Sub- 60 !

Finally! I didn't think this was possible for this year (especially given my not-so-thin weight and not-so-small body size).

But I was able to do it at last Sunday's BGC run at (where else!) BGC.

At first glance, the race route for the 10km category looked flat as it was just around the BGC area (International Schools, Bonifacio High Street, etc.) but the route was quite the opposite. There were a lot of uphill climbs that just made it harder to move faster.

My race pace was at a steady 6:05 average for the first 3km but by 5-6km, the average had gone up to 6:09! Argh! I had to quicken my pace if I am going to make it under 1 hour (and I had 4kms to do that!)

I kept thinking about the finish line and how this was just a 10km distance race (on a regular weekend, we would usually run 16km - 21km). It was time for me to go all out! The breathing became heavier and shorter. The arm swings became longer. I HAD TO MOVE FASTER! I stopped looking at my Garmin and just did my best to stay at a good (and not so comfortable) speed.

But we had to go through the final (and quite long) uphill climb before getting to the finish line. I kept thinking of an imaginary bus right behind me, pulling people out who weren't below 6 minute pace and that little mind game kept me going and going. There was one final water station and I asked Alvin to get me a cup of water. But I was too out of breathed that I couldn't even swallow it and ended up spraying and spitting it out. Haha! But it was a good way to wet my mouth.

Then it was the final right turn to the finish line and I saw the clock already surpassing the 1 hour mark. Damn! I was already too late but I didn't want to give up (especially for the 200-meter distance left to do). It was all or nothing (hard to slow down too with Alvin shouting at me to go faster!).

I crossed the finish time at a little below 1:01 gun time. Upon looking at my Garmin, my finish time (chip time) was at 1:00:08. Dang! Just 9 measly seconds for sub-60 (but it was still a PR for this year)!

I then looked at my average pace and saw that it was at 5 minutes, 55 seconds.

Wait a minute, that can't be right! Then I saw the distance that I ran and saw that it was at 10.18km!

Alvin erased the 0.18km from my Garmin watch to give me a flat 10.0km distance, an average pace of 5:57 (I was fastest at the last 0.18km distance) and a time of 59:25. Yes!


TO GOD BE THE GLORY!


I was ecstatic with my time that I wanted to run some more, and we did for 2km more before calling it quits for the day!

I was also able to get a loot bag at the finish line with a finisher certificate, some canned goods and vitamins/medicine in it. Not bad in terms of freebies!


2011 10km PR!


A big thanks to Alvin for the much needed push I needed to achieve my goal in this race.