PTAA Charity Run (June 14, 2009) - Post Race

Things you should never do when it comes to running:

1. Do A 10km Road Race two weeks after doing a Full Marathon. Body hasn't fully recovered yet from the impact of running 42.2km. Best way will be to join road race at least 3 weeks after Full Marathon. Second week should be focused on light easy runs instead. This was confirmed by both my sisters and Rununlimited Vener (a four-peat marathon finisher).

2. Do A back to back Road Race. You will most likely suffer on the second race as once again, body hasn't recovered from race the previous day.

3. Do A road race when you are semi-sick. Better to chalk it up as a rest day and get well soon.

As expected, I broke the rules again. Sigh!

Take note, this has happened before:

On the night of my first marathon, I did not get enough rest and even went window shopping. I had been awake for 14 hours when the race started and had semi-tired feet from shopping the entire day. Tsk tsk!

On Per's first 16km (her longest that time), we broke rules too: We did not break in either of our newly purchased NB shoes, not enough rest for either of us due to concert the night before (had 3 hours sleep only) and cramming of easy runs to just 5 days (from 7km total weekly distance to 30km total distance for that week).

So why am I standing once again at U.P. grounds at 5:50AM Sunday (June 14), with tired feet, heavy coughs and coming from a trail race the day before?

For the raffle of course!!!! I hoped to win a prize, any prize as that would more than make up for the entry fee here. They will be giving away plane tickets to USA and Asian destinations, hotel accomodations, hotel buffets, and other prizes. Even if you did not show up on race day, you still have a chance of winning here.

So why did I show up at U.P. ground at 5:50AM Sunday even if I can STILL win had I slept it in? Why? Why? Why? Well, it was a waste of the entry fee if you paid for it, didn't run and didn't win the raffle either! It was a waste of bib number if you didn't use it for the race. That was just ... environmentally wrong!

Truthfully, I was just making excuses. Yes, the raffle was nice. Yes, it would be great to win! But it would be a reward in itself to finish a race again. It would be great to push yourself again and see if you can run well.

And so here I was again, waiting for the countdown. Heavy legs (stretching helped a little bit). Hard to breathe. But I was here and I was determined to finish this 10km race!



I wasn't the only one doing a back to back race. I saw Nino running too. And Neil registered for this race too. What a way for us to spend the long weekend!


The race started on time (at 6:00AM). And we were off! Five minutes later, I heard the start signal for the 5km runners. I was coughing and wheezing and realized how bad this decision was. I couldn't suck in the air. I felt like a smoker who had just started running EXCEPT for the simple fact that I'm not a smoker and I have been running for a while! It's obvious that I'm not well yet. Sometimes the mind and the heart are willing but the body isn't. But it was too late to back out now. I am in this race and I will finish it. Never mind if I walk throughout or have a bad time. No point in complaining now. Just target to finish race!


The course was pretty good. The weather was fantastic. There were a lot of water stations. The event was perfect but unfortunately, I wasn't. I walked at various points (starting from 2km!) and had to stop at each water station to drink water. It was like starting to run all over again. I continued to huff and puff in each kilometer and just want this to end.

One of the many turning points. Photo captured by Vener. Thanks dude!

I kept going and going. One loop became two loops (each with corresponding straws) and finally, it was the last stretch to the finish line. I increased my pace and crossed it.

My time according to Garmin was at 1:02:28 (pace of 6:15 min/km) and distance of 9.97km. Not a great time considering I wanted to finish this race at below 1 hour. But given the circumstance, I was happy with it.

Results are now out and can be found at http://www.run4change.com/. At the open 10km overall results, my time was at 1:02:46 (pace of 6:17 min/km) and I rank 198th out of 391 runners (not including Bandit and PTAA members).

POST RACE

There was a line for energy bar and some nuts.

There was three to four lines for finisher shirt (based on shirt's size). This item I loved the most because it fits just right and I liked the color scheme. It matches the Livestrong band.

10km back to back finishers! We both need to rest after this tiring weekend!

Benny not looking tired yet from his 10km race!

Race finishers showing off their well earned shirts!

Neil with Second Wind owner Hector

Now, it is time for my recovery! More bed rest and less exercise for this Running Fatboy.

Going forward, I will try to NOT break any more running rules as doing so can lead to injury and slower recovery. After all, rules are there for a reason . . .