The onslaught of rain did not start until ten minutes into the running.
Coach Roel and I had gotten out of ULTRA and had just started making our way across Rodriguez Lanuza Ave. What was the sense in going back? A little while later, several taxis slowed down beside us. I suppose they thought they looked so tempting.
I was acutely aware that I was drenched to the core. My shirt clung onto my skin and I could feel the water seeping onto my shoes and making a squishy sound. “Eeeewww!” Coach Roel would go once in a while, in an earnest but really quite unnecessary attempt to mock me. “Eeeewww!” I would reply, only half joking.
I’d made several stops but this was definitely not like the first day of the 10k training when I barely made it to the start of Temple Drive. It was the rain of course, and the fact that it wasn’t as hot as the previous days. I much prefer running in the rain than running with the sun bearing down on me. We made it all the way to the end of Temple Drive, past the Church of the Latter Day Saints, just like I promised Coach we would.
May I just say, the feeling was nothing short of exhilarating.There we were, drenched to the bone, and I was just exhilarated.
An uncle of mine even saw me! I mean, really what are the chances? (It was at that point where I nearly fell onto the paved sidewalk).
By the time we got back to ULTRA, the rain had let up a bit.
When I got home, my parents were having dinner. “Anong nangyari sa yo?!“
“Tumakbo ako sa ulan!”
And they shook their heads and rolled their eyes.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Route: From ULTRA to Rodriguez Lanuza lane, past the Ortigas Avenue intersection and finally to Temple Drive, past the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Then all the way back again to ULTRA.
Time: 1 hour 19 minutes (counting the time we had to buy water in Rustan’s Supermarket along Temple Drive )
