On this day, October 1, 2020 marks the 200th day since Metro Manila and the whole of the Philippines where put into Lockdown due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. On March 17, 2020, I just arrived at the Manila International Airport from my last International Trail Running Event participation in Sabah, Malaysia. From the airport, I went directly to my training playground in Bataan, which is 110 kilometers northwest from Manila, and stayed there for almost four months until Lockdown restrictions were relaxed and eased up.

Since then, I have been going to Manila on a monthly basis to attend to my financial arrangements and updates. It was just last month, September, that I experienced eating in a restaurant, buying a shoes (Onitsuka Tiger) inside a Mall, and check on my house and staff on a regular basis. So far, so good. On these activities outside of my residence, I would be using a face mask and a full-face shield and made sure that I observe social distancing of at least, one-two meters apart from other people in public areas. Whenever I am driving my car in my monthly trips, I would be always with my face mask. I think this is now the “new normal” while the Covid-19 virus is still present in the environment.

For the past 200 days, I have been busy with running in my Backyard Loop and within my Playground which consists of hills and mountains all around the place where I am now staying. I have also renewed my subscription with the You Tube Channel where I would be posting some videos about running and things that I have been doing in my Playground. However, for the past two weeks, I have reduced the number of hours that I would engage myself in running. I am now strictly following a “One-Hour” daily running routine. Since I finished the 1,000K Virtual Run Across Tennessee and the IAU 6-Hour Virtual Solidarity Run during the period of the 200-day Lockdown, it is time for my body to reduce my daily running duration after one week of rest and recovery period. At my age of 68 years old, I have to slowdown and balance my running with my rest and recovery. At this moment, I was able to bring back my body weight to 133 pounds from 123 pounds at the peak when I was doing my Virtual Runs.

I always make sure to wear a face mask during my runs outside my backyard and maintain one-two meters of social distancing in populated areas. Above all, I always maintain and boost my immune system by doing my daily exercises through running and stretching; eating healthy foods, and making sure to sleep at least, 8 hours every night. Living simply and healthy during this time.

More posts on this blog coming soon! Thank you for reading.