34th Milo Marathon Race Kit

24 Days to the 34th Milo Marathon

I’m on a road, running the Milo marathon at a steady pace. I’ve just passed a hydration station and suddenly I notice not everyone is going in the same direction as me. Some of them are heading towards me with oddly glazed eyes. Their skin is ashen, and they’re not quite running — they’re shuffling. And then I realize: they’re all zombies and I have to run faster because they’re coming for me!

Then I woke up last Saturday and remembered I had only just registered for the 34th Milo Marathon Manila eliminations.

34th Milo Marathon Race Kit

42K. OMG.

It’s now only 24 days to Milo. Given that I’d only had 16 weeks to prepare properly for it since I announced my intentions, I’d wasted a whole month being injured (stupid infected wound). I’ve already done a 25-kilometer run, and tonight I’m running 30 kilometers with Rico and others who are preparing for the marathon. I’m praying for no injuries and no further setbacks to my training.

I know my nightmare has no chance of coming true (I mean, come on! Zombie runners?!), but it’s a result of performance anxiety. I can already feel the butterflies in my stomach. I’ve already registered though, and even if the price tag of P500 plus a P70 pack of Milo was higher than I expected, it’s still a good deal for a marathon.

I know I shouldn’t try to qualify for the finals with the kind of training I’ve been doing, and this year they’ve implemented age group qualifying times. For women in my age bracket (18 to 34 years old), the qualifying time is 4 hours, 20 minutes. That would mean running at a 6:xx min/km pace throughout — not something I’m prepared to do.

On the upside, the cutoff for finishing the marathon and receiving a medal is now 6 hours, rather than 5 hours as in previous years. The pressure is definitely off me. (Thank you, Lord, for the little things!)

The countdown continues. Tick tock

About Noelle De Guzman

Noelle De Guzman is a freelance writer and recreational athlete with over 12 years of experience in fitness and endurance sport. She believes sport and an active healthy lifestyle changes lives.

12 thoughts on “24 Days to the 34th Milo Marathon

  1. Hey Noelle,Goodluck on your training. I am sure you can do it. You have all the determination in the world. Don't worry about running a zombie. I've ran races with just 3 hours of sleep the night before and it turned out pretty well. I hope I can pull off a sub2 this time!

  2. You don't need to get that serious in your training since you've been to many strict races and finished strong.Training on very little sleep was my foundation when i started running last Feb, and i guess that really sum up my weakness so far, but training for hard for it that might cause injury before the main race is much worse than not to run at all.See you in the Milo Marathon(Curfew time only , never-mind the Cut off for elims heheh)

  3. i don't think you'd have problem doing it in 4:20 barring any unfavorable circumstances. with your competitive spirit and strong will, panis yan. Don't overtrain though. less than a month na rin yung run.

  4. Hi Noelle! Congrats in advance and God Bless! Hope U can make it sa final! Hope to see U again in the race so that I could take pictures of you… thanks and enjoy the race!Henry RenrunnerUp team

  5. try mo panoorin "spirit of the marathon" pag katapos mong panoorin parang gusto mo ng lumabas at tumakbo agad ng full marathon, good luck kikay runner!fafa don

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