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Meet Zoren Legaspi, the athlete
We know Zoren Legaspi as the doting father of Kapuso celebrities Cassy and Mavy, as Carmina’s loving husband, but there is another façade to the host, actor, and family man: Zoren Legaspi is also actually an athlete.
At the moment, he is a cyclist, actively joining races like the recent Ironman Relay in Davao, where his team won third place in the mix relay category.
In fact, Zoren has been quite active in the cycling scene that he's been chosen to be an ambassador of PruRide Philippines 2019, biggest cycling festival in the country, where he competed in the Road Bike 35 and Above Category of the event's Criterium last April.
This month, the festival's second leg will take place in Subic, where he will join a non-competitive Grand Fondo 100, a long-distance road cycling type of race.
And then come August, Zoren will be one of the country's three representatives participating in Prudential RideLondon, a huge global cycling fest held at the Big Smoke.
Zoren shares he used to be a competitive tennis player, who suddenly found himself looking for a new sport when, a little over three years ago, he was confronted with a “knee problem. Hindi na ako makatakbo.”
Zoren went online, searched for a low-impact sport, and stumbled upon cycling. He would casually cycle around the subdivision before joining ‘bente-bente’ races; friendly competitions where participants dole out P20 as entrance fee, with the winner taking home the pot money.
“Nagustuhan ko yung adrenaline, duon na ako na-hook. Meron siyang feeling na hindi ko ma-explain” he says, adding he took Carmina cycling once and she enjoyed it as well. “It reminded her nung pagbi-bike niya nung bata siya.”
According to Zoren, cycling is an endurance sport, which requires intelligence as much as it requires physical strength. “Hindi naman porque’t malakas ka, mananalo ka na. Kailangan, intelligent ka. May diskarte.”
For him, losses are fantastic opportunities to learn. He recalls learning about "drafts" at a QC Circle race wherein he felt depleted just after 30 minutes of pedalling. “Yung ‘draft’ is when nagtatago ka sa cyclist because it’s going to save you more or less 80% of your energy,” he says of his discovery.
At a recent Fondo race, he learned of the power-to-weight ratio that uphill cycling requires.
It was only after consistently training for three years that Zoren could say he understood the sport and what it entails: strength, smarts, and a mastery of oneself.
"You have to know yourself," he begins, "and kung kaya mo yung distance, speed, at elevation [ng terrain]," adding long-distance cycling has him loading up on potassium and sodium three days before the actual race "para during the ride, kahit konting tubig lang, hindi ako made-dehydrate."
Zoren says he doesn't stop [training]. "Yun pala ang sikreto. ‘Wag kang titigil. Because if you stop [even just] for a month, back to zero ka daw. [kaya] Kahit walang race, lagi akong prepared."
“When you have the discipline, hindi ka talaga magkakasakit. Malakas siya sa weight loss, and you can eat whatever you want,” Zoren adds.
Such his Zoren's commitment to the sport that even during family travels, cycling has become a consideration.
“Sinabi ko kay Carmina, bahala ka diyan mag-shopping. Magbi-bike ako dun. Pag nasa America kami, sila namamasyal, yung utak ko nasa iba. Gusto ko mag-bike."
"Cycling will be with me na,” he adds. "This is a sport I’m going to stick with until I grow old." — LA, GMA News
