In Economics, I learned that people face tradeoffs. To get one thing, I have to give up something else. Making a decision requires trading off one goal against another. Thus, when I started running I thought I would
have to give up travelling. I thought running and travelling are two activities
I couldn't do at the same time.
MYTH. In fact running makes
me travel. Yesterday, my fellow runners Christian, Phillip, Marlon, Kuya Jojo,
Teri and I went to Filinvest City to join Condura Skyway Marathon. Okay, so I
was no longer the only girl this time. Teri, a mountaineer/runner was with us. 
When we got to the venue, I
wasn’t surprised to see thousands of runners sporting the white and blue tech
shirt. After all I belonged to Wave F. Teri, however, belonged to Wave B while
the rest of the boys belonged to Wave E. I wanted to run with the boys so I
sneaked to Wave F crowd while the marshalls were busy checking other stuff.
Haha
While we were waiting for
the gunstart, my friends and I exchanged pleasantries and wished each others’
safety. Soon enough we heard the gunstart. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up
with their pace so I decided to stick to my pace. I started really slow. I
didn’t want to use up all my energy that soon. I didn’t get enough sleep the
previous night so I thought pushing myself too hard might cause me to tire out
soon. Good thing though Glenn, an acquaintance from Cabanatuan was also taking
things slow. We ran side by side with a really slow pace. But when I thought my
body was ready to speed up, I decided to increase my speed.
Along the route I noticed
the flickering of lights of the buildings. From afar, it looked like fireflies
with different colors dancing to the rhythm of the early morning music. The roads were deserted. Very few cars can be spotted.
Everything seemed to be at peace with the universe. It was one tranquil early
morning sight. Magical indeed!
As soon as I hit the U-turn,
I decided to do Galloway. Lack of sleep the previous night had taken its toll.
Although my mind dictated me to go on my body was just too stubborn to follow.
Plus, Fluid Trainer was a wrong pair for a half-marathon. I realized I should
stick to stability shoes on long runs. My right knee started to throb in KM 11.
Although tolerable, I needed walk breaks so as not to hurt my right knee too
much.
Not long enough, I reached
the tollgate. I was elated but at the same time a bit cheesed off for the road
soon became crowded. 42K and 21K runners now shared the road with 10K and 5K
runners. The scene was comparable to a maze. And since many decided to just
walk off to finish line it became a challenge. I had to be extra careful not to
hit or bump my fellow runners. This continued until I reached the
finish line. The event was just jam-packed and moving around seemed impossible
without bumping the person next to you. My vexation continued when 21K
runners were asked to go straight to the Active Health Village to get the
medal. I thought I was too tired to walk another half kilometer. Besides I
needed to look for my friends too. And given the number of crowd, it would be
very difficult to spot them. Thankfully, I spotted Kuya Ming, Rose and Matot.
While we were having a little chitchat I spotted Phillip. “Thank God!” I thought to myself. Soon enough, I spotted Christian.
I was too tired that all I wanted to do was sleep so we decided to go to the
parking area where Kuya Jojo’s van was parked. After freshening up, the team
decided to head back to Cabanatuan City. While inside the vehicle, Christian
and Marlon crowed their photos. I was jealous that I didn’t have photos taken
at the photo booths. But I was too tired to line up or even walk around the
Active Health Village. As they show off their photos I fell asleep.
