Runner's Mantra for Motivation

Finding it difficult to motivate yourself to work out every day? You might want to listen to what Sasmita has to say.

A 49-year-old runner, a mother, who works as an SAP consultant at TATA Power, started running only recently and has already won marathons even after undergoing an elaborate surgery. A part of the LiveStrongFitness community, she is one of the top-performing members across SocialBoat communities. Sasmita calls herself a self-motivator. You might want to find out her mantra of life. Read on to know everything about her fitness journey and goals.

"Every day one hour of running or any physical activity is a must, otherwise what even is life? If I cannot take out one hour for myself, there is no meaning to anything."

Sasmita is a fitness freak who discovered her passion for fitness a little late in life. And when she did, she was faced with another life-threatening situation. After undergoing successful surgery, running again seemed like a distant possibility.

Despite all odds, and with a will made of steel, she kept working towards her goals. It took her almost a year after the surgery to regain her upper-body strength and resume her running.

Finally, she prepared herself for a dream run of a full 42 km marathon by waking up at 3 a.m. in the morning. Everybody told her it wasn't a wise choice, but she was determined. She participated and crossed the finish line.

How did it start?

Sasmita traces the beginning of her fitness journey to two incidents-

1. Once when traveling to the US, at customs, she was faced with a situation where she had to lift her own luggage. She couldn't do it at first, and unlike in India, nobody helped her. After many attempts, finally, she could do it.

"But I realized that I need to make myself fitter and capable of carrying at least my own luggage."

2. Sasmita would always go for a walk, even before she discovered her passion for running. When she looked at people running, she thought she should also do it. Once she came across a marathon, but she asked the organizers if she could walk, rather than run. There were two categories- 4km and 10km.

"The organizers allowed me to walk but not in the 10km category, only 4km. It was because they thought that I wasn't fit enough. I knew I had to change that."

Sasmita then consulted the gym trainer in her society, who happened to be a marathon runner. She told him that she was a full-time employee and did all the housework, so didn't have much time on her hands. So she started working out in the morning. When she told him that she wanted to run, he pushed her irrespective of her concerns about what people would say.

"Initially, I would run 50 meters and then stop. My trainer told me to continue like that. Then gradually, with dedicated practice day by day, I progressed to 5k, 10k, half marathon, and finally full marathon."  

"I was so conscious first about what people would say. Now everyone comes to me to tell me how well I am doing and that they feel inspired. I share my progress through my WhatsApp status and my colleagues tell me that they will also start. When I don't share, they ask me if I was doing okay."

Where does Sasmita get the motivation from?

Sasmita tells us that she isn't attracted to the gym much but likes strength building.

"Running gives me peace. It has helped me get through the worst times in my life. So once the peace is there, motivation comes automatically."

Sasmita approaches running in an interesting way. She says that in a 21 km run, the run actually starts after the first 10 km.

"When my body starts getting tired, that's when I start enjoying myself."

She runs regularly 5 days a week and 2 days she walks. Sasmita wakes up at 5 a.m. in the morning and goes for a run. Then she leaves for her office at 7:30 and goes about her usual days.

"The morning routine I fixed, I cannot do anything before doing my physical exercise."

Sasmita and Fitness Challenges

Sasmita has been participating in group challenges for some time now.

"On days when I lack motivation, being a part of the community pushes me to achieve set targets."

Sasmita says that in fitness challenges, she sets her own personal goals in addition to the challenge's goals. For example, during SocialBoat’s '5K Calories Challenge,' she set a target to burn 7000 calories in 7 days instead of 5000.

In 2022, Sasmita hopes to take up one goal at a time and learn all the things that she wishes to without jumping at everything at once.

"I believe that if I am working towards something I can do it."

For more such inspiring stories, visit SocailBoat.