Why am I running

Or , the more precise question is, why do I join in those activities called fun runs?

A photo of me in the last run I participated in.  I was among the last runners to arrive at the finish but still felt victorious. (Photo courtesy of a certified run enthusiast Hansen Buasen)

I first ran a race in 2011 without any concrete purpose.  Perhaps, it was really just for fun.  Then I ran some more races without any serious resolve.  I sat one time and pondered it with a pencil and paper on hand but the paper remained a blank sheet.  The pondering on my purpose for running was forgotten until lately when I asked the question to myself again.

I was in the middle of a half marathon when I stumbled.  I haven’t noticed and stepped into a canal on the paved sidewalk.  Intuitively, I braced myself with hand as my body hit the ground then I muttered, “Apay gamin nga tumartarayak aya?” (Why am I running?)

I reflected on that personal query as I slowed down feeling some very minor twist in my feet.  I recalled the previous races I joined at, about only ten, mused on the experiences and half-way through the race, I have three words on why I am running.

These are – Collect, Correct, and Connect!

Collect.  Organizers of run events have incentives for their runners.  The very first one is the race kit that would include a singlet or a shirt.  So it is like buying a new shirt but the feeling is different of course with logo of the event as you can’t just buy it from department store.  There are of course certificates of participation or finisher certificate at the end of races and these are good keepsakes especially when the run was for a cause or indicates some historic event or indicates the finish time as record of a personal milestone.  The finisher shirt and medallions in half-marathons, marathons, and ultra-marathons are also some nice things to collect during runs.  Well there too are the cash prizes, medals and certificates for top finishers.

My very first (and only) trophy for running came when there was really no significant competition.  Then, I ran alongside my sister in a “buddy run” and we were the first in the mix (male-female) category.  Our fellow runners in this category were mostly young lovers who were perceptibly more interested in their time together rather than winning a race.  Even then, it the trophy was such a nice display on top of the cabinet at home.

Correct.  Someone said that most of diseases in the present age are caused by lack of mobility.  Exercise is one of the solutions.  I find calisthenics to be boring.  Sports are much more exciting.  But honestly, I rate myself poor at most sports.  Running was the easiest to do.  There could be some art and skills involved in this exercise but the lack of it won’t be noticeable while running.  I feel muscle pain every after a run.  My friend said those natural pains are signs of healing.  It is the body correcting what could be wrong in its system.

Aside from the physical gain, joining runs correct some notions about the activity.  For instance, I once thought that paying some registration fee then tiring oneself in the process of running is a crazy thing to do.  But eventually, I found it worthy.

Connect.  Connecting with/to people is one I value most in fun runs.  People, including those who you don’t know personally, say hello before the starting gun fires.  People you meet along the route greets you.  Runs are a way feeling that we live in a friendly world.

In the last run I participated, it was a friend who invited me into it.  We were at least five from the same workplace.  We had a nice meal together after the run.  Fellowship – it was what that run gave.

Runs are also a way of connecting with nature.  The sunrise, as runs are usually before daybreak, the trees, birds, and flowers along the way, and even the mosses that make slippery the path, are a nice reminder of how Mother Earth was so full of source of happiness.

It is a way to connect to oneself.    In the last ran, I felt hunger in almost half part of it.  There are stores along the way, but had no money in my pocket.  But I remain determined to finish the race even if it means I would just simply walk as I ad no energy to run.  Then at the finish line, I felt victorious even if I am among the last runners to arrive.

Then as I summarized my reflection, which I now call the three C’s of my running activity, I affirmed a conclusion a friend of mine shared in the past.  That running is like life itself.  I had no purpose on my first run.  But then I am trying to realize now some purpose.  Just like life, people do not realize a purpose of living at birth but would soon have them as they are into living.

Men are source of stress to Women...

Men are source of stress to women,  as women are a source of stress to men too.

This was the conclusion met at a recent seminar I attended where stress management was a topic.  Because the session was a small group, the speaker deemed it best that participants could learn very well thru an activity.  The group was further divided into two - one group for the men and the other group for the women.

The activity was for each group to answer two questions - 1) What are the top main source of stress of your gender and how were you able to handle it? 2) What do you think are the main source of stress of the other gender and how do you think are they coping with it?  No copying of answers from the other group, was the instruction.

Our group - the group of men listed the following key words as the source of stresses for men - finance, family, work, boss, and the opposite gender.   It came out during the group discussion that "finance" is problem because aside from the reality that it is in the culture that fathers are looked up to as the supposed breadwinner, often it is the wife who controls the family purse thus it can happen that men lacks allowances for personal expenses.  At work, there is that problem about women gossip.  And according to some, a woman boss is difficult to get along with.  Thus, the fifth listed source - opposite sex - didn't need further explanation.  Among the listed coping mechanism (as far as I can remember listed) were drinking (alcoholic drinks), listening to music including those at a bar, increased physical activity such as jogging, beer, and more beer, and sauna massage (pronounced as sa una masahe.)

As to the second question, the group listed same keywords related to finance, family, work, boss, and men.  "Finance" because women tend to spenders.  "Family" because they are what culture dictates to be the carers.  Work because they may not get along with coworkers and bosses, are talkers, among others.  And "men" because as from their husband they expect the touch/sex but often none came. Their coping mechanism, the men group thought, were social media, gossip, nagging their husband, beautifying themselves.

When the output was presented to the entire, there were generally murmurs and cheers of agreement from the women.

It shows in the presentation that women listed too matters relating to finances, family, work, human relations, and the opposite gender as the source of stress for women and men.  In the presentation, the women group leader expounded on some reality that some men as a coping mechanism have theirother women apart from their wife.  But in turn this situation becomes a source of stress because aside from thinking about how to sustain financially the other woman, she is a stressor when time comes that she would give up on the relationship.  The women group aside from discussing their point of view of what the men's group has already presented, added that as coping mechanism, attendance of both gender to sessions that discusses gender and gender differences.  This would include retreats and marriage encounters or counselling seminars that are usually sponsored by religious or civil society organizations.

Later, it was synthesized that men and women can manage their stress if they recognize their differences including hormonal and emotional ones.

Indeed men and women can solve stress together when they put on the table their agenda for better understanding, and respect from and for both gender group.