Cebu long distance running Olympian Mary Joy Tabal in one of her strength and conditioning training at home. |Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A time for self-reflection and healing. This is how Cebu Olympian long distance runner Mary Joy Tabal is spending the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) which is being implemented by the Cebu City government as one of the measures to fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“(I have) Been doing self-reflection now and then coz it’s really a challenge for me especially that running is done outdoor, and I am limited to staying indoor for a month now,” said Tabal.
According to Tabal, “there are some things you can only learn in a storm,” that is why for athletes like her, the pandemic has opened their eyes to how quickly opportunities can be taken away.
Tabal herself has had several opportunities taken from her since the start of the COVID-19 crisis as most of the races where she hoped to gather points to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were cancelled.
Read more: Tabal, POC chief back postponement of Tokyo Olympics
Even though her course as an athlete had changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tabal said she was in it for the long haul.
“I will come out on the other side of this all even better than I came into it. I just have to be patient and more patient, giving myself more time to reset and heal those torn muscles,” said Tabal.
Tabal added that “staying fit and keeping myself on shape without running has been my day to day challenge, and I have been struggling with keeping up my motivation, that’s where discipline gets so important.”
“So during this time, it is more important than ever to find creative and enjoyable ways to take care of ourselves by keeping our hearts, minds and bodies healthy,” Tabal added.
“As an athlete, I just have to put my energy on the things I have control over right now. We can’t control every situation but we can control how we respond to it,” she said./dbs