Running My First 10 Kilometer Race: The PSE Bull Run 2012

PSE Bull Run. There were no bulls in sight.
This run ain't no bull*h\3.

"What! It's this Sunday already?!" I exclaimed as my running mate Bong reminded me of the schedule of our upcoming  race while running laps around the Acad Oval.

Here's a little recap of what happened in my ever first 10k race dubbed as, PSE Bull Run: Takbo Para sa Ekonomiya which was held last Sunday, January 8, 2012. The race was said to be a part of Philippine Stock Exchange's advocacy to inform the public about the Philippine Stock Market.

I almost didn't wake up for the race. We went to a party a night before, had a couple of drinks and long chats. I was supposed to go home early to get a lot of rest, but a long lost friend or ours showed up just before when we were about to pack up. We haven't seen this guy for a year - not a word about him. We were happy that he's back.

It was almost 2 am when I got home. I went straight to bed. It was a deep sleep. Thank goodness my dream was about running. I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to wake up at 3:30. I gathered all of my strength to pulled my self out the bed. The clock didn't alarm because I accidentally set it at 3:30 "p.m." I pulled out my gym bag and laced my shoes as fast as I can. The time was 4:00 a.m. We were running very late.

Where's the party?

Sweet Pea prepared her things, too. She didn't have to go with me to the race, but she did to show her support. Without wasting time, we went to the nearby McDonalds to pick up my running mate Bong.

"This race is meant to be. I wouldn't have waken up if it weren't. " - I told Sweet Pea while sipping my coffee. And just like that, I promised to do my best for my very first 10k. 1 hour and 30 is my goal time.

We made it to the event with time to spare to take a wee-wee and warm up. A couple of high knees, butt-kick, sprints, light stretches and I was ready to go. The weather was great. The cool breeze of the morning was just right. I kinda missed the usual festive mood that comes with races, though. This event was laid back, everyone seemed to just wanna run. There weren't a lot of smiling people here.

I won't give up on a miracle.

Bong and I didn't get a good position at the starting line. This little mistake caused us a lot of time getting through a sea of 10k runners. Saying "excuse me, excuse me..." to get through slower runners can really drain your energy.

There was no gun start. They replaced the gun start with the sound of bells to sound like the start of Stock Exchange trading sessions. It was kinda like the start a boxing match. Ting ting ting!

The Kalayaan Flyover was very dark and dangerous. I don't know what happened to the street lights. It was too dark and beam lights from cars form the opposite direction were hurting our eyes.We were merely guided by faint silhouettes. I felt a little scared and distracted that I had to slow my pace down.

Whatta pace! :)
It was around the 8th kilometer 
when I "shot" my self. hehe 

Around the 5k mark, the acidity from the coffee I drank earlier kicked in and started to slow me more. I stopped by the next water station to try to flush the acidity in, fortunately, it got back to normal. There were already too many distractions so I decided to use my metronome and set my pace strides. I turned on my music player started listening to Paramore songs. "Miracle" seemed to be bringing in more energy to my every stride.



On my Blackberry a song was playing...
Miracle by Paramore

xxx
I'm not going
Cause I've been waiting for a miracle
And I'm not leaving
I won't let you
Let you give up on a miracle
Cause it might save you
xxx

Finally, my last kilometer, I gathered all my balls for a that last big kick.

Finish line.

I don't know my official time, but the big timer at the finish line says 1 hour and 3 minutes. I'm so glad I finished the race. The runner's high - it feels really good.

A woman beside me was upset because she didn't make the sub one hour goal time. Another guy feels really bad because he didn't beat his personal record. I observed that a lot of runners were disappointed of their own run even if they were running very fast already.

You know, I realized there are only two things that can happen in a finish line: either you're happy with what your run or you're not. For me though, I always believed that the prize is the race itself. Just the fact that I got there, running and happy with friends and love ones - that's the prize; and it makes me feel very fortunate.

Honestly, my only disappointment was that the loot bag for 10k was lame and uninteresting, 1 Apple, 1 Banana,1 Canned beans (dapat ba talaga A-B-C? hehehe nangaasar ba kayo? :)  450 pesos registration for these?

Me and Bong together with Coach Rio, The Face of
Philippine Running.

Good thing our pic with Coach Rio kinda made up for my loot bag rant. :)

Can't wait for my next race. :) 'Till then!

Cheerio!

-- Rah