Previous to this race, my only trainings were two runs that I did at the treadmill with a distance of 5km and 6km respectively. I had a hard time finishing these workouts. Took a long time too! So there was a genuine fear on whether I can finish this 15km race given my poor performance at the gym.
As the race started around 5:50AM, I did a leisurely jog as didn't want to "hit the wall" so early in the run. Not reaching the 2km mark yet, I was already looking for water and my calves were starting to ache. Definitely, not a good sign!!
So I ran slower using my mantras above. And it seemed to work. As I head into Heritage Park, I felt fine. The pain in my calves disappeared and I wasn't tired yet. In the previous two 15km races that I joined (that had the same route as this one), I was walking parts of Heritage Park so it was a nice rewarding feeling to know that I didn't do that here. The good weather was helpful too.
The next challenge was McKinley Hill and I know that I will do some walking here with its steep uphill course. As I headed down this road, I saw Wayne (SFRunner), Benny (my running partner in Kota Kinabalu), and Jaymie (Bullrunner) heading up already. I did walk but just for a very short period and near the exit point of this area. I am quite happy that I wasn't as exhausted as I expected myself to be and increased my pace in the last 3km of the race as I headed towards the finish line.
Near the finish line, I saw Vener (Run Unlimited) with his wife, cheering me on. Thanks for that guys!! I crossed the finish line at a time of 1:38:45 based on my Garmin watch with distance of 15.06 km. Official results show that my time was 1:39:28. Either way, I am quite ecstatic at my good time as expected to suffer in this race. No PR for this race but I wasn't looking for one anyway. Besides, I was just 2 minutes away from it and I even beat the last 15km race I did.
At finish line, met Blogger Nora the Golden Girl and had nice chat with her too.
All in all, it was a pretty good day for me.
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booth of Bahaginandfddf
I want to steal this Rush bottle!dfdf
Runners Wawie and Gigay
Nearing the finish line. Photo courtesy of blogger Brother J. Thanks for this one.dfdf
Yes! I did it!
15km Finishers!!! One long race down and one to go....
5 comments:
Congrats! See? It's never as bad as you think...it ends up being more fun too than you expect.
Carolyn
Hi Dennis, its good meeting you again. Race itself is different from training because you are motivated, that's why even without enough preps you can cross the tape. Moreover, I know you're a runner.. See you again.
hi Carolyn, thanks for the training this morning. Need that for this Sunday's New Balance Race
hi Vener, thanks for the kind words. See you and Christy in Clark again :)
Dennis, great meeting you this past Sunday. Will see you at Clark this Sunday. BTW, I love the bid layout from the last post. Terrific and keep up the running!
The pace of running towards the finish line is self-fulfilling. The "fun run" to stay healthy. Thanks for sharing! shitifujon.blogspot.com
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