Benj Espina

Unilab Run United For Wellness is my third road race in the last two months. The route for this event is identical to the one I ran just two weeks prior so I was really hoping to improve my personal record from my 5 km run at the Century Tuna Superbods Run. My training schedule wasn’t exactly ideal but I tried my hardest to mentally prepare me for this run.

I wanted to really apply what I learned from my earlier runs. During the Century Tuna event, I felt that I was slowed down greatly by the huge amount of walkers at the beginning of the race. Due to this, I was determined to be as close to the starting tape as much as possible as the starting gun was fired. I went to the venue very early so I was more or less able to pick my spot in front.

I tried to really get a good pace going during the beginning since I knew it would be hard to move forward if I lag behind most of the runners. Being in front allows you to have a more open view of the road and allows you a slightly more freedom to maneuver your way through corners and turns.

I didn’t drink a lot of water since I very were knew that I was going to hit a wall if I did. I experienced the same thing on the last two races so I guess decided to hydrate myself better prior to the actual start.

Though I don’t have the benefit of having any fancy equipment to measure my speed and pace, I think I ran a very flat race with minimal changes in my running. This is of course both good and terribly frustrating. It was just too hard to shift into a faster gear when a good part of the run back is a semi-up hill climb.

The rotonda in front of the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial has got to be my favorite part of the route. As I was making my way out of the round about, I was able to see just how many people were behind me. I figured I used to be one of those people (ok, fine, not really!) but it was great to see and feel that I wasn’t in the main pack (and that I was still running while half of them were literally walking).

As I saw the marker for the final kilometer, I really tried to dig deep and run my legs out. Unfortunately, while my legs could still take a few more minutes of activity, my lungs was already giving out. I was already feeling heart burn and it felt like my gastroesophageal reflux disease was trying to rear its ugly head (literally).

Finishing the race at 33 minutes 14 seconds without throwing up was an achievement in itself. I beat my personal record for the exact same course by almost 90 seconds. According to Runrio, I was actually three seconds faster! My official time was 33 minutes 11 seconds.

Here are some notes that this race made me realize:

1. I really have to get a better pair of running shoes. While my shoes are very comfortable, they’re actually all terrain cross trainers from Nike and are not meant for running the streets. Of course, this could be me kidding myself that the problem lies in the shoe and not in the runner.

2. If you finish ahead of a lot people, you can line up faster for the freebie bags! It was a lot more convenient to line up early. The 90 second difference in my actual race time had a huge significance on the time I was standing in line.

3. I’m still figuring out how I can run with my iPhone. I’m still not sure if I want to buy an arm band or if I’ll just be okay with keeping it in my pocket. I must admit though that having it in my pocket makes me a lot more tentative in my strides.

4. I think cutting my time by 90 seconds or so per race is a very doable goal. If I can do this, I will be in my sub 30 time in a month or two! I just really have to train hard to make sure that my lungs don’t give up on me early.

5. I should be a lot more conscious of the science behind running. I usually run without a game plan and I end up haphazardly making moves that are not thought through. I’m sure I could improve my time if I just studied the course enough to know where I have to really make up time or where I should just coast and prepare for the next burst.

6. I will never wear a medium-sized singlet. I took a MEDIUM sized singlet during the registration not because I had delusions about what size would fit me – it was because it was the ONLY size available. I guess I’d rather run without a shirt on next time. :p

7. Kudos to Unilab for the many freebies!

8. Congratulations to Noelle for finishing third in her 10km event! She’s such a great inspiration to beginners since she’s already made leaps and bounds as a runner even though she’s relatively new to running (less than a year!). Her story proves that to the dedicated, there’s no way but up. She also won the *ehem* Myra E Sexy Skin Award!  :p Good job, Noelle! Go get your sub-Piolo next time!

I will be running again on the 21st of March for Globe Run For Home. Who wants to run with me?

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