Thursday 10 October 2013

My First Full Marathon || Run United Philippine Marathon 2013

Any idiot can run but it takes a special kind of idiot to run a marathon.

Now I'm proud to say I'm a special kind of idiot :)

The Run United Philippine Marathon 2013 was held at SM Mall of Asia last October 16 2013.

It was the 3rd installment of the series preparing the runners to exceed their limit and upgrade to much longer distance as everyone wants to achieved. 

Honestly, i'm not prepared to take the race. Having a little knowledge about do's and don'ts on the race. Also, my preparation for the race was quite not enough. The longest distance I trained was up to 22 Kilometers and did not under go proper tapering. 


Week before the run,I felt nervousness.  So to comfort myself,  I was still trying to increase my mileage which is a mortal sin for runners when tapering. I also attended 2nd bull sessions for my TBR-DREAM Marathon on  February 16. 

2 days before the run, I can't sleep well. I was stressed at work and too many noises coming from our neighborhood.

 
Atlas, the race day came, I brought a spray pain reliever as i have not resolved my issues with cramping and a petroleum jelly to avoid blisters.

I don't have a team nor friends at the starting line. Just me, my guts and passion to running made me pursue the race. 

The race starts and planned to run slowly at my first 10 kilometers. However, I was in the middle of average runners and became too excited. That time I knew i ruined my running plan.

Without any Garmin or GPS watch, I just assumed of the time i need to take walk breaks. Until i reached LRT Buendia. There were too many vehicles and smokes coming out from their mufflers. Also, a sudden road works caused the heavy traffic as well.

I saw bananas on that hydration stations and consumed it to prevent cramps. 

Passing the intersection of EDSA and Roxas BLVD. I started to feel my right leg for cramps. Before it get worse I spray a lot of pain reliever around my calves. (Perks of bringing your own). I also increased my consumption of Gatorade.

More than halfway mark the race, on almost the same spot when I ran my first 32K last Run United 2, I felt my cramps on right calf and it got worse. Soon the walk breaks becomes longer and longer as I go towards to Luneta. What's even worse was when my left calf started to get cramps too.. That time, i needed to do stretching, walk breaks and even sit on every corner. That was the first time i told to myself, What the hell i'm doing here?@?!! i just hit the wall!


The supposed to be run becomes walking. It was not just a physical challenge but a mental challenge as well.

I was also looking for my girlfriend who just run 21k. I got to see her when she was about to cross the finish line but me, i was still at 30K mark. 

I got a lot of  air in lungs but my calves and hamstrings are not working well for me. 

The last 10K was like a hell course for me yet i kept pushing myself to finish the race. 
The sun was almost at its peek of his power. I sat every 5 mins of running and walking. I felt the nerves behind my knee breaking into pieces. My skin burns by the ray of sunlight and realized i didn't even put a sun burn.

The race is almost ended as i saw some marshals brought down the markings and their's no enough ice not sponges. I also saw some runners who had the finisher kit and did not bother to join the party after the race.

Still kept pushing myself until I finally reached the 2 Kilometer mark. Most of my friends who ran 21K were worried where am I. 

With all the energy I had, I ran the last 500 meters. Then i saw most runners rushing to the finish line. Every one smiles as the photographers trying to catch every runners. I noticed some marshals giving away the Philippine Flag. That I know i am almost at the finish line!

Finally! I reached the goal! Kath and his brother was there to officially greet me as a new Marathoner!