Thirty nine minutes have gone by as I started my IE8 Run.
I was so two-thousand-and-late.

Hard-headed runner

Since I was late, one of the organizers in the corral told me not to run anymore, since 30++ minutes have gone by already, even if my bib was marked by a blue slash, a sign that I checked in. He was saying like, I am his responsibility, that I might be in danger and that I might cause traffic along Buendia on a later time.

Tsktsk. I shouldn’t have ask permission to him. Anyway, other ladies in the corral, including the emcee, I see her in Studio23, were saying that I should start running and catch up. They didn’t say though, that I should sneak out past the strict eyes of the old man.

The hard-headed me sneaked out and started running anyway.

Along 11th avenue, I saw Eduardo Buenavista on his way back with mobile cars guarding him.

Running along the Kalayaan bridge, was a bit awkward. People are staring at me like what-in-the-world?! Although, I exchanged nods and high-fives with familiar faces. I even saw my office mates. Finally they finished on a faster time than me, officially.

I caught up with some of the runners along Buendia-Ayala. But to my surprise, instead of turning back just along the fire station, the loop extended near the railways. And this time, I caught up with the last person running on his way back. The person in the mobile car accompanying the lone runner was telling me to go back and consider the some-200 meters as a give away punishment. I obeyed this time, and regretted not running the remaining 200 meters and waking up late.

I arrived at the finish line with the clock ticking at 1:50:++.

Lessons learned.
I should sleep early to wake up early.

I usually wake up around three in the morning on a road-race-Sunday.

Last Sunday, however, I woke up 4:30 in the morning.
Tsktsk. The race is supposed to start at 5:30.

And so I hurried myself.
Took a bath in 5 minutes, a PR! Hahaha!
Shoes, socks, shirt, extra shirt, all check.
Breakfast. Nada. I just drank two glasses of water.

I was thinking what made me woke up that late.
The day before:

• I went to Nihongo Center for our weekly study.
• No endorphin-producing activity either.
• Oh, we watched Angels and Demons. It was a so-so movie for me. I was really expecting more.
• We arrived home around 11pm.
• I was snoring around 1am.

Next time, sleep early.

Anyway, I still arrived on time at Market! Market! for the 10 miler.
10 miles is around 16.09 kilometers.

I still had 10 minutes left before the gun start.

The crowd was relatively small compared to the previous races. I still saw some of the familiar faces like Bald Runner (I didn’t know that it was his birthday that day. Happy birthday BR!), Jonel who still know my name and asked if I will be joining TNF100, ahh err. Not yet., Michelle who doesn’t know me but I do attend her cycling classes at The Fort, and Jay who I thanked personally for his help at the Botak run.

Fast forward.
Oops. Make that not-so-fast, not-so-slow forward.

I finished at 1:30:++.
Doing the math, I was running 5:36 per kilometer on the average
Oh! And if I am able to maintain that, I can finish a full mary in 4:09.

There were lots of water. I was drinking at every water station I passed by. Hahaha! If I can only master drinking while running, I might shave off a minute or two in my time.

The course was interesting. Though, I’m still not familiar with the names of the roads, so I really can’t tell where exactly the thrills of the run were.

I just wished there were kilometer markers around the route though, just so I can pace myself better. Oh well, if only I have a Garmin.