I've never been the athletic type... Probably because I've always considered myself as the girl who's on the sideline cheering on her friends instead of being the one in action. Also, maybe because my body type isn't suitable for any sporty activity. You may not believe it but yes, I used to be always thin then (hope I could say that until now -- hehe). Being involved in some use of my sweat glands wasn't really my thing.
Just so to prove my point, let's go through the different sections of my almost 30ish existence (eeep, it's kindda iffy seeing the Big 3-0 written -- reality now creeping in. Hehehe.)
Grade school: No memories of being athletic. Closest of being one was when I joined Girl Scouts and we had an overnight activity in school wherein we had to sleep in tents. Hmmm, does that count as being sporty? I don't think so, but at least that involved an outdoor activity. I guess I was more into Glee Club then (not particularly considered as cheering, but you get what I mean?).
High school: I only joined Basketball Club in 4th year because I wanted to be near the open grounds where we held our CAT sessions right after the Friday afternoon club. You see, I had my ulterior motives and wasn't really much into the bball thing. But it was a good experience coz I learned a trick or two on dribbling and shooting on the backboard. I only played when I had to coz I would usually ask the younger ones to play on the court while I stayed on the sidelines for strategic planning. Hmmm, the perks of being the oldest and being a Club Officer. ;-) So basically, I was more of the coach and not the player back then.
College: When I got to college, most of my friends were very outgoing. In fact, I hung out with triathletes, soccer & tennis players then. Summer of 3rd year, I took tennis class in the morning and swimming class in the afternoon. Fine, I'll have to admit that the only reason I joined tennis class was because I had a major crush with a tennis player in school. Again, I had another goal in mind and obviously, it was not to be good in that sport (hehe!). As for the swimming class, my friends were all taking it and I still needed to enroll in another PE class that year. For these reasons, swimming sessions suddenly had an appeal to me. And that was when I started to get to know people from the triathlon club... and when I started to run and join them in their training in the beach. Oh, but I was mostly their official road manager (the cheerleader part of me lives on... Hehe.).
Backtrack: In fairness, I have fond memories of my family and I jogging on Sunday mornings and having arrozcaldo after. That was way way back when I was probably still in Pre-school and I looked forward more to the arrozcaldo than the actual jogging part. And then eventually, we stopped doing it for some reason. On the other hand, I remember not being a beach person before because I had a bad encounter with a jellyfish in Batangas. As a kid, a sting isn't just a sting -- it seemed more painful back then. So I guess, I really had no solid athletic background to begin with.
Working: I was basically living a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise for me would be shopping, walking from parking to office building, climbing up the stairs in the old condo I used to rent in, and from time to time swimming during offsite activities.
Now: But now, I can say I'm a beach lover. I make it a point to go to the beach at least once a year. Not going to the beach would be sacriligious to my being (exagg, but a bit true). Starting 4th year college, the only time I wasn't able to go to the beach was in 2009. I don't know what I was thinking then! I'll just attribute that to "having limited company." As for running, I can't believe that I've already joined 3 official runs in BGC (Bonifacio Global City) in the span of 2 months. I know other hardcore runners wouldn't be too thrilled about that but for someone who never thought of joining even just one in her lifetime (yes, that's me!), that's already a BIG THING.
My first official race was the Nike 10K Night Run with my officemates. 1 hour and 50 min. To be honest, I walked most of the time. Hahaha!!! :)) But I was still proud of myself coz I was so tempted to take shortcuts when none of the marshalls were looking, but didn't. Crap, I had sore muscles for almost a week after that!
The second one was with VCF. I joined the 3K Run For Life with my sister and brother in law. I ran most of the leg and finished it after 15-20min (more likely on the 20 range). It was a fun run so they didn't have the official time log.
The most recent one was with BGC. I didn't want to join anymore but since a friend of ours was sponsoring it, I pushed through with it. I joined the 5K category this time... I was done after 40.6min. My goal was to finish at 35min so I felt that the 5min difference wasn't so bad. :)
Future: I plan on getting better at the running part. I think I have a program in place already -- 3 times a week, 30 minutes for each run. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to the program. My goal is to beat my last record at 5K, and just maybe, beat my initial 35min goal. But at the end of the day, all I really want is to shed off some of those extra fat I have... (of course, another hidden agenda in mind). Oh, is it bad to wish to be more fit? I wouldn't want to go back to being what I used to be 2 years ago -- I was really fat (relatively, considering I used to be always really thin before).
So yes, I will try my best to be sporty in between my normal sedentary lifestyle. Hopefully, the Christmas gatherings will be welcomed with a different perspective -- not to be afraid of getting bigger with all the food around this Holiday season.
Oh well, let's see how that goes in the next coming weeks... (with crossed fingers, legs, and toes).
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