Run for the Pasig River... are we really helping?

Last Sunday, I ran another 10K for the Philippine International Marathon, Run for the Pasig River (PIM). I was excited as this is my first race for the month of November (AKA Bday Month). I arrived, ran and finished the race in a normal way and nothing different from my previous races. What struck me the most are the litter around Quirino Grandstand. While I was looking for the booth for the certificates, I passed by the finishline and the stage, and saw a lot of papers, cups, and everything littered on the road. This question then struck my mind "shouldn't this race be clean, after all, this is for rehabilitating the Pasig River".

The litter in not techincally the problem of the race organizer but this should have been looked into as the race promotes cleaning the Pasig River. I hope, this message would be relayed to the organizers and ABS-CBN Foundation to see a litter free PIM 2010.

OK, now I am confused...

On November 22, 2009...

OR

Hard decision ey?

Plans for November

November 8, 2009 - Pasig: Philippine International Marathon 2009 - 10K

November 15, 2009 - Animo Run - 5K

November 22, 2009 - Dare to be Fit: Fit anf Right Run - 10K

November 29, 2009 - New Balance Run - 10K

I was at my best in Adidas KOTR

This race is the 3rd part of my October running calendar. And boy, it was indeed sweet. I was able to register a new PR of 1:05:40. I ensured that I did check the time right before I step on the finishline mat. This new record is definitely much better than my best 1:09.

I did not do much preparation for this run as I ran a 21K the Sunday prior. Add to that the load in school, fashion week and all. I ran the Thursday before but for pure recreational and nothing serious or major. I went to Anne's place to do a sleep over to ensure I am not harrased when going to The Fort for the run. I even slept past my bed time at 11:00PM.

On the race day, I went to the venue with Minette and Anne and met Tin at ROX. We were a bunch of happy people as we are excited to see a lot of people in the start line. The field was literally swimming in yellow (bright I may add) as almost everyone wore their Adidas shirts. I checked in alone in the 10K chute as Tin (for some reasons I do not know) decided to run the 5K rather than our usual 10K. And at exactly 6:00AM, the gun was fired and off we go.

I was planning on not getting excited and pushing myself to the limit at the beginning of the race. I told myself that I should slow down and ensure I have a good split time (although honestly, there is no way for me to know). I paced myself in the 7:00 and so I thought. Everybody was passing by me at the beggining and I couldn't really care. My plan was clear, run the first 5K and do 3 minute walking for the latter part.

I was happy and contented with how I am doing. Upon the ascend along the Kalayaan flyover, I tried to remember the pointers Running Diva gave me during the QCIM - when ascending, look at your feet and not on the road ahead. This way, you will be distracted with the height of the challenge ahead. I did just that ad was successful. I crossed Kalayaan, Paseo de Roxas and Makati Ave with a breeze. I was very happy to see Petron Megaplaza because I now exactly know how far I am from the turn-around point. I then saw Mapua and was looking forward for a 3minute walk. Upon turning, I walked and then ran. I ran and ran until Kayalaan Flyover again. This time, the people who have overtook me are starting to slow down and I have overtaken them already. I walked again some more along Kalayaan and checked at my watch. It says 0:55. I computed the remaining distance at the fort and checked that I will still be able to make the 1:05 target. I strengthened my pace and was able to clock in at the finishline at 1:05:40. My plan was perfect. This is now my best record for a 10K. Afterwhich, the gruelling part where I have to look for everone started. It was indeed a huge crowd of 7,000 and finding 3 people is very hard.

Upon our reunion, we decided to eat breakfast and en route to the car (being escorted by P&G security - for Anne), we bumped into fellow P&G runners and they told us to wait for a bit to have our picture taken. We waited for a bit and took the group photo.

Below are the post-race pictures:

P&G Peeps

Anne (First 5K), Minette (First Run), Tin (too experience for 5K) and Moi

Anne, Minette and I with Joey, Cris and Diego

Scared of KOTR

Yes. I am scared of the Adidas KOTR. After my successful attempt of a half-marathon last Sunday, I tried running again last Thursday so just I am sure I can still run. But to my surprise, I was not able to run my usual route at the same pace and time as I usually do. I am mostly walking this time which led me thinking that this is because my muscles are still recovering from its first 21K.

This then face me some concerns for Adidas tomorrow. I am running 10K and what if I will not be able to finish it? Hopefully I do. I know that I just need recovery time.

Also, another part of me is scared of Adidas because of its logistics way back to the distribution of packets. They were quite unorganized and many people were upset of the way this was handled. Hopefully, the race wouldn't be as unorganized as the distribution. We'll just have to wait and see.