(✪㉨✪)/ - Running Diary

When I was I child I used to really like running. I was a skinny kid who had problems getting fat and got my parents worried because of my frail physique. I may be frail but I was bundle of energy. I was always full of it.The running game "Maro" a filipino children's game is my favorite game outside of text cards, video games etc.. It was the only time that I am able to play with other children because there's no talking involve.. you just run. ^_^.

When I reached my high-school years that's when I felt that running was a bit hard and I did not enjoy it at all. The way every single joint in my legs hurt whenever I start running (never did warm-ups) was awful. The only running I did in high-school is for the times that I was late for school, because I either played video games outside or ate (yeah did not like that I was a teenage gamer instead of an athlete). During PE though my PE teacher always told me that I could do track and field but the shy me never bothered considering and had already given up on myself.. the compliment was enough to make me happy and I didn't had any confidence in myself.

Last year of my high-school, through being inspired by a basketball kamisama called Steve Nash I was able to find my sanctuary.. my saving grace.. basketball. I was always shy all my life, I'm afraid of conversations because I lack the experience.. I was always alone, even if I had friends I would just hang out with them, not speaking a word and almost always alone at the back.. I was boring.. and bullied.  Basketball gave me that place where I can be who I really am.. a competitor.. It served as an outlet for all the emotions that I suppress during times that I was not on the court.. I trained night and day during that last high-school year.  Hoping that guys in my school let me play with them, I would always bring a ball at school.. well they did let me play.. about 3-4 or 5 times.. They used the ball a lot though, but I was always at the sidelines.. cheering like an idiot waiting for my opportunity that never came ^_^.

College is where I met people with the same passion towards basketball. They were the first of many many many friends I gained through basketball. I went from a small Island called "Palawan" to study at a top university called UST. I brought my basketball dreams with me, being naive,i thought I had a chance even if I stood at a measly 5'6". I picked UST because it was my dad's alma mater but more importantly I picked it because my uncle said that it was a school that was Full of basketball Courts. And full of basketball courts, it had. :D It was heaven. Even though I did not became a collegiate or even at least a college department level player I enjoyed tons of street basketball. For the first time in my life people respected me and treated me as a teammate.. I enjoyed my college life.. fast forward to working life..

During working life I was not able to play much basketball anymore because of the schedule.. I'd play alone but It wouldn't be physically productive compared to a 3v3 or full court game. Plus this was the time that my body and energy levels became low.. confidence was low.. everything was low.. throughout my college life I did build some skills and little physical growth in basketball but I did not develop mental strength..I wanted to find something new.. I was not inspired by basketball anymore.. I felt like I don't belong in the court because I was small,  weak minded and I easily gas out.

I tried a lot sports last year but 2 things stood out. One is lifting.. which I discovered as the key for maxing out my psychical strength and boosting my confidence. The other one is running. I suddenly got back into running.. I was so in need of a direction in my life that any training or goal would make me so happy.. that is when 2 of my friends invited me to run half marathons. In a span of 30 days. 21,25 and 21 km. If I was a sane guy I would have avoided that.. but I was not sane at that time.. It was a bright hope for me, seeing activities, challenges that I have never done before, lined up before me in a span of days. I immediately said yes and we registered. I was so excited. 2 of my friends (who i would call mutta and murasakibara) had a lot of experiences running. At first I was excited but there was a fear of not being able to succeed.. then I just looked at murasakibara XD.. I was confident that I can do a half marathon because of murasakibara, murasakibara is as the name suggest, a big guy who is not the fastest guy. Thanks to him I got a bit of courage to do those run lol, afro guy though is fast, I used to jog with him and he'd out run me and I'd just give up. Funny how it's the other way around now though as he never really cached up to me in any of the events we participated in, maybe because he doesn't really try hard at all unlike me who badly wants good results.

Our first run was called the Rexona Run.. which I would talk about next time because it's getting late lol. (✪㉨✪)/ ありがとう　みんな。

Rexona Run - Heading into Rexona Run, I had only 2 weeks of preparation. My friend Mutta and Murasakibara never trains for runs so I had to go do my training alone. Because of the limited time and my anxiety for running for the first time I tried to squeeze runs at night, after my work. I picked a good place to run safely at night and it was my alma mater UST which is about 20 mins away from home by PUV. Advantage of this place is that it's a university campus meaning it is obviously perimeter fenced with guards at the gates so it is safe. And besides safety, there are a lot of cute cats and cute girls!!! ^_^ I'm not 100% sure if they're cute though because I can't really stare at them(referring to girls not cats obviously!) for too long because my eyes automatically look away or they'd go weird looking back and forth at the ground, grass, sky anything not resembling a girl (curse of being introvert!) and it's frickin night time so it's already hard to see. I run at the perimeter of the field grounds which is a square with about 0.72 km in perimeter. There you will run along the back of the grandstand (pool, architecture building, alumni center), the side of the campus near along the fence, along the side of the lovers lane and then to the chapel.

The first week I ran 3 times, alternating rest days (rather lifting days) and run days. I ran for 7, 10 and 8km respectively, usually beginning at 8pm. It was never a drag coming home tired from work and then putting on my running gear because I was looking forward to those night runs. They make me feel good. My experience in night running was that it was almost therapeutic. I had always been an introvert and night running suits me because, less people, less noise, colder temperature (though it'll eventually change going forward as now I enjoy day running for some reasons I'll explain soon). Besides the advantageous surroundings that a night run offers me, I liked that I run with some people (because running alone at night would be scary even for an introvert). Those people are spending their night working for their goals instead of watching tv or lying in the bed at home. Some of them are fat, some are fit, boys, girls, tall, short, skinny, muscular it doesn't matter. I enjoy being with people who works hard like me even if the goals are slightly different.  The kinda push me to perform better, they inspire me because of their hardwork. 

Now guys I have a love and hate relationship in running. Guys that are just show-offs, they go running past you even if your are running at a controlled and slow pace, they feed off going past other runners, sprinting and then after they have gained some few meter ahead of you they'd stop and take deep breaths because their body can't handle it... They just want to show to you that they are faster. These guys taught me how to be not like them because they don't look cool and not to stoop at their level and run after or with them. They taught me patience which unfortunately a lot of newbie or casual runners don't have. The advice I always get with experienced long distance runners is that It's not how fast you run out of the gate, and in some cases not how fast you end it too, it's about how you run at a constant pace and speed throughout the whole run. Ending the race with the same speed you started it. And that speed will defend on your whole tank or stamina. I had some urge to sprint after them and I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I'd do it because I can, but most of the time I knew better to stick to my pace because hey, it's inevitable but soon I'm gonna catch up to them, they're gonna be huffing and puffing while I run at a constant speed, barely losing stamina and slowly and surely catching up to them then slowly and surely leaving them eating the dust. Don't get me wrong I love sprints, but I do those muscle tightening sprints during the final kilometer of a run, when I still have it in my tank. That way I cant leave it all in the line without worrying about muscle failure because after that short strong sprint to the finish line I can rest and recover.

Now after that week of training, I only had a week left which was spent for Tapering.. I was scared of getting injured and over-training so I stopped the running and instead spent time carbo-loading or eating a lot of complex carbohydrates like pasta. To store energy for my run.

Fast forward to Saturday night, my first running problem hit me... my usual problem.. anxiety constipation.  I ate a lot on Friday  and I payed for it. It was already Saturday night, and I can't still make myself go. I drank a lot of water, hydrated with Gatorade, ate papayas and bananas (bananas are for diarrhea though so they are counter-productive towards constipation, I eat them because they prevent cramps) . The race starts at Sunday morning at 2:00am assembly time. 3:00am gunstart, I had to go out at 1:30am to Murasakibara's house because he'd drive us to the racing venue. Around 1:00 am and I was already getting a lot more nervous, thinking of the possible messy outcomes during the race based on what I read on running forums.. I was already sitting at the toilet for hours.. 1:30 came and finally..finally.. I was able to go! Thank God and I didn't run constipated that day (but on my next races I did though!). 

I arrived to Murasakibara's house, as usual Mutta was still asleep. Murasaki then told me that the two of them are always late during races and it doesn't matter because they didn't care about placing or ranking.. I thought it was okay too because I'd be more than happy just to finish the race (until I became addicted to rankings!). it was already nearing 2:30 (beyond the assembly time!) and Jo had just replied and is heading to Murasakibara's house. He arrived at 2:40 am. We only had 20 mins left before the gunstart of the 21km run! My other friend named Jericho who I invited to run with me was already at the venue.

After a short no traffic ride (no surprise there since it was 2am). We arrived at the running venue which was at Mall Of Asia grounds literally a few minutes before the gun-start.  Met up with Jericho at the KFC and proceeded at the starting line. We made it before the gun-start! Though we are at the back of the entire pack! Not good for first time runners, motivated and competitive once place themselves at the front. I was nervous but I knew that Murasakibara is a huge guy who never runs and Jericho is in the same boat as I am (first time 21k runner or runner of any km) and we pretty have much the same physical capabilities. And I expected that Mutta would run faster than any of us.

A lot of people in the crowd, guys already jogging, warming up, some casual runners, some mean looking veterans.. I was pumped. I don't know what to expect, I have no Idea of my running capabilities yet because this is my first run. It was exciting and scary too. Exciting to see my potential and to experience something new, and scared of failures. I was anxious because of how many runners there are, Photographers on the sidelines, good looking girls (just kidding a lot of good looking girls run 5k or 10k but few dare to run 21km or 42km :P), I was anxious of the possibilities of stomach problem, dehydration and cramps. The Countdown began, every body was ready to go, when the gun fired some people immediately sprinted right off the bat (the show-offs), some like my group started walking slowly (the lazy ones which I don't recommend either, you need to run to warm those legs up!)

A few meters and I was getting impatient, getting past by weaker looking guys and some girls I wanted to start jogging and run faster..but we we're just.. walking. Then Mutta started jogging, me and Jericho did the same. Murasakibara said to us to go on. He stayed at the back. Mutta run ahead of us. Me and Jericho ran or rather jog at a very slow pace. I never reviewed the map so I had no idea where we would go, we just blindly followed where the trail of people would run..

During the first 5KM me and Jericho kept running in a slow pace, he occasionally slowed down to a walk and I stick with him. He then started feeling the urge of peeing... Good thing that there were a lot of portable comfort stations placed all over the race route during these runs, but man the queuing lines are so loooong! Honestly during that time I was so conflicted! I wanted to run but I had to stay at the sidewalk and wait for Jericho.. it took about more or less 10 minutes :( It was my first run so I'm confused If it was okay or not to waste time T.T. We ran again at the same pace, reached some uphill bridges or overpasses (these are hell, these uphills will make you cramp fast). During these early Mileages we we're running towards the airport, (hell no!) I said to myself.. haha XD well the run kinda gave me a good view of the streets there at dark, without people and cars.. It was weird but a very good experience.. It kinda made me reflect on some things.

It was about the 7-8KM mark that I felt that I wasn't running nearly enough.. My body wanted more.. I wanted to go faster.. My body is hurting more because of the slowness.. that's when I had the courage to say to Jericho that I would go on ahead.. I didn't know what'll happen, my first run and to leave my friend was scary but I listened to what my body feels and that is to run more and run freely.

This is my first realization that I don't need to run in pace with my friends, we should run at our own Paces because at the end of the day, all of us would meet at the finish line anyway. 

Being freed from running slowly and from the idea of running with someone I felt.. more relaxed, My body that was aching during slow, bouncy jogs is now more at ease doing strides. I can feel the wind rushing to me.. and I was running at my own controlled speed. Suddenly I find myself running past one runner after another after another. I never felt so good prior to this. I'd hit some walls though with some more experienced runners but I still passed a lot of guys..

When I finally hit 10-11KM (Half of the race) The sky was already turning from black to a dark but lighter shade of blue, the sun would soon rise. I had already run past most of the lower rankers and reached some of the more experienced once..so the number of people I ran past by had already minimized greatly. Reaching the half point means going back to the starting venue which is at Mall Of Asia. The turning point was near the Luneta Park. We circled back and ran along Roxas Boulevard. Running along near the bay shores is refreshing and gave me some needed energy because at this point I was already exhausted.. The wind from the sea greatly helped, so as the joggers there too (Not participants of the race). They would run while dribbling basketballs with their hands, they're mostly kids enjoying the early morning air of the bay. They inspired us to run faster because they we're practically racing with us (cute little show offs >.<)

During the long grueling stretch of the Roxas Boulevard my right calf started feeling stiff.. Yep, It was already about to cramp, During this time I learned to adjust my running, it is very unnatural but I had to run putting all or most of the pressure to my left foot just to ensure my right calf survives! It was an awkward running style but was necessary for my right calf is already hard as a rock that time. At the first half I only stopped to drink once or twice at water stations.. but at the second half, I need more Gatorade to help my cramping leg, So I changed my strategy.

Water stations are available every kilometer so I decided that I would run per kilometer up to the end. I would run to nearly exhaustion every single km left, then I'd take a quick walk at the water stations and drink a cup of water and 1 or 2 cups of Gatorade and it would serve as my rest between Kilometers. I did this up until the end. Taking each kilometer as individual races. It helps mentally as you slice up those big kilometers to manageable smaller ones, making it more of a step by step goal.

I reached CCP, the sun had already risen.. just a 2 or 3km run left.. My body wanted to stop already but I knew that if I stopped just even ONCE, I won't be able to run again because my right calf would cramp from the transition. I kept running and running. I was dehydrated already considering how much I sweat (I sweat even without moving!). Finally, for the first time I saw the finish line, it was about less than 1 km ahead.. I had a feeling that maybe,just maybe I had a good ranking. I would certainly regret not giving it my all, so i kept running near it.. planning to sprint at the last hundred meters.. and when the mark came, I sprinted to the finish line.. It was pretty weak sprint though because I was already done for the day.

After the race I immediately headed straight to the baggage counter, got my bag, texted Mutta because I'm sure he ran faster than me. No replies. I got my free water, sat down and I cramped.. cramped so hard I was about to cry but did my best to control it because there are a lot of cute girls (lol) or people. I sat at one of the parking curbs with and a random old man. The random old man asked me If I ran 21km, I said yes, he congratulated me and even more so when I told him it was my first run ever, It felt good!, But I was more impressed with old gent.

During the run I had another realization, you truly never should judge a book by its cover.  There were old guys that can run fast, faster than me and even girls, older girls, girls who are even short in stature by female standards or not physically gifted. Some guys or girls are kind of fat too. I was shocked and never knew it was possible, I learned that in the field of marathons and endurance sports, physically examining someone is useless, endurance sports are sports for the heart the mind and the will to succeed. You could never physically examine those attributes. They're hidden and they will take you by surprise.

Results: Well I never would guessed that I would be 30 minutes faster than Mutta, 1 hour faster than Jericho, and 2-3 hour faster than Murasakibara (no surprised there big fella XD). The results would be out 3 days after the run, All I wanted was to be at least at the top 50% of the participants. And when the results came..I was able to achieve that. I was full of confidence after the race, I knew I didn't ran the whole 21km giving my all. I had to run slow at the beginning. I was already excited for the next run because I would now test myself running hard from the start. Not giving a care if I go alone.

つづく 

Current Runs: Continuous improvement is KEY!

Rexona 21k	02:57:11	Guntime:	2621/4130	Chiptime:	2459/4130	Top 60%	Pace:	13.56444 min/mile	10/26/2014
New Balance 25K	03:07:08	Guntime:	1139/2298	Chiptime:	1136/2298	Top 50%	Pace:	12.03786 min/mile	11/6/2014
Pinoy Fitness 21k	02:30:51	Guntime:	46/203	Chiptime:	47/203	Top 23%	Pace:	11.49529 min/mile	11/16/2014
Cobra Fedrun 10K	01:01:00	Guntime:	42/410	Chiptime:	43/410	Top 11%	Pace:	9.81697 min/mile	1/25/2015
Kislap Butil 5K	No Record, All I know is that I'm Top 100 even though I was probably the only one who ran 4 lapses while 3 was the only requirment.								2/23/2915