AAV Sun Fest - April 25, 2009

My 2nd official race. I was so excited to register for this race. When the route was emailed to me, I became more excited. Can't get anything in my head except the race.

And so Friday came. I made it a point to sleep early. I was supposed to go to this race by myself since my family cannot fathom waking up very early to watch me run. But in the end, they did. I was up by 5 am. My things were all ready the night before. All I had to do was grab my bag and leave. We arrived in Makiling Street AAV by 5:40 am... There were already a number of runners waiting, stretching and checking out the map route.

It was kind of intimidating. There were more experienced runners in this race than in the PIA. I can easily tell. Most were lean and muscular sporting a sun-tanned look. In other words, it was very obvious that I was one of the newbies. I saw Tweety De Leon in the crowd. She runs too - extensively as I gathered.

I did my stretching (as I learned thru hours of reading)... Then the race began. The 10K runners went ahead followed by the 5K and then the 3k. Most of the 5k runners sped ahead of me at the start. I go.. man, I'm really a newbie!!! They were running like it was a sprint. I figured if I do that I'd be dead tired in less than 2k so I just went on with my comfortable running pace. After about 100 meters or so, the route went uphill. Geez!! Didn't expect an uphill route. But then again, I can say I'm actually semi-trained since I go to the gym regularly to run. At this point, the other runners were starting to slow down. I really can't remember what happened to the rest of the runners. I was so concentrated on my running I didn't notice where the other runners went. All I remember is that at some point, there were a number of runners walking. I passed some of them. Proudly, I didn't resort to a walk. I ran all the way up to the finish line. May not be fast as to a runner's standard but it was an ok pace for me.

At the 2.5km mark (u-turn) there were only two of us. It was a male runner. He went ahead of me for the remaining 2.5k but I didn't mind. I think he finished about 5 minutes ahead of me. I also saw a male runner dragging his foot going back. I think he got the cramps. Oh well, STRETCHING!

At the last 1km, I saw my son, mom and dad walking along the route looking for me. I was so glad to see them!! It felt like forever reaching the finish line. My son took pictures of me too which was great. I have a remembrance of the race. I clocked in at 47 minutes. Slow but ok for me. For now, I don't intend to do a fast finish but I want mileage. I'm doing the Southern Race this Sunday for 5K again. On the 17th, there's a Power Run at the Fort. I will be brave enough to try the 5 Mile = 8 Km. I hope I finish it...

By the way, I was so lucky to have a picture taken with no one else but the Bald Runner!! I'm really impressed with this guy. He has a Team called Bald Runner Elite and boy are they really elite. I heard that some of the runners now are actually training for the Iron Man Philippines happening this August in CamSur. That must be really something.

The Decision to Run

When did I decide to seriously RUN? I actually cannot remember when... Looking back though I think it all started with....my blood pressure....

My BP has been spiking up since January of this year. Prior to that, I experienced a seizure in October that resulted to my staying in the hospital for almost a week. A number of doctors examined me but found nothing. In the end, they said it must be stress-related. Oh well. So I went about doing my stuff.. home -- office -- home -- office. Mind you that I've been religiously going to the gym for almost six months doing cardio and weight training before that seizure happened. It wasn't my first by the way..

On my birthday I renewed my license (haha.. what a way to spend your birthday right?) In any case, there I was in the LTO waiting for the doctor to call my name and do the routinary BP, eye check-up etc... and lo and behold my BP was over 90... that's high for me.. My BP ranges from 60 - 70... I figured... he must be a Quacky Doc you know. If he's good, he won't be in the LTO right? Or his equipment must be old already therefore the BP it registers is not accurate... But, I have to admit it scared me... A week after that I was doing my groceries and I felt very dizzy and sleepy.. So, I was near a Healthway Clinic and decided to have my BP checked.. It was over 100!!!! Whatta Whatta!!!!

I'm not into medicines anymore. I am a firm believer now that anything foreign that you put in your body will have some form of side effect. Then I decided, maybe I should increase my running regimen in the gym to bring my BP down... Of course I need to go and have myself checked but I've been through that last October and well I just don't want to go through it again for the meantime.

So I started increasing my treadmill time.. During one of my gym days I chanced upon this ad of Pia Cayetano for Pinay in Action.. I go, it looks fun. Won't do me harm in trying. I registered for the 5k. And boy, I got hooked ever since. It was fun fun fun.. I finished the 5k in 37 minutes. My first outdoor run.

The route was ok.. It wasn't hilly.. Plain flat route... There were so many participants at the start of the race but then after awhile, the participants started to dwindle. I felt like a runner with water stations, runners everywhere, starting line etc etc. There came a point that it started to get really hot (or maybe my BP was going up) that I had to pour water all over myself.. Haha.. feeling runner! grabe! I also had the sensibility to bring sunglasses.. Buti na lang.. the sun shone brightly at some point along the route. I went home very happy... So the story of how I got hooked.

The day after, I had a client call in Laguna. That plant required you to take off your shoes and wear slippers while inside the plant. Since I always do that, I did so without apprehension.. The intended 1 hour call turned to 3 hours. I felt my legs were starting to swell! I felt uneasy because I was worried my shoes won't fit. Of course it didn't!!! I can't show that to the client so I forced my feet to fit in my high heel shoes. C**p!! That was really fun. I decided then to read more about running, what to do, stretching exercises needed before a run.. :)

My goal is to join the Condura run next year at 21K... This blog is meant for me to keep track of my progress as a Neophyte Runner while being a banker... And maybe influence my colleagues to start running as well. It's cheap, fun and a very good exercise. By the way, my BP is now pretty stable.. I hope it continues...