I'M CRAJY LIKE THAT

Eyes on the goal! 
Photo from thebullrunner.com

In a few days, I would be a marathoner.

They say that out of the billions of people around the world, only one percent is a marathoner. Not that it matters, really. To me, it gives a big sigh of relief knowing that there are fewer crazy people who would willingly run for 42.2km on purpose. Like me.

It started when an alumna of The Bull Runner Dream Marathon prodded me to sign up. At that time (July or August lasy year), I only had a vague idea of what it is. Check its website, I did. It seemed interesting so I said to my friend, “sure.” But I did not sign up. A few days later, my cousin-in-law mentioned the same thing to me. I said “sure.”

This time though, my cousin-in-law, who’s also running the marathon on March 18, perhaps knowing that my reply was only a polite response, signed me up himself. He asked the details needed for the registration, and one of the questions was why I would want to join the Dream Marathon. Think, think, think. The registration was on a first-come first-serve basis, so I did not really have much time to compose a Ms.-Universe answer. I simply answered, “to challenge my physical and mental endurance.” A few days later, Jaymie Pizarro, aka The Bull Runner and a co-founder of the Dream Marathon, announced in her blog that I was one of the lucky runners.

Just like any other extraordinary event in my life, the Dream Marathon came unplanned. At that time, I just graduated from my Masters degree in April 2011 and I was a bit lost (okay, it’s a euphemism) on what to do next with my life. I was floating in the randomness of the world with nothing concrete to do in the next few months before I apply for a doctoral degree. And then it came.

Lucky Number

I really did not think that joining the Dream Marathon would give me the directions I needed, or an anchor to keep me floating within a safe distance. It gave me concrete goals every day, every week, every month because of the training. It felt good knowing that I achieved something—running from half an hour to five hours (yes, that’s right!) despite the blisters, dead nails on the feet, and aching leg muscles. It felt even better that I can sense self-discipline slowly becoming a way of life for me (in truth though I’m just scared as hell to not finish the 42km).

Many a marathoner said that running a marathon changes one’s life. I haven’t ran a marathon yet, but I can already sense the little changes, not only physically (there’s muscles now when I flex) but more important is the change in outlook in life and attitude. I want to challenge myself more, push myself to the limits and beyond. And I know that if I concentrate my energies on it, I will overcome these self-imposed challenges (how crazy is that!).

Maybe I’ll have more realizations after I ran the 42.195km in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa on Sunday. In the meantime, I’ll hush the butterflies in my belly.  

Part of the one percent crajy people in the world:
 (soon-to-be) Marathoners
Photo from thebullrunner.com