Saturday, August 29, 2009

Deysi Otso

Yup, after conquering the BOTAK 10-miler last Sunday, my longest run, it was time to crank it up a notch as dictated by my current half-mary program.

It was supposed to be an 18k route which I've mapped out yesterday via Google Maps. The route would start at my house, then go towards Kamuning, Timog, East Ave, QC Circle, UP outer path, UP Oval, and back. This was going to be one long run, I thought. There'll be no water stations, marshals, and markers. It will just be all me dictating this practice run.




So I packed up a bag of Sports Beans, filled up my hydration bottle with Gatorade, and off I went. I actually stopped for about 3mins at the UP Oval since my Gatorade ran out so I bought a bottle of mineral water from the store near AS Palma Parking lot to refill my bottle.


It was smooth sailing until I passed 16kms. The WALL reappeared its ugly head and I found myself dragging my feet just to finish the last 3 kms. It was hell I tell you. 3kms seems to be a short distance but not in this run. Grabe...


My GPS tracker showed 19kms which was weird since from my Google Maps reference I should only be at 17kms. Perhaps the buildings, MRT tracks, etc. disoriented it. I was dead tired from running so I stopped the workout at 19kms, i.e. 17kms. I then walked the last kilometer to home. So technically I still completed the whole 18km distance.


The time from 0-19kms was 2hrs 12mins which was quite respectable although if I base it from the 17km Google Map distance, it was at 7+min/km ----one of my worst. I think I need adjustments on my pacing. The pace from 0-19kms was depressing to look at. It was like a graph of the Philippine Stock Exchange Index during the last US Recession when it lost a lot of value. Masyado ko kase hinataw sa umpisa, naubusan tuloy sa dulo.


Good thing this was just a practice run.


Next Saturday: 19kms (for real this time).

Nokia Sports Tracker Beta run details can be found here.

2 comments:

  1. Actually, a pace of 7 min/km for 17k is pretty fast already, specially if you just started running/ Remember, you can't base your relative pacing from your 10k times, they simply won't carry over. Also, your training times are usually slower than your actual times, if you factor in adrenalin during race day. If you could, invest in a pedometer or better yet a Garmin for accurate measures of distance and pace :)Good luck with your HM training, keep us posted!

    Cheers,
    Luis

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  2. Talga 7min/km is pretty fast? Hmmm, but I see other bloggers doing 5-6mins/km. Yung ang mga medyo 'halimaw' na talaga sa galing ano? hehe.

    I think what I need to improve on is my endurance. Yang last long run ko pagdating ng 16km onwards, the temptation to walk became stronger and stronger until...I eventually walked. hehe.

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