_rizal_day_1,000km_what's_next?

still resting my legs from the rizal day run this morning, i'm wearing a smile on my face, happy that i was able to complete the 2 challenges i set for myself today.

1. CHALLENGE #1: improving my 32K time from 3:58 (in baguio) to sub-3:30

if there's one important lesson i learned from the rizal day run, it would be the value of preparation...up until the night before the race. i slept early, at around 9:00pm, which was a feat as i usually sleep close to midnight. :P i gradually increased my intake of carbs from 3 days before the race, and i also racked in more mileage during the month to help me get used to long distances.

as what i did in baguio, my strategy was to start fast and then slow down a bit (aka take walk breaks). it was my first time to run at camp aguinaldo and i felt a bit reluctant speeding up during the 1st loop as i couldn't see the humps...at 5:30am. it was just too dark! :P

after 2 loops and upon checking my time, i felt a bit relaxed and decided to take 10 to 20-second walk breaks, plus the breaks along the water stations.

at the last loop, i was cheered on by takbo.ph peeps jet, lauren, julie (salamat sa puto...hehehe), cherry, birthday boy ziggy, sam, and others. thanks a lot, guys. what you did really helped me push on with my run and i am once more grateful for having you guys around. of course, much thanks also to eire for her support during my BLC sacrifice and regular runs that helped me exceed my challenge targets.

i finished 29.65km in 2:51, way beyond my 3:30 target. :) challenge #1 done! :D

i set my garmin to change laps every 8km since i assumed it was 32km and i wanted to monitor my pace in segments no more than 10km. here are my race stats:

8km - 5:20/km
8km - 5:37/km
8km - 6:08/km
5.65km - 6:08/km
TOTAL = 29.65km - 5:47/km (2:51:28)

as usual, thanks to brando for the photo...


2. CHALLENGE #2: hitting 1,000km before end of 2009 (in less than 8 months)

it's really great to celebrate a runner's 1,000km mark by getting a shirt from bald runner with a bold statement "1,000km Club". as what sir jovie himself told us when timmy asked if they plan to give out shirts with "2,000km", the first 1,000km would always be the toughest for any runner. it's when you get out of that couch and decide to hit the street, not with your car, but with your own two feet. :)

challenge #2 done!

me & my idol :D


showing off our shirts...this time with carina & rod


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kudos to bald runner and his team for the well-organized race with a distinction of serving ice cream, beer, and ice-cold water for the finishers. the 2 water stations along the route were also filled with cold gatorade, fita biscuits, and even fit & right fruits (am i right?). i am truly amazed with what they did for all of the runners who participated here. i now agree with sam's remark that races don't have to be expensive to be successful & full of freebies.

even if the distance was short, i had absolutely no complaints! i give the rizal day run 3 thumbs up (if i were an alien with 3 thumbs)! :D

saludo ako sa 'yo, bald runner! :) i'm sure takbo.ph peeps will be looking forward to succeeding races organized by your group.

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thanks a lot to tere & her office for the free boodle fight that happened right after the race! :D sarap talaga kumain ng libre! had my fill of pork, rice, sardines, & whatever was in there. :)



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i notice that if i set challenges for myself, the more i get determined to accomplish them. i want a goal in sight so that i can imagine myself reaching it. :) this also helps in keeping me motivated in running. i've tried setting challenges in daily mile and i hope this would also help me after 2009.

for 2010, one of my goals would be to run at least 100-160km every month.

what's the next big challenge for me?

after this, the only definite challenge that i see right now is the condura run. this is my other goal. besides, after running 1,000km in less than 8 months with a decent time for 30km, i could probably say to myself i'm ready to hit sub-4:30 for a 42k race. :P january would be another month for preparations. should i pile up the mileage or start to taper? i'll find out what my body tells me.

i'm excited for 2010! more running, races, & fun...beginning with the LSD at cardiac hills (my 1st LSD with takbo.ph)! :D

happy new running year to all!

_866m_elevation_<15c_32km_baguio

like i've mentioned in my FB status, this race marked my:

- longest (32.03km)
- toughest (866m total elevation gain)
- coldest (below 15 degrees celsius)

...race ever participated in.

you can see the route here. here's my account of this memorable race on december 6:

3:50am

cellphone alarm goes off on a chilly early morning. very glad we got a hotel room with hot water in the shower, even if the water was actually lukewarm because of the ice-cold water that the heater had to work on. we stayed at baguio holiday villa court hotel & apartelle (whew!) along legarda road. i chose this among other hotels that were situated near burnham park so it's near the starting line and we just needed to walk less than 1km to get there. they still offered the off-peak rate at P1,200 per night so for me, it was worth it.

4:45am

after photo-ops with eire, ellen, & carlo along the hotel hallway, we went off to warm up to the starting line. as soon as we got out of the hotel building, the cold was instantly unbearable. even quick jogs didn't do anything to spark any body heat. i was glad i got a bonnet the night before at SM baguio and eire lent me her cool jacket since she noticed i was shivering in my new mizuno shirt & short tights. :) thanks, eire!





5:00am

at the starting line, there were no lights nearby so we couldn't really see anyone in the dark. there were only a few runners--i think those who ran the 32K race were no more than 60 participants. the host depended on her megaphone to explain the route & reminded us that this was a tough course (thanks for the reminder :P).

we met up with other takbo.ph peeps...mon, roselle, & judah. and guess what...even cris sabal decided to join this race over others that were being held on that day. we had at least 1 celebrity with us. :)





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with a 3:30 goal for the 30K race, my strategy in this race was to start fast so i can afford to run-walk later on as i got tired. i set my garmin to change laps every 10km with the following target paces per lap:

1st 10KM = 6:30
2nd 10KM = 7:00
3rd 10KM = 7:30

AVERAGE = 7:00/km for 3:30 in 30K

see the actual distance & paces below...

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5:30am - 0km

gun start! our first 4km was mostly a steep downhill route from burnham park to the corner of kennon & laoakan roads. i shook off the cold after the 1st km with a quick pace and when i reached the lowest point of the race at kennon corner laoakan, i saw that my pace was around 4:54/km! :) not bad for a quick start. then came the steep hills of laoakan. here we go. :P

6:30am - 10km



as laoakan & the road to PMA kept on draining my energy, my pace went down to a net of 6:03 when i reached the 10KM mark. the view along that road was majestic as the road was on a cliffside and all i could see beyond was a light fog covering neighboring mountains on a cold & sunny morning. this is good race weather!

since there was a u-turn point ahead, i saw runners who were ahead of me and just for my amusement, i counted all of them to find out my place at that point. i was 44th at the u-turn point. hmmm... and then on my way back, i noticed that there was relatively a smaller group of runners who were behind me. i had thought that we were 100 runners, but my estimate was that we were no more than 60.

7:45am - 20km



this 2nd part of the race would be the ultimate drainer for me. more than 3/4 of this lap consisted of steep, zigzag uphills so when you're not from baguio, you wouldn't be able to tell how far you needed to run/walk before the hills end. halimaw judah overtook me and i noticed that he never walked on those hills...just did quick steps with ease. mon also caught up with me and we initially decided to push each other up to wherever. he wanted then to give up coz of the killer hills but we encouraged each other to move on.

i said it myself, "it's okay, i did a 6-ish pace in the 1st 10km...i still have some leeway to get the 7:00 average." i did the 2nd 10km in 1:15 with a 7:30/km pace.

9:15am - 30km



before this time, we were on our way up to minesview park, which i would find out later on was the highest point in the entire route. the road had significant residue of horse manure so i was a bit careful not to soil my own mizuno shoes.

at this point, around 25km, i was walking more than running since the roads continued to go uphill. at minesview, i saw a bananaque stand and i did not hesitate to buy one for myself. good thing i brought money. i ate one banana and gave the other one to mon (who eventually shared it with ellen who caught up with us there).

a big surprise was rai rn who also caught up with us. hey, i thought you were ahead of us! it turns out he got lost and passed thru camp john hay because there were no marshals on that turn. too bad for him. :(

we all had a quick chat and then estimated that from where we were, the course was much more than 30km. oh well, better longer than shorter. :P

the banana gave ellen & mon a lot of energy and they went on ahead of me. in my case, the banana just relieved me of hunger since i didn't eat anything before the race...not giving any running power. :) hehe

i reached 30km along the military cutoff road and since i was already familiar with the road, it motivated me to run more as i was nearing the finish line. checking my garmin...3:45...i could still make a sub-4 hours if i wanted to. i pushed on. my pace in this lap was a low 8:59/km.

9:28am - 32.03km

my spirits were revived when i saw burnham park...just a little more! i did my usual all-out sprint around 200m from the finish line. i saw other takbo.ph peeps already there waiting, but it didn't stop me from giving my all to finish strong and below 4 hours! :D yahoo! panting at the finish but very happy to have gone through it all. :)

after this race, i promised myself never to get intimidated by hills again. :)

halimaw judah finished 1st among takbo.ph peeps, mon next, and then ellen finished 9th place in the women's division (43rd overall) and i was glad with my 3:58 time that placed me in 45th overall...probably 36th in the men's division. :P hehe it was all good! the lost & found rai rn next, and then roselle.










kudos to the organizers for the challenging route and, except for the case of rai rn, they did a good job overall and waited for all of the runners to finish. above that, they literally posted the race results right after the race. no other race did this super quick show of the results. :) good for them that there weren't really thousands of runners to write on the manila paper.



with my muscles still aching but my spirits still high, i will definitely join next year's race in baguio. see you there! :)

my garmin details: