Once an athlete... always an athlete?!

I was an athlete………. a decade ago or maybe more.? Too bad I stopped! I was a tennis and volleyball player. I started playing tennis in 5th grade and I underwent a lot of rigorous training and joined different tournaments. At that time, Andre Agassi was my idol and I bought the same tennis gear as his.. I had a western grip, too. I loved him to bits, and felt that tennis was my life. For some reason, I stopped. Well, life changes. Maybe my focus diverted in just one snap. I dunno how the hell I lost it, but it sure is a waste. I formed a tennis club in my Alma Mater, Immaculate Conception Academy (Greenhills) and it is still existent up to this day. On volleyball, I started in 7th grade and was part of the intramural in ICA up until my senior year. I was used to being the player and didn’t experience being part of the audience to cheer aloud and clap. You really cannot imagine how sporty I was back then, if you compare it to how I am at present.

I’ve come to realize….. I lost the athlete in me ..UNTIL NOW. So I started to try running. It’s surely not easy to be back in sports. All of my muscles have relaxed much and I think my knees buckled up. hahaha. Can I consider myself old at 31? NOT! I really am not a jogger - even before. I started only a week before the first run I ever joined, which was last April 18, 2010 at the Mall of Asia. It was for NatGeo Earth Day, and it was a successful event. I was really amazed with the 10k runners. I gotten inspired seeing them all in black shirts running like pros. As an amateur, I joined the 3k. It was already very exhausting, for I couldn’t gauge what a 3000 meter distance was until I experienced it myself. I practically pushed myself to brisk walk and jog in intervals! I didn’t wanna look like a disgrace. To finish that run was my only goal, and I sure was glad to have survived it.

Second run…tan-tararan! Tagaytay Highlands-Mizuno run yesterday, April 25. It was at the Saratoga Hills area in Midlands. Challenging it was! There were slopes and curves that brought me to complete exhaustion, but nevertheless I carried on. The sun was also glaring on us and that made me slow down in different points. Well, I was in the 70th place for the 3k category (well, I hope I saw it correct). I was at least part of the first half of the 3k runners who finished that race. Truly a surreal experience! I just hope I can move on to 5k soon.

I will run more. I have to. It is like a new turnaround in life. You feel renewed. It makes me endearingly functional and complete, especially when you reach the finish line. It just sinks in that everyone is a winner.

Good luck to me. I am inspired.