Why Do I Run?

My beloved mother died when she was just 48 years old. I was a grade school pupil then. Her diagnosis: Cerebral Hemorrhage Secondary to Cerebro-Vascular Stroke (CVA commonly known as stroke). Also, my good father died when he was only 61 years old; not enough to enjoy his life as a senior citizen. His diagnosis: Myocardial Infarction (common term - heart attack) related to Chronic Diabetes. My mother’s mother died also from stroke. Her eldest brother, my uncle, also died from stroke. Her other siblings, my uncles and aunties, also experience signs and symptoms of hypertension (with high blood pressure). My father’s three siblings are official members of diabetes association (if there’s any). And so on. In short, hypertension and diabetes runs in our family. This implies that: if a member of my family has this disease, everyone in the family has a higher risk to acquire such disease.

Based from the study, heart and vascular-related disease are one of the leading causes of mortality among the Filipinos every year. So since, anyone could have a stroke or heart attack whatever the age, gender, or race but the chances to suffer this kind disease increases if the person has risk factors that causes the said diseases. Though these are in our genes, which we cannot avoid, but in reality, most stroke/heart attack cases could have been prevented or controlled. The only best way to protect one’s self is to know the personal risks and how to manage these. High blood pressure, diabetes, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, high cholesterol, and obesity are just few of the risk factors that can be both managed and controlled by anyone. The only thing to do is self-discipline and healthy-living.

This is the main reason why I do run. It is a general fact to everybody that running or jogging brings a lot of benefits to our own body – mentally and physically. Most people never agree to this kind of thought. They usually reason out it’s just a waste of time and energy. Instead of running/jogging or doing any type of work out or exercise during their free time, they preferred to watch movies from their favorite cinemas, eat in a newly-open restaurants, sleep from dusk till dawn, play games in computers/PSP’s, and so on. These activities are not bad at all. However, if you wish to be physically fit and healthy (away from heart and vascular diseases), you have to alter your sedentary lifestyle. Try running or jogging during your free time. Of course, you’ll definitely get tired at first but once you’re used to it, running is really a real pleasure. I may have the high risk of having a stroke/heart attack because of our family history, but genetics is not the whole story. Both stroke/heart attack/diabetes is mainly associated to poor eating habits, being overweight, smoking, and having inactive physical activities. By running, I can rid all of these.

According to http://www.health.am Jogging/Running has many mental and physical benefits to offer. Once regularly done, it effectively improves one’s health and fitness. The physical benefits of jogging include:

Weight loss - jogging faster body metabolic operations resulting in increased burning of calories. On this way it is possible to lose weight and achieve better and firmer body figure.

Burn abdominal fat - It is known that abdominal fat hardly go away. It can be argued with certainty that jogging is one of the most effective exercises for burning fat from the abdomen and hips.

Improve appetite – although overweight, these people usually suffer from loss of appetite. As mentioned, run speeds up metabolism, which requires more energy. Required energy is introduced through the food. So jogging increases the need for food which on a healthy way spreads to the organism.

Jogging relieves stress - by raising the level of endorphin lifts mood. In addition, during the jogging people have time alone to think about problems and as they the longer run, they find extra power to deal with these problems. If a person is angry and furious, he/she can choose the sprint to get out the negative emotions.

Jogging relieves stress - by raising the level of endorphin lifts mood. In addition, during the jogging people have time alone to think about problems and as they the longer run, they find extra power to deal with these problems. If a person is angry and furious, he/she can choose the sprint to get out the negative emotions.

Strengthen muscles and bone density - it is quite certain that jogging strengthens the muscles and bones became more stable and more mobile, especially the back, hips and legs.

Fights insomnia - jogging involves certain amount of physical fatigue, which provides a healthy and strong dream.

Fights aging - given that jogging strengthens bones and muscles that prevent their decline, which normally occurs with age. So, jogging slows aging.

Fight diseases - boosting the immune system, regularly jogging decreases risk of diseases such as cancer, heart attack, diabetes, hypertension, and osteoporosis.

Cardiovascular benefits – jogging increases lung capacity which provides more oxygen to all vital body organs. In addition, jogging speeds up heart rate, this strengthens the heart muscle, reducing the risk of heart diseases. Also, running lowers blood pressure.

In addition to physical health, jogging has many positive psychological impacts:

Jogging build confidence - it increases the strength of the body, giving joggers the courage to face the bigger and more serious trials of life. In addition, losing weight and tighten the muscles contribute to increasing confidence.

Jogging trains mind - since the jogger encounters various obstacles during running and continually sets himself new goals to be achieved, this kind of thinking can be transferred to other situations in life.

Should i say more?