Urbanite Tales Part 2: Kenny's Rogers Trilogy

I drove to the race excited about my Kenny’s Urbanite Trilogy. The blog stories were practically writing themselves in minutes – in vivid Sony colors and clear Bose sound! All I had to do was run along with the stories. With the pre-race anxieties threatening to take the better of me, I decided to take the pressure off me by dedicating my runs to three people. I figured if I run for my personal goal I would not last and probably give up. I might probably postpone the 10K goal to some other time when I am physically stronger and I do not need much motivation. But with these stories, I suddenly felt strong: enough to believe I would run sub-60, Bayani Road, McKinley Hills and tender muscles notwithstanding.

Kenny Lyndon’s Run

Brothers at the Milo CLP

I first met Doctor Lyndon Cosico sometime after Christmas 2008 to get my Garmin 305. It normally takes time for me to warm up to people, but the moment I entered Lyndon’s house and sat on his dining table, I felt instantly at home (Doc, pwede bang diyan na lang ako maki-kain at maki-tira?) I think we talked about running for at least 2 hrs. The running bug certainly bit him again and the man even then was brimming with so many ideas. I had a feeling the seeds of the Urbanite Run was already in his fertile mind as early as then.

I figured my 10K effort will be a nice tribute to a man who helped conceptualized the night race and its attendant pakulo – the same man valiantly fighting off occasional asthma attacks and work demands now to come back to his old 10K PR of 54 minutes.

On races, a couple of friends have mistaken the good doctor for me, or think we are brothers. Doc Lyndon might have a better 10K PR than me, but I am certainly better looking. Haha. Wag ka nang pumalag, Doc. Please. Sana paglaki ko, maging kasing-bilis mo ako, Kuya.

The Gingerbreadman Pace Experience

Now I have to write in straight, impeccable English. What better way to break the sub-60 barrier than to run along with a person who lives by the principle of breaking stereotypes. Cautious and calculating me would have wanted to train hard and break my 10K barrier by running negative split, but my hard training left me physically spent. I would have to run with what I’ve got, and pray that it would last till the finish line. My run would have to be positive split, and who better to pace it with than positive splitter Gingerbreadman. I needed some sort of miracle to hang on to. Needed to go to what GBM calls a ‘place without limits’, where dreams come true if you believe hard enough. I also believe in such a place, and I am capable of summoning extra-ordinary will to make things happen. But at my physical state, I intended to feed off the doggedness of fellow believers like GBM.

Gingerbreadman the Pacer in Action in Buddy Run

Powered by Dimsum and Siomai

As self-confessed hopia-chewing runner, I did not think I would actually be powered by dimsum and siomai. I do not really know Gerard aka Mr. Dimsum and Siomai (why the name nga pala?). I think I met him quickly once, but can’t say I am really friends with the guy. Yet one day I read his blog entry on his Ateneo training run and how he was working his ass off to beat 60 minutes as well. Bound by a common objective, I suddenly felt a had a brother. Motivation sometimes come from the most unexpected places. Just when I was questioning why I had to choose the Urbanite Run as my break-through race, especially when I was almost breaking my right foot doing 6min/km tempo runs on McKinley Hills, Gerard came up with the answer. For Gerard who always come close to beating his PR, the only thing keeping him from his goal was the thought of there would always be a next time.

Gerard aka Dimsum and Siomai

Gerard, when I said on your blog to think of your Ateneo Run as you do the Urbanite race, I was saying the same thing to myself. I was telling myself to think of how this young man vowed there should not be a next time. For the time to achieve was NOW.