I took vacation leave last Friday because I needed some time off from work. I needed to rest. I needed to make some time for myself. I needed time to relax because the next two weeks ahead of me would be a monstrous one. I filed my leave form last Thursday in the hopes of getting some well deserved rest but come Friday, I did the exact opposite.

I woke up at around 7 am. Tricia messaged me that she wanted breakfast so I obliged and brought some to bring up the condo. I was up at the condo by  7:15 and I was able to finish my morning breakfast by 7:30. Took a bath and I was out on the road by 8. I could feel the cool breeze even at 8 am and I loved it.

I wanted to do a long run that day and I ended up going from Libis to C5 – Fort Bonifacio to Mckinley Hill and then back. I was a slow easy pace run that really helped my build my endurance. I had run running it because of the cold weather. I wasn’t even able to wear my cap anymore because of the cool breeze.

The first 5 kilometers were somewhat the hardest. There was this part of me that wanted me to turn to Julia Vargas so that I would have a hard time going back and there was this part of me that wanted to go up until Fort Bonifacio just to encounter a different route. It was more of a battle of familiarity against exploration. It was a good thing the adventurous one in me won that Friday.

It was amazing to see how busy the cars are. I pass that road everyday going to work and I never actually notice how aggressive drivers are other than myself though. It’s funny to see them hustle and bustle in the streets trying to out drive one another when they could, just like me, run to their destination. They could get there longer but they’d be a lot healthier.

Going into Kalayaan intersection and into Fort Bonifacio was quite testing. I had to go up the pedestrian overpass so as not to become roadkill and not become a big jaywalker. When I got close to the vicinity of the elevated U-turn slot, there were no sidewalks. Flargh, I said to myself. It was this small strip of road where a car would exactly fit in it. If I was running on the road when a car passed, I would surely get sideswiped. I made sure that when I ran the small strip of road that there weren’t any cars behind me. I also made sure I ran it fast. It was a slight burst of speed from me. Shortly after that, I was in Fort Bonifacio and everything was familiar again. I was able to run more comfortably again.

I made my way to Mckinley Hill and just like Bonifacio High Street, everything was familiar again. Total distance going there before making that U-turn at the end of Enderun was 11.5 kilometers. Went back the same way to complete a very long 23 kilometer 3 hour long run. Check out my nike+ stats here. Check full map here.

It was a tiring and punishing Friday that was meant to be my rest day. Ironically, one would have been able to rest over the weekend, I gained a slight fever which really meant I needed to take a break. I guess that punishing run forced me to take that rest after all.