De las Alas was stationed at Navy Recruiting Command (NRC) and now serves as the civilian audit liaison for CHNAVPERS Office of Inspector General.
Overweight, out of shape, and with unhealthy vices, de las Alas registered for the 2014 NTNM the day before the race.
He started the race thinking “I’m going to blow this course away.”
“But I ended up getting blown away by the course itself and theother runners,” says de las Alas. “I was pissed off at the course; I was pissed off at myself.”
De las Alas used that anger to make a change. “Since that day, I have only missed six days of running,” he said.
He recently qualified for the 2017 Boston Marathon.
This isn’t de las Alas first foray into fitness. “I was sponsored by the North West Navy Fitness League back in 2002-2005. And I finished 12 marathons and four Iron Man triathlons. I was racing four, maybe five times a month.”
But in 2005 he went IA and picked up the local habit of smoking. “You’re sitting in the desert all day thinking ‘yeah this sucks’. I was working out too but I lost focus. I wasn’t racing. The races out there weren’t really races,” he said. “There were no qualifying events.”
“The locals weren’t really runners, they were just sitting around smoking,” he added. “So I ended up smoking.” His bad habits followed him back to NSA Mid-South.
“I got stationed here at NRC and I still had these bad vices,” he said. “I was coming close to retirement. And I realized ‘this can’t be my life’”. The impending retirement gave de las Alas a reason to examine his choices and lifestyle. He said he started to think about life beyond his Navy career. “Obesity and that kind of stuff kills you! If you’re not healthy, you’re not going to live that long,” he said.
He was ready for a change and the NTNM was his starting point. “I picked up running and I started losing weight and I started getting faster,” he said, adding “I started enjoying the run!”
De las Alas said it is important to keep your goals realistic so they are easier to obtain.
“For a day of running to count, I have to run 1.5 miles,” he said. “It was just a Navy standard that I could hold myself accountable for.”
De las Alas said he hopes other can use the new year and impending NTNM as a starting point for their own health and fitness journey.
“Write down promises to yourself,” he suggested. “I had to write down goals. Like go to Ironman Kona (Hawaii) by the time I’m 60; by the time I’m 90 still be able to run 10k. When I’m 100 still be able to run a 5k.
“Write stuff down so you can hold yourself accountable. When you write down all these goals and you’re accountable to these goals, they are life goals,” he said. “You’re going to fight to meet them.”
De las Alas said goals were even more important for those nearing military retirement.
“When you have something to look forward to in your life it gives you life,” he said. “I see that all the time. If you don’t (have goals) don’t be surprised if you shrivel up and die. You’ve got to have purpose. That’s what life is all about.”
He added that staying healthy is a great fiscal choice when it comes to retirement. “If I were telling a retiree how to maximize their retirement (pay and benefits), I would tell them to be alive to receive it!”
De las Alas said that having goals and pushing to do better in all facets of life helps you compete not only on the course but in your career. “You’re not going to be young forever! But what makes you young is continuously competing and trying to make yourself better,” he said. “That E5 or E6 or that O3 or O4 that is still early in their career; you’re in the prime of your life where you still have to compete to make rank, to make promotion,” de las Alas said. “PTing or participating in races gives you that physical focus that converts over to your professional performance.”
For those that think they don’t have time to invest in a fitness routine, de las Alas has advice on that as well. “Running actually gives you time,” he said. “I use my runs on my lunch break to think through problems and contemplate what I am doing in my day.” He went on to say “find ways to make running part of your life. I don’t just mean scheduling it in your day, but incorporating it into your lifestyle.” Earlier in the week he had been feeling sick and didn’t want to run, but decided to go on a run with his son. That time together was not only great time spent with his son, he said, but an easy way to get some miles in.
For new runners, de las Alas said to start slow. Whether it be an hour, 30 or 45 minutes, just getting some exercise will get you started, he said. On the days he only logs 1.5 miles, de las Alas can achieve this in around 10 minutes. “I started out with 30 minutes; only two miles,” he said. Now he regularly runs 300 miles a month.
De las alas’ goal for this year is to bring his time down. Last year his finish time was around one hour and 21 minutes. With his recent half marathon times, he believes he can finish the race closer to one hour and 17 minutes.
“The competition has actually gotten harder,” he said pointing out that the competition is drawing more and more runners from around the country. Goals are all very relative, he said. No person will have exactly the same goal at a race. “My individual goal is to get better and hopefully to talk to more people about being more fit and being excited about the (NTNM) run.”
De las Alas said the NTNM is a unique and inspiring race with “undulation, southern living, and beautiful countryside.”
“You see the lake, you see cheering happy families, trees, long stretches where you can go as fast as you want,” he said. “And in the end you get one of the best medals ever made. It’s a pretty medal!”
For regular racers trying to decide if they want to add the NTNM to their schedule this year, de las Alas offered this review: “It’s well supported with lots of volunteers helping out. Lots of organizations are out there FCPOA, CPOA, and Filipino association. There’s always going to be somebody rooting for you. There are straightaways and coming into the finish is really cool because that announcer is wonderful and gets you pumped up.”
He said the NTNM is a unique experience that everyone at NSA Mid-South should take advantage of. “You have the home field advantage and can train right here on the course,” he said. “And nobody in the world has a nautical miler! That in itself is unique.”
Runner Qualifies for 2017 Boston Marathon, Credits NTNM - The Bluejacket Newpaper
Page 2 The BluejacketThursday, January 14, 2016
From NSA Mid-South
Public Affairs
=============
