( Disclaimer: Most of the photos here are from my friends Instagram account. I was too lazy to bring my phone because I had no pockets. Sorry =) )
I know, I know, this is such a delayed post. Sorry, folks. I got busy. But since I'm unemployed now, I might as well start with this.
Anyone who knows me will probably tell you that I am one of the laziest people around when it comes to exercising. I have bouts of "Hey, I need to lose weight so I'll exercise", but after a couple of weeks I will be like *om nom nom nom nom food sleep zzzzzzzz*. I love not exercising so much that I went from 100 pounds to 110 pounds. And I'm just 4'10"!
So, when my officemate asked me and our other officemates to join Color Manila Run this year, I must honestly say that I was adamant. I'm a short distance runner. I would always join track and field events back in high school. But I'm not a long distance runner. My endurance level is pretty low. And I can say that because I've tried a 3k run before, and it wasn't really a pleasant experience. I knew I wanted to try another run again. So I told them we should try the 5k. But no! They wanted to get the 10k run for value of money. You see, you have to pay 850 pesos to register. It doesn't matter if it's 3k, 5k or 10k. So yeah, I do get the point of value for money. Weeks before the event, we actually tried to prepare for the run. But we got lazier as the event approached, plus the weather wasn't cooperating. My maximum was at 6k. I was nervous that I might collapse during the run.
Aside from the difficulty in preparation, we also had a difficulty in registering. When my officemate was registering our group, the website wouldn't proceed. What worked was registering herself first, then registering the rest of us. I, then, noticed that since I was the first person in our group, my contact number was listed as the contact number of the rest in our group. A glitch, maybe?
The night before the run, we went to Filinvest Tent in Filinvest, Alabang to get our race kits (it contained the tank top; race bib; tags for baggage, hydration, medal, raffle, and picture redemtion; 4 glow sticks; and glow glasses pack). It was raining so we were wishing that it wouldn't be raining on the day of the event.
August 30, 2014, the day of the event. I was excited and nervous. It was a nice day. We got to the event early. The organizers said that registration starts at 7 PM. But they didn't say where. We went to the event grounds. They told us that it was at the Filinvest Tent. We reached the tent at around 7:15. We got pissed off because they were telling us that registration was closed and that we all had to go to the event grounds. I got pissed at how disorganized it was. I was tired and hungry. They made us walk all that way for nothing. My mood was already bad. Then it started to rain. We had to wait for it to stop. We went to the event grounds, which was ankle deep in rain water. So yeah, we were running in our muddy shoes. What a way to start the evening.
Good thing I was running with good friends. They helped lighten up the mood. We had so much fun trying to make our glow sticks light up (the glow sticks decided to light up to the slightest of movements the night before).
Another difficulty was before the gun start. They decided to make us (the 10k runners) to go to the starting line. Then, they made us do warm up exercises. Warm up exercise is good when you can see the instructor and have enough space to do them. But it wasn't the case. We had to rely on the person before us for the moves and move to the extent our space will allow us. We were like sardines in a can trying to exercise. Very effective.
Again, good thing I was with good friends. The run was fine, but not outstanding. We were hoping for a lot of paint, but we only experienced 2 stops of it, plus the powder, which is not good for asthmatic people (it went to my eyes and up to my nose). Good thing we decided to get drenched with paint during those stops (stupid of me to rinse myself with water at each water stop so the paint on my top got diluted). We also had difficulty running in some parts of the route. Those parts were very dark and full of potholes. My running buddy had his phone with him so he used it to light our way. Thank you. But it was still quite dark. An officemate of us actually tripped and had cramps because of this.
I must say that the route was very challenging. A lot of inclines. It was funny because I thought we were almost done when we saw the 5k marker. I wanted to stop and cry. It was hard. By the 6k marker, my running buddy and I decided to just walk the rest of the way. We were both tired and afraid our legs will not be able to keep going. So when we reached the finished line, we were so happy. Our officemates and I wanted to party after this, but we were so tired and hungry that we just skipped it and when to McDonald's for dinner (it was almost 11 by then). I found out that they threw more paint at the party (well folks, it was supposed to be a glow paint run, not a glow paint party).
I must say that despite all the difficulties, we were all proud of ourselves. It was hard to finish the race. We saw people give up. But we did it! I just wish that the run could have gone more smoothly plus with more paint. We want more paint! I do wish I get to run again with my friends. They were really the ones who pushed me to my limit. I was hating myself for choosing to run with the boys but they encouraged me all the way. I love you, guys! Until our next run!
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