SWIM.BIKE.RUN

Growing up, I never thought of getting into any form of physical activity. I was content to play "patintero" after school. Ran around the school playground. Played hide and seek and "luksong tinik". And that's about it. Back then, the word "sports" was foreign to me.

SWIM
Learning to swim has never occurred to me, considering the fact that my family just lived across a beach. I could have just cross the road and swim to my heart's content. Unfortunately, it did not pan out that way. My Granny always stop us ( me and my younger siblings ) from going into the water lest we'd drown or something.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I muster enough courage to try to learn how to swim, when the opportunity presented itself. I found out that it was cool. I had no qualms while I stepped into the pool, clad in a swimsuit ( which, frankly, was my first time ) Being in the pool is just amazing. Sherry, the swimming instructor was wonderful and made me comfortable while I try to get my bearings around. She was very helpful. I think so much about nailing my kick, that I end up stressed and stiff as a board, so she told me to imagine something I love doing ( which is running ) and just go from there. It worked. I had a great time.

I find that, learning to swim  ( or swimming for that matter), entails a lot of hard work. Especially on my part since I'm just starting out. I expected not get tired easily, because I run, but I was wrong. After only a few minutes during my first lesson, I was already out of breath.

Still, it maybe a lot of work but it is loads of fun. I wish I can do it everyday.:-)

BIKE
I first rode a bike when I was about 9 or 10 years old or older. I'm pretty sure, I was still in elementary school at that time. There wasn't enough space in my Aunt's front yard so I just went around in circles. When my Granny heard about it, she forbid me to do it again. I could fall and hurt myself. There goes my first "taste" of a bike ride. I haven't ride the thing ( besides I did not have one ) ever since.

Then I moved to Canada and months later, I found out that I still know how to get on a bike and go for a ride ( though just around my aunt's neighborhood and not out on the streets) It felt like I lost something and found it again. I did struggle at first, to keep my balance, but after I get the hang of it, off I go. It was an exhilarating experience. I love the rush of the wind, against my face, when I pedaled fast. And the prospect of hitting into something give me a thrill. Now, that's weird. This was when I still live in Nanaimo.

Now, I live in Mill Bay, in a quiet neighborhood. And two weeks ago, I had another chance to go for a ride again. A friend let me borrow her bike. So, one day, I felt very brave and decided to go into the road, leading to the nearby school's parking lot. I figured I have ample space to work around there. In my excitement while going down the road, I went out too fast. I was overwhelmed at the speed I was going that I forgot to grab hold of the brakes. With legs straight out and flailing to the side, I was desperate to stop the bike but I was unsuccessful. I fell off it and crashed on the pavement. I bruised my left knee. So much for speed, eh? What surprises me was, I kind of like it. I mean, not the falling off the bike part but "going out fast" It was awesome. In fact I was more worried about the bike being wrecked and if someone saw me ( I wasn't sure if anyone was around at that time ) It was only later that I felt the pain and noticed the purple mark on my left knee.

It has been two weeks since that incident and I haven't been on the bike again. Not because I am traumatized. I'm just taking my time. Besides, I don't want the risk of hurting my knees again.

RUN
Now this is the best part. I don't need to ask permission from Granny to go out for a run. At least, not now anyway. Besides, she's not around anymore.

My first 21K race ( Scotiabank Vancouver Half-marathon 2011 )

I discover running when I was already in my mid-thirties. It came at a time when I needed something that I can do all by myself and does not need the company of others. I started running to hopefully, get in shape ( primarily to lose weight because I could not stand anymore the struggle I had when I pick out clothes and go for the largest size possible) But I was doing it wrong so I end up gaining more weight and hurting my legs.

After awhile, when I changed my attitude about my "running", I was transformed ( of course, not into a robot ) I began to enjoy my outdoor excursions and look forward to it. I even love it to a point. ( I have a blog solely for it.) Surprisingly, I lose weight ( without me stressing about it ) along the way and sparing myself from "stupid" diets.

Anyway, there's no question about running being number one on my list. But then, there's no reason I can't do the other two. I find that I enjoy doing them too, so I'm all for it.

 I'll continue to learn how to swim and work on my biking "skills" ( going out into the streets without falling from it, hopefully) In the meantime, I'll keep running, for as long as I can.

And no, I'm not thinking about a  triathlon.

A walk that ( we'll do again )

On occasions that I go to Nanaimo, it's primarily to hang out with my sister and aunt, then of course, run. As always, my routines get out of whack. Stay up way past my normal bedtime and eat like crazy. But then, I'm cool with compromises as long it won't get out of hand.

So last Friday, for lack of something "interesting" to do, my sister and I agreed to go out for a walk. I already ran that morning but I'm still game for another outdoor jaunt. We armed ourselves with water bottles and brought along our mp3 players. We decided against taking Taco along because we're going on a new route, which was quite far.

We started at around 6 PM. The sun was still up and it was warm. I brought along my GF to measure the distance we will cover and the time it will take us. 

Boy, we're happy to see this. :-)

We talked about almost anything while keeping up the pace. The walk is also my way of testing my new shoes while walking because I usually just use it for running. It was doing alright so far. I told my sister about the roads where I run on and she told me, "Naabot ka diri og dagan." 

It was a relief when we finally get to the end of Departure Bay Road. We walked on the beach and stayed there for awhile. I took some photos and tried throwing pebbles on the water. I sat on a driftwood and stretched my legs. The sights reminded us of "home". After a few moment's rest, we went on our way.

Somehow reminds us of "home".

After more than 3 miles of walking, she's still game.

We encountered a steep incline and my legs started to act up. Yet, it wasn't that hard actually, because walking that uphill, my sister and I were laughing about something. An effective way to take our minds off from what we're doing.And we were mighty proud of ourselves when we got to the top. Our next goal was to get to McDonald's. I was already hungry at this time. ( Based from experience, I'm not myself when I'm hungry.)

Pit stop. A convenient ( though unhealthy ) way to justify our "walk".

I finished the chicken burger in record time. I'm that "hungry". 

After we had our fill, we continued on our walk. It started to get dark. I felt a bit of chill in the air. I zipped up my jacket and walked fast. The trail we were on was dark and was only partly illuminated by the lights of the passing cars on the highway. We were worried because we don't have any reflective material on our clothing or shoes to make us visible. We did not take this in consideration and we underestimate the time.

We're kind of scared on the trail so we tried to walk fast to beat the time.

In the end, we had to take the bus and ride in comfort. 

The trail felt like it was going forever and we were happy to get to the nearby bus stop. It was already past 9 PM and we don't like to take the risk of walking on unlit and deserted back roads. With only more than a mile left to our aunt's place, we took the bus home.

After 8 miles and more than 2 hours of walking, my legs were just about ready to give up. The bus ride home was a blur. My sister and I plodded toward the house, ready to drop.

The next day, she told me, I snored while asleep. I seldom does that, only when I'm so dead tired. I was still able to run the next morning. 

Anyway, I'm glad to get to spend some time with my sister. And it's cool that we now have this activity we can do together. Besides, it's an inexpensive way to chill and just hang out.