Running and I

Confession
I have a confession to make: it was only less than two years ago, on July 6, 2007 to be exact, that I started running with enthusiasm and found it really fun! This was very ironic because when I became a police cadet on May 1, 1991, the first official police ceremony that I joined was called “Reception” which was 99.9% running, jumping, and crawling. For civilians, “Reception” connotes a party and merriment—and it was a party alright. But the only ones having fun and merriment are the upperclassmen who made mincemeat menu out of the plebes (that included me!). Reception was actually a preview of the next three months that followed, aptly called the “Breaking Period.” Daily routine during the breaking period started at 4:00 AM with rifle exercises, capped by endless and mindless runs with our "beloved" (actually hated) M-14 rifles. By 6 AM, we were cramped in the latrines, taking 10-count baths. By 6:30 AM, it was breakfast time and the usual fare was a cup of rice, a hard boiled egg, a sausage, and a glass of water. And yet even this Spartan meal was hardly touched. Harassment by upperclassmen continued at the dining table and about the only thing a plebe consumes was the aroma of the food. After breakfast, it was again back to the field for the never-ending marching and rifle drills. 12:00 noon was lunch time with a cup of rice and any watchamacallit viand and another glass of water. But the main course was again the harassment of upperclassmen. Afterwards, it was back to the field for more drills and exercises. The only other “rest period” before the “Taps” at 10:00 PM was another meal time (dinner) at 6:00 PM. Meal was again more of “trash” to be smelled rather than eaten. There was no respite before bedtime and exercises continued well into the night. The rest of my two years stay in the Philippine National Police Academy followed pretty much the same routine except that drills were replaced by study time and classroom instructions during the academic period.

Unscientific and baseless
So why did I lose interest in running despite the rigorous training I had been through? Well, I am not so sure for others but for me, the seemingly unscientific and baseless exercises, mainly composed of running and drills, encased in a regimented routine, developed in me a sort of an aversion to the activity. This could be because psychologically during training, my mindset was “survival” and among the methods necessary was to conserve strength. I knew then that the running and exercises will not end even in sleep. I think this also held true to many of my co-trainees then—and I believe, this holds true to many policemen now. Moreover, in the regimented police life, punishment for infractions is usually exercises. If you were late, you do 10 pushups. If you moved in ranks during parade, expect to do the Army Dozen before bedtime. If you receive too many delinquency reports, expect a long road run with combat pack. And woe to you if for whatever reason, you collapsed during any activity: the cure was more exercises “to make you stronger” according to the all-knowing upperclassman. The psychological effects of the exhausting work-outs, especially the monotonous road runs forced upon me both by regulations and upperclassmen, may have imprinted in my mind the outlook that running was indeed a form of punishment that must be evaded. And rightly so—in the first week of training, almost a third of my classmates gave up and quit. Many of those who stayed and persevered experienced the unmistakable signs of SEVERE overtraining—rapid weight loss, dehydration, bloody urine, etcetera. But you cannot stop nor complain: slowing down means more upperclassmen breathing at your neck. But lo and behold, when I became upperclassman myself, it was my turn to unleash hell to plebes. Life suddenly became heaven. Nobody was telling me when to exercise, much less, run. But the psychological aversion still remained, thus, running became the avoided one. I ran not for the sake of running but as part of other activities like the obstacle course, circuit run, and the like. And this aversion for pure running remained so for the next 14 years. I still looked after my health but I indulged in other sports. I swim, bike, play badminton, and occasionally run, to keep fit. But I never ran with the conscious goal of enjoying it and improving my performance. And this irony is even starker: in preparation to my cadetship in PNPA in 1991, I ran around Intramuros where I lived at that time and occasionally in Roxas Boulevard, enjoying every stride.

Fast Forward
In 2007, I felt it. I am then 36 years old. My waistline was 34 and with a height of only 5’7”, the bulge in my tummy was already visible. My physique was still better than many of my colleagues but I know that I am not in the best of health. The most telling indicator that I am unwell was my general feeling: I often felt sluggish, weak, and always catching my breath even in the morning when I wake up. All these despite regular badminton games every Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 3 PM onwards. Sometimes, I even play the whole morning of Sundays. I felt something was lacking.

The rediscovery
Then the incident happened: a very fit-looking colleague suddenly suffered a heart attack. Only the timely visit to the hospital saved him. He underwent angioplasty to the tune of almost a million pesos. The incident made me think, “Uh uh, if this happens to me, I would surely be dead because I do not have that kind of money.” During that time, I am already reading about scientific trainings and heart rate monitors. Despite the prohibitive cost, I took the plunge and bought a Suunto T6 on February 24, 2007—top of the line equipment at that time. The gadget guy in me gave me a fresh look at exercise. Together with my laptop, I began tracking my fitness improvement through badminton games. I played with the main purpose of hitting the target heart rates estimated by the Suunto Training Manager. But after three months of monitoring, I found it more and more difficult to hit the desired training effect. Of course, this was because my cardio vascular condition was improving and I have to progressively increase my workload to continue improving, otherwise, I would stagnate. To do this, I never stopped moving even during breaktime and ran around the courts in between games. This made me look like a show-off so I knew then that I needed to do something else. This I think, made me rediscover my long lost love for running.

Cheapest
Compared to other sports I engaged in, running is the cheapest. Except for the optional Suunto T6, all one needs to run are a pair of running shoes and some decent clothes. But the T6 made running even more interesting. On July 6, 2007 or roughly 5 months after I bought it, I bought the foot pod accessory and running really became very entertaining. That was July 6, 2007 when I first ran with it. I felt like a car when I run: I track my speed, distance, and heart rate much like I do in my car watching the speedometer, odometer, and tachometer respectively.

Now I run with various goals in mind: improve my speed, increase my endurance, see the sights, feel the rush of the air, or simply just have fun. I already finished the 2008 Milo Marathon with a time of 4:20 which is nothing to brag about really. I ran my first marathon without any external support, bringing along everything that I expect to need—power gels and drinks in my hydration pack. Big mistake. Good thing there were friends who knew me and shared their support. I remember Coach Rio dela Cruz of UP in the final stretches of the marathon giving me Gatorade and encouragement while in the middle distances at Buendia and Fort Bonifacio, Camanava Runners and Procter and Gamble Team replenished my hydration bottles.

I now train my sights at the Ultramarathon such as the Bataan Death March. The possibilities are now endless.