I initially planned on running bandit, meaning not paying for the registration fee and just run with the other runners hoping to leech of some water, last Sunday. It was very hard to register for the run and I really didn’t have any time to go to GMA to sign up for it. So there was no choice but to run it with out paying. I could have just ran at home but I didn’t have the discipline to finish a long distance outside of a road race. I force myself to join these races so that I could at least be motivated/forced to run more than 5k at a time. 

Sunday came and I woke up very early. So early that after finished all my pre-race preparations, it was still just 4:15 am. The was race was scheduled to start at 6 am. I left the house anyway even if it was still to early. I didn’t want to wake up Tricia, who was still sleeping at that ungodly hour, with my jitters. I always get the jitters before every race. I don’t know why but I always have that hurling feeling everytime.

When I got to my car, I headed straight to McDonald’s to get my power sandwich which was a sausage mcmuffin with egg. It was the only thing convinient to eat while driving so I was stuck with it. I guess that power sandwich is already a ritual for me already. It’s been my breakfast for every run I had ever since. It’s never failed me since too.

I got to Fort Bonifacio very early. An hour early. Since I planned to run bandit, I had to make myself a running bandit race bib. So I got an old race bib from one of my past races, turned it over and then wrote ‘I am running bandit’ with a big infinity symbol under it. Went down my car around 30 minutes before the race. I was so early. Since I really wasn’t planning on taking the race too seriously, I ran a little just to warm myself up. I think I ran a kilometer for warm up.

I went back to the race area where all the runner gathered. I looked at the race map. What happened to me next was the last thing I expected.

I was looking at the big race map and when I glanced to my side, I saw my drawing and painting teacher turned friend CD. She was running too. I was so surprised. Last Sunday was her first fun run and she was so excited. She was just walking around a mall when she saw the fun run’s registration booth and she joined just because it was for charity. That somehow made me feel guilty. Onsite registration was already happening so I registered myself.

CD told me I looked so serious and into running, with my race belt and tight fit shirt and all. I told her about my last run which was the 21k and she told me I was crazy.

CD ran the 5k. The last time I saw her was at the starting line. I wonder how long it took her to finish the 5k? I bet she had fun. I think she’s the kind of person that would feel happy for doing anything for a cause.

I ran the 10k. Finished at around 64 minutes. Around 3 minutes slower than my fastest 10k. I didn’t feel too bad. I was walking a lot in that run. I was really out of shape. If I ran 100% of the time, I would have smoked my previous personal record.

I finished soaking wet too as pointed out by Jing. She ran the 5k and I only saw her when I was on my way back to my car. It was a shame I wasn’t able to see her durning the run. I was dripping wet when I got to my car. The water stations were very generous with their water. They didn’t just hand over plastic cups with water but instead gave us mineral water bottles. It was OK I guess but the water wasn’t cold though. It was a good thing I brouht my own water.

I usually drank half the cup and then poured the rest over my head to cool myself down. The water bottles really did the trick. There were times that I just poured too much and that really soaked my in water.

The run was OK but I I ended up stressing my right foot again. After two days on ice, I thought my foot was OK for running already. It was when I was running the race. But as soon as I got home, the slight sting on the top of my right foot was back.

I hope that it goes away. I have another 10k run on May 3. I also have a 21k run on May 10. I hope it goes away with in 3 days or so. I need to train for the 21k. I need to build up my endurance again. Judging from last Sunday’s run where I walked for an accumulated kilometer, my endurance is way way out of 21 kilometer region.
 

Ran a 10 kilometer fun run yesterday and I could confidently say that my personal record is getting better. The run was once again at Fort Bonifacio which meant hills hills hills and more hills. I got to try out the new shoes Tricia gave me on a long run for the first time. All I can say is that I’m happy she got me the shoes. My last 15 kilometer I had, I ran with my Mizunos and I almost finished with blisters on my feet. My old shoes were not really right for my  feet.

When I ran with the NB’s, I felt a bounce to my step that somehow made me run faster. I love my new shoes. They’re much more confortable to wear compared to my old ones.

With my new shoes, I finished my 10 kilometer run with a blistering time of 61 minutes.

Amazing! A blazing pace of 6 minutes per kilometer.

 

I didn’t run as much as I wanted to last week. I wasn’t able to train much despite me wanting too. I had a bad stomach last Thursday which plagued me until Sunday. It really gave me a hard time keeping up my pace. I could barely do 3 kilometers without walking to rest. This wasn’t normal. I should have been running a minimum of 7 kilometers a day. I should have been running at a minimum pace of 7 minutes per kilometer. I should have been running and training for the half-marathon.

I could have eaten something that set my stomach out of wack. I should really watch what I eat. I barely have two weeks left to train and I need to step things up. 21k to the sky, here I come. See you in 13 days!

Tricia bought me new shoes last week. I love them. NB 769′s. They’re a joy to use. It adds more bounce to my strides and gives more support to my ankles and feet.

Don’t they look nice? I am now armed to take on that 21k head on or feet on ground! I will pound you back to your grave.

 

19 days to go before the big 21k.

I ran a lot last night. I ran for 1 hour 5 minutes for a rough distance of 10 kilometers. This was the first time I jogged that far outside of a road race which was something new for me. I should be doing this more. I should run more. The only thing stopping me from running is my laziness. I easily get distracted when I’m running outside of a road race because there’s really no pressure to run that distance. 

Last night, I made sure that I’ll be able to run longer distances on my own. Last night, I succeeded. My new hydration belt helped me last night. I wore it with two 8 ounce water bottles hanging around my waist. Finished them both. Amazingly, my body doesn’t fell as bad as the first time I ran 10k.

Later tonight, I’ll be running around Ateneo with Labs for a sweet 5k run.

Tomorrow will be another 10k night. Good luck to me.

I hope I don’t injure myself.

Today, March 2, 2009 will mean that there will only be 20 days left for me to train until my first 21k atop the Skyway. I need to train more. Since last Sunday, I only ran a total of about 15k distributed across three days. I believe yesterday was my longest run.

Ran around Ateneo for about 40 mins. It was quite a good run. Enjoyed going around school again. I saw a lot of new stuff around grade school and highschool. Sadly though, I could still feel the grief around campus because of the incident. Somehow, the air around the campus felt cold, strange and dead.

I am getting lazy again. I was awake this morning at about 5 am. That would have been a perfect time to do some training but I choose to sleep more.

I ran a little bit faster yesterday. My finishing time in the last Happy Run 15k was 1 hour 46 mins. I ran at an average of 7 min per kilometer. I cheated on that run. I drank Redbull so that I’d have that advantage of unlimited energy from that energy drink. 

I ran my second 15k yesterday. I didn’t drink an energy drink. I didn’t want my body to be fueled by caffeine this time. I also wanted to see how I’d hold up with out any help from those energy drinks. I had a hard time completing this run.  I ran a lot. I breezed through the hills thanks to those sprints I did in the subdivision. I walked some parts of the course. I guess not having that energy drink help me made me walk it out in some parts of the run.

Yiha!

I ran a little bit faster this time. Finished two minutes ahead of my last 15k time. My body maybe bad and busted right now but having seen the results makes it feel better even though a bunch of words and numbers doesn’t actually help to alleviate the pain.

Amazing!
21k to the Skyway here I come! With my progress, that 42k midnight run in October at Subic is not looking too faint!

I hope!