Teary eyed a few meters before the finish line, I told myself “I never thought I could reach this far like this. I am not gonna cry this time. I promise.”
I’m really hyped up, excited but at the same time scared running a Marathon. I never thought I could do that at the age of 19. I don’t know if I will be able to finish it. I just wanted to run. That’s all that matters. Before and during the race day, I’ve been hearing—and I knew people were talking behind my back—that I won’t be able to finish my run in Condura Skyway Marathon. Some said that I would be able to finish it beyond my target time of sub 8 or 7 hours or that my knee injury will be back with a vengeance. Nevertheless, I even finished the course the natural way—barefoot, strong and without injuries. I’ve been preparing my knees for this run.
Last Sunday, with God’s guidance and strength, I ran my first Full Marathon and my first official race for 2013. With little preparation because I was busy in school and at home, I ran what seems like a very challenging first 42km run for me. I had all the reasons why I wanted to stop and not go on anymore. I’m very sleepy, I got wounded on the skyway—because of drowsiness, my shoes feels really heavy already, I’m tired, I’m bored, my muscles hurt, etc. but because I’m running for what I believe in, I went on. As an advocate of Barefoot Running, I really wanted to run my first Full Marathon barefoot but my running friends and buddies disagreed and even tagged me as Suicidal Princess. Ha-ha! Well that’s quite true. My journey as a runner has been quite a risk. I didn’t run barefoot the whole course but did so at the last few kilometers. That way, I can still advocate the natural way of running. People looked at me and wondered why I do it. I did it because I believe in what is natural and it makes me run faster because I feel lighter.
It’s actually my first time running at the skyway because I only became active in joining fun runs summer of 2012. I enjoyed it so much because I wasn’t alone in this challenge. My group, OK-OK Runners Family along with We Love Running, Team Titans, ANR Ayala Triads and Barefoot Running Philippines were there running along the route pushing and encouraging me to a strong finish. Along the route, I gave my best and I was able to beat my target times on the 5th, 10th and 21st km mark, though I had to slow down a bit after the 28th kilometer mark because I wanted to enjoy my 1st time experience running the skyway. I ran with different buddies along the route but thanks to my two “mamaw” ultramarathoner friends, Machy and kuya Allan, I was able to enjoy my 1st full marathon. Of course, at the finish line, OK-OK Runners and Ayala Triads were there waiting for me. Oh, what a sight to see! Afterwards, a great bonding capped off our eventful day as OK-OK Runners celebrated our success with a sumptuous breakfast at Adobo Connection.
I just wanted to say that, because of the continued support from my family, friends and running groups, I was able to go this far. All those trainings and lsd’s with them paid off pretty well. I would definitely want to do that again! Next stop, my 1st Ultramarathon!