January 3, 2010, My First Long Run for the Year

I was quite excited to be well enough to run again last Sunday. I usually set a regular goal and a stretch goal for every run. Last Sunday, I made it my goal to run 6 rounds around the UP Academic Oval (around 13.2K) and a stretch goal of running 7 rounds.

I got up late though and got to UP at 7am. When I got there, I noticed that there were already many people going around the oval. Many of them were familiar faces. I guessed that many of these were trying to burn off the weight they gained during the holiday season. I decided to run with the new water bottle my wife gave me. It was actually quite easy to carry.

By the 3rd round, I felt tired and a bit disappointed. I thought I was supposed to be stronger than that. Anyway, I brushed away thoughts of just doing one more round and held on to my goal of 6 to 7 rounds. On my 6th round, I felt a bit better so I decided to try and speed it up a bit.

I finished 6 rounds with a time of 1:32:19, which translates to a speed of 7 minutes per km. It wasn't very fast but I still do feel it was a good workout. I did, however, feel a pain on the side of my knee about an hour after the run. The pain subsided the day after the run, but then I decided to move my next run to Wednesday, January 6 just to be give my legs it time to rest.

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.