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!
