Nope, I haven’t forgotten this blog yet. If ever, I think I’ve taken the much-needed blog hiatus. Because frankly, my posts in this blog last year were depressing me. Some might call it “maturity,” but really, I don’t want to grow into a bitter old lady 😛 Anyway, I have a list of New Year’s resolutions on hand, but I don’t want to bore you with them. It’s more fun letting you all figure it out as I go along 😀

My finishers’ medal! 5km run at the 2010 Condura Run for the Dolphins

Moving on… I’m proud to say that I started 2010 with a healthy progress: I finished 5km for the first time ever, and that’s without using my inhaler! Not even once 🙂

I was tempted to sign up for the 3km run when my husband first told me about the Condura Run for the Dolphins. I’ve already completed 3km at the Globe Run for Home 2009, so I knew 3km was not impossible. But for some reason, I heeded that insane idea and signed up for the 5km run. I had about a month of preparations for that run. And though I wasn’t that confident, I knew I could always just walk it off when the going gets tough. To my surprise, I completed the race in 45 minutes and 5 seconds… without the inhaler 😀

It’s not much for seasoned runners, but it was a huge milestone for me. I’m asthmatic, and though I now have a reasonable control over it, it still acts up sometimes. A 5km run would have been insane to do had I ran it in December and not on the 7th of February — I’d probably end up again with an oxygen tank hooked up my nose. The month-long endurance training and encouragement from my husband Marc paid off — I completed 5km, and I could still breathe normally enough to join Marc and our friend Juned for breakfast after the race.

So after that I went back to running 3km, the next one being the Century Tuna Superbods Run. I clocked in at 24 minutes and 15 seconds. It’s my best time at the moment, and such a far cry from my awful run at the recent Unilab Run United for Wellness where I finished at an embarrassing 32 minutes and 7 seconds.

I miss running at the Marikina Sports Center race track 🙁

My awful performance at the Unilab run doesn’t falter my liking for running a bit. I don’t blame anyone but myself: it’s the exact same route as the Century Tuna run, and yet I felt tired due to lack of sleep and training. I have to admit I totally relaxed my training before the race — my husband and I joined travel bloggers for a trip to El Nido for five days exactly a week before, and it was hard to get back in sync after losing my running tempo to lazy afternoon naps on a hammock and binging on chocolate bars, pork, and buttloads of rice 😛 I’m far from getting discouraged; if ever, that awful Unilab run was a wake-up call. I resolved to do better next time.

Trying to get fit isn’t easy, I know that now. I’m not as young as I used to — and I’ve been so out-of-shape for the past 3 years that my body needs to start from beginning. I don’t hope to get back my endurance when I could still run a 50-meter dash in just few seconds, and jog across the full length of a basketball like I did when I was younger, but I do aim to complete fun runs at reasonable times. And maybe, just maybe… the half-marathon run (21km) at the Singapore Marathon in December. I dream big, I know that! 😛 But you’ll never know unless you try, right? Besides, I still got about nine months to prepare 😀

My husband and I will be running at the upcoming Globe Run for Home 2. I’m still doing 3km, and I’m aiming to beat my disappointing time at the first Globe run last year. Hopefully, this will be my last 3km and I’ll finally be able to move on from beating my own time at this event 😛

Coach Rio Dela Cruz showing the 3km route for the Globe Run for Home 2

It will be challenging though, there’s going to be a different race route for the Globe run this year. I’m quite excited really, because for the first time, I’ll be able run within Makati CBD. Not that I want to do that during rush hour — I don’t want to get trampled upon by office folks rushing to their buildings during work week. Makati will be peaceful on a Sunday morning, but it’s still an experience I look forward to 🙂

I honestly can’t believe that the Globe Run for Home 2 will be my fourth fun run this year… and it’s only March! Having a competitive spirit at least once a month isn’t so bad — it keeps me on track, albeit my 5-day moment of weakness in El Nido. What I’m loving most about running is the feeling of being stronger, and free of being so dependent on my inhaler. I still keep it around, ready for any freak-of-nature bout of asthma, but I haven’t used it in a while — probably since last January 1st.

Running has been good to me. Though this seems to be a sports fad like badminton was a few years back, I think this sport is something that will stay with me. Besides, I nerver really liked badminton much anyway. But I’ve been a runner before — a short-distance sprinter, to be more precise — and running is something that I can grow to love and stay loyal to 😛 Sounds cheesy, but hey, training for long distances is a commitment — the daily runs, the hours at the gym — it’s not easy, but I’m beginning to love it again. What can I say? I think I’m getting hooked on running once more. Running love, the second time around 😛

See you at the next fun run! I’ll be the chubby girl with short hair and a bright green iPod 😀