two thirty and some change

last sunday, dec.2 was somewhat my come back race. i've been running on and off since 2008 (literal my first run, but my first serious race with training and other preparations was in 2009) , and for some unforeseen circumstances, i have only raced twice in 2012. the first one was the Rexona Run 2012 (where i sucked big time; if i'm not mistaken, that was my slowest 21k EVER (almost finished it in 3 hours! grabe ah! sana nilakad ko na lang ung buong route). Sooo i said to myself, i got to get back in shape. I have to train seriously for me to be able to get my groove back, and at the same time, wag naman kulelat. it also would help me with my dreams of running condura full again if i start training earlier than usual. medyo mahirap nang mag habol ng last minute. ayaw ko naman ng ganon diba.

ready for QC

QCIM has always been a memorable race for me. I was suppose to run its maiden issue but i got sick. ;( the second one naman, was the first full mary of our beloved margalicious, and as a way of giving back to the one who has always been 100% supporting each and every one of us, I personally went back to her after my own half mary to support and cheer her on to the finish. QCIM also has been scheduled near my gf's birthday (usually 1st weekend of December) so there. medyo memorable lang naman sha :)

This year, i intended to join the race as a training long run lang. I have been doing my long runs every sunday, usually passing alongside the buses and jeepneys of commonwealth avenue so when i found out that the route for the 21K would ONLY consist of the stretch of commonwealth, i got more excited. the first QCIM 21k i raced before included going inside la mesa eco park pa ata, pero this time, it was "easier" to some extend. others who are not used to commonwealth's false flats and wavy road might have had a few challenges while running, but this is my home court hahahaha.

luckily, i was able to get a free race kit from a teammate who wouldn't be able to run it, so i took that as a sign for me to push through with the run :) i woke up 230 sunday morning to prepare myself for the race. i had my usual pre-race prep of downing one l.5L gatorade the day prior, and my usual oatmeal and coffee breakfast. after that, i took off from the house to start my long run. :)

i have been doing my long runs in the heat of the summer-ish sun every sunday morning, so doing this long run super early that day was somewhat a breath of fresh air for me, literally and figuratively. as i was used to running in the heat, the coolness of the morning air was conducive to having a more enjoyable run. i thought the gunstart for the 21k was at 4am, so i was a bit in a hurry on my way to the starting line, only to find out that it was still at 430am. that was no problem for me as it gave me ample time to relax a bit and to do some stretching after that approx 3.5km warm up run.

at the starting coral, i didn't see familiar faces. i didn't see teammates, fellow takbo.ph runners, or even some of the other teams from takbo.ph (such as boring, cb, hob, quest, at kung sino sino pa). so i said to myself, treat this as a long run. SOLO long run (so what's new? sanay naman akong wala akong kasama mag long run so this wouldn't be any different :) bahala na, i said to myself, and off i went.

masaya sha because it was cool, so i felt i was a bit going faster than what my "training pace" should have been, pero ok lang, if i bonk out, its ok since its "just" a training run, getting a faster time would just be a bonus. the more important thing is the mileage. so there. along the route, i finally saw a team CB shirt, and saw ate rona was running din pala. said hi and hello, and eventually ran ahead. i also saw some trimac peeps pero was not able to have a "pacer" along the route the whole time. i was doing things by myself.

during the run, ibang feeling talaga. at one point, i felt i was having cold sweats, maybe because i was really sweating but at the same time, malamig ung simoy ng hangin. another factor would have been also the lack of portalet/s along the 21k route. i saw some people who pee along the center aisle of commonwealth avenue, but then i realized, paano kaya ung mga girls? di naman sila pwede mag CR sa buong route or di rin pwede mag stop sa middle ng commonwealth ave to patintero vs the cars to cross over the gasoline stations sa gilid (kasi the race route was done sa middle ng commonwealth ave, kudos to the organizers for this one ha, efficient sha, hindi sha mashadong nag cause ng traffic sa commonwealth hehehe). sooo yun. diretso lang ng kahabaan ng commonwealth avenue hanggang makarating sa wilcon depot sa may fairview, tas balik. not bad, since nag dry run naman ako dun the week before so more or less i know the feeling going there. :)  (PS: ang kulit lang ng race organizers to place the only portalet i saw along the route a few meters AFTER the u-turn for the half marathoners. i know i shouldn't be complaining etc, but then, hassle diba? sana ginawa nila BEFORE the u turn man lang para may nakapag CR etc, pero any way, its done na naman hehehe tuloy lang ang laban).

ayon. ang saya lang coz for the first time, ung mga 2 something pacers were no where in sight, imposible namang naunahan ko silang lahat diba? pero at certain points, i did. hahaha. medyo nung pabalik lang, nagmuni muni ako if mag CR ba ako or just go towards the finish na lang to get things done agad. while contemplating on this eh i saw na the sign saying "18KMS" so parang, wag na nga! diretsuhin na to! :) after gathering my breath, i continued with my pace and ran. medyo masaya ako din kasi wala pang mashadong araw that time, so kayang dagdag pa ng pace if ever. pag katapos after a few kms between technohub and UP college of human kinetics, eh i saw a blue balloon pacer for 2:30. sa loob loob ko, akalain mo un, naunahan ko pa sha halos. i tried chitchatting with him but he eventually picked up the pace towards the end so i said to my self  may slow down na muna ako, kasi nga may dagdag pa ko after, so sige. i went on etc.

upon reaching near jollibee philcoa, natuwa ako kasi 2:32 something pa lang ung gun time. ang saya lang din to find out that my training paid off. not bad for someone who's training for an 8:15 pace dapat :)

ayon. so anong lesson for myself dito? wala. hahahaha!

training and dedication and hard work works.
sabi nga ng teammate ko, why waste a good run (if i can go faster and kaya naman, why not push it diba?) and push i did. and i was able to get things done :)

PLUS added additional 3.5kms going back home :)

ayot? apir :)

PS:

tajimaya charcoal grill food! yummy! :) 

PS: for finishing with a decent time, eto ang reward ko :)