Saturday, August 14, 2010

Running the Gauntlet


According to reference sources, the expression "to run the gauntlet" has 15th century military origins and means "to race, as a punishment, between parallel lines of men who thrash one as one runs." "The knight was forced to doff his clothes and run the gauntlet." In idiomatic terms, the phrase has come to mean, invariably, "an onslaught or attack from all sides," or "a severe trial; an ordeal."

Beginning on the 26th of September, I will be running (pun intended) my own version of the gauntlet as I go through what I have just realized has become a rather hectic fourth quarter running/racing schedule.  This is what I have in my race calendar so far:

26 September - CamSur Marathon - 42k
10 October - 10.10.10 Run for Pasig River - 21k
24 October - Adidas King of the Road - 21k
7 November - New Balance Power Race 25k
13 November - Subic International Marathon - 42k
21 November - RunRio Trilogy: Leg 3 - 32k
5 December - Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore - 42k

Three full marathons, two races that exceed the half-marathon distance, and two half-marathons thrown in for good measure - all in a span of a little over three months.  Of course, in between these races, there will also be the now-customary (read: mandatory) weekday training runs and weekend long runs.  If my wallet can overcome all of these, then so can I!

CamSur training has started, and by tomorrow afternoon, I will have logged 65 kilometers for this week alone.  I'm loving every minute of it, and my body is holding up thus far. I hope expect to emerge from this happy mess a stronger, smarter, and better-seasoned runner.   

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Taking It Too Far

You know you're addicted to running when...


...you buy a certain brand of bath soap just because its name has the word "marathon" in it.

Liar, Liar...


This post is long overdue. 

Work and other activities have kept me preoccupied that I've hardly had any time to blog.  Thankfully, I somehow still find time to run. And since I don't have much time, I'll keep this entry short.

I mentioned in one of my previous post that I was going to take it easy at Rexona and shoot for a 2:20 finish. Well, I lied. I knew all along that once the gun goes off, my competitive (ambitious?) side would take over and I'd end up going for a personal best anyway.  My best time for the half-marathon distance currently sits at 2:09, which I set during the Unilab Run last March.  And I thought I had a fighting chance at a new PR, too, what with Rexona's fast and flat MOA-Macapagal route. 

To cut a long story short, I ran and ran and ran (actually, ran and walked - Galloway style) until reality bit me in the ass in the last few kilometers.  My lack of training and poor conditioning reared their ugly heads and gave me no choice but to slow down.  No PR for me, but I still managed to cough up a respectable 2:14:08 (chip time) - good enough for 423rd place out of 1,252 21k runners.  I was also grateful that I completed my run without any injuries.  If anything, the Rexona Run served as a good jump-off point for my training for my next full marathon, CamSur on 26 September.


No more races for me until the big day on September 26.  The next few Sundays are already ear-marked for LSDs, rain or shine.  See you in CamSur!