Subaru’s slogan is the best way to describe my return in the running scene after a 2-month break. Well, to be honest, I was a bit nervous before the start of the race, but once I start rolling, it’s ‘Confidence in Motion’ all the way to the finish line.
I left home before 11 pm and arrived at MOA around 12 midnight. Had to leave early because I decided to commute instead of bringing a car to save money, and since I am very excited to run long distance again, I didn’t mind waiting more than 3 hours in the activity area (even when it was raining).
Photo credit: Photo-Ops
Photo credit: Photo-Ops
Time goes by faster than a Subaru Forester accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h, so I ate a cheese burger an hour and fifteen minutes before the gunstart (I don’t wanna mess my comeback run, so I made sure that I’m not hungry before running), rest, and had a chat with a runner from Baguio (who was gonna run his first half-marathon in Manila) to kill time. I admit that I had some worries, feels like I wanted to poop, but it’s more like butterflies in the stomach accompanied by random odorless farting.
Our gunstart was 4am. I positioned myself almost near the starting line and when the race finally started, it was a slow jog with some walks because the road was heavily congested by more than 2,200 half-marathon runners. I feel a bit slow at first, even some instances where I wanted to walk because I feel a bit rusty, but I pushed on and maintain an efficient pace. I did slow down and took a sip of Gatorade some time at the 8th kilometer, in front of the Rizal Monument or Kilometer 0.
After the 10th kilometer, I was gonna go with an alternating 6-8 minute run/jog and then a 1 minute walk routine all the way to the finish line, but I feel like I can still push through with just a less than a minute walking cool down, so I did just that. Music pumping through my ears helped me maintain the pace even on the uphill over pass of the route to Baclaran. I was in good condition and only started to really slow down when I reached the route near City of Dreams. By that time I slowed down significantly, even walked more than a minute or two because aside from exhaustion, I reached the ‘less inspiring’ part of the route. The noise and pollution from vehicles in the Baclaran part of the route is what I don’t like the most in running events like this. It kinda drains the motivation and relaxing sensation while running. You just have to live with it and pass through as quick as you can even if you’re tired and not inspired by the scenery.
At the 17th kilometer, I feel very exhausted, but kept pushing through because I planned to beat my previous PR from the Nat Geo Run last April. By the time I reached the last 3 kilometers, I grabbed and ate a banana and settled with slow jogs and walking. In the last kilometer, I had one final boost and jog all the way to the finish line.
Photo credit: Team aRUNkada.
I enjoyed the race. So happy that I finished it without injuries (with the exception of chaf rash near my left armpit, I did not suffer from leg cramps, chaffing on the crotch area, and blisters). The weather was much nicer than the Nat Geo Run, it was neither hot or cold, it was just right.
And I managed to beat my previous Nat Geo PR of 02:25:10 (gunstart time; chip time 02:20:44) with 02:17:31 (gunstart time; chip time is 02:16:01). My official rank is #304 out of 2,280 participants. It’s not my fastest half-marathon time, but for a comeback run and because of the good weather, I was very satisfied. For the updated official race results go here: http://runrio.com/subaru-marathon/
Photo credit: Pinoy Runners.
I was very vocal about my negative opinion of the Nat Geo Run 2015 which was also organized by RunRio Inc, but this time, they did better with the very 1st Subaru Marathon (noting lights on the darker sections of the road and a slightly revised version of the usual RunRio route). And now that I’m back on track, I’m looking forward and very excited with my upcoming half-marathons and races en route to my first marathon next year. “Confidence in Motion,” I really like that, Subaru.
Photo credit: Photoman.ph
The Rogue Rebel.... 