December 5, 2010 - 2nd Quezon City International Marathon

PRE-RACE JITTERS

I am again having the jitters. Is this a good sign? Last Thursday, I started preparing all my things. I had to be sure that everything in my checklist is ready. And in my desire to improve on my Camsur 42K performance and to avoid a déjà vu, I had to follow some very important reminders given by experienced marathoners and authors of books containing everything you need to know about running a full marathon. Here are the tips I got:

WEEK BEFORE THE RACE
[source: http://www.mindfulness.com; Before/The Month After@2001 Austin “Ozzie” Gontang, Ph.D.
1. Carbohydrate loading the right way. By eating normally on days 5, 4 & 3 before the marathon plus hydrating well, you will have stored the energy needed to complete the marathon. Eat early the night before the marathon so that you have enough time to have a good bowel movement. Make sure that you have plenty of bulk/roughage in your meal so it is digested and you are ready to have a good bowel movement several hours before the marathon.
2. Sleep-Get It Early. The sleep you get on days 5, 4 and 3 before the marathon, especially days 4 and 3 will get you through the marathon. Even if you were to be up all night before the marathon or even if you only get 3 to 5 hours of sleep, it will be due to the energy your body has stored by your minimal running 4 days before the marathon. Knowing the body is on a 36 hour cycle, will allow you to run the marathon no matter how little sleep you had the night before the marathon. That is one less worry you have the night before the marathon.
3. Hydrate! It Needs Repeating: Hydrate! Knowing it takes 3 grams of water to store 1 gram of carbohydrate in your liver and the muscles, the water you drink on days 5, 4 and 3 before the marathon is very important. Should you not drink enough water, your body will use water from the body to store the carbohydrates. So it would be possible to be carbohydrate-loaded but not well hydrated. If you are flying to your marathon, bring a liter of water for every 2 hours of flight time. Even then that might not be enough, but it will keep you from getting too dehydrated from being in a pressurized cabin.
4. The day before the marathon, you will do nothing but hang around. Remember that if you go sightseeing by walking around, each mile you walk is costing you 100 calories. Should you walk 8 or 10 miles, you will not be able to replenish your energy stores in your legs by next day. Even then you possibly wouldn’t feel it until the last 4 to 6 miles in the marathon.
Am I prepared for this QCIM full marathon? Your guess is as good as mine. Well, there is no other way to assess my readiness and performance until I cross the finish line on Sunday, Dec. 5. Good luck to all runners and may God bless us all!

TWO IN A ROW - Run BGC, The Fort, Bonifacio Global City

If this wasn’t a RunRio event, I would not have joined this race. If there was no Chevrolet Cruze at stake, I would not exchange a much needed rest in preparation for my next 42K race [QCIM 2010]. But the challenge was there, the stake was there, the fun was out there – I told myself that this was just another 21k and I would be able to run this and bring home that chevy. At least, praying and believing that one would win a raffle prize doesn’t carry any price at all! The only problem I had is that everyone in my group has the same prayer and belief – to bring the first prize. We can’t divide one prize which is indivisible. Only the one who prays real hard will end up with the windfall!

From the thousands who waited up to 9 A.M., only one person found his prayers answered by the God Almighty. The winner, a tall guy, probably did not even drop that many sweat when he ran his race and when he won the chevy. He was a 5K finisher! Had God given me that sign that he will give the chevy to a 5K runner, I would have joined that short distance race! With a heavy heart, I have to congratulate the winner [lol]! Don’t forget to pay the taxes, bro, lest the BIR would be coming right after you.

Back to the race

This was two in a row for me - 32K a week ago and another 21k in Run BGC. This is what my friend Atty. Audi Samar referred to as “tinuhog” or “binarbeque”. That doesn’t end there, though. Next week will be the QCIM [Dec. 5] and the week after that would be RUN ING 20K [Dec. 11] and MILO 21K [Dec. 12]. Wrapping these weekly races would be the CORREGIDOR 21K trail run [Dec. 19].

With a very controlled pace, I was able to finish the 21K race with a time of 1 hour and 49 minutes [01:49:35.76], good enough for 39th place.

The route was nothing new. Some runners I talked to said that they can ran this same route even with their eyes closed! That’s how bored some runners may have felt because the same route is being used in races held in the FORT. Well, at least, in RUN BGC, a new route was introduced – a short stretch after you turn right at 34th Street. After that short stretch, runners had to run the same old route.

This is not to take anything away from the race organizers. They did a very good job no doubt! These are some of the plus-factors: [a] Plenty of water stations; [b] good traffic management; [c] use of D-tags for accurate time; [d] nice medals handed to 21k runners right after crossing the finish line; [e] loot bags filled with so many goodies; [f] no long lines in getting the loot bags; and [g] expensive raffle prize that went to a 5K runner .

Runrio Leg 3 – RUNunited2

As far as I know, this is the first race in year 2010 [or perhaps in all running events for this decade] that a race organizer held back to back races for two consecutive days [Nov. 20 and 21]. There were 12,946 runners who participated in this 2-day event.

Why do I have to thank Coach Rio for this race held on November 21, 2010? Two important reasons come to the mind.

One, this is the first time that a 32k race was held in the Philippines. Experienced marathoners would find this race a walk in the park. But for newbies like me and the relatively inexperienced, this one was a good preparatory race for a full marathon. To survive a full marathon, elite runners and coaches say that long runs must be incorporated in the training. Again, long runs are a must! Running 32 kilometers under a race atmosphere is what I need before I ran another full marathon this December. I enjoyed my first marathon last September – well, every bit of it despite the fact that I conked out like a car with a broken engine. I must get over this haunting experience insofar as performance is concerned. I told myself, never again! That is why when I ran the 32k, I was pacing myself from the start up to the finish line. I finish my first 32k race with no cramps or any injuries. I was actually planning to finish the race in 3 hours and 20 minutes. With a very controlled pace, I was able to chop my expected time by 11 minutes. My chip time was 03:09:07.73.

Two, Coach Rio’s trademark was all over the place - before, during and after the race.

i. Finish times were accurately recorded in the computers because of the presence of the D-tags. Starting time for the 32k runners was perfect. Countdown before the gun-start gives another brief excitement to the runners.
ii. Water stations were plenty. There was no need to bring hydration belts. I still brought mine, though, well, let’s just say because “old habits die hard’. Power gels were given to 32k runners at a certain point along the route. Marshals were all over the route. Except for some marshals’ boo-boo that may have caused the leaders [Kenyans] their rightful place in the podium, everything went well with the majority of the runners.
iii. Right after reaching the finish line, 32k medals were handed by pretty gals to the 32k finishers. This was a luxury! Coach Rio knows that after a long race, finishers would not want to fall in a long line just to get their medals. No long lines at all in any of the tents where one gets the loot bag. Loot bags for the finishers were filled with goodies [i.e., cap, canned goods, medicines, enervon milk powder, bottled water, finisher’s certificate, water container, and so many more]. What else could you ask for? Kudos to Coach Rio, his team and all the sponsors!

Without doubt, everyone enjoyed this race. My rating for this race: a 5-star race because of the reasons above-mentioned. Here are some more photos:



With one of my idols and ultramarathon director,the BALDRUNNER



My friend Quintin Atienza from St. Benilde - a future threat to the Kenyans



With Atty. Audi Samar who is aiming for a sub-5 finish at the QCIM

With Atty. Alex Martin, another guy aiming for a sub-4 finish at the QCIM