I should have listened

Two weeks before the Press Freedom Run I sought my tukayo Raffy Uytiepo. So one evening, over steamy hot Lapaz batchoy and pandesal, we sat in front of Casa Ilongga at Robinson’s and talked about the event and some other things.

I’ve always asked Raffy’s help being a new runner. And he had always been accommodating. Of course, he has a lot to offer. He had coached some of the best runners including “Vertek” Buenavista - the current Philippine record holder in the marathon.

No, I wasn’t running a marathon but then I found Raffy’s words very profound especially after a miserable finish in the Press Freedom Run.

Raffy explicitly told me to rest the day before the event. He even related that marathon runners would do nothing except listen to music, sleep or carbo-load before the big event.

I didn’t have anything planned for Friday evening except a practice session with SAC in preparation for an exhibition game versus the HRAC executives. Before the day ended, I received word that the game is cancelled. I called Roel Labrador of The Freeman and told him that I’m not too keen to practice because the game is cancelled anyway. He replied that there’s a bunch of players from The Freeman who are eager to play. Next thing I heard was Manny Villaruel’s voice on the phone.

In no time, I went down to the court and played. Before I left home, I told myself that I won’t really get involved, that I’ll just break sweat.

That’s what I thought.

We were up against younger guys who were not only fast but also very familiar with the court. That’s when I said, let me show these youngsters that an old man could play. Before I knew it, I was all over the court.

Fast forward to Press Freedom Run. I came early and did my stretching and warm-up. However, after jogging a few meters, I felt a stabbing pain in my right abdomen! I stopped and tried to inhale and exhale several times and felt a little better.

I was running behind John Pages at the start of the race. After the first turn, I felt the pain again and realized I have stomach cramps. I ignored the pain but when I reached Keppel building, the pain was getting worse.

I continued to run. When I reached Mindanao Avenue, John Pages and Edri Aznar were already making the final turn towards the finish.

While I struggled to reach the finish line, I was blaming myself. Moral of the story: I should have listened to my coach.

* * *

Thieves and robbers are again preying on the residents of R.R. Landon Street. Just recently, they stole the spare tire of our van. A few weeks ago, a man was held-up at around 5:00 a.m. while waiting for his girlfriend who was then preparing to report for work.

Before these incidents, a group of robbers literally lifted a motorcycle that was parked along the street, loaded it into a multicab and sped away! Our neighbor, who owns a sari-sari store, lost a copying machine and cell phones when robbers broke into her store.

We have reported these incidents to the officials of Barangay San Antonio and they promised to start patrolling the street. I haven’t seen any foot patrols or any forays by tanods in R.R. Landon Street, specifically on the upward stretch towards Jakosalem Street, where these incidents happened.

To our police force, could you guys do something?

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