Thursday. Virtual run day. I was up early - 3:30 am - not wanting to miss out again like last Thursday. Although E-Rod said I didn't really miss out on that one and that he started his run only 5 minutes earlier than I did mine, being on time made me feel better.
"Am I adrenalized?" I kept wondering as I walked to the starting point of my run. I really felt good! Yes, maybe it was the excitement about taking part in this virtual run that caused this, the idea of running at the same time with a number of other people who are in different places with different time zones yet joined together by their passion for the sport.
As I paced through my first kilometer, I decided that I would do a 10k out-and-back run which will bring me across the boundary to Barangay Saguing in the next town of Makilala and back to my starting point. It had a couple or so of hills including a roughly 1k climb back to the center of Kidapawan City.
I felt like I was in race pace mode during the first three kilometers. "It could be the downhills," I thought. But even when I was already negotiating the relatively steep ascent to Barangay Saguing near the end of my 4th kilometer, my pace still seemed fast. At the turnaround, my Timex Ironman Triathlon showed 25:58.50.
Now came the run back.
It was an ascent right from the turnaround, a slow gradual rise that goes almost the entire 1km distance. But this was not "it" yet. A descent to the Saguing Bridge follows, then a shorter but steeper rise, and a slow gradual ascent again from the 7th km to the Kidapawan City plaza, roughly a kilometer and a half in total distance. A slight descent to another bridge then precedes another climb to the 9th km point. This is the part that kills your legs, your knees, and your quads. Mine didn't die, but I knew I was having positive splits.
The last kilometer was relatively flat. I was soon back where I started. The old reliable Timex showed 54:52.93.
Back at the house checking on my lap times for the second half of the run, I took note of the following splits:
km6 5:56.36
km7 5:45.14
km8 6:04.50
km9 5:44.65
km10 5:23.78
I was slower today than last Thursday (54:30.51), but then I guess this was a tougher course. Already I am thinking of taking on this course again on next Thursday's virtual run.
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5 comments:
good to see you made it on time for this workout, caloy. and adrenalized too. we had a couple of first-timers too--rick from san francisco and nora from england.
cool recap. you still finished strong. looks like you turned it on at the last kilometer.
wooow! caloy! you're an effing running monster! welcome to the club eh?! and i just got to say this, i luv there in davao! :-)
Hi Caloy,
I hope someday I can tour and run one of the roads down there. haven't had a single trip from vismin region.
btw nice recap and looking forward to see u on our next Vrun.
e-rod,
that last kilometer was slightly downhill so i always record a faster time for that one. :)
banggi,
davao is really a nice place. i do all my racing there, but i actually stay in kidapawan city in north cotabato. that's two hours away from DC (110 kms).
freeman,
hey, man... you're always welcome here! i'll take you on some of my back roads run in case you come.
see you all on the next vr!
I hate to live up to the stereotype but I am almost always late. I was late for the run too but didn't want to say anything at first:) Glad you made it on time. It sounded like you had a great run, everything working smoothly. See you at the next VR.
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