runningpinoy

Before summer came to a close (at least for the Metro) I had a last dose of summer in none other than one of the world’s finest beaches—Boracay!  It had been a dream of mine to visit the island ever since I’ve heard of its legendary beaches and this summer I had a chance to realize that.  Of course I wasn’t alone with this trip to paradise as I was with the company of friends, old and new.  It was actually our  Team-Building.

My first time to fly via NAIA Terminal 3

Godofredo P. Ramos Airport, Caticlan, Malay, Aklan

I managed to infect our team with the “banner-syndrome:” picture is where the banner is! (Designed by yours truly, my first to be printed after quite some time) Photo courtesy Patrick Oliveros

Boats like this brings tourists to the island

After settling in our hotel room I was still in disbelief that I finally arrived in Boracay!  To snap out of it was to take that first glance with the beach.

First shot of the beach

Panorama of Station 2, a portion of White Beach (click to zoom)

That afternoon we finally agreed to do one of the many things Boracay offers: Reef Walking.  This one is perfect for everyone, including those who don’t swim, to be one with the creatures of the sea.  It is done by wearing a helmet with air being pumped into it so you can breathe as you do on land.  Each helmet weighs 35 kilograms (which weighs a mere 3 kg in water) allowing you to sink to the ocean floor so you can walk around.  Of course you’re supposed to step only on clear areas and not on corals.  Seeing the underwater world in a unique perspective was really astounding and interacting with the not-so-shy fishes was unforgettable.

The Reef Walkers (some of us were still underwater)

That’s me feeding the fish

After an exhilarating experience we were back on the white shores of Boracay.  Since it was my first time on the island I was surprised how far back the sea ebbs in the afternoon during low tide.  It was like an entire highway appeared on what was earlier property of the sea.

Look at how much new real estate appears during low tide

Sand castles in Boracay (built from scratch daily) also serve as calendar

After sipping on the famous shakes of Jonah’s and eating barbecue on the beach there’s not much else to do but walk around the heavenly beach and take some dips.  As I walk around and saw Willy’s Rock an idea suddenly popped into my head—run!

Willy’s Rock

Since TNF100 I’ve had not a single decent run, always painful due to my long withstanding knee injury.  Being a runner you can’t take away that urge to do so and at that moment I just knew I had to do it.  I was concerned that I may not have another time to do so due to our activities so I decided to do it.  It was quite timely that there was a Grotto on Willy’s Rock (where I decided to start my run) so I took that as a sign that I have blessing to do so.

I initially planned to do just a short run, 1.5K out and back for a 3K afternoon.  But the thing is, I’m in Boracay!  I was running barefoot with absolutely no pain and enjoying myself very much so I just kept pushing my target forward until I reached the end of White Beach, about 3K out from where I started.

Since my decision to run was spontaneous I was wearing my board shorts during my run—bad move!  Board shorts really aren’t meant for moving legs so by the time I was at the end of the beach my inner thighs had very, very bad burns due to chaffing.  I only had my board shorts and GF405 on me then so even if I wanted to do something about it I was helpless and just rested for a while.  I didn’t even have a single sip of water!

The sun was slowly setting while I was running back to Willy’s Rock.  I’ve never had this much fun running barefoot and except for the burns on both my inner thighs everything was excellent!  I was able to finish more than 6K pain free—my longest recently.  And I couldn’t have arrived in a much better time at Willy’s Rock as my friends were there, queuing in line to have pictures taken on the Grotto.

Arriving at Willy’s Rock (courtesy Patrick Oliveros)

Still sweaty but always ready for pictures (courtesy Patrick Oliveros)

That’s basically the highlights of our first day in Boracay.  We still have two more days, and that’s coming up next.

Next: Exploration