Sunday, March 21, 2010

Magneto Run

If there's one part of running that I find challenging, it has to be hills. It's so difficult to climb coz it takes a lot of effort, and it wastes a lot of precious time coz it slows down my pace ---not exactly helpful if you're in search of a new PR.

But like all challenges, I have to get over them somehow, literally and figuratively. So, a few weeks ago I've decided to sign up for Botak Baguio 10k, an obviously hilly route with merciless elevation changes.

"Pare, ibang animal ang Baguio!" was what my officemate/triathlete PC said when I told him of my next race. Though scary was his description, the guy didn't seem to listen to himself as he's planning to do a 23km Baguio long run on the same Palm Sunday race day this week. I know, he's crazy. Hehe.

This morning was a good time for my scheduled long run which I've plotted out in advance. It called for revisiting two famous running hills in Taguig: Mckinley Hill a.k.a. Magneto, and Lawton-Bayani, both of which I've inserted neatly into the planned route.


Incidentally, today was also the Globe Run4Home II so I was expecting 10/15/21k runners coming in from 5th avenue as I stepped out of the condo. My planned route had to go from 5th avenue to Lawton to Bayani to HeritageParkFrontGate then back all the way to Lawton then McKinley Hill all the way down to C5 then all the way back up to Lawton then Old Lawton Avenue then left to 21st street back to the condo. Bottomline, I was going to be running alongside the Globe runners.

As a matter of courtesy to these paying registered runners, I didn't take a cup at any of the water stations. It was my hydration belt that served as my water source.


Planned pace was 7:42 mpk easy since the objective of this run was to prepare my legs to run through a hilly route.

The whole run was relaxing as I passed by some of the Globe runners that were familiar to me already by face and even by name. For once, I wasn't aiming to reach a certain time at any point of my run. I was, well, relaxed. Surprisingly, as I tackled McKinley Hill down to C5 and up by my lonesome I was still composed. It was probably because there was no pressure to run fast since this wasn't a race.

I finished the 10.17km run at 1:17:51 total time and at 7:39 average pace. It was a good easy run.

So will I be ready for Botak Baguio this coming Sunday? Hill-wise, probably yes. Change in elevation, I wouldn't exactly be sure. Mas manipis ang hangin dun, as what many might say. Like what PC said, Baguio's a very different animal.

All I can say for now is, bring it on!

2 comments:

  1. Hills are indeed challenging - people's approcahes are divided between speeding up to have it done and over with asap, or to slow down coz it's not worth the energy, bang for buck.

    I ran a half in Baguio once(Kennon Road) and indeed, iba talaga sa Baguio.

    Anyway, good luck!

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  2. @wilson, thanks! I'll definitely post the race update next week.

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