Believe it or not, I only started running, in races of course, last August, and roughly four (4) months since I started, my first 100K (race-only cumulative distance) is almost here.

Before December I had set a goal of reaching my first 100K this year but back then it was mathematically impossible because of the insufficient number of announced races at the time (and back then my limit was 10K).  Thankfully come December more races were announced, on quite short notices, so now I have the opportunity to—and I’m grabbing it!

I was supposed to exceed the 100K mark this year.  I already had a cumulative distance of 95K, so another 10K race would surpass it easily.  The only problem: my injury.  I was forced to register for 5K because of this.  Since my first 10K I don’t run 5K unless it’s the longest course or it’s a race before a big one (during back-to-backs).  I could take a much needed rest but the runner in me cannot be contained so I just said to myself “even if I had to crawl 5K I would just to reach my goal.”  My passion for running is keeping me going, even if there are obstacles (or injuries) that block my path.

I am especially thankful to the Nokia and UP ICTUS run: these two races made it possible for me to reach the hundred.  The Nokia run was announced on a short notice so it was unexpected but much needed for my goals, much like every cent counts to make a dollar.  The UP ICTUS run finally caps my first hundred, my last this year which was also announced quite recently only.  I should’ve taken the 10K course for the latter but as I mentioned earlier, my passion is stronger than my knee.  Fortunately the 10K route is just 2-laps that of the 5K’s so I don’t miss much except the distance.  Did I mention I hate lap races?

Some of my friends encouraged me to include my training runs in the count but I stick to counting race mileage only (or maybe kilometrage, since we use metric in the Philippines 🙂 ).  And I still plan to continue doing so, not that training is less important, but that every race for me is unique and I always take something from each one: new routes, new experiences, new friends, etc.—even if you ran the same route on different races there’s always something there that makes it unique.

The New Year is almost here, more races, more locations, more distance, and hopefully less injuries.  If I could do this much in a few months, I wonder what I can do in a year!