this is for all the marbles

today is the 31st of january, sunday. its a little less than a week before the condura run. if you would glance at the top of the blog, it says 6 days. i just completed my last "long run" before the race. nothin tough. 8k. which i comfortably finished in 1:10. i dint want to push myself. i dint want to open the opportunity for injury. just the required mileage, and thats it.

it is also around a month ago when i decided- why not? do the full mary at condura. its one of the more prestigious races here anyway. and only a handful of races have the full marathon distance. 6 days away. did the training. did the mileage (ok, ok, im a few kms short). registered. got my game plan on. playlist, check. all systems go. ive read a lot of runners blogs saying that your first marathon is always the sweetest, most memorable. im excited. i hope its not anti climactic. i feel like a virgin, doing it for the very first time. will she laugh. was it good for her as it was for me? i hope i dint look stupid.

preparation. opportunity. see you at condura.

same same

lets give way to some non running stuff.

this is, by the way, just how the conversation went, as how i remembered it.

cast • me. art director. 30 something dude... well, check out my profile

sara • copywriter, my partner, alcoholic in denial, drama queen.

sara: i think ill be single for a long, long time.

me: you HAVE been single for a long time.

sara: uhm... i just came from a relationship, remember?

me: eh, well, even if you were, you were just everywhere. so it didn't seem that you were, at all.

sara: what do you mean? i resent that. everywhere? i've been loyal.

me: yes i know that, but, wala lang. para kasing, there was always something goin on with you. i cant ask you randomly: hey how are you guys? and youd say: same same. its always, you guys arent talking. or you almost broke up last night a couple of times, before you actually did.

sara: but we didn't go long enough to say that.

me: you know what i mean...

its only a real relationship when you can say same same.

before i was on the road, i was in the sea

it has been a couple of months since ive tasted saltwater in my lips. so long that ive even forgotten how long. i think august was the last time. wish i could dive soon. i miss the flight-like feeling of gliding through the water. the weightlessness, the strange clike running, it gives you a different level of freedom. in a way i attacked my running like i did my diving. i just closed my eyes and took the plunge. whos up for anilao this weekend? oops.. i think i have a race

i wish for a place to run...properly

typical of the non-pro runner, which is a status i share with a lot of runners in manila, i have a day job. which means i merely crunch in the running workouts between meetings, presentations, errands, and other work-related sh*t. fine. i can do that. all i have to do is to be not so picky on where i run. and just run somewhere close to everything else. and i am not. really. i really am NOT picky. but please, PLEASE, give me a good evan surface to run on.

i run in basically two places. up and makati. sad to say, my feet and all the other parts attached to it get sore after running in both places. i will no longer discuss the dangers of running on uneven surfaces. my almost 8 years in the up college of architecture taught me that public roads and sidewalks should maintain a certain grade so that rainwater can properly drain off, but dude, you gotta be kidding me. at the up academic oval, these are literally ramps, laid out sideways. :-( check out the pics. and in makati, there's so much goin on in the sidewalks. hydrants, utility posts, plant boxes, well, you get it, right? its like a video game of dodging and jumping over stuff.

so mr-president-of the-philippines-to-be, i wish for even and safe sidewalks and roads.

training at a time of pitches

it says 2am on the upper right hand screen of my mac. this macs starting to look very inviting to put rest my head on. big pitch tomorrow at 11. and a brand presentation at 4. and a marathon less than 2 weeks from now.

im pretty sure i am not the only runner thats in advertising. and im also sure they have the same thoughts in their minds. EVERY PITCH means, cigarettes, booze, unhealthy takeout food, loooong hours, and very little sleep. hey, im supposed to have a recovery run tomorrow. what now? maybe i can do my run in the afternoon, after the 4pm preso. if im not too tired. if i even have will to gear up. i wonder how the other Mad Men train. any mad men out there? lemme know how you train. as for me... ive done it the past few months the only way i know it. i WILL it. . i WILL the mileage.

gawd, i still have to lay out a flyer... hmm.. i think the chickenjoy is here.

im an idiot

i have a confession. during the early part of my "running career", i partly ran because there were a lot of girls during races. yes. fine. so sue me. so anyway... karma bit me in the arse this morning.

i was set to do my required 16 km this morning. i had a 10 am meeting in ortigas, so i headed off to up at 5:30 so i would have time to get ready. i have this 8 km route that i follow in up, so doing this twice would do. on the first round of this route, i saw this girl going the opposite direction. hmm... fairly cute, nice form, looks like she runs regularly...oh well... back to the run... on the second round, i see her again. opposite direction - again. she must be doing the same route. so i just go about with my run, then unexpectedly, when we were side by side, i heard. hello... THE HOT GIRL SAID... HELLO.. you must bet thinking, wow! go for it! i mean...dude like me, what else should i do? and my response? I JUST SMILED. as she ran by, i wanted to hit myself in the head. what the WTF was that dan? you idiot! you should said hello back. or like make a u-turn and talk to her... gawd... i look back, and i see her continuing her run. i wonder if she's goin to be back tomorrow. im an idiot.

the road to condura

yesterday i registered for my very first full mary. 42kms. at first i was wishy washy about it. it took me a couple of weeks to decide on this. the plan was that the adidas sundown marathon in singapore would be my first full marathon, but since it was late december, and when i charted my training program, i found out it was too early to train for may, might as well go for something earlier.

5 weeks. thats all i had at the time. i crunched the 16 weeks of training to that. i mean, it was under the assumption that i was gonna start from zero- that i am not. so i proceeded with the five weeks. after a pair of cwxs, two sore feet, two sore knees, a dozen or so gus, a blister, and a youtube video showing how to tape weak arches, i am ready.

i can see it now. pacing in the skyway. i wanna kiss the finish line when i cross it. all my doubts gone. i will do this. like what my colleague, mags said: kaya yan ng yabang mo.