Taking It To The Next Level


From the Running Photographers FB page
To run in a marathon.

That’s one of the items in my “bucket list.” (A bucket list is a list of things I want to do before I “kick the bucket” or, in short, before I die.) But, like Carter Chambers (a.k.a. Morgan Freeman) in “The Bucket List” movie, I thought such a list was supposed to be philosophical, not literal.

But why make a list and not fulfill it at all?

The truth is, how could I run in a marathon when I was not really in shape? (I jokingly tell people I was actually in shape because round is a shape.) Seriously, I have hypertension and diabetes due a sedentary (read: unhealthy) lifestyle.
Picture taken last January 2013. Notice how fat I was.
Yes, I have been regularly taking my maintenance meds. But that’s only a fourth of what I’m supposed to do. There has to be diet modification, lifestyle change and… exercise. The latter is something I have doing on and off. More off than on.

Then our church, Capitol City Baptist Church, had a fun run recently as part of our fund drive for our building. While promoting in a church, I told them that if many of them would register, I would run the 10K. Guess how many registered? Clue: The church has a lot of runners.

So, I had to run. I had to prepare first. The more I crammed, the more I realized how I really needed to exercise. Knowing I was not prepared for a 10K run, I decided to scale down to 5K.
At the finish line with my wife, Ellen, who also ran the 5K.

So, last Saturday, November 9, 2013, I ran and finished the 5K in about an hour. Not bad for a newbie even if I was somewhere near the end of the line. It was fun. It felt good.
My running time. Gunstart was 00:15:00.


I knew then and there that I have to take this to the next level.

I still want to run that 10K. I have a promise to keep to that church.

I want in to run that marathon. I have a promise to keep to myself.

Tired but fulfilled. With other runners and Ellen.
I remember listening to Coach Jim “Biggest Loser Philippines” Saret of Fit Filipino Movement as he spoke at the Digital Influencers Marketing Summit last September. It was there that I heard about his four-minute workout. Four minutes, you read it right. Now, for a busy bee like me, that’s something I can do on a regular basis.


But I know I need to do more. So, I decided to join Coach Saret’s Nestle Wellness FITFIL Boot Camp starting this November 21, Thursday, at the Mall of Asia. It’s something outside my comfort zone. But, I know I need this. A marathon is a marathon. (Why not join also? For more info, visit Coach Saret’s official website.)


In the end, I realized my physical body is trust from God. When He was growing up, our Lord Jesus Himself took care of His health. In fact, He grew in all areas of life. “Jesus grew in wisdom [mentally] and in stature [physically] and in favor with God [spiritually] and all the people [socially].” (Luke 2:52, ESV) So, bucket list or not, I am accountable to Him for how I take care of my body. 

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