Yeah I’m still alive.

I’ve been “out of the loop”  for almost a month. I was advised by my doctor to “lie low” while I undergo some treatment and medical procedure. For almost a month I did nothing but forgot about running. I didn’t read running blogs, I didn’t check my facebook account to update myself about fellow runners happenings,nothing nada. Worst, I gained some weight  and felt like my fitness level is next to nothing. Every single day was a struggle, sometimes I would walk around BHS after work and I would grin with envy at runners doing their usual jogging session. Darn I hate the feeling of being helpless. Thank God the doctor found nothing unusual on my lungs and I was given a go signal to run. I was dying to run too soon so much so the following morning I did a Yasso 800 and registered an average of 3minutes:45seconds. So I could finish a 42km in less than 4 hours after a month of running hiatus?

Four days before the race I went to ROX and got my 15km race kit. Man I was like a boy who just received a new toy. The thought of finally joining a race and be “one of them” is so enticing. Saturday night came and I couldn’t sleep properly. I was like a newbie about to join his very first race. Lying on my bed already wearing my running singlet, shorts and socks (di ba obvious na excited?) , I tried hard to sleep but I couldn’t. For some reason, I kept on looking at my watch and kept telling myself “tagal nman mag 4am..“. Alas 4am came, I had a short breakfast consisting of a banana coated with chocolate, drank my coffee, then I  washed my face with very cold water and did the usual thing I normally do hours before the race.

After parking my car near Imax building, I head straight to the starting line to meet other runners. First familiar face I saw was Rod followed by Fafa Jet , apparently they were there to marshall the race. Then I saw Cris Sabal (guys you got to check Front Runner Magazine!) followed by Aileen Tolentino and sister Ellen. I did my warm up run with Cris, and I was surprised when he told me that he won the race a day before, beating a Kenyan. Eventually, I told him there’s no way in hell he will win this race as his legs are still tired, plus I saw a Kenyan around. He just said he would try 2nd or 3rd place finish (and the guy eventually won 2nd place after the race!!!). Ellen would soon join us and would sadly inform us that she wasn’t able to secure a race bib. Aileen would suggest Ellen to help me with my pace which she readily agreed.  With an elite runner as a pacer, I thought I would definitely die sooner before I could even reach the finish line but she informed me “Sam, don’t worry,jogging lang tayo, dikitan lang kita“.

The race started on time and soon enough, I found myself running…very fast. Ellen would inform me that we were running quite fast and would silently tell me from time to time the distance between the Kenyan runner and us. In my mind, I was telling her I have no intention to run after that Kenyan. With my sudden burst of speed, and with lack of training for this race, I found myself slowing down on the 6th km. I was perspiring big time that Ellen would run ahead of me upon reaching water stations and she would pick 3 water cups; one for her and two for me. This would happen several times, I felt like a pampered newbie runner.

My apparent lack of fitness (plus the heat factor) was too obvious that after 7km, I was already slowing down (6-6:30km/hour).  Checking my time, I knew I would not be able to beat my PB for this distance (1:20 Run for Autism) but I’m glad my finish time (1h:26m:51s) is still decent.

Upon crossing the finish line, I was so tired but was so glad I got my joy back. I may not be as fast as I used to be (on my own standards), but I hope I’ll be back with some improvement. Kudos to Ian,Jinoe and Doc Lydon for a well-organized race. The festive mood after the race, the free coffee,magazine,lootbags and many giveaways were all good, I didn’t regret I choose this race as my comeback race.

Nah, I won’t let this one pass hehehehe. I haven’t updated this blog for almost a month so I was surprised when takbo.ph main man Jinoe skyped just to inform me that May issue of Women’s Magazine shows that..

I’m not going to make any drama about it, but I’m glad that my blog is still relevant. Hehehehe! See you all in future races!

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Tags: San Mig Run by the Bay