 |
| My very first - Ultra-Trail marathon |
‘It’s all in your mind – physical game? yes it is but rather a mental toughness’
The
day I've been waiting for almost 2 years since I learn to do Trail Runs already arrived. After months of hard training; traversed all kinds of mountains up north
and down south of Luzon; ran to different sort of trails and managed to survive
and adapt to the very hot sunny or very wet rainy weather - All the things I
learned and experienced are now put again into a reality and this help me survived
my very first ULTRA TRAIL MARATHON ever - The North Face 100 ‘2014 Baguio –
Benguet Philippines.
 |
| @ Summer Place Hotel Baguio - race briefing |
I
did carbo-loading a week before the date of the race mostly sweet potatoes and
pasta as a preparation for this. I tried to have a good sleep within that span of
week but sadly my work schedule doesn't permits. I only have Friday as my only
approved vacation leave for that week before the race. As a graveyard shift employee I can hardly sleep in
morning and busy completing and packing my gears. Straight from my shift I took
a free bus ride (those top 5 registrants in each TNF stores) to Baguio. We
arrived at Summer Place Hotel in Baguio at past 2 pm just right for race briefing
and for drop off bags. After the briefing we headed to our transient house at
Baguio Townhouse. That night I drunk one liter of Gatorade as I always do the
night before the race. I learned this one as a substitute for water melon that
contains a lot of amino acid that helps to recover from soreness faster for the next day
workout. I also drunk one can of beer in which helps me to fall asleep faster.
After 4 hours I woke up and had a final check for my gears and took bath and
prepared myself for the race.
 |
| @ the starting line Camp John Hay |
We
were 6 in our group who ran 100km. 2 were repeaters and 4 of us were first timers.
We arrived at Camp John hay the starting and finish line of the race at past
2 am an hour to go before the gun start. The race started at exactly 3 am and I decided
to run with Warren and try to cope up with his pace. From starting line to aid
station (AS01) the elevation is mostly flat with 20% roads the rest was trail
of about 8.4km. We managed to reach the Aid Station (AS01) at 4:30am. Going to
AS02 is mostly downhill of 9.9km. I reached AS02 at 5:36 a way ahead and faster
than I thought it would be. I re-fill my bladder there and continue my run. For
me the challenge begun going to AS03 for it was all uphill. I’m still working
with my uphill strength and that time I strive hard just to maintain my pace. AS03 was the first station where first cut-off
time will be impose. I reached AS03 at exactly 8:10 and it was almost 3 hours
early for 11am cut-off time. There I saw Elmer one of my colleagues who was
already on his way to AS04. I took a rest there ate ‘Lugaw’ and have my legs
massage with pain killers. I resume running after 15mins.
 |
| @ the ridge going to AS04 |
Going
AS04 seems easy to me. Although it’s a mix of up and down hill I manage to
maintain my pace. The view of trails from AS03 to AS04 particularly at what
they called ridge was breathtaking. I can describe it like Mountain ridge just
like in New Zealand. It is the top most of the ridge and cattle farm also exist
there. After that ‘Lord of the Rings’ view like trails here goes the mossy
forest. And at the end of the mossy forest I reached the AS04 at 11:36am and that
time I already ran 41km. Second cut-off time, going to AS05 first half of the
race, I thought to myself it would be easy since it is full course of downhill.
But to my surprise that was the reason of my feet injury. It was totally 12km
of downhill a 12km of cemented road. Also another mistake I did was when I
decided not to refill my water bladder at AS04 for I thought going down to AS5
was just that easy. It was high noon and you can really feel the sun on your skin
with barely shades along the way. Overall it took me almost 3 hours to reach
the AS5 the lowest point of elevation (200masl) at 2:15pm. This time I already
ran about 53.9km. I decided to take a good rest there, had my quick snack, took
a bath and changed clothes.
Done
for the first half and I’m facing now the last half and the true state of the game.
They said the true start of the race was after the AS05. And it really was, for
I‘m to start the 10km of purely uphill before the last cut-off time at AS08. As
I said before uphill was my weakness and that time I am still working on a plan on
how I’m going to manage my pacing. I struggled much on my pace from AS05 to
AS06. As a result, I covered about 3 hrs. until I reach AS06. But upon
reaching AS06 there goes another story as I met these 4 guys who raised my bar
up and the reason why I finished this race.
Before
I never knew what I’m capable of until I met this ‘astig’, new, awesome and full of motivation guys who
pushed me to my very own limit, to my very own strength and to my very own will
to continue what I started. I owe this one to them - Cristopher, Heinrich, Jay
and Ace. I really glad and thankful for them for all the efforts from the beginning they
adopted me and made part of their company. Going to AS07 from AS06 was a ‘hell’ storm.
Literally, we faced a storm of heavy rains, strong winds and a blast of thunders and lightnings . It's like a bit of Antarctic. It was past 7pm that time and I can imagine having been push already from first 50km and hardly survived it and now we are facing this trough out the night? Imagine chilling colds, winds, the bruises, injuries and blisters I already had since the beginning plus a brutal course of trail all uphill in the middle dark night. I never been into this, not even in my training before and it was really my first time to endure all of this and I'm glad I did survived it. I just thought to myself
if I was alone that time maybe I will just quit and return to AS06. I was lucky
that I was able to join the company of these 4 guys. I remember that night we were only hundred meters away to AS07 and I felt like giving up already. I told to these 4 guys that they can leave me for I was too sleepy and chilling that time. I could though that I just can't do another step and I felt like I was just a big burden to them. But having that all - they don't give up on me instead Heinrich told me that if I'm going to rest there alone no one would ever wake me up and might miss a chance to finish the race. There we took the continuous
uphill pace. By that we were able to reach the AS07 at past 11pm. From that
point I decided to run it from AS07 to AS08 since it was only 2.9km and trail
was mix flat and downhill. We reach AS08 exactly at 12mn, an hour before the
cut-off time of 1am. We took our nap
there for about 15 mins but that really didn't help. I can’t even sleep for I’m
freezing in cold. We resume our run after 30 mins going downhill to sAS09. The
trail going to AS09 was purely downhill of 7.6km.
I
was relaxed then for I though the remaining course of the race will be just all
downhill and flat. As to my surprise there will be just last assault that I
have to endure. The trail form AS09 going to AS10 the last aid station. The trail
leads us to residential houses positioned hillside up to the very peak. At
first I try to cope up to the pace of these 4 guys but at the end I just
decided to be left out and tell them that I was just behind them. I felt like
all of my strength and energy were exhausted that time that I can barely walk. I managed to reach the AS10 by 5:30 am and luckily I met them again there. In the last
station we still have 3.5 hrs. to cover the remaining 11km of race. Cristopher
told us that even we just walk at continuous pace we were able to reach the
Finish line before the cut-off time of 9am. But I don’t take that as
assurance. I decided to run the remaining km with the strength I still have despite
of all the aches I felt the injury I have
on my feet, blisters and extreme exhaustion , I said to myself It will be now
or never for this was also the last TNF100 in Baguio.
Along
the trail, it was still mix of flat and mostly uphill part of trail. I met the
22k runners that time just started their race. It was the moment when someone congratulated me, cheered up for me and felt proud when they saw me and know that I’m a 100km runner.
It was a good feeling when someone tells you that and treat you like you’re already
a champion by just doing the 100km race. I was nearly approaching the finish line when I
suddenly saw my Saltiks colleagues as they do their 22km run. I barely cry that time every time I saw each of
them. Hundred meters to go when I met
again Ma’am Tess - few of the elite runners like Ma’am Cheryl whom I admired most for their passion on this sports. Ma’am Tess and I decided to finish the
race together holding hands as one as we approach the finish line. It's a blast
of emotions when you see lined up of people cheered up for each finisher. And I
can say all the suffering, pains and hard work are paid off. I finish the race
at 7:54 am I was 1 hour beyond the cutoff time of 30hours.
 |
| Just arrived at the finish line and snap shot of our banner. |
I
learned a lot from this race and this would not be possible without these great
people who inspire, motivate and provide great excitement on how this world of
Ultra running is (nakilala ko sila along trail during my training and during
the race. Ma’am Tess, Ma’am Cheryl, Sir Jorge and the 4 awesome guys “The
Pasyal/Pogi Team”. Maraming salamat po for everything, I know mgkikita kita pa
ulit tayo kahit saan saan sa Road man o sa Trail haha. For my Family, EMS and
Saltik Outdoor family and for my one and only Pre,, Yannie Dequito who above
all have all the support and paniniwala na matatapos at kaya ko tong TNF100 na
to. – Woohooo!
 |
| Ma'am Tess and company a random running buddies along the trails. |
 |
| My Saltik Outdoor Family |
 |
| My 'Only Pre' |
 |
| Heading to finish line with Ma'am Tess behind |
It
was my very first time and TNF100 Baguio was the most difficult of all series
in Asia. One of my running buddies (Henrich Perez) once said “I can almost felt everything a human body
can feel, extreme heat, chill for colds, hunger, muscle cramps, exhaustion,
fatigue, boredom, so much fear, hallucination, and you name it. But I CANNOT
TURN MY BACK TO THIS!!! I can’t simply fall or make myself DNF from this
because falling before I can thank HIM is unacceptable. Still holding on that
HE's always there...indeed that's why I CONQUER THIS! Thanks be to God!!!”
and indeed it was the same way I felt during the race. Thank you Lord!
– My very First Ultra marathon – And I did break
all boundaries.
And
I’m proud to say that I’m not a runner anymore- I’m a ULTRA-RUNNER!
No comments:
Post a Comment