Raceless but happy

I haven't registered for any race since Mizuno. There was an unfortunate event in the family that required me to put that in priority first over races the past weekends, but I still had my early morning runs, averaging about 22kms per week for the past 3 weeks.

My usual route is a 5km-loop that stretches throughout the New Manila area. As I've memorized by heart the kilometer-markers, I can even set my runs for 6, 7, 8, 9 or even 10km via an out-and-back path. I mostly do easy and tempo runs here but sometimes I also do 1km cruise-intervals and even use the 1st 4km as a start-path for my weekend long runs which often goes to GreenHills and then to San Juan via Wilson Street. The route then goes to a street parallel to P. Guevarra until I reach N.Domingo. It's all uphill from there to Balete Drive which is the last street to complete my usual 10-miler (16km) long run.

As I had to change hating hills to loving them, last week I discovered a 100m hill at Horseshoe Village, about a mile from my house. The merciless 100m climb belongs to a street with a name that speaks for itself: HILLTOP street. My planned 10x100m hill repeats was reduced to 8x100m last week as I felt my heart and lungs pounding after the 8th repeat. Yup, I'll definitely get back at said hill next week.

Going back to the 5km New Manila route, I see various people doing their morning run/walk. The ages vary, but most of those that I've known by face (a brief "good morning" as we pass each other) are probably within the 40-60 age group, all men. There's an old Japanese fella that always has a water bottle in each hand, another with a compact stick to ward off potential street dogs, and a Chinese-looking guy in his 60s that can still manage a 7:00/km steadily. It's nice to know that these guys, even at their age, strive to wake up every morning to get their daily dose of exercise.

I've also seen those that look to be racing a lot, based on the singlet that they wear (like me). This one guy, in particular, looked heavier than me when I first saw him run months ago. But, as I've seen him last week, he's lost a lot of weight! There's also a young lady, probably in her teens, that had lost weight over the many times I've seen her out-sprint her yaya. It just goes to show that running does help in keeping the unwanted fat out.

The tall trees provide sufficient shade in New Manila, especially in Broadway Avenue where the road stretches up and down like the SLEX Skyway. Just be careful of the oncoming vehicles that uses the street as a shortcut on their way to Tomas Morato.

If I do a 5km run, the last km is all uphill until I reach home. As my GF305 beeps the end of another morning run, I go back to the house and get myself ready for work.

Another morning run completed, I log into my trusty Excel file and dailymile.com:

"I felt good."