Carpe viam!

It hasn’t sunk in yet. Even as I write this first column, I still can’t believe how running has taken me to a totally unexpected path – from non-athlete to certified marathoner and now a sports columnist.

This incredible journey started February 8, 2009, on a chilly Sunday morning in Hongkong where I got picked up by the sweeper bus at kilometer 25 for running too slow.

I remember sitting on that bus so forlorn and utterly ashamed of myself for having spent so much money just to DNF on my first marathon. My thighs were in great pain, but not as much as my wounded pride.

Despite being spurned by the marathon gods on my first attempt, it was then that I decided that long-distance running would be my sports for life. As the song goes “if at first you don’t succeed, you can dust it off and try again.”

I went back to Cebu , bought new running outfits, trawled the internet and read everything I could about marathon running. I also sought guidance from coaches Raffy Uytiepo and Precing Capangpangan and did all my (very) early morning runs with a diligence and consistency of one studying for the bar.

It has been a year since and what a year it has been. I won first place honors in one 3K and two 5K runs and I’ve had two full marathons under my belt. I’m also just two weeks away from running my first ultramarathon, the Bataan Death March 102. Yet, it still feels like there’s still so much out there to accomplish, and so many running paths that have yet to be discovered.

I’ve been asked countless times, why do I run? Truth to tell, I still don’t fully understand why. I just know that preparing to run a marathon has given me a new sense of direction, commitment and a renewed purpose in life. When I’m running I feel that I can be more, achieve more, give more.

Sometimes I get this crazy idea of taking a really radical sabbatical and just spend a year or two doing nothing else except training and running. Perhaps, if I take this passion as far as I possibly can, maybe I can be really good at it and even run for the Philippines someday.

I tell myself that it’s never too late. The champion of the women’s marathon at the Beijing Olympics was then 38 year-old Romanian Constantina Tomescu Dita (2:26:44) making her the oldest gold medalist in Olympic marathon history. But then reality interferes with my running dreams. There are bills to pay, pleadings to write and duties to fulfill.

Maybe the Olympic marathon is too far off. Like many serious runners out there, I content myself with training for at least one of the five world marathon majors and working hard to save enough money to finance that dream.

In the meantime, the Marathon Foodie continues to run the streets of Cebu no matter how very little time there is to spare, and no matter how difficult and painful it gets. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again. That’s just how it is when you love something or someone. You invest time, put in your heart and soul and learn to have patience that can run for miles and miles and miles.

This torrid love affair with running I’ve shared with other runners through my online journal called Marathon Foodie

(http://marathonfoodie.blogspot.com), and now I’m sharing it with you, even non runners.

I will not pretend to be an expert, because I’m only an expert of my own running experience. But I can most definitely share with you everything I’ve learned, share tips and information, as well as point you to new runner-friendly routes and tell you which perilous roads to avoid – all of which I’ve road-tested myself.

And speaking of expert advice, Lit Ornubia, the only Chi Running Certified Instructor in the Philippines, will be conducting Chi running workshops in Cebu on March 26 – 27, 2010. The workshop will include a lecture and actual training runs. Each workshop session will be limited to twelve runners only. For more details you may email Dr. Raymund Reel Bontol at reelraymund@gmail.com.

Finally, good luck to all those running in the 2^nd Rotary Run this Sunday. Carpe viam!

(For questions, comments and suggestions please email haide.acuna@gmail.com.)