no more training wheels

this morning, i had my first ever official 15K race at the mizuno infinity run :) never din i imagine that i would be able to finish a race almost on target with my intended finish time. my first ever attempt also at doing long runs without pacers. AND i was timing myself also while running, first time ko ata to see myself reaching 5K mark na sub 30, (i was at 28 something when i checked my timer), although i wasn't able to check na sa 10K mark, pero i was actually amazed at myself at today's race.

i wasn't really expecting to finish that strong pero i do believe i did.

for the past few long distance races, i'd always relied on my pacers to help me with the race (docE sa 21k botak, bongZ sa slimmerun 16(15)K, at sa 21(18)K botak). para akong batang nag bibike na may training wheels, hindi pa sure kung kaya na mag isang umandar at mag balance while moving forward. always relying on the training wheels whenever may sablay, may sasalo agad. na when i fail i can always go back and ask my pacers on how to approach the race, if pwede mag fast na, or mag slow man for a while. pero kaninang race was different

for some weird reason when i saw pojie wearing his iamninoy runner shirt AND with an official 15K bib, napaisip ako na the last time he was not wearing his takbo singlet in a race, nag cramps ata sha (baguio) or something, basta he wasn't at the top of his game. (true enough well, after my CR break at the start, he told me sa middle of kalayaan to go ahead, he'd just follow). pero, he never did na (well not until the last K na ata un sa paikot infront of fullybooked did i chanced upon pojie). while pojie was "out" na as my pacer, there was still rod, who accompanied me most of the time. okay naman, halos sabay, minsan na uuna na ako, tas bigla shang susulpot to catch up with me, at times, i'd tell him if we can slow down, pero for some weird reason, my legs/feet didn't want to slow down as much, so what really happened was, i went a bit faster pa nga, or i tried following other people in front of me! hahaha

upon reaching the turnaround point, i was thinking about slowing down na talaga, my legs were a bit tired na rin, and feeling ko baka kapusin ako sa end kasi, for once, i think i started out strong (which is not naman the style i usually use talaga). for some fortunate turn of events, rod was able to accompany me until sa may makati ave ba un, tas bigla na shang nawala. sa loob loob ko, i was thinking, he'd just come from wherever to surprise me tas ayos, may pacer na ako ulit. but no, until the end, di ko na sha nagpang abot hehehe :) (woah, humahalimaw na ba din ako? hahahaha) ayon, as i was traversing the long stretch of kalayaan flyover going back, i was able to run alongside TBR, and a few meters ahead, i saw a familar face, isang classmate sa mizuno run clinic. upon getting closer, i was able to read the paper at the back, HE'S the 1:30 pacer! yahoo! keri pa akong mag 1:30! hahahaha

pero sa katamarang palad, medyo di ko na kinayang mag strong finish sa dulo, upon reaching the foot of the kalayaan bridge, medyo i accepted na the fact na hindi ko ata kayang mag strong finish, walang pogi pose sa end tulad ng botak 21K hahaha. sa isip ko, since solo flight na ako nito, finish na lang muna. hayaan na yang PR na yan, hassle eh :) pero pride still made me go at it. since the stronger runners are still within sight, i guess i can still push myself at it. konting tiis na lang, i told myself. go lang! push push tulad ng mga sinasabi ng mga pacers ko before. nag stick din sa mind ko na "timmy don't walk, slow jog, let's go bro" kasunod nito ang mga katangang " ano senyo, 2 buckets?" kaya sige lang, fight! sugod! toma! hehehe

at the back of my mind, konti na lang ito pero bakit parang ang layo layo pa? pero sige lang fight. tapos, nung asa tapat na ako ng fullybooked ata, narinig ko ang isang familiar voice na tinatawag ako. aba! si pojie! tuluyan ko na ngang naunahan sha, pero at least hindi naman na ganoong kalayuan. natuwa na lang din ako nung nakita ko ung finish line,sabi ko sa sarili ko bibilisan ko na to, kasi kaunti na lang eh. sa awa ng diyos i was able to finish a bit over lang than my intended time, pero sige lang. nice fight, nice time. nice race. walang ulan. :)

after the race, i was able to realize na, wow, ang bilis ko naman (pero di ko unang naisip un, may nagsabi lang sa akin na "ganda ng time mo kanina! magaling magaling!... sobrang good bibes!) sa loob loob ko, wala namang mga bibe don ah hahaha. pero seriously, hmm i was expecting a good time, oo PERO based sa pacers ko. eh kanina, hindi naman sa nag mamayabang, hindi ko na nasundan ung pace na sinet ng pacers ko. it just boiled down to what i wanna achieve, at the speed that i wanted to achieve it, AND at time i wanted it. parang another realization through running na, i can achieve things if i really wanted it, if i willed it. no one else naman would be able to hinder me to achieve my goals except me.

this race was a big race for me. initially because it was a friend's comeback race. akala ko un na yun. pero there was something bigger in store for me pala. na sa race na ito, i can achieve what i put my mind into, with the support of others shempre,pero i need to believe it, and to will it for it to become a reality :)

i guess the trainings and the mizuno run clinic actually paid off huh? (plus it made me lose the excess weight na rin to make me go faster hahaha).

pacers will always be there, pero i will no longer rely on them. i navigate my own ship. i decide what to do, when to go faster, etc and no one else will be blamed if i fail, pero if i succeed, shempre group effort hehehe :)

thank you for pacing me. thanks for inspiring me.

APIR!