Rock ‘n’ Roll shoes

This just came in yesterday – Asics Gel Kayano 15. 

I will be breaking it in today and see if this will be my rock ‘n’ roll shoes.

 

Update: I took my new shoes for a spin today and ran 16kms without any problems. This is it! hehehe

Rock ‘n’ Roll Countdown

30 Days more til Seattle goes Rock ‘n’ Roll!

 

Beating the Bridge

So I was doing my 10K last Thursday on Burke Gilman Trail when I stumble upon this sign board saying that my favorite trail will be busy on Sunday for an event named – “Beat the Bridge“. Curious, I went online to know more about this event. The race is a fund raising activity to beat diabetes and is 8km/5miles around Portage Bay – cool. The starting line is at Husky Stadium, University of Washington which is 4kms from my apartment. I could do a 4km warm-up to get the venue and then run 8km – perfect for my long run. Double cool!

Saturday noon I was at Husky Stadium to register. I was asked at registration what would be my estimated time so they could put me on one of the three waves for the 8K run. I figured my intention was not to race so I signed up for the last wave. After paying the reg fee and getting my shirt, I went on spending this great Saturday weather shopping with my friends at an outlet mall outside Seattle.

Race day, I woke up excited to blue skies. After a light breakfast, I proceeded with my 4k warm-up to the race venue. It was a very slow pace as I was conserving my energy for the 8k. There was a huge number of runners when I arrived at Husky Stadium. The race started 5 minutes late as the timing chip provider had technical problems. First off are the walkers then Wave 1, Wave 2 and finally Wave 3.

Going around Portage Bay means we have to crossed two bridges – Montlake Bridge and University Bridge. I reached Montlake Bridge a few minutes as it was just near Husky Stadium. One bridge down one to go. 

I was almost at the University Bridge when I heard the bells ringing. Was there a boat coming? How can that be when there is an ongoing race. At the foot of the bridge, I saw hundreds of runners stood still and looking at the other side of the bridge. And then the bridge raised up. This made me realized that the purpose of this race was to cross the bridge before it raises. If I knew this earlier, I would have joined Wave 2. Too late!

I immediately went to race mode after the bridge went down. Probably the 4km warm-up did its job. The race ended inside Husky Stadium. It’s my first time to be inside the stadium – football and track oval. Now I know where I could do speed training (miss Ultra!) Minus the waiting time at the bridge, I finished 8km in 46 minutes. A new PR! 

Wish I could do this again next year and beat the bridge but I would be back in Manila by that time. We’ll see.

Birthday Run Results

Vancouver Running Photos

May 2, 2009 – Race Expo at Concord Pacific Place

 

May 3, 2009 – Race Day.

 

 

with fellow Pinoy runners - Trixie & Joaquin

 

 

Vancouver Running

It was raining the day before and I already resigned to the fact that it will be another raining and cold race. However, I woke up race day with clear skies outside my hotel room window. Woohoo! I had a quick shower, breakfast and walked my way to the race venue.

At the starting line, I positioned myself behind the 2:00 hr pace bunny hoping to improve my PR. At the 3km mark, I started to slow down. My ankle started to hurt a bit so I had to stop and do some stretching. The 2:15 pace bunny eventually caught with me near the 10th km. I know that I was running faster than 2:15. I also overheard a runner saying that the pace bunny was doing 2:10. Weird.

I thought that this would be a flat course but to my surprise there is a long uphill waiting for us on Stanley Park after the 12 km mark. We are 200 ft at the highest point. And then it came to my mind, the pace bunny was running faster so we could make up for the time on the uphill.

It was downhill after that and I was running more comfortably. I was passing by more runners and counting the remaining kilometers – 6, 5, 4 ,3 2… and at the last kilometer, I heard someone shout “Mabuhay”. I turned around and saw this runner waving and smiling back at me. The “Come Visit the Philippines” shirt (great job Aljo!) did its charm. In the short introduction I learned that Trixie is a PAL attendant and is also running together with another attendant. I stayed with her until the finish line and met up with her other friends for some photo op.  I finished with a time of 2:15 according to Garmin.

Running BMO Vancouver Marathon was truly an awesome experience – nice weather, well-organized, scenic route, huge and very encouraging crowd and I love the bib and medal.

As I head back to my apartment, I stopped by the finish line in time to see the full marathoners coming in. I saw different emotions as each runner crosses the finish line. In a few weeks time, I will be completing my first full marathon.

Pictures on the next post.  :)