Run for the River

I had hoped to do some running while I was here – bought a new running shirt and shorts to bring with me in anticipation (my summer running clothes are in storage; my winter running clothes were fine while I trained for the Marrakesh half-marathon, and for the half-marathon itself I wore a quick-dri shirt and my quick-dri capris, to be conservative – but the winter running clothes were too heavy for the 5K I did in Southampton in June and I figured they would be here). Most of the runs here begin at 5:30 am (I’ve seen one that started at 7:00 pm, but I was away that weekend) in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City; when I saw one that was downtown, I signed up for it (not that I wouldn’t have gone to Fort Bonifacio, but I liked the idea of being downtown). And I liked the cause – a run for the Pasig River.

Habitat for Humanity Philippines is a partner of the driving force behind the river cleanup, the ABS-CBN Foundation (Habitat is building the homes for them in Calauan) - and Habitat formed a team to run the race, which made it more fun. There’s a track near where I live, but I’ve never been there – you have to get up early or go out late to run, or else it’s too hot and humid (hence the start times for the races). I don’t want to be out that late, and I don’t want to set an alarm just to exercise…all too soon I may have to wake up to an alarm again. So my training consisted of walking to and from the mall every day (or I might have considered running a longer distance).

Julie wouldn’t have gone with me if not for the Habitat team, and I’m glad she did – it was fun to have someone to go to the start with, and we ran together most of the time (we didn’t run with the rest of the team; everyone spread out – but we did have Habitat signage pinned to our backs). We woke up at 4:30 to get to the Quirino Grandstand to meet the rest of the team and pick up our packets (the Quirino Grandstand is where Filipino presidents are sworn in). We crossed the parade ground to check her gear and came back to the starting line just as the Chairman of the Board of Habitat for Humanity, a guest of honor, was shooting the gun for the 6:00 am start. We saw him run to the start line, asked him which race just started and he said the 5K. So we were there just in time! I have never started a race right at the starting line – usually I put myself towards the back of the crowd and allow for 30 to 60 seconds before I actually get to the start line.

I had gone shopping at Makati yesterday (looking for clothes…I just wasn’t ready when I was in the States. I didn’t find anything, but I didn’t run screaming into the night, so I consider that progress. I also had that yummy tuna sashimi appetizer I had had with the Princetonians and sat by the fountain and read for a while, enjoying the quiet and the greenery – it was worth it for that alone! I haven’t given up on the clothes – there are a couple of stores in Shangri-La still to try…another day) and had looked for GU (energy gel) in several stores without success before I remembered that I had brought some with me in anticipation of running! I usually power up right before I run, which helps, but I think three things were even more helpful (in addition to the daily walk to the mall, that is): one, the massage earlier this week at the spa, two, ibuprofen beforehand, which I wouldn’t have thought of if Julie hadn’t mentioned it, and three, Julie herself! The 6:00 start was also helpful – most of the time we ran in the shadow of the skyscrapers, along Roxas Boulevard, a nice, wide street (fun when closed to traffic!). Only the very end was in the sun – and it was so much hotter under the sun and on top of sun-baked asphalt, I didn’t have a finishing kick but I didn’t slow down much either. I finished in 42:36 – not bad! I felt so good afterwards that I spent this afternoon shopping too – this time at Greenhills for more pearls. More, I would consider doing additional 5Ks!

I do notice that the days are shorter than they were when I got here – sunset is at maybe 5:40 and when I arrived it was at about 6:15. No complaints though, after all those years at the very eastern end of the Central Time Zone! I’m still waiting for cooler weather – November is supposed to bring a shift from the habagat (southwest monsoon) to the amihan (northeast monsoon). According to the chart in Lonely Planet, this means the beginning of a long dry season in the Manila area, but according to people I’ve talked to, the southwest monsoon just brings different rains. Ah – the text accompanying the chart says that patterns have been screwy of late, with the rains arriving later and lingering into December. At any rate, it’s not a whole lot cooler – temperatures in the upper 80s most days, and very humid.

Hillary Clinton is coming to the Philippines this week. Last week she was in Morocco and she met with Peace Corps volunteers. Might she want to meet Peace Corps Response volunteers this week?