02 October 2021 | The cutie method of manifestation is proving to be a powerful tool, at least for my taking. After a month in Tartu, I managed to crack my first out-of-the-country (a feat I deeply hoped for) through a semi-spontaneous trip to Estonia’s immediate northern neighbor tagged as the happiest country on earth, Finland. This, while running like a headless chicken over the last couple of days, academically speaking.
When a fellow Erasmus student pitched this idea of joining a half marathon, I ran out of good reasons not to give this a go because my heart specifically beats for this. Add to the fact that I needed a huge break, this thing was like hitting two birds with a single stone – a huge motivation to run again on one hand, and a grand opportunity to travel on the other. So, despite the lack of a proper pair of running shoes, in the midst of acad responsibilities, and a mere 6-day window to prepare, I signed up for the 2021 Helsinki City Run. And expectedly, I had a rough time coming to terms with this trap I let myself fall into.
On day 1 of training, I ran a meager 10k to break the ice and dust the rust off, which gave me a clear preview of my underlying deathly fate. No other choice but to push harder, I went for a 20-km trek in Elva hiking trail as a recovery activity the next day. Come days 3 & 4, the previous day’s immature move took its toll on me – my legs could already feel the inevitable hurt I claimed to not feel the previous day prompting me to take it easy gearing up for a bridging 13km run on day 5. I was supposed to run another 17km the next day but lacked the time to do so due to schedule conflict just because I am still a student on top of everything.
Finally, the day came and circumstances are looked bleaker than ever. I had to run 21 fucking kilometers half-prepared. It felt like taking an exam and heavily relying on stock knowledge, except that the human body doesn’t work that way. I did well on the first hour which was something I did not see coming but the latter half of the run was disastrous on so many levels, mostly characterized by unspeakable pain in my upper thigh. I had to walk for the most part especially towards the tail end which was terribly shameful realizing that I was somehow carrying the Philippine flag. Fueled by the desire to get things done the best possible way, I pressed forward and eventually managed to at least finish with a finisher medal. It was definitely an F worth of performance judging by the stats and ranking list afterwards. But then again, who am I racing against? I ran my own race, in my own pace, which was I think was not bad after all.
