Mar 5, 2023… TCS international marathon (clark, pampanga). My very first marathon.
Funny thing about races, your tummy really gets nervous. I find that like 10 minutes before the start of warm up… my thoughts turn to…. Looking for the porta potty. Another bad side about this run is that my period decided to show up THE DAY BEFORE. I was pretty nervous about it honestly, since it’s pretty hard to think about it and still run comfortably.
We stayed overnight at Widus hotel - the hotel was fine but the rooms were in bad need of refurbishing. The bathtub was chipping and the sink was not draining properly (fast enough).
Gear check
I brought my own small water container too just in case I didn’t want to stop at any of the initial water stations. The run itself was pretty flat for the first part… near the 8km mark we had an uphill but not as bad as the one in filinvest!!. Managed it without walking and got to the turnaround fine. Took a gel at 45 mins and another one at 1:30 mark.
Nearly at 18-19k was already feeling my legs going heavy and honestly felt super tired. I could not imagine the strength I would need if it was a 42km marathon. MY GOODNESS.
The sun was coming up over the horizon in the last 2km and I really had to pull myself towards the finish line… You really have that internal talk to yourself as you run, trying to motivate and encourage yourself.
Training is no walk in the park. Some days, I really have the lazy spells and just want to go back to sleep. I dread the long runs because they are hard to start… although when you get into a rhythm, you can really enjoy it. Sometimes I think, why am I doing this?
Hoping I can manage to run the marathon and finish. (April 23)
First half marathon 2:31
