UP Oval at 4:30 A.M.

I just want to share that had my first experience running at the UP Academic Oval at 4:30 A.M. last Sunday and it was great! It was still very dark and there were very few runners along the oval. My favorite scene was when I had just passed The Oblation going counter-clockwise at around 6 A.M. and they had just turned off the street lamps. I could see the natural light of dawn like a mild glow that was getting stronger and stronger against the silhouette of the trees all the way down Quezon Street.

What was I doing in UP at such an early hour? To answer this, I think it would be best to explain it this way: Our household help left last Saturday to attend to their relatives in Marikina so my wife and I would not be able to run at the same time on Sunday morning. Here is a conversation between me and my wife:

Me: I need to run at least 6 rounds around UP tomorrow.
Wife: I need to run period. It’s been such a long time since I last ran.
Me: Okay. You can run tomorrow morning. I’ll run in the afternoon.
Wife: You can’t run in the afternoon. We’re going to the Dutyfree.
Me: How about I run in the afternoon and you go to the Dutyfree?
Wife: (No words. Just Dagger looks.)

I ran. She ran. And we both went to the Dutyfree.