It’s been a long time comin’
It’s goin’ to be a long time gone
And it appears to be a long
Yes, a long, long, long, long time before the dawn
Turn turn any corner
Hear you must hear what the people say
you know there’s something that’s goin’ on around here
the surely, surely, surely won’t stand the light of day, no
Speak out you got to speak out against the madness
you got to speak your mind if you dare
But don’t, no don’t, no, try to get yourself elected…
— Crosby, Stills and Nash
YES, MOI has most often said and believes that it’s always about the story and never about the storyteller but sometimes the runner stumbles, so if it’s alright with you indulge me.
Indeed this is a long time coming but it’s just not a spur of the moment decision; the thought has been playing in my head for a few years now.
Moi thought of announcing it in a classic press conference but the thing is they usually cost a lot of money. Of course we’re not poor, we just happen to have no money.
And so last Friday, May 4, at the start of the campaign period for the barangay elections this was posted on social media:
“Moi is running this coming May 14 barangay elections”
The responses and comments were quite interesting hence this column.
Definitely this is it and what better time to do it than the day a lot of people are running and it’s a public holiday.
Five years ago moi survived an open-heart surgery, a multiple bypass major operation and after a “no pain no gain” road to recovery moi is almost normal in a physical sense of the word.
Of course “still crazy after all these years” is the best description other than that, well almost normal.
The road to recovery is basically getting your cardiovascular capacity up and running and for most heart bypass survivors it entails attending long and hard rehab sessions, not to mention painful.
These rehab sessions can be quite expensive and as we all know an open heart surgery can cost a few pesos i.e. buying a brand new Ford Explorer, so added expenses to your already drained bank account.
For most heart bypass survivors who had no experience as an athlete they have no choice but to avail themselves of these expensive rehab sessions if they want to recover.
You see, even if one had a successful operation without the proper rehabilitation you will never recover and just further weaken yourself to oblivion.
So purely for financial reasons and a bit of vanity and pride, moi decided to rehabilitate himself relying on past athletic experiences.
Having been a footballer during my university days playing for school and region, in this case San Agustin and Region 6 or Western Visayas, one can say that moi has played in the highest level of amateur football.
Two Iloilo PRISAA, two Western Visayas PRISAA and two National PRISAA and was already in the training pool for the U-19 national football team until Martial Law unfortunately interrupted my youth and footballing career but that’s another story.
After football moi became a serious competitive long distance runner and eventually a marathoner for 10 years from 1980 to 1990, competing with the top long distance runners at that time i.e. the late Jimmy dela Torre and Herman Suizo to name a few.
That was the time when road running was a serious competition; there were no fun runners or fun runs then.
Moi trained and competed in countless 5Ks, 10Ks and Half-Marathons and six full marathons namely: two Negros Marathons, two PAL International Marathons and two Manila International Marathons.
Having said all that modesty aside, one can say that moi knows something about training for cardiovascular fitness and capacity.
So how does an open heart surgery survivor regain his cardiovascular capacity? Quite simple really, by doing aerobic exercises i.e. running or jogging, swimming, biking and walking.
With a six-inch healing incision on the chest plus another one running almost the entire length of the left leg it would be quite difficult not to mention painful to perform the first four mentioned aerobic activity.
So you begin by slowly walking a few metres then finally progressing into a mile, increasing speed from slow walk to brisk walking till it becomes a regular two miles or five-kilometer loop every other day.
As your incisions healed you include a few laps in the swimming pool as part of your recovery rehabilitation.
After five years of regular brisk walking and swimming, moi feels it’s time to go up a notch, higher and go back to running and if it feels good, seriously consider competing again in your age group: the senior citizens bracket.
And what better time to test yourself than on May 14 – it’s a public holiday, the rest of the natives are preoccupied with the barangay elections.
The plan is to start with brisk walking for 800 meters then slowly start jogging the rest of the 2,400 meters to complete a two-miles loop or three kilometres and 200 meters or eight laps around the Iloilo Sports Complex track oval.
Now whoever gave you that idea that moi is running for a position in the barangay elections? What a silly thought. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
