An Ode to October Running

I started running for a cause. Now, I run just because.

It’s official. A year has gone by and I’m still up —in what I still deem an ungodly hour— and running marathons. Who would’ve thought that a passing "trip lang" to a childhood activity would lead to hundreds of kilometers and endless hours of anything and everything running. A big thank you to my sister, who (probably) initially just ran to humor me, more than looking at it as a competitive venue on physical and mental prowess (not to mention the promise of a Heaven 'N Eggs breakfast after the race). To date, she has recently graduated to 10K runs and is currently co-founding their company running club(?!) Naks!; To the converted- It's absolutely, positively adddictive, right?; To my non-runner friends who have endured my constant chatter on races, paces, Km’s, uphills, yadda-yadda-yadda… And yes, I am on a perpetual vigil to steer more people to the Light Side. Post-run early mornings in Tiananmen are definitely more fun (guiltless calories!) than post-gimmick early mornings. ;) Hahaha.

{Last year's Takbo! Breast Friends 2007-
The race that launched a thousand steps.}

October 2007— I rekindled my relationship with running marathons (or rather 3K Fun Runs from grade school until high school) after feeling the monotony of hitting the gym. It just wasn't enough for me anymore. Semi-retired from football (I do miss it though), and not quite as addicted to badminton, I just wanted to see if I still had that fight left in me. A quick search in the internet (Thanks to The Bull Runner's List of Races) led me to the Soroptomists' (Ortigas) Takbo! Breast Friends (2007) run. It was a 5 Km run, but what drew me to it was that it was also a fund raiser for a good cause. My sister was easy enough to convince. Breakfast jokes aside, we both really felt good that we were contributing to charity.

The 5 Km Ultra-C5 route was challenging alright. In a word: Uphill. Ugh. I wasn't expecting much, I just wanted to see how far I could push myself. And push I did. The concept of pacing was alien to me. I ran my lungs out. As soon as I reached the finished line, I really, really, really wanted to vomit. As I had my much needed glass of water at the finish line, I still really, really, really wanted to vomit. As I lined up for the complimentary Milo and Spanish Bread, I still really, really, really wanted to vomit. I didn't, by the way. But it was as if I wanted to throw up the extreme exhaustion that I felt. Thus my light bulb moment in the importance of pacing. (Ya think??!!)

Really, I wasn't expecting much, so it was quite the pleasant surprise to learn that I had managed to squeeze into the 10th place of the Women's Division. That was more than enough of a boost to make me check the schedule for the next run, and the next run, and the next... Oh, and besides, I really, really, really did have a lot of fun!

October 2008— Nowhere to go but Half and up, up, up!!! Another running milestone on October, my first shot at a half marathon. (Good luck to us, RFB. May we live to have breakfast with the rest of our running gang. hahaha. You being in the Kota chapter though.)

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Breast Cancer Run 2008

(Yay! It's my anniversary run.)


WHAT: Takbo! Breast Friends (5Km/10Km)
WHEN: 5 October 2008 (6 am)
WHERE: Ultra, Pasig City

Entry fee is P200. For more details, contact Emeline at 0922-8948728 or check out: http://runningfatboy.blogspot.com/2008/09/takbo-breast-friend-october-5-2008.html