It's beginning to feel easier

It always comes to a point when everything begins to feels easier.

When I began doing this 6k route which starts with a 3k ascent Tuesday, I felt I was in running hell. Even before I reached the 500 meter mark of the first kilometer, I was in oxygen debt. I was literally gasping, and my arms and legs! I was feeling the burn. Lactic acid build-up, no doubt. There could be no other reason.

It was not that I started out fast. I knew the route enough to remember that I should pace myself properly, especially so that I came from running the Run For P.E.A.C.E 5k in Davao over the weekend. The road climbs steadily, and just when you think the next portion is flat if not going down, another slight uphill stares you right in the face as if taunting you.

That keeps on for three kilometers!

But yes, it always comes to a point when everything begins to feel easier.

The human body is resilient. It has that ability to adjust, to adopt, an ability that truly serves the athlete - even the ones who just "feel like" among which I would include myself.

After two days of taking on this "killer hill" of a route, including running it in a drizzle that eventually became a full blown rain Wednesday, it seemed a little less of a "killer" today. It was still a difficult route but a little tamer this time.

There was still a degree of oxygen debt at the early going, but my breathing has become less labored. I can pick up the pace and not feel like dying, and I found it easier to get into a rhythm. My 37-minute total run time for the entire 6k was down to 34 this morning. I still felt fresh after the run, and I'm definitely happy about it.

There's just this one thing, though. I want to tackle that third kilometer going into my designated turnaround point with a lap time lower than the 6:47 I have been recording in my old Timex Ironman Triathlon for the past three days.

Maybe I could do that one of these days. There are more runs ahead of me along this route. And its beginning to feel easier.