Takbo Breast Friend - Post Run

I am back in my old pair of New Balance shoes and old Adidas watch in a race that I have done before (but throug a different organizer). I am back in my competitive mode, after a month of easy runs. I am back with a goal in hand, to beat my personal best ULTRA time of 1 hour and 4 minutes and to find out if I still have what it takes to do it or if I have gotten slower as I do fewer practices these days.

One of the good things of being in an Ultra race is how late I can wake up for it as my house is just a 10 minute away from the area. We got there around 5:45AM but the race started late at 6:30AM, as the organizers had to clean off the road works along Meralco Ave., so that it will be safer for the runners passing through it. The 3k, 5k, and 10k races started at the same time and almost immediately, there was some uphill climb aswe head out of Ultra Race Trace and into the city streets of Ortigas City. There were two ambulances waiting nearby as well and lots of water stations (though not enough attendants as at certain stations, I had to fill up the cups myself). There were no Km markers and only way to gauge how far you've run is when 3km runners turned right at one point making me assume that was the 1.5km mark, and also at the 5km mark at Ultra entrace as we had to do two loops to finish the race.

There was no pain in my legs in this race and I was glad for that. The uphill was hard as expected but I managed to run–walk till I reached the top and make a right turn heading to Ultra. The part I wanted to finish the fastest was along C-5 as it was terribly hot there, having no shade at all and with the sun hitting you on your left side. The air was also polluted in this area given that a lot of jeepneys pass by here.

In the end, I finished the race at 1 hour 3 minutes 55 seconds. It was just a few seconds shorter from my 1 hour 4 minutes target but a Personal Best is still a Personal Best! It gave me enough confidence for my long race next week. No official time too for runners after the 10th fastest one and even the first 10 people to finish, there were some complaints with regards to their finish time. Host kept saying that all complaints will be honored 1 hour after the race but we didn't stick around anymore for that, choosing instead to fill up our empty stomachs with warm yummy food c/o Next Door Restaurant on J. Vargas Avenue.

This morning, there were some pain in my calves and shoulder area but that’s about it. This is a big improvement versus my first race here, where I had to really struggle going down the staircase and was in pain for the next two to three days. It is nice to know that this Fat body is slowing adapting to running.

Till the next run!

General happy mood now that our race is over.

A very hungry RFB doesn't want to let go of his pandesal and even eyeing the ones held by the girl in front of him..

Siblings Jeanne & Janine's 1 year Anniversary Run!

Ultra Race Track: where race began and ended. Good thing we didn't have to run the 4oo meter loop to cross the finish line!