Condura Skyway Marathon

Chasing my 10K PR!!!

Distance: 10K
Time: 1 hour 4 minutes
Date: February 6, 2011
Pace: 6:24 minutes / kilometer

Sub60 and away

Heading into Condura 2011, I was a fraction of a minute away from my sub60 10K goal finishing Subic International Marathon in 1:01. I was really pressured to do well in this run after all you only get to run in the Skyway once a year.  Of course, the hilly route of the Skyway would also be a challenge.

The Course

Race starts at Ayala Triangle and heads towards the Makati Skyway exit in the first kilometer with a steep 50 meter climb entering the Skyway. The Skyway stretch is about 3 kilometers out and back heading to the Buendia Exit at kilometer 4.  The Buendia Stretch to Kalayaan Flyover is about 3 kilometers. The race shifts back to a climb at Kalayaan Flyover heading to BGC until kilometer 9. The race enters 32nd Street and ends at 9th Avenue for the Finish.

The Race

I was so excited for this run and as the race started, it is ON.  I went at a fast pace even if it was an uphill start running below 6 minutes per kilometer. I slowed down a bit on the climb to Skyway. I went on to catch up the sub 6 minutes per kilometer in the remaining 3K stretch in the Skyway and next kilometer heading to Buendia.   I managed to finish the first 5K below 30 minutes and I’m in range for the sub 60 finish.  First half done.

At the 5K mark, I got tempted by free bananas at the booth. Since I rushed eating the banana, my body reacted differently. The energy boost I expected turned out to give me a heavier tummy resulting to a struggle for the next 3 kilometers.  Bad Banana.  Never do something new on race day.  I was still able to maintain a fast pace but the effort put into each step was heavier.  I really felt like vomiting throughout all those three kilometers. I persevered on this part but I did lose some precious minutes because of the struggle. My body recovered at kilometer 8 in the middle of the climb. I tried to speed up to catch up on my lost pace and went on to speed up until the finish line.

I still was able to complete the run at a decent pace. No new PRs here though the course was longer by 400 meters. Running the Skyway was really an experience even if it was a brief climb in Makati Flyover.  I’m definitely looking forward to more runs at the Skyway and even a longer distance.

The Lesson

I’ll learned my lesson here to avoid anything that can make a stomach heavy during the run.  It’s always best to try something new on training before an actual race.  When running a race you get to run against thousands of runner but the biggest competition you have within a race is yourself.  I had a decent time but sub60 was a goal and it was not met at this race so will work harder towards that goal.