2009 Year Ender

The Baguio race was supposed to be my year ender race but I ended up running PhilStar celebrity run. Not much to tell about the race. Simply put, it was just one of those races, if you know what I mean. It wasn’t that bad, not really that awesome either. But still it was a good race.

I went home, I mean the real home, back in the province for the holidays to a much simpler life. I promised myself to just enjoy the break. It was pure luxury to wake up late. No e-mails, no Internet, and no blogging. I hibernated from all those stuff for just two weeks. However, I couldn’t stop myself from doing the thing that I love doing, running. Yes, with me was a program in preparation for another race.

I was a total stranger to my own hometown. Not much pretty route like the one here in Manila. Most of the roads back home were not friendly to a runner like me. There were just too many obstacles. In fact, I hurt both of my knees in one of my long runs. I was running fast. It was almost dusk. I didn’t notice this rubber hump along the road. I lost my balance and tried to lessen the impact on automatic reflex but both knees suffered the brunt of my fall. Both got bruised and the other one had a wound. But I recovered well and back on the road again.

And the people back home, my, they really stared at me like I were an alien. Seeing me running alone was to some extent a novel to them. Well, it was also new to me to have run the national highway. There was no choice. That was the only route I could find. There were not too many runners either. So one afternoon, it was a delight to bump into one of my former students of the night high school adult program. He introduced himself but I just couldn’t remember him. My bad! I was touched that he was ecstatic to see me. He said he was a runner already even during his elementary years, even trained in Baguio and competitively raced locally. Amazing!

I did ask him why the city wasn’t able to produce a runner to qualify for a marathon leg. The very reason: no available area for a runner to practice on. He had to travel two hours to another city just to use a track oval. Sad.

2009 has given me so much. There were just too many opportunities where I discovered what I could do and couldn’t and the areas where I could improve on as a runner. It was a year where I finished a full marathon, became one of the official pacers for a half marathon, and even raced not only as a runner but as a swimmer as well. I’ve met a lot of faces and even ran with newfound friends.