I was already at the Fort 35 minutes before 5:00am start time for 21km runners. After parking my car (and Rodel leaving his stuff behind), I went straight to the road and proceed with an easy jog for 15 minutes. This was followed by stretching and some simple drills. My plan for this race was to finish the race by 2:17 or below as stated from my previous blog post. It was just a 10 minutes improvement from my previous 21km race. Then come Rota Run, I will target 2:07 then New Balance, do a sub 2 hours or 1:57. The plan was simple, gradually improve each race by 10 minutes. But this particular race proves to be a surprise. More on that later.
I was already inside the corral 10 minutes before start time and was happily chatting with fellow takbo.ph 21km runners. I went to the starting line to ask the marshall guy assigned to “check” my bib as I noticed mine wasn’t checked yet. On my way back to my team, Sir Jonel and Sir Jovie saw me and asked me to join them to help me with my evil plan of conquering sub 2 hour. Honestly, I was dying to inform them that my plan was just a conservative 2:17 finish time. I guess they concentrated more on the 2nd portion of my post about my Men’s Health picture and just scanned the first portion which described my finish time plan. *laughs* Few minutes later, the gun was fired and the adventure begins.
For the first 2 minutes of the race, I was running comfortably but also checking on various parts of my running form. Body leaning forward. Check. Elbow at right angle and not swaying infront of my body. Check. Shoulders comfortable. Check. Backfoot strike higher (but not hitting my butt). Check. Cute girls running around me. Check check check!! I was looking for my target Wilson Tan who eats 21km for breakfast and usually finishes it at sub 1:50. Just a tip, if you want to run faster, then join faster runners! I finally saw him and stayed 10 meters away from him. I didn’t tell him of my presence as it might affect his performance, although I’m sure he knew I’m looking for him hehehehe. Here’s my observation of him, everytime a runner reaches him, he would look at the runner’s face and surge ahead. This happened several times and I thought I might suffer the same fate if I do!*laughs*. I tried to pace with him but he was slowly increasing his pace near the Kalayaan Flyover..then disappeared. I also saw Sir Jonel in the uphill climb of Kalayaan flyover and noticed he was attacking that section of the road, he slowly disappeared too. Sir Jovie would have me eat his dust as we turned left after Kalayaan Flyover. I observed that his leg turnover is way too fast as compared to mine. I.M.U.S.T.L.E.A.R.N.A.N.D.P.R.A.C.T.I.C.E.T.H.I.S! All runners I personally knew, I made sure to greet them to give them that extra boost. This is something I can’t unlearn 
The race route was enjoyable. It passed the streets of Makati Business District, Paseo, Makati Ave and Shangrila. The road marshalls are helpful and effective in controlling vehicle traffic EXCEPT for a small portion in Bayani Road going back to Lawton Ave where I find myself running between a van and several jeepneys. There were plenty of water/gatorade stations however, with the rainy season around I wish they should have covered the area well. I remember getting several cups of water with the assigned guy trying to cover it with his hand so that rain won’t pour directly to it. With rains pouring in his hand, then some going straight to my water, it wasn’t a pleasant experience drinking it
As I reached the finish line, I checked my watch and realized that I ran way too fast from my expected finish time. Yup I finished the race by 2 hours,4 minutes and 16 seconds. If I didn’t stop because of cramp attacks on my stomach (I just realized that HammerGel and Gatorade don’t mix) and calf plus visits to water/gatorade stations I think I could have finished it 2 minutes less. I’m happy with the result as I was able to improve my race time by 23 minutes and in doing so, busted my target time for this race and ROTA. I now plan to improve more and hit sub 2 hours come ROTA run on Sunday. No pressure this time hehehehe, I’ll be happy if I’ll be able to finish ROTA by 1hour:59min:59sec.
See you all and lets keep on improving!
Race Bib # 6481 finish time 02h:04m:16s
Photos from Carlo’s Flickr account:
- Luis (www.gingerbreadrunning.com) finished 10km by 50minutes..MAAY GAAAD!!!
- No this was not my post in Men’s Health Magazine!
- Team Takbo.ph with Sir Jovie
Related posts:
wilson
on Sep 13th, 2009
@ 11:44 am:
One word about your improvement - phenomenal. Man, you’d be going sub-2 soon, if not next week then next next week.
Haha, I did not sense you near me on the road before the Kalayaan flyover. I thought you were pacing with Sir Jovie. I don’t know if you noticed but during that stretch I was actually keeping in pace(same as what you’re doing I guess) with a group of triathlete chicks(which I would find out later, included Leica Carpo).
And thanks for the shoutouts, they do work! I do get a boost from those!
Till next time, Sam! May we all keep on improving!
argonaut
on Sep 13th, 2009
@ 1:25 pm:
Man You’re wicked!
argonaut
on Sep 13th, 2009
@ 1:25 pm:
Man You’re wicked!
Marvin Rae
on Sep 13th, 2009
@ 1:58 pm:
I agree with wilson, and with what you said “if you want to run faster, then join faster runners”.
congrats!
MarkFB
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 2:01 am:
HI Sam,
I saw you a couple of times on your way back to the fly over. My advice: Just stick to your target average pace. You can add as much as 30 secs per km on your pace if you’re tackling up hills. Best is just 20 though. As for me, I havent put much effort to my runs since BDM and this was my first attempt. Haha, perfect practice yields the best results. Good luck and see you soon.
Cynthia
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 3:58 am:
Hello Handsome! Congratulations on your race. Where’s my MensHealth copy??? I’ll stop bugging you when I get it here in SD….hahaha….
Bald Runner
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 5:05 am:
actually, we are “eyeing” you as future “hardcore” member in the future. and we would like you to join us for the 2nd BDM 102. keep on running!
FlatFoot Runner (JanMike)
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 10:46 am:
Hi Sam. Congratulations on all your accomplishments — a great 21K PR (I’m sure it’ll be eclipsed on your next 21K), your weight-loss and your MH feature. You are indeed an inspiration. Good luck and Happy Running!
Michael Paderes
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:13 pm:
Congratulations on reaching your goal(s)!
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:30 pm:
Wilson,
I just read your blog. You had it again. 1:45 for 21k. Could you share on your blog your training regimen hahahaha. See you on Sunday man, I’ll for you!
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:30 pm:
You will soon be as wicked as me hehehehe. Train more!
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:31 pm:
Hi marvs,
Thanks! Hope you follow same mantra as I do.
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:34 pm:
Hi Mark,
We haven’t personally met sayang I wasn’t able to greet you. Thanks for the trick, I guess that will help me improve more…now if only I have garmin
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:34 pm:
I will send soon hehehehe
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:35 pm:
Thanks mike!
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:36 pm:
Thanks pastor!
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 1:42 pm:
Wow good news! That would be an honor sir! And yes thanks for the invite,I’m definitely going there for the 2nd BDM 102!
Thanks!
Luis Arcangel
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 2:53 pm:
Very nice Sam, tremendous improvement and you shocked a lot of people in the process. I’m happy that your training paid off, I firmly believe that you’re just as good as you train
Thanks for posting my pic, and for identifying me as “this guy”. Hahahaha 
Take it easy man and see you at Rotarun.
admin
on Sep 14th, 2009
@ 11:26 pm:
hahahaha thanks man. Actually, when I heard you major in hills training, I figured out thats they key why you ran like a monster. And so I will treat hills training seriously na tlaga. Thanks for that…and yeah I did the changes na..no more “this guy” hehhee
Walden Jeff
on Sep 15th, 2009
@ 2:20 am:
sana magawa ko rin yan next year. haha. congrats!
Bong Z
on Sep 15th, 2009
@ 9:12 am:
Halimaw! Galing! Congrats!
kelcy33
on Sep 18th, 2009
@ 9:44 am:
congrats again! thanks for going back and pacing rodel and ferdie
knight runner
on Sep 19th, 2009
@ 3:36 am:
Hi Sam, you were great! congrats on improving your time. Hope to see you soon.
Cheers!
Mark
Millionaire Acts
on Sep 20th, 2009
@ 4:55 pm:
Ang payat mo na! Congrats!
Phil Star Celebrity Run: a sub 2 for 21km done! « TheRunningNinja.com - My Running Adventures, Thoughts and Rumblings, Reviews, Running Shoes, Running Gadgets
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@ 11:14 am:
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