Imagine that… I actually forgot to publish an anniversary post on this blog’s official twelfth year online!  Let me rectify that…

The past year has been anything but normal.  Not even our wildest dreams could’ve anticipated what 2020 had in store for us.  But as much as a lot of things had gone south, there are still things that we could be thankful for.  For one, if you’re reading this, you’re still alive!  Toxic positivity aside, counting our blessings is one if the many ways we can alleviate the anxiety that the year had given many of us.

This year, I did something that I never thought I’d do—join a virtual race!  I’ve always just gave it a pass as I didn’t think they have much sense—why the need to pay if you’ll be running on your own anyway?  But then the pandemic came…

All in-person running events, like most other mass gathering activities, has been cancelled here in the Philippines shortly after the pandemic started.  Initially, they were postponed, but as the situation never really improved, most were simply cancelled, but some continued as a virtual race.

With no actual race to prepare for and the lurking danger of getting sick whenever you go outdoors, there’s really not much reason to drive you to go out and exercise.  But signing up for a paid virtual race gives you that reason—something to look forward to, something to achieve.  It’s the closest thing you can get right now to doing an actual race.

In my case, it was the Star Wars virtual run that got me as I’ve always wanted to join the actual event (which never officially reached the Philippines until this one).  The entitlements had me!  There was no pandemic when I signed up, but the original event duration got caught in the middle of the lock downs in the region so it was postponed much later.

Having the privilege of completing a virtual race in installments motivated me to sign up for the 40K (despite me not doing anything close to that distance in years!) and that gave me reasons to actually go out for a run (safely, where there are less people and I can still socially distance myself) every weekend.  It took several runs for me to complete the distance, but I wouldn’t have forced myself to do so had I not signed up for the event.  I still haven’t received my entitlements though…

And just recently, I signed up for another 40K virtual run!  This time to celebrate my birth month.  I haven’t started yet due to the inclement weather, but it’s something to keep me off my seat for many days to come…

After twelve years of running, it’s interesting that there are things that I can still do for the first time!  And this pandemic lead me to discover things about myself that I never knew before, both good and otherwise.  My metal health was pushed to its limits and not being able to get my happy hormones from running or going to the gym didn’t help.  But, life goes on and find ways.  As long as we adapt, we can ride this pandemic out.

With everything that 2020 gave us, let’s all hope that 2021 be a much better year for everyone.  I’m hoping that a year from now I’ll be posting an article entitled, “Lucky 13.”

To everyone that still supports this blog after all these years, thank you so much!  I appreciate the time you spent reading my thoughts and stories.  I hope you’re safe and healthy wherever you may be.

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