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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God Knows Judas Not Pay

In the National Geographic Magazine (May 2006 issue), in its cover story, The Judas Gospel , Professor Eliane Pagels of Princeton University claimed that the so-called gospel of Judas “ changes the history of early Christianity. ” Even UP Professor Randy David took notice of the Judas Gospel: “Strictly from a sociological standpoint, I think the discovery of the Gospel of Judas makes Christianity a far more interesting religion than what centuries of metaphysical theology has made of it.” (A Gospel for the Postmodern, Phil. Daily Inquirer, April 16, 2006) That’s why I spoke in our Young Pro Fellowship a few days ago on God Knows Judas Not Pay (A Biblical Response on the Judas Gospel). I believe opportunities like this hype on the Judas Gospel or the Da Vinci Code opens a door for us to share the true Gospel. For those who did not attend last Thursday, let me share briefly why we reject the Judas gospel. I came up with the acronym J-U-D-A-S. J udas was portrayed as a traitor in the Bibl...
Read more

“Ubus-ubos Biyaya, Bukas Nakatunganga”

Image
That’s what my mother always told us when we were still kids. (Translation: “You spend everything today, you will have nothing tomorrow.” ) Image source: So, What's New ? Dionie did just that. Last April 2008, he won PHP14,125,032 in the Lotto 6/42 draw. Excitedly, he “lived the life of a millionaire, something he had been longing to experience. He lived in a P4-million house in a posh subdivision, drove around in a sports utility vehicle [which he bought the very same day he claimed his prize] , and gave goodwill money, ranging P1,000 to P 850,000, to relatives and friends. He also gambled daily, womanized, and went on regular drinking sprees.” (Source: Manila Bulletin ) He estimated that he squandered a minimum of P100,000 almost every day. He also lent money even to people he did not really know. “I just gave them and told them not to pay me back.” (Ibid) His bank had to issue him a special card so he can withdraw huge amounts of money quickly from the automated teller m...
Read more

Detour, Not A Dead End

Image
A dead end is “an end of a road or a passage from which no exit is possible.” Image credit A dead end, according to a dictionary, is “an end of a road or a passage from which no exit is possible.”  According to another dictionary , it is “a situation, plan, or way of doing something that leads to nothing further.” Screenshot from Merriam-Webster online dictionary There were times in my life when I thought I was in a dead end.  Impasse. No way out. Caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. I was like Moses. There’s the Red Sea in front of me and the Egyptian army behind me. Only this time, I can’t part the sea.  I failed. Many times. My dreams became a nightmare. And my nightmare came to pass. (Of course, I can always blame others. The fact is, it’s not entirely my fault. But why waste time blaming? So, I’ll just take responsibility for where and why I failed.) I got burned out. I got myself into stress-related disorder when I pressure...
Read more