It is raining … again. I wish the rain would just stop. It has already caused a lot of problems for people who had been affected by Ondoy’s wrath. It would be selfish to say that I wasn’t able to complete this week’s training schedule knowing that some people have lost their homes and even their lives because of this horrible disaster.
I just hate days like this!
I hope in time, everything will be better …
Nope, I am not yet 42 years old; but I am still a virgin when it comes to running a full marathon.
The farthest I have covered is around 37k,-that was when me and Ian were pacing ultra runner friend Isko during last summer’s Bataan Death March 102k.
I am still not sure how this is going to turn out, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. hehehe
I hope the dude in pink knows what he is getting himself into ...
By the way, I went to Adidas this morning and registered for the KOTR which happens the day after 
12 minutes late (and gasping for air .. again!) – that was my reaction when I saw the 21k timer at the starting line. I was hoping that I arrived just in time but the queue in the parking area was so long. At that point I was already contemplating on running the 15k race instead.
Fortunately, Ian Alacar (the race director) was very supportive in giving me directions for the 21k race route and off I went to run the 21k race alone.
This was the first time that I ran alone in order to catch up with runners who started way ahead of me. The thing is, I have already sprinted (without any warm up) to the starting line from the parking area ; and here I am again literally sprinting to catch up with the runners.
I was already walking before I reached the first KM. Who was I fooling ? I couldn’t reach them no matter what – or so I thought, after about an hour and after the fast 15k runners went past me, I was able to catch up with the last 20 percent of the 21k runners. It was only at this point that I felt good about myself 
This was a well-organized race, I mean if it weren’t for the road signs and the helpful men in uniform, I wouldn’t have been able to catch up with the runners from my race.
The only thing is, I thought that we were still going to run another loop as we returned to the McKinley area – so you could imagine my surprise when we were told that there were only 400 meters left before the finish line.
This would have been a close to perfect race, were it not for the short distance
Knowing how bad the weather would be , I decided to arrive early for this road race. I arrived at around 4:45 am. When I got there, it was announced that the race was moved to 5:30 am due to the rain.
There was a warm-up exercise before the start of the 21k event, I entered the coral as the said exercise was about to end. I saw some runner friends and had a chat with them – and then it happened, the gun was fired and off we went.
For me, this was a well-organized race. There were adequate water and gatorade stations along the route, plus … I was able to run in the Glorietta area even though it was raining very hard
I finsihed the race at 2:24 (unofficial), just a few more minutes and i’ll be able to beat my personal best at 2:18.
It’s timely though, that it was raining during a run dedicated to saving Mother Earth
I feel really good today. Finally, I was able to squeeze in some “me” time. The air by the bay never smelled better. The golden rays of the sun (even for a while) was like a shower of blessings brought forth by the Almighty.
Such is the high of one who has been “quarantined” from running by one’s mediocre job for quite a number of pressure-filled days. So high that I have seen my favorite running place from a different point of view.
