Sports Eye
Running
By Jesus A. Garcia, Jr.
EVERYTIME I visit the western part of the province including CSI Lucao, I frequently use the Judge Jose de Venecia highway extension to avoid the perennially traffic congested downtown of Dagupan. And whenever I pass this U.S.-like access road, my attention is caught by the joggers, walkers, marathoners and bicyclists fron all walks of life and ages especially during sunlight hours. Professionals I noticed like Engr. Rodolfo Dion, lawyer Arginald Esguerra, physicians Demosthenes Ydia and Bonifacio Balingit, Dagupan City Cycling Club members led by their president Ricky Diocares regularly ride their bikes and jog on this road every week especially during Saturdays and Sundays.
Honestly I am so envious of them and wish that my town Mangaldan had built this kind of thoroughfare and would lead my town mates (primarily the aging people, like me, bike around to prolong our lives. Unfortunately my French-made Peugeot bike that gave me three national titles is still in Guam and I have nothing else in my house when I used to have three before. Motoring to Judge JDV highway (14 kms. from my house) to join the team and jog and walk the 4.8-kilometer stretch is gas-consuming especially if you do it on a daily basis.
Aside from cycling, swimming and light-weightlifting, running is also a part of my training during my cycling heydays. I never did any running before until one day I read an article titled “Russian Cycling” in Manila Times in 1967. It said the Soviets’ 1964 Tokyo Olympic team used running as one of the elements in their training that eventually made them win the gold. I copied their methods and it helped improved my breathing especially during the strenuous, taxing and most essential mountain stages. Unlike the marathoners that run a minimum of 21 kilometers, I just ran a maximum of five kilometers before, once a week as the Russians said.
But one day I made a horrible mistake and that was the summer of 1982 during my preparation for the Marlboro Tour . I participated in a 30-kilometer marathon with around more than two hundred contestants. I exceeded what was prescribed in the article and for the first time ran ten kilometers with a time of 40 minutes and 20 seconds which was the 20th best for the distance. After that, the muscles in my feet became so painfully hard that it took me at least three weeks to loosen them up. Consequently, I lost my sprinting capability during the Tour. Maybe because of my age (36) and my long layoff, I landed 16th overall out of 84 starters .That was my last Tour. I quit cycling competitively at the age of 46 and the rest is history.
* * * *
I was so glad to learn that the U.S. jury composed of seven men and five women sentenced for 20 years a conspirator and friend of prime suspect bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev over the April 15 2013 Boston Marathon twin bombs attack at the finish line that killed three people and injured 264 others. The 1972 Munich Olympic massacre by a group of terrorists called “Black September” killing more than a dozen of Israelites was the worst in the sports history.“ There’s no place for terrorists in sports,” as the saying goes. Hopefully this will never-ever happen to us here, in our soil. Siya nawa.
* * * *
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Jesus answered, “”If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. JOHN 8: 54-55
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
