Power Grabber

by Sonny Bautista

Last April, I flew off to China to compete in a triathlon. As it was a long distance race (competitors must swim 3.8 kilometers, bike 180 kilometers, and run 42 kilometers – a full marathon, all within 17 hours), food was served during the run part of the race. There were cookies, soup, water, Gatorade, and the much-needed performance-boosting Power Bars and gels. Now, as part of my nutrition plan, I stayed away from the Power Bars. See, these things are solid like chocolate bars, which means it’s more difficult to get it down and make the body instantly absorb it. There were a lot of them there though, just waiting to be grabbed and eaten. They came in a lot of flavors, too: banana, vanilla crisp, oatmeal raisin, and of course chocolate. The bars were just too yummy to pass on, so I thought, if I can’t “dine in”, maybe I can “take out” instead. So I went on with my run, and as I passed each aid station spaced about 2 kilometers apart, I helped myself to almost everything on the menu. Cookies and Gatorade went in the mouth, water on the head, and Power Bars into the pockets. I got 2 pieces from each aid station. By the time I finished, and after 42 kilometers of running, I had close to a total of thirty Power Bars, strategically stashed into my jersey pockets.

Back in Manila and after a few days, I had some of my buddies come over to talk about the race. The first thing they asked me was, “Anong pasalubong mo? (What did you get us?)”. So I went to the kitchen, came back with a jar full of Power Bars and said, “Pick a flavor, guys!”.