Inquirer 25 for 25 Run

Distance: 10K
Time: 59 minutes 56 Seconds (Sub60)
Date: February 27, 2011
Pace: 5:59 minutes / kilometer

Sub6o

January and February 2011 had me breathing closely at my sub60 goal for 10K finishing Subic International Marathon in 1:01. I had a wrong strategy of taking in a Banana at Condura Skyway Marathon which gave me several kilometers of a heavy feeling bust still finished at 1:04.  I finished with 1:02 in Last Man Running with a time of 1:02 even if it was an uphill run.  I felt that any race now would be my break through  sub60 race course.

Inquirer 25 for 25 Run

25 for 25 Run was in celebration of Inquirer’s newspaper 25th year anniversary.  The main event for this one was 5 x 5K Relay for a total of 25 kilometers.  Initially, I planned to join the relay as it’s a rare event but since I can’t complete a team of 5 runners, I just went on to join the 10K Run instead.  The week that came before this day was real tough.  Stuck in board meeting preparations, recovering from cough and colds and struggling during training with the low energy left after a long day’s work.

The Course and the Race

The course was relatively flat with some false flats on the second half of the race. The flat surfaces of the Fort was such a tempting opportunity to hit a new PR or finish Sub60.  The key was to run as many kilometers below 6 minute per kilometer pace.  At gun start, I zoomed to a 5 minutes per kilometer pace which I held for almost 3 kilometers.  Finished the first 5K in less than 30 minutes so just had to endure another 5 kilometers and I have a shot at sub60. I just kept on pushing myself.  Each time I wanted to rest, I’d slow down and count to 4 and run again. At the 8th kilometer, I was already feeling some tightness in my legs from over exertion but I just ignored it. Pain is temporary.   After all the pushing,  I had an adrenalin rush as I saw that the clock was still within an hour from gun start so dashed as hard as I can towards the finish line and the end result, 59:56.  My very first sub60.

Mission Accomplished

I started training with a goal of finishing a 10K run in an hour and I am so happy that the time has come to achieve such feat after months of training. It didn’t came easy but finishing in less than an hour even if it was just a few seconds into sub60 was well worth it.

Now to learn to do this consistently as this is only the beginning.