Revival of the Running Blog

Didn't realize that my last entry was October of last year, after my first half marathon..  Updates since then are as follows:

(1)  Yes, I did run Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon last December at a dismal time of 3 hours and 16 minutes. I cried when I crossed the finish line. Leg cramps killed me starting km. 10 so I had to walk more than half of  the route.  Even a jog was impossible.  Ang yabang ko kasi!!! Couldn't resist the temptation of running a half marathon in Laoag a week before the SCSM.  So, I did.  Though I had a great time running that race,  it took a toll on my legs. The route was almost 22 kms and the amateur runner that I am,  my legs didn't have time to fully recover.  I went into the SCSM run with aches on my legs.  I tried to relieve them temporarily by putting tons of Bengay & other mentholated patches... didn't work. In any case,  it was a lesson learned (haha.. later on you will say na matigas talaga ulo ko).  If there's anything I'm proud of with that race, I didn't stop. I still finished.  Come to think of it, it will be difficult to stop as well dahil sobrang daming runners.  It was something like 40,000 plus runners. The street was filled with people. You can't just stop otherwise runners will run over you.  Haha. Blessing in disguise for me. That prompted me to keep on moving until the finish line at Aberdeen Court. But of course,  I will come back with a vengeance...  SCSM di pa tayo tapos... :)

(2)  To date, I have ran 7 half marathons... I will be running my 8th half marathon this coming April 24 at Greenfield  Sta. Rosa. Unfortunately, I  haven't been achieving PRs because of the simple reason that I'm not training for it. After the SCSM,  work got stressful. Didn't have that much time to run long on weekdays. My usual 30 km mileage per week went down to 10km per week.  The half marathons I've been joining are more of LSDs.  If there's anything though,  I am no longer scared of the distance. In fact, it's becoming normal for me to register at 21km. During race day, I feel it's my dose of weekly caloric burn.  I've been doing my 21kms at an average of 3 hours per race.  Completed half-marathons as follows:

        (a)  Condura Run - February 2010 

        (b)  Century Superbods 

        (c)   Unilab Run

        (d)  Globe Run for Home

All happened two weeks after  the other (See, I didn't learn anything from the SCSM experience).   Condura Run went well.  Route was longer than 21.20 km.   Running the Skyway was one beautiful experience! Except for the nail that pierced my right shoe over the Kalayaan Flyover, the entire race was comfortable.

Felt some pain on my right foot "talampakan" during the Century Superbods run starting km 14.. eventually did a slow jog with gait change.. Ok naman...Unilab was the worst... Pain on the right foot went back with a vengeance starting km 12.. couldn't run anymore because it felt like there was something stuck on my right foot.. wanted to quit the race but then again I figured I already paid for it so I decided to walk until the finish line.. For two weeks after that, I didn't run. I became a gym biker .. Came into the Globe Run with only one goal in my mind.. to finish comfortably without pain... and I did... :) with the help of new running shoes from Nike+. Nag-plug pa ano?  My NBs 1225 are just too heavy. Now the Nike LunarGlide is a better fit for me.. It's very light and stable. Of course it pretty pricey but choosing between comfort or being thrifty .. I will go for the first anytime...

(3)   Two weeks ago I started going back to my 30km mileage in the gym.  Makes me happy to say that I can now run for 5 kms straight with a speed of 8.80 km/hr.   That's about 34 minutes for a 5k.

(4)    Goal is to run a 32K this year (November 2010) during the 3rd leg of Runrio Trilogy and do the full marathon February next year at the Condura Skyway Run.  Things may still change because I still have the SCSM run in mind.  Maybe do the full at SG, I'm still not sure.

I've been running regularly at least 3x a week.  I won't consider myself a running addict yet but I can't go through the week without a run.   YES, I LOVE RUNNING AND I THINK IT LOVES ME BACK... :)

The Half Marathon

All these past running events I've been joining was really meant for the eventual half-marathon that I plan to join this year. That half-marathon happened yesterday...

I went into it with only two 15Km races and one 16Km race in my belt.  I also haven't been doing consistent LSDs due to schedule constraints.  But, I was religiously running 3x a week in the gym consisting of tempo runs and speedwork.   Statistically, I don't get to finish a 16km run without walking. Somehow my legs get tired at the tail end and my mind somehow doesn't compensate for my physical weakness. Ergo, I was expecting that I'd be walking a significant portion of the 21K. But I don't mind. I wanted to experience the distance.  This is actually a pre-run to my real run in December in Singapore for the half-marathon.

I started to get anxious a week before yesterday. The plan was to taper so I'd go into the race fresh and well-rested.  I ran last Wednesday for 8 km.  I got a side-stitch which never happens to me.  I guess I was so jittery that my muscles were so stiff. I had to stop after 30 minutes and walk for 5 minutes before resuming the run.  Within that 5 minutes I kept repeating to myself to relax...relax... relax...

Left for Subic Saturday morning. I chose to commute from Manila to Subic so I don't have the added burden of driving. I got to Subic Bay at 2:30 pm, checked in the hotel and went to the starting line to have a preview of the next day's event.  Remy field was filled with runners and spectators.  The Nike Human Race was happening at 5:30pm and the full marathoners are expected to cross the finish line sometime 7:30pm. I was so tempted to run the Nike Human Race. It was a 10km run but then my running bud said no to that.. It's not advisable for me to do a run a few hours before a half marathon.

 

We ate dinner at Aristocrat at about 9:00 pm. Didn't have the ideal pre-run dinner .. I had chicken barbeque when I should be having pasta.  Checked out the field again until 10:30pm before retiring for the night.  Woke up at 4:30am and was in the starting line by 5:00am. Good thing I chose a hotel that was just beside the starting line... Hehe.. Tsamba yun...

The race started late.. 6:00 am when the gun start should be at 5:30am.  A lot of the runners were getting impatient and were complaining.  But, I tried not to listen because I was nervous as it is.. Adding negative vibes to what I'm feeling will definitely not help. 

Gun Start at 6:00am... So many runners because it was a mass start for the 21K, 10K, 5K and 3K. It was pretty fun with all the participants. There were a lot of army people and policemen.  They actually entertained me for the first 5K with their witty chants.  The running crowd started to dwindle after the 5K mark..  Now, it's just the 21kers.  

My plan is to run without ipod music for the first 10k.  Run at a pace of 7.5km per hour. Start my ipod at km 11 to keep the momentum going. I followed that plan and it worked.  I started my ipod after km11.  Kept my pacing consistent and steady. I felt really good. I didn't eat anything solid the entire morning so my tummy felt light.  My caloric supply was given by my gatorade which I drank every km starting from km10.  It was really a good run for me... No pains along the way.. The route was likewise challenging with so many uphills.  But I didn't walk.. I ran until km18... Can you imagine that??? I was passing by a lot of other runners... left my benchmark runner maybe 2 kms behind.. I was even passing by policemen along the route.. walking!!!!

The scene was amazing.  The route took us to El Kabayo road and farther than Subic Bay International Airport.. The weather was also  not that bad although the sun was shining brightly along numerous parts of the route. I guess that's one of the major reasons why a lot of runners ended up walking.  There were really hilly parts but I actually trained for that adding gradient to my treadmill run to simulate hilly routes.

I decided to walk at km18 but only for 300 meters just to make sure I don't to have any pain. At that point, I have passed a lot of runners.  Good thing though that two takbo.ph runners passed by me and said "3 kilometers na lang."  So I ran again until kilometer 19.50.. I told Chris (my ever faithful running buddy), I might as well walk this for awhile to make sure I cross that coveted finish line.  But then again, takbo.ph guys inside their SUV passed me by and shouted go go go... which again gave me the boost to run until km 20.50.. Remy field then was already in view and the adrenaline is just too much to handle.

I felt like crying.. I had jitters going up and down my back... This is what I've been training for .. to finish the half... It was not even a scheduled run!! I just wanted to see if i can do it before running the SG marathon. But it was there.  I can't help it so I shouted my lungs off.  I was cheering myself and smiling ear to ear.  Chris entered the field earlier than I did. He can run really fast and wanted to make sure I have a picture when I cross the finish line. As I entered the field, there were spectators shouting  "Go, go, go" "Konti na lang" "Go Sis" etc. etc. which added to the hype I was feeling...

I crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 54 minutes. I was smiling.. Chris gave me a big hug and I felt like I was floating... I did it!!!  To top it all off, I passed a lot of police runners and other runners as well. My benchmark runner was way behind me.. It was great!!!! Greater than I expected.

Running Disaster

It's been 15 days since the Kenny Urbanite Run.  Up to now I still feel very disappointed with what happened to me in that run.  To think that it was my first 15K race.  I imagined my self blogging about the run the minute I get home. But instead, it took me 15 days to finally log on to my blogsite and create a record of that run.  Haay...

I finished the 15K run in 2 hours and 18 minutes. I was included in the last 30 finishers when my goal was to finish it in 2 hours.  Not that I didn't prepare for it because I did.  I had my trial 15Ks twice before the run. But the thing is, I made a very bad mistake of drinking Mocha Java before the run with whip cream and all!!  I'm sure you guys can already guess what happened. :)

That was really bad judgement on my part.  I got to the venue by 7:30 pm I think.  The last food intake I had was lunch time.  I thought that I might run out of energy during the run with the gun starting at 8:15 pm so I decided to grab something before the run. I can't remember what made me get that Mocha Java.. the Php 50.00 discount??? Hehe.. the price I had to pay for that Php 50.00 off..  Here's what happened:

(1)  I started off anxious and nervous because it was my first 15K;

(2)  I ran with a buddy to whom I'm very thankful.  We had an agreement that he will pace me for this race.  He did more than that,  he kept the sanity I had left for the last 3kms of the race. If not for him,  I would have taken a cab to the finish line;

(3)  Started the race with a pace of 8 minutes per kilometer.  The idea is to conserve my energy and finish the race strong;

(4)  0 km to 12 km went a-ok...  although I can really feel the distance of the 15K... when I saw that we were going inside McKinley Hill my jaw literally dropped but then I really felt I won't have any major problem with it except that I will have to slacken the pace even more..

(5)  12.1 km I felt my tummy started to grumble and eventually it started to ache pretty bad.  I knew I had to go to the restroom to relieve myself but  I just couldn't. I wanted to finish the race first otherwise I will finish last.

(6)  Boy, it was really hard to run when your tummy is aching so I had to walk 2km or so.  My running bud was nice enough to get the hydration belt from me just to lessen the pressure..

(7)   I ran the remaining 1 km to the finish line.  And..... as if I didn't have enough running I ran all the way  to the restroom.. I picked the restroom of the joint where I bought the drink from because I felt they deserved it...no offense really... I was just grouchy that time..

(8)  Relieved I went back to the finish line, apologized to my running bud cum running coach and scowled all the way home..

I was embarassed and disappointed.   I regret having that Mocha Java.  I felt that all the preparations I did went to waste because of that drink.  My running bud tried to lift my spirits up saying that there are other races but I wanted to do a 2-hour on this particular race.  I felt like not running anymore.. but then after two days I ran again... Hehe...

I registered again for the 15K today for the Rotarun.  Next time I know better.  Lessons learned:

(1) Mocha Java and Gatorade don't mix;

(2) Don't get too excited along the run because it will upset your stomach.  Relax and just enjoy the run ( I think I got too excited when I saw the 12km mark );

(3)  Not all runs will be good ones... there will be bad runs ... don't scowl but just run again...

(4)  From my running bud:  The important thing is I finished... not a DNF...

Looking forward to Rotarun.. and then Octoberun for 16K and a half by November... I'm registered for the half in Singapore for which I am preparing... 

Outdoor running vs. Treadmill Run

Having been running for 4 months and having participated in road races, I have likewise developed the guts to do outdoor runs by myself. I started running via the Treadmill. Now I make it a point to do an outdoor run at least once for the entire week. If the weather permits, I'd prefer to do at least 2 outdoor runs in a week.

The route I take is within the Filinvest Alabang Area. I actually love the route. Starting from Parque Espana passing the driving range.. right going to the Palms around RITM exiting near the Filinvest Toll going back... that's 3.5km for one loop. I do 3 loops = 10km. The best part of that route is the back of RITM which is sooooo quiet. At night, it's so much better... the lights create a beautiful silhouette... picture perfect if someone is available to take your picture while running.

Since I have no plans of joining any race on the 26th.. I'm planning to do 4 loops along this route and maybe extend it along commerce avenue for a full 15k. I will be registering for the Kenny Urbanite Run for 15k - my first 15K run. Ergo, I need to train.

The uncooperative weather yesterday forced me to run the Treadmill. Honestly, I missed my reliable treadmill in the gym. I always take the 2nd to the last Treadmill on the 2nd row :) I ran for 1:15 minutes for the entire 10K and walked for a km. I realized that personally, the exhiliration of running is the same whether it's outside or not. BUT, running outdoors has its added perks. I've been thinking of giving up my gym membership and focus on outdoor running but after yesterday......... Naaah... the Treadmill was where it all started.. I'd keep it for sentiments sake. Besides, what will I do if it rains? The Treadmill is my best friend. Even if you leave it for awhile, it's just there when you need it :)

PTAA Charity Run - Running with a Bud

What I like most about running is that it's an individual sport. I can do it alone. When you've been tied up with work for a number of years (like 14 years! :) and taking care of a kiddo single-handedly , you rarely have time to mingle with friends ... and so little by little you step out of that social circle and realize after awhile that you don't get invited to parties and get togethers anymore... haha.. I've been trying to encourage my colleagues to run with me but wala pa eh.. Too busy with work and family .. I understand completely... Felt the same way.. It takes a lot of willpower to allot more than an hour to run... I always tell them though that once they start, they will get hooked because the possibilities are endless. The distance range goes on and on and on..........

Running alone though is always worth it but running with a buddy ........ now that's different... It's a different kind of fun... I was lucky enough to have a running buddy during the PTAA Charity Run in UP. He had to sacrifice his time though to pace with me. And true enough, he got his PR for his slowest 10K :) while I did better at 1:19:07.. Hahaha... But, I kind of felt dependent on him because I knew he runs a lot faster than me and has a lot more experience... I had this feeling that at any point in time I have somebody to get encouragement from because I'm sure he will always be running strong even if I'm feeling wary already... But the reality is you don't always get to run with a buddy right? New as I am to running (4 months) I don't really know if it's better to self-train or run with a group/with a buddy... hmmmm

My First 10K

Running is really a test of your PHYSICAL and MENTAL stamina... When the physical wavers you have to rely on your mental stamina... Ergo both must be strong to endure a long distance run..

Mizuno run was my first 10K official race... I went into it nervous, excited, nervous, nervous, nervous... I had to say a prayer before the gun went off. First, I'm running not because it's a fad or anything.. I run because I have to... My BP is always a concern and a 10k run is not a joke... I know how far it is and how it can take its toll on me.. I'm not a weekend warrior... I self-train.. Prior to this I ran in the gym twice.. 7.5k and 10K... Boy, the 10K practice run on the Treadmill was tough.. Felt my legs were about to give up. Good thing about the gym is that the machine has a railing and there are people close by who can easily help.. the hospital is near so I worry less... But a 10K road run!!!! Yikes! Funny thing, I was ready for the worse. I had a small bag where I placed my celphone and cash. In case I feel faint or dizzy, I will call my dad to pick me up or flag down a taxi to bring me to The Fort. Not to mention that I know there's an ambulance who will roam the route. I had my bottle of Gatorade... I memorized the route... Again praning is what you call it..

My first 5K went pretty well... including the Kalayaan flyover run... I've realized that when running uphill and you push your body slightly forward, it makes it a lot easier and you run faster than you expect. I read about this in various blogs but haven't really tried it.. It really works!! Cool... My next 2k was slower but still ok.. My heart was beating normally and my legs were getting tired but bearable... I think the challenge started along the Kalayaan flyover going back... it was to0 "uphill" for me.. I tried to slow run it but then I felt I will really get tired that I might not have any strength for the last 3k stretch so I decided to walk the first half of the flyover. Worse, the sun was up already so I felt the heat starting to burn my back...

As soon as the flyover started to flatten, I resumed my running pace. At the next water station, I had to pour water over my back because I was feeling very hot.. I did the last 2K at a slow running pace... I can feel my legs starting to feel really wasted at the last 1 km... So I had to rely on my will to finish. And I did.. the thing that gave me a boost was my son who I saw at the last 500 meters ... Seeing him made me run the last 500 meters relatively fast and strong.. He was running too to meet me at the finish line...

I finished at 1 hour and 22 minutes (exact).. The same running time I had in the gym last Thursday... My mom and dad told me that my son was worried from the start because he knows that 10k is far... But I DID IT AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN... My son is as praning as me... hehe... The adrenalin of running is just too strong to ignore. Now I'm thinking of upping the pace and eventually going for 15k... Dream on girl.. :)

The good part about the run is meeting the Southern Runners of Takbo.ph and the others too. It was great putting faces with the names at the forum. :) Where's the next race? :)

Missing IE8

I missed the IE8 run last Sunday. I was registered for the 4 mile. I flew to Occidental Mindoro last Friday and supposedly be back in Manila Saturday night. The weather there was soooo uncooperative. My flight got cancelled, rebooked the following day early morning only to get cancelled again.

I was in San Jose Airport as early as 5:45 am. The one thing that was running through my mind was the IE8 run dahil sobrang naiinggit ako sa mga tatakbo. I was irritated and frustrated with the airline and the weather. Of course I was just being irrational because I so wanted to run. I thought I should have brought my running gears with me so I can run the beach in front of the airport. Makatakbo man lang. To top it all, my family ran!!! I asked my dad to run my number. He exchanged it for a 2-mile distance with his name dahil magiging kulelat daw ako if he runs the 4-mile. Hehe. My ten-year old son registered for the 2-mile and he enjoyed it too. My sister, mom and brother in law all ran as well. They all said it was a very very very nice race. A lot of freebies, good weather etc... Tapos ako yung wala!!! Grrrrrrr..........?Grrrrr............ Grrrrrr talaga...

My mom even made me listen to the countdown of the race. I was stuck in the airport and they were waiting for the countdown. I can hear the runners and it sounded like everybody was excited just like all other races. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy............ Kung pwede lang magpaka-superwoman yesterday ginawa ko na... Di bale bawi na lang sa Sunday Mizuno Run. I'm running my first 10k by the way. This time I will make sure that I'm in Manila the entire week. No provincial trips. Mahirap na... Lulungkot na ko nang sobra... :)