Three days (well, a few hours less than three days) until one of this year's most anticipated running events: Adidas King of the Road 2010. This event marks the anniversary of my first 10k run and the anniversary of my knee injury. This event also marks my first half-marathon.
A year ago I would never have expected I'd be signing up for a half-marathon in this lifetime. The aforementioned injury actually bogged me down for almost eight months. Not only did it hinder my running progress (I had to limit myself to short-distance runs), I also had to mellow down on other high-impact activities: I temporarily eliminated the endorphin-machine BodyAttack (a high-intensity workout by Les Mills that includes several high-impact, knee-wrecking moves such as high-level lunges, jumping, and running) from my workout routine, and I had to lie low on my all-time favorite comfort workout, BodyCombat (very similar to taebo, this Les Mills workout inspired by moves from different martial arts disciplines such as karate, tai chi, kickboxing, takewondo, and capoeira). I shifted to RPM/spinning as my regular program since it seemed to involve less impact on my knees. In December that I decided to pay the doctor a visit, and I was thoroughly relieved when my x-ray came out clear and my doctor told me that time was all my knee needed to heal.
True enough, it did. The knee actually got much worse before it got better (March and April were the worst months, during one race I was so frustrated I couldn't keep up with the fast pace of my music that I almost threw my earphones to the floor), but by late May my knee was feeling normal again, although by 10k progress dropped to zero.
I insisted on joining races at least twice a month in order to get used to running. Besides, I'd reached a progress plateau in BodyCombat, and after recovery I didn't seem to be as psyched up about BodyAttack anymore.
More than a month ago, after a bit of googling and inquiry, my gym rat friends and I started joining sessions of the Ortigas chapter of the AdiNation of Runners. aNR has four chapters in Manila, located in Alabang, Makati, Ortigas, and Fort Bonifacio. The Ortigas group is just the right size -- big enough to motivate, small enough to get to know people without the awkwardness. Joining the group has allowed me to appreciate running more and feel confident about myself -- enough to PR in my most recent run, the Summit Camsur Marathon held in Pili, Camarines Sur, and decide to sign up for Adidas' half-marathon.
Now that the long introduction's done and over with, I would like to mention that since then, I've done three-hour BodyCombat marathon and two-hour spinning and BodyAttack marathons. I do a hardcore four-hour workout (BodyPump [weights and resistance training], BodyAttack, RPM, and BodyCombat) every Monday. aNR has gotten me through fartlek training, speed training, and 13km of hills. I've only missed one session since I joined the training sessions.
Despite all this, I can't really say I'm ready. My outfit is already planned out as early as now: my yellow-green aNR singlet with the trademark three blue stripes, my blue shorts (or black -- I haven't decided yet), my bright blue cap, my black armband, my bright pink iPod with the new hook earphones, my bib belt, and of course, my Adizero Aces. I've equipped myself with two energy gels, BodyGlide, and petroleum jelly. My playlist is ready (well, almost), carbo-loading with friends has been set on Friday, and I've drastically lowered my workout intensity (especially since I seem to have overstretched my ankle during yoga last Friday). Excited much? Yes, you could say that. But I would also like to say another thing: I'm terrified -- scared of the exhaustion, scared of the boredom, scared of not being able to make a decent time, scared of getting injured during my knee injury's anniversary (though I do promise to be extra careful this time around). Then again, this is the first time I've actually trained for a run. In three days I'll see if it actually pays off!
