Globe Run for Home 2010 - Finally Breached 2hrs

Rewind
Last year, i ran a few half marathons. Some official and others.. not so official.haha! One thing common with these runs was i never got to breach the 2hr barrier. :-) I've plateu'd at 6min/km for 15-21kms distances. Ironically, my last official 21k run was the GlobeRUn 2009 where i clocked 2:06.

The Plan
For this year's GlobeRun, I was kinda hoping for a different result, so needed to try something different in terms of preparation and race strategy.

My plan was to run a pace faster than usual at the start and do a positive split. I don't have a garmin nor HRM to monitor my pace and heart rate. I just wait until i huff and puff, then make my adjustments from there.


The Prep
After Condura Marathon, i took a 2 week break from running. When i got back, my runs were just enough to prepare for the run leg of the Ateneo aquathlon. I was just doing short runs, 5-8kms each time, but with a bit more intensity, ranging from 4:30 - 5:20 min/kms. I sort of got fond of this program coz obviously it takes much less time than my usual 1-1.5hr runs 2x a week. I carried on with this program for the GlobeRun prep since i was pretty sure that i can take on the distance. Well, i did run a 15km (10km - 1hr rest - 5km) 4 days before the event. And a full day's rest the day before. I usually bike on Saturdays even when there's a run event the following day.


The Race
I went at it from the get go, weaving my way thru the crowd at a pace i never imagined doing right off the bat. Sure enough, just before the Buendia flyover, i was huffing. I guess my positive split can only go that far... hehe.. So i slowed down and took shorter strides on the ascent until i settled down and got my rhythm back.

I increased my pace once again and slowed down as needed. I never looked at my watch which was part of my strategy (i didn't wanna know my pace based on KM markers. If i knew that i was running faster than 6min/km after 10kms, that would've made my legs wobble) but i was sure i was still going beyond my normal 21k pace.


I took sips of water/powerade every water station early on but i noticed there were lots of them so i hydrated just every other water station i passed.


Strong Finish
At 17km mark, i finally decided to look at my watch, i was at 1:36. That means i can breach 2hr if i can maintain a 6min/hr pace. I wasn't that amused though, i was sure i was running at a faster pace than that and was expecting more time to spare for a sub 2. Anyway, i stepped on the gas anticipating the Kalayaan fly over ahead.

I passed a few runners in the process and finally stepped on the mat at 1:57++.

Found out later on that the distance was more than 21.1k. Some Garmins registered 22kms.
That meant my finish time should've been 4minsless. But i'll take 1:57 anytime...


The result
I finally got the official results and the analysis. My splits posted, being on the 14km and 17km marks, weren't that conclusive to figure out if i did a positive or a negative split. I probably did a bit of both. Positive split on the 1st half and a negative split on the 2nd half.. hehe.
....whatever... i'm happy with the results... at 1:57:31, it's a personal best!!

NAME: Ian Clemeno
EVENT: Run for Home 21Km
DATE: Sunday, 21 March 2010
BIB/DIV: 216 / M3539
TIME: 1h:57m:58s (gun) / 1h:57m:31s (net)