I must admit it. I’m starting to get obsessed of improving my time everytime I join a race. This started with Globe’s RunForHome Race where I was able to improve my 21km finish time by 10 minutes (official time:2:27:3), followed by another improvement of 23 minutes via Eco-Dash (official time:2:04:09) . I joined this race to see how far I can push myself more. When I crossed the finish line, I checked my time and it says 1:43:05. I shouted inside my brain “Man I was able to improve my time by 21 minutes in just 1 week?!!I must be superman!” and with a medal still hanging in my neck, I went back to run for 2 kilometers more as my recovery run. Honestly, I was more of boasting my medal as it was really my first official “medal” coming from the race organizer. I was giving myself a high-five for couple of minutes, telling myself I could give elite runners a sure run for their money if I train more.
My joy was interrupted when I started to hear words from fellow runner-bloggers who informed me that the race was 3 km short. Any one who looked at me that day would surely noticed the sudden change in my mood. I was disappointed, pissed (this explained why I didn’t bother to attend the post-carbo load with takbo.ph guys), almost thought I was robbed of my time. I spent four days of training to prepare and aim for sub 2 hours and this is what I got. I’ve been broadcasting around the world wide web that its another “improve or DIE” moment at that day. Somebody offered CPR, somebody suggested I should achieve sub 2 first before dying, a lot offered to help me achieve that goal. Was thankful to everyone, but unexpected things happen. Murphy’s Law does not spare anyone.
The organizer already explained their side. I know they really worked hard for this race. I saw doc Lyndon that morning, I was shocked and surprised he was manning the vehicular traffic near the entrace of McKinley. I have to shout and greet him as I passed him through my car. I saw Jinoe, he looked so stressed and was moving fast. I wasn’t able to greet him, he was moving faster than the speed of sound. I wasn’t able to check on Ian Alacar, as I started my stretching exercise followed by some drills as soon as I got out of my car. But I’m sure as hell this guy also worked his ass to make this race almost perfect.
I don’t want to think that I’ve wasted my time joining this race. In fact I learned a LOT of things by observing my run for this particular race. These are:
Running uphill - I tried pacing with Sir Jovie as we moved uphill. I tried duplicating his fast leg turnover/shorter stride but I find myself very tired after doing so. In my own training, I run uphill by raising my leg much higher to achieve longer stride. I guess I should include hill runs on ALL my training sched to strengthen and increase more my anaerobic capacity.
Heel Strike – I notice that I sometimes shuffle from being midfoot/forefoot to heel strike when I run. Two pictures below courtesy of sir Pio Gaston will show this:
I want to do some changes so that I run like Mark:
I like to run on forefoot as I believe heel striking transmits massive forces straight up the leg to the knee, the hip and the lower back. I will do more drills especially those that require faster cadence to address this.
My Shoulder – The photo below taken in the latter part of the race reveals that my shoulder is no longer relaxed and tend to hunch (see my left shoulder in the photo below). Ideally, shoulders should be relaxed and square or facing forward, not hunched over. Rounding the shoulders too far forward tends to tighten the chest and restrict breathing.
Hammer Gel works better with either plain water or VitWater (you know) . I noticed that my stomach didn’t react badly with HG and Vitwater combo, now I know.
I may not be able to achieve my dream of sub-2 for this race, at least I’m happy that I was able to observe my form, plus I finally got a medal. See you next Sunday for New Balance. It’s going to be “Improve or DIE” race for me! Yeaaahh man!!!
The Running Ninja with his first official medal
