race
Mizuno Infinity Run
10 Jun 2009 03:09 PM
Two months ago, I ran my first 5k race ever. After
that, I made it my next goal to race my best 5k.
Following the 2-month training program I got off the
net, the timing for my 5k race attempt fell on the
same day as the Mizuno Infinity Run - June 7, 2009.
For a newbie like me, I think I followed a moderately hard training plan. This plan included long runs, tempo runs, easy runs, and the workout which I have a love/hate relationship with... sprint workouts. The different types of runs each fell on a certain day of the week, but I switched days based on my schedule. Dex and I have strength training thrice a week. If I had pushed myself a lot during strength training on one day, I’d either reduce the mileage on the scheduled run that day, or exchange the difficult run for an easier run (and make up for the more difficult run on another day). Sometimes I had a run scheduled on a certain night, but then friends would call up, and running night would become sushi night. Can’t have it all, can we?
I joined other races prior to this, but they were all part of the training plan, and none of them were PR (personal record) attempts. Instead, they were supposed to be long runs at a comfortable pace. But sometimes I failed to stick to the “comfortable pace” part of the plan, and ended up racing harder than intended.
THE STARTING LINE. I squeezed in the crowd to get near the starting line as much as possible. In the past runs I’d have been content to stay at the back, but I made an exception that day.
THOUGHTS DURING THE RACE. Almost none, haha! Unlike 15k races and such, the 5k is too short for the mind to go into a reflective state. It was just “put one foot in front of the other as fast as you can” for me.
NEAR THE FINISH LINE. I’ve been expecting a 28 minute finish, but I got in at 25:50. Yahoo!!!
AFTER THE RACE. Surprise! Mizuno Phils. announced that the race was a time trial. Read about it here or check out the Mizuno Philippines Website. All runners who participated in Mizuno Infinity June 2009 are qualified for the race on January 10, 2010, and prizes will be awarded to those whose times show the greatest improvement.
I was pleasantly surprised, though I also had a few misgivings. Why did I have to pick this race to set a PR (aside from the flat course)? Then again, if I join the race on Jan. 10 just to beat one of my slow paces, that would kinda be missing the point, right?
January 10, 2010 is still exactly seven months away. I think I have time to train. Bagging a prize for this one would be a long shot - but it would be fun to see how far I can beat myself.
For a newbie like me, I think I followed a moderately hard training plan. This plan included long runs, tempo runs, easy runs, and the workout which I have a love/hate relationship with... sprint workouts. The different types of runs each fell on a certain day of the week, but I switched days based on my schedule. Dex and I have strength training thrice a week. If I had pushed myself a lot during strength training on one day, I’d either reduce the mileage on the scheduled run that day, or exchange the difficult run for an easier run (and make up for the more difficult run on another day). Sometimes I had a run scheduled on a certain night, but then friends would call up, and running night would become sushi night. Can’t have it all, can we?
I joined other races prior to this, but they were all part of the training plan, and none of them were PR (personal record) attempts. Instead, they were supposed to be long runs at a comfortable pace. But sometimes I failed to stick to the “comfortable pace” part of the plan, and ended up racing harder than intended.
THE STARTING LINE. I squeezed in the crowd to get near the starting line as much as possible. In the past runs I’d have been content to stay at the back, but I made an exception that day.
THOUGHTS DURING THE RACE. Almost none, haha! Unlike 15k races and such, the 5k is too short for the mind to go into a reflective state. It was just “put one foot in front of the other as fast as you can” for me.
NEAR THE FINISH LINE. I’ve been expecting a 28 minute finish, but I got in at 25:50. Yahoo!!!
AFTER THE RACE. Surprise! Mizuno Phils. announced that the race was a time trial. Read about it here or check out the Mizuno Philippines Website. All runners who participated in Mizuno Infinity June 2009 are qualified for the race on January 10, 2010, and prizes will be awarded to those whose times show the greatest improvement.
I was pleasantly surprised, though I also had a few misgivings. Why did I have to pick this race to set a PR (aside from the flat course)? Then again, if I join the race on Jan. 10 just to beat one of my slow paces, that would kinda be missing the point, right?
January 10, 2010 is still exactly seven months away. I think I have time to train. Bagging a prize for this one would be a long shot - but it would be fun to see how far I can beat myself.
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Earth Run - 16k
02 Jun 2009 10:51 AM
Earth Run, set in McKinley Hill - famous among runners for its uphills and downhills.
RACE PREPARATION
We signed up for Earth Run exactly 2 weeks prior to the event. I signed myself up for the 16k run, and signed Dex up for the 5k (in spite of his protests). In the couple of weeks that followed, Dex and I added hills to our running sessions. I also added sprints to my routine - 400 meters at Ayala Alabang (with recovery jogs in between), along some of the slopes, just to get the feel of how it will be to try to run fast on uphills and downhills. As for our treadmill sessions, I started running mine with inclines, and kept this up for 2 weeks.
My goal for the 16k was not to set a hard-to-beat personal record for myself, but just to finish and to make it part of my “long runs” (training for a 5k PR). But I found that it was not easy to maintain an “easy pace”, as I found myself really “racing” on race day...
RACE DAY
Dex was only able to sleep for around 2 hours before the race. For the first time before a race, I was able to sleep for 5 hours - even though it was an interrupted sleep, as our dog kept barking during the night. Prior to this, I only slept for 2-4 hours before race day, probably because of pre-race jitters.
Our friend Rap decided at the last minute to join the race too. Since he is part of Greenpeace, he was able to run together with the VIP runners (those who ran with banners).
STARTING LINE
As I was waiting for the race to start, I was praying that my regular training at Ayala Alabang with Dex would get me through this one, with hopefully a strong finish.
As the countdown to the start began, the light drizzle turned into heavier rain. This was my first time to experience running in the rain.. it did make me feel a little bit hardcore!
Gun fired and we were off. 3k, 5k, and 16k runners were all clumped together at the start, so it was kind of chaotic at first. But as the race progressed, the lines thinned out.
MUDDIED THOUGHTS DURING THE RACE
Arguing with myself about my own pace: “Huy, slow down, this is supposed to be a training run”, vs. “I can’t slow down, I don’t want to be left behind!”
About when to take my walk break: “I promise, you can take a walk break in 20mins” vs. “No walk breaks! No walk breaks!” (But I finally took some breaks at some water stations)
Along the road (maybe around the 8th km), I was fighting off some stitches on my side by forcefully exhaling, and then forcefully inhaling. During one inhale, the stench almost knocked me out... garbage truck nearby! Eww!
At around the 11th km, a girl runner was clearly using minimal effort, but her strides were longer because she was tall, and so I couldn’t overtake her. “Ang daya, ang daya!” Hehehe.
At around the 12th km, I had begun to experience some soreness around my lower back from all the uphills. Passing some sari-sari stores along the way, “Hmm.. I wish I had brought some money with me. A midrun snack would be nice. Liempo? Lechon?...” My lungs could definitely take in some more hard work, but my back might not.
At around the 13th km: Some kids who had finished the 5k race were cruising along the sidewalk, shouting, “Malayo pa! Malayo pa!’ Great. Thanks for the boost, kiddos. Hehe. Here, I already settled for a light jog, maybe at my recovery pace.
At around 14th km (but I wasn’t aware of this during that time), I passed Dex and Rap at Starbucks. They called my name and cheered for me. At that time, I thought the finish line was near, so I launched into a sprint. Guess what? The finish was still around 2km’s away! Mid-sprint, some marshalls warned us, “Malayo pa, may iikutan pa kayo na building” and pointed to a building that seemed far-off. I thought they were joking. They were not.
At the last km marker, I settled for a comfortably hard pace, then just picked up the pace halfway through.
Directly in front of me was a scene that made me smile (and gave me an extra boost) - two guys sprinting like crazy, trying to outrun each other to the finish line.
FINISH LINE
At the finish line chute, I realized that one of the guys who were sprinting like crazy was runner-blogger Sammy (a.k.a. Running Ninja). (Read about his own Earth Run adventure here). We exchanged hi-5’s and he said we finished at around 1:41. And that this was not bad for 16k first-timers.
As I passed the chute, they were giving away some freebies. I realized that the other chute had more giveaways than the one I passed. So I tried to persuade the crew from the other chute to give me some extra freebies. “Sorry ma’m, these are for the runners that passed this chute”. Fine. So I asked the crew from my chute to get me some extra freebies. “Sorry ma’m, pang kabilang line lang yun”. Rats! All this hard work and I couldn’t even get a free iced tea! Hehehe.
We hung around the venue a bit, for me to cool down, before walking to the parking lot.
Dex and me. With my post-race Chuckie (comfort drink/recovery drink)
Rap with his Greenpeace banner:
I can see now why this is my friend Lauren’s favorite distance. It’s a combination of endurance, speed, a little bit of pain, mental wars with yourself and some moments of clarity along the way. This could well become my favorite race distance in the future, too.
POST-RACE
Upon Dex’s request, we ate at Pancake House.
My halfway-eaten Sunrise steak:
My halfway-eaten Chocolate Marble Waffle:
THE REST OF THE DAY
- Went to accompany Dex at the Security Escort Battalion, Army Firing Range, where he competed at the Revolver Division. Rap and I watched one of the stages. I was telling Dex’s comrades of how Dex had already raced a 5k race with hills prior to the competition (kumbaga, partida!). But they would only kid him about how he should’ve gone for 16k like his wife.
- Rap and I went around Market Market while waiting for Dex to finish. I picked up my race certificate from Market! Market!, we had lunch at Sbarro, and then browsed the sports outlet stores.
- When Rap and I were heading back to Serendra, Dex called me asked to be picked up. He sounded desperate for a beer. So we picked him up at the Army Firing Range.
- Dex and Rap had some beers at The Roadhouse Grill while I checked myself in at The Spa. Yup, expensive, but I knew I needed a massage.
- I opted for Swedish Massage because part of the description said, “for sore muscles.”
- The P850 for the Swedish Massage was worth every penny, because The Spa had really nice amenities, and I even enjoyed a jacuzzi and hot shower before the massage.
- After my spa time, I caught up with Dex and Rap at The Roadhouse Grill and ordered The Wrangler’s Pork Steak, which I now highly recommend.
(image taken from http://foodtripmanila.blogspot.com/2008/04/texas-roadhouse-grill.html)
On the way home, I measured the distance from the Serendra parking lot near R.O.X. to our house. Where does 16k end? At Sucat, near Max’s Fried Chicken House. So now I can say that I can run the distance from Serendra to Sucat (not that I’d want to do that, though).
- - - - - - -
THE DAY AFTER
Surprisingly, my lower back remained pain-free (though it was really sore during the race). My quads and hamstrings are feeling tight and sore now.
We learned today that Dex placed 5th in the revolver division, out of 14 participants. Yahoo! He might have done better daw if it weren’t for two things:
1. equipment malfunction in the middle of three of the stages
2. fatigue after the race
Related posts:
Race List
Greenfield City Run - 5k
Running My 1st 5k Race
Running My First 5k Race
06 Apr 2009 11:08 AM
Beginning last year, some of my friends have decided
to take up running as a sport. My friends from high
school, Lauren and Elaine, have been avid
runners since last year and have already
completed half-marathons (21k). It also looked
like they were having loads of fun in training
and running the races. Aside from them, I have a
few office mates who have also participated in
fun runs this year. So I decided to sign up for
the Airspeed Runs for A Cause race
around Mall of Asia to try it out.
A month prior to this, I’ve already told my gym trainer that I plan to run a 5k race. So she raised the difficulty level of my treadmill routines, and always made me run even after an hour of heavy workout. Heavy workout in my case, as well as with most females who are into weight training, is lifting medium weights with lots and lots of repetitions. During the days where I did not have heavy workouts, I did some high intensity interval training on the elliptical at home, interspersing 30 seconds of full effort cycling with 1 minute easy cycling (recovery) periods. I read that this builds endurance, makes the heart stronger, and is an excellent complement to weight lifting when done during the off days. This was very manageable since the interval training periods lasted for only 20 minutes each, and gave me more energy/enthusiasm for my day.
During the race itself, I was nervous if I could finish well, and so strived to run in a pace I could maintain till the end. And then I planned to just run at a faster pace during the last kilometer or so.
Alas, I failed to study the route map well, and so I was startled when suddenly, after rounding a corner, the finish line was already before me. Only then did I run faster (when I could’ve done it earlier).
So I could say I did finish well for a first timer - my official time was 32 mins. and 27 secs. (6min and 29 secs. per km), 25th among 255 females and probably the 130th out of all the 571 runners. But as I was cooling down I couldn’t help but regret that I didn’t really run my best. Simply because I didn’t study the route map, and didn’t take note of the distance markers along the road. I would’ve noticed the markers, I guess, had I not been chatting with a fellow runner (who was doing the 10k) during the 3rd and/or 4th km. I decided to engage in friendly conversation, thinking that the finish line was still far ahead, and thinking that chatting would help me “forget” the distance.
My booboos, as well as the general good feeling of finishing, are giving me extra motivation to keep training for and running these races. So for now, my goal is just to find my best speed for the 5k.
And of course, to have fun
Thanks also to my husband Dex who accompanied me to the event, even though he didn’t run. He was there as my cheering squad. He he
By the way, I’ve decided to create a list to track my progress, much like Lauren’s, so I’ll be posting that after my 2nd run.
And also, I can readily say now that my decision to keep taking my fitness seriously is not motivated by a desire to be sexier or thinner (even though those are also good goals). At this point, I don’t think I’ll be losing any more weight, or getting any thinner - my body is not the really the lean type. There’s just a good feeling one gets from seeing improvements in oneself, and in one’s health. For instance, I started out with my shoulder presses at 5 pounds per arm, and 20 repetitions would already tire me out. But now I could easily handle 10 pounds per arm, and not yet tire out after 40 repetitions (alternating with other shoulder exercises, at that). I also sleep better at night, even though I get 6 hours of sleep in a day at most. Last but not the least, I can eat all the Crispy Pata I want without worrying that I’ll be bogged down by the excess fat the next day, because I’ll be burning it up.
I’m looking forward to my training for the runs. Running is now a big motivation
for me to be better in my workouts.
A month prior to this, I’ve already told my gym trainer that I plan to run a 5k race. So she raised the difficulty level of my treadmill routines, and always made me run even after an hour of heavy workout. Heavy workout in my case, as well as with most females who are into weight training, is lifting medium weights with lots and lots of repetitions. During the days where I did not have heavy workouts, I did some high intensity interval training on the elliptical at home, interspersing 30 seconds of full effort cycling with 1 minute easy cycling (recovery) periods. I read that this builds endurance, makes the heart stronger, and is an excellent complement to weight lifting when done during the off days. This was very manageable since the interval training periods lasted for only 20 minutes each, and gave me more energy/enthusiasm for my day.
During the race itself, I was nervous if I could finish well, and so strived to run in a pace I could maintain till the end. And then I planned to just run at a faster pace during the last kilometer or so.
Alas, I failed to study the route map well, and so I was startled when suddenly, after rounding a corner, the finish line was already before me. Only then did I run faster (when I could’ve done it earlier).
So I could say I did finish well for a first timer - my official time was 32 mins. and 27 secs. (6min and 29 secs. per km), 25th among 255 females and probably the 130th out of all the 571 runners. But as I was cooling down I couldn’t help but regret that I didn’t really run my best. Simply because I didn’t study the route map, and didn’t take note of the distance markers along the road. I would’ve noticed the markers, I guess, had I not been chatting with a fellow runner (who was doing the 10k) during the 3rd and/or 4th km. I decided to engage in friendly conversation, thinking that the finish line was still far ahead, and thinking that chatting would help me “forget” the distance.
My booboos, as well as the general good feeling of finishing, are giving me extra motivation to keep training for and running these races. So for now, my goal is just to find my best speed for the 5k.
And of course, to have fun
Thanks also to my husband Dex who accompanied me to the event, even though he didn’t run. He was there as my cheering squad. He he
By the way, I’ve decided to create a list to track my progress, much like Lauren’s, so I’ll be posting that after my 2nd run.
And also, I can readily say now that my decision to keep taking my fitness seriously is not motivated by a desire to be sexier or thinner (even though those are also good goals). At this point, I don’t think I’ll be losing any more weight, or getting any thinner - my body is not the really the lean type. There’s just a good feeling one gets from seeing improvements in oneself, and in one’s health. For instance, I started out with my shoulder presses at 5 pounds per arm, and 20 repetitions would already tire me out. But now I could easily handle 10 pounds per arm, and not yet tire out after 40 repetitions (alternating with other shoulder exercises, at that). I also sleep better at night, even though I get 6 hours of sleep in a day at most. Last but not the least, I can eat all the Crispy Pata I want without worrying that I’ll be bogged down by the excess fat the next day, because I’ll be burning it up.
I’m looking forward to my training for the runs.
Running is now a big motivation
for me to be better in my workouts.