The Green Cursor

Run For Home 2010 was my 21k test run after my first leg-cramp experience at the Century Tuna Superbods Run on February 21.  Going into this race, I was confident that I would clear it without problems, since I put in additional kilometers into my training.  Except for the new route, which was to start and end at the Makati Central Business District, I thought that the degree of difficulty of this run was nothing to worry about.  Or so I thought.

We arrived at the starting area at about 4:45 a.m.  The area was already bustling with runners doing their respective pre-race routines.  Nothing unusual about that.  What’s odd though was the presence of burly men clad in black shirts with the word “bouncer” emblazoned on their backs.  The scene was reminiscent of a night club entrance or a presidential walk-through.  I find this very pathetic, an unnecessary show of force at the wrong area and a display of pure arrogance by the organizers for a miniscule number of runners.

The race started promptly at 5:20 a.m.  I was at the back of the pack since I had to relieve myself just before the gun start.  I thought I started just right, but my Garmin said that my pace was hobbling at only 7:22, which was rather slow.  Maybe, this was due to the winding route at the start and the difficulty of weaving your way through the runners.

Upon reaching 3 km, my pace improved to 6:16.  I steadily gained speed until I reached a plateau of 6:06.  The race route had large, visible kilometer markers, although I found them lagging behind by as much as three-fourths of a kilometer.  There was ample hydration for everyone, both water and Powerade.  The tables were longer.  Ice cold sponges were also freely distributed to runners.  

Inside The Fort, road intersections became the battleground between the runners and the motorists.  The motorists, turning impatient, blared their horns to no end in utter disrespect for the security marshals.  In retrospect, it would be better had the organizers deployed “bouncers” in these areas to showcase their intimidation skills.

The route at Heritage Park was a new one, giving the runners more uphill climbs.  My pace went down to 6:11 as we made our exit from the park.  I began conserving my energy for the last quarter push.  I did not mind the other runners, who were now passing  me.

I started to meditate and pray that cramps would not set in before our second ascent of the Kalayaan Flyover.  I increased my hydration intake, but I still maintained my pace.  My fears then started becoming real, as I began experiencing sensations of cramps at km 18.  I said to myself, “This could not be happening to me – not a second time!”  I tried to slow down to calm down my leg muscles.  It worked.  Soon again, I was picking up my pace, which will prove to be my undoing.  After completing the Kalayaan Flyover towards Buendia Avenue, the attacks became more frequent and intense.  I slowed down, but the trick did not work this time.  I was virtually dragging my feet in the last 250 meters (a marshal shouted to me that I was very near the finish line, seeing that I was fading very fast).

I crossed the finish line with an unofficial time of 2:17 over a distance of 21.78 km.  Interpolating from this, my expected 21 km time would have been 2:12, which is almost the same as my time at the Century Tuna Superbods Run.  However, my legs had to work extra harder for this race since the course was more difficult.

Several reality checks came to fore in this race.  First, there were several uphill climbs along the route – twice the Kalayaan Flyover (the homestretch run, being the killer one), Bayani Road and the new Heritage Park circuit.  Then, there was the hot ambient temperature, which caused me to sweat more than usual.  Third, but which ultimately decided my fate was my failure to listen to body signals of impending cramps.

Oh! well, it’s back to the drawing board for me.  I will have to put in more hard kilometers to my training and see if I can turn the tables the next time around.