I was challenged by my bestfriend's husband. For every run I have with them my bestfriend would be allowed to hang out with me for dinner and coffee. I had second thoughts about this as these things are costly ... I'd have to buy some serious branded running tops and shorts and accessories, and maybe time to buy a new pair of running shoe, the kind as recommended by Runnr since last January ... I gave in and got my kit from Figaro at Shangrila Plaza right across from my place ...
I live alone in my condo, my kids are both living with my parents in Cebu. I arrive home, hit the gym every other day and those nongym days there's nothing to do, no one to talk to. I invite my bestfriend for dinner but sadly she always has to refuse due to the demands of a wife and a mom.
I started to use Slimmer's World SM Cebu treadmill late February 2009, walking, brisk walking and jogging. This was simply a 3 month freebie from my mom's membership. (Yeah, the older generation prefer Slimmers World to Fitness First.) I did approximately 5 visits in March. Around April 2008 I became a religious treadmill user but come May and June no more gym for me. July I had to move to Singapore and didn't find their gym memberships reasonable considering that I am just going to use their treadmills and nothing else (except the shower, of course). August, I still didn't have any gym membership so I did some rounds around the HDB block of Jurong West, Singapore between 3 to 4 times. September, I moved to a condo in Singapore with gym amenities and hit the gym every other day for 3 weeks.
October I moved back to Cebu after my Singapore stint but October to mid November no fitness regimen.
By the middle of November I was back on track, going to the gym every other day and kept up with this until mid March 2010. No fitness regimen from mid March to June.
I promised to really start a fitness plan by July so there I was visiting our condo's gym every so often at least 3 times a week. This went on and then I joined my first ever road run on 4 September at the Fort Bonifacio in Taguig. This event was sponsored by Figaro.
Reggie, my bestfriend, and I had to go rush to the start line. We arrived at the venue on time but due to some chit chats and the usual waiting game, we waited for Reggie's husband, we failed to assemble at the start line on time. We had to start running from the parking lot which was a good 200 meters from the start line and had to squeeze our way amongst the 5k runners who were getting ready. I joined the 10k and the runners who were all out on the road.
I was getting worried about finishing last for the group since I was one of the last ones to leave the start line.
I finished at 59 minutes having subtracted the time that elapsed when I left the start line. That was weird, 59 minutes. I never went below 77 minutes for a 10k before and that's too much of an improvement. I figured there was something fishy about that run.
Rowell, my bestfriend's husband rushed towards the finish line about 5 minutes later followed by Reggie who crossed the finish line 5 minutes after her husband.
Had some photo ops, got some freebies, lining up in booths like a kid.
I didn't like the trail that we followed for the run. It was a 2 round run which was supposed to have 5 kilometers per lap. There were some rough roads, some with puddles of water. There were some parts where we were held up due to the green signal for motorists. The scenery was the same and I had a "tired" mindset since after the first lap I knew how far I had to run.
Nevertheless, I had fun pushing myself to my limits, feeling good that I was ahead of so many other runners despite being the last to run when it was only the month before that I started on my 10k treadmill and arriving ahead of my friends who already had prior run experiences on the road.
A few days after the 4 September 2010 Figaro Run I checked on some reviews and threads about the Figaro Run and I found out that the trail's distance was only 8.4km. Oh well, that explains the 59 minute finish. It was Figaro's first run let's forgive them ... (surely they hired organizers for the event, but oh well...)
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