No more “fight”

Posted July 17th, 2010 by wilson

Wow, it’s been a while. What can I say - life got in the way of blogging(not necessarily running). I think I’d be able to do better in the coming weeks, blogging-wise. For now though, forgive this post that’s about a race that’s already two weeks old.

As I said before, a lot of things obviously went wrong in my Milo race. Two weeks hence, I already have a short mental list of the things that I obviously have to improve on before September, if I want to do better in CamSur.

One thing that I figured out early(right after the race in fact) was that I considerably had less “fight” in me during Milo compared to my other 26-milers. I mean, there was some physical aspect to the Milo fiasco, true, but truth be told, in the latter kilometers, tinamad na ako tumakbo. I was fatigued, but then it’s not like it was a level of fatigue I’d never experienced before. It’s almost as if I lost the capacity - or worse, the willingness - to suffer. In comparison, in QCIM and the SIM, the racing effort rendered me unable to walk for some minutes after finishing. Even SCSM, walk-ridden as it was, was a sufferfest. In terms of marathon suffering, I suffered the least in this year’s Milo - and it’s obviously not because I suddenly gained proficiency in tackling the hallowed 26.2. I simply lost the fight in me.

A lot of the people who know me cheered when I encountered them on the race course. I don’t know whether I looked dejected or disappointed to them, but truth is, during those walking moments, I was calm - I certainly wasn’t bothered. It was only after I crossed the finishline that it dawned on me: “What the hell just happened? What the heck did I just do?”

Personally, I think it has something to do with my vastly decreased racing kilometers prior to the race. I know, I know. I did write about the unintended benefits of racing less. But it can’t be denied that I’m experiencing less “suffering time” now than before, when I raced more often. I guess it still takes a real race, complete with a running clock and competitive “roadmates” to tap into that “chase-down” mentality.

Anyway, whatever it is, I’m scheduling more races before CamSur(and practicing “suffering” in training as well).

Let’s begin with tomorrow’s Eng’gfinity.

Tags: 34th National Milo Marathon, Eng'gfinity: The Engineering Centennial Run, fight, Manila Eliminations, Quezon City International Marathon, Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, Subic International Marathon