My first “Run Against Time”

By Sai

I am a frustrated runner (I know, I know!). That’s the only sports I can do right now. If you’re part of my childhood you have to be well aware that I am a fast runner. I run like a boy (yeah, seriously). I remember by PEP test (I forgot if that’s how my P.E. teacher really calls it but nah! Never mind that!) results and surprisingly my physical tests (then) always fall in the “guy’s” standards. I hope you don’t get an animated version of me at the back of your mind where I am the girl with lots of muscles! Hahahaha believe me, I don’t want that! Well, I just want to run and run and run a little bit more. I am very active in my PE classes to the point that I almost dreamt of becoming a PE teacher :P (LOL, my stupid dreams when I was younger hahaha)

Well, that’s not how I perform now (well, not anymore). I am 23 (yes, that’s my true age) and I feel so different. Most of us experience the “Why am I tired? I just started running for like 5 minutes ago” feeling as we age. If someone mentioned “aging” we always think of wrinkles, people in their early 40s and 50s and people who have gray hair. Well, we are all aging and it’s inevitable. I am aging (sad but true) and as early as 23, I want to prevent its early signs.

Somatopause – not all of us know this stuff (not even I). I heard this thing during Immuvit’s first leg of their “Run Against Time” Campaign at the Bonifacio High Street sometime during August. It’s the period in our life where a decline in our growth hormones secretion happens. Remember your puberty age? You were just 11 years old and in a blink of an eye you’re taller than your mom. Somatopause is the exact opposite of puberty. I won’t get into details about this since I already blogged about it before. If you haven’t read my previous post about this, feel free to be curios and click here.

It’s so nice to see Coach Jim Saret again (face-to-face). I love attending Immuvit events not only because Coach Jim’s physique amazes me but also I love getting healthy tips from him. He’s my idol in terms of having an active lifestyle. When he and Coach Russ shared MetaFit to me (and to the rest of the guys in the event), I practiced it at home. I asked Coach Russ’ opinion about the MetaFIt routine that I’m planning to do and he actually approved it. I did the routine for three weeks and it’s actually effective. Due to my busy work schedule, I can’t even do a 4-minute MetaFit exercise at home. It’s not an excuse but I know I should do it again and this time for good!

I’m so talkative. Let’s get to the point! So last week I attended Immuvit’s 4th leg of their Run Against Time Campaign. I was so ecstatic when I found out that there’ll be a MetaFit challenge. I’m very competitive but I kept in mind that my goals are (1) to know how fit I am and (2) to have fun!

So we did some stretching exercises and I must say it felt like 5 hours in the gym! (LOL) I met Gil from Papa John’s Press Conference again and he became my Immuvit Buddy! The instruction was to do every exercise in 10 sets. Since I’m a good follower and I hate cheating in exercises or tests, I counted every set of exercise as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 not 1, 2, 5, 8, 10! See? Who are they (other guys in the event) fooling? C’mon!

So, I’m not afraid if I’m the last one pushing up or burpee-ing. It’s a test for “MYSELF.” So what’s the ending? I’m not the last person to finish the MetaFit Challenge but yes I’m part of the last group. Gee, did you know what I found out? I was so tired and breathless! I felt like there’s no oxygen in my brain anymore during the second stop. That’s just the SECOND stop! What’s up with me? I’m so unfit and I have a weird feeling that my head’s going to blow up! I did not push myself to the limit that time. I don’t want to get hurt since it was my first time. I just want to know my capacity and I’ll try to improve that next time. So, when I felt that I’m going to faint I stopped running and started doing the catwalk! Yebah! I’m so “maarte” hahaha! I said to myself, “I can’t run now so I’ll just pretend that I’m a super model and this is my longest catwalk ever!” Surprisingly, that mind set helped me finish the entire challenge *winks*

Chris Cahilig, Sai Sayson and Gil Garcia at the Immuvit Run Against Time Event

Jason Tomas, Sai Sayson and Gil Garcia at the Immuvit Run Against Time Event

Lessons learned:

1. If you can’t run just do the catwalk.
2. I hate the “burpee” part! It’s the hardest thing to do when you’re dead tired!
3. If you can’t count 1 to 10 in the right order, go back to grade 1.
4. If you cheated on finishing one exercise just for the “I’m first to finish the race” feeling, you’re not fooling anyone but you! (Sings Nobody, nobody you!)
5. It’s okay to be the last as long as you know that you honestly finished everything (Yey!)

Lastly, I learned how unfit I am and I must run regularly and do my MetaFit routine again. So, I guess that’s all. I hope you had fun reading my Run Against Time experience and learned something in my post. Hey, I did a lot of talking here! How about you? Are you fit?

Weh?

How?