A Newbie Runner's Nightmare

I consider myself a newbie runner, even at my age. I just started running around three years ago and it was my dream then to join the Milo Marathon... not the full marathon, just the 3K or 5K fun run. I know that for my age, my body has it's limitations and I can only push it to do so much. I know, I should have started running at a younger age... didn't know I would love it this much.

I got discouraged after about more than a year of running. Milo runs were always on a Sunday, and I wasn't available. Then I got heel pain, so I stopped running for a while. Then I developed other illnesses including hypertension. My doctor advised me to exercise at least 150 minutes a week, so I started walking 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I wasn't satisfied with walking, so I started short jogs in between walks... then I was back to running :)

Opportunity came for me to join a fun run that wasn't scheduled on a Sunday! The 8.0K Unida Family Fun Run scheduled on Wednesday, November 30, 2011. This was in celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the Unida Church in 2012, and the proceeds of the fun run was towards missions. So I registered for the 5K event. 

It's race day tomorrow and I'm trying to keep myself calm lest I be overwhelmed by my excitement. I decided to just rest today and sleep a little longer because I know I will have very little sleep tonight and need to wake up at 3:00am to prepare for the 5:00am race. I woke up this morning at 5:00am then went back to bed at 6:00am... and started dreaming~

I dreamt that it was already race day! It was still dark when we made our way to the race venue and. upon arriving, I asked the registration staff if my runner friends were able to register for the race. It didn't seem odd to me that the race venue was not at CCP complex, but was at a hilly place similar to Ultra in Pasig. I had just come from a seminar the day before and, horrors!!! I realized that I didn't have my race bag, which had my race bib, running shirt and shoes!!! I looked for the race organizers... along the way I saw the 8K runners already running their race... okay, my event was 5K, so I still had a bit of time. I explained my situation to the race organizers, and they agreed to let me run. So off I went to find my family and see if I could borrow a pair of running shoes. Then I heard a gunshot... oh no!!! It was for my event and I was nowhere near the starting line... I saw the runners on the next street parallel to where I was, so off I ran looking for a path towards the starting line, hoping I could still join the race...

Then I woke up... whew!!! You can just imagine my relief that it was all just a dream~ Now I'm packing my bag for tomorrow, but it will just have my race kit, slippers, a change of clothes and a towel... I'll be wearing my running gear to the venue tomorrow. I already attached my race bib to my running shirt :) Yeah, my nightmare is probably just due to my excitement... hoping it won't happen in real life~