My first half marathon

The night before the race
I was excited, I couldn't wait for it to be race day. Had an early dinner, 3 huge slices of pizza from Extremely Espresso. Oh, I shouldn't have eaten so much...



Prepared my race stuff so I wouldn't have to deal with it the next day.

• FuelBelt in fridge: 2 flasks filled with Gatorade, 2 flasks with PowerBar Gel (strawberry banana) mixed with water
  
• pinned race bib to shirt
  
• laid out race outfit/paraphernalia on the chaise, ready to go
  
• post race bag packed with sunblock, lipbalm, an extra shirt, Protein Water and a cell phone
  
• set alarm to 3:50am

Was asleep by 10pm. Woken up by a good luck text message at around 11:15pm. My room was freezing, reached for the a/c remote but couldn't find it. Too lazy to get up to adjust the temperature, I endured the cold. It took a while for me to sleep again, but when I did, I slept like a log.

Race day
Woke up a few minutes before 4am, a quick breakfast of graham crackers and water, applied sunblock, dressed and out the door by 4:20am. Was at the starting line 10min later to find out that the 5am start time was for the 42K only. The 21K, 10K, 5K and 3K all started at 6am. The organizers should have arranged for graduated start times, i.e. 5:30am for 21K, 6am for 10K...



Per my watch, the gun went off at 5:52am and off we all went like salmon swimming upstream. I went slow and easy the entire way, even through the hills, stopping occasionally for water breaks and to take pictures of the scenery and what not.



Driving around the course the day before, the hills looked long and deadly, but in actuality it wasn't so. Of the course's hilliest area, between miles 6-8, the inclines were gradual and the descents forgiving. Slowly and surely I went, one step at a time, confident that my "hill" training around Ultra and Green Meadows prepared me for this!

I have a lot of respect for the poor marathoners ahead of us who ran much hillier hills on the way to Ocean Adventure. Hopefully, the scenery made it less painful for them.



Near the turnaround point, we were greeted by a flock of flying black birds overhead. I heard one person was even gifted with droppings, maybe to bring him luck.



By mile 10, my legs were heavy and slowing down. But I knew I could keep going for another 30 minutes or so. From miles 12-13, I stepped it up a bit hoping for a good finish. I kept going and going, but there was no sign of the finish line. I couldn't sustain the pace any longer so at mile 13.85, I began to walk. Argh! I wanted to run the entire race, but my legs felt like it was about to buckle at any time. Finally, Remy Field was in sight, but we kept on going and going, we past it, then went around the block. As soon as I entered the field, I started to run to the finish line. When I crossed it, I felt light, like I was soaring. I was still a bit grumpy though about the distance.



Saw a few friends who finished way ahead of me and yet congratulated me. Sure, we're a competitive lot, but the nice thing about runners is that we support and encourage one another.



My Stats
Distance:  14.75mi (Garmin)
                15.85mi (Nike+, needs recalibration)
Official Time:  2:36:05
Placement:  54.9%  (1040 out of 1895 runners)

Visit the Subic Marathon website to view the complete race results.

Avg Pace:  10:43/mi
Avg Speed:  5.6mph
Max Speed:  8.6mph

Calories:  1416

Avg Heart Rate:  174 bpm
Max Heart Rate:  186 bpm

Ascent:  2176 ft
Descent:  2246 ft



I'd like to commend the organizers, the PNP, and all the volunteers for a job well done. It was easy going from the get go. A few nits to pick however:

• Inaccurate distance for the half marathon ~ we ran 23.67km instead of 21km. Had I known it was going to be this long, I would have conserved my energy for a much stronger finish.
  
• The 21K should have started 30min earlier. The sun was hot and blinding by 7:30am.
  
• A couple more water stations along the way would have been perfect. I was so parched way before the finish line, even with the extra 32 ounces of liquid I brought with me.
  
• No one knew exactly where the baggage check-in counter was.

I'm so proud of all the runners out there! And for the marathoners, wow, I am so in awe of you guys.

Half marathon race result

I did it! I ran my first half marathon at Subic!!! Yeah!
Actually I ran more than 13.1 miles. Way more, per my Garmin.

Distance ::	14.75 miles
Time ::	2:38:17
Pace ::	10:43/mi

UPDATE :: My official finish time is 2:36:05 :-) You can download the race results for the full and half marathon from the Subic Marathon website.

Low battery indicator

symbol appeared on my Polar F11 heart rate monitor (hrm) about a month ago. This has become my everyday watch and I love it. Since I also use this watch/hrm for swimming, I was advised to take it to an authorized Polar Service Center.

I dragged my heels getting the watch serviced because I didn't think there'd be an authorized center here in Manila. But there is! You can drop off the watch at Toby's and you'll get the watch back within 3 working days. Furthermore, it only costs P140, or approximately $3.50 USD. :-)

I dread the day when my other gadgets run out battery. I wish there is one gadget that does all. These are the tools I use...

Running::

• iPod Nano with Nike+ Sports Kit,
  and
  
• Polar F11 for indoor runs, or
  
• Garmin 305 for outdoor runs

Swimming::

• Polar F11

Stationary Bike::

• Polar F11
• iPod Nano

My friend, the runner

No long runs logged over the weekend... very, VERY bad! I swear to get one in this weekend.

I did an easy 4mi walk/jog with a friend on Sunday though. This friend of mine just started running several weeks ago. She did quite well, we jogged 5min and walked 2min for an hour. I'm so proud of her, she even reached the "zone" during her last 5min jog! Although she is athletic, I never envisioned her as a runner... (she's an equestrian, was the captain of her high school tennis team, and has dabbled into all sorts of martial arts).


Early morning run, U.P.

From the looks of it, she will be more than just the occasional runner. She's outfitted herself with a whole lot of goodies: a 3rd gen iPod Nano, the Nike+ Sports Kit, a pair of Asics running shoes, and a running watch. Now I'm telling her that all she needs are some dri-fit shirts. But she refuses (for now anyway), as she's a 100% cotton shirt kinda girl.

Whoever said running was a cheap sport didn't know what he was talking about! There are all sorts of must have running paraphernalia. But seriously, once you've got the gear, that's it, you're done spending. Oh, except for the shoes, which you need to replace every 450-500 miles. As a skier and a diver, I can tell you that running is a bargain. It's not a destination sport, you can run anywhere. You can wear your running shoes even when you're not running ~ you can't do that with fins or ski boots.

Back to my running friend... she's got serious issues with Nike+, she believes it's a huge waste of money. It's given her problems from the start. Such as:

• difficulty getting her sensor to work
• the Nano acting sluggish and the click wheel unresponsive when using the sports kit
• problems downloading data to the Nike+ website
• Nike+ website isn't intuitive

It's too bad she's experiencing all these problems, because I'm a believer of Nike+. It's what got me running and it continues to motivate me to run more. I hope it all works out for her before she gives up on it...

UPDATE:: 12/26 My friend gave up on Nike+. She ended up buying the Garmin Forerunner 305 today. She's tested it and is happy with it!

500mi Club

Ran 500 miles in 6 months, incredible! I never thought that I'd be a runner. Here's to many more years of running.

Having both the iPod Nike+ sports kit and the Garmin, I don't know how to efficiently track my miles. Do I use the Nike+ or the Garmin? I think for now, I'll continue using the Nike+ for all runs, and the Garmin only for outdoor runs. Just so I accrue miles on both the Nike+ and Runner+ sites. AND, on top of that, log both runs in Runners World. Overkill, I know.

Ultra oval closed until Dec 5th

Argh! I was going to test Garmin's lap feature this morning, but the track is closed to "joggers." Why? Because the field is being used for soccer practice. This is the fourth time I've been there that the track is closed for some reason or another. Oh well, I guess I saved P29, ha ha. I ended up doing a quick run around the grounds of Ultra instead.

Here's a look at my short run...

A pigout weekend

Last weekend was all about eating and training.
FRI:: Horizon Lounge & Milky Way :: Swimming
SAT:: Shang Palace :: 4.72 miles
SUN:: Silks :: 12.85 miles - my longest run to date

Considering the amount of food I ate over the weekend, my weight remains the same. According to my Polar HRM, I expended 1775 calories during my long run yesterday - WOW! Per my Nike+ Sports Kit, I only used up 1173 cal. Hmmn, that's such a huge difference, who to believe???

My long run of 12.85mi took me around Green Meadows, Valle Verde and Ultra then used the treadmill for the last 5mi. I didn't make it to Katipunan because of a couple scary looking dogs on Temple Rd so I did a quick U-ey :-( Except for the dogs and a few minor hills, it wasn't that bad of a run.



The thing about running early in the morning is that most places are closed and it's hard to find a place that sells water. I was so thirsty that my heart jumped with joy to see a Jollibee at the end of Green Meadows Ave. Thanks Jollibee for the free glass of water! My next water break was approx 30 minutes later at Ultra. At that point I was cross eyed and knock kneed that I almost gave up on the run. That's when I decided to head back home and run on the treadmill instead. While I drowned myself with water. Let me tell you, it's not easy to run when you're bloated with water either.

It's a good thing I met up with my cousin Wendy and Brian, her fiance, later that night. They brought me my new toys, a Fuel Belt and a Garmin Forerunner 305 which I'd been eagerly anticipating for months. I am a happy runner gone to heaven! Thanks to you guys, I'll no longer be thirsty during my long runs.


Mom, Brian, Wendy, Jim, Dad, me, Tita Diana @ Silks