FRONTRUNNER Philippines

…do you feel lucky? well, do ya, punk? ” -Dirty Harry,1971

well harry,i certainly am lucky to have friends who have wished me well in this time of r and r.

i woke up today at around 8 in the morning wondering what i was doing in bed so late.it was a sunday like other sundays past. but i was sure i was missing something here.then i remembered my friends doing the botak100.

this is the 1st sunday that i did not run a race nor do an lsd or a runabout for as long as i can remember.and it felt different.totally.

finding nothing worthy to do than to just leaf through the sunday papers and watch the never-ending coverage of the moonwalker,i decided to bring myself to the gym for a 3o-minute treadmill thing and a short weight-lifting workout.bad decision.i felt feverish as soon as i was done.i really do not know what’s going on.i just hope i will be strong enough to get up for the milo42 come sunday.

and before the clock struck 12 noon,i got the message that the first wave of finishers of the botak100 were done as early as 9am.isko,ralph and albert(run2dmoon) soon checked in after lunch and before 7pm came, my friends ronaldrei,ronnie(runnerforchrist),george(the talking machine),cesar and rico were done as well.coach salazar and ellen tolentino put in their licks too.good job guys-congratulations! you deserve a good feed/massage/sleep/happy ending for all the hard work you did today.that goes for the 50k finishers too!welcome to the ultra world.rejoice-you got yourselves devirginized!

anyway,here’s to all you guys who dropped me some good wishes on the net and some text messages too-thank you very much!

i feel lucky to have friends like you.may god bless you and your loved ones.and your-not-so-loved-ones.

what the heck.and your loved-once too.

“well, i am running down the road tryin’ to lose some load…take it easy, don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy….lighten up while you still can.don’t even try to understand.just find a place to make your stand….”-the eagles,take it easy.

 a mere 1 kilometer into the men’s health 15k race last sunday and i started to feel weird.my legs got heavy and my head was having a sensation.things that never happened to me before,not in races nor training days.

i was hoping that as soon as i would sweat along the way,i would feel better.i did my usual pre-race rituals and all.as the kilometers passed by,my legs and head got heavier however.slowly but surely,i was fading fast.i counted at least 7 runners passing me by at km 8 or so.as much as i wanted to push myself,i just could not.i was ready for my 2nd dnf,on trail again no less.the frequent zigzags on the route did not help.i became more disoriented and felt like throwing up at some point.

but with one last push,i drove hard for the finish line if only to avoid getting “chicked” again.i was successful by an arm’s length.finally,the ordeal was over.at least for the race.

i was feeling so bad i did not stay for the post-race festivities.mark parco aka VO2,who was with me at some point of the race,quipped that i wasn’t sweating like he did after the race when we saw each other again at the parking lot.this was getting weirder.i would and should have been sweating but i was not.i brushed the thought aside and chatted with my hc buds.but i started to have a splitting headache that prompted jay to give me a pain reliever.i downed it and upon reaching mcdonald’s in slex on the way back,the pain was gone.but i was still dizzy.

but my legs were still heavy.i was trying to recall what i did the previous day/s that might have contributed to all these.i was clearly in no mood to eat.i barely ate my pancakes.i thought i would feel better as the day wore on.

but that would not be the case.

finally home,i felt very weak and was having palpitations again just like what i had during the race proper.i wasn’t able to wash my running clothes and trail shoes as i am wont to do.i took a shower and headed for bed and promptly fell like a log.i was so sleepy,in pain and very weak.that was around 11am or so.

when i woke up at around 4pm,things were no better.i was feverish and aching all over.i took the necessary medicines and hydrated like i never did.ate a late lunch.went back to bed in the hope that more rest would make me feel good.nothing.when i woke up at around 9pm,i felt just as bad so i decided to stay in bed.

on monday,i could not even get up without feeling dizzy.the a(h1n1) news that kept coming on tv wasn’t helping either.i was feeling feverish but my temperature showed that i was normal.i took another dose of medicine and hydrated some more.ate a ton for breakfast and went back to bed.for the first time,i skipped a day-after recovery run.this week was supposed to be taper week for botak.

tuesday came and i was hoping that i would be better.but my head was still heavy and i was having palpitations time and again.i was sweating coldly too.worried now, i texted doc joe if i had that dreaded flu virus.he did not think so.another text for a 2nd opinion and i was told to have a complete blood test.i gave myself until wednesday to see if i would feel good.the medicines over the counter were not helping.again,no workouts whatsoever today.

wednesday morning came and i finally decided to have the tests.i was feeling just as bad.all these 3 days ,i tried to do things as normal but with a heavy feeling all over.i got my results later in the afternoon.all readings were normal thankfully.

so what was wrong with me?was i burned out or something?i browsed the internet and clicked “overfatigue”.what i saw sort of surprised me.the symptoms were similar to what i was experiencing the past few days.the cures were there too.and the doctor’s verdict was to get more rest.nothing.wednesday passed and that was 3rd day of inactivity.

thursday and friday came with no physical activities whatsoever except the mouth exercises in excess of 3 times a day.there would be spells of dizziness and palpitations.and the thought of skipping botak altogether was looming large.

not again,not on an ultra.not when i am on a mission.things would have been different if this race were just a a 10k run but this is not.when will the next ultra be?next to a dnf, a dns is another dreaded term.

much as i wanted to attend the carbo loading last night,i chose to stay home and gain more rest in the hope that it would translate to recovery.

i asked around for advices and the answers were unanimous,rest and recover some more.

so today saturday morning, i literally am resting my case(run).another first for me.on an ultra race again.dns.

i thank you all dear friends for your invaluable pieces of advice and willingness to support me during the race proper.but as it is,the exorcism will have to wait.for now,i would have to cool my heels till march 5,2010 and vent all my frustrations during the 2nd bdm and hopefully finish again.

the tnf will come.in hindsight,i was thinking that finishing botak100 would not have diminish the ignominy of the tnf fiasco.it will have to take a tnf100 trail run no less for the exorcism to be completely satisfying.that’s is going to be another story and struggle.

and so i say to all botak ultra runners going at it tonight,good luck and may you be all successful in your quests.to all you ultra virgins,savor the moment for you are virgins just once-at least for the distance.take baby steps at the start.you will be thankful you did especially when you are at the latter part of the race.

i will miss ya’ all  while i will gently sleep.and rest and recover some more.

mga kapwa kong mananakbo,

parang basketball yan.kung mga basketball players,may game face.

ano naman ang sa hardcores?

ang tamang sagot ay makakakuha ng free guided/escorted 100-kilometer run with complete support vehicle,logistics,18 hours worth of stories and post-race hands-on happy ending sa sunday, 28 june 2009.kita-kits  midnight of saturday sa u.p. to claim your prize.

the more, the many-er.

nagmamahal ng lubos,

t’yo paeng

i’m never gonna run again.

running legs gotta painful feeling.

though it’s easy to try,the race is just so hard.

should have known better how to run this race.

and shouldn’t have wasted all my lsd’s,speed,tempo and cruise interval drills.

never again.

until the next run.

12 midnight.

06.28.09

will i be home free?

or will the  nightmare continue?

you got races to run,so run them.back to back if that’s the case.

after tnf , i went back to the usual sunday races.so far, i nailed the ie8 8 mile run, the mizuno infinity 15k run and this weekend’s back to back-all terra 10k trail run and the 1st ptaa 10km run at u.p in succession.good therapy these runs i tell you.

not much really especially that the 1st 2 races(ie8-1:09 +, mizuno15-1:16 +) were characterized by heavy legs.perhaps it is the ultramarathon leg memory that was still in play.for whatever reason,i finished them no matter how slow i was a running or how bad i felt.runner’s blues is what i think they call it.in fact ,i ran mizuno so bad at least 5 runners overtook me from the kalayaan flyover on the way back.and no matter how much i willed my legs to go faster,nada.i’d say that mizuno was my worst performance next to tnf.

however,this weekend was kinda different.i finally completed my 1st trail run (1:01:10) however puny in distance.and as a dessert, i did the 10k yesterday in u.p.(48:38). the diliman route holds a special place in my heart as this is where i first went sub-50 last december 2008 at the ictus run with rio as organizer as it was yesterday.

well, the trail certainly lured much less in terms of runners but the sights and sounds and terrain were something else.it was worth all the trip to timberland. looking back,i wish i took more time to savor the view.all i could do was to take quick glances at the metropolis(smoggy) and the area around the route.at least,i was able to put to good use all the trail stuff i got for tnf.better battered and muddied than inhabited by cockroaches and dusting away.not to mention the lessons learned from tnf. i was glad that my mind and body were in complete  sync this time.wherever i said “go”, my legs just blasted away. needless to say,i would be happy to come back next year.

as for u.p., i was prepared to tackle the new route as presented in the race packet but at the last minute,the route was reverted to the same old route.a friend later told me that residents along the initial route requested the diversion.it was a box office hit in terms of attendance.but honestly,i was there hoping to win the raffle prizes more than anything else.nonetheless, it was a good 10k tempo run.and recovery run of sorts from the trail run  last saturday.boy were my legs heavy from the start.but as in timberland, mind and body were in tune again.

i think i am getting back into the groove.

keep hammering!