Monday, October 29, 2007

Hard Decisions.....

Last week, I had to prepare and make a very hard decision for myself. I have to skip a couple of long distance races.

NB Power Race
Singapore Marathon 2007
Subic Marathon 2008
Philippine Marathon 2008

If I was to join a long distance race It would have to be sometime near the mid of next year. For now I will be focusing more on the shorter distance races specially the 5km event. 10km might be reserved for December or January of next year.

I hope I am doing the right thing and that it'll be beneficial for the long term.

Run for LOVE - Gawad Kalinga|Adidas Run

Therapy is great! Pain is really manageable even while running. I'm still doing my usual 20minute sessions. And still relying on my bike sessions for my cardio-workout. Came Saturday October 27, 2007, after almost 1 month of absolutely no racing and running. I decided to join a 5km race. This has been my goal for now. Do short distance training and short distance racing.

I know its still grueling since I will need to speed up for a shorter distance and speeding up is also detrimental to my recovery. But with a steady training, drill workouts (just started, see bottom for details) and some elastic band workouts. I think I can do this.

The race started 10 minutes after 6am. I came in just in time for a very short warm up and stretching session. And off the runners go! As usual I started way at the back of the whole 5km pack and eased my way up in the middle chase pack. After just the first corner. I came across a friend who's also a fast 800m runner Jo-Ar Alvadorez. He asked me if he could join in the 5km race. "Well, why not!" I answered. Having a fast runner with me will surely motivate me on the race.

Jo-Ar already knows my condition and he also noticed my shin wrap thingy! hehehe We exchanged stories while skilfully dodging and avoiding traffic along the route. After the 1st KM I noticed that I was still going fast and and faster and still can handle both the pain(nonexistent) and the cardio load.

about 500m from the turn-around point we noticed that the 1st runner was still not showing up on the other side of the route. Which means that they were running slower than the usual. We counted the runners heading back and stopped the count at 21 upon reaching the turn-around point. Whoah! This can't be true!?! I was running almost up front. Jo asked me if I can still handle the load and if I was willing to take some puking speed! hehehe The road-racer inside came alive and I just nodded to say yes!

We turned the second half of the race into a Fartlek session. Targeting one person up front at a time. And moving on to the next just after a very short down pace rest. I missed the feeling of going all out. And this first race surely gave me a taste of what I always want to do. Run Fast, Run Hard, and now may I add Run Smart. :)

I finished at 22:34 12th place overall all. Not bad for a first race. :)


DRILLS, DRILLS, DRILLS......

Today, I started training again. But now with the supervision of Jo. Goals needed to be adjusted and so does my expectations. I won't be doing super hard workouts, 400m repeats, and long runs. The Goal this time is to recover fast and recover well from my shin injury. My running form(specially my gait cycle) is also the priority in order to avoid re injuring myself.

Drill workout is the main event of the day. I never thought that there were that many drill exercises in running. It was enough to keep my heart rate at a constant thump-thump-thump! I hope I can keep up with all the new stuff I need to learn and master. It surely does make me look forward to the next session. :)