The Run-up
I decided to run the Milo Marathon again as a follow-up to the Subic Marathon and also to hopefully set a new PR (personal record). However, the universe had other plans for me, yet again.
I got another out-of-country assignment which started in April in Australia, this time, for 8 weeks. This meant I needed to begin my training in Melbourne and then continue in Manila when I went back there in June.
Well, work got really hectic especially during my last 4 weeks in Oz - I needed to do early days and late nights that I was only able to put in a full weeks' worth of good training, and engage in sporadic long weekend runs throughout my stay. I wish I could've done more running around in Melbourne, but my drained will power was not up for it. When I went back to Manila during the last weekend of May, I promised myself I was going to make up for the lack of training for the next 8 weeks leading up to race day.
Run United 3
The following weekend after I got back in Manila, my running girlfriends and I joined the 32KM race during the 3rd Leg of Unilab Active Health's Run United series. We kept each other company from the start till the end.
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| Team RUNbow Brite at Run United 3 |
We each had to deal with our issues during the run (stomach problems, leg cramps and dealing with the extreme heat especially during the last 10K) and we crossed the finished line at 4 hours and 20 minutes. It was not the time we were gunning for, but we had to give each other some slack due to circumstances that we couldn't avoid. The important thing is that we finished and we considered it a benchmark for what we needed to improve on.
We signed up for training sessions with Coach Sid Vildosola at the Ultra running track. Coach Sid is a national athlete in the Philippines and is one of our paralympians in the track events. He has participated in several SEA, Asian and Olympic games and has even won our country several medals. Despite his physical disability, he is a tough coach. He has a very rigid training regimen and we're better athletes because of it.
Team Runbow Brite
In 2012, I started running more often with these 2 other girls I first met during the 2nd season of the Milo APEX Running School. We were "classmates" until the 5th season of the running clinic, and we later trained under Coach Sid. We started spending more time with each other and eventually, we started calling our group Team Rambo Brite (a kind of combined parody for the TV cartoon character Rainbow Brite and the movie character Rambo).
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| Team RUNBow Brite enjoying sorbetes in one of our favourite running haunts - the UP Academic Oval |
We would do our long runs together during the weekends, and even go on out-of-town trips just to get a change of scene for our weekend runs. One of these trips was in Subic where I took them to the hilly part of the Subic Marathon race route to get some hills training.
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| I went back to Subic with the gurls and ran the ascending part of the Subic Marathon route |
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| The trio after a 1.5-hour run in cold and rainy Baguio City |
A Tale of Four Cities
A couple of weekends before the Milo Marathon, our trio joined three other runners in the most harrowing long run I've ever experienced in Metro Manila. We started in BGC in Taguig City and made a loop back which traversed 3 other cities. We had to deal with heavy traffic on Airport Road in Pasay City, then later on along Buendia in Makati City. We ran into a couple of dead ends when we were trying to find a way to get to MOA from Baclaran in Parañaque City. We even had to run through a couple of under passes (underground pedestrian walk ways) in Ayala Avenue and then climb up an overpass to be able to cross EDSA (a freeway in Metro Manila) to get back to where we started in BGC.
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| Traversing 4 cities in one long scary run |
That was almost 28KM in total and we were able to finish it in 3hours and 45min. We were all sticky with sweat and dust, and inhaled half the polluted air in Manila after that. We later on realized what a crazy thing we did, but we were happy campers and only thought about how better prepared we all were for the big days because of that.
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| After our life-threatening 3.5-hour run through 4 cities in Metro Manila |
A Day of Reckoning
So when race day finally came around, I thought I was ready to conquer this marathon once again and was even confident I'll make a PR.
I started running the race with the girls. I kept a steady pace with them for about half a kilometer, and once I gained momentum, I ran my own pace. I think I heard one of them calling out to me to slow down but I was already "in the zone" and sped past the thick crowd of runners who were still trying to find their rhythm.
After 10 KM, I started feeling nauseated. I also needed to pee, but I had to hold it in until the next portalet. I tried walking the nausea off for a couple of minutes before starting up again and regained my momentum back. But my body wasn't having it - it didn't want to cooperate.
When I finally saw a portalet, I made a stop, but my body was really working against me that day. For the life of me, I couldn't pee! Then I began feeling a sharp pain coming from my lower abdomen. I stayed inside the porta-potty for a couple of minutes longer just to give my body some more time to pass urine, but it just couldn't. So I gave up on it, and left the portalet feeling more uncomfortable.
I kept running after that. A couple of kilometers later right after going over a flyover on Roxas Boulevard, I began feeling pain shooting out of the right side of my right knee - oh no! The ITBS has come back! But on top of that, the lower abdominal pain wouldn't go away and was getting worse. I tried to walk it off for several minutes to give my body some rest, hoping that during the process, the pain I was feeling in different parts of my body would subside. I saw my 2 friends run past me with looks of concern for me, but I waved them on so they can continue running the race.
I started running again, but 18KM into the race, I couldn't go on anymore. I walked to the next drink/aid station, rehydrated and lined up at the medic station. My first thoughts were that I'll just get some linament for my legs, but while I was standing there, I realized that if I continue running the race, I would make similar stops and most probably my condition will worsen. I also remembered I had a medical examination the following day for an upcoming out-of-country assignment which I couldn't risk failing, so I made a decision to call it quits.
My heart was heavy as I approached the medic, but I just kept thinking that there will be other races to run and today was just one of those days that I needed to listen to what my body was telling me. I asked the medic if they can take me back to the race start/finish area by the ambulance since I couldn't imagine walking the rest of the way. I was in a lot of pain and I just wanted to get out of my sweaty clothes and find somewhere to relax with an ice pack on my knee, while waiting for the girls to finish.
A few hours later, the girls crossed the finish line and I joined them to give them my congratulations and tell them about what happened. There was a bitter taste in my mouth as I was telling them my story, but I guess what was more important for me that day was to not aggravate my health situation than agonizingly crawl my way to the finish line.
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| I was the loser among the 3 during the 37th Milo Marathon Manila eliminations :( |
The next day, I went through my physical examination and later on found out I had urinary track infection (UTI). That would explain the pain I was feeling on my lower abdomen and the case of not being able to pee even if I felt I needed to pass urine during the race. Antibiotics took care of the problem, but I'm now aware of things I should be more mindful of to avoid it from every happening again.
Quitting the race was the most difficult and humbling experience I've gone through as a runner and athlete. There's a lesson to be learned here about figuring out priorities and accepting what fortune has dealt you with. I also think the universe is telling me something about running full marathons - it seems there's always something coming up when I'm planning or attempting to run a 42K race. Are these warnings of some sort?
I'd like to think that these are extra challenges that can only make me a stronger and better person in the long run (pun intended). I know other people go through worse, so I shouldn't be complaining or making excuses. It can only get better from here and there's only one direction to move from where I'm currently at: FORWARD.
I'm going to run this race again in the future, and when I do, I'm going to make sure that I will conquer it as a stronger, faster and wiser runner. Until then, there are other races to run and goals to fulfill.
We'll meet again, Milo Marathon!
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