Manny and the world of sports. Well kind of..

The good ol' days..

For the past two weeks, I've been trying my best to work out. Unfortunately for me an old friend visited just recently. The stiffness of my knee. The hidden pain the comes and goes when I work out my legs. But I am lucky it does not hurt or bother me when I work at the hospital.

Since the year 2006, I have been haunted by this pain. I used to compete in many triathlons and cycling races for years. It was my life and it was what consumed pretty much most of my time when I was not eating or studying. But after injuring my leg, I thought my life was over. For years I struggled to cope with the fact I was and probably will never be the way I was prior to the accident. After graduating from college, I was so depressed, I gained about 20 pounds and didn't even know it. Well that's until all of my clothes wouldn't fit.

No one ever teaches you about coping with injury. When an athlete gets injured, especially seriously high level injured, you still think you're Superman. You think that within one week, you'll be able to get back out there and just continue where you left off. I was wrong. Week after week, I kept dropping out in the middle of practice because my knee would hurt like hell. So I decided to stop showing up. It's hard enough to watch everyone do what they love while one is sidelined, helpless. Cutting myself off from both teams and from the world of bicycles, running and swimming was the only was I can get over it. I stopped talking to everyone and anyone associated with it. I didn't drink, but I ate and that's for sure.

I tried getting help from an Ortho Doc and a Chiropractor. Everyone had a different opinion and after repeated visits, without any progress, I started to realize they were probably keeping me around for the money. Who knows for sure, but the point is that I didn't feel better or stronger. I waited another year before I got help and that's when I saw a physical therapist. She definitely got the job done and got me going. I started to feel great until my insurance coverage with my mother expired. I didn't have enough money to continue on and I had many bills to pay. Since then, I never got help again.

I think that's another reason why I started this blog. I did this also for my knee, for the hope of getting my knee back to the state of getting back up and doing what I love to do, competing in sports. After watching Manny Pacquiao defeat Antonio Margarito, I started to reminisce about all the times I used to watch him from college and after, work my ass off in practice because of how much he inspired me. I feel no matter what what he does on that ring, he inspires not only every Filipino, but every person who aspires to be great. Wether that be in the kitchen, in class, in the hospital or out in the field. I don't know, but after watching the fight over and over this week, I have decided to get my knee back to the way it was years ago. I'm scared that it will never get better no matter what. But I have to try.

To those of you reading...I know many of you think this is a blog about me just losing weight, but I'm sorry to disappoint some of you... This is a blog about my journey and redemption to a better life that will hopefully inspire others. This blog is about overcoming those mountains we never thought we can climb. And right now, I'm on a road to see what else is out there when I step out of my comfort zone and try to achieve what I feel in my life is impossible.

I'll leave you guys with this trailor to the new movie "The Fighter"