Race Report- First 10K :D
Century Superbods Run 2010
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
February 21 (It’s overdue! I know! :P)
Gun Time: 1:23:18 / Chip Time: 1:16:47 (There’s a reason for the 7min difference)
Traffic was pretty bad but I wasn’t surprised since they estimated about 10,000 runners (all divisions 3k to 21k). My friends and I decided to get out of the cab and start walking the couple of blocks from the assembly area.
Then I saw a bunch of 10k runners (green race bib, same as mine) jogging already and I thought they were just doing warm-ups. Then the group got bigger and bigger and it hit me. The race had already started, and earlier than advertised!
So without any warm-ups (and I had wanted to relieve myself first), I dashed madly for the starting line. The 5K runners were already moving in and it was a struggle to squeeze through so many people. I finally broke free from the crowd, much like in the movies where the escape pod shoots out of an explosion cloud in the nick of time. Except that I was already late and thoughts of “I’m gonna DFL! I’m gonna DFL!” were screaming in my head. I was already feeling discouraged at that point.
So in order to boost my spirits, I gave a really loud woot, fist pumped in the air. Battlecry of the Tardy! :D
That was when I turned to my right and saw another girl running next to me.
“You’re in 10k too?” I managed to gasp. She grinned and nodded. We did a high-five and cleared the first block, laughing our heads off because we were so late. I was finally able to stop thinking about it and concentrate on the run. It was still dark, around 5:30AM so heat wasn’t a problem. Markers were pretty big and very visible, with race marshals stationed at intersections to make sure we don’t get lost.
All in all, the run felt good. I’m glad I did some research, got feedback from this awesome community of ours, and did some hill-training. There were at least a couple of instances where the inclines were pretty steep and lengthy. Just remembered to avoid heelstriking on the way down and kept in mind some tips to run uphill and avoid burning out in the process.
Is having visions of winged cheeseburgers...
As soon as I crossed the finish line (not DFL hehehe!), I just had to whip out my phone and sent a text to my boyfriend who’s out of town at the time. “Done and ran it all the way :D” I left out the part where I couldn’t stop, not even for the cute guys handing out water and Gatorade in the water stations. Maybe that’s why my boyfriend lent me his hydration belt. :P He texted back and said that he’s proud of me. In our practice runs, he always has this habit of running ahead and waiting for me at the “finish line” with a big hug. Am looking forward to him doing that for me when I run my first half-marathon on May 30. :D
ETA: They changed the race course so instead of going to the dreaded flyover, we just went around the area, called The Fort because it used to be an army fort now converted into a commercial zone.
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
February 21 (It’s overdue! I know! :P)
Gun Time: 1:23:18 / Chip Time: 1:16:47 (There’s a reason for the 7min difference)
Traffic was pretty bad but I wasn’t surprised since they estimated about 10,000 runners (all divisions 3k to 21k). My friends and I decided to get out of the cab and start walking the couple of blocks from the assembly area.
Then I saw a bunch of 10k runners (green race bib, same as mine) jogging already and I thought they were just doing warm-ups. Then the group got bigger and bigger and it hit me. The race had already started, and earlier than advertised!
So without any warm-ups (and I had wanted to relieve myself first), I dashed madly for the starting line. The 5K runners were already moving in and it was a struggle to squeeze through so many people. I finally broke free from the crowd, much like in the movies where the escape pod shoots out of an explosion cloud in the nick of time. Except that I was already late and thoughts of “I’m gonna DFL! I’m gonna DFL!” were screaming in my head. I was already feeling discouraged at that point.
So in order to boost my spirits, I gave a really loud woot, fist pumped in the air. Battlecry of the Tardy! :D
That was when I turned to my right and saw another girl running next to me.
“You’re in 10k too?” I managed to gasp. She grinned and nodded. We did a high-five and cleared the first block, laughing our heads off because we were so late. I was finally able to stop thinking about it and concentrate on the run. It was still dark, around 5:30AM so heat wasn’t a problem. Markers were pretty big and very visible, with race marshals stationed at intersections to make sure we don’t get lost.
All in all, the run felt good. I’m glad I did some research, got feedback from this awesome community of ours, and did some hill-training. There were at least a couple of instances where the inclines were pretty steep and lengthy. Just remembered to avoid heelstriking on the way down and kept in mind some tips to run uphill and avoid burning out in the process.
Is having visions of winged cheeseburgers...
As soon as I crossed the finish line (not DFL hehehe!), I just had to whip out my phone and sent a text to my boyfriend who’s out of town at the time. “Done and ran it all the way :D” I left out the part where I couldn’t stop, not even for the cute guys handing out water and Gatorade in the water stations. Maybe that’s why my boyfriend lent me his hydration belt. :P He texted back and said that he’s proud of me. In our practice runs, he always has this habit of running ahead and waiting for me at the “finish line” with a big hug. Am looking forward to him doing that for me when I run my first half-marathon on May 30. :D
ETA: They changed the race course so instead of going to the dreaded flyover, we just went around the area, called The Fort because it used to be an army fort now converted into a commercial zone.