Three years ago in 2014, I started running, biking, then swimming together with good friend Irwin Ramas-Uypitching whom I met in motard racing. He said we needed to lose weight and keep fit. I believe he was mainly referring to me. I was 227 lbs.
We’re both very competitive so to motivate ourselves further, we engaged in a series of “biggest looser challenge” between us. Irwin would win sometimes, then I would beat him the other times. Our prize for each other was eating wagyu steak at Don Atilano.
And so I started having fun training sessions with groups like the Larga-Biya Team, the Dumaguete Adventure Runners & Striders, and the Triathletes of Oriental Negros (TriONe). Coach Wilbert Laurecio would prescribe to me the correct running form; Ramjay Divinagracia would push me to bike 50 kilometers to Bais even though he knew I was just a beginner; Coach Nino Pinero and his nephew Harold would show me the correct freestyle stroke. My daily routine would begin with bike training by 5am, and after work by 5:30pm, I would run at the rubberized oval of the Perdices Stadium.
One day multi-Ironman triathlete Dr. Gogo Tiongson convinced me I was ready to race. My first venture into standard distance (1.5 kilometer swim, 40K bike, 10K run) was in October 2014 in the Buglasan Triathlon held in Dauin. I found it gratifying and liberating, like I could do anything good. From that time on, there was no stopping me. I joined the 2015 Valencia Duathlon where I came in 2nd place in the Fatboys category.
Feeling inspired by that accomplishment, I invested about P8,000 in training fees and joined the 2015 Alpha Training Camp in Bohol conducted by Coach Andy Leuterio where we did a two-kilometer open water swim challenge led by Coach Moi Yamoyam. By November that year, I joined my first 5150 distance Triathlon in Bohol, followed by my first Ironman 70.3 distance in Cebu in August 2016. I also joined marathon events in Cebu, the Milo Half Marathon in Dumaguete, and my first 42-kilometer full marathon by Milo in June this year in Manila.
I’m now down to 187 lbs. Indeed, it has been a huge life-changing lifestyle for me. I’m starting to enjoy eating vegetables and fruits. I’m now more conscious with what I eat. I’m very much happy with my physical condition — something that I never dreamt I could accomplish through a sport.
I continue to juggle training with work and of course, being a father to two boys. Wherever I compete, my wife Frenjie and our two sons Joseph Therence and James Michael would come along to show support. While JT is in senior high and in Royhle Flying School and JM in 9th grade, they’ve also already exhibited interest in the sport that I do. On weekends, JM strives to wake up at dawn to come training with me.
After several weeks of training, I registered JM, a varsity soccer player at Silliman, and myself in the 5150 Triathlon race in Bohol (my second 5150 tri race in Bohol), which was held a few weeks back. JM even finished the swim leg ahead of me.
The feeling of racing this time was different: I had to concentrate on my race, while also thinking of the safety of my 15-year-old competing to finish the race. I especially worried for him during the swim leg where it cannot be avoided swimmers hitting each other with their strokes or the possibility of literally being drowned out in the crowded sea, trying to beat the cut-off time in every leg. By God’s protection, JM and I finished the race together safe and strong.
I will always remember John Bingham’s words: The miracle isn’t that I finished; it’s that I had the courage to start.
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