Benj Espina

Before anything else, here’s the link to the official Rexona Run results.

I signed up late for the Rexona Run but I have actually been at the peak of my running in the past few weeks. I’ve been really trying my best to run at least 6 kilometers three to four times a week and when my body and time permits, I try to run all the way to the SM Mall of Asia to deviate from my usual circuit along Roxas Boulevard. I had the chance to run almost the exact course that the Rexona Run would involve so I had a good handle of what to expect. It was to be my first 10km event after a string of 5km runs – known to more senior runners as mere “fun runs”.

The first road race I joined was Condura and it was a tough dose of reality to deal with. I got really winded during certain parts of the course and I even had to resort to walking during a few stretches. It was a very humbling experience. My time was also very forgettable.

The goal for most 5km runners is to finish the race in 30 minutes or less. I’ve been able to do this twice now (Globe and Milo) so it felt like I needed to move up a bit. I’ve never been a speedy runner but I feel like I could sustain a reasonable pace – like around 8-9km/hr perhaps – for a distance longer than 5km.

As with a lot of things, I was very anxious the night before the run. I had trouble sleeping – and yes, I ended up NOT sleeping at all. I think I’ve failed to sleep in just about every run I’ve had.

I got ready at around 4AM and by 430, I was off to the Mall of Asia. I didn’t register early enough so I had an XL sized singlet from Rexona. The shirt was at least a size larger than what I needed so I ended up wearing a Nike singlet instead. I wore my trusty Supernova Sequence from Adidas – a pair that is now hopelessly out of stock in a lot of Adidas stores in Manila.

The layout was quite compact and organized. The bag check was very near the assembly areas and was very accessible from the starting and finish lines. There was a good crowd of people at the start line, it seems like any event that carries the Runrio name is assured of a great deal of following.

Here’s how my race went:

Pre start:

After depositing my bag and braving the long lines to the portalet for the obligatory pre-race pee, I made my way to the assembly to do a bit of stretching and warm up jog (I think I did one circuit around the block). I was feeling a bit tired from not having any sleep but I rested a great deal two days in anticipation of race day.

I tried to squeeze myself to the front of the pack as much as possible. I didn’t try too hard to get in front since I’m no “elite runner”. I was hoping though that I’ll be at least faster than half of the people who registered.

Gun!

I was pretty close to the start line – my gun time and chip time are just six seconds apart. I don’t think this has happened before!

I immediately felt that my right ankle and foot were feeling funny. It’s almost like they were freezing up on me and the sensation was very similar to pain but not quite. Just like in previous runs – whether in a race or during training – I chose to ignore the feeling and just channel my attention to something else.

I held my my phone during the race to allow me to to monitor my race time as I ran along the course.

1-2km

I think I was hitting my stride really well during this time. I covered my first kilometer in about 5:20 and my second one in about 5:10. How did I know? Runrio has made the course so detailed that each kilometer is well marked! Each water station is also positioned every 1.5 km. This is probably the new standard for water stations following the harrowing tragedy that happened to runner Remus Fuentes during the Milo Marathon.

I’ve ran a 5km race without having to drink a sip of water during the entire way but at around 1.5 I took the precaution of hydrating just in case I overheat or suddenly cramp up.

3 km

At around the 3km mark, I started feeling a very strange feeling in the left lower quadrant of my abdomen. I knew it had to be nothing serious – maybe just a muscle cramping up – but it was really uncomfortable. I tried to my best to ignore the pain and just push on.  I ended up taking another bottle of water from the 3km water station. I held the bottle and poured around 80% of the contents over my head and gargled the rest of it to just prevent my mouth from drying up.

I noticed that my clocking was already at around 16:45 at this stage of the race – meaning I’ve slowed down by almost a minute from my starting pace.

4-6km

This was the toughest stretch of the race for me. My legs were starting to ache and my abdominal pain wasn’t going away. I was slightly worried since I was used to running longer distances than this. I tried to channel everything I had to running and my mind started drifting off to things that I have to do next time  - 1) make sure I sleep before the race, 2) get a cap to protect me from the sun and 3) invest in a hydration belt.

Yes, I ended up taking water from both the 4.5 and 6km water stations. My 5km split was around 28:30 but there was so mat at this particular part of the course. That was a bit strange, right?

At that split, I knew my goal of getting 55 minutes was now impossible and going under 60 was in serious danger.

7 km

Fortunately, my body started cooperating and the pain went away. I also started noticing a lot of runners trying to break away from the middle pack and just run a lot faster than they have.

It was surreal to see a lot of walkers at this point in the race. I guess they burned themselves out during the early goings and have nothing left to finish strong.

8km

This was it! I needed to sprint. It was now or never. I looked at my phone – the time read I was already at 50 minutes – my last three kilometers were probably decent but it wasn’t enough to get me back on track. I had to run at 12.0 km/hr for the last two kilometers if I wanted a realistic shot at beating one hour. I knew it was an uphill climb but I still tried anyway.

9km

People were really slowing down during this part. Some were walking and a good number were also jogging at an easy pace. I tried to pass as many people as possible during this time. I must have easily passed a couple of dozen of people in a few minutes. The crowd was also starting to thicken – it really required a lot of maneuvering to get around the racers at this point.

A handful of other runners were also trying to sprint to the finis

Finish line

I crossed the line a couple of minutes after my goal of 60 minutes. According to the official results, it took me 1 hour 3 minutes and 13 seconds to complete the course – good enough for 309th place out of 1911 runners. I guess that’s good enough for now but I swear I know I could do a lot better than that! I can’t wait to get out there and tackle the course again. I’m sure with a few hours rest and without a nagging abdominal muscle to deal with, I could smash through 60 minutes easily.

I will train harder to make it happen. It was a disappointing result but at least it’s still on page 7 out of 39.

My biggest weakness really is that I can’t run fast. I can probably run longer distances than the average runner but I can’t sprint to save my life. I haven’t really trained for sprinting in the past and I hope to incorporate it to my training schedule in preparation for future races.

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