I realized that since I got that cesarean section my memory has not been so reliable so I figured I have to write about it now before it's too late! Lol. Here goes.
In spite of not having trained AT ALL, Aimee still decided to show up for marathon day! So Van, Aims and I left Manila at around 1:00 PM, February 23, 2013 - Friday, a day before race day. We got to Paseo Premiere, out hotel, at around 3:30 PM, checked in and all. We met Van's boyfriend Em who was going to drive us to Nuvali to go around the race route. Honestly, I told Van I didn't want to go around the route and pre-empt the excitement but since she was insisting on seeing the route, Aimee and I obliged.
I wasn't feeling as excited for the race as I was months ago. Since my injury caused me not to train for 3 weeks, I knew I wasn't going to be able to run as well as I wanted to. I was gunning for 5:30, or 5:45 max but I just knew it wasn't possible. But I also knew I couldn't not do it! I went to Dr. Rafanan on the Tuesday of race week and he advised me not to run TBRDM anymore and just rest but hard-headed me pushed his orders aside so I took Celebrex 400mg for the remaining days until race day and massaged my injured area (gluteus medeus) with a generous amount of Fastum. It got better, yes, but was still not 100% and I knew right when I started running that race.
So, at 1:00 AM Saturday, the three of us girls waited for Van's friend Herbert in the Paseo Premiere lobby so we could hitch a ride to Nuvali. We lined up to get what we needed to get our times in (I'm not sure what you call that thing you put on your ankle), stretched with Van's Milo group, took our energy gels and waited at the starting line.
The three of us agreed to run slow - at about 8:00 pace so we could have enough energy to last us until KM 42. First 10 KMs were okay, there was still that there's-something-wrong-but-what-the-heck feeling when I ran. Painful, but not enough for me to not be able to run it. Somewhere at KM 15, Aimee and I ran a bit slower so Van went ahead and left us. The three of us agreed that we would try to run together but will not hesitate to leave each other when the time comes that one can run faster/better than the other so no hard feelings there when Van went ahead. Aimee and I stuck to each other until the end - not planned, but that's how it turned out to be.
The 2 of us decided that we'd run until KM 21 and see if we still can at the 2nd loop. If not, then we'd run-walk. We did the latter (ran the first 21 KMs straight). For around 5-8 KMs, we tried running 500 meters and walking the other 500 but realized it wasn't beneficial because walking 500 meters was too long and slowed us down. So we did 4:1 run walk instead. We were doing fine until about KM 35/37 when Aimee's knee was becoming too painful. Every time she stepped on her right she felt extreme pain which made us walk more than run - or hardly run at all. She suggested I leave her but seeing her having such a hard time even walking made me not want to leave her! So, we walked until about KM 40 with me ahead of her, urging her to continue walking and reminding her about how close to the finish we already were. At KM 40, with only 1,000 meters ahead of us, I told her we'll give it one last push and run all the way. She obliged and we crossed the finish line together. At 7:36. Definitely not the finish time I expected - since I had the injury, I was aiming for 6:00 or at least 6:30 but because I waited for Aimee and accompanied her, I finished an hour later.
Looking back, I'm happy that I finished a marathon but also a bit sad because I know I could have done so much better - especially since I put in a huge amount of time training, plus I had CA training me (i.e. wasting so much time on me - yeah, this I really feel bad about!). I know the plan was to go on our own pace but while I was there in the moment, I felt like I just couldn't leave her! While she needed someone to walk with, I felt at that time, I needed her, too. I thought that if I were alone, I'd probably be cursing myself and crying KMs before the finish line (remembering Rizal Day Run when I had to finish 4KMs more on my own). Yeah, yeah, I know I'm a weakling. So I stuck to her even if it meant missing my target. I thought to myself, well, I have many other marathons where I can improve my time, at least I'll always have the memory of my first as also when I became a good friend and sacrificed my desires for someone else. Also, next time, I will really be careful about getting injured! I think that's the most annoying part of it all - having been injured 3 weeks before race day. That, too, set me back a lot.
After all that's said and done, the question is, will I do another marathon? Or as my husband thinks, is one enough? Considering it was probably the hardest physical challenge I have ever had to face (labor pains were nothing compared to training and the marathon itself!), the answer still is a huge YES! #1, knowing I could have done better makes me want to actually do better! For others, just crossing the finish line is enough. For me, it's not, I want to finish and finish well (within my standards of at least 5:30) #2, since there's always room for improvement, one really is never enough! Instead of sulking about the injury and not meeting my target, I shall just: focus on getting better (I have physical therapy session later), be grateful for the experience and prepare for the next (maybe RUPM in October?).
Number 1 on my "Road to Marathon #2" list is to complete Dr. Rafanan's instructions for my Physical Therapy (2 weeks, 3x/week) and see if I get better. I tried running yesterday and only made it to 2 KMs, still painful. So I had to get on the stationary bike just so I could at least work out.
Hayayay. I miss running without pain (last pain-free run was a month ago on the Skyway). I'm really hoping I can get rid of this strain ASAP.
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