Monday, October 15, 2018

Kip Accomplishments, October 2018 Edition

Shyam Biswal is a new Coach Kiprunning trainee who has had a stellar year, dramatically increasing his marathon PR while looking forward to his ultimate goal: finishing the 50 States Marathn Challenge and the Abbott World Marathon Majors (races in Chicago, New York, Boston, Berlin, Tokyo, and London).  He just completed the 2018 Chicago Marathon.

Shyam recently offered us his thoughts about running, and we are happy to share them with you today.

Coach Kiprunning: What inspired you to start running?

Shyam Biswal: My father had a stroke at an early age of 54, and he struggled to function normally after the stroke for rest of his life. I was a heavy smoker during my college years, and it worried me a lot after quitting that if my father got a stroke as a non-smoker, it could happen to me as well.

Furthermore, I am at a high risk for heart disease. With age, I developed prediabetes and hypertension.

I got into running initially with the belief that other healthy behaviors, such as clean eating, would follow so that I could restore my health

Shyam Biswal holding a finisher's medal at the 2018 Chicago Marathon

CK: What does running mean to you in your life?

SB: As I turned 50, running has been my greatest passion. It makes me happy, and it keeps me focused, disciplined, and positive. It reduces stress and improves brain activities.

CK: How has running changed your life?

SB: Running, particularly training for a full marathon and then completing the race, has taught me a lot about myself. On the health front, I have been able to reverse my obesity, prediabetes, hypertension, and many parameters related to blood lipids that could have increased the risk of heart disease. I no longer need medicines for hypertension and glucose control.

CK: What challenges are you going through?

SB: I am very focused on improving my running. I switched to a vegan diet and quit drinking alcohol for more than a year ago to improve my performance. I lost a lot of weight, and my BMI came down to a normal level and has now plateaued for the last several months.

I believe to perform better and remain injury free, I will need to lose additional weight. As a vegan, I feel much better and am more energetic than before, and I believe that the weight loss challenge will also work out.

Running has taught me a lot about myself. The excitement to break new boundaries and to challenge myself has been my greatest motivation.

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