My first official run for the year happened on an Easter Sunday.  Quite symbolic when you think about it because this has been my resurrection from my almost-a-decade-running-hiatus!

My friend Mils convinced me to join because (1) his brother is one of the organizers and (2) it would be good practice for my upcoming 10KM run for Nat Geo. This is a yearly event organized by St. Paul the Apostle Parish where Mils’ brother is an active member.

With only 2 hours of sleep and my period arriving days earlier, I headed over to QC to go and finish my 5KM run. When you commit to run for a church and on an Easter, you set aside all excuses you can think of and just soldier on.

It turned out to be a good thing because I had a lot of fun throughout the race. Aside from the obligatory colored powder showers, there were also mini obstacles along the way — giant rolling balls, human balloons out to trap you — and a large tub filled with colorful balls at the finish line! Not to mention the energetic warm up from the organizers, which felt more like a Zumba routine actually. Haha!

It really relaxes me more when I run outdoors than when I do treadmills because you have fresher air to breathe and interesting sights to drown into. The only challenge that I encountered are the uphills. It’s such a pain on the knees and ankles and it also made my pace slower than usual. Sometimes, I would also get too drowned into my sightseeing that I would forget that I’m in an actual race.

Nevertheless, I was able to finish with flying colors (yes, please let me use the phrase) without walking. I always tag this as an achievement because even though my pace is slower than most, it makes my endurance better. This would help me in my marathon target in the future as long as I keep a regular running schedule.

It was heartwarming seeing families running together as a team during the event. I even saw a dog being carried towards the finish line. I just hope that the colored powders are non-toxic to animals.

The morning ended with a McDonald’s breakfast and a promise between friends to join this yearly until we have kids of our own to run with.