Just another Condura story..

A lot of success stories has already been written about (probably) the best run for the year in Manila, the Condura Run for the Dolphins. I’ve qualified this as I was fortunate to experience running in one of my favorite runs for the year which is the Cebu Marathon last month, a world class marathon next to  Standard Chartered Singapore which happens to be my first full mary.

The real story however is once again my failure to finish in Sub-5 hrs so you can just imagine my disappointment at the finish despite finishing in another PR.  Check my stats and weep, there’s always something that hinders my goal to be reached everytime I run the full:

1.  Standard Chartered Singapore – Dec 2008 -5:45 – Understandable as it was my first and I just quit  smoking in September that year. (One dead toenail)

2.  Botak -May 2009 – 5:23 – Slightly okay but I have to change shoes at the halfway mark due to a dead toenail caused by my ill-fitting Saucony shoes.

3.  QCIM- October – 5:33 – Again I have an issue with my NB 769 as I realized that size 2E is way too loose, hence, this is where I first experienced pain in my soles probably because of the rubbing.

4.  PIM Nov 2009 – 5:39 – Hardheaded that I am, I again used the NB 769 only to feel greater pain at the 26K mark on the same sole, I already told my wife that I’m quitting as I can’t step on my feet further, but she convinced me to change in my Nike shoes and socks and wonder of wonders, was able to finish as it was more comfortable and the pain subsided a little bit.

5.  Cebu Marathon – Jan 2010 – 5:34 – After consultations, I bought the new Asics Kayano 16 which I used during the Rizal day run but sadly, another pain emerged, it’s now on my Metatarsal (it’s the part where we normally tie our shoelaces).  I only have 2 theories, It’s either the shoe is not fitted for me or  since I bought a size 10 (my other shoes are 9.5), it was quite loose so  I kept on tightening the shoelaces and at the 30K mark, that’s where I felt the pain in the bones, I must admit, Asics has the best cushioning I’ve used but since the pain is now on top, I had a hard time running the last 12K hence, another disappointing finish.

6.  Condura – Feb 2010 – 5:11 – A new PR, but again my target time was at the very least a 4:45, and this is my issue with my Asics Kayano 16:  Whenever I tighten the laces, I start feeling the pain in my metatarsals, when I loosen it, I ‘m having a hard time controlling my steps so it was a choice between a tight shoelace or the rubbing in my soles due to the loose laces, in the end I got both, pain in my soles and pain in the metatarsal, what a bummer!

During the midnight run last Jan, 31, I bought another shoe, the Mizuno Wave Inspire 5 (didn’t tell the wife about this he he) to check if it’s really the shoe that was causing it, although I managed to run 37.6kms, my problem is the soles of Mizuno is quite hard as I already know the cushioning of  Asics so I still used my Kayano 16 at the Condura with disastrous result.  And now it’s less than a month before BDM, I still can’t find the right shoes to use and the wife is now calling me an addict as I kept on hinting on buying another shoe on sale (kuno) .

Oh well, just the same we had a good laugh one early morning when she saw me preparing my things for another run after 2 consecutive days of biking and running and it goes like this:

Wife:  Tatakbo ka na naman?

Me:  Oo bakit?

W:  Di ba kakatakbo mo lang kahapon?

Me:  E ano ba mas gusto mo tanungin sa akin? “Iinom ka na naman ba? or gigimik ka with your barkada? or tatakbo ka?

End of dialogue. Wife goes back to sleep after a hearty laugh.

At the finish line during the Cebu Marathon

 

With Team HC after the Cebu Marathon - Odessa, Jay, and Papi Jonel

Finishing the Condura in a new PR

With Ronnie (Runner for Christ) and the Binan runners

With Mel my running buddy from Runnex

With Dennis, the Running Fatboy who was my constant buddy in Cebu and Condura

The Wife with Queenie of Takbo.ph

With the Takbo.ph group

With the Bald Runner during the CLP in Cebu