I am now a proud finisher of a half-marathon (21 km run). Though my time is really not that fast, I still have finished the race. How I got to run the Condura Run? Check the story below
The Decisiong Making
One of my target for 2010 is to do aquathlons and run on the Skyway which was only offered by Condura Run. So when I looked at the dates of the events, the first aquathlon, PSC Aquathlon, was scheduled for February 7 and the Condura Run 2010 was also scheduled for February 7. We need to gain experience for the aquathlon so we prioritized the PSC Aquathlon over the Condura Run.
On January 16, 2010 I joined the Salomon Mountain Run arranged by the Philippine Skyrunning Association, this is where I heard that the PSC Aquathlon was cancelled. After confirming that the PSC Aquathlon was cancelled, which took us about 3 days, we quickly and excitedly registered for the half-marathon of Condura Run. The problem was the maximum distance that I was training was only 8.1 kilometers since we were training for an aquathlon, and there was only less than 3 weeks to prepare for a half marathon.
The Training
Upon registration we quickly planned on how we will proceed with our training since we really had a very small schedule before the run.
Weight loss, I needed to lose weight so that I could run faster and lighter. I thought of following what others did, eat small but frequent, but this will not work for me. Simply because I am used to eating big portions of food even if I do it at a more frequent rate. I had to think of an idea, I decided that I won’t be having lunch but eat a big breakfast and a big dinner with no snacks in between.
Training Runs, Since this will by my first half-marathon I trained for distance with no time limit. I decided to lift my base to 10 kilometers and about 2 to 3 times a week do a longer run. Frequency of our training was almost everyday, only about 2 days of rest every week.
Strengthening the knees, Everytime I run, there’s always a pain in my knees. I’ve heard from my friend April Lee, a fitness trainer, that this was because of weak muscles around the knee area. She said that to strengthen the knee I had to do squats and plunges and though us the proper way of doing it. This was the perfect exercise for me because it only uses the your natural weight, no need for a dumbell or any gym equipments.
Lunch Boredom, I wasn’t eating lunch and nothing to do, I then got bored. Afraid of having another quarter life crisis, I needed to do something. Luckily the company that I was working with offers a free gym, only walking distance from the office. So every lunch, I walk to the gym and started doing threadmills, squats, plunges, leg raise and arm endurance.
Training Alone, There was a time that my training buddy got really busy with work, so I had to train alone. I hate training alone, mostly when you’re doing long distance running, it tends to get boring and in the end when you could not take the boredom, I’ll start to ask the question “Why am I running?”, “What good will this be after I finish the run?”, “I should be resting/sleeping after a long day at the office, not running.” So I usually stop running and just head home and sleep. But I took the matter at hand and changed perspective, I need to train my body but I also need to train my mind for long runs. If my mind is not ready for a 21km run then how will my body run a 21km? My mind moves my body and not my body moves my mind.
Heat Training, We assumed that there will be a point in the run that the sun would rise and shine its light upon us. We need to get used to this heat, that’s why every weekend we did our long run at about 12 noon or 1 PM. I know, we must be crazy to do such a thing. We’ve heard it a lot of times. It’s only a matter of perspective, we have a purpose for doing it, so we did it.
The CarboLoading Party
Pace Partners CarboLoading Party, the party that started at exactly at 5PM and ended exactly 7PM.
I wasn’t planning to carbo-load that much, but the food was really delicious that makes me want to go back. I think I had three plates, minimum. The menu had potato salad, party bread, apple pie, spicy chicken, tacos, tomato salad, cake and pasta.
The food was good, but the people were better. It was all pure happiness, people giving advise on how to run more efficiently, secret practices revealed and many more topics that really made me laugh and listen.
Thanks Pace Partners for such a wonderful time.
The PreRun
Alarm at 2:30AM. Snooze at 2:35AM. Get out of the bed at 2:45PM, take a bath and get out and meet Cat at Katipunan. Buy bananas and eat it to avoid cramps. Eat one bar of Power Bar to add energy. And stretch with Pace Partners.
The Run
It was nice to see a lot of runners would like to try the 21km run, mostly because you can run on the skyway, which you can only do only during a Condura Run.
Just when I thought that running on the Skyway is the only thing that the organizers has in store for us at less than 30 seconds before the start they gave us fireworks! And while looking at the fireworks the announcer said “While enjoying the fireworks, don’t forget to keep your eyes on the start timer.” What?!?!? The start timer is at the front and the fireworks is at the right. How can you do that?
Bang! and all the runners started. The plan was simple, run, run, run and keep on running and keep my mind occupied. Running was simple, just peel off your legs from the ground and move it forward. The challenge is to keep my mind off running while running. So what I did was to be your friendly neighborhood encourager.
When I see people walking and breathing heavily, I just tap on them and say to them “Kaya pa yan! (You can do it!)” This is also a way for me to pay forward what a random guy did for me on one of my previous races. I was walking, breathing heavily and about to give up, then a guy just tapped me on my shoulder and said “Kaya pa yan!” and it really got me worked up and continue my running.
Along the tapping and the running I got to pace with a lot of people. Some I know, some I don’t know.
Cat, my running and climbing buddy.
Cha, one of my running buddies in MPG Runners, another group of mine.
Jay, Pace Partner
Renan, a newly found pacer with my random tapping. He’s a teacher from Pangasinan and he only came to Manila just for the Condura Run.
Sharon, MPG Runner
Melody, a newly found pacer with my random encouraging. She’s a member of CCF and enjoyed running with her because we were praying and asking God to give us strength.
The plan worked! I ran and ran and keep my mind occupied. I was able to ran 19kms straight, just the right pace before I walked. I walked for 1km and continued to run to the finish line.
Seeing Karl, Lyndree and Francis (MPG Runners) about 200 meters from the finish line was really encouraging. Just by seeing them makes you want to run, I don’t want to be seen walking slowly, it makes me look weak. hehe
And I finished my very first half-marathon in 2 hours 50 minutes.
The After Run
After the run it will be time to take pictures.
Pace Partners
MPG Runners
And after the picture taking this is when people realize that we are hungry and tired. So I went with MPG Runners and went straight to Joey Pepperoni’s, which offers 150 Pesos per person Eat-All-You-Can pasta and 199 Pesos per two 8 inch pizzas.
Eating is one of my reasons why I run. You eat a lot and the food tastes much much better when you are really tired and hungry. So after a race at Fort Bonifacio Joey Pepperoni is one of the best places to be.
For those interested in Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria and Party Bread by Chef Philippe
Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria
Ground Floor, Fairways Tower
5th Avenue cor Mckinley Road, The Fort
Global City, Philippines
(02) 856-9509
Party Bread by Chef Philippe
(02) 232-9643
0917-584-7588