Monday, October 29, 2012

Birthday Weekend (Part 2)


The following day, Sunday, I was back racing again. This time in Mckinley Hill, famous for its steep climbs and descents. I've been shying away from Mckinley Hill races since I know that it'll be a painful one as I'm not a good hill runner, but, it was my birthday and the PinkRun was for a good cause (breast cancer cure).

I signed up for (another) 10k race and I wasn't expecting a PR on this one although a course-PR was in sight. I last raced here in 2010 in the Mcdonalds Happy Day Fun Run when I finished between 1:05-1:15. I was still fresh from the previous day's 10k race so racing this one would be a challenge.

The race course was tough, as expected. I paced myself well from the onset, running above my usual 10k pace to be able to recover after the tough climbs. I made short term goals by marking a runner and hoping to pass him/her. It proved helpful as I was able to have a good race although my pace was not going to be sub-60 even if I gave it my all on the last 1km.

Total distance (Garmin)= 10.10km
Pace breakdown per km (Garmin): 6:28, 6:05, 5:49, 5:55, 5:53, 6:06, 6:00, 6:06, 5:43, 5:50, 38secs (last 100m).
Total time (official) = 1:00:23 (gun), 1:00:10 (chip)

It was a good birthday race as I was able to conquer Mckinley with a course PR by 5mins approximately. Further, I finished 36th overall (!!!) among 271+ runners which makes me on the top 13% of the group. Really nice.

I guess the only natural direction from here is to race that course again and aim for a sub-60.


Monday, October 22, 2012

Birthday Weekend (Part 1)

SATURDAY

It was the yearly Company Sportsfest and the question I asked myself days before was, "Can I still make a sub-60?" It's been months since my last race (Milo 42k last July) and more than a year since my last 10k race which, coincidentally, was the Company sportsfest 10k for last year wherein I set my 57:52 PR.

Except for some tempo/speed sessions that I did on a "how I felt for today" basis, I have not been training exclusively for this 10k. Tempos have been a little above 6:00/km average so I was thinking that finishing 1:00+ for this race would be the corresponding result.

The race was held in BGC and org'd by RunRio. I missed this familiar BGC route for racing since I'd only course through it during my Sunday long runs. It was going to be an advantage coz I knew exactly where the climbs and descents were situated. There were only about 30 people running the race so crowd traffic will not be an issue. The only question that remained as the gun fired to release us was, was my body conditioned enough to do another sub-60 finish?

km1 = 5:28
km2 = 5:47

As usual, I zoomed with the young ones at the start, trying my best to keep up with the lead-motorcycle as it would've been a rare sight to see myself at the lead pack of guys being escorted by the motorbike on ANY race. As the boys slowly accelerated to race pace, I decided to hold myself back as I might empty my gas tank before I even reach the halfway point.

km3 = 5:39
km4 = 5:52 (took 1 gel)
km5 = 6:03

I slowed down from km4-5 as I was trying to catch my breath from running fast along the 32nd street climb to Market Market, in preparation as well for the upcoming climb from the church towards the Japanese school. 

I reached the halfway mark at 28:49.

"So I can do a sub-60," I said to myself. As I was still feeling good at that point, I decided to maintain this (fast) pace as much as I can, manage the climbs (8th ave, half of Rizal ave, 26th street towards the Mini Cooper store, and a long climb again on 32nd street), and hope for the best.

km6 = 5:38
km7 = 5:40

A side story at this point. I've been teasing @lingerboy, my officemate slash training partner, to finish this race in sub-60. He has predicted a 1:05 finish for this one but I was surprised (really surprised!) as we met at 8th avenue when I was climbing and he was charging/descending to the U-turn. He removed his left earphone and shouted to me as we crossed, pointing to his legs, "[These are] Cycling legs! I'm coming after you!"

This is what I loved about the Company sportfest. Faces are familiar and it's always gonna be another 12 months of tongue-lashing if you don't do well (taunts like "Ha! He beat you again you slow runner!" are just "friendly" banter that we hear even weeks after the race). For this race, everyone is a challenge as you'll be seeing them everyday and you know that he knows that he beat you during that race ---even if he doesn't say it.

@lingerboy's challenge, adding to my aim of overtaking that female triathlete since km2 had woken me up from my cruising and really put me into race mode at that point. I was probably 2mins ahead of @lingerboy so I wasn't really worried about him (he would later finish at a personal best 58:45, his first ever sub-60). I was more concerned of being "chicked," as the term goes, as female/executive triathlete was *still* 100m ahead of me.

km8 = 5:37
km9 = 5:24

I was really going after her, even expecting her to drop pace from the Rizal Avenue to Mini Cooper climb, but she didn't falter. She was still going at it, but I was still with her about 100m apart. She was starting her final kick on the last kilometer and so did I. It was only the second and final 32nd street climb that will set the issue once and for all.

She surged ahead and I followed. I felt that I was getting closer but on that final turn, the effect of pushing hard on that final long climb had put a big toll on me: the dreaded side-stitch occured as I made my way to BHS. I was in pain and pace was starting to slow down.

I decided to let her go.

But not my PR.

I looked at my Garmin and saw that I was within sight of a new 10k PR. It was about 400m left and I gave it my all, passing the 5k joggers and walkers while managing my breathing to remove the side-stitch.

km10 = 5:41

Total time (unofficial Garmin time) = 56:53.

A NEW 10k PR! Woohoo!!!

I guess all that strength and cross training at Gold's gym may have contributed to my race performance. Adding to that, of course, was consciously pushing the pace as I challenged myself to run faster.

That joy was going to be parked for a while as, after 24 hours, I shall be finishing ANOTHER 10k race on Sunday: The Pink Run at McKinley Hills.

(To be continued)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

My Birthday Weekend Plan

What a better way to get back into racing. Back to back races this birthday weekend. Woohoo!

SATURDAY. Company sportsfest 10k. BGC.

SUNDAY. Another 10k race. This time on the killer hills of Mckinley.



As 2012 Ironman Kona winner Pete Jacobs said, "LOVE LOVE LOVE!"

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Sep24-Oct7 log

Sep24-30: 13km (RUN), 18km (stationary bike), 2 days weights, 1 day basketball

Oct 1-7: 34km (RUN), 1 day weights


DEHYDRATED

I was hampered with a mild case of UTI days after Sep24, thus the low run mileage during that week. I read somewhere that too much on the bike could be a cause so I decided to lay off from the stationary bike last week. It turns out that the reason for my problem was that I had probably dehydrated myself from working out too much on some days. For example, I will run in the morning and then go to the gym at lunchtime for a bike ride or weights ---all with less water intake. Since then, I make sure that I always have my water bottle with me everywhere I go. No softdrinks, coffee for the meantime ---just Buko juice.


INJURED

Last week I (stupidly) squeezed in 3 hard workouts when I should be building up my miles slowly:

Tempo run: 1k warmup, 4k at 5:42/km, 1k cooldown (treadmill)
Intervals: 1.4k warmup, 8x400m with 1min rest, 1.4k cooldown (neighborhood)
Long run: 16km in 1:55 (QC-SanJuan-QC)

The result? Pain (again) on my left knee. It's a classic case of "too much, too soon" especially on the long run since the farthest that I ran since July 29 (42km) was only up to 10-11km. The 150% long run distance is a far cry from the recommended 10% increase in mileage per week.


Definitely, an example of what NOT to do in mileage buildups. The pain should subside in days so I'm limited to just easy aerobic runs this week.


STOKED


I'm excited for the Ironman Kona Championships this weekend. Will there be someone who'll take first place from Crowie Alexander? Will Chrissie Wellington still reign at the top?


We'll find out this weekend.





Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Tripalooza

The usual question the wife asks after Saturday's anticipated Mass is where do we have dinner? As we haven't been to Venice Piazza for quite a while, I suggested that we go there last Saturday night with the kids.

Lo and behold, as by sheer luck, Venice Piazza was the venue for Tripalooza! It was a mini-festival of all things triathlon. From goggles, to bikes, and running gear, it was all there!

Yep, I was in heaven.

I told the wife to take the kids to Amici to get seated and have our orders taken while I, ahhmmm, hmmm, took a look around (grin).

I was swept by the numerous tri bikes on display. Sigh, tri bikes (and road bikes) are quite expensive nowadays so I'll just have to pass on buying one ---but it's still gonna be on my bucket list!

I rode on a Scott Plasma that was connected to a Tour de France simulator and I felt as if I was really there that I forgot that I was supposed to get back to my family in Amici for dinner! Hehehe....


Pic taken by my 6 year old son (minsan lang maka-aero position! hehe)
 But I had to score a pair of racing flats from K-Swiss: the K-Ruuz 1.5. At a price discount of 1,000 pesos off (P3,695.00), I just HAD to get it. It was a real bargain!


MINE!!!!!! Scored a bargain on these fast babies!

Yes, there will be a shoe review of K-Ruuz 1.5 in one of my posts soon.

Thanks @KSwiss! Thanks Tripalooza!