This was a rescheduled race originally planned last Oct3 but had to be put off due to Ondoy. I was glad to find out that it was going to be done this morning via the takbo.ph updates earlier this week. I was excited as well for Francis, our family driver, who was making his race debut via the 5k event. I signed up for 10k since it fits nicely in my current 21k training schedule in preparation for this month's NB run (another rescheduled race).
I had a feeling that this was not going to be a high-standard organized race so I didn't keep my hopes up the moment I got the racekit last month. The tarpaulin bib, the so-so Barney-purple singlet, and the two 5km-loop race route were sure signs that this wasn't going to be organized by Rio, Rudy, nor Ian. I think that a group of mountaineers (well identified by their Jamaican style long hair) volunteered to help organized it since Habagat was one of the sponsors. It was all for charity particularly for those children being treated with cancer so I didn't mind the P350.00 reg-fee. "It's for a good cause," I told myself again and again. Further, I wanted to give Francis a feel of how a race "ambience" is compared to the usual weekday 5k morning runs that he does 3-4 times a week. With recent times of 25-28mins for a 5k practice run, he is no push-over. But still, maybe not enough to beat the elites joining this race.
We arrived at the venue at BHS 7th street (not the usual start/finish area of the usual TheFort races) at around 5am. The organizers were just about getting ready......to setup the "START/FINISH" banner at the starting arc. It was still a handful of participants at the time (less than 20?) so I kidded myself that I might just end up at the top 10. Hehe.
Guntime was originally set at 5.30am but from the looks of things, I guessed that this race won't start on time. I was able to pass the time by introducing myself and chatting to Pio, made famous by one of GBM's LSD posts and now the latest member of Men's-Health Magazine's Belly Off Club. Yes, this guy appears in the Nov 2009 issue of Men's Health. Damn, I should've brought my copy if I knew he'd be running this race for an autograph, hehe. Hmmm, ako kaya kelan mailalagay dun? Hay, onga pala, I still have to lose 15lbs more to get my BMI back to normal. Hayyyy....
Pio, fresh from his first full mary at the QCIM, told me he was lying-low for the moment by joining 5k races momentarily ---including this one. The chat helped ease the waiting time as it was already 6am. Still, no announcement for gunstart except for the endless loop of the "Wastong Pagkain" song sponsored by the Gov't (it will end up being my LSS for the morning up until I arrived home). Btw, we saw that guy from the Yakult commercial. "Ok ka ba tyan?" was running 3k.
Eventually, the racers were called in to the starting corral: 3k, 5k, and 10k with the latter runners at the front. At first, it was annonced that the 10k would be released first, 5k second, and 3k last in 5-minute intervals. However, at the last minute, the announcer said it was going to be one gunstart for all events (ngeh!). A fair estimate would be less than 150 runners in all. 10k runners made up of about maybe....30 or less? So for the first time I found myself just 1 meter from the starting line.
There was a final plea from the announcer that the winners of the race have the option to donate their race winnings to this particular charity. Yup, this race was primarily to collect money for charity and for a well-organized race as second priority. The elites up in front all laughed quietly. I knew that the money that any of them will win will be a big help for their daily needs so donating them is really out of the question. It just goes to show that runners AND charitable-institutions like the OneRopeProject need support.
On with the race
"Most mistakes in a race are made in the first two minutes, perhaps in the very first minute." ---Jack Daniels, Exercise Physiologist and Coach
At long last, the race gun fired at 6.20am with the morning sun rising with all its glory. My usual overeager self didn't remember the quote above as I zoomed, trying to catch up to the elites ---and Francis!
Pace after 1km = 5:18 mpk
Aside from the missing marshals that enabled us runners to play patintero with the passing vehicles, I was somehow worried about my pace ---it seemed too fast for my own good. It's only 10k, I thought, and the tempo runs I've been doing lately have been helping with my speed. But those runs were only 5kms long so will I endure a whole 10k? There was only one way to find out. Remembering my QCIM 10k, I just pushed everything in the 1st 5km loop. Total time after 1 loop was at 32mins according to my stopwatch. Hmmm, the distance could be longer than 5k, I thought. Francis was already done with his 5k so I handed him the car keys when I passed by the finish line.
My doubts on the ability of my body to maintain that sub-6:00mpk pace was finally answered when I started my 2nd loop: I started slowing down. Yup, a big NGEH?!?!
There was only 1 water station (at the 2.5km U-turn) so it was a good thing I was wearing my hydration brief errrr, hydration belt. Hehehe. Remember? The Nathan 1.5 that my officemates gave for my birthday? Yup, it finally made its race debut. Except for that moment when the 0.5 flask fell from its holster without my touching it, the belt was all ok.
Anyway, I still pushed during my 2nd loop but somehow, I felt that my strides were 20% less compared to my 1st loop effort. Needless to say, I ended the 2nd loop at a measly 35mins, totalling my 10k unofficial time to 1:07. Well, my QCIM 10k PR of 1:04 still stands. The Run4Child race had taught me a valuable lesson (YET AGAIN?!?!!!!) on proper pacing. Dapat talaga wag mag madali sa umpisa ---unless you're an elite.
Francis finished his maiden 5k at 24mins, about a minute or so ahead of Pio. Finishing 12th place, that's not bad at all! Hmmm, probably I'll try to scout for more Saturday races so I can have Francis join in.
As I got home, I plotted the route on mapmyrun.com. The loop was 5.4kms long. Thus, an approximate total of 10.8kms for my 10k run. My Nokia GPS registered it at 11.5kms so averaging both measurements the whole distance could be somewhere around 11kms. Yup, the overshot distance might've been expected too, seeing that it could've been the reggae-men mountaineers that measured it ---car odometer style? Hehe.
But it's still my run that counts. Obviously I have to go back to my training (extend my tempo run distances probably?) and improve since I wasn't able to break my 10k 1:04 PR.
10k would have to take a backseat for now since my next focus is my 4th half-mary at the NB Run on the 29th. A 2:26 PR needs to be broken.
See you there!!!
NSTB race stats can be found here.
I had a feeling that this was not going to be a high-standard organized race so I didn't keep my hopes up the moment I got the racekit last month. The tarpaulin bib, the so-so Barney-purple singlet, and the two 5km-loop race route were sure signs that this wasn't going to be organized by Rio, Rudy, nor Ian. I think that a group of mountaineers (well identified by their Jamaican style long hair) volunteered to help organized it since Habagat was one of the sponsors. It was all for charity particularly for those children being treated with cancer so I didn't mind the P350.00 reg-fee. "It's for a good cause," I told myself again and again. Further, I wanted to give Francis a feel of how a race "ambience" is compared to the usual weekday 5k morning runs that he does 3-4 times a week. With recent times of 25-28mins for a 5k practice run, he is no push-over. But still, maybe not enough to beat the elites joining this race.
We arrived at the venue at BHS 7th street (not the usual start/finish area of the usual TheFort races) at around 5am. The organizers were just about getting ready......to setup the "START/FINISH" banner at the starting arc. It was still a handful of participants at the time (less than 20?) so I kidded myself that I might just end up at the top 10. Hehe.
Guntime was originally set at 5.30am but from the looks of things, I guessed that this race won't start on time. I was able to pass the time by introducing myself and chatting to Pio, made famous by one of GBM's LSD posts and now the latest member of Men's-Health Magazine's Belly Off Club. Yes, this guy appears in the Nov 2009 issue of Men's Health. Damn, I should've brought my copy if I knew he'd be running this race for an autograph, hehe. Hmmm, ako kaya kelan mailalagay dun? Hay, onga pala, I still have to lose 15lbs more to get my BMI back to normal. Hayyyy....
Pio, fresh from his first full mary at the QCIM, told me he was lying-low for the moment by joining 5k races momentarily ---including this one. The chat helped ease the waiting time as it was already 6am. Still, no announcement for gunstart except for the endless loop of the "Wastong Pagkain" song sponsored by the Gov't (it will end up being my LSS for the morning up until I arrived home). Btw, we saw that guy from the Yakult commercial. "Ok ka ba tyan?" was running 3k.
Eventually, the racers were called in to the starting corral: 3k, 5k, and 10k with the latter runners at the front. At first, it was annonced that the 10k would be released first, 5k second, and 3k last in 5-minute intervals. However, at the last minute, the announcer said it was going to be one gunstart for all events (ngeh!). A fair estimate would be less than 150 runners in all. 10k runners made up of about maybe....30 or less? So for the first time I found myself just 1 meter from the starting line.
There was a final plea from the announcer that the winners of the race have the option to donate their race winnings to this particular charity. Yup, this race was primarily to collect money for charity and for a well-organized race as second priority. The elites up in front all laughed quietly. I knew that the money that any of them will win will be a big help for their daily needs so donating them is really out of the question. It just goes to show that runners AND charitable-institutions like the OneRopeProject need support.
On with the race
"Most mistakes in a race are made in the first two minutes, perhaps in the very first minute." ---Jack Daniels, Exercise Physiologist and Coach
At long last, the race gun fired at 6.20am with the morning sun rising with all its glory. My usual overeager self didn't remember the quote above as I zoomed, trying to catch up to the elites ---and Francis!
Pace after 1km = 5:18 mpk
Aside from the missing marshals that enabled us runners to play patintero with the passing vehicles, I was somehow worried about my pace ---it seemed too fast for my own good. It's only 10k, I thought, and the tempo runs I've been doing lately have been helping with my speed. But those runs were only 5kms long so will I endure a whole 10k? There was only one way to find out. Remembering my QCIM 10k, I just pushed everything in the 1st 5km loop. Total time after 1 loop was at 32mins according to my stopwatch. Hmmm, the distance could be longer than 5k, I thought. Francis was already done with his 5k so I handed him the car keys when I passed by the finish line.
My doubts on the ability of my body to maintain that sub-6:00mpk pace was finally answered when I started my 2nd loop: I started slowing down. Yup, a big NGEH?!?!
There was only 1 water station (at the 2.5km U-turn) so it was a good thing I was wearing my hydration brief errrr, hydration belt. Hehehe. Remember? The Nathan 1.5 that my officemates gave for my birthday? Yup, it finally made its race debut. Except for that moment when the 0.5 flask fell from its holster without my touching it, the belt was all ok.
Anyway, I still pushed during my 2nd loop but somehow, I felt that my strides were 20% less compared to my 1st loop effort. Needless to say, I ended the 2nd loop at a measly 35mins, totalling my 10k unofficial time to 1:07. Well, my QCIM 10k PR of 1:04 still stands. The Run4Child race had taught me a valuable lesson (YET AGAIN?!?!!!!) on proper pacing. Dapat talaga wag mag madali sa umpisa ---unless you're an elite.
Francis finished his maiden 5k at 24mins, about a minute or so ahead of Pio. Finishing 12th place, that's not bad at all! Hmmm, probably I'll try to scout for more Saturday races so I can have Francis join in.
As I got home, I plotted the route on mapmyrun.com. The loop was 5.4kms long. Thus, an approximate total of 10.8kms for my 10k run. My Nokia GPS registered it at 11.5kms so averaging both measurements the whole distance could be somewhere around 11kms. Yup, the overshot distance might've been expected too, seeing that it could've been the reggae-men mountaineers that measured it ---car odometer style? Hehe.
But it's still my run that counts. Obviously I have to go back to my training (extend my tempo run distances probably?) and improve since I wasn't able to break my 10k 1:04 PR.
10k would have to take a backseat for now since my next focus is my 4th half-mary at the NB Run on the 29th. A 2:26 PR needs to be broken.
See you there!!!
NSTB race stats can be found here.
great meeting you at the race!
ReplyDeleteang bilis nga ni francis! i didn't even know they listed our time :) i didn't bother to look at my time and stats - buti ka pa, alam mo time ko :) but my watch read 26+ which is 3mins slower than my ecodash PR
there's a saturday run nov 21 - race and shine for autism. i signed up for this but later found out ill be out of the country.
see you in the races! :D
pio
same here. I wonder if they'll release the race results. Para kasing walang kumuha ng time ko when I finished. My stopwatch showed 1:14 though. Feeling ko nasa last 5 finishers ako for the 10k hehehehehe
ReplyDelete@pio, nice meeting you too pards. goodluck sa Nov22 botak!
ReplyDelete@edgar, nung natapos ako nakita ko pa yung mga mountaineers nakakumpol sa right side before the finish line may papel at nakatingin lahat sa bib ko. So I guess may nagrecord...or gusto lang nila ang porma ko. Ahehehe. wow nasa top5 ka pala ha?!!! congrats!!!! hehehe.
Great Article. Enjoyed reading it!
ReplyDelete