Race Report: Powerade National Duathlon Open '09

Waking up at 2:45 a.m. on a race day was 15 minutes earlier than my usual wake up time. I normally wake up at 3:00 a.m. on a marathon race day, but since this is the first time I'm competing in an official duathlon race, I thought I'd wake up earlier. Feeling sluggish upon opening my eyes, I felt my adrenalin shooting up at the mere thought of Powerade National Duathlon Open, which I was going to be part of.

After the normal race day preparation routines, my wife and I headed to MOA at exactly 4:00 a.m. The race registration and body markings were to start at 4:30 a.m. and since I always despised coming in late for a race and having problems looking for a parking space, leaving at 4:00 a.m. was just right for me.

The race wasn't going to start on time

We got to the venue at 4:40 a.m. and parked at Mcdonald's Macapagal Ave. There was no sign that a duathlon was going to be held at the venue as there wasn't any sign at all that a national race was scheduled that day at that place.

Worried that I went to the wrong venue, I called up a good friend, Retzel Orquiza, who was also competing and asked him if I got the venue right. He did confirm that I was correct and told me to just wait as the organizers were known to start their races late.

At around 5:00 a.m., some other racers started arriving one by one. Ronald, a fellow runner from takbo.ph, parked beside my car with his girlfriend. Noel with his wife Jude, from both Pinoymtbiker.org and takbo.ph, parked like 3 cars away. All three of us were competing.

The registration and body marking booth finally opened around 5:15 a.m., and Ronald and I were the first ones to register and had our arms and legs marked with our race numbers. The good thing about being marked the first is that you get to be video'd. hehe

After the registration and body marking, it was all waiting.

At around 7:00 a.m., when the race was supposed to have started, the line to the registration was still long, and it was evident that the race was a far cry from starting. Romy Doctolero, a friend from Pinoymtbiker.org, was among those who  lined up at the registration only to find out that his name wasn't on the list even if he registered weeks prior to the actual race day. His problem was shared by several others and they were told there might be possibilities they wouldn't be allowed to compete. This raised a howl of disagreement from a lot of participants. In the end, they were allowed into the race.

At 8:00 a.m., the race was still a no-go. The only thing on time was the heat of the sun. It was already scorching my body even before the race started, and my legs were starting to get sore from all the waiting and standing up. People were already complaining. I would have been at the venue by more than 3 hours then. Many wondered if the race was still going to push through.

At 8:05, people started shouting and complaining, and this probably forced the organizers to let the program roll. There was a short race briefing done by a girl who didn't even have a microphone, not even a megaphone. She was just shouting at the top of her lungs and I hardly understood her.

At around 8:15 a.m., people were asked to get inside the starting line. Finally, we were about to start. Then a gun went off which caught a lot of racers by surprise. The race just started!

1st leg - 7K run

My run on the first leg began smoothly. I was at the rear part of the pack and since I wasn't comfortable with it, I started moving ahead slowly. When I got into the middle pack, I stayed there and paced myself.

The run route was great. The road was all by ourselves and there were more than enough  water stations handing out water and Powerades to the racers. It was turning out not so bad at all.

The run route took the racers on a part of Macapagal Ave. It was split into a 4K and 3K loop to complete a 7K route. I ran the first 3K at an average pace of 5:15 and realized I was running too fast and decided to slow down to a 6:05 on the next 3K, then sprinted to a 4:49 on the last 1K of the first run. I finished the first run at 38:47 and by then almost a hundred runners have already started doing the bike leg.

After transitioning for 1 minute and 33 seconds, I was off to the bike leg myself.

The Bike Leg - 30kms ( 6 loops of 5+K ) 

I started out strong in the bike, which I consider my strength. In a few seconds upon mounting my bike, I sprinted to 25kph, then maxed at 35.6kph. I overtook a lot of riders both in roadbikes and MTBs. I  was comfortable with my pace, and was poised to zoom past a lot more riders at the first loop. Then, an error....

Two riders accidentally covered the U-Turn sign on the first loop and I missed it. I rode towards the starting line and was surprised not to see anyone ahead or behind me. Then I realized I must have taken the wrong route. A policeman confirmed this when I asked him if I took the right race route. He pointed me back. It was a mistake which would haunt me at the latter part of the race. I went back almost a kilometer and was fuming mad at myself for wasting 2 kilometers of effort in error.

When I got back to the race pack, those whom I overtook earlier already was in the middle of their second loop. I played catch up and pushed my zoom mode. I didn't think of the 2nd run anymore as I thought they would be as exhausted as I would be when we finish the bike leg. I chose my targets efficiently, and one by one I overtook them.

The headwind was harsh from my 3rd loop onwards and I stayed at the aero position about 90% of the whole bike leg. I saw the struggles of those who were using MTBs. The struggle was also similar with those who were using roadbikes without aero bars. They were feeling the full impact of the headwind and couldn't  do anything about it.  As I rode past them, I egged them on, telling them that somehow, the bike leg will be over.

At the end of my second loop, I caught up with more than 50% of those who were behind me before I made the error. At the end of my 3rd loop, I overtook them all again, plus a few more others. I paced myself at loop 4 and spinted on loop 5, averaging 32kph. I pushed the bike at 36 kph on the last loop and finished the bike leg at 1:06:52, with an average speed of 29.7kph. I rode 33.8kms, 3K more than the 30K race distance...

The ones I didn't catch up were the really strong riders. Retzel and Noel zoomed past me, they both must have averaged more than 32kph. 

I tried to remove my shoes while still on the bike to have a quick transition, but was asked to dismount from my bike even before I pulled my feet out of my bike shoes. I ran to the transition area with my shoes loose and almost slipped.

The second run - 4K to the finish line

I transitioned to run again in 43.6 seconds. I intended to be in the front pack going to the finish line.

I did "unofficial" duathlons with friends before and was used to the bike to run transition. Upon exiting the transition area, I felt confident when I started running the last 4K.

I was at pace 5:25 on the first 200 meters of the second run, then suddenly, I felt as if all my energy spilled out of my body. I wasn't as strong as I intended to be. Then I realized, it was the heat.

When my friends and I did duathlons, these wereover and done with before 7:00 a.m. Most of the time, it was 20K bike and 5K run mini-race which we start off at around 6:00 a.m. The absence of heat made us think that we were doing it right.

After the first 500 meters of the 2nd run, I slowed down to a walk. Suddenly, the water station located 1 kilometer from the start appeared  too far. I had a water bottle with me and tried drinking water to rehydrate myself and get back into the race...I wasn't able to. It just made me feel bloated and heavy.

I walked and ran the last 4K and chatted with some "walkers" along the way. I wasn't alone in walking, if that's any consolation. A lot of racers felt the heat and I was one of them. The effort I made in catching up the racers during the bike leg slowly started to haunt me. My energy was sapped and there was no amount of water or sports beans that could bring it back.

The racers I smoked during the bike leg slowly caught up with me one by one. I wasn't going to let my bike lead result to nothing and I painfully did a walk-run on last 2K. I caught up again with the others and that time I wouldn't give up my lead. There were a lot of racers behind me, and I said to myself there wasn't a chance they'd still catch up with me.

On the last 200 meters before the finish line. I sprinted to a 5:15 and got short by around 50 meters. Walked for 20 meters and when I saw the others were sprinting to overtake me, I gave it one last push and sprinted until the finish line.

It was all over....

I just completed my first official duathlon!

All the irritations I felt for the disorganizations in the early part of the race were nothing compared to the euphoria I felt when I crossed the finish line. The heat took its toll on me and a lot of others, but the determination to finish was stronger for us. Others had cramps as early as the first run, but continued on to finish. The warriors in the heart of the finishers got the better of them and resulted to arms raised at the 42nd kilometer of the race. That's what racing and competing is all about...

I still haven't made up my mind if I'd still join a duathlon this year or concentrate on triathlons, but one thing is sure, I'm doing this again...when? I don't know....

Powerade Duathlon: You're next!

After that leg crunching half marathon coined as The Condura Run, I am setting my sight to the Powerade Duathlon at MOA this coming Saturday, March 28.

With leg pains this morning, I thought of doing my recovery run with a bit of biking, resulting to a mini-brick training vis-a-vis duathlon preparation. 

I didn't want to push hard, and biking for 5K at a steady pace of 25kph and running for 2K at 7:00 m/km was good enough. It was  the transition I planned on training for, not the endurance. Its amazing how your muscles forget a workout when you haven't done that workout for weeks, and the 3-week lay off from endurance biking somehow made my biking muscles "forget" how pedaling feels. Gearing at 2 and 4 felt like it was at 2 and 1.

My legs still felt heavy after dismounting from my bike and running. This is the part where I need more training on, transition. I regret not sticking to my brick trainings weeks back, and I'm paying the price now.

Two more days of bricking hopefully will bring the muscles back to competitive levels....hopefully...

Conquering the Skyway @ The Condura Run

http://www.condurarun.com/

Everybody looked forward to this event, and I'm one of those who, after having ran several marathons already, still get excited at the thought of running new routes and longer distances. The Condura Run was one of the more exciting running events this year, not because its the first 21K marathon to be held this year, but because it's the  first marathon that would take runners to the Skyway. Now, how cool is that? Imagine yourself on the  Skyway enjoying the view on both your left and right shoulders and not pay the toll fee? I guess I shared that thought with more than a thousand runners....

My run started out well. I was at a good pace with a fellow Takbo.ph runner Erick ( shocks_5 ). We were doing between 5:20 - 5:45 average during the first 10K when tragedy struck. After reaching the Skyway off ramp going south, I felt a stabbing pain on my right abdomen. Great! A side-stitch! I tried running it off but the pain wouldn't go away, and I had to ask Erick to go ahead as I walked it off.

After walking around 200 meters and being left behind by my earlier co-pacers, the side-stitch was gone, and I was in catch-up mode. I was able to be at pace again with those who overtook me as I walked the side-stitch but Erick wasn't in my sight anymore. He must have ran the same pace when parted.

Upon going down the Skyway, I was looking forward a sub-2 hours run. I registered at 57 minutes on the first 10K and was at 1:08 going into the 12th kilometer. Then another problem...my legs were giving up. The 2 weeks off from training due to flu 3 weeks before the race took its toll on me. I needed to slow down to a 6:20 to let my legs recover, and though they did recover, the recovery wasn't as good as having fresh legs for a sub-2 hour performance.

Going into the 16th kilometer along Buendia was when all my problems piled up and I really slowed down. The side-stitch was back with a vengeance and my legs were slowly dying on me. I could push it real hard and finish at a little over 2 hours, but decided against it. I just hoped to finish within my target time of 2:15. From KM17 to 20, my average pace was  7:20. It was frustrating, but I had no choice.

I knew I slowed down really hard when Pastor Ernie Catanghal, a fellow christian MTBiker, came up from behind me. I saw him last at the Skyway and I was more than a kilometer ahead of him. He was surprised to have caught me and I just told him I was having a bad final 5 kilometers. He offered to run with me,  but I asked him to go ahead as I didn't want to negatively affect his time. He went ahead at 18.5K.

Another problem ensued at the 19K. With 2 kilometers to go, I got hungry! My stomach was grumbling so much that I had to reach for my water  bottle and tried to ease my hunger by drinking water...I was out of liquids! Great!

I walked and ran from KM17 to KM 20. With no water, hungry  and dying legs, I decided to give it a final sprint to the finish after the 20th kilometer. I set my mind to doing this when, out of nowhere, the Takbo.ph support van was in sight, giving out Aktivades, banana and Choco Mucho chocolate bars to Takbo.ph runners. My plan to sprint the last kilometer went kaput as my hunger got the better of me. I munched a bar of Choco Mucho and drank two cups of Aktivade to replenish my energy...then started sprinting for the finish line.

I crossed the line at 2:12, 3 minutes better than my target. Though a bit frustrated, I was in a way happy that I finished the race standing and was able to beat my target time. My average pace for the whole race was 6:14, not my best but good enough for a first 21K.

After crossing the finish line and exchanging pleasantries with friends, I tried to cheer the Takbo.ph members who were not yet finished running. In doing such, I was able to show support to the other runners and realized that I had it better than them. They were happy when they crossed the finish line, I should be as well.

The Condura 21K Marathon is one of the best races I've ran this year. I won't be running anymore until after the Camsur 70.3 Half Ironman Triathlon and this race is a good way to leave marathons for a while.

 

 

Overtraining

"An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure..."

This words kept on ringing in my ears when my throat started to feel like its burning last Thursday night during my swim workout. I didn't listen to my body and continued in completing my workout, then had a few bottles of beer with a friend after.

Result...

Flu!

My body felt as if I was hit by a truck on Friday morning. My throat was too sore that even liquids caused ripping pains. My back had boulders on it and my legs were constantly punched by unknown fists. I was in pain due to overtraining!

I rested the whole day, much to my dismay. I washed both my roadbike and mountain bike to at least be near to my "babies" on a rest day.

1,500mg of Ascorbic acid and two Alaxans later, I was feeling better, and planned on what to do the following day.

Saturday: I had a bit of a cough, but my body pains were almost gone. My throat was still burning but wasn't as painful as it was the day before.

I started to run drills, but gave up after doing 7K. My legs were dead and I was heavily breathing even during the tempo run.

I left the house at 12:00 noon to go to Ultra and did 1km of swim lapping. MJ of takbo.ph was there and gave me pointers on swimming efficiently. My planned 1km lapping became 1.6kms, 600 meters more than my program requirements.

Saturday night and the body pains were back. Took in 2 Alaxans and slept.

Sunday: Woke up at 5:30 a.m. for a 40km bike. Got to Club Manila East at around 6:20 a.m. and started lapping. Averaged 29kph the whole workout with a max speed of 37 kph...not bad!

Felt tired after having breakfast and took a nap. Felt feverish again but hid it from my family whom I promised to take out for some family bonding time.

At 4:00 p.m., I was feeling really heavy, and realized I had fever.

My back was really painful, and even my neck was hurting...talking 'bout pain in the neck, literally.

I am in the office as I'm writing this and I lack sleep due to cough. I had a hard time sleeping as the itchiness in my throat caused me to wake up several times to try and cough it out.

I feel feverish and though not weak, a bit heavy on a regular day.

Condura half marathon is just a good two weeks away but I plan on resting the whole week and pray to God that he gives me the strength to complete the 21K I registered in on the 22nd.

God will answer my prayer, I know...

Deo P.

Why I run...

At 5:15 a.m., the sun was nowhere on the horizon. The street dogs were still asleep, as well as the rest of the neighborhood. I was already tying my shoe laces...and after two minutes, I was out on the road...

The air I breathe in were music to my ears...my feet hitting the ground served as drum rolls for the start of a brand new day...I was running...

The distance I ran were immaterial to me...I just wanted to run...Sweat beads started running down my face...I took a swipe and flicked it on the ground...I continued to run...

I let my thoughts run with me as I turned a corner, towards a stretch of finely lined up trees...I meditated...There was a song in my head that I couldn't sing with as I didn't have enough air in my lungs to blurt out a tune...I smiled when the song ended...

I slowed down and shook my shoulders, as if checking if they were well-oiled for the run...I slowly increased my pace as I turned another corner...then faster...faster...faster...until I ran out of breath...I slowed down and felt the worries of the past few days escaping my thoughts and body...the stresses, the pains, the uncertainties, the tensions...they were all gone.

One hour has elapsed, and I was still running...then one hour and fifteen minutes, then one hour and  30 minutes...I stopped and walked...15 kilometers of pavements pounded and a week of stresses gone...not bad...

Discovering a new trail

My bike buddy Che Katigbak and I went back to the Antenna Trail yesterday for some MTBiking fix. This trail got its name from the 3 antennas which stand there from 3 different establishments. The guard told us that one is a Meralco repeater, another one is a radio station antenna and the 3rd one has been there for quite a number of years already and is not being used anymore.

The climb to the trails starts off along the national highway in Angono. It's a gradual paved  road climb of about 300 meters, then a short break ensues. After the break, a longer, steeper, granny pace climb will stare you in the face. It's a +/-500 meter off-road climb with loose rocks. Another break of around 10 meters reward those who succesfully  pass the ordeal, then a steeper off road climb follows, with more loose rocks. It was at this point when my rear wheel hit  a rock which flew backwards, causing my bike to stop and crash, and since I wasn't able to uncleat on time, I fell down with the bike, causing a small bruise on my right knee and a sore right butt cheek.

Continuing on will take you to steeper climbs, with a 10-meter break then an intimidating final climb to Antenna. I reached Antenna way  ahead of my bike buddy and had to go back to check  if he was okay. All in all, the climb measured 1.8kms, and I am proud to have ridden it continuously, except for my minor crash en route to the resting point. The first time I hit this trail, I pushed my bike thrice...yesterday, I rode it all the way. I guess my bike training is paying off.

After a 10-minute rest, we went down to "Kalmot Pusa", a grassy downhill trail which got its name from the tall grasses which actually "scratch" you as you deal with the singletrack. This is not for the newbie, as the track is littered with sharp rocks. I had to stop and walk my bike at one point due to the loose sharp rocks that I was about to ride into.

After Kalmot Pusa, it was rolling hills all the way. A portion of the trail will bring you to a paved road with around 35 degrees of elevation and riding it will prove futile as your front wheel will definitely "whelee". The rest of the trail is shown in my earlier MTbiking blog.

On the way to the Angono Petroglyphs, I chanced upon a lake ( Photo #4) which was visible along the road. There was also a dual track at the side of the road which we thought was probably the way going to the lake ( Photo #3). It was more than a kilometer of dual track and ends at the water reserve  of the Eastridge Golf Club. It was amazing! We never thought we'd discover it. The guard was really accomodating and told us we were one of the few bikers who have been there. 

After the Angono Petroglyphs, we were on our final stretch of the whole trail. We passed by Mahabang Parang for our speed freak fix and rode through the  "Wicked Drop" like kids. I recorded my fastest bike speed there at 60.7KPH, which previously stood at 55.6KPH in the same stretch.

The sun was scorching hot as we started biking towards home. It was a great bike ride and I will definitely be back...to ride and discover new trails. 

Deo P.