Along with my friends
Christian, Philip, Teri, Patrick, and Raymond, I traveled to Manila to
join the first leg of Run United. Like in the past, the group
traveled in the evening so as to have time to rest while in the bus. I was
excited because there were new runners added to the group – Teri, Patrick, and
Raymond.
Unwanted
Visit
MOA was so awake when we
got there. The music was at full blast while the runners were busy with their
pre-race rituals. I, on the other hand was desperate to find a portalet. Too my
horror an unwanted visitor just arrived. Girl
thing. Now that’s over-sharing, but it proved to be detrimental to my
performance.
The
Boys and Girls
Since we arrived early at
the venue, we still had ample time to prepare and of course took pictures.
Thanks to Christian who always made sure he had a camera handy. We talked about our game plan. Of course, like what I said in my
previous entry, these boys pamper girls but once on race track their
competitive side reveals. I thought it would be nice to just take things slow
and run with Teri.
Not long after, we joined
the crowd for the much awaited gunstart. We wished everyone luck and safe and
took some more photos. Haha Wouldn’t it be nice to have photos of fresh us? I
was sure those kind of photos would not be captured as
soon as we start running and perspiring.
Our cajoling was put to
stop when the gunstart went off. We started out really slow since there were
runners ahead of us. Teri and I ran alongside while the boys were ahead of us.
I suggested Teri the Galloway technique but she thought she wanted to finish her race at
her own pace. Thus, I decided to speed up a little to catch up with the boys.
I managed to run next to
the boys. However Philip was few hundred meters away from
us. The boys in turn decided to catch up with him. Ayayay! The pace was getting
faster and I could feel my heart rate going up. I knew it was a bad idea. We barely reached KM3. I tried to slow down a bit. I could still see them
but I knew I had to be kind to my body. When I stopped at the water station, I
decided to stick to my pace. I somehow realized Teri was right; her race
at her pace.
Galloway
no way!
Run United Trilogy 1 was my
7th half marathon. My personal best for this distance was 2:46 in my
first which was Milo Marathon (Manila Leg). For some reason I got stuck to it
that it never improved. I managed to keep it at that range in my succeeding
half-marathons. I blamed Galloway for it. I thought my walk breaks just added
extra time. I decided it was high time to throw away Galloway. I continued
running at an easy pace with stops at water stations. I wanted to break my PB.
Regrets.
Regrets. Regrets.
So the slow pace run
continued. Half of the time my mind was busy motivating myself while the other
half was pleading for a walk-break. I scolded myself. Okay so there was a
debate going on in my mind that I didn’t notice the new route. I failed to
enjoy the serene moment of Metropolitan Manila. Tsk. As I wrote this entry, I
realized that the extremely busy city could also be put at rest.
At KM13 the unbearable pain
in my right knee dawned on me. Having an extremely high tolerance in pain (i.e.
undergoing tooth filling without anaesthesia) I decided I could handle it. But my
dysmenorrhoea added more weight. At one point I couldn’t figure which was
aching – my right knee or my tummy. When I was close to passing out I realized
it was best to do Galloway. I did 3:2. Both pains were increasing at each step
so I thought I needed longer walk break. I was pretty sure Jeff Galloway would
be sticking his tongue out on me, the stubborn runner.
Each time I stop for cup of
water, I looked for a medicine kit. The pain would not just go away and putting
my foot in front of the other was the most difficult task I could think of. At
some point I wanted to just stop and get some help. But, I, the stubborn runner
maintained that I could do it.
Last
2 minutes... err 2K
In basketball, the last two
minutes is the most crucial part of the game. In my case, the last two
kilometers was the most painful part. The pain was just unbearable. At one point
I spotted an ambulance and I thought of hopping in. But the stubborn
persona insisted it was less than a kilometer. Surely there would be medics
near the finish line so I thought the pain could wait. I decided to just walk
my way to the finish line. However it appeared that walking was twice painful
than running. Thus, I maintained a very slow pace making sure not to put much
pressure on my right knee. Imagine the picture? I was limping. I felt terribly sorry
for myself.
2:59
and medics to the rescue
As soon as the volunteer
put on the most coveted medal around my neck, I went straight to the medics
area. I sat helplessly on one of the benches and waited for someone to assist
me. Good thing there was an available volunteer to help me out. He massaged my
right leg. The pain would not just go away. Each time he bent me knee I would
close my eyes to blink back the tears ready to explode anytime. At long last
tears started flowing. I surrendered to my emotions and let the tears flow. I
thought once tears were gone, pain would also be gone. I only wished my friends
were there to support me. I regretted the idea of not bringing cellphone in
races. =(
Lesson
Learned
Leg 1 taught me one
important lesson. Each race is not a competition with someone else but with
one’s self. One may outrun her fellow runner but may put herself at risk of not
being able to run again. I realized the value of patience. It is not only
something I should confer to others but most importantly to myself as well. I
have to be patient with myself. Sure I want to improve but things do not happen
overnight.
