Watching Sunrises

Trophy Wife

At last, Ironman 70.3 has come. It's the culmination of close to a year of training and preparation for Pia, who's joining the sea of hundreds, if not thousands of fellow triathletes for the first time in years.

While Pia has tried out many sports over the years, it's always in triathlons that she comes back to. There's something about combining a test of endurance with a variety of movements that melts her stresses away.

Soon, the announcer blares through the megaphone the starting signal. "On your mark, get set..."

Once the pistol sounded off, Pia jumped into the sea and leaped into the salty waters.

***

The swimming portion wasn't always Pia's favorite part of the race. Sure, she can do it, and she likes doing it enough, but it was more of a warm-up for her than anything else. Plus, unlike the other legs of the race, one can't really talk to other people while swimming.

After what seemed like forever, Pia has reached the 1 km mark. "Halfway point na...kaya ko 'to. Focus, Pia..."

She took a small break and treaded the waters to rest for a bit before continuing on. The next thing she knew, she has reached the finish line to the cheers of many people on the sidelines.

Pia rushed on to head for the biking portion of the race when she saw a someone chanting her campaign jingle with a callsign that read "Pia Pia Pia Cayetano" arranged in a vertical fashion. Someone she doesn't usually find in such events.

She removed her goggles to get a clearer look at who that person is and did a double-take. "Wait, is that..."

Pia rushed to the sidelines to find Loren standing there with her sign. "Akala ko hindi ka makakapunta!"

"Surprise, wifey!" Loren beamed. "Nagpaalam ako sa advisor ko. I told him I just couldn't miss this."

Without even thinking, Pia wrapped Loren into a very tight hug, wet swimsuits be damned. The clock was still ticking, but it didn't matter.

When she let her go, Loren fanned the wet spots on her shirt with the battery-operated fan she always brought with her. "Loka ka, binasa mo' ko."

"Welcome to Ironman, love," Pia said before heading off to the biking leg of the race.

***

Now, it's on to Pia's favorite leg of any triathlon: the 180km biking round.

The biking route looped across multiple towns in Antique, giving her a mini-tour of the province. At first, Antique was merely a blip on the radar, a stopover before jumping off to other places in her itinerary.

But over the years, Pia found herself falling in love with the province, and she tried to figure out why.

Could it be the pristine beaches, untouched by the hustle and bustle of the tourist magnets? Perhaps it's due to the multitudes of rice terraces scattered across the place? Or the friendly smiles of the locals waving at her while she's on the bike?

Or was it something else entirely?

At around the 100km mark, several people reached out from the sides with bottles of water on hand. Amongst them, there Loren was again with a reusable water bottle.

Pia rushed to her side and grabbed the bottle from her. She looked to get a glimpse of Loren again, now with a mischievous smile on her face. "Hi, P. Gulat ka ba?"

"Hindi naman," Pia deadpanned while taking a swig of that cold, cold water.

Once she quenched her thirst for water, Pia cupped Loren's face and surprised her with a wet kiss. When they let go, Loren stared at her speechless right after.

Pia then hopped onto her bike again and waved at her. "See you at the finish line, wife."

***

It's the final stretch of the race - the 21km run.

The last leg of any race was always the hardest, and for Pia, this is no exception. The adrenaline's winding down, and her body's starting to feel the aches and pains from the previous legs.

It's a test of focus and mettle, and of how well Pia can keep her eyes on the prize.

Endurance races like triathlons are nothing like sprints. Pia needed to quickly learn when to pick up the pace and when to slow down, so she doesn't peter out before she even reaches the finish line.

The faint outline of the finish line becomes clearer and clearer. "Final stretch na. Let's do this."

After 6 hours on the circuit, Pia has finally reached the finish line to the cheers of the crowd on the sidelines. It's been ages since she felt that high, and boy was it worth experiencing again.

An even bigger surprise came her way when she discovered that she won first place in her age group, and she found herself standing in the middle of the podium.

Was it due to the year-round training, or was something else at play?

Once Pia stepped down from the podium and walked to the side, Loren showed up once more with a bouquet of pink and purple flowers on one hand and a small paper bag on the other. "Congrats, P! Galing ng asawa ko, ah."

There's another prize Pia received that's bigger than the accolade of winning Ironman - and that's Loren taking Pia's hand and showing her off to anyone willing to listen. "Hello! Congratulate niyo naman ung asawa ko, oh. Ironman Antique champion!"

It's a far cry from the days when they'd show their love behind the closed doors of committee rooms and inner offices. Truth be told, that's Pia's secret dream - not just be a housewife, but a trophy wife paraded around like some kind of prize.

Once they've escaped the crowd, Pia took the flowers from Loren and smiled at her again. "Di ka talaga magpapahuli, no?"

"Ako pa," Loren beamed. "You've always cheered me on then. Ako naman."

Pia laid down the flowers on the track and gave Loren another, not as wet, kiss. She never thought she would see the day they will do such things in a very public space, but they did.

When they let go of the kiss, Pia then looked at Loren once more. "Love, remember ung inuman natin with Lens and Risa nung nasa Senate ka pa and I shared that if money and responsibilities weren't a problem, I wanted to be a trophy wife?"

"Yes, and?"

"I was serious about that," Pia said.

Loren closed her eyes and smiled. "I know. That's why I showed you off."

During the bike ride, Pia attempted to remember what made Antique a special place for her, and this was exactly why.