When I got to Kilometer 0 at 4:45 am last July 5, the 42km runners had just raced off in a rainbow of reflectors. They left behind a very festive crowd of onlookers, runners-in-waiting, supporters, taho vendors, a group of little Buenavista hopefuls, and green men and women. I remember the last time I was in Roxas Blvd at dawn. My friends and I were working on our Investigative Journalism project - the state of the flesh trade in Luneta. But that's another blog entry in progress...so moving on...
The race started on time - after a national anthem, a prayer, and welcome remarks from Chairman Bayani Fernando and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. The first two kilometers were fine and I kept holding on to my mantra "you've done this route before, you can do it!" but I slowed down as soon as I saw the 5km turnaround - "i can't! i really can't!". And before I got to the flyover, I was already walking. My fingers were numb and everything I see was distorted - like a Vincent Van Gogh painting. Damn! I will never make it to the 1:30 cut-off. I walked/run/walked/run until I got to the turnaround and berated myself for registering for a 10km...girl, you're stubborn as a bull. But someone else was talking to me - you have to finish this race and you must do so before the cut off time! But then again, I might have already been delirious.
The numbness reached my lips and my right arm and I was a bit dizzy when I got to Km 0. It was already 1:25 on my watch, 500 meters more and I will finish this race. Sprinting to the finish at 1:30 left me more dazed, dehydrated and still numb everywhere. The thought that I finished the race within the cut-off time (official time is 1:27) is more than enough consolation for a poor run. But, I really have to train and sleep more or I will never finish my next 10k.
A Van Gogh - courtesy of the net
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