Archive for April, 2010

TBR Race Review: The Greenfield Sunset Run 2010

Rating:

Organizers: Finish Line

THUMBS UP:

• out-of-town sunset run as a unique concept
• majority of the roads (specifically within Greenfield City and Pramana Village) were wonderful to run on
• ample floodlights throughout the dark roads
• mobile system throughout the route blasting music
• use of timing chip
• free transportation to Greenfield City
• festive post-race atmosphere
• bands after the race
• discounts at outlet stores
• kids play area

BETTER JOB NEXT TIME:

• lack of water at one station
• vehicles and motorcycles entered a portion of the course
• some roads were dusty and polluted
• late start
• heavy traffic entering and exiting race

The idea of an out-of-town sunset run conjures images of fresh air, a calm breeze, and wide, open roads for runners to tread on. The Greenfield Sunset Run provided all that for the most part of the 21km race, but gave the runners a tough challenge during the last kilometers with lack of water at stations, dusty and polluted roads, and cars lining the latter part of the course.

Thankfully, the race ended with a fun, festive atmosphere, one that was enough to make this runner forget about the difficulties of the race and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow runners in a much deserved late dinner.

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WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Early that day I spoke for three long hours at a workshop, had a tiny bowl of Minestrone for lunch, rushed to dress the kids and leave them at the in-laws forgetting completely about merienda. At 5:30 PM, as hubby and I, along with a wonderfully large group of running friends we happened to bump into at the race, I realized I was in for some big trouble.

– with JunC & Mariel (Solemates), Jay (Prometheus Cometh), Aljo, Raymund (Rain Man), Bobby, Hubby, Art and Little Kulit Runner in front –

I glanced at my watch. Ran the numbers. And told the hubby: “If we do your 9 run: 1 walk intervals, we may finish in 2 hours 30 mins right?” Hubby nodded his head. I shook mine. “Oh no, we’ll finish at 8! I am going to get hungry!”

With that, the race started. And I ran it off with a smile. Bahala na. That’s what I get for not being in full race mode and completely forgetting that a night race was different from the morning races I was so accustomed to.

EASY DOES IT

Hubby and I ran with Bobby and Raymund in the early part of the race. The course was awesome. The roads were wide and traffic-free, the sky was dim and the weather cool, a strong breeze didn’t allow us to break a sweat.

As in the past training runs, every 9 minutes, I would yell “WALK!” and we would all slow to a walk and start yakking away. After a minute, we would proceed to run in silence.

AND THE GROUP GETS BIGGER…

We passed several TBR Dream Marathoners along the way. And, almost like evangelists (or party list representatives if you want to be more relevant), we would encourage them to join us and try the run:walk intervals.

JV, hubby’s officemate, started running with us but decided to go his own pace after a few kilometers. Then, we bumped into Ricky who joined our pace group. Then, for a while, Dra. Lora who is part of the organizing committee of Runew, and Macky ran along with us.

AND THE RUN GETS TOUGHER

It was smooth sailing for us all throughout the first 15km. We actually struggled to keep our pace slow and steady at 6:30 min/km as we often found ourselves running at 6 to 6:15.

As the sky turned to black and the roads became narrower and filled with cars, the run doubled in difficulty.

At around 15km, I stopped at a water station only to discover they had run out of water. Of all times to leave my hydration belt behind! I yelled to hubby “What do I do with no water now?” And, as expected, he held out his water bottle for me to drink.

By the last 3km, cars started to fill both lanes of the road. A motorcyle from behind almost sideswiped me. Strike 2, I thought. Hubby and I managed to find humor in the situation as it was deja vu of The Great Lapu-Lapu Run in Cebu, where the last 3k was troubled by traffic, and a motorcyle had almost hit me as well.

Runners were forced to run on the middle of the road, so our group was in a single-line formation. By the time we stopped at the next water station (which had water already), our group was down to three. Just hubby, Bobby, and myself.

HAPPY FINISH

We crossed the finish at 2:26. It was one of our slowest runs. Once we stopped, my legs turned to lead with the lactic-acid build up. I knew that this was due to the fact that I didn’t run at my natural pace, forcing myself to run along with the group’s pace. This was fine, a happy consequence of running with a fine group of runners.

– with Bobby and Hubby nearing the finish –

– Coach Lit, are we leaning forward enough? –

– Near the end of what might be my last half marathon night race. I think I’ll stick to morning long runs! –

– with hubby –

The other runners from our pace group arrived. First Ricky, then Macky. Macky was on cloud 9 as he beat his PR by a whopping 20 minutes! (Thanks for the email and photo, Macky.  Congrats again!)

– Macky writes: This boosted my confidence that I will be able to finish the full marathon come May 22. I must admit there have been doubts but each small achievement(s) helps me to soldier on. –

Raymund was nowhere in sight. It turned out that he felt lightheaded midway through the run (most probably due to hunger) and was compelled to walk instead.

RUNNERS’ DINNER

With no Sunday morning activities to rush to like the regular morning race, most of us had time for a well-deserved dinner. A large group of us, most of my best running friends, shared an awful Japanese dinner over some fantastic runner’s chatter. A great way to end yet another running adventure.

– awful food over great dinner with friends –

* Thank you to Vima (Kulit Runner) and PhotoVendo Team (especially Ben Chan) for some of the photos.

Is it just me or are there more and more trail runs being held? I think it’s wonderful that runners have more options now when it comes to races. I say: “More races, mas happy!”

Here are details for the ENERVON HAPPY TRAIL RUN:

So my son’s cough and cold virus has attacked me too.

WEDNESDAY:

Two days ago, I woke up with an itchy throat. My solution? An early morning 10k run at 5:50 min/km pace.

I felt great when I got home, but by afternoon, the cough had worsened. And, worse, my nose was congested.

THURSDAY:

I had a morning appointment with my trainer for strength training at the gym.  I peeled myself off the bed, added two packs of tissue in my gym bag, and crawled my way up to the 2nd floor of the gym.  I attempted to finish 10 minutes of my warm up on the elliptical only to have my gym trainer send me home.  “Get out of here and get some rest” he said warmly, then he said “baka mahawa din kasi ako sa yo eh!” with a laugh.

I thought it best to stay home and avoid spreading this nasty virus.  But, I had hopes that it would be gone by noon time.

Coach Jim’s wife, Susan, had invited me for a run the following day, and I confirmed with her optimistic that I would be back in the pink of health by this morning.

FRIDAY (TODAY):

Nope, my combination of prayers, OJ, and double dose of vitamin C wasn’t enough to scare the cough and colds away.  I had to pass on the morning run with Susan or any other form of exercise today.  Thus, my eyebrows are glued together and I haven’t even smiled since I got out of bed.

By tomorrow, I expect to be back in fighting form for Greenfield Sunset Run. Hopefully by then, I can greet you with a smile.  Sniff sniff. Cough cough.

For those joining us for our BULL SESSION 3 at NUVALI on SUNDAY, May 2, 2010 (click HERE for details), we are closing sign in sheet for the free bus ride from NUVALI to ROX by 5 PM TODAY, APRIL 23, 2010. We will not accommodate late sign in.  We currently have 83 runners registered for the bus ride.

• BUS DEPARTS ROX, BONI HIGH STREET: 3:45 a.m.
• BUS DEPARTS NUVALI FOR ROX: 9:00 a.m.

UPDATE: Registration is now closed. We have a total of 101 runners for the bus ride.

For the BULL CLINIC:

• Assembly area: Solenad, NUVALI
• Run starts: 4:30 a.m.
• Duration: 3 hours and 15 minutes or minimum of 28 km
• Run/Walk technique will be used as in Coach Jim’s TBR Dream Marathon Training Program
• Gatorade will provide hydration (Thanks Gatorade!) but please bring fuel belts too
• Baggage Check in: baggage check in available at Solenad c/o NUVALI (Thanks NUVALI!)
• We highly recommend you bring headlamps/torches and reflectorized vests
• Bull Sessions are open to all and is free of charge

TBR REVIEW: THE GREAT LAPU LAPU RUN

Rating:

Organizers: Nonoy Jopson and race director Raffy Uytiepo

THUMBS UP:

• small-town festive atmosphere
• wonderful view of Cebu along Mandaue-Mactan bridge
• presence of pacers
• unbelievably accurate kilometer markers
• abundant water and Gatorade in long tables
• use of timing chip

BETTER JOB NEXT TIME:

• no road closure on narrow two-lane roads along with vehicular traffic
• late start – clock was being connected 5 minutes before race start
• lack of marshals – there was a spot where I had to stop and check if I was still on the race route
• Jollibee plastic cups were used at the water stations – Jollibee was not a race sponsor so why were the cups from them? This made me think twice about drinking from the stations. I drank Gatorade all the way instead.  (Note from Nonoy: Jollibee provided new, clean cups for the race and these were not recycled.)

The Great Lapu-Lapu Run was organized by the Lapu-Lapu City Government and the Lapu Lapu City Tourism Cultural and Historical Commission. I believe they hoped to showcase the beaches and landmarks of the city along the route.

– near Mactan Shrine –

Highlight of the race would have to be the beautiful Mandaue-Mactan bridge. This made the entire race unforgettable. There were several areas of improvement, such as the traffic and late start, which will hopefully be corrected in future races. My humble recommendations for next year: 1) close the road to traffic, 2) allow the route to enter the various hotels in the area, such as Shangrila Mactan and Imperial Palace, 3) encourage the locals to cheer along the route.  Get these done and the race has the potential of being a great tourist-runner’s run.

For a “tourist runner” such as myself, I couldn’t help but compare this with Cebu Marathon, my first race in Cebu. If Cebu Marathon made me feel like royalty as guest of the city, the Great Lapu-Lapu Run allowed me to experience the good and the bad, like a Lonely Planet traveler. Mind you, this was not such a bad thing.

All in all, it was an experience to remember, a thrilling adventure for a runner traveler like myself.

– assembly area –

– a runner crossing the finish –

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SLOW AND SAFE

The race started in Mactan Shrine, just a 20 minute drive from our hotel. Hubby and I got to the assembly area thanks to Amale Jopson, wife of super triathlete and The Great Lapu Lapu Run race organizer, Noy Jopson, who were kind enough to lend their househelp to watch our kids as we raced.

We parted ways in a rush as hubby and I rushed for a last minute bathroom visit. We saw Magellan and Lapu-Lapu standing before us and truly felt we were touring Cebu.

Until the start of the race, I wasn’t sure about my race plans. Fast or slow? At the very last minute, I chose the latter as previous days’ activities (read: swimming all day at the beautiful Imperial Palace) left me feeling exhausted for a PR attempt.

I was to run with hubby for his 9:1 run:walk interval training for TBR Dream Marathon. We set our Garmins to beap at 9 mins and we were off.

QUEZON NATIONAL HIGHWAY

Majority of the run through Quezon National Highway is a blur now. I know we ran by the beach, but we couldn’t see much of it. It was a run through the narrow roads of Cebu with cars passing us by. One time I almost got sideswiped by a speeding motorcycle. But, hey, I was on an “adventure” and I was not one to complain.

Every now and then, we would pass Cebuano runners who would happily greet us and we would do the same. There were a couple of times when children lined up in rows stretched out their hands for high fives.  I high-fived them back feeling  Our run:walk strategy was keeping us strong and we were doing quite well. Thank you.

– Runners in costume. Wish I was just as daring and creative! –

THE MANDAUE-MACTAN BRIDGE

Highlight of the race would have to be the beautiful Mandaue-Mactan bridge. The steep ascent was a wonderful challenge and a great workout for the quads and the subsequent downhill was a satisfying gift where I practiced my Chi Running again.

It was only at this point when hubby and I temporarily parted ways as I always find it more difficult to run slow when confronted with uphills. Let’s just say my mindset is: “Get this over and done with.” while hubby thinks: “Let’s take this slow and easy. Little steps at a time.” I think he’s doing the right thing, actually.

We had to tour below the bridge for another set of climbs and downhills before leaving this area. This was truly my favorite part of the race.

LAST 3KM

We went back to the highway again and hubby and I started to slow down. One marshal yelled last 5km only for me to find out from my Garmin that there was 7km to go. After that incident, I noticed that the kilometers went by a lot slower than I had hoped. The heat started to get more intense…or maybe it was all in the mind?

The most challenging part of the race was the last 3km. It was mentally challenging as we had passed the finish line already, only to run an additional 3km out through the traffic and heat. What made this portion more difficult was that we were forced to negotiate the roads, along with motorcycle drivers who did the same. We literally had to find our space through traffic as the narrow two-lane road was filled with vehicles.

Thankfully, hubby and I made it to the finish exhausted but happy. We finished at a relaxed 2:23, a good training adventure run for us.

– with the girls –

– with PAL runners from Manila –

After photos and chats with Cebuano runners, we headed back to the hotel for some R&R with the kids.