Running in the Wee Hours of the Morning

“No way could I make it at 11 PM,” this was my thought while inside a cab on my way to Mall of Asia (MOA). It was Friday evening, January 21, where moderate to heavy rain caused flooding of some roads in Makati and clogged traffic.

It was part of my training to run in the wee hours of the morning and my first time to run during those ungodly hours while everyone, I believe, were either having fun with friends or already fast asleep. It was also a good opportunity since I didn’t join the previous weekend’s 50K night test run in Bataan. Many thanks to Gab aka Rastaman for the invite, Aron for provision of vehicle where we can place our stuff, Mar aka Pojie for the support, and the many others who were there.

“Crazy bunch of runners, aren’t we?” I told Aron, one of Team Boring’s members, who I paced with while I was doing my warm up. While running MOA grounds, I observed how the place was buzzing with activity—where young people going home after a long night of partying, of security personnel on motorbike guarding the area every now and then, how the place fell asleep, and how it came alive early in the morning.

It was not easy though, to let your body adapt and be active when it was telling you to shut down and rest. Getting enough sleep, a key ingredient in distance running, I learned, is as important as that of long run. At half an hour past 1 AM, I felt groggy and my body was telling me to sleep. Nonetheless, I continued to run. I had to do it. The “will” to reach 6 AM prevailed.