Recap: DocFit Run

Wow! I just checked Coach Rio’s site and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my official time was 47:28, with an average pace of 4:45! That’s 16 seconds better than my garmin time! I must have pressed the stop button late… Yipee!

Here’s my kilometer splits for the DocFit run, with a little recap of how I ran the race…

1. 4:30 –> started out real fast, must have been due to the excitement. Though the slight downward slope of that part of the acad oval probably helped. I was a little bit nervous though that with this fast start, I might burn myself out too early.
2. 4:39 –> the reality of not being able to maintain a pace of 4:30 the whole race hit me. Still, I was well under my target pace of 4:48 min/km and I was glad I didn’t feel I was overexerting myself.
3. 4:40 –> this part of the race was quite fun. It coursed through Magsaysay, with its varied terrain of flat, inclines, downhills. I didn’t like it though when we then ran towards the Univ Ave, since my legs and feet were slightly jolted by the sudden shift of the course to concrete from the “softer” asphalt. This is one of weird things I realized because of running, that when you run long enough, your legs begin to notice the differences between running surfaces.
4. 4:56 –> the most difficult part of the race. The incline towards the police station is a killer. It really slowed my pace down, and what made it more difficult is that after the steep incline, your greeted by still an inclined road, albeit at a lesser angle, that continues until the loop-around.
5. 4:48 — after the exertion on the hill, I just didn’t have enough energy to speed it up a bit, even though Osmena was relatively flat. — 5 km split: 23:33 –
6. 4:44
7. 4:43
8. 5:01 – the hill
9. 4:57 – my second bout with the hill just drained me. I guess I need to do a lot more hill running to supplement my training. Especially since Mizuno 2 is just a month away!
10. 4:51 — not much of a sprint — 5 km split: 24:11 –

unofficial time: 47:44, average pace 4:47

official time: 47:28, average pace: 4:45

next races:

• June 15 –> DND half marathon
• June 29 –> Mizuno 2 (the run to infinity 2, with water — as announced by Coach Rio–> who I got to meet after the awarding ceremonies of DocFit

Mission Accomplished! PR Run at DocFit

A few weeks ago, I had set my short term goal of having a 10km PR run during the DocFit run this morning… and guess what… I did it! Set a new PR today! My unofficial time is 47:44, 40 seconds faster than my time of 48:24 during the Runnex@25 (same course as DocFit) run 3 weeks ago. My average pace was 4:47min/km.

Since I wanted this to be my PR run, I tried to make sure I was able to apply everything I’ve learned so far to make this a perfect race. I slept early, woke up early. Ate breakfast, arrived early enough at UP Diliman, did a warm-up jog prior to the race, and entered the starting line about a minute just before the start of the race…. So did this turn out to be a perfect race? Well, it was a great race… but perfect? Definitely not! As it turns out, I still learned a lot from this race which I know I can use to further improve myself for future runs.

1. my body notices “subtle” weight changes – the past week, I had been over indulging myself. I had been eating pizza and other fastfood almost daily last week. When I weighed myself when I woke up this morning, I was surprised to see I was 2 kg over my usual running weight. No wonder I’ve been feeling heavy, and sleepier the past few days. I know 2kgs may not seem much, but surprisingly, I feel my body complain. This is most notable when I went on my runs last week when I noticed my knees tended to ache more as compared to previous weeks, to think I was only doing easy runs this week! This however is a good thing since I’ve been made aware of the symptoms that would warn me when I overindulge
2. Pocari sweat does not taste like sweat – this was the drink given away at the end of the race. It was the first time I got to taste this sports drink, and as it turns out, it doesn’t have any taste. It wasn’t carbonated and I didn’t taste any flavoring. It went down smoothly and it was also quite refreshing. I guess I’ll have to try this drink during my runs so I can compare it to the other available drinks so I can determine which I would prefer to lug around during my runs/marathon.
3. I still lack a consistent sprint finish – I was planning to sprint the last 800 meters of the race, but when I got to that point, I just couldn’t. I was able to increase my pace a bit, but not enough for it be considered a sprint. I guess I was a little winded from running at a fast pace at the early part of the race that I didn’t have any left during the end. This just means I have to do more sprint/interval runs so I can condition my brain and legs so they will be able to suddenly go into a sustainable sprint mode when needed. I also have to do more leg work-outs to help strengthen my muscles so they would be more able to support me when I go into sprint mode. If I was able to sprint, just maybe… I would have been able to have a better PR time than what I ended up with.

It was a run made tough by trying to maintain my target pace of 4:48min/km, which I’m glad I was able to do. It was also great meeting other runners. I met BaldRunner while we were doing warm-ups prior to the race, I met MarkFB just before checking in, I met Dr./councilor Doray (who won 1^st place in her 10km category) at the end of the race, and I met RunMD during the awarding ceremonies. I also got to see PassionRunner, the BullRunner, transitionzero, and other runners I usually see during weekend runs. In addition, I had some friends (Pats, DB, Lims) who ran their 1^st 5km race today, and the best part is, they ended up winning awards for their respective categories! Congratulations to you guys! Hopefully this will entice you to really take up running as a sport.

The course measured to be 9.98 km (according to my garmin), which is kind of weird since Runnex measured at 9.83 km. I don’t remember the DocFit course being any different from Runner… so where’d the extra 100 meters come from? I assume I probably ran the outside course this time as compared to Runnex, hence the extra distance…

Once again, it was a very well organized run, congratulations to Coach Rio, and many thanks to the Philippine Heart Association for sponsoring this run, and especially for having a separate category for MDs. By the way, my time of 47:44 was good enough for 2^nd place in the 10 km category for MDs, netting me some cash, and a very nice looking glass trophy! Hope this will become an annual event in the years to come!

(with RunMD — the guy behind me wearing an orange shirt – CONGRATS! — at the awarding ceremonies)

Colds Prevention

Yesterday, it was shown that exposure to cold weather may increase the risk of developing a common cold. For today, I’ll be discussing some preventive measures that can be used in the battle against this common illness.

1. running/exercise — in an article published in Runner’s World magazine (Feb 2008), it was shown that doing moderte exercise for 30-75 minutes strengthened a person’s immune system, resulting to a lower occurrence of colds. However, for athletes working out longer than this or working out with more intensity, the incidence of colds increased. Why the discrepancy? According to the article, after 90 minutes of working out, the sugar stores of an athlete are depleted leading to an increase of “stress” hormones (cortisol, epinephrine) that weaken a person’s immune system. To help prevent this carbohydrate drop, it was suggested that endurance athletes should take in sports drinks before, during, and especially after working out. So for improved immunity, moderate exercise of 30-75 minutes is good for you, but if you have to go beyond that, make sure you bring along with you a sports drink and that you have to eat carbohydrates after your workout…
2. Vitamin C — the role of vitamin C supplementation in preventing colds has been debated for over 60 years. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and is touted to increase a person’s immunity. To settle the debate, a review of various published journals was done in 2004. A total of 30 trials, composed of 11, 350 subjects, was reviewed to determine whether ingesting a daily dose of 0.2g of vitamin C was protective. The results showed that for the general population, no benefit was noted in the prevention of colds between subjects who took vitamin C and those who did not. It was however noted that for people who exercise or are exposed to a cold environment, the intake of vitamin C provided them with some protection against colds. So for runners, a daily intake of Vitamin C of at least 200mg is advisable.
3. Vitamin E and beta-carotene — these two vitamins, also anti-oxidants, were also believed to protect a person from colds. However, a study done in Finland in 2003, showed that among subjects who did heavy exercise, the intake of these two vitamins not only did not provide any protection from the common cold, they actually had an increased risk of developing a cold. So for runners who include both these vitamins in their daily regimen, the results of this study suggest that it is maybe better to discontinue them during training.
4. probiotics — for a discussion on the role of probiotics, please click here.
5. proper hygiene, drink fluids, and get enough sleep – though this should be done always, it becomes more important after doing a long, or intense workout since this is when an athlete is most prone to infections.

Tomorrow, treatment options for the common cold.

Fighting off the Cold

It’s the start of the rainy season and it is during this time that the incidence of the common cold increases. I had passed on running the Pringles Run last Sunday since I was avoiding running under the rain for fear of developing a cold, hampering my training. This however got me to wonder whether there was any truth to this, that exposure to cold/rainy weather increases your risk of developing a cold, or was just this another one of those old wives’ tales with no scientific basis…

So I surfed the net looking for any evidence. My initial searches showed articles that did not support this claim. Scientists believed that colds occurred more during the colder season since during this time, people tended to stay indoors making transmission of the colds virus easier, thus more people get sick. Just when I was about to give up and debunk this claim, I came across a report by the New York Times done in November 2005. It reported that in a study done by the Common Cold Center in Wales (yup, you read that right, the UK has a center that’s devoted to studying JUST the common cold! – shows us how important this common condition is), it was shown that when volunteers were exposed to cold conditions, they developed, within 5 days, a cold almost 3x more frequent than subjects who remained dry. Though this was just one article among the many that showed cold weather is not a risk factor for developing colds, it’s still important because it gives a little credence to what our mothers have always been telling us ever since we were kids… “stay out of the cold, and keep yourself warm, as you might develop a cold.”

Though cold weather doesn’t really weaken a person’s immunity, the viruses that are the cause of a cold grow maximally at lower temperatures, and this may partially explain why we develop colds more during colder weather.

For runners, what does this mean? It just means that if the weather conditions seem to be not good for running, it’s a bit prudent to skip running in the meantime, but if the urge to run is strong, just remember to keep yourself warm before and after your run…. Keep on running!

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting other ways of preventing the development of the common cold…

Missing the Pringles Run

It had been raining the past few days and a lot of people, me included, were concerned that the Pringles 3 mile run was not going to push through. Blogs, especially transition zero and the bull runner’s, informed runners that the organizers were optimistic that the run would push through. I was rather apprehensive though since as of last night, it was still raining! Still, I set my alarm at 3:30 am and slept early in preparation for the run.

When I woke up due to the continuous bleeping of my phone, I proceeded to do my usual pre-run activities… in spite of the sound of the howling winds outside. At around 4:30 am, I went outside to check on the weather… I felt a slight drizzle, and the sky was really cloudy. I had an inkling that a slight drizzle wouldn’t cancel the run, but I was beginning to second-thought whether I would go the Fort and still join the run. Was it worth the risk of getting sick by going there and running with the wet conditions? In the end, I decided it wasn’t. I didn’t want to hamper my training for my long-term goal of running in my first ever marathon, and my short term goal of having a PR run at the DocFit Run next Sunday. So I just unpacked my running kit, retreated to the warmth of my bed, and went back to sleep

By daybreak, as I woke up… though I wasn’t able to join Pringles, I decided to go for my tempo run today (got stuck running on the treadmill however, since there was still a light drizzle outside). I had to go do a tempo run today because of the following reasons:

• I haven’t had one this week…
• I had to burn off the one canister of Pringles chips I ate last night, since I was supposed to bring the empty canister today so I can get myself loot from the run (it was a prerequisite according to the organizers…. By the way, is it just me or have the Pringles cans shrunk? I seem to remember them being wider…)

For all those who joined the 3 runs scheduled for today, hope you all had a good one! Congratulations!

Tempo run today:

Distance: 10 km

Time: 50:30

Next race: DocFit Run @ UP Diliman on May 25, 2008 à I hope it doesn’t rain

Measuring Distances

Measuring the distance of a run is very important for runners. It’s a means for us to compute our pace and to monitor our improvement. There are a lot of ways to do this, and here’s the progression on how I measured the distances of my runs… not surprisingly, it mirrors my progression as a runner:

1. use a treadmill — this is where I started. I would hop on the machine, set my desired settings, and just walk/jog/run away. The machine then posts information like distance traveled, level of incline, speed and calories burned. This may seem fun at first, but once the novelty wears off, running in place begins to get boring. This tends to happen when the only view you get while running is your reflection staring back at you, huffing and puffing, and all sweaty…
2. run on a track — my first taste of the outdoors. The view is different, I feel the wind on my face for the 1st time on a run… but like on the treadmill, all these become boring. The view becomes repetitive, and since a track is just 400 meters, to run 2 km, one has to circle the track 5 times. A 10 km run is 25 times around! Its like running on a treadmill, only its wider, and its done outside… of course, running on a track still has its advantages since this is a good place to train for those sprints and intervals (means to make running on a track interesting)…
3. use streets as markers — with this, I wasn’t really able to measure actual distances. What I did was to run up to a particular street, then turn around and go back to where I started. Once my level of fitness improved, I would just run farther up to the next street before turning back. At some point however, I began to wonder how far was I really running. How far was the next street to the next? It no longer sufficed that I knew I was running farther, I wanted to know exactly by how much…
4. use the kilometer markings in roads… in major roads, there are these kilometer markers put up near the side walk, where the distance to the next and preceding towns are engraved. It was a good thing that Roxas Blvd, where I did most of my runs, had these (KM 0 by the way is the Rizal Monument in Luneta). Because of these markers, I found out that Km 1 is near P. Gil, Km 2 is just before Quirino, Km 3 is just beyond CCP, Km 4 is just after Buendia, and Km 5 is in EDSA. This was ok until I noticed that minor streets didn’t have these markers, so running through them would mean I wouldn’t be getting the exact distances of my runs…
5. use a map, a ruler, and some math skills… I bought a map of Metro Manila, which was drawn to scale. Using a ruler, I would measure the length of my running route in centimeters, then using ratio and proportion, would compute for the actual distance. Of course this wasn’t the exact distance, but it was a very good approximation. I actually had fun finding out how far one point was from the other using this method. A problem though was measuring non-linear shaped routes (circles, oblongs), and for some smaller streets, they weren’t drawn to scale! Since I didn’t want to cheat by assuming a route is longer when it might actually be shorter, I needed a more effective way of measuring my runs…
6. use google earth — this program (which is downloaded from the net) uses satellite imagery and it has a function where you can measure the distance between two points, or of an entire route. Pretty accurate, however, this is very tedious to do. You also need to have a computer, and a fast enough internet connection for this method to be effective…
7. get a garmin — I used to read from a lot of blogs on how runners would just snap these GPS sensor watches on their wrists, turn it on, wait for it to pick up a signal, then just run off. And as they ran, they can access information regarding their running, not just of the distance travelled, but also their pace, lap splits, time, calories burned, and a whole lot. It was all the information provided by a treadmill, strapped conveniently on the wrist. Whenever I read these, I was really green with envy! So, I got one! And, it has so far turned out to be one of my best running gadget investments…

So why did I need to measure distances? It just arose when I noted I was improving with my running, when I began to feel I was running farther… and faster. But I didn’t want to just rely on my feelings, I wanted objective data that I could record, and analyse… in the hope that with these information, it would make me a better runner

In Awe of the Elites

The weather has really been bad the past few days. Its been raining almost every afternoon! So yesterday, instead of having my easy run outside, and even though I know it would bore me to death… I had to content myself running indoors using the gym treadmill.

My plan was to run 10km in an hour so I set the machine at a pace of 6min/km. I also set it to automatically vary the incline after 10 minutes or so (might as well maximize the tread by doing some “hill” training). After about 15 minutes, I increased the pace to 5:30min/km just to keep me interested. When I reached 8.5 km, I decided to further increase the pace to 5 min/km, where my plan was to try and simulate the sprint at the end of a race. So at 9.5 km, just for the heck of it, I increased the pace to 4 min/km! With much difficulty, I was able to run and complete the 500 meters at this pace. I felt my calves and other leg muscles burn, my breathing rate increased, and my perspiration just gush out. It was my all-out pace which really left me winded after. (I was really huffing and puffing after…)

After my run, I thought of how the 4 min/km pace was so tough on me that I could only maintain it for 500 meters. It then dawned on me that our elites run at a much faster pace, for much longer distances. And to top it all off, they make it look so easy! That’s why I’m in such awe of these runners… they simply are amazing!