Eat, Run, and Get Lost in Lipa City

Feeling Good at Getting Lost

Usually, I am not the itinerary maker of any trip I’d been with friends. “Taga-sama, lang ako at kaladkarin.” But for this, I tried to consult Google and top search results are food, ancestral houses, museum, and churches.  Reading blogs get me the impression that the places can be easily found by asking the locals. So we just agreed and come up with a list of places we wanted to see. But it turned-out into an annoying and funny trike ride.

Trike will be the most convenient way to transport around the city. It’s like a taxi, not just in being convenient but also in the minimum flag down rate in Manila. So if you are not very familiar with commuting and knowing where the common places are, prepare some bills. Traveling around may be expensive.

Looking for popular spots come easy. But sometimes, blogs can be confusing. I read about some places which did not exist anymore. So make sure that what you are referring to is something updated.

Food!!!

In general, what to do in Lipa is mostly food tripping. We tried Lipa Grill, located across Mt Carmel Church, which offers a variety of Filipino food.  The taste of Liempo and Pancit that we ordered is not much of a surprise and did not leave me with an impression that I would like to taste it again or want to try another dish. But one good thing is that they serve bigger than usual. So it still good for someone with a big appetite.

What else to expect from a town famous of its Kapeng Barako? Of course we hunt for a coffee shop. We landed at Candlelight Café, located at KM 77 JP Laurel Hi-way, Barangay Maraouy, Lipa City.  What’s obvious about this coffee shop is its different art displays, which are mostly paintings. On one couch there were teenagers drawing patterns of something. On the other table there was a woman teaching her student how to draw the orange, considering its dimensions.

When we enter the shop, it’s so quiet that we tend to talk in a whispering voice. This is something that I often prefer in a dining place. Which probably make the brewed coffee that I ordered tastes good, though the cookie is ordinary.

Lastly we tried the famous Batangas Lomi at a local Lomi house (which name did not register in my brain) suggested by kuyang trike driver as the nearest from SM Lipa. It was past 7pm already and Lomi King may be too far. I was not very satisfied with it, but again the serving is big. It made me so full, which is good for carbo-loading for next day’s race.

The 38th Milo Lipa Leg

People who know about my running may be wondering what's with joining another race of the same event and race category. Well, at the least it's a different place. It's actually my first thought as well. But I guess every race is different from one another.

Milo races are known for its strict cut-off times. For 21km category, it's 2 hours and 30 mins. I don't usually aim for this, but somehow I am challenged. I get scared thinking about it. I have not achieved this time ever. And for some reason, I do not know why I choose the category when I have not trained very well for speed. I just trusted my guts - "malay mo", "kaya yan".

As I said, every race different. Today the challenge is not just running fast but also keeping up with the weather, it was raining all throughout the race. It can either be good or bad for my run. There's threat of heavier shoes and clothes, cold temperature and blisters.

One more challenge is the route. It's close to zero visibility. It was too dark at around 5AM, "walang pa-ilaw si Rio". I just rely on the runners ahead of me few meters away. Just seeing the small reflectorizers from the Milo singlet, hearing some of them talking, their footsteps on the wet ground, guided me of the route. Some had head lamps, but most of them also run in the dark. 

And of course the route difficulty - when it's uphill, it's a very long uphill.

While running this, I had mixed feelings of confidence and doubt in achieving the target time. In the first 5km I experimented shifting to 2/30 at faster pace than the traditional 3/1. But I feel exhausted, because I am not used to this pace. So I changed again and forget about monitoring the time. I run and walk whenever I can and want to.

I get fast times at 4km (25mins), 8km (52mins), and 10km (1:05). I know then that I can achieve the goal, but I also know that I could get slower on the second half because I will get tired and going back means the route will be uphill. I lost focus, but when I saw the 14km tarp at around1:28, I got hopes until I reach 16km, then 18km (2:09).

I thought I can achieve this! When I run in a treadmill, I can do 3km in 20 mins. But this is real road and I doubt I can run that fast. So I just keep running as I could and stopped looking at my watch. I still stop at some points catching my breath. At the last km, I surrendered and not hoping to get a medal. Though I keep on running at slower pace.

Until I arrived probably last 100 strides. Someone from the crowd give me signs to hustle, then I saw the clock at 2:30:++. The seconds are running and a tarp is being put on the finish line, like a gate closing. So I hurried. It's like a miracle, my legs become strong again for that few seconds. It ran faster, it almost got cramps. And Andrew Neri (I think it's him), allowed me to cross the finish line, and be the last one to get the precious medal. I finished with my new PR at 2:31.

The feeling was overwhelming, getting something that you least expect. The pictures of the future flashed in my mind fast. I think about training, joining races, setting faster goals. This happening get me the idea that I can still get better as a runner. I get into a conclusion that my running career is far from over.