Hating Long Runs

I hate doing long runs and it seems my wife is hating it too. Our solution to this is to join some weekend long races to add in the mileages.

Case in point: today, there was a 15km race around BGC area, aptly named as BGC Run! Unfortunately, our personalized training program by always helpful coach Alvin requires us to do 26km today.

Our strategy is simple: do 5km run early morning, drive to BGC and run the 15km race, and complete the required distance for the day by running 6km after the race. Unfortunately, not all plans turned out the way that you wanted.

In the early morning, we were only able to do 3.5km before we ran out of time and had to head to BGC for the race. We found a good parking spot and jogged to the starting line, which was another 400 meters and heard the gun start for the 15km race.

But that was okay as we were there already, making it there just in the nick of time. Alvin was there to wait for us but as we crossed the starting line, he sped at his fast pace.

Which brings me again to the topic at hand as to why I (or we) hate long runs. If there was no required mileage for us today, then the finish line would end our run and we can rest and have breakfast after. We could finally relax, change clothes and take warm showers. But no, that wasn't to be.

As people enjoyed the post race activities and waited for their numbers to be called in the raffle draw, we had to do a few more loops around BGC. As runners got their loot bags and took pictures of themselves at the finish line and as they slowly walked to Pancake House, Starbucks or even Jamba Juice to reward themselves for a job well done, we had to continue running under the hot, hot sun (feels like SUMMER) and go through the pains of PF, ITBS, tired legs and being thirsty just to make our bodies used to running this distance.

We did two loops around BGC and by second loop, the organizers were packing the race equipment (race was successful by the way) but we STILL had to keep on running. Pretty soon there were only a small percentage of runners left at the finish area and still we kept going. SIGH!

We really hate long runs and can't wait when training would end and we could just join a 5km and 10km race for fun sake and be finished with our exercise when we cross the finish line. Can't wait!!!

Result of long run: Per's ITB acted up again and we stopped at 24km, two kilometer short of the required mileage. But it was too hot and we were just too exhausted. Oh well, better luck next weekend where we will do another long run. BOO!

News: Run BGC November 25, 2012

This event is happening on November 25th, 2012, and features 500m kiddie race, 5km, 10km and 15km race categories.

Gun Start are as follows:
500m kiddie race -  6:45am
5km race - 5:30am
10km race - 5:25am
15km race - 5:15am

Registrations can be done online (via www.runrio.com) or on-site at all Riovana stores (BGC, Katipunan) and selected Toby's Sports branches (SM Mall of Asia, Trinoma).  On-site registrations are open till November 18th or till stocks last.

There is a target of 5,000 runners for this event and raffle draw will be held after the race where one lucky person can win Asian Cruise (good for two pax) or to convert his winnings to Php 150,000.

Registration fees are as follows:
500m kiddie race - Php 350
5km race - Php 600
10km race - Php 700
15km race - Php 800

All race categories will start at 34th Avenue, BGC (near Mercato Centrale).

This race is also part of the weekend long celebration of BGC's Passionfest happening from Nov 23 -25th, 2012.

See you guys there!

2nd Back to Back Run 2012 - Boo!

There were two good races that happened just over the weekend:

1) Medirun 10km, and
2) Ensure to Endure 15km

Both places took place at BGC area and both went up and down Kalayaan Bridge as part of their race routes.

I was registered for both races while Per was registered for the Medirun only. (She would definitely kill me if I registered her for two races).

I was late at both races and had to chase the rest of the runners. For the first race, Per and I were late for 10 minutes but at least we had each other for company. For the second race, I was about 5 minutes late but it took me up to 3 kilometers before I was able to reach the 15km runners, so during that time, it was just me and the lonely, lonely road (with the slight panic that I would be the last to finish this race)! Was everyone running so fast already or was I just this out of shape?

Both races were good in terms of organization. There were plenty of hydration areas and the route distances were quite accurate (or close) to their promised distance. The loots were nice too for both these races. For the Medirun, we got the coveted 4 GB USB plus some bottled water and Powerade drinks and even some toothpastes and vitamins. For the Ensure run, I got a box of Ensure at the finish line, which I gave to my parents.

The fees for both these races were affordable too: Medirun 10km was at a reasonable P450 and the Ensure run was free, as long as you buy their products and show receipts for the bib and singlet. Since my dad drinks this product, I essentially got to run this race for FREE!

I also liked the fact that both races weren't that crowded with runners. Medirun capped its race at 2,000 runners, while Ensure had about the same number of runners in it.

What I liked about Medirun more than Ensure was the very supportive marshals and volunteers. There were a lot of cheering and encouragements made by these people and no matter how tired we were, it boosted our energies and kept us going.

The weather for both these races was a big contrast: whereas Medirun's Saturday race had a very hot humid weather condition, Ensure's Sunday race was cooler and a lot better than the previous day.

Unfortunately, I didn't perform well in both races. On Saturday's run, I had difficulty running in my Brooks Cascadia 7 as I wasn't used to running in these heavy trail shoes for some time. I felt pain in my right PFs for the first few kilometers before the pain disappeared. On Sunday's run, I thought I could race it (even optimistically hoping for a new PR). But that was not to be. I couldn't go fast. I couldn't get to the pace I wanted. My legs were tight and I had to stop to walk in every kilometer of this race. It was when I reached the 10 kilometer mark that I felt my legs become looser but for some reason, I still couldn't go fast. So I downgraded my PR goal to just one to finish.

Another BAD back to back weekend race! I have to get used to this kind of torture... I mean TRAINING!

On a good point, at least I was able to get good mileage during the weekend, which was a lot better than last weekend's disaster. :)




Medirun's 10km race with Per

Run For Integrity 2 - Double PR!

My entire body from the shoulders to the feet are in pain right now. The only culprit for this pain was the race held the day before: Run For Integrity Towards A New Philippines (only we can think of a race name as long as the actual race!).

At that race, I did the 15km distance while Per did the 10km distance. My race was supposed to start at 5:00AM while Per's 10km distance had the gun start at 5:30AM. Good job (that's me being sarcastic) on the race organizer in following the gun start time! The 5:00AM gun start came and went and we were doing the Philippines National Anthem, the integrity pledge, and some warm up stretches! Shouldn't these things be done BEFORE the gun start?

So our gun start was around 5:15AM or so, but I maximized that time waiting by doing a 1km jog around the starting line (to add to my weekly mileage as well). (I learned later on that the 10km and 5km race categories started way earlier than their scheduled gun start time. Pat on the back again for the race organizers/hosts for making their own rules! And once again, that is me being sarcastic!).

But I can't worry on that too much as I have a race to finish. And not just any race. What's at stake here is one Gulliver's Full Bone steak as Alvin threw this in as a motivational tool for me. That should I finish my race in 1:37 or less (race pace of 6:30), then he would treat me to a full bone steak!

Hmmm, very tempting!

I kept thinking on how to achieve this and the best case scenario was to just go all out and not hold anything back. Yes, there's a strong possibility of burning out and fading at second part of the race but if I kept thinking about the future and the various what ifs scenarios, then I won't be able to run fast and I won't be able to reach my target pace goal. I'm also curious as to how fast I can go before I tire myself out. Not really a good strategy for this distance but what the heck, it's time to test my limits!

The route for the 15km race was pretty straightforward, literally and figuratively speaking as not much turns to make and just went out to Kalayaan Bridge and on Buendia Avenue for the U turn back to BGC, where we had to run a few more kilometers before reaching the finish line.

I heard my name being called out on the way to Kalayaan Bridge and who do I see but fellow runner blogger Roelle (Daytripped Running). We exchanged some notes and chatted a bit before we got separated in that race. I was within goal pace when I looked at my Garmin watch. Actually, I was way below my target pace and I imagined seeing the look of surprise in both Alvin's and Per's faces when I tell them my finish time at this pace. Yes, it was a good dream but in reality? Hmmm... let's see.

I still felt strong at this stage but slowed down as I climbed the Kalayaan Bridge. The water stations were just that - cold water in plastic cups and nothing else offered. But the coldness of this drink more than made up for what they lacked in sports drinks. Besides, I have a back up GU gel in my belt in case I need to "Power Up".

Thank God the weather was nice that morning and that helped take out the fatigue in my body. But I was slowing down, which was expected as I was running in my 10km race pace! I threw caution in the wind and refused to slow down. But I was getting out of breathe and took longer walking breaks at the water stations. I jogged/ walked going up Kalayaan Bridge a second time and looked at my Garmin. I was still ahead of pace target of 6:30 although that gap was getting smaller.

Time to Power Up! 1 GU gel consumed and I was able to overtake some more runners.

I checked the time and wondered where Per was. She should be around 7-8km by now. I hoped she was okay as this was her first 10km post-pregnancy race that she would be running by herself. But I saw the excitement in her eyes when I told her the night before to try and beat her 10km PR here. She was in her own race as well. Her previous 10km PR pace was at 8:11 with a time of 1:22++.

My previous 15km PR in 2011 was at 1:50:08, which happened all the way back in January of that year. This was my first 15km race for 2012 so although it was an automatic PR for the year, I was aiming to at least beat the personal record I set for 2011 too. Alvin, obviously had other goals for me as he wasn't just satisfied with me beating my 2011 PR but wanted me to obliterate that "slow" time from my memory. Hence the steak reward!

But I was slowing down and walking more. I finally saw Per at her 8km distance but had a very hard time catching up to her. But I saw her running continuously and took that as a sign that she wasn't injured or tired yet. I saw her overtake some 10km runners and that was another good sign.

I closed the gap slowly to her just so I can ask how she was doing. But when I got to her, I was tired too and could only blurt out, "Great job Per. You are strong! Keep going! You are near!" but more with a whispered tone of voice as I was clearly fighting my own battle here. I hoped that was enough for her and saw that they had their final turn to the finish line whereas for us 15km runners, we still had 2km to go! Argh!

It was all just a mental game from hereon. "It's just 2km more. You don't want to lose that steak on just 2km! Keep going! Do not stop!" I kept looking at my Garmin and felt mildly panicky. Will I make it in time?

The 2011 PR has been decimated but I didn't care about that anymore. I just want the reward! Haha. I reached the 15km marker but the finish line wasn't there yet. Dang it! No other choice but to keep on going.

Finally, I crossed the finish line at 1:38:15 for 15.33km and I was obviously exhausted.

I beat the target pace by 5 seconds to have an average pace of 6:25! Fantastic!

Per was giving me a thumbs up and raised her eyebrows when she saw me cross the finish line. I can only smile back to her.

She also performed magnificently, going below 8 minute pace to finish her 10km race at a time of 1:19:32 (pace of 7:57) and set a new PR level for herself!

What a great day for the two of us!!

God is Great!!!


The very nice finisher medal for all 15km finishers!

Race results are out via www.runningmate.ph, but since it's based on the "gun time" (and not chip time), I didn't take it to heart and will just follow the time and distance as measured in my Garmin watch.

Now, how to get rid of this body pain ???

Third Milestone

Whenever there is a milestone in my life, I used a race event to celebrate it. Sure, there have been a couple of birthday runs, PR runs, marathon runs, etc. but for the truly big events, there have just been 3 so far (as far as being connected to running is concerned).

Milestone #1

The first milestone was when I proposed to Per in 2008. It was a Saturday and venue was done in Sonya’s Garden in Tagaytay. Seeing as this was the city where we first met and this was the restaurant where we enjoyed going to and eating a couple of times, using this as a venue seemed appropriate at that time. I was nervous as hell and could only utter a few words but she caught on and gave a YES to my question to her. We decided to extend our celebration together by doing a 10km race the following day. And completing one of our many couple runs!

Link to this event:

In Good Times and In Bad Times

Milestone #2

The second milestone was for our actual wedding day, which fell on a Sunday. No, I wasn’t crazy enough to run on the actual day I will get married but I was crazy enough to join a race for the night before!

It was for Kenny Rogers Night Run and I registered myself and some family members and friends for various race categories for this run. For myself, I did the 15km event and friend Benny opted to run with me. We had a great time (although I was wheezing and panting by the time I finished) and celebrated the soon-to-arrive big day by having a few beers at the parking lot. You can just imagine how crazy that night was when not only did the groom ran a race (that alone was crazy!!!) but also the sisters and brother of the groom, the bride’s maid, and a lot of wedding guests. Yes, we all loved running and attended the wedding almost injury free (said bride’s maid tripped post race and got a nasty cut on her knee)!

Links to this event:

Kenny Run: Post Race

Kenny Run '09

Milestone #3

Then we have last week: my third milestone (notice how milestone races keep increasing in distances as well). It was to celebrate the birth of our first child: Daniella Joy, who came into this world on June 27, 2011. Extreme lack of sleep and no running made me think twice about joining this race. After all, it was a half marathon and joining one (with no training or preparations) had some risks involved. But at the end of the day (and after consulting with the wife), I decided to push through with it. The good thing about me was that I had done a lot of half marathons before so I already know what to expect and how to pace myself. But I was still very cautious and goal was only to finish strong and safe. There were no time pressures for me (I set a very wide range of 3 hours 30 minutes for my finish time) as reason for this run was to celebrate life. I was here to enjoy the race and reflect (and give thanks) on the blessings we received (as a couple) from God Himself.

For each Kilometer Mark I crossed, I whispered a silent prayer thanking God for letting me complete that many kilometers already. I ran slowly and I walked at every 1km/ water station. I didn’t make it to the banana distributions but I had my GU as back up supplies and used it there. I had my I Shuffle with me but didn’t use it as decided instead to enjoy the sounds and sights in this race. There were no vomit feelings (for the first time) and I was able to complete my 21km race. My worst 21km time for the year (in terms of finish time) but that wasn’t important. What’s important was I did it and set my 3^rd milestone.

And now, I have my Yamaha Finisher Medal and very nice Yamaha Finisher Shirt to commemorate this very special week.

Here’s hoping for more good milestones for all of us!

My race results are as follows:

DENNIS QUE PE

BIB NO. 151

Time: 2:55:23
Overall: 1,430th out of 1,773 - 81%
Male: 1,288th out of 1,545 - 83%
M30-39: 477th out of 574 - 83%

Reebok Zigtech Run 15k - Race Review

So I was basically running by myself for my race category. I caught up with 5km and 10km runners but the 15km runners were nowhere to be seen. Damn, that was a sad sight: to be excited to be running with fellow runners but caught off guard when race started earlier and ended up just running alone. Sigh! I definitely did not want to be the last runner here so kept pushing myself to reach the 15km runners. I was alone even on Kalayaan bridge but I just enjoyed the moment there. Either way, I was getting my exercise for the day and burning calories. And I felt good race performance-wise. The Reebok Zigtech Run was unique for its’ 15km category in that aside from conquering the 15k distance, you have to conquer running inside a building as well. In this case, the building was that of a law office (CVC Law Center) located in Fort Bonifacio area and the challenge was running in and out of 5 parking floors of this building.

It was a no frills race in that the loot bags contain a copy of Fitness magazine and some bottled water. There were no finisher medals nor finisher shirts but that was okay as the reason to join this race was more of the experience of the Vertical and Horizontal road race (and to see if you can finish these challenges).

There were ample water stations throughout the course and they had cold, cold drinks, which was something I look forward to every 1-2kms! Unfortunately there were two water stations that ran out of drinks but luckily its subsequent stations did not encounter the same problems (and I was able to re-hydrate there).

It was definitely a fun experience but one thing that confused me (up to this day) was the gun start time of 15km. Based on what I read the night before (on Reebok’s Zigtech poster, various running blog sites, etc.) the start time was at 5:45am for 15km runners and start time for 5k and 10k runners past 6:00am. So why is it that when I got to the starting line at 5:40am, there were no runners left??? The 5km runners were released just a few minutes earlier with the 15km runners released at 5:30am!

Hmmm, why did everyone knew about this change of schedule? Did I read the announcements wrong (NOPE as verified again when I did an internet search after finishing this race)? Was there a text message to announce this change (I didn’t get any)? Were the people just there early so “luckily” when the gun fired, they took it as a good sign as the sun wasn’t up yet? Whatever happened, I hope somebody could provide me with an answer to this.

Zigtech poster showing 5:45am start time for 15k Runners. Up to now, I STILL haven't found any link showing that start time was moved to 5:30am

So I was basically running by myself for my race category. I caught up with 5km and 10km runners but the 15km runners were nowhere to be seen. Damn, that was a sad sight: to be excited to be running with fellow runners but caught off guard when race started earlier and ended up just running alone. Sigh! I definitely did not want to be the last runner here so kept pushing myself to reach the 15km runners. I was alone even on Kalayaan bridge but I just enjoyed the moment there. Either way, I was getting my exercise for the day and burning calories. And I felt good race performance-wise.

By 7km (wow, it actually took that long), I finally caught with some 15km runners and slowly overtook them as we headed back to Fort Bonifacio.

The interesting part for me was trying to guess which building we had to “conquer”. Well, conquer partially at least. It came at about 12.5km mark as I entered the car park entrance of CVC Law Center and ran down all 5 parking floors for the turning point. I tried running up again but by 2^nd-3^rd floor, my heart was beating (too) fast and I had to slow down and just enjoy the experience. I jogged the last 2.5km to the finish line.

I definitely enjoyed this race and if only I knew about the revised start time, then it could have been a fantastic race for me. Double Sigh!

P.S. race results were up that same day but unfortunately reflected only the gun time of the race, which is kinda useless to me (being “late” and all). Good thing I used my GARMIN watch in this race.

June 5th: Great (and Challenging) Races!

Why did they have to put these races on the same date? Grrr !! All look interesting and here’s why:

REEBOK ZIGTECH RUN

To promote their new running shoes, Reebok will have their run at BGC (also known as Fort Bonifacio). With a 15km event, this run is different from the regular ones in that one has to run up 5 flights of a building around mid-way in the course. Hence, the Zigtech (Vertical and Horizontal) Run!

This is similar to the Men’s Health Urbanathon 2009 to which Per and I participated in and similar to last year’s Vertical Run by Sketchers too. Quite a unique experience!

AKTV RUN

A race by Runrio.inc, this one is held at Mall of Asia Complex and has 21km race event as its longest race category. Aside with all the perks of a Runrio Race (lots and lots of cold water and sports drinks, km signs, quick results, etc.), a bonus for 21km finishers would be the unique finisher medal (to which I love) and finisher shirt.

But it is still 21kms on a hot summer day! Luckily, the organizers made start time quite early so hopefully you will be nearing the finish line before you get tired from the heat!

MEN’S HEALTH ALL TERRAIN RACE

And speaking of Men’s Health, they have their own race at Nuvali Sta Rosa Laguna for a trail run (up to 16km), a bike race (up to 40km) or a combination of both (10km run + 20km bike).

I still haven’t tried running on Nuvali and that’s something on my wish list that remains unchecked.

Again, all these races present challenges in their own way (climb up a building, run a half marathon, do trail running) and I am sure, whichever you do, you will have a fantastic time!

Question is: which one to pick?