Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Reasons People will do the Kenny Run
Friday, July 24, 2009
Running Reflections
Right after that Sunday run with Janine (with Per and Jeanne waiting for us at the finish line), I came back again the following Sunday (again with Janine) because it was sponsored by La Salle –my alma mater and I wanted to see how they do it. It was successful but I got burned out from too much running and essentially rested till the start of 2008 wherein I came back again but this time with my family as my sisters, brothers, girlfriend and good friends all joined the PSE Bull Run in various categories. And that was how it really started.
Now, nearing the close of two years, so many things have been achieved for me. I trained for the first half marathon but still got burned out from it. But I improved on the succeeding half marathons as I become stronger and faster. I beat my records in 10km races by becoming faster. I beat the distance by going farther. It was a good time. Then, the marathon event happened and I finished the race after 6.5 hours of being on the road. I hated the feeling. I wanted to break down and cry. But I didn’t want to do this and rested instead. I truly hated this race but I was glad I survived it. I didn’t die and as the saying goes "what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger". Unfortunately, it didn’t make me stronger. It made me weaker. My performance withered to the level when I just started running. My finish time was slower by a few minutes. I had a hard time again in the 21km or even the 10km races. I was panting and wheezing again. I was essentially back to zero.
I couldn’t beat any of my Personal Records. I lost my drive for excellence. Instead, I focused my energy this time to help Per achieve her own Personal Records. By running together, we were able to finish our first 16km race strong. We beat our couple PR for a 10km race by doing the recently concluded Robinson Buddy Run. And the biggest surprise of all was Per agreeing to do a Half Marathon Race a day before said race event. She had no training. She had no mileage but she had me to support her and I think that was the biggest factor to her saying “Yes”. And so we ran it. Unlike my first half marathon wherein I went out too fast and hit the wall, this time we took it slow. We did a few walk breaks. It was a run at an easy pace. And we got the benefits from it. We finished the race strong. Tired but knowing that this was doable. It was a proud moment for the two of us. No finisher medals here but at least we have the disposable chip that says “I ran the 21km” and that was good enough for us. Final Results were also great and the free photos were very useful!
On the Kalayaan Bridge flyover as we head back towards Fort BonifacioFloating to the finish line!
So what’s next for us after the Half Marathon? One word, three letters: U.S.A.
It will be our most expensive races to date but the experience will be unforgettable or as a certain credit card commercial would say “Priceless”. Being too ambitious, I registered myself for two road races separated by one full week and thousands of kilometers away but in the same State.
The second race will be Fresno Marathon on November 8th 2009. I was supposed to do a Half Marathon here but then decided to upgrade to a Full Mary once I realized that the Halfie will only go through one city. This was called Two Cities Marathon and I didn’t want to be shortchanged by doing a race that doesn’t go through the two cities. Per will be at the halfway mark to be my support crew with drinks, food and maybe even an extra pair of shoes and/or socks. She will be my motivation to finish the 2nd half of the race and I look at beating my PR at Singapore. This race will be done in the morning, have cool weather and have a flat course, which all contradict what I did in Singapore. All of these factors go in my favor. Of course, I still will not underestimate this race as any single thing can happen that can ruin it – heavy rains, slipping on the road, injury while training, indigestion or diarrhea on race day, etc.
So we both have our reasons for the race upgrade. We are each other’s supporters for our partner’s race. We will experience all these things together. And we will do our best to finish our races and bring home the finisher medals and finisher shirts. This would be a perfect ending to my second year of running.
As for our third year of running? Ask me again in five months time! For now, it’s run (easy), run (tempo), run (long) as we revert back to our training mode.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Globe Run For Home (July 19, 2009) - Post Race
Survive a Half Marathon – check no. 4
I was never the athletic type. When I was still in school, I hated my Physical Education Class. I never failed it, but I never excelled as well. I was just doing it to please my report card. I actually loved being sluggish and lethargic, hated being active and energetic. This was the story of my life (style) up until I started running. Then it all changed.
Suddenly, being inactive felt like a waste of time for me and found myself feeling excited to go on my 5k and 10k races. But never did I imagine that I would really run a Half Marathon. N-E-V-E-R.
So since running a Half Marathon was only but a dream to me, it was actually on my list of things to do before I die. What the heck, it’s just a list that nobody else really knows about (except me!), so why not just write it down. But little did I know…
July 18, 2009, 10:00 am – I was ready to run the Globe Run for Home 10km Race. With just a total distance run of 3km for the whole week, I wasn’t worried at all. I’ve been running 10km races for quite some time now and I’m confident enough to know that I will be able to finish the race.
July 18, 2009, 2:00 pm – I suddenly found myself agreeing to run the 21km Race. With just a total distance run of 3km for the whole week, what was I thinking?!
July 19, 2009, 5:00 am – A lot of butterflies in my stomach. Dennis even said that I had a mild panic attack just a minute after crossing the starting line. I wasn’t really sure how to go about the whole race, not being physically and mentally prepared for it. But lucky enough, Dennis promised to run with me the whole time.
The 21km race started 45minutes earlier before the 10km race. It was still a bit dark and the weather was great. It wasn’t raining but there was a cool breeze. The first part of the race was just like any other 10km race, except that we have with us a chip timer. Dennis and I stopped at every water station to hydrate. Good thing stations were all over and they all had a lot of water and 100 plus sports drinks. From Fort Bonifacio we went up the Buendia Flyover down to Buendia and straight ahead to Ayala before heading back to Fort Bonifacio. It was a fun experience running around the Makati CBD on a Sunday morning. The route was basically flat with a few uphill areas. There were a lot of Race Marshalls, Security and Makati Police roaming around the race route. This made me feel safe the whole time while I was running. I made the right choice of choosing this race to be my first 21km run. Not only did it have a good route, a lot of water stations and was well organized, but also because this is the first time in Manila that a race offered a disposable chip timer wherein we can download our whole race on net! The only let down is that there is no finisher medal or any finisher gift pack when you reach the finish line. Maybe the budget was eaten up the chip timer.
Overall, my experience as a first time Half Marathon Finisher was great. I was expecting a lot worse but ended up having a lot of fun. It took me quite some time to finish the race (at 3hr9mins) though, but it is no big deal… there is always another race to catch. And besides, just by mere finishing the race gave me my CHECK 4 for one of my lists of things to do before I die. Definitely worth it :)
And now back to our regular program....
Onwards to the finish line!
There were no finisher medal, no gift pack, not a single thing at the finish line which was very anti-climatic for me when we crossed it. I even thought we ran out of medals. I was disappointed with that but Jeanne (literally) pointed out what this race was for - and that was Building houses for those people that can't afford to build it themselves. This race was for a good cause and I finally understood why it was called "Run for Home".
MONDAY NIGHT
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
REACH Run (July 11, 2009) - Post Race
Round 5-7. Runners are full and there are still doughnuts !!! Looks like doughnuts win these three rounds!
Till the next fight! Runners are eat -training now as we speak. Munch Munch!!!
And now, to our race report . . .
This was a Saturday race held in Fort Bonifacio. Participants needed to register on the venue before 7AM. Once they are ready, they will run 2.5km distance, eat 4 doughnuts and run or walk the remaining 2.5km distance.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Robinson's Buddy Run (July 12, 2009) - Post Race
GOAL: To achieve a new couple 10km PR. Time to beat: 1:16:21
Bad Pre-race Start: We only had 2.5 to 3 hours sleep the night before! I had to cancel my planned additional 5km run that Sunday morning as that would end up with us just having 1 hour of sleep time!
There were a lot of runners by the time we got to the race venue. There were a lot of tents. There were a lot of food and drinks (I had Milo, Gardenia wheat bread, yogurt, iced tea, Tipco juice drinks, etc. even BEFORE the race started!). It was very festive!
This was a buddy race and Per and I were required to wear the buddy bib with the same number and wear the official Fit and Fun singlet for our 10km race.
The race started at 6:15am but I didn't mind the 15-minute delay. I had too much fun eating and drinking here to complain! Hehe.
The 5km runners started their race first. They were differentiated from the 10km runners by their red or white singlets. The 10km runners wore either blue or gray singlets.
Our countdown bib! To zero and we were off!
We did a steady 7++ min/km pace for the first 5km. I had with me a bottle of Pink Gatorade in case Per needed it. But it wasn't necessary as there were ample water stations here and they were giving out bottled water bottles. Good move! I would prefer bottled water to water cups at any race as I can always keep the bottles with me instead of forcing myself to finish all the water. At one point, I had a bottle in each hand but realized that it was hard to twist the cap off and discarded the water bottle.
It was nice watching the fast runners and seeing who their Buddy Partner was. Some ran together while others got left behind by their faster partners! It was an eye candy for us as we saw a lot of bloggers and celebrities in this race.
The route was mostly flat except for the portion heading to Lawton. It was there when Per got tired and had to walk a little bit to recover again. By that time, we were over the halfway mark and on-target for a new couple PR but I know that it was still early in the race and things could still go wrong. Thank goodness that did not happen. :)
On the last 2km, Per started to speed up but I told her to slow down as it was a bit far from the finish line. She agreed to it and we went back to our race pace of 7++ minutes/ km. By the last 1km, I told Per that this is it! It is time to surge to the finish line.
REWIND (to exactly a week ago):
Per did her 10km race at the Milo event. She burned out at 9km and had to walk the last 1km to the finish line. She had a terrible finish time (the worst for 2009) at 1: 22. She was disappointed at her performance but was glad she completed it.
FAST FORWARD (from the REWIND) (a little bit to last Friday):
I asked Per what her goal for the buddy 10km run was. She said she was aiming to finish it at below 1:20. I secretly targeted a new couple PR of below 1:16, and IF it was a good day, to go sub- 1:15. I didn't tell Per my secret goal (insert evil laughter).
AND BACK TO THE REGULAR STORY:
We saw the finish line at the next corner. We were running fast and I was surprised by Per's speed but I didn't want to be the one to slow her down again so I stuck to her pace. I went ahead of her so she could chase me down. The big red FINISH balloon was there and we crossed it, stopped our Garmins and walked to get our gift bags! As we walked to get said items, we both heard our names mentioned by the announcer. Wow, this felt great! It was similar to what they do in International Races: calling out your names when you have finished your race!
Per lined up to get the Free Instant Photo while I went back to the car to drop off the heavy duty gift bags and get my camera.
Awarding Stage behind me.
.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Fun Run Weekend (July 11 -12, 2009)
.
No pressure on the finish time. No freaking out on the long distance or on the cut off time. Just good plain old fun.
RACE # 1
REACH FUN RUN 5KM
For registration fee of Php 300, you will have to do the following:
1. Run 2.5km from the Starting line to the REACH CHALLENGE ZONE
2. Eat 4 Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnuts
3. Run 2.5km from the REACH CHALLENGE ZONE to the finish line.
Limited to 300 runners only. This event starts at 7:00AM on July 11th at Fort Bonifacio. Registration will be done on-site only.
Doughnuts and running??? A contradiction definitely. But USA have their own Krispy Kreme event so it is nice that they have this in the Philippines too. And for those who don't think they can finish all 4 doughnuts, no need to worry, you don't have to. Not unless you are looking to get 1st or 2nd placer in this run.
This shall serve as my breakfast for that day.
Goal for this race: To have a good time. How's that for a goal! Hahaha!
RACE # 2
Robinson's FIT & FUN WELLNESS BUDDY RUN 10km
Per and I have done some couple races in the past months. This usually happens if I want her to run a longer distance and she has some doubts on whether she can do it. I would then promise to run with her side by side so I can be there if she needs anything. We did this at RUNew 15km and again at Market Market 16km.
But for a 10km? Haven't really done this for a while now. It's because Per is quite comfortable with that race so no need for me to be there. But with this Buddy race, it's back to a couple race for us.
Per will be my buddy and we will have the same bib number. How awesome is this! We also need to wear the official Singlets on race day. Good thing it fits me!
Race will start at 6:00AM at the back of NBC Tent in Fort Bonifacio. Fee is Php 750 for two runners (2 singlets and 2 bib numbers).
Goal: Get New Couple 10k PR. Our last was at Milo's Finals last December '08 at time of 1:16:21.
See you at the road race!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Milo Marathon 21km Race (July 5, 2009) - Post Race
As for me, I chose the shorter distance but longer than the previous two Milo races I have joined in 2008. Yes, this was the third Milo race that Per and I joined and every time we did this race, the experience was always different.
IT'S FLASHBACK TIME !!!!! TIME SPACE WARP!!!
June 2008 - Per and I wanted to try our first Milo race having joined already a couple of road races. Per will go for the 5km and I will go for the 10km. We left the house early but I made a mistake of going through Buendia to get to Luneta. They closed off this road for the marathon and I was forced to re-route to get to the destination. Parking was terrible and by the time I got to the starting line, the race had already started (some 10 minutes ago). It was raining hard too and with the strong rain, Per decided to go back to the car and did not start her race. I had a good time running in the rain (my first) but got bad finish time due to 10-minute "lost" time. Felt like a kid again as first time ran in the rain since like forever!
December 2008 - It was Milo Marathon Finals but found out that they also have 5km and 10km events for this race. Per wanted to redeem herself from her first Milo experience. To make up for the 5km race she didn't run last June 2008, she will run double the distance (10km). Since she wasn't that comfortable yet with this longer distance, I will run with her the entire time and we will aim for a couple PR. We finished the race. We had a good time. And we got a couple PR! Awesome!
Learned also from past mistake by a) leaving house earlier and thereby getting ample time to get to Luneta, b) passing through Pasay instead of Buendia and c) having a secret parking spot near the starting line. Awesome times three!
That was a good day! Redemption for Per and me.
END OF FLASHBACK TIME! TIME SPACE WARP TO PRESENT TIME!
July 5, 2009 - Followed the previous rules and got to Luneta some 10 minutes before my race will begin. The organizers have now put in a half marathon event with a cut-off time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. With three half marathons under my belt already, I figured I could do this and reach the cut off time.
But I haven't been training for this race so this will be a relaxed run with goal of reaching finish line before the cut-off (don't know how strict they are with regards to this but didn't want to find out the ugly way - being picked up by shuttle bus). Per will do another 10km but this time, she will be running by herself only.
As expected, 21km race started 5 minutes before the scheduled time (at 5:25AM) and I ran at easy pace. Half Marathon route was pretty simple - A run along Roxas Blvd going over two flyovers and going back where runners will make a right turn to Buendia and keep running there. Prior to the Buendia flyover, runners will make a U-Turn and head back to Roxas and go towards the finish line at Quirino. For the 10km runners, route was simpler - a run along Roxas Blvd with a U-turn after flyover and head back to the finish line at Quirino.
Aside from having a 21km event here which didn't happen in previous Manila race (as far as I know), there are now Gatorade and banana stations situated on the route. Water stations are there every 2km as well so this was quite organized. My only gripe is that the people at the Gatorade stations will only pour Gatorade in cups when runners stop there. Why didn't they do this before we arrived at their stations? That would save a lot of time for us. People were lining up just to wait for their cups of lemon lime Gatorade! At least it was refreshingly cold! There were also sponges handed out and water trucks to spray the runners passing by it.
On my performance, I was good for the first 10km, doing a steady 6 minute ++ pace the entire time but after surpassing the half way point, my pace got slower and I had to do a LOT of walk breaks. I was tired and far from the finish line. I kept on running with some walk breaks but lack of long runs hit my performance. Luckily, I was able to make it to the finish time before the curfew (barely) and got a time of 2:28:45. Phew! I was still disappointed as this was my worst half marathon time for 2009 but realized that I wasn't really pushing myself to begin with and I still achieved my goal here. I will try to do less walk breaks in the upcoming Globe Half Marathon which I registered for.
As custom for previous Milo races, there were booths for Milo drinks to which I lined up and got two cups. I then headed to the car and see how Per fared in her 10km race.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Number Two! (Fresno Marathon)
And why number TWO?
In terms of the race event:
1) This will be the SECOND year to have this event after a successful race held last November 2008.
2) It will be a race that goes throught TWO cities - one is Fresno and the other is Old Clovis. So joining this race will make you run in two different US cities.
For this runner, the reasons for it being TWO are as follows:
1) It will be my SECOND Full Marathon a) for this year, b) in this lifetime, c) ever, d) ALL OF THE ABOVE!
2) It will be my SECOND USA Road Race a) for this year, b)in this lifetime, c) ever, d) ALL OF THE ABOVE!
Race clipping from Fresno Marathon 2008
Good points for joining this race:
1) Very organized race (based on last year's comments), lots of marshals, water stations and online results coming out almost immediately.
2) Very cool weather as done in November (around 8 -20 degrees Celcius)!
3) Flat course - it is a Boston Qualifier. They even made course for 2009 better - it has fewer turns and the hills in the last 2 miles have been removed from this year's race!
4) Long cut off time of 7 hours. Enough time for me to finish it (I hope!).
5) Lots of FREE Stuffs: Nice Finisher medal, Goody Bag, Personalized Bib, Post- Race Hot Breakfast, Beer Station at Mile 22 (lips are dry just thinking about it!), Free beer at finish line, Free Ice Cream Sundaes, Finisher Sweatshirts, Free Long Sleeves Technical Event Shirt.
6) Spectator area for me to see Per at 13.1 Miles. Perfect to change socks here! Hehe.
7) Better advantage (flat course, cool weather, etc) for me to get a New 42km PR. Time to redeem myself. Hehe.
8) For the unforgettable Experience!
9) Race Festival: Beer Party, Pasta All-You-Can-Eat Party the day before, Expo one to two days before race.
Bad points for joining this race:
1) Training session again. Groan!! So lazy to do this all over again! Back to Sunday Long Runs. Double Groan!!!
2) Not sure if body is recovered by the time this race starts as Per and I have SFO Half Marathon exactly a week before this race (although that race will be at a relaxed easy pace for us).
3) Since this is a fast course, I would definitely be at the last 10% of the total runners for this event. Most would join Half Marathon event (based on 2008 results). I will be stuck with runners looking to qualify for Boston!
4) I will be running by myself at last 13 miles so can get pretty lonely and isolated here (only 600+ joined full Mary in 2008 and most were very fast).
5) I might miss out on the Finisher medal. Some medals ran out last year eventhough there were a lot of people who still finished the race. Hope this problem has been fixed by the race organizers this year. :)
6) Body might be too sore for me to enjoy our remaining days in USA. Need to look for a good massage here!
7) Two words: Trail Run! Yikes! But at 2nd leg of the race and not the entire course.
FINAL VERDICT:
The good points outweigh the bad points by (you guessed it) TWO points. So, it looks like I'm going to register for this race too.
This event will be held on November 8, 2009 and will have a Full Marathon, 4 Person Relay, Half Marathon Run, Half Marathon Walk events.
Registration is now available on-line via its website: http://www.runfresno.com/
Got my registration confirmation via Email. This is it!
Two Cities Marathon and Half
Dear DENNIS,
Congratulations! You are now registered for Two Cities Marathon and Half. Please check the event's official website for updates: http://www.RunFresno.com
View your complete registration details »
Congratulations! Your registration into the Two Cities Marathon has been accepted. Pick up your timing chip and event number at the Health and Fitness Expo. Friday Noveber 6th, from 3:00pm to 7:00pm and on Saturday November 7th, 2008 from 10:00am to 6:00pm. Refer to our website for location. If you need room accommodations please see our web site for Hotel specials. See you at the START line!
Date & Time:
11/08/09
Location:
Woodward Park (Map)
Purchased at:
06/25/09
Category:
Marathon
Name:
DENNIS QUE PE