Race: Milo 10km race

It has been a while since my last race.  First one for second half of the year and just 10km as no endurance and lack of training.  But with 1 hour 30 minutes cut off time, it should be doable for me.

Alvin, Mary and I registered for 10km race while Pao registered for 21km race. Venue was at SM Mall of Asia.  We left quite early as didn't know what logistics would be in terms of road closures and parking spaces.  We left at 3:50am for a 5:00am 10km race!  Quite early for our standards!  But at least we didn't encounter any problems going and parking there.

Our race started on time on a windy and cold Sunday morning.  Route was quite simple with just a U turn at Roxas Blvd.

I started at 7 minute pace and checked how that pace felt like. It was good and figured I could go faster.  

By 5km I was a bit winded but still felt capable to finishing the race at this pace of sub-7 minutes.  

It was harder come 6km but I remembered from watching CARS 3 (of all movies) about wind drafting and did it when I saw a runner in front of me running about the same pace.  So I stuck with him for the next 2km, even stopping at the same time as he at the water station.  Ninja skills so he wouldn't notice I was right behind him.

By 8km I felt I got my strength back and ran by myself for the last 2km of the race.  Thanks anonymous runner for your help in catching the strong winds in front of me.

Last 2km were both below 6 minute pace at 5:55 and 5:52, my fastest for a long time now.

Thank YOU LORD for your help and nice weather!

Got my first Milo 10km finisher medal at finish line too.

Good run followed by good breakfast at Dayrits.  Happy to Milo race even though distance wasn't my normal Milo distance.

Thank YOU LORD again. 

Race Review: Mcdonalds Stripe Run 10km

I was fortunate enough to receive a complimentary 10km race kit for this event (thanks Joanne of EON) and I was excited for this race as it has been a while since I was able to join a 10km race (about 6-7 months ago!!!).

I joined past events of this race from a 10km solo run to 3km family run with my two kids (one in stroller) and wife.  And in all these events, the race was well organized.

For this year's events, proceeds from the registration fees will go to one of their charities:  Ronald McDonald Read to Learn Program.  So not only do you get to run a nice race and burn some calories but you are also contributing to lessening the country's illiterate population.

For the race itself, I have no target. Haha!  No speed or time trial but just to have a good run!  Route took us to Kalayaan Avenue and to BGC area.  There were only a few runners doing the 10km category as most were in the shorter distance with their families.

My legs were tight in the beginning and pace of 6:30 wasn't easy for me.  But I made it a point to run through the entire race and just stopping to drink or tie loose shoelaces.

All in all, a good and quick race and got a breakfast sandwich at the finish line.  Congrats to the race organizers!

Race Review: Batman vs Superman 10km

Now, this is a race that doesn't happen often. In line with the new movie starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (oopps sorry, wrong flick), there is a race around Mall of Asia grounds with distances of 3km, 5km and 10km.

I was registered for 10km along with friends Janine, Kerwin and Abby and rode in Kerwin's car to head to the event.  But due to unforeseen circumstances (road work on the Pasay flyover), we got to the venue pretty late. 

So late that both the 5km and 10km runners had already started.  So late that even the 3km runners started a few minutes ahead of us reaching the starting line.  But there wasn't anything else for us to do but run.

By that time, I could see the sunlight filling up the morning sky. My strategy was simple: maintain a sub-6 minute pace for each kilometer. That would lead to a sub-60 finish time.

Other than that, there were no other goals for this race.  No new PR, no faster pace than the last one.  

I was comfortable throughout the race.  What also helped me here was the relatively flat route in the entire 10km distance.  No hills or flyovers to climb over.

I did miss a turn somewhere as whenever I see a km marker, distance in my Garmin was shorter by about 1km. 

As I crossed the finish line, I saw that the distance was at 8.8km.  Rather than stop running, I decided to keep on going for the next 600 meters before making the U turn back to the finish line.  Having done that, I had completed the full 10km distance.

Note: After crossing the finish line, I stopped my Garmin watch to check the distance.  And once I decided I wanted to run some more, I walked for a few meters away so that road can be lighter from the crowd, unpaused the Garmin and ran again.  So that was a few seconds of getting a break and not recorded in my Garmin.  It is for this reason I don't consider this as a PR race (although it should have been for the distance).  Funny thing here was that my average pace was exactly the same as the PF Sub-60 10km run a month ago!  But effort was a lot easier so that's something.

Thank God for this and letting us all finish injury-free! Thank YOU LORD for my 3rd sub one hour 10km race for the year. y goal was just one sub-60 race but YOU have blessed me with two more. :)

The finisher medal was awesome and got a Goldilocks loot bag too, which had its own caramel pop corn among other things.

Pre-run nutrition: one cup of black coffee and one pineapple cake

Gu gels: none

Taken in race: water 

Pace: 1km: 5:51, 2km: 5:39, 3km: 5:48, 4km: 5:47, 5km: 5:56, 6km: 5:50, 7km: 5:50, 8km: 5:54, 9km: 5:47, 10km: 5:30

Race Review: Pinoy Fitness Sub 60 10km

This is the fourth year that Pinoy Fitness has done this race and unlike other 10km races, there is a time goal here of finishing the 10km distance in an hour or less than that.  Should a runner complete this, he shall receive a finisher medal and a finisher shirt.

But to cater to runners with no time goal or who are just after the distance, Pinoy Fitness had added another category "Walker Fun Wave", wherein once they completed the race, finishers will receive finisher shirt.

There are three wave categories for the sub-1 due to the number of runners interested in this challenge.

When I registered for this race, I opted for the Brooks Wave as figured that the earlier wave the better as air should be cooler and sun won't be out yet.  

I plan to be there by 5:00am at the latest so that I could be at the very front of the wave and save time.  This was the strategy I used in Amcham race.  Here that should be done even more so as the Sub-1 challenge will be based on gun time, and not on your chip time.  So the further back you are from the starting line, the harder it will be to finish within 1 hour from when the race started.

Unfortunately, every runner had the same idea and by the time I got there, I was at the very back of this wave.  It was super crowded and made me re-think whether registering for the first wave was such a good idea when most runners joined this wave, making it the most congested out of all three waves.

There was nothing to do but find a spot and do a little stretching.  The wait didn't last long and pretty soon, the race had started.

Of course, being at the back, I couldn't run yet and walked slowly toward the starting line.  At this time, I was counting the seconds slowly as I knew I can't just be sub-60 but at least 0:59:30 if they were going to follow the clock!  By my count, it took me 20 seconds alone to cross the starting line to start running!

It was a fast start as almost everyone was sprinting!  Everyone had a goal in this race.  Race route took us up BGC before we headed to Kalayaan Bridge.  

This was around 3km and my pace was comfortably below 6 minute per km.  On Buendia Ave, it was easier to run and I was able to speed a little for the time i slowed going up the flyover.  

Daunting was the task of going back up Kalayaan Flyover from Buendia Avenue as it felt steeper and longer.  "Just cross this", I thought to myself and I kept on going.

Back in BGC, there were only 3km to go.  I was running below 6 minute pace but I was worried if that would be enough due to 20 seconds I lost prior to reaching the starting line.  But I thought of an answer for that, and that was to show the marshal my Garmin watch , reflecting both the finish time and distance I ran!  I have proof!  Once I realized that, I became calmer and just focused on my running.

At 8km, I was experiencing some difficulty in running and breathing.  Am I hitting the wall?  But there were only 12 minutes or so to go!  I need to push myself but also careful and do body self-assessments.  I was wheezing more around this time.

Finally, I saw the finish line and sped to the rightmost side of it as that is where my finisher clock was.  So far so good and I crossed the line, out of breath and tired!  But happy especially when the marshal handed me the much coveted finisher medal.

THANK YOU LORD for this!!!

i didn't stay anymore after the race as felt it was too crowded.  Plus I was famished too. 

So I went back to the car, changed clothes to drier ones and had breakfast at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf after.

What a great Sunday morning!!

Pace per kilometer:

1km: 5:44, 2km: 5:34, 3km: 5:50, 4km: 5:47, 5km: 5:44, 6km: 5:59, 7km: 6:00, 8km: 5:58, 9km: 5:52, 10km: 5:31, 200m: 5:11

Water: drank twice in race: At 4th km and at 7km.

Gu gels: none.  Supposed to bring one for race but at last minute, left it in car as didn't want the "added" weight, all one oz. of it. Haha!

Thanks be to GOD, who was with me throughout this race.  I was never alone :)

Preparing for Sub-60 10km Race (PF 2016)

To say that this race gave me a lot of pressure is a serious understatement!  It took me a few weeks pondering on it before I decided to sign up for this event.  

And it was because I was getting faster in my 10km race, from a 1:02:39 finish time last December, to 1:01:16 finish time in February, I was just a minute or so away from my target finish time.

So I took the plunge, paid the registration fees, took home the race kit and didn't know what to do next! Haha!

I run only twice a week, a short mid-week run and one race over the weekend.  The mid-week may be an easy run, a

tempo run of 7 minute pace or speedwork via 200m x 10 times and would usually involve running up a steep hill.  Even with the steep hill, the 200m would be finished in 1:05 or less, then I would walk down the hill and repeat run again.

The races I join vary from 10km (to build speed) to 16km and 21km (to build endurance).  All with the ultimate goal of going sub-60 in the Pinoy Fitness challenge.  Usually in all these race, I try to go sub-6 minute pace for the last 3-5km regardless of distance I joined so that I could be familiar with running at this pace especially with tired legs.  I may not

always achieve it but in all times, these races helped my performance and I got to finish fast in them.  The goal for the last 3-5km is to be able to still run fast even with tired legs!

You may think two runs a week is insufficient, and I agree with that.  But i was also able to go to Gold's gym for one month and join some of their classes (spinning, boot camp) which helped my endurance and developed core muscles too.  

Once a week I play badminton too which helps in speedwork as I try to catch every shuttlecock heading my way!  It is usually in badminton that I am out of breath so I know that there is still room for improvement.

There is one 10km race (Amcham) that I joined before the Pinoy Fitness run and the purpose for this race was a tune-up race.  Basically I would race this with goal of finishing it in sub 60 minutes.  I will see if my target here is achievable and my effort level in getting to it.

I finished successfully this race with a finish time of 57:15 but it was short 400 meters.  Still, my pace was at 5:56 minutes per kilometer, which would guarantee a sub-60 in PF run.

Two takeaways though from this race:

1) It was mostly flat as just went around BGC area.  Or if there were some climbs, they wouldn't be that steep.  I had no idea yet on route map of PF run at time of this race.

2) My effort level was in the RED.  That means I was giving everything in the race and having a really hard and horrible time in it.  I was having a hard time at the last part of the race in trying to bring my pace down further.

So rather build confidence from that race, there was some self-doubt too as felt I wasn't strong enough or confident enough for PF.  But it was also a good tune up race as it had been a long time (years!) before I had done a sub 60 10km race.

Thankfully, I had two more races: Yakult 16km and Run United 21km.  With these two longer distance races, it should help my endurance and make me stronger!

I also use foam roller to remove the tight spots in my legs and lower back.  

For the final week of training, I did an easy 7km run in BGC Tuesday morning followed by two hours of playing badminton that same day (but in the evening).

On Friday morning, I did 3km warm up followed by 200m x 10 sessions of speedwork where 5 of these sessions will be going up a hill.  

Rest on Saturday so legs will be fresh come Sunday morning!

An extra challenge when the route map came up:

Kalayaan bridge!  My nemesis in all the races.  In the past years, I walk going up this as felt it was too steep and hard effort for me to run it.  Can't do that for this race!

Hopefully the hill sprints I did were enough to meet this challenge.  We shall see..

Finally: A sub-60 10km race!!

I didn't think this was possible.  This felt surreal especially since I burned out in the fourth quarter of 2015 from doing two Full Marathons just three weeks from each other (Subaru and Run United).  Those two had pretty horrible finishing times for me so I thought I lost my speed and gotten really really slow!

But with GOD, everything was possible.

From Sunlife run 2015 (11/29/15), where I finished it with an average pace of 6:37, to Healthy Run 10km a week after where I got faster and finished said race at an average pace of 6:21, I was able to do my fastest 10km race for 2015 via the last race for the year: Recovery Run 10km (12/12/15) and finished this race at an average pace of 6:15 (with a time of 1:02:39).

For 2016, I was able to go faster for the 10km race and beat my 2015 pace via the La Salle Greenhills 10km run last January 24th.  This one I finished at an average pace of 6:11 (time of 1:02:12).  But I felt like I wanted to collapse and faint in this race.  It definitely wasn't a good feeling!!!  I needed to get faster and get stronger!

I had another 10km race.  This time it was held in Bonifacio Global City and on Valentine's Day.  I was able to complete this race (Run for Life) at an average pace of 6:01 (time of 1:01:16).  Best of all, I didn't feel like I was going to die!  

6:01!  That pace bothered me for the next few days as to get to sub-1 hour 10km time, I need to run at an average pace of 5:59, just 2 seconds away!  But even 2 seconds wasn't enough.  As race may exceed 10km by a few meters.  I needed a little more leeway!  That meant going faster and sustaining speed!

This was all part of preparing in my big 10 race:  March 20th Pinoy Fitness sub-60 10km race!

And yesterday was the final test for it:

AMCHAM 5th ScholaRUN 10km race in Bonifacio Global City:

The nice thing here is the proximity to my house.  I was able to find a parking space easily and did some light jogging and stretching.

I was tensed for this race as had a specific time/ pace goal.  This wasn't a just to finish 10km race but one that hopefully was a sub-60 minutes.

I studied the race map the night before and tried to think where the steep hills were so that I can be more prepared for them.  At the same time, I looked at the downward portions of the race so that I know where I should surge and go faster!

As I saw it, there were three U Turns in this race and two to three uphills but they were compensated by downhills.

During the week, I did one run only to prepare for this:  5km at 7 minute pace followed by 10 x 200m hill repeats.  I hope that this would be enough to give me strength during the uphill portions of the race.

My goal was to hopefully start at a pace of 6:05 and to bring it down to below 6 minute pace all throughout the run.  Obviously I went out too fast at the first kilometer (5:42 pace) and paid for it in the second kilometer (6:13 pace).  

Every time I thought I was doing well, I would see my pace and be disappointed with it.  I even thought that there was a problem with my Garmin and paused and started it during the run to get it back on track.  More bad paces as I got a 6:19 pace on 4th kilometer and 6:08 pace at 5th kilometer.

I was having a hard time keeping the below 6 minute pace.  It was taking more effort on my running.  Even the downhill portions weren't as fast as I hoped they would be.  

But I kept pushing myself and played mind games saying that it was just 5km to go. At 6km, I pushed some more.  At 7km, I psyched myself not to waste the last 3km or the previous 7km would have been!  It was all or nothing!

At 8km, I took a quick look at my average pace.  It was at 6 minute pace!  I had to go faster and bring it down some more!!

I was breathing hard at this point. Just 2km left and I can lie on the ground.  I can stop running. Push! Push! Push!

Having one more climb did not help!

But I thought of the hill repeats and thought that this should be easy.  It wasn't but at least I didn't slow down.

And I saw the finish line!  One last surge! And just like that, it was over.

Thank YOU GOD!!!

I did it with YOUR Strength!  Thank YOU for YOUR protection!  This is for YOU LORD!

As an added bonus, I lingered around the stage area and won this when they had some games for all finishers.

I need to get stronger though as my feeling here was a little similar to the La Salle Run I did where I had a hard time in it.  So I have to keep training until March 20th to be faster and stronger.

Pace per kilometer (negative split):

1km: 5:42, 2km: 6:13, 3km: 5:55, 4km: 6:19, 5km: 6:08, 6km: 5:57, 7km: 5:51, 8km: 5:56, 9km: 5:50, 0.64km: 5:15

Race Review: Run for Life A love run

There are many reasons why I joined this race on Valentine's Day:

1.  It's for a good cause as proceeds will be used to build a nursery 

2. It's made by DLSU's ENGLICOM School Club.  As a fellow alumni, it's good to help my alma mater in one form or another.

3.  Race was held in BGC, my favorite race place in the Philippines due to the proximity to my house.  The nearer the better!

4.  Good to do a 10km race to see if I can improve on my previous 10k or not in terms of pace and finish time.

5.  Burn off the calories from eating out in our Pre-Valentine's date.

My target for this race was to simply beat my previous 10k 2016 PR of time 1:02:12 (average pace of 6:11).  This meant doing an average pace of 6:10 per kilometer.  

I got to the starting line 5 minutes before race start and I was able to do some quick stretching on my body.  As it was a small race, I started in the front and as soon as race started, I knew I was going out too fast as was running with elite runners.  I had to scale down my pace or else be burned out in the middle part.  

My objective was to simply run at 6:10 per kilometer and go faster in downhill portions of the race.  As there was no race map prior to the race, I didn't know where the route would take us.

At halfway mark, I was surprised as it took us up Kalayaan Flyover.  Truthfully, "surprise" was me downplaying what I was feelings at that time as I saw it.  More of a mixture of denial, anger, some swear words to myself and thinking I won't be able to beat my previous race time. Yes the I went through the entire 5 stages of grief in a matter of minutes before ending it with acceptance!

Thankfully, I was able to do some hill repeats this week and through that, it gave me the confidence to run up the flyover at a good pace.  Note to self: I should do more hill repeats!

I counted down the kilometers as I want it to end! I was out of breath but stronger than the race in La Salle Greenhills.

At the last 3km, I was able to run at sub 6 minute pace so that should help my average pace.

I finally saw the finish line and went all out before stopping my Garmin watch at the finish line.  I walked a bit to lower my heart rate before I looked at my watch.

Thank God for keeping me strong in this race.  Pace was a lot better than what I expected and if it was exactly 10km, then I would finish slightly or at 1 hour mark!  i just don't know how I can top this in the future.

Post-race, I got a finisher medal, a

finisher shirt and a loot bag

and went home to change and pick up my family for Valentine's day breakfast at Starbucks.  Thank You Lord for a great day and a great race.

To God be all the glory!

For the race itself, aside from the added 200m distance to the 10km race, I had no other complaints.  There were ample marahals, lots of water stations and race started on time.  There wasn't any problem in claiming loot bags as well. Congrats to DLSU ENGLICOM Club.

Race Review: The Labelled Green Fun Run 10km

This race was supposed to be held last November 2015 but race organizers changed its race date to January 24, 2016.  Luckily, our schedule was free that day so rather return the race kits and get refunds, we decided to run it instead, making it our first 10km for 2016.

This was definitely a new route for us as the starting line was inside La Salle Greenhills  campus and route was pretty much straightforward: two loops along Ortigas Avenue with first loop taking us to EDSA via Ortigas Avenue flyover!

Going up the flyover was a pretty awesome experience but once was enough for me given its steep incline!  I was sooooo glad that we didn't have to do it again on our second loop!!

I was winded at halfway mark and had a hard time keeping my pace.  The goal was simple to finish this race as didn't do any sort of training for it (unless you consider one super slow 6km run as "training").

My pace started at 6:30 and pretty soon it was at 6:15 average pace (my fastest pace for 2015's 10km race).  All I had to do was go faster a bit to have a faster pace than last year.

It wasn't easy especially since I had to stop twice at the water stations to drink some water.  There was a sudden downpour of rain too making it a little harder to run given the slippery road.  But I kept going, coughing and wheezing the entire time like a sick, old man! Haha!

The last 3km felt like forever but I was glad I was able to maintain the below 6:15 pace.  But I couldn't go faster than the speed I was running. I was spent and hopefully had enough strength to cover the last remaining distance. 

"Don't stop to walk", I reminded myself.  "Don't put your pace to waste by slowing down", I tried to convince myself.

Finally, Alvin and I reached the end of Ortigas Avenue and we took a left turn to go inside the school campus and crossed the line!  Yay, we finished this race!  Thank You God!!

I received a finisher medal and a loot bag, which had vitamins, junk food and tomato sauce and Milo sachets.

Pretty much a good race and had fun running it!  Moreover, I was glad that I was able to go faster than my 2015 10km race so this set a new standard for me to beat :)  Thank You LORD!

Run United Recovery Run

I almost didn't make it as it had a gun start of 6am at Filinvest and I woke up at 5:20am!

Now that was a wake up call! In 10 minutes I was out of the house and driving on the road to Alabang.  The horrible traffic in Sucat area didn't help me in this situation.

Luckily, I found the race start and secured myself a nice parking slot right when the race had started.  But no worries, I could still catch up with them. And pretty soon I was running with then.

As race was at Filinvest, it was sort of a new route for me and I enjoyed doing the 10km as the last race for the year.

I was slow at first but by the second half, I got my second wind and was able to go faster.  

Goals for this race kept improving as well- from 6:30 average pace ( just to finish), to 6:21 (which was my pace in last week's race) to 6:19 ( which was my 10k PR for this year. As more disance gets covered, the pace went down as well.

I kept changing the goal and had strength to keep going. Final two turns before I crossed the finish line.

God is truly awesome!! Thank You for a wonderful year -ender run.  This wasn't just a recovery run but it was also a redemption run!

Set the 10km bar!

I am quite happy when I saw my results in the recently concluded Li- Ning 10km race.

Didn't expect to have a high ranking in this race.  (And to think I was questioning on getting to the finish line in one piece.)

Praise God for this unexpected surprise.

Hopefully, this sets the bar for me to go faster and be stronger in this Sunday's Fit Buddy Run at Bonifacio Global City (BGC).

Race Review : Li Ning 10km

I just realized last night (and hours before the race) that this was my first 10km for the year!

I guess I kept on joining the longer ones that I overlooked the short but heart pumping distances.

So I guess this is an automatic PR for the year. Haha!

The reasons I wanted to join this race were:

1) I heard that the singlet was really nice so that alone was worth the registration fee. This reminded me of the Adidas King of the Road and Nike races where we were after the singlets/ shirts more than the finisher medals.

2) Finisher medals for all caregories.  When they say it this way and with no other details, you would know that it's a generic medal for all race categories.

So what's the added benefit for doing the 21km race? The finisher shirts!

But I was quite happy with the singlet and the medal so I registered for the 10km category.

There were only a few hundreds of us for this race but it was short and fun.  The sun wasn't out yet so we had a little bit of leeway before it got really hot.

There were ample water stations all throughout the race which was enough for the 10km runners.

My problem here was more of a personal one as I was acidic the entire morning before the race. Even when the race started, the acidity didn't disappear and at certain parts, it even got worse.

Rather than be discouraged and walk, that got me a little more motivated to finish as quickly as possible so that I can go home and eat properly.

I stopped at every water station with the hopes that the water will flush away the acidity from my body.  But no, it was still there.

The pain lessened and I was able to go a bit faster, going below 7 minutes for the second part of rhe race.  Deep breathing all throughout and lots of water.

I managed to cross the finish line at 1:06:53 which was a lot better than I expected (my target was around 1:30). 

So I was quite happy with that. Obviously.

Best of all, after getting the large medal, I can rest and eat at home!

Praise God for giving me the strength to finish this race.  Without You, this would have been hard or even impossible.  This race is for You Lord! Amen

Race Review: Color Nite Run 10km

 Color Nite Run is advertised for what it is:  a fun run involving colors, glow sticks and bracelets and expectation of getting dirty!  This is definitely NOT a PR race!

For this edition, it was held in Filinvest Alabang, which I didn't mind as enjoyed running in new places.  We were a group of 6 for this race and we all rode in one car going to the venue to save on gas and toll fees and for the company too!

There was no goal time for this race for me.  I will run with Per and see how she fares for this night considering she couldn't run the other day due to sharp pain in her legs. 

group selfie

As the gun was fired, our group of six were separated:  the spouses ran together while Janine and Jeanne ran at their own pace.

I figured it was a flat course for this race.  Boy, was I wrong.  There were a lot of steep hills and we had to run it in the dark as there were no street lamps here, or if there were, they were turned off.  I think this was done purposely so that we will see the effects of our glow sticks.  But it was still a dangerous move as we couldn't see the ground we were running on and I had to keep looking and squinting my eyes to see if there are any manholes in front of us!!

Good thing we saw Janine again who had her cellphone with her and she used the light and pointed it to the ground!  Great thinking Jann!

Being a Color Run (inspired by Color Races in the USA), I expected us to hit a lot of color stations throughout the 10km race.  Unfortunately, there were only two stations and one was near the starting line.

I think a lot of runners were disappointed too by the lack of color stations so they decided to do it themselves!  YIKES!!!!

running (or posing) in the dark!

There was also a water spray station for people who wanted to clean themselves of the food coloring (at least that was what I think it was).

Overall, it was a good race and we all had a good time.  Per's injury didn't act up (Thank GOD) and she finished her fastest 10km for the year.  Dinner afterwards at Project Pie before heading back home.

Some room for improvements:

1.  More color stations.  We EXPECT to be dirty and filled with all sorts of colors.  This did not happen!  Hopefully, they can fix this in the future.

2.  Street lights needed.  I understand they want us to show off our color bands but I think safety should be the priority here!

3.  Standard finisher medal for all race categories (3km, 5km, 10km) was given out to finishers.  It would be nice if it was separated PER CATEGORY and written on medal the distance you completed.

Note:  All photos were taken from Janine's cellphone.  Thanks Jann!

Race Review: Energen 10km Race

I haven't raced in any 10km race for some time now so this was a perfect race to test my speed (if there are still any).

I didn't have a second thought when I registered for this race due to the affordable fee of Php 400!  It's hard to find 10km races these days that are below Php 500!  Once I made sure that our schedule is clear, I registered for myself and for Per.

I also registered for Kerwin and Alvin.  This will be the second 10km race wherein all four of us will be participating again but difference from the first race (Robinson's Buddy Run) is that this will be an individual race.

We didn't make it in time for the gun start of 5:30AM and felt pressured to try to catch up with 10km runners.  I had to make a U turn back to Per and tell her not to go out fast.  Eventually, we will catch up with them (which we all did!).

The route took us to Kalayaan Bridge and along Buendia Avenue for the U turn back.  Pretty simple route, which I like.  There were water stations nearly every kilometers and lots of volunteer photographers.

Per happy at conquering 5km!

 Unfortunately for me, I did not apply to myself my sound advice to Per to not to go out fast.  Upon reaching 6km, I felt tired and exhausted already and there looming ahead of me was the steep Kalayaan Bridge.  Yes, I walked the entire incline part and ran again once it flattened a bit.

I counted down the distance, hoping that one of the water stations offered something else other than just water.  But that was not to be.  I blamed no one but myself.  I was hungry too and did my best to finish the race as quickly as possible so I can sit down and rest.

defeatist look? hehe

 Once I saw the finish line, I kept running towards it.  Luckily, road went downhill and gravity helped me keep going forward.

I finished the race at 1:06++.  Not one of my best time but still good enough for me.

Alvin was already waiting for me.  A few minutes later, Kerwin crossed finish line, then Per.

All in all, everyone was happy.  Probably me the most because it was time for breakfast!

dessert after breakfast! haha

 PRAISE GOD for keeping us safe during the race!

Thank You Lord!

Earth Run 10km 2014

This was a hilly course as it went through Kalayaan Bridge and onto Buendia Avenue which is rare for a 10km race.

There were also some small inclines on BGC which we had to tackle too.

But aside from the course being difficult, it was nice in that it was pretty much straightforward and didn't have a lot of turns like most of 10km races held in BGC.

When we ran the 10km race, there was another ongoing race (St Luke's Hospital) and for the last 3 km, we would run on the same route so it was difficult to weave through all these runners!  

On the hydration aspect of the race, it was more than enough as it was placed every 1.5km and aside from water, they had Pocari Sweat too (but since there was another race, I wasn't sure if this all belonged to our race).

Still, it was a good race and one to test your speed and endurance.

Quite surprised with my finish time but very happy too!  Praise God!  Not only did I beat this year's 10km PR of 1:04 but I also beat last year's 10km PR of 1:01 (6:08 pace), which was my ultimate goal for 10km for this year!

Having finish this race at sub-60 (although technically short 200 meters) is another bonus for me!

Thank God!  To Him all the Glory!!

Thanks Alvin for all the speedwork and tempo you made me do.  I hated it every single time but it is nice to see some good thing come out of it! Ha ha!

Extreme Back to Back Race!!

RACE # 1 - OUTBREAK MISSIONS INTRAMUROS 5KM


Considering this is an Outbreak Mission, there are less running and more walking but it was still a tiring one as we walked on the uneven walls of Intramuros, do quick sprints as we try to avoid the Zombie Horde and try to solve the mission.

Our race started around 9:30PM...

at the beginning

 And we were a team of 5, but one of the rules of the game was to group ourselves into 10-15 members so we found two more groups and designated ourselves as TEAM CHOPSUEY!

Immediately after we were released into the Zombie Infestation, we all ran separately as we would do our best to avoid their Zombie hands on our precious "red tape" lives.  It lasted two minutes and most survived with all three red tapes intact.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case for Per as she lost all three lives in that two minutes.  How that happened we had no idea!  She was dead in this game!

But at least she had no pressure to run against the zombies!  Haha!

There were a few more attacks inside the walled city and there was a new gimmick as well:  we would follow the red light on the ground and we would be safe.  Of course we didn't expect the red light to disappear mid-way and there was a big panic as zombies headed toward our direction! 

As in previous Outbreak Races and Missions, casualties were bound to happen and one of our team members fell to the ground early on and cut her knee and elbow.  There were also some people who couldn't handle the stress and wanted to quit the game altogether.

So from 9:30pm start in a 5km race, we ended at 12 midnight!  Two and a half hours!!!

team Chopsuey

Luckily Alvin found an extra life and gave it to Per, who needed it badly  This time she kept it intact till the game was over and got a dog tag out of it.

Definitely not the end!

We haven't eaten anything yet for dinner so off we all went to Binondo for some authentic Chinese food!

Forgot the name of this place but it was really really good!  Thanks Alvin for the nice recommendation!

After having our midnight dinner, it was time to go home, take a shower, and sleep for two hours because at 5:45AM, it was time for

 RACE # 2 - TAKBO NG PAMILYANG MANILENO 10KM

 My legs were tight from Outbreak and I lacked sleep.  Still, I managed to wake up at 4AM and took that as a sign that I could do a 10km race.  Not sure on the pace though as I wasn't 100% that morning.

I wanted to at least do a sub-7 minute per kilometer pace all throughout the race and beat my 7:34 average pace that I did in a 10km race last January. 

Even with the tight legs which thankfully got looser at the second half, I was able to maintain a 6:45 average pace and even brought it down to 6:31 average pace and do a negative split!  I beat my previous 10km record for the year by more than 10 minutes!

PRAISE GOD for this!

Too bad I didn't make it to the top 100 finishers for the10km category and lost my chance to get one of the finisher shirts but it was still a fun event!

10km Route Map

two conquered races over the weekend!

Of course with all the running and lack of sleep, I ended up sleeping for more than 10 hours Sunday night!!

Thank God for keeping me healthy, safe and strong!


Thanks Alvin for the ride to Luneta and for the race kit for Sunday's Run!

Two Races in One Day's Time!

near finish line

In my previous blog entry, I started off with statements such as:

"This could be my final race for the year.";

"But as of now, my race schedule is FREE!  Not a single race registered or booked for the future!  It's off season for this RFB!"

And yet here I am writing again (and eating my words) about doing two races in one day's time, something which I have never done before in my life!  So how did these races came to be?  Read on...

RACE NO. 1 - RESCUE RUN 

When Alvin and I ran together Friday morning, I told him that this was a race we could do as it is for a worthy cause and that cause was to help the people in Visayas Region affected by Typhoon Yolanda.

Bullrunner also had a similar run in BGC for Saturday morning but I preferred to do this because of the race bib (making race more official).  My siblings chose Bullrunner's run as they needed to do a long run that day.  Both races look good to do as proceeds from both runs will go to charity.

I invited Alvin and Janine for this.  Both confirmed for it the night before but only one showed up (the other overslept... guess who!).

The race had a gun start of 5:45am but we started 5 minutes later, which was okay for all of us.  We registered on the site and did some stretches and warm ups before the 10km race.  I was still tired from previous day's 10km run so wasn't in race mode here.  I was thinking of just doing it at a slow 8-minute pace and be done with it.

The route was from the starting line to Kalyaan Bridge and back again.  Repeat and rinse!  Haha.

So this was my first time to run on Kalayaan Bridge twice for a 10km race!  That was UP HELL for me but I kinda enjoyed it and got into the zone.

I took water breaks and walk breaks on Kalayaan Bridge and would run off again.

The picture above was me near the finish line (Thank God!).  I grabbed a cup of water and bag of chips (and not letting that go!) from the last water station before I sped to the last 300 meters to the finish line.

It was a great run and I had a great time.  Congrats Greentennial Run!

amount contributed for Yolanda! Congrats guys!

I finished at a time of 1:11:30 with a distance of 10.48km (Garmin based distance) and pace of 6:49.  Woo hoo!  Happy with my time considering I set a much lower standard for my performance here :)


RACE NO. 2 - OUTBREAK MISSIONS!

Then, there's the second race.  Another run which I hadn't signed up for.  Luckily, Janine won 10 free slots via an online contest and I got to be part of her team PAWS.

I couldn't decide though whether I had time to do it and only confirmed early evening that I was okay for it.  It was held in Filinvest, Alabang and we were part of Wave 2.

Our wave schedule was supposed to be at 11:00pm but due to some delays made, we started at 11:30pm.

This is different from regular Outbreak Races in that although there are still zombies involved here, there is also a task that you need to accomplish, which in essence was trying to find a cure for the zombie infestation.

Our group of 10 became 9 as we literally lost a team member and couldn't find her in the first zombie attack.  Janine lost all three of her lives in that zombie attack.  Another team member fell with four other people and got some deep cuts on her hands.  Another team member fell in the bushes but otherwise came out unscathed.  I lost one of my lives here too.  It was quick, brutal and a lot got injured in that darkened road as zombies started running from your front and rear at the same time!  We heard stories about a girl fainting while another guy fell and landed on his ribs.  Man, this was hardcore.

Thankfully it wasn't like this most of the way as we slowly walked to Filinvest Mall and tried to complete the three tasks inside.  There were zombies in the stairs, zombies in the mall, and a lot of "scientists" and "soldiers" giving clues to our mission.

It was a long race but quite a fun experience for a lot of us.  We finished in 1 hour and 30 minutes.  I had two lives intact and got a souvenir dogtag. Our team ended up being "infected" as we chose poorly on one of the key moments in this race involving a crazy guy in orange jumpsuit.

Our missing team member was waiting for us at the finish line (she got sprained when she fell in the first wave of Zombie attack) but was still happy for her loot bag (nice shirt and bag).

Congrats Outbreak Manila for one cool race!  You guys rock!

In my official Zombie race shirt

 

Team PAWS!

That was one heck of a Saturday!

Finally, here are some scary pictures to haunt you in your dreams (you can imagine our fears that night when we had to face them in reality!)