RockenRun: Hooked on Asphalt

4:17 AM – This can’t be right,  the last thing I remember was hitting the snooze button of my mobile phone’s alarm clock about an hour ago!

So off I hurriedly went to the starting line of Globe’s Run for Home  at the NBC tent. I thought that I wouldn’t make it on time because of the long queue towards the parking area behind ROX which was reserved for VIPs. It’s a good thing though that I have already installed the champion chip on my shoe the night before.

The Preparation
This part I like the most, like an obedient running student, I did my best  to consume a lot of carbs after getting my race packet from BHS last Friday.

I also ate more the night before :

 
You know, I think that I did this part so well that I have loaded enough carbs for an Ultramarathon. Ha!
Hmm … does it say in the manual that I really have to run in order to prepare for a half-marathon ?

Barely Making It

I can still remember running towards the starting line when the voice over the PA system is  telling the 21k runners  that the race is about to start in 45 seconds.
I was able to make it about 5 seconds before I heard the gun. It was about this time when I started my stretching routine. There were a lot of participants in this race that it really took time to dash from the starting line up to the entrance of the corral. For a minute there, I thought that this was the 5k race

Paligsahan ng Palakasan ng Busina

 What can I say ? It’s a race that started on time and the chirps produced by the timing chips were like  music to my ears. The route along Ayala Avenue .. fabulous ! I have worked in Makati for such a long time already but I don’t remember being able to run along the said road.

Hydration? There were enough 100 plus drinks to flood the entire city!  

As we were running through Paseo De Roxas, I have noticed a lot of drivers  who were blowing their horns as if there was a prize for the one with the biggest horn (pun intended). I have noticed that this behavior is so unlike those foreigners which I have encountered in previous races who instead of getting grumpy, would actually get out of their vehicles and cheer on the runners.
 

Hammer Time!

Nope that was not MC Hammer, that was me reaching for my 2nd  Hammer Gel sachet, but alas! I didn’t have it.  I have only brought 1 sachet with me for this race. It’s a good thing that I have brought a few bite size Cloud 9 bars with me. Even if it was not as effective as the gel, it helped me get through the race. There were times when I could’ve pushed harder but whenever I felt the onset of cramps, I would slow down … the nail could’ve used a hammer this time.

The Result

“Wow Hi-tech!” – That was my first reaction when I heard that timing chips will be used for this race but up to now, I am still waiting for the results to be published. Since timing chips are new in our country, maybe we should give the organizers time to adapt to this technology. I’m sure we will all be happy once the results come out. I finished my run at around 2:31 in my watch – no improvement compared to my Milo performance.

21 km, running, Taguig, The Fort 21 km, running, The Fort

My first run was with Joanne, Ava, and Irene in the PSE Bull Run back in January 2008. Never really trained for it…just woke up one day, went to the race and tried to finish it. Haha.

Gotta work on discipline tho, cos until now it seems that I’ve never really stopped doing that for a race. Ugh.

The trend in 2008 to present: running era with my ladies -> work-indulgence -> running-after-working-hours -> foot operation -> lsd-ing with my brother and his friends -> and yes, work indulgence again -> hospitalization a little more than a couple of weeks ago.

My training? Sleep whenever I can, and some positivity.

Tomorrow (or later…in a matter of minutes) would definitely be a reunion. The ladies will be there, some of my batchmates from college, my officemates, and my brother and his friends. Everyone will be joining in on the “chip” fun.

Quite a hectic schedule for me too. After the run, I’ll be meeting up with some of my friends back in college (whose wedding we’re currently coordinating), the son of my cousin’s birthday party in KFC (woot!), and head down south to watch Wanders (thanks to Miss AJZ and Mr. GV for the passes–yes, they gotta be in codes)!

I don’t mind if it rains tomorrow because I’ll be running again so tonight is with feel-good vibes, and I’ve been listening to Jamiroquai’s “Corner of the Earth”: “Little darlin’ don’t you see the sun is shining just for you, only today. If you hurry you can get a ray on you…”

Tomorrow is a long day, so I’ll start heading home now: to the direction of the bed for a little bit of sleep, and making sure all the alarms go off on time.

See yah

10 km, running, The Fort 10 km, globe, run for home, The Fort

There are billions of reasons why people run.

The one I find the funniest was what Joanne said after Adidas King of the Road 2008, when we ate this huge-ass servings of pancakes at Flapjacks without feeling guilty at all. “May nasunog na naman tayo eh, time to fill it up again.” Bwahahaha. I haven’t used that loveable lame excuse for a long time now.

A little before I got hospitalized (the blog entry about it is still a draft … as many of my entries imported here from my previous blog — http://soflypinay.wordpress.com), I have cut down on food. I’ve always thought that making me lighter would make me run faster (people who make lame reasons tend to have lame logic as well hahaha).

The melodramatic part is I’ve been cutting down on a lot of things as well. Cutting down communication with people I don’t want to be hanging out with: emotional vampires, parasites who cling for made-believe affection, and just plain lies. I could hold them all off by being indifferent with just the snap of my fingers but I knew I had to run all the pressure and stress off sometime.

Even the skies were gloomy. I would have gone for a run last night, had it not been raining, had I not been discharged from the hospital a little more than a week ago, and had it not been darker than the usual late nights I spend working on freelance projects.

The sun is out now and I’ve been listening to a very calming song since yesterday: Kaskade – Empty Streets. I’ve posted it below, and you will notice that it is as relaxing as a night you have envisioned to be, when suddenly nobody and nothing exists around you. The video could have been better if the vocalist just stood there singing while leaning on one of the buildings.

The song starts with this: “The city feels clean this time of night, and me walking home to clear my head, I know it came as no surprise.”

I prefer to run.

running, training running, training

After staying in Cebu for a week plus all the free meals that I have consumed, I decided to do my usual long slow run yesterday. But to my dismay, I woke up late. I guess I’m still tired from work.

Luckily, I was able to wake up early today (that was around 5:15 am, is that still early? heheh).  By the time I got to MOA, the streets were still a bit wet, probably from last night’s downpour.
So I did my usual stretching and ran my usual route, but as I was running along Esplanade, I suddenly felt pain on my left knee. Uh-oh … I guess I haven’t fully recovered from last week’s 21k.

Chocolate - In case I get cramps

But then again … I thought that maybe the endorphins haven’t kicked in yet and true enough, after around ten minutes of limping and running – the pain disappeared.

While traversing Roxas Boulevard, I have noticed that the south-bound lane was closed to vehicular traffic. “Could there be another race ?”

Yup there was definitely a race – I think it’s the PNP fun run thing.

Since the road was available, I decided to run with the registered runners. I’d prefer running on asphalt rather than the brick-like sidewalk of Roxas Boulevard without the fear of being side-swiped by incoming traffic.

On my way back from KM 0, I have noticed that it was crowded along the Pedro Gil area. It seems that there is a dragon boat event and that the rowers were doing their warm-ups. I tried to look for my friend Ian who is also a rower but to no avail.

It was around this point when it got a bit cloudy and my mp3 player played U2’s Where the streets have no name – ahhh such a relaxing combination.

When I got home, I texted Ian and asked him if he participated in the said rowing event. He told me that their boat capsized due to the strong waves. Well, things like that happen – it’s how you get back that really matters.

MySpace Music Playlist at MixPod.com

running, training training

For me, that phrase equates to what others may deem an ode.  Although I missed the cut-off by one minute, it was still one hell of an experience. 

For this race, I left my car at home and instead took a cab from my house to Km 0 due to the anticipated traffic and lack of parking space. I was  early enough to  see the  lead pack of the 42k runners along Roxas Boulevard on my way to  KM 0.  I arrived at  the starting area at around 4:45  am.

The atmosphere in the starting area was festive, the kids who I think are joining the 3km race are all over the place, excited as if they are going to be handed out goodies just by joining the event.

The way I see it, the Milo marathon touches every participant’s life, be it the grade school children or the oldest runner. I myself, have always looked forward to joining this event ever since I was a kid. Thanks to the internet and informative sites such as Takbo.ph, I can now easily get information on road races in the Metro with just a click of the mouse.

When I entered the corral, I saw Ian, my officemates and other familiar faces.

After the warm-up the 21k race started on time (what else do you expect from a Rudy Biscocho race ?).  There were a lot of water stations , no .. not just water stations but cold Gatorade aid stations! So my excuse of not finishing this race due to dehydration is just simply .. gone

The race went well, the organizers were able to cordon a part of Roxas Boulevard for the safety of the runners.

There were water trucks (I think there were 2) which served as “water spray stations” along the route and I tried my best avoiding them since I don’t want to get blisters. It was really a difficult choice at that point between choosing the blisters or the heat of the sun

When I reached the PSBank turn-around  along Buendia, I felt  a familiar “sting” in my right calf and before I knew it, I was  already suffering from cramps.  This had me  worried since it is not yet time to consume the second  of the  3 sachets of  hammer gel  that I have. I know that it should be taken 15 minutes before and every 45 minutes thereafter but since I am on a budget, I usually take my first one 1 hour after and every hour after that.  That formula has worked for me before but I guess, sometimes , things don’t work out the way you want them to. 

I  ended up consuming all 3 sachets (I normally consume only 2 when running 21k) but that didn’t help because instead of walk/run, it was limp/run  from this point. I knew I should’ve taken the bananas they were handing out near the Pasong Tamo intersection!

When I reached the last aid station, I asked one of the guys manning the station to pour  cold water on me, to which he obliged. (thank you very much!) That made me feel really good, I wasn’t worried about blisters anymore since there were only 2 kilometers to go until the KM 0 marker.

As I was about to reach Kalaw, I ran as fast as I could  but to my dismay, the finish line was at the Quirino Grandstand, some 500m away from the marker; it was at this point that I decided to walk/jog until I reached the finish line.

Although  my 21k results are getting slower with each race, I still feel fulfilled to be able to complete a 21k race even if I don’t have regular training save for the occasional slow runs every Sunday.

When I woke up the next day at 2:00 am (I have a 4:45 flight bound for Cebu), I was barely able to walk, this is the first time I felt excruciating pain on my right knee the day after a race, but in spite of the pain, this is definitely an event I will never forget because this is my first Milo race!

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate my friend Isko Lapira who has completed his first marathon despite being a veteran of BDM 102 and has finshed 9th during the previous week’s botak 100km PAA-Tibayan : “Tol, you’re really bad to the bone!” Nyahaha!

21 km 21 km, running