I chanced upon a note at the back of my address book...
Jan 2007... Wt: 60K, Goals: 50K and Run: 5Km by December
Wow, that was 5 years ago already... I don't think I achieved my goals then and my weight is still pegged at 60K now. But I remember that I started walking then, and that my dream was to join a Milo 5K Run, but I got distracted and my goals were pushed at the back of my mind. But I remember that I would walk or jog every now and then when I had the time or the motivation. Then in 2010, I was diagnosed with hypertension and my doctor advised me to exercise at least 150 minutes per week. I decided that walking is what I enjoy doing, so I started with that again, 30 minutes every weekday. I would walk from the house along the main road of our village, then after 15 minutes I'd turn and walk back home.
Much as I enjoy walking, I figured I would lose weight faster if I put in more effort, like jogging... so I started to walk/jog on my daily 30 minute-exercise.
Then my 30 mins increased to 40, and soon I wasn't minding the time... and I was able to run more than walk... thinking of my 5K goal. Soon after that, I had the chance of joining a couple of 5K fun runs. Goal achieved, next goal: 10K. I slowly increased my distance from 5K to 6, to 8, and then I decided to join a 10K run. And so for the 36th Milo Metro Manila Eliminations, I registered for 10K.
July 29, 2012, 5:00AM was the gun start for the Milo 10K run. My brother and I arrived at MOA before that and saw the 21K runners already off as they had an earlier gun start. We made our way to the starting line and tried to get as up front as we could... there were hundreds of us waiting and watching the countdown on the large screen in front. I was excited... this was my dream.
I was a bit disappointed with my run though... I know I could have done better. 1 hour and 23 minutes. My legs were itching from the mosquito bites I got days before. I felt like I was just plodding on, trying to keep my pace regular. I knew I was a bit behind my goal time when I reached the 5K mark at 41 minutes. But I'm happy that I finished way ahead of the cutoff time of 1 hour and 30 minutes. Next time I know I'll do better... maybe even do a longer run, a half marathon or a full one... hmmmm.
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| My brother Benjie |
Pictures courtesy of Photovendo.
