My 1st Ultramarathon: Pain and Glory

Guess I was way TOO confident to finish this race, even decided to make fun of myself by sporting a "mohawk" hairstyle, only to almost falter at the middle of the run.

After two simulation runs of the actual race course "injury free", I figured that I would be able to beat the 8-hour time limit successfully.  I have taken for granted the fact that the 1st 9 kms will mostly be downhills and it almost caused me everything.  The 10 weeks of training and sacrifices would have been a total waste.  A lot of questions came into my mind on what went wrong and how I should react on the present situation now that I had an injury (I suspect it's an ITBS injury).  All my goals seems to shrink to a bit more realistic one because of my current condition.  At first, I was hoping to finish the race in 7 hours, then to at least reach the finish line ahead of my colleague Henry, then to as long as I can arrive earlier that Atty. Haide Acuña, then ma'am Twinkle Ignacio until such time that I decided to let go of those silly thoughts and just finish the race before 9 hours. 

Thank you Jonel for extending the time limit.

The downhills:  I really don't like the downhills but instead of studying the right way of solving it during the training period, I decided to leave it for the actual race.  Wrong move, almost checkmate!!! 

Going to KM30, that's when I felt so much pain that I almost couldn't move forward.  Even if I tried to walk it off.  It was so painful that it's almost unbearable.  I started asking, "why now when it is already the actual race."  I wanted to scream or cry but for what, but for what? It's no use.  I relied on prayers and thank God, there was no pain when I was running on uphills and on flat surfaces but "what will happen to the rest of the downhills", I feared.  What Bald Runnersaid in his blogs and Jonel Mendoza statements regarding mental toughness were all so true.  I had to endure them all to be victorious.  I had some muscle cramps but it was nothing compared to the pain I felt while going downhills.

The last 12 KM:  There it goes again.  Very steep downhills.  Pain flaring up.  I almost decided to quit but every time I saw my crew  (my 2 siblings: Ian and Niel) who also sacrificed their time and patience, I feel that I am responsible for our success and that is to cross the finish line within the time limit.

I could have beaten ma'am Twinkle on the last 2 kilometers, but it was not important to me anymore at that time.  I still have a sachet of "Gatsby" wax to open and a Mohawk to straighten up.


P.S. Thank you to all Ungo Members who volunteered to support every runners along the race course.  Kudos to all of you.  Your kindness is well appreciated.

Please see pics below and leave some comment:


1. Blog Pic Printed on my Running Shirt

2. "the hairstyle"

3. Pres. Ramon Magsaysay's Statue and Mt. Pinatubo's Engine

4.  Sleeping Quarter

5. Everthing ready?

6. The run

7. With my officemates Henry and Roy at the finishline

8. With my Wife Rina and my Son Zyle

9. With my Crew/Brothers Ian Roy and Niel Roy

10. Mug Shots

11. Recovery Swim (OKOY sa dagat)

12.  Jetski for free

13. Relaxing with wife Rina sa speedboat

14.  Last look at my Mohawk before getting "cleared"