I MUST love Running

And I am back (after a long hiatus)! :D

I've been thinking of a good (comeback) entry, haha :)

But finally I've decided to write something about RUNNING. Yes, I am no expert in this division (fitness in general actually) but I would like to say that I am developing a love but more of - hate relationship with it the past few weeks.

Running has never been in the list of my most favorite things to do. Even when I was younger I would always choose biking over running any time of the day. I don't know but there is something about biking that I really love. It makes me feel so connected to nature and I love the fact that I am in total control (BIG PLUS is that it is less tiring than running) :) :)

However, since I always use the mantra "don't say no unless you've tried it", I am giving running a chance to redeem itself. To start the I-am-giving-running-a-chance, I've been waking up REALLY early to make it to the gym @6am (wake up, wash my face and brush my teeth, change into gym clothes then head to the gym WITHOUT taking a bath! so sorry na lang sila if maamoy nila ako! haha!) and make sure that I am done @7am (running, machines and taking a shower. So yes, i do take a bath after! :D ) so I will be in school before 730am. BUT I don't do it everyday ha, at the most is 3x a week :) And so far, my personal record is 15min-nonstop running @8kph :)

Just a little backstory on how I started "working out'" ( I still cringe everytime I use this term, hehe) during mornings: When I enrolled in Fitness First 3 months ago, one of the perks is to be able to refund half of what I paid for the starter kit (3 sessions with a trainer) IF I go to the gym at least 8x/month for 3 consecutive months (Feb-Apr). As expected, I barely hit the target and would cram during the last week of each month just to beat the target! And I am happy to say that my attendance shows that I attended 10x in Feb and 8x in March. BUT April proved to be a busy month for me (excuses,excuses!). The first 2 weeks of April were spent with all the preparation (which took up most of my non-teaching periods being a self-confessed OC!) for our kids' 5-day Bali trip which happened last April 15-19. Needless to say, during the first 3 weeks of April I've been been to the gym for 3 TIMES only! So I had to think quick and make sure that I hit the target with barely 10 days left! (Aba e sayang noh! 2 months na akong nagtyaga at nagcram! :D ) Since I was so desperate to refund my money (yes!!! I am becoming a wise spender now!) and this will be a personal failure if I don't make it, I resulted to hitting the gym in the morning before I go to work. And voila, I ended up liking it! :)

photo taken from the web

As expected (being the reflective person that I am! haha!), I had quite a lot of realizations in this whole kailangan-ko-marefund-ang-binayad-ko-kahit-na-mahirapan-ako thingymajingy :)

1) I made the right decision when I moved to Fitness First. Sa wakas!!! Sa dami kong maling desisyon sa buhay e may tumama din! Drama lang! Hahaha! :) Seriously though, I really appreciate that Fitness First is just a 10-15 minute walk away from home. I had a long entry about this here.

2) I have to start sleeping early. Since I have to be awake by (latest)530 in the morning to make sure that I will be at the gym by 6am, I also had to make sure that I have enough rest and sleep the night before. I restrained myself from staying up late (which is most due to dvd marathon of Bones or TVD) and exerted extra effort to have a new bedtime, that is, 10pm. Lola lang ang peg! :D

3) Nothing comes easy. Like what I said, I don't feel any love towards running. Hate is actually more like it. But I also recognize all the benefits that I can get from running so I owe it to myself to give it a try. Just the mere thought of running on a treadmill makes me cringe in a NEGATIVE way. Running is just so tiring for me! However, after the morning runs that I had (hehe, 2 pa lang naman!), I am starting to enjoy it a bit. I am hoping that I will learn to love it soon.

4) It feels good to wake up early. Wow! The wonders of waking up early! The first week was really exhausting. I had to take naps in between my classes to make up for the exhausting feeling. However, as I continued this week (which is my 2nd week), I feel more light now. Well, not light as in lost weight light but in general I do feel light! (I don't know how to put it in words.) Waking up early to hit the gym also gave me time to think things over, reflect-reflect ang drama ko (the gym is more conducive for these things since there's relatively fewer people). It's actually more of alternate of psyching myself (go Len! or naka 10 minutes ka na! or Look oh! 1 km na natatakbo mo ng straight! and so on) and reflecting (what should I do? What am I doing with my life? etc,etc :D)

5) I have the power over myself. I can actually will myself to do something! The other (lazy) part of me will always try to find its way but it actually depends on how badly I want something. If  I want it so bad then I can will myself to do everything in my power to have it. This does not only goes to going to the gym early but it is actually all-encompassing. This basically sums up what I want to do with my life.

Oh di ba! Running lang ito pero ang dami kong nasabi! :D

I hope to be able to post a photo of the slimmer me! Naks! :)