Last week, I am really craving to go outdoor, maybe go mountain climbing or backpacking; however my schedule and time limit me from doing things that I want. Suddenly, my sister invited me in their school field trip and without hesitation, I signed up for it.
The Invitation
We were a bit late but good thing I was still able to get a few pictures.
Too bad, he the ballloon didn't face us. 😦
This turtle never faced us! I am expecting too much that it will but sadly, it did not happen.
glug-glug-glug! would you want a shot?
Beer like balloon is facinating, thinking you would want to have a shot of it.
sunshine!
Sunshine to brighten up the day!
Balloons soaring up in the sky!
Ballons flying one by one, and was indeed delightful to see.
Oh boy, i wish to be one of them!
Free flyers soaring up in the air! Another eye candy.
maybe I can also try this...
The place is windy and kiting would also be fun!
Are they called kiters? kiteman? oh whatever!
These guys were doing synchronize kiting, i just forgot to take a picture of the kites. lol!
father and son
This is also another great day to bond with your family.
Overall, I would say that the event is fun only if you didn’t miss the balloon because all of them are gone by 8AM, also I guess I wouldn’t be enjoying much of it if I’m not taking pictures. LoL!
Never say never… that’s what I keep thinking… but how will you go on if every step would be pain? Alas, there came an old man informing me that he is a descendant of the argonaut named Nestor. He told me that I need to move to lessen the pain that bolt of lightning Zeus had cast upon me. I did what he said and it did work for me… at least it made me moved for a couple of kilometers. He left me when he thinks I should be fine…
Z and Pepsi roving near the skyway...
Km 31… I had hit my wall that quick. I must have really lost a lot of essential glycogen in my body; despite of the ambrosia (GU) that RJ another argonaut had given me when I saw him along the way. The mead that the naiad Cindy has given me seemed not to affect on me anymore… I think it must just have been my will to go on and to the vow I have made in the river of unbreakable oath Styx that I will do a sub-5 even if I break my leg. I was about to exit to Olympus when the muses Z and Pepsi handed me something to eat and drink.
Feeling the 2nd Wind?
Km 33… The atmosphere was entirely filled with joy for I have seen Pan the musician’s band, trying to energize the runners like me. The aid station made it indeed alive. Macoy who was a disciple of Asclepius the God of medicine was there spraying ointments to those who are in need. While being treated by Macoy, Raff from the breed of the sprinter Atalanta galloped away. I tried bumping him just to let him acknowledge my presence. I ran along side with him for a few meters until another pain in my calf. Raff offered his help but I refused told him to proceed.
Alarmed at Raff Outrunning me...
Friends I knew were also struggling suffering the same fate I had. Some were bitten by Cerberus, the three headed dog, others were kicked by centaurs and others were frozen by the Gorgon Medussa.
Km 37… I saw Luis on the road. Who gave me the impression like he was punished the same way Zeus punished Atlas carrying the earth on his shoulders. Upon talking and running alongside with him, Joyce from team BZ bumped me! Oh no, how could she be at still her pace when everyone seemed so tired. I panicked and ran trying to catch up but my legs were already stiff… Nymph Vicky and Prince of Marikina also caught up with us, and then Ellen who never faltered for her pace was still natural. Team Bongz had already passed before me… The cold war between us had ended for they have won this battle… But wait! I still have my own battle to finish, the one I swore in Styx… To finish below 5 hours.
Km 41… Despite of agony, Luis and Vicky sprinted the final Kilometer. I no longer tried doing the same for I already feel sick…
Tere was just behind for back up...
400m… 300… 200… Teresa one of Ares horsemen asked me to speed up, I told her I can’t but she told me to do my best and she will catch me on the finish line (If I fell)
Finish Line Post Pic
4:58:01, my official time in this marathon…tere immediately assisted me after finishing together with Chelly. The great hall was packed with happy finishers despite of the hardships we have encountered…many of them congratulated me but I can’t hear anymore and I need to sit down.
100% wasak!!!
Gail helped me out in stretching my muscles until I was relieved… and then it hit me the moment I somewhat recovered, I did a sub-5. A 15min improvement from my previous marathon… Ellen, Joyce, Gab and Raff congratulated me after and then I went to the booth were the children of Nike the goddess of victory is giving away medals to all those who finished.
Gail to the rescue on my still existing cramps... thank you!!!
It was indeed a tiring day for daring to be at the abode of the Gods and go back from where I started. I encountered surprises along the way which could almost make me fall, yet because of my sheer determination and will. I was able to achieve what I want to be…
Thank you guys for the motivation...with the takbo.ph girls!Photo Ops with Team BZ, Jix and Mactakbo.ph boys with Patcon
Acknowledgment to my friends and family for moral support, to the Nataniel Garcia, Brando Losaria, Jinoe Gavan, Edu Fabian, Paolo Baldisimo for the pictures taken in this blog, to takbo.ph and Renier Pacific for the support. Team CB on our training and efforts on weekends are also helpful. Calibre 45 Ultra-longrun, Cardiac Hills LSD gace me more endurance. I wouldn’t have made it so far without your presence. Again, THANK YOU!!!
To the new marathoners, I am also proud of you for finishing it. Congratualtions!
The badge of pure effort...
To Ellen, Bongz Joyce and Gab, let’s bring it on! How about a 10K dash???
‘Twas another memorable quest when the argonaut once again dared to enter the abode of the gods… the Olympus!
The Argonauts with the Nymphs of Takbo.ph
Another sleepless night… Good thing I slept more the day before the big day so I feel that I am more conditioned from my last run where in I challenged the not so worthy Morpheus.
Oh we don't want the sun king "Helios" burn us to death...
I arrived at the Great Hall of Bonifacio High Street minutes passed 3AM with the nymph Tracy. Busloads of people were already there, all excited at the gun start for the 42Km, 21K, 10K and 5K. Meeting with the other Argonauts, we bid each other good luck. I believe that one is important… Those words of encouragement coming from your comrades.
Welcome Condura Marathon!
Blazing Fireworks in the sky were seen before the start to surprise the runners who wants to dare and we were all running after that. Most people are trying to strategize by running at their own comfortable pace at first. I was with my comrade Gab along the way for we have discussed that we’re going to pull each other’s leg during the race until one of us quits. Mark Hernandez, Jixee were running with us for a couple of Km until Gab and I forwarded in our comfortable pace.
Running along side with Gab
Reaching Kalayaan, we saw the formidable team Dragon Bong Z. I told Gab that we should sneak out so that we wouldn’t be eaten easily by them. We galloped when the light of Apollo was not present; both of us were laughing at the competition for the trio are indeed motivating us not to stop.
Olympus… The mouth of Olympus was already right before our eyes. Both of us are having Goosebumps the moment we cross its threshold making us even more excited. It was darkness as we ascend. Good thing the God of Light somewhat shed some light through her sister’s emblem … the moonlight. We are still running at our comfortable pace when the sun-king Helios was up. At the Olympus, you can see nothing but the blue clear sky, both of us amazed at our feat. We saw Wilnar and Chris speeding, Bryan, Carly, Tina, Glen, Totoy, Dennis, Luis and Sam. When it’s our time to turn, Gab mentioned that it will be the time how far are we from the DBZ. Until we realize that they are just lurking behind us. They weren’t doing so bad after all so we need to be on our guards.
Don't be deceived... They are damn ferocious!
Km 25. A sign of the Nymph Vicky was present and so with the Running Ninja Sam before we reach the highest point of Olympus. I stopped and walk the moment I reach that point and uttered that there’s no way I’m going to run this part for it will truly drained me a lot.
Around Km 27, I stopped, for Zeus lightning had stricken me. I was immobile for a few seconds and agony is all I can feel. Gab who was a few meters ahead of me had already moved forward and so I was alone already. I don’t know what to do… I was already having a hard time. Zeus will definitely not stop until I crawl and stop… It was a punishment for daring him to gatecrash at his abode. The shoe that Hermes had given me is not giving me anymore drive. I was already injured… My dream of reaching my goal is starting to shatter, the Fates are laughing at me now and Hades dark chariots are rampaging to arrest me. Poor Argonaut is about to be sent to the underworld…
to be continued…
photos from Bryan Rivera, Carmen Cabiles, Carlo Serrano
Second Law of Thermodynamics states the universal principle of entropy…
Oh this one is natural... just natural...
Ooops! Before you call for security and start to scream for geek alert, I’ll start calling your Mom telling about this so that she’ll understand better what’s really happening to us when we run so that they’ll understand better.
Alright, what’s really telling us about this law is the disorder; meaning that disorder is natural in this world, and we would need to exert a great force if we want to get rid of that disorder. How can we relate this to running?
When we started doing our first race, we had a hard-time right? It took us a lot to finish it and it was not really easy. There are disorders that we have encountered along the route; side stitches, chaffing, muscle pains and all; yet, with the great force or the great effort that we gave, we indeed manage to finish it.
So what are those disorders that we have encountered and what amount of force should we need to give in so that it will be eliminated?
I have no idea what to do when I first encountered this, while running, there has been an excruciating pain that pierced me in the lower edge of my ribcage. I don’t even know what it’s called until someone told me its side stitch. According to the source that I have read, this pain may have caused by the contraction of the liver or spleen, which squeeze extra oxygen carrying blood cells into circulation.
Force:
We definitely need to improve our fitness because our body will eventually get used to our running activity as if it’s being into physiotherapy. Proper warm up and hydration should also do the trick and increasing the exercise intensity when running.
This one occurred to me when I was running one of my 21K race. Cramps making me to stop to take walk breaks and rest. Yes, it was painful and you can really feel that your muscle is contracting or over shortening! Scream if you want but it won’t definitely remove the pain. Dehydration, Low calcium, sodium and potassium levels might have caused this because all of them depletes while you are running. Sodium holds water in our body and if it depletes, water will definitely join out of the body.
Force:
Don’t let dehydration get’s in your way, hydrate and do it strategically. If cramps already occurred, and you’re like 10Km away to the finish-line, you could either give-up or proceed. And because you have this no-to-did-not-finish-runner and no-i-am-not-going-to-ride-a-bus attitude, you’d need to nurse the cramps. Massage may help or jog slowly as if you are doing a soft massage on the affected area, well that worked for me!
Can you feel it in under you crotch? In your underarm or in your nips? That’s because your skin rubs your shirt or your underwear and friction is taking in place. I know it’s irritating right from the start and it suck when it’s getting worse and you’ll regret that you have worn your singlet with cool design on it. Haha!
Force:
You should’ve a put petroleum jelly right from the very start; however, if the wound is starting to smile, then, try protecting it as soon as possible, oil, lotion or petroleum jelly could still help you out but if you’re somewhere in the middle of the race and no help can be considered, then, the only way for you to do it is to sing U2’s Stuck In a Moment!
Your feet is burning like hell while running until you noticed that fluid has collected under your skin, Blame it to your shoes if you like but my, friend, you just encountered blisters. Lucky you if you never encountered that but don’t be overconfident! It could still happen due to friction causing extreme heat.
Force:
Your ever dearest petroleum jelly, lotion oil or talcum powder could help you out on this, but then again, if you’re a couple of kilometres away from the finish line, you already know what to sing… After that, once you’re done, check your socks if it’s the one guilty of the crime, then give the benefit of the doubt by looking at your pair of shoes.
DNF never existed in my braincells.. LOL!
That’s all I know for now, the natural disorders that we encounter during a run. Stuffs that I have encoutered making me want to give up a race; however, because DNF (Did Not Finish) never existed in my braincells, I tried finishing the races that I have joined despite of all the nasty mishaps; and a great amount of force is what I have given in to it.
First, we make our habits, then our habits make us. – Charles Noble
Nope, There no baby inside....
“Bukas Magdi-diet ako, hindi muna ako kakain…(I’ll be on diet tomorrow; I won’t eat for the mean time) Those are the words my friend utters when he found himself getting fat… Then he will starve himself for a couple of hours within the day, only to find out that he is munching on pizza at the end of the day telling himself that he deserve a treat for dieting; and then the next day, he’ll find himself getting bigger and asking himself what he would need to do to get thin.
“I want to be a tri-athlete someday!” he said… and I was inspired by his thought so I trained myself so that I won’t be far behind when he’s already living his dream… Suddenly, I asked him to join me running one time and realized that he really never tried or haven’t started any of his plans. I was disappointed trying to tell him that he can do it. He said that he’s just taking it slowly and wouldn’t want to force his body. I agreed to him helplessly that day. Time passed, and I’d never seen him do anything…
interested or determined?
So what’s my point? I believe that fitness is not just a line segment. It’s not a time line that will start today and end tomorrow. It’s a never ending line that one needs maintain every time, all the time. It’s not a stage or a season of the year because it’s summer but a lifestyle. I know we may sometimes eat a lot due to Christmas season but we should always have time to get back to ourselves and strive again for fitness. It’s really a never ending battle.
You want to start today but don’t have the energy to do it? Remember that there is great borderline between interest and determination. You may say that you want to try running today and schedule it tomorrow but decline the next day because its raining cat’s and dogs and you’ll skip it until you lost the interest; however, if you are determined, you will go whatever it takes because you are determined.
I might not know what I’m saying or I’m just writing my thoughts out loud, but I do believe that at the end of the day, it’s still you who will decide. Nobody can teaches anyone but himself.
The Argonaut 