The PSE Bull Run 01/18/09

Waking up at 3:30 in the morning has become a habit for me during race days. On the  eve of the PSE Bull Run, I set my cellphone's alarm clock at 3:30 a.m., hoping to get everything in order before I leave the house at 5:00 a.m. This is my first official 10K marathon and I was bent on running a good race!

The day started out not really good as I only woke up at 4:00 a.m., making me rush through all the things I needed to do prior to the race. I had two rolls of bread with some left-over chicken and a glass of water. Went to the toilet twice to make sure that I let out all the extra baggages in my stomach. Feeling light and snappy, I rolled out at 5:15 a.m.

The race venue ( NBC Tent at the Fort, Taguig ) was already alive when I got there. A lot of runners were already warming up for the race. I tried to look for some people who I knew were joining but didn't have any luck finding them. Feeling alone, I went straight to the 10K runners area and waited there until the race officially started.

At 5:45 a.m., I was raring to go, but, since the announcer said that the race would officially start at 6:00 a.m., I decided to put on my Ipod and listen to some heavy metal stuff to pump me up. Sen. Pia Cayetano was there, and she looked really fit. I wished that the other senators would be like her and not just stay at the Senate and talk about non-sense. They need to go out and be with the real world.

As usual, like many other marathons, there was a mini-stampede at the start of the race. Runners were trying to squeeze themselves in front of the pack, myself included. When I found a spot where I could be comfortable running, I started running my pace.

I've never run at the Fort, and the whole route was new to me. Though I know the place by car, it was totally different on foot. I never thought that the stretch from the Fort Strip to the American Memorial Cemetery would be hilly, and it was a challenge. Good thing I ran around the vicinity of Ultra last January 3, otherwise I would have been physically "shocked" at this kind of terrain.

Though I had a bottle of mineral water in my hand, I still grabbed a cup of water at the 2km water station. I was saving up my bottled water for "critical" points in my run, points where my throat would be all dried up and there would be no sight of water.

I made the 5km turn in 28 minutes and 44 seconds, and that was the fastest I've run a 5km since I started running 5 months ago. I said to myself that I will be able to run a sub-60 if only I can keep my pace and not halt to a walk during the race.

After the 5km turn, the road was downhill in front of the Heritage Park. Seeing this as an opportunity to be faster, I let myself "roll with gravity", resulting to a less exhaustive but faster and longer strides. Doing this in all the downhills increased my pace from 8km/hr to 10km/hr without increasing effort.

When there are downhills, there are also uphills. After turning back near C-5, it was  all uphill until the end of Heritage Park. I shortened my strides and put my head forward to lighten my body, thus, making the uphill run less exhausting. I kept at 10km/hr average until I reached the American War Memorial, 500 meters away from the finish line.

I increased my pace to 11km/hr at the 500 meters mark and increased further to 12km/hr at the 200 meters mark until the finish. There was a queue of runners at the finish and I stopped my timer when I lined up. 

Total time: 57 minutes, 35 seconds.

Not bad!

Deo P.

Next stop: The Happy Run 15K