PSE BULL RUN '09

The PSE BULL RUN was the First Race for 2009 so it was highly anticipated by the running community after having no running events for nearly a month now. It was also the perfect event to burn off some of the weight we gained over the long holiday break.

Since this race is on its 5th year, you would think they would have gotten it hands down by now. Sadly, that wasn't the case. I already got a hint that this won't be as organized as the other races given the hard time we had in trying to get our race singlets. There were a lot of complaints on the lack of availability and lack of proper sizes for said singlets. The stitchings on the singlet were also not good. It is weird they hadn't prepared for this given they were announcing this race since early November (two months ago) and even had early bird registrations at that time!

RACE DAY

I had a very good night sleep the night before so woke up feeling refreshed and excited to do my 10km race. Picked up Per and together we headed off to Fort Bonifacio. We first couldn't find where the race start was but all we had to do was listen to the booming sound of the Emcee and just followed the (very loud) voice.

We did a short warm up jog to the starting line as we parked far anyway and didn't want to miss the start of the race. It was quite crowded by the time we got there with the Emcee giving false remarks such as "Ready, set, wait a minute" then doing it all over again. He must have done it at least 5-6 times !!!!!

Finally, at 6:05AM, he gave the Go signal and we were off! It was hard to run as area was quite crowded so Per and I decided to walk till we had a clearer path. I started my Garmin right after crossing the Start line and that is when I went running. Running on the sidewalk helped me evade the crowd as not many people used this path.

It was chilly this morning so that helped me as I didn't feel thirsty nor tired. I went through about 3 water stations in the entire race, choosing the ones which had the less amount of people going through them so as not to waste time.

There were some problems in giving out the colored strings as there weren't enough marshals handing them out. I got the strings that were lying on the floor as that proved the faster way.

There were cars on the same road that we were so had to evade them. They were also honking at the runners! I had hoped that the organizers would have kept the road closed until we had all finished running it but that didn't happen. :(

Even with all these problems, I still stuck to looking at my Garmin and followed my pace. At the start of the race, I noticed that I was going out too fast and had to slow down so I won't burn out. During the uphill climbs, I saw that I was running at a slower pace so I had to push myself to run faster. Amid all this, I kept thinking that this race was short and that I shouldn't walk at all. The Nike training sessions with Coach Rio had prepared me mentally for this race as kept thinking that 2km run was just our warm-up jog and this 10km race was just like one of our Tempo Runs in Serendra. If I am able to do that if no or little water, then I should be able to do this. More so, since there are a lot of water here. That kept me going... and going... and going...

Rewind: January 2008, my first PSE BULL RUN: at 8km, I was walking uphill already, and was panting heavily and gasping for air. Looking signs for the nearest water station. Tired...

Now: January 2009: my second PSE BULL RUN: at 8km, I was still running and not slowing down. I remembered the drills we did at the Nike Training session and did high knee kicks so it became easier to conquer this challenge. I was feeling good! Passed by the last water station without stopping at it as wanted to finish at a good time.

At 9km mark, I knew I can break my PSE BULL RUN record and I knew I can go under an hour so I kept running at my steady pace.

At turning point to the finish line, I finally saw the huge FINISH banner and had enough time to spare before the 1 hour mark but had to stop 100 meters away because of the long line! AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH !!! This was so anti-climatic! To be so near and yet so far! GRRRRRRRR!!!! Anyway, I stopped my Garmin timer and saw that my time is at 57:08. I figured 100 meters would add about 10 seconds more to my time but at that point I didn't care as I finally breached the 58 minute mark I've held since May last year and got a new PR!

WOOHOO!!!!

Goals I've written for this race a couple of days ago were:

1. Beat my PSE BULL RUN record of 1:04:23 set last January 2008. - DONE!

2. Go Under an Hour. Might prove difficult given its uphill climbs and not enough training for me. - DONE! Chilly weather helped!

3. Go For PR. Yeah, right !!!! But a guy can dream can't he? Hehe... - DONE! I guess dreams do come true! :)

RFB with very fast runners Wilbert, Vener & Chris

Both of us are happy for our 10km races! Look for RFB's shadow holding a camera! haha. Per's shadow like Peter Pan!

The 10km route