Yesterday, I woke up at 4:21 am, feeling light-headed from lack of sleep. No matter how early I sleep the night before a run, I never get enough rest. I toss and turn in bed, very much awake and consumed by worries that I won't be able to wake up in time, that I'll miss the run, that I'll trip and scratch my knee in the middle of the race and get my first DNF. I am a chronic worrier with a very active imagination.
But if there was one thing I wasn't worried about, it was the amount of time i spent training for Power Run. I had four previous practice runs and I knew I was prepared enough to do a decent PR for this particular race.
So anyway, I dressed up quickly and had a hurried pre-run meal consisting of yoghurt and graham crackers. So far, this pre-run energy formula works for me and doesn't give me that awful heavy feeling when I'm running.
The singlet that the Power Run race organizers came up with was pretty cool. It's black and orange, with a little pocket at the back that can fit a small beverage bottle. This is quite useful; you can hydrate yourself during a run without having to stop for a drink at the water station. I've run enough races to realize that water stations don't work for me because it ruins the running momentum and my pace, of course. So this singlet gets plus plus points for me. And the free beverage loader that came with the singlet can be used in future races. Very, very thoughtful of the organizers.
Arrived at the race assembly site with my sister at 5:30 am, said hello to some people I knew, and then did my warm-ups.
By 6:22 am (17 minutes behind schedule), the 5K runners started pounding the pavement. I was in Happy Land, maintaining a steady pace that was comfortable enough for me and thoroughly enjoying the wide, even concrete road and the company of other runners. I wasn't elite-runner fast, obviously, but I wasn't slow either.
After 30 minutes of nonstop running (the small beverage loader really helped!), I was starting to worry. Big time. I knew I was running well at a decent pace--so how come it was taking long for me to reach the finish line?? My goal was to achieve a sub 7 pace (or accomplish 5K in less than 35 minutes). When I crossed the finish line, I clocked in 40 minutes.
I was truly upset. WTF, right??? No way was I going to accept an 8-minute pace for this 5K because I knew, I just knew that I had run at a faster rate than that. And besides, my legs and feet were telling me that I had just run more than 5K. After undergoing several fun runs since October of last year, I certainly knew what a 5K race felt like. I guess you could call it muscle memory in that sense.
So there I was, morosely looking down at the free post-run Activade drink in my hand as my younger sister (who did 47 minutes or so) tried to console me. And then, I suddenly overheard a bunch of runners nearby complaining about the race distance. One guy, in his fifties I think, looked irritated and said that he had just completed around 16K instead of the 15K that he signed up for. Well, he looked like a seasoned runner and I'm sure the extra 1K was not really the problem; I think he was annoyed with the fact that a PATAFA-sanctioned event seemed to have messed up in measuring the actual distance. And his buddy, who had one of those fancy GPS watches, ran in the 5K category but noted that his watch measured a distance of 6K.
I immediately approached them to confirm the actual race distances. The 5K race was really 6K! I was right! So my pace was indeed better. How could it not be? The running path was completely flat and therefore friendly on the legs and feet. I had just achieved a sub 7 pace! (6:40 is the nearest approximate, if I consider the guy's measurement of 6K on his watch.)
I was elated. Always listen to your muscles, folks. If it felt longer than a 5K, or a 10K, then your muscles must be telling the truth.
Because there were so many runners airing their complaints about the race distance measurement to the organizers (and I was one of them), the host had to publicly announce that they would look into the matter. I think they should also look into improving their route maps next time: the Power Run route was confusing and had no markers (no markers at all!!!) and as such, many 10K and 15K runners got lost. This is such a terrible thing to happen, especially for running enthusiasts who are religious in monitoring their paces.
But terrible routing or not, I was no longer in a bad mood. I felt encouraged by my performance, and totally excited for the upcoming RUNew race this Sunday. McKinley Hill, I'm seeing you once more!
Showing posts with label Power Run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Power Run. Show all posts
16 February 2009
14 February 2009
a different kind of Valentine's 9:14 PM
Got back from my 4-day trip to Camarines Norte just last Thursday. It was a good site visit, and I'm psyched to share my photos and notes on this experience. Currently, I'm editing the pics on Photoshop (just for color enhancement purposes) and I'll post everything soon. =)
For now, I would just like to say that it's good to be back in Manila. I miss the city, my books, my workouts...and my coffee! Now I know how a drug addict feels like when one is in withdrawal mode. I was hoping there would be good native brewed coffee in Cam Norte; sadly, the only decent coffee available was in the sole Jollibee branch of Daet, Camarines Norte. But then, that's all part of the site visit experience, and I will tell the whole Cam Norte story soon!
Thursday, Feb 12
Arrived in Makati last Thursday at 6:30 pm. It took me some time to lug all the food and other pasalubong up to my place and unpack my bags. Then I met up with A because he wanted to buy something from Nike before running that same night.
Believe it or not, even if that 9-hour road trip back to Manila was exhausting, I was dying to run. All that seafood and that coconut milk found in Bicol cuisine could not possibly cause zero impact on my weight. And I was right: I gained 2 pounds from that trip. Moreover, I would have wanted to run while I was in Daet, but there was no good place for running there. So aside from coffee withdrawal, this Ms. Kick Galvanic was seriously suffering from running/workout withdrawal syndrome as well.
A needed new running socks so we checked out Nike. It took a lot of willpower to refrain myself from buying this pretty purple training jacket; I decided to purchase instead, as a sort of Valentine's gift, two pairs of Nike Dri-Fit Lightweight running socks for A.
Socks. It was all very romantic.
Then we ran in Legaspi Park at around 11:30 pm. A warned me not to overexert myself (as I was wont to do) because I was tired from the trip.
As fate would have it for obstinate people like me, Fatigue eventually reared its ugly head. I ran at a moderate pace for only 24 minutes straight, and I had to stop right after because I was just so damn tired. When I slowed down to walk, I cursed out of frustration. I'm supposed to be conditioning myself to run at 5K for tomorrow's Power Run by the Manila Bay, and my semi-run that Thursday night felt like a DNF on race day.
Sometimes I wish had formal training on running just so I'd be able to mentally handle exhaustion better. So far, all I do are just practice runs at the park without even having an exact idea of my pace per kilometer. Thank God I at least have A for a running buddy (among other things, hehe).
Kidding aside though, I need to invest on one of those watches that can track my pace, distance and calories burned. And if I religiously follow a 16-week training program recommended in Runner's World, I can at least informally train on an individual capacity.
Friday, Feb 13
Friday the 13th. Luckily, it was a good, good day for me. Left the office at 5:45 pm to run some "running" errands before having dinner with A. I first went to NBC Tent at the Fort to register for Sunday's Power Run and then walked towards Nike Bonifacio High Street to register for a 5K slot in the Feb 22 RUNew race in McKinley Hill. (I haven't "tasted" McKinley Hill since UNICEF Walk on the Child's Side 2008, and I'm torn between anticipation and dread just thinking about the uphill portions. Haha.)
When I emerged from Nike, happily clutching all my race kits, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Coach Rio's Nike Running Training Clinic session that night was taking place right in front of the Nike High Street branch. Said a quick hello to Rio, who insisted I sign up for at least updates on the training clinic. And then I immediately checked to see if my friend Lara was there. Yup, she was right in front, doing warm-ups with the rest of the session participants. Mouthed a hello and goodbye to her before I left High Street. Wow, I really wish I could join the clinic. High Street would have been an ideal venue, but most of the sessions take place in ULTRA Pasig, which isn't convenient for me on week nights.
Next on the agenda was socks. Again.
If A had new socks, damn, I wanted new socks too (this is the brat in me talking). I've been wanting a pair of women's Nike Elite Running socks with footstrike cushioning for the longest time and now that I've recently acquired a Nike Women VIP card, I'm entitled to a 10% discount on all regular-priced Nike products--and a 20% discount on my birthday month! Hooray! I canNOT wait for June. =)
I really enjoy shopping for sportswear and gear, so buying running socks for myself is actually a real treat. So I went to my favorite Nike Women branch in Greenbelt 4 to get the socks (and resisted once more the urge to buy the pretty purple training jacket) and then window shopped at Bratpack and Columbia in Greenbelt 5 to see if they had any interesting sportswear.
By the time A and I had dinner, it was already 9:30 pm. We had a nice and filling dinner in Cibo. Despite our efforts to trim down, we couldn't resist having a 3-course meal: minestrone soup, tuna salad and a light seafood pasta each. The food in itself was healthy but we felt ridiculously stuffed by 10:30 pm and wanted the heavy feeling to go away. FAST. Well, there was only one recourse for us.
Saturday, Feb 14
At 12:41 am, we found ourselves running in Legaspi Park. Never mind that we were running at an ungodly hour. We just needed to burn the calories from that dinner. And we wanted to run, period.
A and I ran side by side at an easy pace for 30 minutes. I was so happy, I was bobbing my head to the beat of the music on my iPod. Because it was just a maintenance run, we didn't go over 30 minutes. I felt like I could do more than 30 but because the race was tomorrow, I didn't want to tire myself too much. So we stopped running at 1:11 am, and walked around the park twice to cool down.
In a way, it was the best Valentine's Day I've had in years. We don't normally celebrate Valentine's on the day itself because it's cheesy to do so, and you have to deal with the stress of eating dinner in a crowded restaurant. So I'm glad A and I were still able to avoid the whole V Day cheesiness factor and spend the weekend the way we really wanted to.
Enough writing at this point. Will need to rest as race day is tomorrow. Good luck to all Power Run participants!
For now, I would just like to say that it's good to be back in Manila. I miss the city, my books, my workouts...and my coffee! Now I know how a drug addict feels like when one is in withdrawal mode. I was hoping there would be good native brewed coffee in Cam Norte; sadly, the only decent coffee available was in the sole Jollibee branch of Daet, Camarines Norte. But then, that's all part of the site visit experience, and I will tell the whole Cam Norte story soon!
Thursday, Feb 12
Arrived in Makati last Thursday at 6:30 pm. It took me some time to lug all the food and other pasalubong up to my place and unpack my bags. Then I met up with A because he wanted to buy something from Nike before running that same night.
Believe it or not, even if that 9-hour road trip back to Manila was exhausting, I was dying to run. All that seafood and that coconut milk found in Bicol cuisine could not possibly cause zero impact on my weight. And I was right: I gained 2 pounds from that trip. Moreover, I would have wanted to run while I was in Daet, but there was no good place for running there. So aside from coffee withdrawal, this Ms. Kick Galvanic was seriously suffering from running/workout withdrawal syndrome as well.
A needed new running socks so we checked out Nike. It took a lot of willpower to refrain myself from buying this pretty purple training jacket; I decided to purchase instead, as a sort of Valentine's gift, two pairs of Nike Dri-Fit Lightweight running socks for A.
Socks. It was all very romantic.
Then we ran in Legaspi Park at around 11:30 pm. A warned me not to overexert myself (as I was wont to do) because I was tired from the trip.
As fate would have it for obstinate people like me, Fatigue eventually reared its ugly head. I ran at a moderate pace for only 24 minutes straight, and I had to stop right after because I was just so damn tired. When I slowed down to walk, I cursed out of frustration. I'm supposed to be conditioning myself to run at 5K for tomorrow's Power Run by the Manila Bay, and my semi-run that Thursday night felt like a DNF on race day.
Sometimes I wish had formal training on running just so I'd be able to mentally handle exhaustion better. So far, all I do are just practice runs at the park without even having an exact idea of my pace per kilometer. Thank God I at least have A for a running buddy (among other things, hehe).
Kidding aside though, I need to invest on one of those watches that can track my pace, distance and calories burned. And if I religiously follow a 16-week training program recommended in Runner's World, I can at least informally train on an individual capacity.
Friday, Feb 13
Friday the 13th. Luckily, it was a good, good day for me. Left the office at 5:45 pm to run some "running" errands before having dinner with A. I first went to NBC Tent at the Fort to register for Sunday's Power Run and then walked towards Nike Bonifacio High Street to register for a 5K slot in the Feb 22 RUNew race in McKinley Hill. (I haven't "tasted" McKinley Hill since UNICEF Walk on the Child's Side 2008, and I'm torn between anticipation and dread just thinking about the uphill portions. Haha.)
When I emerged from Nike, happily clutching all my race kits, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Coach Rio's Nike Running Training Clinic session that night was taking place right in front of the Nike High Street branch. Said a quick hello to Rio, who insisted I sign up for at least updates on the training clinic. And then I immediately checked to see if my friend Lara was there. Yup, she was right in front, doing warm-ups with the rest of the session participants. Mouthed a hello and goodbye to her before I left High Street. Wow, I really wish I could join the clinic. High Street would have been an ideal venue, but most of the sessions take place in ULTRA Pasig, which isn't convenient for me on week nights.
Next on the agenda was socks. Again.
If A had new socks, damn, I wanted new socks too (this is the brat in me talking). I've been wanting a pair of women's Nike Elite Running socks with footstrike cushioning for the longest time and now that I've recently acquired a Nike Women VIP card, I'm entitled to a 10% discount on all regular-priced Nike products--and a 20% discount on my birthday month! Hooray! I canNOT wait for June. =)
I really enjoy shopping for sportswear and gear, so buying running socks for myself is actually a real treat. So I went to my favorite Nike Women branch in Greenbelt 4 to get the socks (and resisted once more the urge to buy the pretty purple training jacket) and then window shopped at Bratpack and Columbia in Greenbelt 5 to see if they had any interesting sportswear.
By the time A and I had dinner, it was already 9:30 pm. We had a nice and filling dinner in Cibo. Despite our efforts to trim down, we couldn't resist having a 3-course meal: minestrone soup, tuna salad and a light seafood pasta each. The food in itself was healthy but we felt ridiculously stuffed by 10:30 pm and wanted the heavy feeling to go away. FAST. Well, there was only one recourse for us.
Saturday, Feb 14
At 12:41 am, we found ourselves running in Legaspi Park. Never mind that we were running at an ungodly hour. We just needed to burn the calories from that dinner. And we wanted to run, period.
A and I ran side by side at an easy pace for 30 minutes. I was so happy, I was bobbing my head to the beat of the music on my iPod. Because it was just a maintenance run, we didn't go over 30 minutes. I felt like I could do more than 30 but because the race was tomorrow, I didn't want to tire myself too much. So we stopped running at 1:11 am, and walked around the park twice to cool down.
In a way, it was the best Valentine's Day I've had in years. We don't normally celebrate Valentine's on the day itself because it's cheesy to do so, and you have to deal with the stress of eating dinner in a crowded restaurant. So I'm glad A and I were still able to avoid the whole V Day cheesiness factor and spend the weekend the way we really wanted to.
Enough writing at this point. Will need to rest as race day is tomorrow. Good luck to all Power Run participants!
03 February 2009
Legaspi Park 8:34 PM
A picked me up from work earlier this evening (yes, we still see each other regularly), and invited me at the last minute to run tonight.
Drat. I've been wanting to run for the past few days, but work has kept me busy. Now that I'm able to get out of the office early (8 pm is already early by my standards), my body isn't conditioned to run. Woke up this morning with aching bones and a generally unwell feeling. Oh no. Hope i don't come down with the flu or something.
So here I am, sitting inside A's parked car, typing this entry while he does a 25-minute jog/run around Legaspi Park. I haven't run in this place before, and to my surprise, it's full of people at this hour. I suppose it's a convenient park for running and walking after office hours since it's situated in the middle of office buildings.
Legaspi Park is bigger compared to Salcedo Park (where I do practice runs at night during weekdays), with the former having a nice little uphill path for a bit of running challenge. But the path in Legaspi Park is narrow, and one has to overtake and weave his way through the little groups of people leisurely walking so as not to break the running momentum. But I'll definitely give the place a try one of these days.
While I'm currently doing weight maintenance and improving my pace, A is trying to lose weight in a major way. He intends to lose 20 pounds, and I'm helping him with his diet (Actually, it's not a diet, as I honestly, honestly don't believe in crash diets. It's simply all about proper eating habits and nutrition. I'm not a nutrition expert, and all I'm saying is that if people researched more about good dieting, they'd be able to slim down AND learn how to eat properly without feeling deprived. But I should stop ranting now.)
My next planned run is on February 15 at SM Mall of Asia, by the bay (if I manage to register on time). The route consists of a fairly even path--unlike Fort Bonifacio's gently sloping terrain--so it should be a relaxing run. Here's hoping my PR gets better!
Drat. I've been wanting to run for the past few days, but work has kept me busy. Now that I'm able to get out of the office early (8 pm is already early by my standards), my body isn't conditioned to run. Woke up this morning with aching bones and a generally unwell feeling. Oh no. Hope i don't come down with the flu or something.
So here I am, sitting inside A's parked car, typing this entry while he does a 25-minute jog/run around Legaspi Park. I haven't run in this place before, and to my surprise, it's full of people at this hour. I suppose it's a convenient park for running and walking after office hours since it's situated in the middle of office buildings.
Legaspi Park is bigger compared to Salcedo Park (where I do practice runs at night during weekdays), with the former having a nice little uphill path for a bit of running challenge. But the path in Legaspi Park is narrow, and one has to overtake and weave his way through the little groups of people leisurely walking so as not to break the running momentum. But I'll definitely give the place a try one of these days.
While I'm currently doing weight maintenance and improving my pace, A is trying to lose weight in a major way. He intends to lose 20 pounds, and I'm helping him with his diet (Actually, it's not a diet, as I honestly, honestly don't believe in crash diets. It's simply all about proper eating habits and nutrition. I'm not a nutrition expert, and all I'm saying is that if people researched more about good dieting, they'd be able to slim down AND learn how to eat properly without feeling deprived. But I should stop ranting now.)
My next planned run is on February 15 at SM Mall of Asia, by the bay (if I manage to register on time). The route consists of a fairly even path--unlike Fort Bonifacio's gently sloping terrain--so it should be a relaxing run. Here's hoping my PR gets better!
