Race Review: Fed Run 16k 2016

This is the second year that I will do the Fed Run race.  As my daughter's school is part of the group of schools associated with this race, I had myself and Alvin registered for the 16km category.

Venue was at Mall of Asia with a super early time of 4:30AM!  As we left the house around 3:50AM, it felt like we were going to the province for a beach or mountain trip instead of just in Mall of Asia for a running race.

Parking was easy at the venue and there were ample portalets as well. But for the water, I had to go around the area before I finally found it near the stage, covered in plastic and unmanned.  I quickly got a small bottle of water and walked to the starting line.

My target for this race was two fold:

First was to get a fast time not only for this year but also by beating my 16km time in 2014.  To achieve that, I need to have an average pace of 6:49 or below.

Second, was that this will be a training of sorts to get a sub-60 10km run next week.  To do this I have to run below 6 minute pace for the last 5km so that I can  be comfortable in this pace.

To make the first goal easier, I try to start race with a below 7-minute pace and keep that throughout the run until the last 5km, wherein I would then accelerate for the second goal that I wanted to do.  Hopefully I had energy to do both tasks.

My weapons for this event were two GU gels and prayers for strength.

As the race started, I felt like I went out too fast.  And I was right!  I was going at 6:35 average pace per km and knew that I had to hold myself back or be burned at the latter part.  So I kept holding back but made sure all my km pace were below 7 minutes.

At 10km, I took my first GU gel, and didn't want to hold back anymore!  My pace quickened but not so much that it went below 6 minutes.  

At 11km, I knew that was the time to go for it.  I had one more GU gel for emergency in case I got drained but it was now or never.  I was able to run at 5:45 pace and kept it.  That was good enough for me.

At 14km, Alvin, having finished his run earlier, joined me for my last 2km.  I was able to lower my pace some more.  But I was a little out of breathe and one cup of cold water later, I was back to running at a fast pace.

I also had a third and secret goal for this race.  To not only cross the finish line with a 6:49 average pace or better (and therefore beating record from 2014) but to cross the finish line with at best a 6:30 average pace.  

I had no idea what my pace was.  I was just sure I had beaten my first target of below 6:50 pace.  I also completed my second goal of below 6 minute pace for the last leg.  But to the final time and average pace? I didn't know until I finally crossed the finish line, stopped my Garmin watch, got the finisher loot bag and finisher  medal before I finally took a look at my performance.

Praise God!  Only He can give me strength for this race!  Glory is to You Lord!

Thank You!

After which Alvin and I had a good breakfast at Aristocrat (it's opened 24/7 !) and we passed by a Starbucks store in Manila so I can get a tumbler (race reward?).

As an added bonus, I got back home and looked at the races I did in the past to find out when the last 16km race was when I went faster than today's finish time and average pace.

Eventually I found said race.  It was for Yakult 10-miler wherein I finished at a time of 1:36:23 (pace of 6:01!).  Wow, that was fast!

But then I looked at the date and saw that it happened some time now... in 2008 to be exact!  Wow!  Praise God for making me stronger and quicker that I was able to shatter 16km race records all the way back to 2008... a time where I was probably 30 lbs lighter, no kids and single!

Now that is doing the Meb!

Thank You again Lord!

Pace per km (negative split):
1km:  6:44,   2km:  6:30,  3km:  6:52,  4km:  6:46,  5km:  6:48,  6km:  6:59,  7km:  6:53,  8km:  7:06,  9km:  6:43,  10km:  6:12,  11km:  6:15,  12km:  5:57,  13km:  6:02,  14km:  5:54,  15km:  5:41,  16km:  5:36,  0.16km:  5:07
 

Used: one GU gel.  Morning had one cup of black coffee and one pineapple cake.  Throughout the race, drank cold water (there were no sports drinks offered in the race).

Route:  Took the roads around SM Mall of Asia and behind Roxas Blvd.  A little easier vs other races held here as we didn't go through Roxas Blvd.  So no Roxas Blvd, no flyovers.

Weather:  nice and cold.  As early in the morning, sun didn't come up till after the race is over.

What the moment:  Overtook Actors Dingdong Dantes and Tim Yap at last 1.5km and were way ahead of them.  But 700 meters from the finish line, they were suddenly 200-300m in front of me!!!  They never overtook me at any portion of the last 1.5km!  Even Alvin, who was running beside me for last 2km was surprised by it.  So they probably made an early U Turn (I hope accidentally and not intentionally).

All in all a good race.  Thanks be to God!

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: Condura Half Marathon 2016

This was a good race for me and one that I joined last minute for.

Honestly, I was lazy to run it as it had an early gun start of 3:30AM and I wasn't that comfortable with running a distance of Half Marathon.  I escaped unscathed at PSE Bull Run 21km but I didn't want to push my luck.  Still, with the blessing of God, I felt I was getting faster and stronger.

Once I was able to talk to race organizers if I could claim my race kit in Makati, I immediately went online to register for the 21km distance.  Thank you guys for your help!

I did one 16km during the week for my long distance run and just had target of finishing well and enjoying the scenery.  But as the day grew closer, I was thinking whether I could beat my PSE half marathon time of 2 hours 41 minutes (with an average pace of 7:37).  I had a hopeful target of maintaining an average pace of 7:30 and if I was still strong, to lower pace for the last 5km.

Even if I wasn't able to go faster than 7:30 pace at last part, that would be a new PR for me for the year.

With two hours sleep and 3 Gu gels in my running belt, I was off to Alabang.  Parking was very easy and I was able to find a spot at Filinvest Mall, just a short walk to the Starting Line.

My gun start was at 3:30am but with the multiple race Waves, I ended up running it at 3:45am.  "Oh no", I thought to myself, "I'm going to feel the heat from the sun at the last part".  Nevermind that it was just 15 minutes longer from the scheduled race start.  The lack of sleep must have muddled my thoughts that morning! Hehe.

But a good reason of starting your race at the last batch was that most runners were already ahead of you, making the road or in this case, the Skyway less congested.

The first 5km was slow and steady as ran on an incline from Alabang to Skyway.  This was good as body was just getting warmed up.

Route was pretty simple: keep running on the Skyway until you make a U Turn at the halfway mark.  As we started our race, there were a lot of Full Marathoners already heading back towards Alabang.

Weather was nice and cool and the sun never came out even at the last part of the race.  In fact, it became a little cooler as it started to rain a bit at the last part.  Thank You God!

I felt good the entire time, taking one Gu gel at 8km mark, a banana at 12km and a second GU gel at 16km for the last 5km on the road.

With enough energy, I was able to go faster at the last 8km and ran at below 7 minute pace for the most part.  Only when I got to the Skyway exit did I get slower as it was congested with 6km, 10km, 21km and 42km runners!!  I had to do a lot of weaving around the runners in front of me.  

But I didn't mind as when I saw my pace, it was at 7:23 and much lower than what I was aiming for so either way, I was happy with it.

Best of all, I felt strong and not even tired.

As we head into Alabang, I stopped looking at my watch and focused on the remaining distance.

Finally, one last turn to the finish line and when I crossed it, I had a big smile on my face.

Condura Half Marathon 2016: conquered!  Thank You GOD for making me strong!!

... And what a nice finish time too!  I not only managed to shave off 11 minutes from my last Half Marathon race but also achieved my utarget time of 2 hours and 30 minutes, which was my ultimate goal for the Run United 1 event in March!  It came much, much sooner that when I expected it.  As another bonus, I wasn't out of breath after crossing the finish line.  No pain in my legs too.  God is definitely good and this race is one of many where I glorify HIM.  Thank You God!!

The finisher medal was nice but I was more looking forward to the Finisher Shirt as it had the route map at its back!  Which was a very neat idea!!

Thank You God for a great race!  Thank You Condura for a good event (there were enough drinks and bananas and distance was accurate).

Final Note:  Unfortunately, although this was a fantastic race for me and I had a great time in it, I can't say this for everyone who ran it.  

There were some complaints with regards to the race kit pick up one day before the event as lines were long and it took a long time for runners to get their kits.

Moreover, it was a sad news for some families and runners everywhere as two runners passed away in this race: both young and at the prime of their lives: One joined the 21km while the other did the 42km event.  

New Routes

When training for a race (be it a fast 10km, a half marathon or a marathon), we tend to have routes that we are used to running in and are comfortable with it.  With these old routes, we would know where the toilets are, the convenience stores and fast food joints in case we need to buy food and drinks to replenish ourselves.  We would know where the turn around point will be, how far we should go to cover distance and basically anything we may need from a run, whether a long, slow one to a tempo one.  It makes it easier too as you won't have to think of the directions you are going so in that way, it makes your run more efficient.  You will know the best route as well (that tends to avoid the many stoplights on the streets, the smoking area, the congested roads from traffic).

Same goes with races where the routes are ones you are familiar with.  You would know where to conserve your speed, where the steep climbs are and where the descents will be, where the toilets are in case of emergencies, etc. and all thse factors that could help you in attaining a new PR.

But... sometimes you need a change in scenery, something that makes you wonder at the new sights and make you forget about training hard.  These are for the easy days in your training or even the LSDs, where instead of focusing on time, you look around you instead and enjoy the sights.

That is why I enjoy joining races where I hardly run in, be it international races like New York (which I super love) to Berlin to Disneyworld Orlando.  It can also be local races like Cebu, Baguio, Subic where I never run in as well!  But it doesn't have to be races when running at new places. 

When we went to Japan last year, I made it a point to run in most cities we visited: from Tokyo's Imperial Gardens, to Hiroshima's Peace Park to Kyoto's temple city, it made exploring the city that more special for me and at the same time, as I ran in certain parts of city, I would know which areas will be interesting for us to visit in.  So that also help save time.

For Metro Manila, I ran on EDSA on Dec 31 where there were hardly any cars on the street and did a big loop, which took me to C-5 and back to Makati.  It wasn't part of my regular route but decided I wanted a change in my route.

Yesterday, I ran from Tagaytay Midlands to Tagaytay Highlands, well "ran" in a very loose definition as walked most of the way due to the very steep and long inclines. It was tiring, it was horrible and my legs were tightening up the entire time. But it was also something I had never done before.  And when we drove to Tagaytay Highlands to have lunch and passed by the same route, I was enjoying the scenery and how I survived that run.  I will never look at it the same way again as I knew how hard it was to get to Point B from Point A and back again.

So it's good to do your routines and that should still be the core of your workouts. But don't be limited by it.  

The world is one big road.  Keep exploring it.  Keep running it.  Keep expanding your experiences!  Be open to new surprises!

:)

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!

First Race for 2016: PSE Bull Run 21km

We should start the year right by getting more conscious of what we eat and by exercising more.

But this was wrong for me on so many levels:

1)  I was unprepared for running a Half Marathon!  What was I thinking?  I didn't have enough mileage and took this race for granted.  In panic, I did one long 16.5km last December 01 around the city with the hopes that it would be enough for me to get through the Half Marathon. In between I was able to run another 12km and a 10km.  But I felt like it wasn't enough and that I was cramming for this race.

2) I arrived from Hong Kong Saturday night!  With the race at 4AM on Sunday morning, I would be lucky if I got three hours sleep!  (I wasn't as due to delay in baggage claim, I got home late and was able to sleep for just 1 hour or so).

Too late for me to back out at this point and I was comforted by the fact that there was no cut-off time for this race, so worst case scenario, I should be able to  finish race by walking the last part.  My target goal was just to finish, but hopefully under 3 hours. Alvin, who went with me, had a target goal of below 2 hours!

The race started promptly at 4am and we were about 4 minutes late when we got there.  Not that bad as eventually I was able to catch up with some runners a few minutes later.  Alvin, obviously, was long gone by then.

The route was hard as it goes through Kalayaan bridge to Buendia and U Turn at the South Super Hi-way and back to BGC where this time, we would run to Bayani Road and to Lawton Avenue.  So safe to say that it was a hilly race!

Although I felt 4am gun start was just too early for a Half Marathon race, I reaped its benefits as well as I didn't feel the heat of the sun until the last few kilometers to the finish line.  There were ample water stations and very few Pocari Sweat drinks given out in this race.

The finisher shirt I liked as well due to the very nice design and materials used in making it.

Some improvements:

1) They ran out of finisher medals for 21km race! What the hell? This is unacceptable as they already know how many runners joined this category so they should have ample time in the preparation of said medals.  There were a lot of angry people when they found out about this.  A lot more who were disappointed especially since this was their main goal for the race.  I hope the organizers rectify this by making more medals and allowing those who have the 21km bibs to claim at their registration areas!

2) The chaos in getting finisher kits.  There were no orderly lines, no marshals manning the people.  It was a state of panic here.

3) No bananas for 21km and very few Pocari Sweat stations.  For a race this long, runners need fuel and not just water for their bodies.

4) I heard that the 5km route was at 7km and 16km route was at 17km.  Thankfully the 21km route was exactly 21.1km.

In spite of these shortcomings from the race organizers, I had a good time as kept pace steady at 7:50 minutes/km throughout the race.  On the last 3km, I felt strong so was able to speed up to the following pace:

19km - 6:46 pace

20km - 6:18 pace

21km - 5:45 pace

Thank You God for your protection.  I finished the race with a big smile on my face.  A runner's high indeed with negative split as well.

Maybe lack of sleep boosted my adrenalin? Haha!  First time I used 3 GU gels for this but I was glad to have bought it with me as it definitely helped me in this race.

Alvin was successful in his goal too, finishing his race at 1 hour 59 minutes and came back to me at last 3km to add some more mileage.

This was my final time and pace, more than what I expected and I am really grateful for it. 

We rewarded ourselves by having Bulalo at Dayrits Magallanes.

A good start for the year where a lot of things came out wrong but still gave me a strong finish.

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!