Carrie: The Hills are Alive with the Sound of My Footsteps

I have long been wondering why my running is not improving. Well, for one I'm overweight heehee, then I don't have a regular running schedule, then I do not exert more effort during runs (why?...Im afraid to have a heart rate more than 160bpm and feel light headed), then I still eat as much food as I want (bad ones included) and I do not cross train. Bad me maintaining these bad habits.

One day as I am so frustrated running and so envious of what Din had already achieved, I made a promise to myself to train as hard as he does, to eat the right food, to cross train 2x per week and most of all to have a positive attitude. That was when I discovered the hills at Alabang Hills and at Hillsborough. The first time I made an attempt to run at Tirona St. going to Alabang Hills (June 2010), I literally died. My heart rate was at 170bpm, I felt lightheaded, my hands were cold clammy and my knees trembled. I vowed not to run there anymore. But after two days of rest I found myself attempting the street again. This time with more determination and hoped that in due time I might be friends with the street. Thank God, luck was on my side. After 3 more months, as I run the street of Ramona Tirona, entering Alabang Hills all the way to Hillsborough, I can proudly say that I have made a very big improvement from an average pace of 9:45min/km to 8:49min/km. Yipee!

With the improved pace came my gradual weight loss, came the unflinching desire to conquer more hills (no, Corregidor is not for me.....yet), came the determination to run 10km. On October 24, at Adidas KOTR, I will attempt to run my first 10km hoping that my training at the hills of Alabang hills and Hillsborough will not fail me. Indeed, the hills are alive with the sound of my steady and determined footsteps!