Running mom’s birthday wishes

As write this, I turn a year older. However, I remain in the same 35-39 age bracket in the Boston Marathon and still need to run a BQ in 3 hours 40 minutes in order to qualify.

At the rate I’m going and with my current marathon best time, I need to be 75 years old to be able to qualify to run the worlds oldest and most prestigious marathon next to the Olympics.

But you know what they say, dreams, like your first love, never die. Like my three birthday wishes. Every year since I took up the great sport of running, my wishes have remained the same. This year, one of these three wishes have been partly granted, one is a credit card swipe away, while the other looks like it will remain on my wish list unless I decide to change zip codes.

First: I wish pedestrians and runners in this city that we love reclaim the sidewalk. This wish has been  partially granted with the restoration and beautification of the sidewalk along Osmena Boulevard from the Cebu Provincial Capitol down to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The restoration of the sidewalk on both sides of Osmena Boulevard has made it safer for runners as they no longer have to run along the path of jeepneys and cabs gone berserk just to avoid the uneven pavement that used to cover the old sidewalk.

Did you know that the stetch from the Capitol down to the City Central School is a perfect 2K? If you do a loop and a half in the morning running along the renovated sidewalk, that’s a complete 5K that ends at the Fuente Osmena circle where all the breakfast places are located. Other than the running paths at the Cebu I.T. Park, you  won’t find any other perfect route for a short run like Osmena boulevard.

This project, funded by a private group called the Beautiful Cebu Movement led  by the foundation chairperson Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung, was completed in December last year and I never got to thank them. I thank them now.

It would be really perfect if they could do their magic again, only this time from J.Y. Square passing through Salinas Drive and Juan Luna Avenue all the way to Mabolo church. This stretch does not only need beautification and renovation, but a demolition of a concrete fence owned by TESDA that renders 100 meters of sidewalk along Salinas Drive impassable, unwalkable (never mind run) not to mention dangerous to pedestrians, school children and runners like me.

Second: I really wish Cebu weather was 20 degrees Celsius, with highs of 25 and lows of 15 degrees Celsius, everyday even during the summer. Running and training in a cooler climate means you don’t have to use your energy reserve to cool down the body to prevent it from overheating. When we run under hot conditions, the energy that’s supposed to be used for doing faster more efficient strides is instead used to increase blood flow, which in turn helps shed excess heat by encouraging perspiration.

Studies  have shown that endurance runners  and athletes work most efficiently in cooler climes, preferably between 2 to 12 degrees Celsius. That’s way too cold for me though. It also means saying goodbye to mangoes that need tropical sun to become sweet, so 20 degrees, in my opinion, is the perfect running temperature for a runner from the tropics like me.

Finally, I wish stores like Runnr and A Runner’s Circle would sell a line of sports bras for nursing mothers who run or exercise a lot. For the past six months, I have been feeding my baby with nothing but breast milk (Nope, not even water for hiccups). This means, it’s either my breasts are attached to my little bundle of joy or to a breast pump while I’m at work or in between workouts at the gym. That’s because women’s breasts were made by God primarily as a food delivery system and not merely for aesthetic purposes.

A sports bra that gives maximum support and lessens bounce for a fuller than normal breasts, with easily detachable front panels for feeding and pumping breaks would not only be convenient for sporty mamas like me, it also sends a message to other moms that yes, they can still run or do sports or do cross fit and still follow an exclusively breastfeeding mom’s tight feeding and pumping schedule  – even in the middle of a race!  But that’s for another column.