With just a couple more days to the 3rd month anniversary of our new marathoners from batch 2013 of TBR Dream Marathon, we couldn’t wait to release our little surprise: the official video coverage of TBR Dream Marathon 2013.
Enjoy! In the meantime, we are busy preparing for TBR Dream Marathon 2014 (yes, we start this early!)
As is the tradition of TBR Dream Marathon, after the race, I post anecdotes about the marathon that I receive in my Inbox from our new marathoners. My inbox gets inundated with stories of triumph, love, gratitude, passion, and empowerment that it’s too much of a waste if only I read it. Through this series of stories (one every week for the next couple of months), may you all be inspired to run a marathon or dream big in your own lives.
I’d like to share with you Fernando’s letter to me. It teaches us that we can try our best to prepare for a marathon, but we never really know what will happen at any point before we cross that finish line. A lot of things can go wrong and a lot of things can go right. What matters most is how we choose to react to the situation and how we let it affect us. Good thing Fernando decided to run even after he stumbled.
TBR DREAMERS 2013: Fernando Hernandez
Bib Nos. 334
Hi Jaymie,
You can’t imagine, how thankful I am to be a part of this great experience. I actually came very close to not showing up last Sunday.
About a week before the marathon, during my daughter’s sportsfest, I took a bad fall during one of the events. I joined a relay race and ended up with two very large wounds on my knees – as in kneecaps.
Looking back it might not have been very prudent of me to join the sportsfest in the first place, but I entered the marathon with the mindset that it would never interfere with family activities. Anyway, my daughter asked me to join the relay race and I didn’t want to disappoint.
So there I was, the day before the race with two very large wounds on my knees. I thought long and hard about how I was going to do the 42K with injuries to both legs. The thought of even just the salt on the wounds was just as painful as the thought of the knees bending every time I’d take a step forward. Anyway, the defining moment was when I just accepted the fact that the pain was going to be there from the start and it would be a matter of me being able to grin and bear it. I kept “fooling myself” that my left leg was fine and that I could just drag my right leg towards the finish. The added incentive was the fact that I knew I would be miserable waiting for an entire year to have the chance to do The Bull Runner Dream Marathon again and all that training just being thrown out the window.
No doubt the pain was there, but the encouragement I had from my co-TBR Dreamers (alot of them I don’t know personally but they could tell I was in pain) and Dream Chasers really helped. I really wish I could thank each of them personally because, they really helped me carry on even when I was in a lot of pain and quite miserable during the whole ordeal.
Anyway, through sheer will, (I can’t even call it skill, I just grit my teeth) I managed (somehow) to cross the line at around 7:30, really far off from the sub six / sub 5:30 goal that I really wanted but it was an even sweeter win for me nonetheless, that I managed to even show up and finish this race.
Thanks again Jaymie for doing this. I’m sure you hear it alot but this event has really showed me how deep inside myself I can dig and just what I am capable of. When I first signed up for this race, I did it because I needed a win for my 40th birthday. I didn’t realize how big a win it was until I crossed that finish line last Sunday.
Good news! We heard your requests for the shuttle service and Nuvali agreed to provide the free transportation for some of our runners!
WHAT: Free shuttle service to and from NUVALI for Bull Session 4
WHEN: Saturday, January 5, 2013
TIME & VENUE:
WHO CAN RIDE:
HOW MUCH: Free
HOW TO SIGN IN:
1) Click on the link below.
2) Check www.tbrdream.com for list of confirmed shuttle riders to be released before tomorrow, Jan. 4
<<< LINK HAS BEEN REMOVED. SLOTS HAVE BEEN FILLED >>>
For any questions, email Macel at tbrdream@gmail.com or SUN 0942 477 6099.
UPDATE: List of Confirmed Shuttle Riders for Bull Session 4
If your name is included below, please arrive at meeting area on time.
I should’ve done my 100k bike ride last May. But, something always got in the way: a family trip, fever, ITB, and intestinal flu.
Today, everything fell into place.
– Jun and I after our 100k bike ride at NUVALI –
Who would’ve thought I could ever ride 100km? Just goes to show that with a little perseverance, a whole lot of commitment, a dash of stubbornness, and a wee bit of craziness, everything is possible. Yes, even for imbalanced, squeamish, and accident-prone runners like me.
There was a lot of work cut out for us this Labor Day holiday! Friends and I decided to head South for an easy brick session at Nuvali. (“Brick” is a bike then run training session.) It was to be my first brick this year (if you don’t count Tri United 1).
When we arrived at Evoliving Center, the parking lot was packed with bikers. No surprise that there were a lot of us today since it was a wonderful day for a ride.
– Me and Maricel Pangilinan. Anthony in the background busy tweeting –
– Fernando, Jun Cruz, Ton Gatmaitan, and Jake de Guzman –
– Team Tribe’s Ariel Arriola, TBRDM alumni and NYCM 2011 Finishers Gene Tamesis and Rico Manuel –
As we prepared to take off, my new boyfriend, the Shiv, and I got a little bit jittery as we’re still in the getting-to-know-you stage. I’m still adjusting to him and vice versa. (Wow, this Shiv of mine is pretty popular. So many people, mostly middle-aged men want to see or touch him. Good thing I’m not the jealous type. tsk tsk.)
Thankfully, the entire ride was smooth and safe for me despite my worries. It was actually an easy, fun, and scenic bike ride throughout Nuvali. The steep ascents were nerve wracking, but conquering them for the first time on a bike was an amazing experience. For a moment, I actually felt like I was “taming” the Shiv just as Coach Andy Leuterio had advised that I would.
We ran a quick 20 minute run under the intense heat. Half the time I was wondering why I put myself through all this, but a little part of me enjoyed all the suffering. Perfect way to commemorate Labor day I think!
