What is LOVE?

 In one episode of the TV Series Extraordinary Atty. Woo, the public prosecutor asked the witness with intellectual disability the question ”What is love?”

My initial reaction was “Really? You’re asking her that?”

I wasn’t surprised when Atty. Woo’s colleague immediately objected saying “What kind of question is that? It’s hard for anyone to answer such a vague and abstract question.” My thoughts, exactly.

In one scene where Atty. Woo’s boyfriend and his buddies were on a drinking spree, one of them pointed to Jun-Ho that what he feels for his girlfriend is not love but sympathy. “That is just your feeling from dating a pitiful girl you want to help.” As expected, our lead actor lost his cool and punched his friend.

That scene brought me back in time when my EX confessed that he married me not because he truly loved me but felt mere pity for me. Refreshing his memory, I told him that I had everything I wanted back then. I could do anything I want, I could go anywhere I want to go. I was living my life to the fullest. Why in God’s name, should he pity me? I wanted to be grateful for his sympathy but he just didn’t deserve it.

Atty. Woo has autism but a genius who graduated top in Law School. Still, her father  couldn’t believe that someone else other than him could possibly love his precious daughter so he asked Jun-Ho why he loved Young-woo. His answer was simple. “Atty. Woo is like me.”

If the person you love is like you, then that means you and that person are one and the same. So that is why a married couple should regard themselves as ONE, so to speak. If the other person is like you, you wouldn’t do anything that will hurt that person because it means you will be hurting yourself. You will do everything that will make that person happy because happiness is what you’ve been yearning for in life.

So that, my dear readers, is love. True love that is. 

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. For comments/reactions, you may email me at ndelr2003@yahoo.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

Would You Choose The Person You Love Or The Person Who’s Madly In Love With You?

Yes, my dear readers. There are times that life can be shamelessly cruel. You cannot reciprocate the love of the person who waited for you for fourteen years, yet you fall in love with the person you just met for the very first time.

Blinded by the illusion that “Love at First Sight” is indeed true love, you overlook the signs written on the wall. When you set a date, he always comes late or never show up at all. When you walk side by side in the mall, he disappears in a flash when he spots a pretty woman a mile away. He disregards your preferences and stubbornly decides on what he wants. He doesn’t shower you with flowers or any gift on special occasions like birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and anniversary. He forbids you to join him in a queue to hide the fact that he’s already taken. He doesn’t hold your hand when you go out nor wants you clinging to him. You are together but publicly appear like strangers. You ignore all these obvious signs and marry him anyway, hoping against hope that your passionate unconditional love will change him. After the wedding, the situation gets worse. He is supposed to be home at 5 PM from work but he arrives around midnight without having the decency to inform you beforehand. Then he quits his regular job to supposedly manage your business so you could just take care of the family. The situation becomes worst. Now he comes home just as your father gets out of the house for his morning walk. You check his brief case and there you find exactly his briefs, shirt and towel. Later you find out that he’s been quite an expert in managing the young, entertaining girls employed in your business. During those very rare days that he comes home early, he would sneak out of the house at midnight and return at dawn.

Why do people fall in love with the wrong person? Why can’t they teach their hearts to love the person who truly cares for them?

I honestly don’t know the reason for this absurdity but I do know that if only spouses commit to love the person they married, broken families will cease to exist. And we will all live happily everafter.

(Thanks for stopping by. For comments/reactions, email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 6: What to Do When It Rains

Eia: Are you running Mama?

Me: It is raining. I cannot go running.

Eia: YOU RUN INSIDE THE BASKETBALL COURT. GO NOW!

Me: (with mouth wide open) OK. I’ll get ready.

If you don’t have a covered Basketball Court, a covered Tennis Court or Volleyball Court inside your subdivision, what can you do when it rains?

Simple. Make it your Cross Training Day. You may try 1) climbing up and down the stairs  2) Strength Training using crunch ball/resistance band/weights  3) aerobics or zumba via YouTube  4) jumping rope  5) hulahoop  6) yoga  7) Tai-Chi  8) Pilates  9) boxing  and 10) any other physical activity you will enjoy doing.

In actual races, we cannot avoid running under the rain. But in training, I try my best to avoid it for the preservation of my shoes. Their wear and tear are compromised more rapidly when they get wet.

(Thanks for dropping by. For comments/reactions, email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 5: Have a Walking/Running Buddy

 When my dear father was still alive, he would wake up at 3 AM and get dressed for his morning ritual. Every morning except Sundays, he and his 5 friends would trek along the perimeters of Philamlife Village while exchanging each other’s childhood stories and sharing each other’s thoughts on whatever comes to mind. This routine made my father fully alive. He would greet each new day with great excitement and anticipation, knowing that he would be together with his walking buddies.

My running partner is a charming policewoman who dreams to run a marathon. We were set to run 21k, 32k and 42k in RunRio’s Trilogy last 2020 but everything crushed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hopefully, she can achieve her goal next year. Then by God’s grace, we will both run the 100k Ultramarathon.

Knowing that someone would be waiting for you somewhere will ignite your passion to jump out of bed in the morning. Your walks/runs would be fun because you won’t run out of stories to share. You will be enjoying yourself so much that you wouldn’t even realize you were exercising. Go ahead. Pair with your buddy now!

(Thanks for stopping by my blog. For further questions, you may email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 4: How Do You Spice Up Your Walking Routine?

 You have been walking leisurely for ages now. You are no longer out of breath, and everything seemed comfortable. You realize that it’s kinda been boring lately. The weighing scale has been pretty stable too. No significant change to-date. Yes, you are now in a plateau and you desperately want to get out of it.

Yet you cannot follow my previous advice to inject running steps in between your walks. You honestly believe that you’re simply not cut out for running. Well, I happen to agree with you. Not every body is born to run, contrary to what others say.

Here’s what you can do: You can challenge yourself with a High-Intensity Interval Training.

How? Let me first describe the following Levels of Walking:

#1–your Normal Pace.   #2–slightly faster than your Normal Pace.  #3–Fast Walk but you can still carry a conversation with your walking buddy.  #4– Very Fast Walk that a normal conversation is now difficult and #5–Equivalent to Sprint in running. This is your fastest walk possible.

With these levels in mind, do the following:

5-10 minutes of Level 1-2 for Warm-Up. Then 30 seconds of Level 5, followed by 30 seconds of Level 3. Repeat 5 to 10 times. Then 5-10 minutes of Level 2-3. Then 1 minute of Level 4, followed by 1 minute of Level 2. Repeat 5-10 times. Then 5-10 minutes of Level 1-2 to Cool Down.

So there. One way of spicing up your regular walking routine.

Enjoy!

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. Email me at ndelr62@gmail.com or chat via Messenger for questions or reactions and comments. Stay safe everyone!

Tip # 3: How to Prevent Injury

 Assuming that you decided to incorporate running in your walking routine, what is the first thing that you should do?

Buy the right running shoes for your type of feet. Go to any Running Specialty Store, step on the machine that assess your type of feet and the right running shoes will be recommended for you. If the store doesn’t have the specialized machine, you can just show the soles of your training shoes and the assessment will be based from the appearance of the soles. Not having the right running shoes will lead to injuries you don’t need to endure.

Have several dynamic stretches before your workout and static stretches after. In that particular order. Do not interchange the two.

Land on your midfoot. This will be difficult at first but the more you condition your mind to do it, it will eventually be spontaneous.

Ice compress your thighs, knees, legs and feet in the first few days of your walk/run intervals. Even if you don’t experience any pain, ice compress anyway.

Have a training log. Do not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%.

Carry water with you. If you don’t have a hydration belt, stash a water bottle somewhere along your route. You don’t want to collapse due to dehydration.

And of course, wear the proper running clothes and undies to prevent chafing. Severe chafing could be bloody.

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. You may get in touch with me via Messenger or at ndelr62@gmail.com. Stay safe everyone!)

Tip # 2: How to Evolve from Walking to Running

 If you’re already walking comfortably for 30 minutes and seemed bored with the regularity of the routine, you might want to spice it up by adding a few running steps in between. The length should be very short to just excite your heart a little. When your breathing returns to normal again, try another set of running but longer this time. But not long enough to significantly disrupt your breathing. Repeat the process until you complete your 30-minute walk.

After doing this for sometime, you maight want to try the 1:1 Interval. Run slow for 1 minute, then walk fast for the next minute. If you think you can run longer, try 2:1. Then 3:1 and so on. Pick the right Interval for you.

In my case, I ran my first 5k race without stopping. I also ran my first 10k race without stopping. As for my first 21k race, I only stopped at water stations to hydrate. I was too proud to incorporate walking into my routine. That was then. Now? Even if its only 2k, I would still apply the 1:1 Interval hahahah . . .

(Thanks for dropping by my blog. For further questions, you may email me at nder62@gmail.com or chat with me via Messenger. Stay safe everyone!)