The propensity of most Pinoys to get things done in last minute led me to go to Condura Village yesterday at exactly 3:00pm with the aim of getting my 42km race kit earlier, faster with less crowd. As there will be around 8,500 registered runners who will be claiming theirs in the same area (Bonifacio High Street), I expected that the place will soon be crowded. I went there and I found around less than 100 people. I went straight to my designated tent area and I noticed that 9 people already being served. I stayed there under the sun and finally got hold of my race kit 25 minutes later. I informed one of  my friends and he relayed the issue to PatCon and as expected, the organizers fixed the issue by adding more personnel and providing shades to provide comfort to runners who will be claiming their race kit at that ungodly time of the day. As of this writing, I was told that some got their race kit in 2-4 minutes. The Conception brothers are really working hard to please runners. As PatCon once said, the Internet can be your best friend, or your worst enemy *laughs*.

Once I got hold of my race kit the first thing I did is looked for my race bib, for that is what really matters to me. Funny how I didn’t notice the absence of barcode number in my race bib. Inside the envelop, I saw a femine wash (Lactacyd), a reflector, Nature Valley bar, Condura Shirt (looks way better than before), PhilStar newspaper clippings of Condura 2009 and AkoMismo dog tag. I’m actually expecting a lot of free marketing stuffs there, but a feminine wash? The following conversation took place:

Me: Mam I don’t use Lactacyd….oks na sken kahit SafeGuard soap na lang (laughs sheepishly)
Race Staff: Okay lang yan syo, effective sken yan (looks seriously)
Me: ……….

Few hours later, old and new members of Takbo.ph went for a carbo loading exercise- ‘eat all pasta till you die’ at Joey Pepperoni in Fairways Tower. There were more than 80 individuals who showed up. This CLP is the most attended of all the CLPs I’ve joined, goodness I don’t even know 40% of the people in there!

As for those of you who are wondering what I will do on Sunday, I plan to run my 4th marathon comfortably. I like to believe I’m completely healed of ITBS (2 weeks recovery period is PR!), however upon the suggestion of well-meaning friends, I should run this at ultramarathon pace to avoid further injury. Makes sense, my first 102km Ultramarathon is just a month away! Don’t want to risk for another injury!

There are few things here I will first try that I haven’t done before. I will wear a running shorts and will bring no hydration belt. My impression why I suffered from ITBS was that my CWX tights is limiting my knee bend into 20-30 degree which might have aggravated my ITB. By wearing just a running shorts, I have complete freedom to bend my knees higher, my back kick will be higher which will hopefully help me propel forward faster with less effort. I will not wear my hydration belt as I believe that there will be hydration station every 1.4 - 2 kilometers. Part of my strategy then is to walk near those water station and do some stretching on my ITB as I stop for water.

Hopefully on Sunday, I will not suck unlike all the previous 42km marathons I’ve joined. Wish me luck and hope to see you all on Sunday.

Again, no pressure…I will enjoy this race!

Related posts:

1. The Condura Experience

Tags: condura