Route: Hyde Park to Bondi Beach
Distance: 14km of winding uphill/downhill road race
NOTE: Last year’s City2Surf recap that you can read later is here.
I looked forward to City2Surf this year. It’s the kind of event that you can bring your entire family along. That means, it’s an event where runners can, if they want to, forget about chasing a Personal Best (PB). My goal was simply to enjoy the festive atmosphere and walk/jog with my eldest son who has autism #forthefunofit. So I ditched the Runkeeper app on my iPhone but kept my Garmin watch to monitor how we are going and not to tire Miguel. It was very important that I kept him relaxed, as he has been prone to loud outbursts lately (puberty perhaps?). I also took plenty of pictures along the course.
Unlike last year when all four of us ran, only 15yo Migo and myself did City2Surf. My 14yo was not interested and Ariel opted to be our support crew (Read: Chauffer and Chef for that important post-race refueling. He prepared pork sinigang and garlic infused fried chicken for our late lunch. Busog-tsarap!)
My event highlight was Migo besting his time last year by 17 massive minutes. 17 minutes is equivalent to hours in the running world! His new PB is now 2 hours and 15 minutes. Hurray, Migo! This time included one trip to the loo and lots of photo-ops.
He complained less this year. There were no groans of ‘painful tummy’ nor ‘painful legs’. You must understand that Migo dislikes discomfort of any kind. And pushing him to continuously jog for more than 2 kilometers is a very tall ask. However, with his consistent weekend 5km jogs with either myself or Ariel, I’d like to think that he had good preparation leading to race day.
A friend asked: Did Migo have fun?
Hmmm. It’s hard to say if Migo had fun. He hated people brushing him when they were passing by and he grunted really loudly, enough for people to turn around and give him puzzled looks. Perhaps they were concerned if he was in pain. He has this funny way of expressing his unhappiness by limping. I have to always stop when he does that. But there was a stretch of maybe 2kms that he was keeping up with my pace (a slow 8.0-8.30min/km) going up Heartbreak Hill. Then I think he noticed that the uphill seemed to go on forever. So he decided to yell “We’re going up!” Well, yeah, that is obvious, anak! I thought. Then he exclaimed quite loudly, “Let’s go to Bondi”. By that he meant “Asan na ba ang Bondi??” (Are we there yet?)
I calmed him down by walking. When he was calm enough, we jogged again. Jog, walk, calm down. Repeat. This was how I managed my Migo for 14 kilometers. I felt like an evil pushy mother! But then again I reminded myself ~ No pain No gain!
The main thing was we kept moving. We walked the very steep uphills and downhills. We did not want any knee injury, no siree!
Later, on the bus ride home, I asked, “Let’s do City2surf again next year?” Migo’s answer was an emphatic “No!”
Nevertheless, I hope he will come around, I know he will. We will return next year with the aim of doing a PB of 2 hours! I reckon Miguel can do it!
PS: To date, our fundraising for Warrah School has raised over an astounding outstanding $1,800. Hurry! The fundraising page is open until the end of August 2014. It’s not too late to “give”! THANKS in ADVANCE! For more info, you can read about how simple and rewarding fundraising is here. You too can raise funds!
Warrah School Fundraising Page
365dayswanna says
You and Miguel are champs!