Street crossings and road running

I started running about three years ago in 2012, around the time when the Zumba dance craze was starting to rise in popularity. It was triggered innocently by the grasping for breath and panting I experience daily whenever I beat the traffic light and run to cross the eight-lane Roxas Boulevard, which is directly across the building where I work.

I was worried then that both my heart and lungs, which for more than twenty years were battered by constant smoking, were unable to recover even after I quit smoking four years prior. My mother just died of lung cancer complications on that year (2012), and I am quite familiar with what weak lungs, especially as one grows older.

So it was while crossing Roxas Boulevard when I resolved to get fit, and work to make my heart and lungs stronger. I mentioned Zumba because it was one of the choices I had in mind, as our employees organization was just starting at the time a weekly Zumba dance class in our workplace. I watched and dance with some Zumba instructional videos in YouTube, but my captive audience (wifey and the kids) were not keen on supporting this option - as I have difficulties following the dance moves.

That's when I turn to running. I previously biked every Saturday around the UPLB campus, but that didn't help me get fitter and leaner the way I want or at least hoped for. So I added my own version of high intensity interval training (HIIT), hoping it would be a good and quick alternative to a consistent and regular physical fitness regimen that I don't think I can commit to at that time. The interval training helped me, somehow strengthening my core and cardio capacity, even if minimally.

Gradual transformation

(Next part: Running from scratch)