Blue Review

Katipunan Flyover was not that hard to traverse naman pala eh.

This was one of the realizations I had after a nice training run with coach Al Neri at the Big Blue Run 2. Since I am preparing for my revenge for Condura Full Mary, all of my races now are training runs, all Sundays are Long Runs Sundays.

I've been a practicing a concept mentioned by Coach Ige Lopez during our Mizuno Run Clinics way back last year that we should have a good night's rest 2 nights before a major race (in our case, Friday night) to ensure a well-rested athlete come race day.

Last Friday, I was not able to do that as I attended a college barkada reunion of some sort, AND I still have to go to work the following Saturday, I am so sure I wouldn't have enough rest for the race on Sunday. In my mind, I was doomed!

The previous week, I also joined a fun run (take note! races below 42K are not marathons, they are FUN RUNS, or Training Runs, or for some Fartleks hahaha), and with this race, I've had enough rest Friday AND Saturday, my 10K time was 1 hour and 12 minutes!

Saturday was a dragging day at the office too, and having little time to rest that night, I made a mental note to ensure that I hydrate properly (I actually consumed 1.5L of gatorade in almost one sitting!) Sobrang doomed, I said to myself. The previous week, I almost had another ITBS attack when I was running along Heritage, so I said to myself not to rush into things, and that this race is a TRAINING LONG RUN (i intend to add a few more rounds after the race, FYI, baka sabihin nyo, 10K is not a long run hahaha).

So, ok na diba. i went to bed (or should i say sofa?) around 10pm to give me enough time to sleep. Coach Al and I had decided to meet at 430am to start with the warm up rounds inside the campus before the race starts at 530am but lo and behold, I woke up past 4am na (despite my alarm clock's texts and missed calls, di ako nagising ng 330 to prepare my stuff for the race).

so ayun. i know malapit lang, and that it's not going to be as crowded as Fort or MOA, so ok lang. I met up with coach Al near the starting line to get my bib and did a little warm up (things i've learned from Day 1 of the Adination in UP) and waited for the gun start. Knowing that this is a training run, mentally noted that my pace would, ideally be 7ish lang. lo and behold, as we were traversing the stretch of Katipunan, we reached a peak pace of 550ish. so much for a long run pace huh.

the weather actually contributed a lot to my improved performance from last week. yesterday's atmosphere was actually very cool. you can already feel that Christmas is near! it took me some time to start perspiring pa nga eh, hahaha. the whole time we were running, it was cloudy. no need for shades, pero for a cap/visor, needed para sa pawis and iwas itim-batok.

towards the last u-turn going back to katipunan, i felt that i was already running a suka-pace. (i have this weird tendency to pinpoint how "fast" i am without the use of a garmin by my breathing, or if i can still chat with my fellow pacemates, or worse, if i feel im going at a "puking-anytime-soon" pace. since this was considered a long run, i decided to slow down a bit and let my pace mates go ahead (at that point i think we were already at the 5:50ish pace).

to cut the story short, I enjoyed the race.

BLUE POINTS
- konting tao (kasi most were either in MOA or Fort)
- homecoming (I'm a True-Blue, you know)
- good weather (not that the organizer can do anything about it, maganda lang talaga ung weather)
- enough hydration (ice cold water or 100 Plus) very good
- route was secured by QC police (may nagalit pa ngang babae eh, eh it was super aga pa, nag iinit na ulo agad)
- mostly flat, with a little rolling plains and Katipunan Flyover
- no Kenyans

GREEN POINTS
- route was short (9.3K as per people with garmin)
- loot bag was only 1 oatmeal cookie from Banapple (pero yummy)
- no Kenyans, but there were a few elites who ran this race (sayang kasi if you're one of the "non-pro" runners, and wanted to run super fast and try to win it, sorry ka, may elites eh)

also, this race was the break-in run for my K-ona  (and Coach Al's Inspire 6). No prior runs to this race. all the while i thought the good reviews from those who have a pair of K-onas were just all marketing ploy, it was not. the shoe was light but not too thin sa forefoot. Enough cushioning all through out the race, and most specially during the post race additional mileage. medial support was just right. it was not pushing against my arches, sakto lang. sarap sha gamitin.

choosing between YELLOW or BLUE. eventually went for my first love.

they said don't use anything new on race day. this one is an exception :)