Just Another Game - The Personal Blog of Alvin Jimenez

Men’s Health All-Terrain Race 2008: A Week After

Jun 21, 2008 Self Improvement

If you think you can go and run in UP every other day for two whole months and be prepared for the Men’s Health All-Terrain Race, you obviously have no idea what you’re getting yourself into (Parang ako! Lol). I ran. I climbed. I *barely* conquered probably the longest run I’ve ever taken in my life.

12km run x (Who knows how many steep hills + Scorching heat of the sun) = An experience I will never ever forget.

I’ve never been a runner. I’ve always found it boring since I was into a sport that was played in spurts. Whereas my former boss would spend around 70% of his time in the gym running around an indoor track, I was usually trying to squeeze out that last rep on the bench press. Building muscles was always synonymous to fitness. Lol?

The first 10 minutes are fine until you get to the first uphill climb. After a few more ascents, I realized that the only strategy I could make was walk these particular sections. Believe me when I say that your quads will hurt like a mother******. Though there were definitely some fantastic views along the way, the first and last thing on my mind was how far the next water stations were. At that point, I was telling myself, “Hey, once the climb part is over, I’m going to be cruising the rest of the way”. Not.

If you’ve got weak legs, know that the descent will be anything but easy. Since you’re going to be tired as hell on the way back, each stomp will take its toll on both your feet and knees (specially the rocky parts). I ended up sprinting most of these stretches just to get it over with. Like I said, I’m no long distance runner.

I can go on and talk about how Men’s Health changed my life, and how this race became a significant part of it, but that would bore you to bits. Let’s just say I now have a new found respect for people who can run kilometers without losing their breath. While I’m sure they would have difficulty putting on plates in the weight room, runners would definitely leave muscleheads in the dust when it comes to these insanely difficult courses.

How did I do? Er, I finished the thing didn’t I? So give me an effin’ break.

*More Men’s Health All-Terrain Pics on my Flickr Bar.

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