My apologies

One thing I love about tumblr is I coming across posts like this once in a while:

(image from Scotty Crowe)

Because I know a lot of people don't get why runners love to run. :)

Condura Skyway Marathon 10K

Repost from my tumblr about my first Condura experience (with some edits here and there):

I conquered two flyovers last Sunday and it felt great. I didn’t get to set a new PR but I enjoyed every exhausting bit of the race.

Assembly time for 10K runners was 5 am. My sister generously offered to drive me, so we left the house a little after 4:30 and got there just a little after 5. The emcee gave some last-minute reminders then fired the gun at exactly 5:30.

I started out too fast, and before I knew it we were going up the Skyway. I trudged on and made sure to enjoy the quiet scenery. I listened to the footfalls and chatter around me, the roosters crowing, the lightening sky. Sometime after KM 6, I started feeling winded so I walked until I felt like I could run again. Around KM 8, I spotted the next hydration station and saw that they had sponges. I grabbed one and I swear the ice-cold water saved me and gave me that much-needed boost as I “attacked” the Buendia flyover going to Kalayaan.

By the time the finish line was in sight I already felt drained, but I dug in and sprinted through the last few hundred meters.

Things I Liked: 1) Marshals were present all throughout the race course and they made sure that angry drivers wouldn’t run over the runners; 2) there was a hydration station every 2 kilometers — which made me almost regret having brought my trusty hydration belt; 3) the cool medal, of course; 4) the free popsicle (I'm mababaw like that).

What I Didn’t Like: Not a single photo of myself on Marathonphotos.com!

When it comes to races, only 2 things are important for me - the presence of helpful, able marshals and well-stocked hydration stations. The other things - singlets, freebies, even the course itself - are not that important for me.

See you next year, Skyway! Big thank yous to Julie and Sir Pat for making this a memorable experience for me!

Third 10K tomorrow

Back in December I joined Julie's (The Hotlegs Runner) Condura Skyway Marathon race kit giveaway, and I won! I chose the 10K category since I wanted to run on the Skyway, but I knew I wasn't ready for 16K. I coordinated with Sir Patrick Conception (The Runningshield), one of the two brothers who conceptualized the Condura Run in 2008, and I received my race kit after some weeks. The kit came complete with the finishers shirt, race bib, D-tag, race map, and a list of running tips. And I even got a bar of Hershey's chocolate (which I already ate, that's why it's not in the picture)! :)

As always, I'm going into the race undertrained. But with prayers and my tiny virtual partner -- one of my favorite features on my running watch -- here we go!