...on mountains
...the sheer joy of expression...of putting thoughts into words...of things past, at the moment, in the future...of contemplation whilst on the move, puffing, in the company of like minds, gazing from the bus window...best of all treading hills and mountains, of sitting in a rice-god pose and staring at the valleys below, extoling at the ranges proudly in line...nothing compares the trail...each twist and turn reveals nature at its best...each tree a mystery...each leaf and blade has a story to tell...the clouds display their own thoughts...the summit uncovers grandeur at its best...what else is there to say of these rolling lands put together by an awesome, supreme being...i stand, sit, walk,trot, crawl and lie in adulation..for this is what is deserved of this sensitive nature...asking only mutual respect and this i accord to nature's heights...
...kinabalu, pulag, andolor, cabuyao, sto tomas...few of the majestics trodden by this simple pilgrim paying homage to creator's altars...and yet other peaks beckon..let it be so then..and it be done so long as these legs can...
...on walking
...today, i walked. I admit. I wasn't born with that special strain of muscle. I run because of the solitude, my music and my ramblings...yes, running is a lot faster than walking...yet, nature has its way of making one look back (sounds familiar) in fact, i walked first before i ran...now, recovering from an injury that has handicapped me (not for long i hope), am raring to go back to my running form...yet patience is the road less travelled...and nature has forced me to traverse this road...and so with a sigh of resignation, i surfed the net on how to get back to my running sched...and what i got were articles on taking easy and starting all over...that is, walking
...and so, while trodding and plodding south drive...one side urged me to jog...to go for it...why not, i've been doing it so i still can... another side screamed warning signals...don't allow yourself to go through that pain again...you're not recovered fully...the battle raged inside for some time...i almost ran...what the heck...heart leads the mind...dance like a butterfly but it stings like a bee...hence, the better part of me, the control freak took over and i walked...fast for satisfaction's sake...
...does walking make one less of a runner... the walk/run program training advocated by galloway, burfoot and others...does it work?
...on bloom to gloom
...up here in the boondocks, there's this distinct feeling in the air after having rains for some time and next day wake up to clear skies...like this will be a good day...as i pounded up outlook drive, i saw the the sun spread streaks of orange red...the air suddenly became fresh and clean...promising a bright sunny day...a far contrast to the last few days...
...yesterday, i dared walk session road...the past week saw intermittent daily showers.. totally unexpected by residents and tourists in baguio... session was closed the entire week as part of the panagbengga finale...ironically, session in bloom with food and souvenirs galore turned session in gloom with the weather as uncooperative as ever...sadly, session in doom to the entrepreneurs...most people gazing at the gray skies, the rain, and an almost empty session road (the first time since panagbengga started years ago) sigh and blame everything on global warming...oh well, blame it to king of the food chain or the greedy G8 outsourcing their factories and industries to less lenient nations...whatever...the bottomline is, we're in for big changes of the weather, the peso, and so on...
...inspite of looming changes, the autumn like weather that seem to linger in this part of the country is embraced by runners who run in glory whatever time it may be with no fear of sunburn...all's well...
...on the link to sanity..
... 'my only link to sanity' murmured this colleague beside me as she stayed glued to online scrabble (scrabulous) game after game...in fairness to her, she works her butt out and runs hither to no end like the day ceases naught...harhar..brings to mind the poet de la Mar...anyway, she finds ten to twenty minutes amidst a swirl of activity to play against faceless competitors...this rambler at times becomes the optional challenger when the internet connection is down and so drop whatever task is at hand, proceed to an empty room, lock the door and spread the board... usually, a throbbing headache replaces the released stress as an intense game of words and strategy ends......well, such mind games prove exhausting but fulfilling.........my only link to sanity rambles moi is running...sundappled roads, late or early wind chill against a sweat drenched epidermal covering replaces nothing...lately, due to an upcoming race here in the city on hills or due merely to the autumn-like weather that refuses to go away which is heaven to joggers and runners of all ages as they pound and grind the empty streets at dawn...even the gears on them becomes an endearing sight!!...the athlete runners with skimpy nylon-polyester shorts and tanks...high school students in baggy sweat suits in pairs or in a pack...the regulars with the regular shorts and the regular shirt or jacket...the ajummas and ajassis (korean for uncle and auntie) with comfortable cotton jogging garb...single, couples, in pairs an more.. even the PNP trainees brought a kind of activity in the air...this is the best time ever..and so like in a festive mood...this rambler runs and for a change started yelling good morning to anyone who swooshes by..nothing beats a yelled back reply as we panted by.....mother theresa said this but to replace love with run seem more appropriate.. "run til it hurts and run some more til it hurts no more"......"Spirit...has fifty times the strength and staying power of brawn and muscle."
...on the first run
...it all started with a walk, of course.. with raggedy clothes, work clothes, jeans, slacks, shorts, loose, tight, in flip flops, sandals, rubber shoes, boots, pumps..i walked..up the stairs, down the stairs, asphalted roads, newly paved streets, dusty ground, winding trails, rocky uphills, treacherous downhills, grassy steppes..in the heat of midmorning.. the clean world after a downpour.. under the pouring rain or the soft caress of a drizzle..in the coolness of dawn or the mellowing dusk..i walked..to work..after work..to the sari-sari store..to a neighboring cousin, to church, around a new workplace..i walked in squalid settlements, creepy ghettos, luxurious neighborhoods.. i walked..thinking..planning... absorbing what my senses offer.. i walked in solitude..in the company of a friend..colleagues..with a date..and i walked on..
don't we all..one way or the other..walk?...yet, there's more to it i know
...so i jogged...baby steps running..trotting..the thrill encompassing..the wind embracing my moving body..sweat pouring out of my pores..cleansing the layers of my covering..clearing my mind of last night's cobwebs... pumping the adrenaline.. awakening my senses..exhilaration after covering miles and miles..and the miles shall go on..as long as the knees allows it...its addictive...a week rendered incomplete without the seeping sweat suit on the road...first done to liberate the pounds...then for the heck of keeping this 30 plus bag of bod from becoming a wilted dysfunctional being... now its to feel the wind... the cleansing perspiration exuding from the body as feet pounds the scenic stretch...the awakening of a warm up and the calming of a cool down...it has become part of my system...creating balance to this fixation... so i shall run some more...