For a not-yet-that-strong lady runner, having consecutive races every weekend is quite a crazy thing to do – uhm, actually not quite so for running addicts, but back-to-back races in one weekend is already lurking on the twice crazy side, at least for my case.
That’s why I messed my 10K run in Race for Life last Saturday just to save my first ever entry into sprint races yesterday.
And it paid off! My track and field team won champion overall in the Singolympics and we, the women, did the “pulling up”. It’s not like our men in the team did so poorly, but more because they ran side by side “pro” sprint monsters for their opponents.
***
First things first.
Race for Life, The Fort. Nov. 22 (Saturday)
My friends asked if I’d call this my worst race so far. Erm, I thought for a while and then I said, ‘Yes… so far’. Not that Race for Life went totally amiss as I’m sure there were many people who had their road racing debut there and found a great time for themselves. In fact, I too had a great time. I think the mere fact that it’s running, which is something I will always love to do, and I was with my great, great running buddies - every race shall always be a good race.
But according to the order of enjoyment of one’s race experience, getting a good time of finish, and race venue setup and convenience of procedures, so far this would qualify to be one of my least favorites. But this isn’t like ‘it’s the organizers fault!’ – hmn, NOPE, not that. This being the race before my ‘first ever sprint race’ - and the latter having me all really excited - it was doomed to be, at the most, just a ’second best’.
I had followed my initial plan, which is to make this a relaxed run to save my energy for the following day. Truth is, I further demoted it to a ‘relaxed run and walk’.
But I should mention other things which made this race less pleasant for me when I had previously planned to just enjoy this run.
> We arrived more than 10 minutes late to the race venue which forced me to have to pass through the “confused” stage first before eventually easing to the relaxed running mode. And I thought there was something weird with the positioning of the start/ finish line. I don’t have the abundance of words and time to describe it now but I just found it weird.
> I don’t know if it was just me, but I thought I had some unwanted dose of chaos last Saturday. There were too many cars parked in the race route, too many groups of ‘walkers’ who would occupy the entire lane (you’re left clueless how to get through them and you end up bumping into them or you take the other lane at the risk of being hit by cars), high traffic and being forced to stop several times at the intersection points, and finally - and this is so personal I know, I realized my calves had not fully recovered yet from the sprint trials.
Don’t get me wrong about the ‘walkers’ thing because in fact, I had joined them even before I started my second loop. I figure there were more recreational runners in this race as this was, in the first place, a run for a cause. That’s apart from the fact that there were still two major races the following day.
It is also in this race where I learned how important it is to ‘listen to your body’. My calves weren’t in good shape still and I kept on feeling a tingling sensation while I ran. Since I could not afford to be injured that day, I took it easy and alternated running and walking.
Jihan and Ryan had a fair share of incongruent things happening in this race as they had both registered for 10K but got race kits that were for 5K. Of course they hated it as they had already psyched themselves to be running 10K.
Finishers still: Myself, Cha, Ami, Jihan, and Dree
Pre-breakfast kulitan
Ryan as our muse for the day
***
My first ever Sprint Race in Singolympics. Marikina Sports Complex, Nov. 23 (Sunday)
I was in full ecstatic mood yesterday! I had totally enjoyed my sprint races.
Leaving Marikina Sports Complex almost 5PM already yesterday, I sent this SMS to our trainer: “Hey Denmark, thank you for the coaching. Did you know it was first time to do sprint race? And I really enjoyed my runs.”
While hearing mass at UP chapel, I had to be whispering “sorry, God” several times as I found it difficult to focus as scenes from the sprint races kept rolling in my mind. I was hilariously “high” with it, Ha ha!
So we won 1st place in women’s 4×100m sprint relay and in the more challenging 4×200m relay. It was funfunfun!
But my 200m individual sprint performance sucked! I finished second to the last and I figure it must be the Mcburger, fries and iced tea which I took 10 minutes before I had that run. Golly it felt weird to be feeling those foodstuffs joggling inside my tummy while trying to sprint. Good thing the relay races came a little later that afternoon when I was back to my elements.
There’s a different kind of high in sprint races. It’s more competitive, yes, and pressure is exponentially higher. Yesterday, I would have butterflies in my stomach minutes before each race. And I thought it was a kind of feeling so similar to what I’d experince when I would join impromptu speech contests back in high school.
I also enjoyed my bonding moment with my team. One of my male teammate asked how long I finish my 10Ks. Before answering, I asked him first how long he finishes his. I nearly choked when he said, “45 minutes”. And then I was obliged to say mine. Hesitant, I said, “Oh never mind, I’m sooo slow… really slow!” But he insisted, “So, ano nga?”
“Wala, 73 minutes! Ambagal!” I replied.
And surprised, he uttered, “Hah?! 73 minutes? Ah, mabagal ka nga!” And that came with teasing smile.
Oh, you wait til I finish my running clinic. Hahaha! (I wish!)
MSC filled with over 1,000 SFC athletes and spectators.
And MSC has a nice Olympic size pool too!
Posted by cathydaza 
Posted by cathydaza 