New Year, New Goals

2008 was a year of realizations for me. I realized that

1. I love sports the same way I love photography;

2. I am competitive and wouldn't mind placing last in a race for as long as I really fought hard to win;

3. I love the great outdoors;

4. I am vain ( hahaha );

5. I don't want to age fast;

6. I am 40 and doesn't heal as fast as when I was 20.

During the last two quarters of 2008, being employed again and doing an 8 to 5, I felt my lifestyle was  becoming sedentary, and the additional 12 pounds I gained was a proof to this. Being "vain" and "fashionable", I didn't want to have flat truck tires around my waist, thus, I resorted to lifting irons again.

However, after weight-training for a month, I thought that there must be something else I need to do to speed up my weight reduction. Lifting weights helped build up my muscles again but didn't help in reducing my waist as much as I wanted it to.

After searching the web for some fast weight reduction techniques, I stumbled upon a site which promotes Triathlons in the Philippines ( http://www.triathlon.org.ph/ ). My interest was roused and it was then that I remembered being at awe at the triathletes I saw on TV getting out of an open sea swim and then immediately riding their bikes to race, only to run a number of kilometers upon getting down from the bike saddles.  I said to myself "you should do that Deo!".

Since that day, I have ran two 5K marathons and several mountain bike trail runs. I've also gone back to biking on roads and now have a Merida 901 Road Race Series road bike. Both my mountain and road bike have individually logged in more than 300 kms of roads, and both still look as fresh as the first time I rode them.

I also couldn't stop running. I now run at least 5kms 3-4 times a week. I do mountain trail rides at least once a month and do road biking at least twice a week at an average of 30kms per ride. I love the feel of sweat on my face...and I believe I have been addicted to it.

In 2009, I plan on doing at least 14 races broken down as follows:

- 5 marathons

- 6 triathlons

- 3 duathlons

I will be running my first 10K marathon on January 18 and will race my first 21K on March 22. On March 8, I will be competing in my first ever Duathlon, and I am really excited about it.

My last 5K training run was completed in 29 minutes, while my personal best for a 10K was in 1 hour 10 minutes ( I would have ran in sub 60 minutes if the roads were flatter, but the uphills and downhills around Ultra were really punishing! ).

My first triathlon is scheduled on April 19. I planned on joining the TLBF ( http://www.tlbf.org/ )  in Subic on April 2-5 but decided against it when they changed the distance from Sprint to Olympic.

It feels great to have the wind slapping your face in your morning runs or bike rides...and it's one feeling I will never, ever want to stop experiencing. I love sweating in the great outdoors...I am  TheSweatAddict.