I was never a fan of running or jogging. I remember when I was in my tertiary, I used to jog with my cousins as preparation to the upcoming basketball league that time and we made it a habit to run every morning weeks before the opening of the tournament. I ran twice.
I hate it the most when I push myself to wake up early in the morning which is the best time to exercise. I find it boring running in a circular motion in a subdivision full of grasses, trees and old people trying to stay in shape in their prime. Its not a good view, it never was. Usually, I don't push myself in doing thing I don't like. In short, running was not in my heart.
When I started working in an office-type institution, I gained a lot of weight because of the lifestyle-change brought about by my new environment. I lost time to play my life-defining sports, basketball. And imagine, your 8-hour stay inside your 4-walled office doing things that requires minimum body movement (except sweeping the floor and other household stuff that you do) like typing, answering the phone, meeting with co-leagues, printing, chatting and the likes.
Before, I ignore the weight-gain that I've experienced and keep on telling myself that "I am not fat, I was just skinny before." Until I've joined the 4th season of our annual, basketball tournament. I was not the same me when I stepped inside the playing court. It was then that I realized I had to do something to get me back in shape especially now that we have a strong chance to be in the finals.
Then I decided to run (and eat less). On the first day, I had a hard time waking up 5am in the morning. But I persisted. I choose to run inside a subdivision (the same subdivision I used to run with my cousin) near our place and I found it hard to run a 2 and a half minute of 1 full lap. I was breathing hard through my mouth on my 2nd lap. To sum up, I ran for 6 laps, with 1 minute rest every 2 laps. I did the same routine on the 2nd and the 3rd day. I added another laps on the following days, each exceeding my laps on the previous.
I was on my second week of my jogging regime when I immediately feel lighter and I saw my cheeks and belly to be a little smaller than usual. Then that was the point that I decided to keep on doing this new-found endeavour, not only because of my plan to be back in my old basketball form, but to be physically fit and active in totality. I was now falling in love with the sports.
I kept on running for 3 straight weeks, resting only on Sundays. Step by step, I was playing basketball like I did before, though this time, I focused on defending the best player of the opposing team since I believe that this will be an integral nucleus in winning the title. Like the basketball cliche that a championship coach said, "offense wins ball games, but defense wins championship." I was able to run with my the player whom I am guarding, moving freely, either moving to the left or right, switching directions with ease. I credit this to my cardio-exercise, jogging.
Then came a time when my best bud posted "Hyundai Run for a Cause" on my wall. It was a great news, to run for a cause (I chose Community Development) is a challenge I want to take to measure my skill (and future) in my new sports. I had a hard time registering since many people are trying to register as well because the fun run is for free, but when I did, I decided to run harder than before. I was running for 20 minutes, resting and running again for another 5. I kept this pace for a few days then decided to hurdle longer.
My feet and legs are tired, feeling pain and stiffness. Then, I was able to read a qoute about jogging, "when your feet hurts, run using your heart." This was a very meaningful message to me and now serves as my motto for running. That was when I decided to pursue this sports, for I think, what I lack in physical strength, I can cover it with hard work, perseverance and the will to finish what I started. With this attitude, I can now run for 40 minutes in just 3 weeks of pursuing this journey.
I fell in love in the sports. It was a good feeling knowing that you are able to outlast your previous run and that your perseverance has been fruitful. I think that this is the one sports that I can excel on, because running only requires your time, effort, a running shoes and an untiring heart to propel you towards greatness. Unlike in basketball, you have to have good teammates, jump high, run fast, shoot the ball with accuracy, pass the ball timely, receive good breaks from the refs, defend hard, score at will, and on and on. But I will not leave the sports that I used to call, "My Life" since the only reason why I tried jogging is because of my unending love for basketball. I am happy that this two sports coincides, like most sportsman believes in, "to excel in one sports, you must have another one that will serve as your cross-training."
Basketball has taught me to be a team player; running has taught me self-discipline. Basketball showed me the importance of sharing; running showed me the importance of enduring. Both sports taught me to love and appreciate life, and the faith that I can conquer all obstacles that's obscuring my path towards greatness.
No comments:
Post a Comment