My 2011 Run with the Masters

I aimed for a 42:59, I ended with a 45:40. But instead of asking what went wrong, I am too happy to tell you what went right.

To start with, from plotting the 10K race route on Google Maps, the distance was a bit longer. It is about 10.42Km. As fellow runners know, the extra 400 meters is no good news for a PR. That's about an extra 2 to 3 minutes of running! ArmBanded, a fellow Alpha 1 runner who also ran the 10K, has a Garmin which measured the distance at 10.40Km.

Second, even though I faded at the last 4Km (or 4+Km for the extra distance), I clocked myself at pretty good times from the start up to the 6th kilometer.

• Started with a 3:45.34 first kilometer. I love running from KM 0 at Rizal Park going to KM 1 to KM 2 and so on along Roxas Boulevard. There are yellow posts on the highways that tell us the distance. They are not as huge as what we would normally want from our kilometer markers, but they suffice. Kind of reminds me of the same kilometer posts I use as markers on Aguinaldo Highway as I run to Tagaytay City in Cavite. 
• My next 4-kilometer splits were 4:08, 4:22, 4:22 and 4:21. I finished the first 5 kilometers in 21:04 minutes, an average pace of 4:13 mpk. It was very close to my planned pace to break my 43:49 personal best. 
• Too happy to reach the U-Turn slot and going back to KM 0, I ran my 6th kilometer in 3:54 minutes. That's 6Km in 24:59 minutes (4:10 mpk). You must know what's on my mind at that point.. PR! PR! PR!

Then the Buendia flyover. A flyover is never a good sign when you are going for a PR and is already tired. It definitely tires the legs faster than I imagined. From a very happy and hopeful thought of a PR, my legs began to really feel the heavy work. A 4:34 pace on my next two kilometers suddenly dimmed my bright view of a new PR.

What happened? I took a break from my fast pace to breathe. I ran a bit slower to rest and prepare for a strong finish. But the strong finish never came. I felt tired and I just faded. I also miscalculated the distance, I thought I only had 1 last kilometer left at that point. Then saw the kilometer post KM 2. Two more? By relaxing and taking a break, my mind seemed to have hallucinated.

And now instead of finishing strong, I again tried to manage my pace and energy. I took my last cup of drinking water along the race route on the 8th kilometer. It took me 4:46 minutes to reach KM 1. One last kilometer before Km 0! I tried to run strong, but I only managed to register 4:19 minutes before I reached KM 0.

• Then I had to run to Quirino Grandstand for the finish. I already ran exactly 10 kilometers and my timer reads 43:12 minutes. That beats my 43:49 10Km PR.

KM Marker	Time Elapsed	Average Pace	Notes
1	3:45 mins	3:45 mpk	Still can't fight the urge to start too fast.
2	7:54	3:57
4	16:42	4:10	Now running on target pace.
5	21:04	4:13	U-Turn
6	24:59	4:10	PR! PR!
8	34:06	4:16	Pacing for a final push
9	38:53	4:20
10	43:12	4:20	PR if its Finish Line.
Extra	45:40		2:28 minutes to Finish Line

But it is not official since I had not reached the finish line and I still have about ~400 meters more to run. (Please correct me if I'm mistaken about the extra distance.).

• I finished the race in 45:40 minutes. On this same 10Km route, my previous route record is 56:16 minutes ran in Milo 2009. I have improved my time by 10+ minutes on the same race route in 2 years time.  

I will be running the same Roxas Boulevard on Milo Marathon Eliminations 2011 and this race is a good training run to remember the long and never-ending straights of this infamous running route. 

• As compared to Globe 10Km Race last March 2011, I improved my 10Km race time from 45:52 to 45:40. Only 12 seconds of improvement, but I shall take it with a smile. It is still a positive step for my continuing improvements.
• I have not seen the official race results yet as of April 18. I believe I finished 9th or 10th on the 10K race. I will have to confirm this and update my blog post later on.
• Officially, I finished 13th among 412 finishers with an official time of 45:42 minutes. See official 10K race results.
• Nice seeiing Bryan, Kathy, Eugene, Daves and Rolly again. Also nice meeting Marvin the Martian, ArmBanded and all the other Alpha 1 runners. (Pahingi naman ng pictures for this post. Hehehe.)

With Team Alpha1

With Billy (ArmBanded) and Eugene (Eugenator)