Timmy from Takbo.ph once posed this question to the group. It got me thinking. I mean, how did I get hooked so bad? What was my underlying motivation? Here's what I had to say to that: Good question Tim. Why do I run? Why do I subject myself to extreme physical, mental, and environmental duress?
My main motivation is to lose weight talaga. I was about 155 in college, even plummeting to as low as 147 if needed. Several years and a couple of jobs later I had ballooned to 195 lbs, an all time low. I was depressed and for an admittedly confident guy I'll confess that my self esteem took a tremendous blow. I couldn't wear any of my clothes anymore My relatives and officemates were constantly needling me with "Luis, tumataba ka ah!" or "Lumalaki tayo ah!" comments. My girlfriend wasn't complaining , but it wasn't fair to her that the 155-160 lb guy she got together with a couple of years ago was now a 195 pound mastodon.
I used to loathe cardio. Loathing it is an understatement actually. I avoided it like the plague. But with my weight problem getting out of hand, I had to DO something. Fad diets didn't work for me. So I thought, why not try running?
I started by running outside my condo, kahit 1.2 k muna. I couldn't even string together 250 meters without stopping. I was that out of shape. So I gradually built up my mileage, albeit in a very unscientific way.
The turning point for me came when I joined a fun run in school. I placed 6th. I led up to the halfway point then I lost steam (rookie mistake) I was so depressed that the old chubby profs were passing me. That told me I was in horrible shape na talaga. That pushed me to be more serious in running
Started lurking here just before the Condura CLP. Came across the site while trying to research. Went to the CLP without knowing anyone. And the rest... ... is history
Once I got into it, my naturally competitive self has gotten the best of me, and I am obsessed with beating... .. myself
I'm a sucker for self-improvement, and that's why I really push myself to sometimes more than my body can handle. But it's an individual sport... and the high that comes with each broken PR, each good run is incomparable because that's all you right there. You leave your heart and soul on that track, and you also reap the benefits. It's a rush like no other. And all things aside, the camaraderie here in Takbo.ph is tremendous, such a supportive and eclectic group that makes running exponentially more enjoyable.
That's why I run.
p.s. Ooops ang haba na pala hahahaha. (bow)