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Camsur? Cam-sure!

The best thing about being bull headed is that I rarely ever give in to peer pressure. I try something new only because I want to, not because everyone else is doing it.

That explains why, early in my childhood, when my cousins would practice for weeks and finally dance to “Frosty the Snowman” in front of our entire clan during Christmas parties, I would sit back with my older siblings content to watch from the sidelines with a naughty grin. As early as 8, I thought to myself: “In no way will I make a fool of myself that way.” Stubborn. Unyielding. And yes, I was a little party pooper.

In college, even when more than half of my groupmates started smoking, I never picked up a cigarette. Never held one in my hand, never even puffed. If it didn’t make sense to me, then I wouldn’t even experiment on it. Yup, I was the boring, square one in the group.

The past couple of days, everyone was off to Camsur for the Ironman 70.3. And I thought: “Who cares if everyone is going?”  A number of runner friends who couldn’t bike nor swim like me registered for the relay event to be in on the action. My thrifty self rationalized that it wouldn’t be wise to spend so much money to run a half marathon when I could easily run a half in Manila for free.

So, over the weekend, hubby and I, along with friends JunC, Mariel and JunB, covered 22k along the empty roads of Manila, where one used to spot dozens of runners and triathletes training. On Sunday, hubby and I took the kids out for a bike and scooter ride in the South where, as expected, the roads were free of the hardcore teams training together.

Everyone was in Camsur!  And, it was one of those rare times when I wished I was doing what everyone else was doing (Tri-ing) where everyone else was (Camsur). I thought of friends who were probably as nervous as hell the night before and were having the time of their lives on race day. I thought about the boys of Team Hammer racing in their new trisuits for the first time together. I dreamed of one day doing the same.

Don’t get me wrong. This had little to do with peer pressure, and more of…uhm…E-N-V-Y. How I wished I could have the courage to swim 2k and bike 90k before the half marathon. How I wished I could’ve been there with a crop of average people—executives, parents, entrepreneurs, students—who were challenging their bodies (and minds) to accomplish extraordinary things.

Aaaah, the seed of the Ironman 70.3 dream has been planted in my mind. And, it’ll take a year or two for me to see if I can make it come true.  In the meantime, this regretful, stubborn, party pooper will enjoy viewing all the Camsur photos on Facebook.

Congratulations to all the finishers of Camsur Ironman 70.3, especially to Team Hammer!

Posted on 08.23.10 to 01 Bullish Insights. Tags: , . Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 12 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.

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12 Responses to “Camsur? Cam-sure!”

  1. TBR – Envy really sets in when you watch the events regularly. When you see them swim to the buoy, watching the transition and all the post race banter will drive you green with envy.

    Good luck.

    Regards Mark

    m8parco said on Aug 23 10 at 4:06 PM Reply

  2. You know they say that once you say it in public, you’ll really end up doing it!

    Jake said on Aug 23 10 at 5:23 PM Reply

  3. same here! I would really like to be an iron man! but the this is I first need to finish the new york then london then berlin and maybe someday even boston marathon.. hehe

    sprintingswine said on Aug 23 10 at 10:35 PM Reply

  4. you`ll never know unless you TRI. Try to do the shorter races before camsur(sprints,subic race in may), having a running base but no swim or bike will mean nothing once you combine all three sports. a 2 yr plan is the way to go, takes years to load the system, just like in running, a lot are doing the longer distances even before knowing how to train to train for a marathon –not redundant..

    Dennis said on Aug 24 10 at 12:01 AM Reply

  5. Hi Jaymie,

    I might do the mini sprints in the future. When i finished the TBR dream marathon last year, i bought myself a bike. Have been running and biking lately. I might shift to swimming someday. I gotta TRI this :-)

    Rico L. Gomez said on Aug 24 10 at 12:46 PM Reply

  6. you can do it! it’s worth a tri! swim, bike and run your way to the finish line!

    tj isla said on Aug 24 10 at 2:43 PM Reply

  7. You should have seen the crowd line up the streets cheering “Ironman”, “Ironman”…and later on “Piolo”, “Piolo”..

    AC said on Aug 24 10 at 4:48 PM Reply

  8. You will be sporting that Blue uniform next year I know. See you SubIT? Cheers!

    Paolo Manuel said on Aug 24 10 at 5:07 PM Reply

  9. Sorry, TBR dream marathon was last May 22 (not last year). Excited kasi sa next year :-)

    Rico L. Gomez said on Aug 24 10 at 6:06 PM Reply

  10. One with you in that dream ;) Goodluck to us. Hope that one day, we’ll see each other in a 70.3 event ;)

    Reylynne said on Aug 24 10 at 8:19 PM Reply

  11. hi jaymie,

    a newbie runner here, haven’t even ran my first Pikermi and hell yeah, i too, am envious of these ironmen and women but i’m just as more inspired to be able to SOMEDAY do a tri— be like ‘em athletes who’ve “pushed their limits, stayed strong, lived long and large.” i’m gonna take it, train it, work it and most of all enjoy it one at a time! and that’s my creed. ;-)

    Carissa said on Aug 26 10 at 11:26 AM Reply

  12. Jaymie,

    You may not know me but I’m a friend of Miguel ( used to work with him ). You’re already a triathlete. I’ve seen you in one of the Speedo NAGT events last year. Its just a matter of doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling the sprint distance and you’ll be an Ironwoman. I’ve learned how to swim only 5 months before my first Camsur 70.3 last year.

    Its all about determination which I’m sure you’re not lacking of.

    See you in Camsur next year!

    Deo P.

    Deo P. said on Aug 26 10 at 3:35 PM Reply

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