Former Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach is excited about her forthcoming marathon in New York City, her first ever marathon race.
“It’s only 3 months before race day — and these were my thoughts before I started training and got serious about running cos I was never a runner before, and I couldn’t even stand doing any sort of cardio then. But I’ve always looked at runners with a lot of respect,” she said via her Instagram page today, July 24, sharing a photo of herself wearing her running outfit and hydration belt while looking out at Lake Como in Italy.
“But here I am getting ready for the NYC marathon @nycmarathon. It will be my first ever marathon & I’ve been training for it since late Feb,” she added.
The idea to join a marathon competition came during the New Year when she had COVID and felt “just sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
“I felt like, ‘Okay Pia if you don’t do it now, you’ll never do it,’” she said. So she took the chance to join the NYC marathon and “joined the registration (not under a brand or org this time), made a donation and waited.”
“It didn’t take me [three] tries this time,” she said, obviously referring to the three times she joined Bb. Pilipinas and eventually win the Miss Universe crown in 2015.
“Yay! My ticket to my first ever marathon. ‘Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, Athlete from the Philippines!’ na ba to?! Chos lang,”” she joked.
Running, Wurtzbach said, is something that improved her life because she was able to “feel better, sleep better and manage stress better.”
“And it feels so good to actually feel and see progress. Today, my weekend runs go for 18 [kilometers]++ when a few months ago I [could not] even finish 3 [kilometers] without hating everything. What I’m trying to say is – it’s all possible,” she explained.
Wurtzbach, who is in Italy for a short vacation, finds it “a little challenging to train” there “with all the pizza and gelato around.”
“But LABAN (fight)! I’ll be sharing more about my running journey as race day gets closer,” she told fans. “Wish me luck.” JB
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