15km Mizuno Infinity Run - Winning a Race Against Myself

Races and even running is always said to be a fight against yourself. You are not running against other runners, not your friends, nor your family, but your running against the man in the mirror.

This was the main idea behind the race presented by Mizuno Infinity Run "beat your time". It was an annual event and runners were challenged to beat their old time from the past year and showcase how much better they have become.

This event not only tests the physical capacity of a runner, but also his mental discipline. The mental aspect of running for me is the harder discipline to overcome because self-doubt always gets the best of me. I'm a firm believer that the mind controls everything, so if the mind is willing then the body will follow. Although, I may have the words down, but I still need more experience and practice to live this saying.

On to the race.

Gun start for the 15km race changed from 6:00am to 5:30 am. I honestly did not know there was a change til last night when a good soul posted it on facebook. If it were not for him I would have been late for the race. I think that the organizers should have found a better way to inform runners that there was a change in time. It wasn't even posted on the Mizuno website or anything, tsk tsk..

The race route for this run started at "The Fort" and made its way through Makati and all the way past SLEX. Then the turn around is in the middle of Buendia Ave in Manila. The route was fairly easier compared to the 15km route in Globe since this was mostly flat.

My goal for this run was to beat my old time of 1hr 26min 32sec

As the race started, I ran my heart out for the first 1km and finally paced myself after. I sometimes ask myself if there is some sort of strategy to this running thing. Do I pace for the first few km and then run my heart out? What is it? Well, I actually had no idea. My only rule was, keep on running! =)

-later though my therapist told me about doing tempo in the first 10km and then doing intervals to finish it off, *bwaaahahahaha!* im excited to try that next time-

Too bad I didn't know about it earlier cause I could have used this for the hell I just went through in this race.

The first 7km were no good. No good at all. I was huffing and puffing through the route. I was barely in that "zone" you get when you run. Everything was heavy and my feet were acting up with some sort of "hot" pain.

After this I felt it again. That need to walk. I couldn't help but sneak in a few 10-15 second walk breaks to ease the pain and let my lungs take a deeper breath. Thankfully they helped better this time and I was able to easily come back to my pace and keep running.

Everything was going fine until I hit 14km into the race. So near but yet so far right? Well, it doesn't get anymore ironic than that. I suddenly felt pain on the side of my stomach which made it hard to breath. I wanted to keep running but the pain kept pulling me back. At this point I put one arm to squeeze it while I kept on going. I managed to ease the pain for about a few meters but the pain kept coming back.

I was barely 500 meters from the finish line. At this point I prayed, I asked God to help me. And well believe it or not in that instant the pain left me. Not only that I felt lighter and I was able to pick my pace back up. On my way to the finish line, I must have passed 10 runners in that short distance. It was one miracle which came in the perfect time.

I finished the race in 1hr 19min 16sec

So am I happy? Hell yeah I'm happy! But not contented. I still know I can do better. I know there is still a lot of room to improve on and I will work even harder to get those improvements ready for the next 15km race. Til next time, later!

Pictures from the Mizuno Infinity Run 2010 can be viewed here:

Life Runner - Multiply

The Phil Star Celebrity Fun Run 2009

Talk about being excited.. The night before I couldn't get myself to fall asleep, tossing and turning for about an hour or so. When I finally did get to sleep, I kept waking up every hour to check what time it was and even got up at 3:30 in the morning thinking it was already 4:00. Damn..

I arrived at the Fort at about 5:00 am and was quite scared, actually it was more like VERY scared. You know how they talk about butterflies and feeling like you want to puke, well for the first time in my life I felt that. It's not that I was setting my sights on winning, I guess I just wanted to set the bar high on the time I will get for this race.

Race started at 5:55 am, my warm up was pretty good. I psyched myself up thinking to just run and have fun, I kept telling myself that

 "This will be the run from which we will improve on"

At the start of the race, I felt my adrenaline getting the best of me and was running at too fast of a pace. I then remembered to keep my pace and not wear myself out since this is a 5k distance whatever happens. At first it felt awkward going slower than everybody else, but by the half way point onwards I could see that pacing was the best way to go since by doing I it, I had much more conserved energy and did not need to stop to walk nor to drink any water.

I finished the race at at time of 29:34, not what I initially targeted cause I was seeking for a 25:00-27:00 but its all good. Now I see a lot of room that I can look to improve on.

I know I'm pretty new to the sport and shouldn't really be worried about all these times and what not, but I never really see anything wrong with pushing yourself and being able to reach a goal that you always wanted to achieve, yes? Yes! haha

Till the next run! Now its time to pig out for the Christmas season. Merry Christmas! =)

Your first will never be forgotten

Phil Star Celebrity Run 2009
My first run will be this December 20 at the Fort. It is the Phil Star Celebrity Run, it was first scheduled to be done back September this year but due to the typhoons its set this coming December. I'm quite excited for this race, I have been training for my 5k run for the past 3 months. I'm coming straight of from the newbie arena so this will be a good way to set the tempo for the next coming races. 10 days to go!!!

“Frustration is the first step towards improvement. I have no incentive to improve if I’m content with what I can do and if I’m completely satisfied with my pace, distance and form as a runner. It’s only when I face frustration and use it to fuel my dedication that I feel myself moving forwards" -John Bingham