Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Same Old, Same Old


In a little less than two weeks, I will be running my sixth full mary: the Condura Skyway Marathon. Condura is special for a number of reasons. For one, it marks my first anniversary as a marathon runner. Condura 2010 was my very first marathon - the rite of passage that I had to endure in order to reach the next level. More significantly, however, Condura 2010 was both a tribute and a prayer. I dedicated my first marathon to my father, who, to this day, continues to miraculously defy the ravages of an affliction that can be stayed but can no longer be beaten. I ran Condura with a deep sense of purpose that I never had in any of my succeeding marathons - and it led to the irony that my slowest marathon finish remains the sweetest yet.

At Condura 2011, a lot of things will be different. I will be traversing the Skyway no longer as a first-time marathoner, but as an ultra distance runner training for a 102-kilometer ultramarathon. The target finish time will be a more aggressive 4:30, and simply finishing within six hours will no longer be acceptable. I will no longer be clad in the silly-looking apparel I had on last year (racing tights, iPod, a belt bag that held food and SPF 70 sunblock lotion!). On race day, I will be up to 14 pounds lighter, healthier, better-conditioned, better-trained, better-prepared. What a difference a year makes, indeed.

Oh-so-many changes, but one thing remains the same: I will run Condura 2011 for my father. No more DIY race bibs this time around, but the cryptic words that I wrote on my back almost a year ago are now indelibly etched in my heart, mind, and soul - not the least bit dulled by the passage of time.

A Son Never Forgets.

6 comments:

  1. thank you for joining us in the condura Skyway marathon. but most of all i pray for your father. im sure he feels very proud of you - Patrick concepcion / runningshield

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  2. @ Patrick - Much appreciated, thank you very much. Congratulations in advance for organizing a world-class event.

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  3. Good luck Julius. Go get that 4:30 for your old man. Cheers!

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  4. @ Rommel - May the gods of running (and of the Skyway!)allow it to happen. Thanks for dropping by!

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  5. just relax with your run and treat this as your training run for the BDM 102. see you at the starting line!

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  6. @ Sir Jovie - I will try my best to relax and still achieve my goal :) See you at the starting line, and then at Km. 50 the following weekend! Thanks for dropping by.

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