I’m still looking for that missing piece that will complete me as a runner. As I was doing an easy 30 minute run last night, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could really call myself a runner.

I ran the 10 kilometer race at Kenny’s Open Urbanite Race last Saturday. I have been training for doing a sub 60 10 kilometers for the past 3 or 4 weeks already and I really wanted to see if I could do it in an actual race. I was successful in doing a sub 60 two weeks ago in my tempo run around Ateneo. Would I be successful in an actual race? I had to find out so I joined the 10 kilometer race last Saturday. The race last Saturday was a big one. I could confidently say that more that 3000 runners joined the run that night. It filled up the streets and if you could base success on attendance alone, the event would be a big success.

The 10 kilometer gun fired at exactly 8:45 PM. As the gun sounded, a massive amount of runners began pouring out of the starting gates. People were struggling to get out because of the narrow gate which served as sensors for the timing chip. I came out of the starting gate fresh and free. I quickly stepped up my pace and passed a lot of runners in the process. I had a game plan in mind. I memorized the race map with the kilometer markers in mind. At the 5 kilometer mark, I should be about 28 minutes into my run. At the 8 kilometer mark, I should be 40 minutes into my run. If I was able to accomplish that, it would be a big finish. I would have been able to finish under 60 minutes.

Running at night was no stranger to me for I always trained at night. The cool breeze was what I enjoyed most about running at night but I definitely missed it last Saturday. It was humid and hot. The big turn out of people in one area really helped in upping the temperature.

I was doing good up until the 4th kilometer because there weren’t any big uphills to conquer. I passed the 2 kilometer mark at about 10 minutes. I passed the 4 kilometer mark after another 10 minutes or so. The last kilometer going up Bayani road really made me slow down my pace. It was a struggle going up hills. I need to train more. I need to run up more hills. I need to do more hill training. When I passed the 5 kilometer mark, 29 minutes has already passed. I had to catch up. I had to push. I had to run a little bit harder.

Run harder is what I did. After that climb up Bayani road, I was back in flat pavement again. I was able to speed up a little bit more. As I came to the downhill part of Mckinley Hill, I made sure that I didn’t have a jolly good time going down. I made sure I ran hard going down the hill. I needed to just to make up for the time lost going back up Bayani road. I met two downhills along Mckinley which meant a guaranteed encounter with two mean uphill climbs. I met those downhills with force and I will surely meet those uphill climbs with even stronger force. That is what I would have wanted but what actually happened was a little bit different. As I slowly tried to keep my pace going up the hills, I can’t help but slow down because of the incline. That really hurt my time. As I exited Mckinley hills and passed the 8 kilometer mark, 48 minutes have already passed. I was off my target. I could have easily ran the last two kilometers under 11 minutes if I still had fresh legs to propel me but I didn’t.

I crossed the finish at 62 minutes. Still great but still not a personal best. There will be a next time.

I checked the results and I couldn’t find my name so I search for my race number. I got a hit but it was under a totally different name. I was all good because I can see that the results is very similar to the time I logged in my Nike+. Finally, I finished in the top half. 139th out of 887 runners. 42nd in my age group. See you on the next run!