How I qualified for the Boston Marathon

By Leica Carpo

January 26, 2009

PEOPLE often ask me why I run, and how I got so fast so quickly.

I started running in August 2007 at age 40. With less then three years of running as a base, it’s uncommon to start running marathons with a sub-4 finish time, much less qualifying for a prestigious race like the Boston Marathon with a 3:40(02) finish time. But I did.

In this day and age, there are easier ways to keep one’s youthful figure. For some, doing it the old-fashioned, hardcore way via real sweat is a feat similar to acquiring bragging rights from dating a rock star or someone from “Pinoy Big Brother.” For others, it’s a cool item to tick off that bucket list of “Things to do before you croak.”

I confess I’m not immune to feeling a certain degree of pride in accomplishing something not every 40-year-old can do. But believe me, the 15 minutes of fame I enjoyed before my family and friends has not helped me wake up at the crack of dawn in all kinds of weather, or to run more easily.

Despite the famous runner’s high and its health benefits, there are the various other runner’s ailments to consider, like nasty chafing and blisters, ugly dead toenails and a painful slew of muscle aches that are part and parcel of every runner’s lot.

Running is punishing your body to a certain extent, with the goal of becoming stronger and faster not just during a race but also, hopefully, in life as well.

Jolt of energy

I run for many reasons, not all of them noble or interesting. It makes me feel stronger as a person, and I enjoy the jolt of energy it injects into other aspects of my life.

Running allows me to get to the heart of things very quickly without too much drama or artifice. It has shown me how to be patient in trying to achieve my goals, to be clear-cut about my objectives, to deal calmly with pain. And, overall, it’s a great stress-buster.

And the fact that I look pretty decent in a bikini doesn’t hurt, either.

Before I discovered running, I was a night owl and an insomniac. I had no serious weight loss issues, as I had already established my ideal fitness routine which consisted of twice to thrice a week yoga, five times a week badminton and once a week walking.

I was burning enough calories to splurge on dessert and the occasional steak dinner, and still look credible in a mini-skirt. I initially started to run because my sisters had signed me up for the Honolulu Marathon in December 2007, and it was to be our holiday family bonding.

It still took a swag bag from Nike and Apple to jump-start my running. I sincerely believe that most potential runners need something to push them off the couch and onto the road/track or trail. It’s just so easy to slack off, especially if you have no weight issues to contend with.

What motivates you can be as trivial as a swag bag or a destination race (New York, Paris, or Honolulu etc.), or as serious as getting over a messy divorce.

The key is to find what it is that will keep the fire burning, especially when the going gets tough—and it will.

Hearing the voice of Lance Armstrong on my cute little iPod Nano congratulating me on my first 10k made me feel not so alone. Running is inevitably a solo sport, and the recorded congratulations made me feel like I had a secret coach watching over my progress.

I would recommend that all new runners start off with fun new gear, be it a flattering new dri-fit top or headphones. More importantly, select a beautiful route to explore when first starting to run. My week in Paris cut my time down to 53-55 minutes for the 10k; it was a week of visual pleasure with minimal strain, mainly due to the distraction of the city itself.

Chore

Inevitably, running alone can become a chore. Finding a group to run with especially on longer runs becomes mandatory if you are to progress in distance, speed etc. That’s how I ended up training with the Polo Tri Team, the triathlon group that my sisters/cousin were all members of.

After that, my life literally sped up. My sisters Amanda and Chesca, with my cousin Jon-Jon Rufino, managed to convince me that not only was I capable of finishing a marathon after three months of training, but that also, I had enough in me to match Oprah Winfrey’s finishing time of 4:29.

Surprisingly, I beat Oprah’s time with a 4:22, despite cramping in the last two kilometers. Two months later, I ran my second marathon, the Pasig River Marathon, and finished with a 4:25.

Even before that race had ended, I had already set my sights on my next marathon, the ING New York City Marathon (NYM) in November later that year.

By this time, I had become more ambitious and prepared for the race, with the goal not just of finishing it but achieving a sub-4 (a time most running amateurs strive to achieve). With my sister Chesca, we vowed to do a sub-4 race or expire trying.

At this point, I started triathlon training because I felt it would help me run faster and was the ideal way to get physically fit—running without getting injured, as it involved biking and swimming, both ideal foils to running. Proper cross training was the key ingredient in making me a faster runner.

I credit my sub-4 NY Marathon time to my White Rock (WR) training program. WR is a Half Ironman (2k swim, 90k bike and 21k run) in Clark, Pampanga, that I joined last October, about a month before the New York Marathon.

WR is a challenging race to finish, because of its record-high temperatures (95 degrees and up) and its torturously hilly run (slope degree) course. According to my sister Chesca who had done both the previous years, “After surviving WR, you will find NYM a walk in the park”. Not a 100-percent accurate comment, but it’s a pretty apt description.

Naturally the key to running well in any race, aside from proper training, is the pre-race strategy, which I got from run guru and Polo Tri founder Rune Stroem. We tackled topics like race day clothing and bathroom requirements.

Prestigious

“The Boston” is one of the oldest and most prestigious marathons in the world. It earned this reputation from its brutal course, and one must make qualifying time in previous recognized marathons before one can register in the Boston marathon.

So this is not a marathon for novices or just for fun. It has even humbled nine-time winner of NY marathon Grete Waitz (1978-1988).

Eighteen months ago when I started running, I averaged one to two hours of training a day, or, conservatively, about 1000-plus hours of training until April 20, 2009 (The day of the Boston Marathon).

That’s about 55,000-plus calories burned. Trust me when I say I honestly sweated and felt every one of those burning calories. Knowing now the sacrifice and pain involved, I say I’d still do it again, no hesitations. Some pain is good for a worthy cause, and this is one of those.

My experience has shown me that taking on a challenge one day at a time is key. Slowly, at your own pace but with purposeful intent, keep pushing to a level that’s just above your comfort zone—enough to make it a challenging proposition.

Make sure to reward yourself for every next level you achieve. Enjoy the small battles that lead to the eventual achievement of your goals. One foot in front of the other—that’s the only way to make this goal happen. Share this goal with as many people as possible once you have gotten over the fear of actually having to make it happen.

I never planned to make the cut for Boston, but nobody plans to fall in love, either. It just happens. Once you put the wheels into place, or in this case, your legs into motion, everything will fall into place.

If you do commit yourself to running a marathon, it will reward you. It won’t be a walk in the park, but it will be gloriously fulfilling at any age.

Or, as Sara Mae Berman, three-time Boston winner, put it: “The wonderful thing about athletic achievement is that it is finite. There is no ambiguity. You did it and no one can ever take that away from you.”