How did I get into running? I remember when I was probably in 4th grade, I joined a walking race during a town fiesta, and almost won, only to be passed by someone else in the last couple of meters.
As a kid, I used to sneak out of the house and ride my bicycle around the subdivision for hours. Since our subdivision had a pool, I also used to spend hours swimming after school until my fingers were all wrinkled. I was just having fun like any other kid in the neighborhood. In college, bicycling became part of my daily routine as a form of my actual transportation. I would run occasionally to get some exercise, but I couldn’t get too far because I was a smoker that time, and I didn’t have the lungs for it.
After I married Nancy at the age of 28, I just quit smoking cold turkey. And I said to myself, now I have to start jogging so I won’t get fat. Weight gain is usually an effect after a person quits smoking cigarettes. The very next day, I laced up my Adidas Country, and went for a “jog” for two miles (about three kilometers). It was hard in the beginning, and my lungs felt like it was going to explode but that didn’t deter me, and I kept going. I continued running, adding one block at a time, and around the oval track, counting 10,15, and 20 laps until my legs were sore.
And so jogging early in the morning became a daily habit, and I started to enjoy the sense of freedom I seemed to be getting from it. I didn’t change much in my diet, as I would always get hungry from the daily activity, but I noticed I was losing weight at the same time. I guess I was developing a high rate of metabolism that time. The miles were getting longer, and the jog had become a run.
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In one of my daily runs, I met an older runner along the road who asked me if I was training for the Memorial Day five-mile race, which happens every May 31. I never participated in any race before, aside from the walkathon in 4th grade, and so I decided to join a four-mile race prior to prepare for the Memorial Day Race. I ran the 6.4-kilometer stretch in 33 minutes and 20 seconds. That got me excited, and I started running faster and farther, but I had no idea of what I was doing to correctly prepare for a race.
I developed a shin splint, an injury common to runners, especially beginners. With just a couple of weeks before the Memorial Day Race, I was in pain. Somebody told me to stop running, and bike instead so that I won’t lose fitness. I followed the advice, and I was actually able to start the Memorial Day race with little pain, and finish it. Lesson learned: Read up on your sport, and train properly for different distances.
In 1993, after a year of running and shedding 45 pounds, I joined the most-coveted New York City Marathon (42 kilometers). I had seven months to train, and that included ramping up the mileage, and racing more in different distances. By then, I had an idea of how to train for a marathon through running books and magazines. I was doing races almost every weekend in Central Park. I ran my first 21 kilometers in 1 hour and 46 minutes, just one month before the NYC Marathon.
I did the math, and predicted that with my Personal Record, I should be able run a 3:15 marathon. So I thought. I went out at a suicidal pace, and at mile 15 (Km. 24), I was still on target but that excitement dissipated in the next couple of miles as I “hit the wall”. At mile 20 (Km. 32), I found myself lying on a stretcher, and getting a massage with ice on both legs. Determined to finish the race, I picked myself up, and continued my journey in pain, and cussing at myself that I will never do this again. I crossed the finish line in 3 hours and 55 minutes. Another lesson learned: Respect the distance.
That was the beginning of many more marathons in the next 30 years, including eventually qualifying for the Boston Marathon a number of times.
Life is short. Have fun and enjoy running. It does add years to your life.
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Dario Endozo joins the MetroPost as one of its respected columnists. He is a certified running coach by the Road Runners Club of America, a certified triathlon coach of USA Triathlon, a certified personal trainer of the World Institute Training School, and a certified indoor cycling spinning instructor. He was born and raised in Manila, lived in New York for 43 years, but has decided to retire here in Dumaguete where his wife Nancy grew up.
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