My right knee hurts when I walk. The joint that connects my right leg to my hip also feels odd. My lower back feels a little stiff after waking up from my afternoon nap. Generally, I can hear all the muscles in my body sarcastically say, "Ppip, good job. Really. Good job."

According to my Nike + iPod app, my running pace was at 0:06:49 per kilometer. I don't know if that's good enough or what but, hell, to me that's friggin' awesome. It was also raining the whole time so we were all soaking in the rain. I'd like to think that it helped increase the runners' stamina since our body temperatures were cooler than the usual but it was a bit uncomfortable running with every squishy step on the road.

This was the second run that I joined since my 8-km Run for IT last year. I am picky when joining these events because I hate large crowds. The reason I joined last year's was because a lot of my office teammates were going. Kinda like taking one for the team. The reason why I joined this morning's SM 2 SM Run For Sight was because I'm sort of training myself for something big this summer.

I'd like to keep it a secret for now since we are supposed to keep our goals to ourselves until we actually achieve it.

According to the event organizers, despite the downpour 95% of those that said they will join still showed up. I had trouble finding my officemates though since the carpark (where I left my mobile phone) was several meters away from the starting line and the rain wasn't helping. I just had to run and mingle with strangers (I didn't).

I actually I enjoyed the run. It felt very good knowing that if I finish I would have run 12 km. While running, I was confident I could do it but there were always moments of doubt especially when somebody runs past you. But I reminded myself that I didn't aim to be in the top ten fastest runners for that distance. My goal was to finish it without stopping or walking at any point in the race. I wanted to set a good pace or speed where I could sustain it.

And I think I did it. People were running past me at the onset which is understandable because the gunstart has its way of hyping people up. I just maintained a good not-so-fast-yet-not-too-slow pace. I maintained the same pace all throughout and was able to run past a few folks around the 8-km mark. The only parts I sprinted was on the uphill climbs (going up the SRP bridge) while everyone else was walking or jogging slowly. My way of giving the finger to them.

When I was already at the intersection of Pier 3 on the way back to SM, I knew I had it. Some of the runners were already walking.

When I arrived a the finish line, I was given a medal just for finishing it. Awesome. I didn't expect it, I'm new to this.

When I arrived home, I created a 12-week running plan on Nike +'s website which would start immediately on Tuesday morning of this week. Nope, there ain't no rest for the wicked. The summer event is going to be big and I don't plan on dissapointing myself so I better build myself up for this.

As I'm writing, my body continues to ache and I could still "hear" their sarcasm. I would just have to respond:

The worst is yet to come, boys.

* 2/15 update: on the title I indicated my running time was 1:12:47. Actually, it was 1:22:47. Corrected it.