the odd thing was how i find myself again. for the first time since i moved to this lala land up north (read: canada) , this is the first time i got up early and actually had enough motivation to jog. it was mainly brought about by not only trying to get in shape, but also re-awakening parts of me that are true to my core.
no. 1. i`ve always been sporty.
i played morning until night when i was a kid, whether it be `taguan` (classic run,hide and go-seek), `patintero` (philippine tactical children`s game of crossing lines), `piko` (hopskotch), `jackstones` (doing tricks and picking up stones with your hand and a small rubber ball), `pinoy football` (pretty much like baseball except you kick the ball with your foot and run for the bases), and `chinese garter` (it`s not even chinese but filipino), where we jump and cross and do all sorts of tumbling with rubber bands made into ropes.
all of you who grew up in the philippines in the 80`s know about this. This was before technology, this was before the internet, this was before the time everything kids know how to play is from a touch-screen device. we lived like little olympians. fun was based on skill, and how much you can push yourself to do unsupervised acrobatics and shenanigans, and still came home in one piece. that was the good all days when your troop was limited to the neighborhood kids. and if you`re bad-ass, you are the leader of that troop. haha. i got to decide what we`ll do for the day. so i had to be fit, and i constantly worked on my skills.
i fell in love with basketball when i was 9, and i ended up playing for my highschool`s varsity basketball team who won a school division championship. i played forward in my classic no. 9 jersey and swag, and i had the time of my life. there are so many life lessons you learn from sports. and that`s why i love it.
flash-forward to 18 years and 50 excess pounds later, that little sporty person is trapped inside a person that watched the amazing 2012 London olympics every single day for 2 weeks when it was on, loudly rooting for the athletes that always give their best and challenge records. My life for this year can be summarized in this simple timeline: watching my favorite nfl team, the NY giants, win the superbowl in february, and then watching my favorite German football team compete in the world cup in july, and then watching the olympics in august. Why has it all become watching sports for me???!! that is so sad. where is the person who loved to do these things, who was addicted to tennis in college, who played soccer with friends in the mud on a rainy day?
So this summer I bought a bike for 25 dollars and a helmet to make me feel like i can livestrong like lance, and started to exercise again. this morning i did a 6.39 km snail pace of trying to jog and miserably failing.
as you can see, my pace is a flatline. I saw a 92 year old granny overtake me on a 5mph scooter. At least it`s the beginning.
All credit goes to my best friend, who can not be possibly anymore wiser. When i messaged her that Friday is my second favorite `F` word, she said, `No!! You love football more!`. And that is soooo true.
Like the way this morning when as I was telling her and celebrating with her my day`s early morning accomplishment, and my beautiful self re-discovery that i was: no. 1. sporty, she said: `No, that`s no.2...
...you are a writer, that`s no. 1.``
Thank God for her and all her wisdom and knowing me better than i know myself.
This is for you and thank you for being that person in my life.
I am back. K is back. Both no.1 and no.2.
Cheers to this new blog and to exercise!
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