Laguna to Quezon 50km Ultra 2013

I came, I run and I finished. That’s the story. With discomfort building up as my watch says it’s almost time to run my first road ultra, I couldn’t help but ask myself—’why am I doing this?’ An old familiar question.
A sea of runners gathered in front of the Capitol of Sta. Cruz, Laguna listening to the final briefing from the race director and all ready to go. And so we all did at 4:30 am. The wet streets were pounded by zooming runners aiming to go for a good time finish.
The usual self-talk was there. I reminded  myself to tackle the road one step at a time. Since it’s my first time running a road ultra, the sensation is so different. The road was painful and  an agony from km 43. At this point I started to miss the trails, the softness of the grass, the branches and trees I could hold on to when I get tired.
As I am a stranger to the area and did not even bothered to study the route, I just knew running up started early along a portion of Pagsanjan and Caliraya (correct me if I’m wrong) all the way to Lumban, Cavinti, Luisiana and Lucban in Quezon.
Clouds hovered promising any moment of rainfall. That at least was good news as the humidity started to get into me. I had to find a way to forget my discomfort. I started appreciating the lake of Caliraya which looked so serene in the sunrise. Support vehicles were passing me by with good cheer and comfort food to nourish and sustain their runners.
I was amazed to see some runners finding some time to devour a nice meal. But what was torture was when I heard the sound of a newly-opened ice cold soda.
Drawing from within I started to focus once again. I prayed to be numb and started to ignore the distance. Since it is all ascending, I zoomed in just on the road and my feet pounding it on third gear. The CounterPain ointment and the massages were a great help too.
Marshals were hard to ignore when they keep saying how many kilometers left and what position you’re in. I just wanted to keep going and end this as soon as possible.
At Km 43, the road was really painful to my flat feet. After running non-stop, I decided to design my survival. I engaged myself in a 10 minute-run and 3 minute-power walks. I saw the other pack of runners doing the same thing and we seemed to all agree.
At Km 50, I was still running. I thought perhaps my watch made a mistake. Then suddenly I remembered that the course has an extra 3 kilometers, making it 53 kilometers. That was the bummer that made me laugh.
Going down a curve, a marshal came by on his bike and gave me the news that I’m almost there. He said I’m the 3rd female to arrive. Hearing the crowd and seeing the end to my first 50km road ultra was a piece of heaven. I survived.
Will I do it again or do longer? I’ll think about it. For now rest and recovery is a must so I could run happy again.

Photo courtesy of Day Gbz