It was exactly 1am when I woke up to the loud alarm I set in my mobile phone. It was wee hour of Sunday morning. I thought 3 hours of sleep was already enough.
I had no choice. That was the most I can get that day.
I did my usual pre-race routine and came out of our place only to be greeted by a windy weather. The sky was covered by a blanket of clouds. It looked like rain was about to fall anytime soon.
Almost but not quite. I thought I was not yet ready traversing a 32-kilometer run being soaked in the morning rain. Thank God, it didn’t push through.
I arrived almost an hour earlier than the scheduled gun start at 3am. I went on to do thorough stretching and some warm-up exercises.
The Gun Start
And there I was, about to run my first 32K yet. I didn’t have any PR(personal record) in mind. I knew it will be another great run so I just had to enjoy it.
Run United trilogy is one of the much awaited runs in the country. It can easily gather a bunch of runners to join their different categories every year. The second leg was of no exception.
Over 12,000 runners participated. There were about 4000 plus runners just in the 32K category. I was at wave 2.
As soon as I heard the gun start, I propelled my way to running my best.
Only then did I remember all the running drills which were thought to us by our coaches in the MILO R2 A.P.E.X. running school. The proper arm swing, chest out, lean a bit forward, etc. All of which consist of how to do the proper running form.
This somehow made me conscious about how I ran that day.
It was funny though that I had to look at every glass pane that we passed by, especially that of Buendia-Makati Avenue route just to check if I was executing the proper running form. LOL!
Somehow, it served as a diversionary tactic for me instead of focussing on my legs that were about to give up for cramps. Oh and not to mention the usual discomforts.
I made it at around 58 minutes passed by the 10K mark.
When Gas Pain Strikes
Everything was going really well until I felt something weird in my belly. It was not the usual side stitch I was used to feeling during long runs. I felt like tons of gas were filling up inside my stomach.
The more that I did major movements to run, the more that I felt the discomfort caused by the added weight the gas inside me was forming.
I literally felt bloated (hmmmn, more like it). I was on the brink of frustration. I had to compose myself though.
Mastering Hydration Stations
Then it suddenly dawned in me of what I did in the previous stations.
I chose not to make use of the first 5 hydration stations because I was focussing on my running form. This made me crave for more water as soon as I reached the next hydration stations.
I felt like I needed to drink more, which I eventually did!
Could this be the cause of the discomfort? I’m not sure either. All I could do was pray that I may be relieved from such uncomfortable situtation.
Finally, I Breathe a Sigh of Relief
As always, He never fails to answer my prayer. I felt relieved as soon as I reached the 14-kilometer mark.
And so, I needed to push a bit harder. I needed to make up for the lost time.
It helped that the pacers were there to lighten us up. I was within the 3:40 pacers for most of the run. I had to do my own pace at times though. But they were such a big help. Big thanks to you guys!
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It was definitely worth all the sweat running the 2nd leg of the Run United series. Sure, you get to experience all the discomforts but it was definitely worth it.
Running 42 kilometers will make you use your physical strength to cover 32 kilometers. Moreover, it involves your will power to keep going for the remaining 10 kilometers just when your body is about to give up. But hey, it was just the 32K that I was running so forget about the 10 kilometers for now. 😉
I clocked in at 3 hours 43 minutes and 57 seconds (2015 Run United 2 results here). I say not bad for a first-timer in this category. It was definitely worth all the pain. Thank God for another great experience!
Now, how sweet is that? 2 medals down, 1 more to go. Shall I see you in the final leg?
‘Till then.
See you at the finish line,
March Nacino
Founder, TheRadicalRunner.com
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Awesome kuya march!.hehe
Thank you, Mimi! Stay awesome! 😉