Of Blogs, Runs, and Races

Takbo.ph had a very good point. They conducted a survey recently on how many races do runners join on the average. I am a logged-in member of takbo.ph, but I failed to answer the survey. If I had, I would be in the category of 3-4 races per month.


Which makes me realize, oo nga no, after reading blogs and takbo.ph's reasons for the low number of races joined, they have a point, which now I think is detrimental to my growth as a runner.

Let's remove the cause factor of the races.

I had been joining 10 k races lately, to gain endurance. It all started with Ivy, a former parent in Poveda, fellow Povedan, and a fast runner. She encouraged me to run for endurance. But my training for that is really bad, it turns out, 10k is the longest I have run ever, meaning my race becomes my training ground (inevitably). The 10 k is my LSD, since I have no time to do a longer run in the middle of the week. Which explains my panting, slow movement, lack of training, and knee and calf pains. In other words, these races have become limiting in my growth. Yes, I have gotten faster in terms of Personal Record as more races are joined, but have I become a better runner?

Nope, don't think so. After almost giving up last Sunday.

Sir Jinoe has a point. It's not just the cost (which I agree with, as an unemployed wife and mother who needs to finish her thesis), but there is a very limiting factor in joining races. So what if I had finished the 10k? What happens next? Is it just shorter time, or is it also about building endurance, maybe speed, and improving one's ability to run?

Lately I have been reading the runners' blogs, and it's true, maybe some of them are quite technical, but, I realize that I learn a lot from them. Not just tips on how to be a better runner, but also the passion that they have for the endeavor. Their human side, the struggles. Yes, I am quite far from their progress, I don't even know some of their acronyms. Their mileage makes me dizzy thinking about how I will ever relate to those numbers, but reading their posts, their stories, made me realize that I should not limit myself to only this, a beginner, a jogger, a slow 10k runner, but they give me encouragement as to how to be open to other opportunities to love the sport more, to be better at it. Even to love myself more, not just accepting my limitations and weaknesses, but by embracing and opening those doors to make myself a better me.