As mentioned in me previous post I was very bored and agitated last Sunday because I wasn’t able to do my early morning long run due to the rain.  It was raining at 4:30AM and until 5:30AM there was no sign of it stopping so I had to cancel it.  It would be very difficult to warm up early in the morning when it’s cool and you’re getting wet.  You also shouldn’t stretch with cold muscles and with those odds reluctant as I was I had to just sleep it off.

The rains ensued intermittently throughout the day.  I still wasn’t giving up on the idea of a long run (with a desperate option of doing it on a treadmill!) until I came up with an idea.  It was a cool afternoon, very cloudy and drizzly, so I had the idea of pursuing my planned long run.  My “running bag” was still packed and with some minor adjustments to what I brought I was out of the house running by 3:30PM—my first time to do an afternoon run!  The rain that ruined my plan actually saves the day!

Running on Sunday afternoons aren’t as easy as mornings since you encounter a lot of people on the streets, especially on markets and churches.  Since you are not in the race and not in a controlled environment you have to be very cautious—and prepared to do a sudden stop!

Missing the Road

It had been a long time since I last ran solo on an open road and I missed it (except for the pollution of course).  Once again I was running on Commonwealth Ave. heading towards Katipunan Ave. where various options arise on where to go to.  For this run I opted to end near Marikina riverbanks—the Santolan Station of the LRT Line-2 to be exact.  10.37K.  But that’s just the start.

But Wait!  There’s More!

It was very peculiar for me to end a run on a train station.  It wasn’t actually intentional as I was originally aiming for the Makati Aquatic Sports Arena (MASA) as my end point, but due to time constraints I had to take the train.  It wasn’t exactly the shortest way to get there but it’s definitely the most convenient and arguably the faster way.

Upon arriving at Guadalupe Station of MRT (second train ride) the rain started to pour.  For there I ran towards MASA, a mere 1.62K away, under the pouring rain so by the time I got to MASA I was soaking wet.  I’m going to get wet anyway.  Total run this Sunday afternoon: 11.99K.

The MASA

The Makati Aquatic Sports Arena is one of the nicest public swimming pools in the Metro and it is Olympic-sized.  It’s very clean and the depth is nice.  Swim suit policies are strictly observed.  Entrance fees goes as little as P50 for Makati residents (may require proof of address) and P150 for the rest of us.

So that was the big picture.  The game plan was to swim in MASA for some cross-training and I just insisted on inserting a run before it.  A desperate runner always finds a way to run.  I may have been derailed off my original plans but if you keep an open mind those sudden changes may be the ones to save the day!  So in the end it was a very nice weekend for me, and I hope for yours as well.