Monday, June 23, 2003
Day 1: The Jogger Blogger
The first thing that a jogging program--or any exercise program, for that matter--will tell you is that the hardest thing to accomplish is "motivation".
Yes, the M word. The thing that's supposed to get you out of the door and looking better, although in my case, throwing the pouch in my stomach out the door.
Okay, so maybe I don't have a pouch. I have a layer of fat inside my stomach that is--hallelujiah--invisble to most people. But that's not the point.
Said pouch is very much visible to me, and when one is just yay-skinny and has the bone structure of a merry widow, heck, everything shows. And what shows counts.
Now, before you hurl cheesecakes at me and scream "anorexic!", let me first explain that I like to eat. In fact, I love to eat. I wouldn't have said belly if I didn't, instead i'd be dead.
What pushed me to start jogging is that I want a healthier lifetstyle, one that would help me keep the body that God has been so kind in giving me.
So off I went to start "a program", which was skipping rope. It worked, until I realized that I was jumping on marble, which in turn made my already pathetic knees worse. I could have moved to hardwood floors, but I couldn't afford to relocate--heck, I couldn't even afford the gym--so I switched to the next best thing--jogging.
I was a pretty fast runner in grade school, but years of not doing anything made my muscles complacent. Skipping rope and sustained running are very different. After a few minutes out pounding the pavement, I limped back home asking myself "why the hell am I doing this!"
I had the energy, the drive, the guts, just not--a decent running program.
So off we went in to surf for the best one, and after downloading and hitting print, I was ready for my search.
There are a few things you need to consider when you're a Filipino jogger: a) there aren't a lot of you, b) some tips found in international websites do not apply to you, and c) you get chased by dogs.
But i'm determined.
I bought my gear--watch and new shoes--with my first ever paycheck, and got a go-ahead from my cardiologist (I have a heart murmur). I downloaded and printed out my running program. I psyched myself up by saying "I am a runner, I am a runner" over and over again in my head.
So January of this year, I got out to jog, went back refreshed, and never did again.
Okay, maybe not.
After shaving off a week in my 10 week program, I was struck by laziness and never went out again.
Laziness and poor scheduling, depending on which rationale you want to believe. Motivation is the first step. You can spend the rest of last night determined, then be a contented lump on your bed the following morning. So unless you have a jogging buddy to drag you out at 0' so-early, you will never get out.
Yes, the M word. The thing that's supposed to get you out of the door and looking better, although in my case, throwing the pouch in my stomach out the door.
Okay, so maybe I don't have a pouch. I have a layer of fat inside my stomach that is--hallelujiah--invisble to most people. But that's not the point.
Said pouch is very much visible to me, and when one is just yay-skinny and has the bone structure of a merry widow, heck, everything shows. And what shows counts.
Now, before you hurl cheesecakes at me and scream "anorexic!", let me first explain that I like to eat. In fact, I love to eat. I wouldn't have said belly if I didn't, instead i'd be dead.
What pushed me to start jogging is that I want a healthier lifetstyle, one that would help me keep the body that God has been so kind in giving me.
So off I went to start "a program", which was skipping rope. It worked, until I realized that I was jumping on marble, which in turn made my already pathetic knees worse. I could have moved to hardwood floors, but I couldn't afford to relocate--heck, I couldn't even afford the gym--so I switched to the next best thing--jogging.
I was a pretty fast runner in grade school, but years of not doing anything made my muscles complacent. Skipping rope and sustained running are very different. After a few minutes out pounding the pavement, I limped back home asking myself "why the hell am I doing this!"
I had the energy, the drive, the guts, just not--a decent running program.
So off we went in to surf for the best one, and after downloading and hitting print, I was ready for my search.
There are a few things you need to consider when you're a Filipino jogger: a) there aren't a lot of you, b) some tips found in international websites do not apply to you, and c) you get chased by dogs.
But i'm determined.
I bought my gear--watch and new shoes--with my first ever paycheck, and got a go-ahead from my cardiologist (I have a heart murmur). I downloaded and printed out my running program. I psyched myself up by saying "I am a runner, I am a runner" over and over again in my head.
So January of this year, I got out to jog, went back refreshed, and never did again.
Okay, maybe not.
After shaving off a week in my 10 week program, I was struck by laziness and never went out again.
Laziness and poor scheduling, depending on which rationale you want to believe. Motivation is the first step. You can spend the rest of last night determined, then be a contented lump on your bed the following morning. So unless you have a jogging buddy to drag you out at 0' so-early, you will never get out.
