Rexona Run didn't let us down...

I conquered my 3rd half-marathon today at the Rexona Run!

Yup, another 21K in the bag. Despite not having enough training and prep because of the Mindanao trip and the severe pain on my left ankle the entire week, I was able to cross the finish line after 3:04.

Uhm, I’m not that frustrated with the time. My last two 21Ks were somewhere around 2:59. Today’s run was already good enough for me given the circumstances.

Although I have to say that I have partly to blame the time on my iPod Touch. I was quite sure that it was advanced, so during the last few kilometers I was really chillaxing. Haha! I was quite surprised to see that it was already 3:04 when I crossed the finish line. Ugh!

Aside from that, I had to stop several times during the run to stretch my calves. By the 15K mark, I could feel my calves hurt. If I didn’t stop, I was sure that I would get cramps.

Oh well, I’m just glad that I was able to achieve my goal of crossing the finish line in one piece. (The weather had something to do with making it a good run. Nice weather this morning. It wasn’t too hot. TYJ!)

As with previous runs, I was with ICON magazine colleague-turned-running buddy I-van. I’m really glad that he’s just as interested in joining runs and in fitness. If I didn’t have a buddy in these activities, I doubt if I would be joining as many runs as I have. So thanks, I-van.

It was also great seeing Twitter friends - JB, Jamie and Marl - who are running icons. Hehe! When I was nearing the finish line, I could feel both of my calves were starting to ache. But when I saw Jamie and JB cheering me on, I ignored the pain and used what energy was left of me to finish the few meters to the finish line. I have to say that it’s really a huge thing when you have friends who cheer you on. They help you not to quit but to really go for it. So thanks, JB and Jamie.

I also saw Multiply friend Edison. Congrats, Edison, on your first 21K! It’s great seeing this guy at runs.

If there’s one more good thing about running, it became a venue for me to see my online friends beyond Twitter, beyond Facebook, beyond Multiply, and in the real world!

Okay, let’s talk about the race. Overall, I’d say that it was a very organized run! Congratulations to the people behind the Rexona Run!

Here are my reasons why I thought it was good.

1. Race started on time. When we got to the venue, we were informed that the run would start at 5:10. Minutes before the start, a Fitness First instructor led runners in doing warmup stretches and exercises. (Why not Gold’s Gym? Haha! Sorry, biased and I love my gym.) Afterwards, the countdown began and we were off. Uhm, major booboo here. I almost ran into a camera man. Jeez, he was in the middle of the road. I was fixing my iPod and when I looked up he was two steps away from me. I didn’t see him because he was wearing an all-black ensemble. Anuveh, Koya?! Hehe!

2. Assembly area was spacious. This gave everyone a chance to do their stretches and warmup exercises wherever they find it convenient. Of course, I-vanchy and I positioned ourselves where we could find some “inspiration.” Wahaha! Mine were runners *** and ***. Stalkerazzi much?! Haha!

3. No need to check in. Thanks to the D-tag, we didn’t need to look for Manongs who would put a check mark on our race bib. As long as the tag was properly placed on the running shoes (which was really easy to do), there shouldn’t be any problem with the time recording.

4. Drinking stations at every 1.5KM. Bottled water and Powerade were overflowing. Gawd, you can bathe in Powerade if you wanted to. Haha! Whether it’s because of the previous Milo incident or that’s how the race organizers really intended it to be, I’m sure all how many thousands of runners are extremely happy that they didn’t have to worry about dehydration. I drank a few glasses of Powerade just to get some more energy. The rest of the run, I chose water. I’m really staying away from those power drinks. I have a strong feeling they’re the culprit behind the astronomical level of uric acid in my body.

5. Marshals all throughout the route. There really was no way that runners will get lost because there were race marshals who guided us. Some were even nice enough to cheer us on. Others looked bored and seemed like they can’t wait for all runners to finish the race. Hehe!

6. Different race route. I don’t like Roxas Blvd. Sorry, forgive me but after that one run which included the stretch of Roxas Blvd from Buendia to UN, I said I would never join another run in that area. When I found out that the Rexona Run will be in MOA, I was really keen on joining because I thought it would include Roxas Blvd. I-van and I still decided to join because we weren’t able to run in July. Our ideal was to have at least one run a month. This is why we decided to join Rexona Run. It turned out to be a nice, nice surprise when I saw the race map (a night before the run!!!) and learned that Roxas Blvd wasn’t included. Yeyyyy! The race route laid out for this run was much, much better than Roxas Blvd. There was no need to fear the buses and cars that pass by Macapagal because aside from having markers throughout the route, marshals and roving patrol guys were present.

7. Orderly distribution of loot bags and medals. Maybe because I was already among the last to finish. Haha! When I was walking towards the finisher’s kit station to claim my loot, a girl already approached me and handed me my goodie bag. The race medal I got as soon as I crossed the finish line. A guy was all smiles as he congratulated me and put the medal on me. Sana “ikaw” na lang iyon instead of that guy. Gago ka, eh! Hahaha! Sorry. May ganon talaga.

8. Goodie bag was really good. The good thing about FMCGs organizing runs is that they have a lot of product samples to give out. Haha! When I got home and brought out all the contents of the goodie bag, I was surprised with all the products. 2 Clear Cool Sport, 2 Clear Ice Cool Menthol, 2 Clear Complete Soft Care, 3 30ml ClearMen Activ Sport, 2 Vaseline Naturals with coconut milk, 2 Vaseline Naturals with lemon & sunflower oil, 2 Vaseline Naturals with Aloe Vera, 3 Cream Silk reShape Conditioner, 2 Sunsilk shampoo, 1 Pond’s Clear solution, 1 Sunsilk Co-Creations, 1 150ml Rexona Quantum body spray, 1 Century Tuna, 2 Knorr Real Sabaw soup, 1 Surf bar, 1 Surf dishwashing liquid. We were also given a 500ml Powerade drink and bottled water. Not bad I have to say!!!

Good Rexona Run! You really stood by your tagline, huh. You didn’t let us down! Thanks! :)