RUNew, 22 Feb. 2009

I really didn’t prepare much for this run. For two reasons. My body was tired. I only had one short run during the week and the rest of the days were spent resting either thru reading or having a DVD movie marathon. I also slept late the night before the race. The main culprit? An old movie of John Travolta … 70’s Saturday Night Fever. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

I arrived late at McKinley Hills. Didn’t have much time to do warm-up exercises and stretching. I initially did a one short run around the area with Run Unlimited and Chris. That was it.

Anyway, days before this race, I was already warned by some fellow Happy Feet runners that they wanted to get even with me (in a good way). You see, (whispering) for finishing well at Power Run the previous Sunday, they were challenged. And they were successful, dear readers. Yeah, they were in good condition. And even finished with a very good time. Clap! Clap! Clap!

Me, on the other hand, didn’t do well. It was indeed a very challenging course. With all the uphills and downhills, it wasn’t that easy. I wasn’t able to beat my time. I even told Roger, that fast runner who paced with me at the Power Run to go ahead and leave me because I was really running slowly. This was one of those days when in mind and spirit I knew I could do it but my body was telling me otherwise. I just ran a very comfortable pace instead. Which was a good thing.

Along the way, I was able to chat with Craig, a passionate runner who, along with his family, traveled all the way from Baguio City to just join races in Metro Manila. Allow me to tell you a short background of this runner. Dear readers, Baguio is more or less six hours from Manila. That far, eh? What’s amazing about this runner is that he runs while pushing the stroller of his son, a child with special need. Seeing them together is a profound moment between a father and son.

And, while I was almost taking a right turn at Bayani Road, I saw two familiar faces, that of Kulit Runner and Z. KR super thanks for the photo!

Three more kilometers … almost there … FINISH LINE.

I finished a hilly 15k with a time of 1:43.23. Not really a good time but it was more than OK.

Insights…

One can’t be a winner the whole time!

Listen to your body.

Rest.

Speed (sometimes) doesn’t matter. During the run and how you finish it matter.

Do hill training.

Don’t be late when there’s a race.

Have enough time to do warm-up exercises and stretching before a race.

You only have but one competitor … YOURSELF.

Make running as fun as possible.

Make friends.

Don’t forget to smile.

Be happy!

On Her Way Back … Three More Kilometers … Finish Line. Woohoo!

A memento with takbo.ph; Seated (L) Running Diva, 3rd from from (L) Jinoe, owner of takbo.ph and manokan express blogs; Far (R) i2runner; Standing 2nd from (R) is Craig with his family; (Photos Courtesy of takbo.ph, Que and Kulit Runner)

After the Race

RUNew, a race sponsored by Asian Hospital and Medical Center promoting RUNNING as a new way of living. To be active. To have a healthy lifestyle. RunRio was the organizer of this event.

Many thanks to RUNNEX thru Rene aka Jazzrunner for the free Runnex @ 25 singlet. Maraming salamat po!