ING New York City Marathon 2011: Done!

– I get my NYCM 2011 medal plus a bonus thumbs up from a race volunteer –

I did it!

As I write this, it’s 7:30 am and I’ve been up since 3 am.  I’m in my recovery tights sipping French Vanilla coffee and munching on leftover pretzels from the finisher’s bag of the race.

It’s just the morning after I crossed the finish line of my 2nd New York City Marathon and 6th marathon finish. It wasn’t a spectacular performance; it was quite the opposite.  My slowest and most painful marathon ever.   Time on my Garmin: 5 hrs 21 mins. (I never crossed 5 hours before, but hey there’s always a first.) But, it was the best I could do given the circumstances.  I gave my all as most marathoners did and we should all be proud of the 42.195k—including the months of training before that day—that we conquered.

After my first few marathons, I learned that one doesn’t have the right to complain about bad runs or awful performances in a 42km. No use killing yourself over what you should’ve done or what you could’ve done better.  Each marathon—whether a BQ, a PR, or the slowest one ever—is unique, special, and is a celebration of life. You only learn from your mistakes, accept the fact that, as with life, not everything is under your control, and you move forward knowing that there are many more marathons to run in your lifetime.

I fly home to Manila tomorrow. So, give me this week to write my full marathon story as I savor my last day (along with some steak with other Pinoy runners. Yum!) in what I think is now my favorite city in the world, New York.  See you all soon, guys!

Check my Facebook for all NYCM 2011 pictures I took while on the run!

Thank you again to Gatorade for an amazing experience!