This past weekend, we were up in Sacramento for the Shamrock'n Half. I ran the 10K, while Gianina and Adrian did the 5K. I was initially planning to do the half marathon but decided to bail out several weeks ago because... well, i just didn't want to do it half-assed. At my current level of fitness, i could definitely finish 13.1, but not well enough for my taste. I know my running will never be "competitive," but i still have standards, hahaha.
This was kind of a big deal for me because I haven't run a 10K since i was 7 years younger and 30 pounds lighter. I wanted to test myself and see if i could still do a sub-60.
Well, i failed. I got in a little over 60.
HOWEVER, I don't feel as bad about it as i thought i would. For one, my time did not go all the way up to 1:01. While not very precise, i can still say i finished a 10K "in an hour." Also, 16/35 for my age group is a smidge above median. Eight years ago, despite finishing in about 58 minutes and change, i was still below 50th percentile. Growing old (and trying to keep fit while doing it) has its perks, i suppose.
I actually ran TWO races this weekend, simultaneously. We also signed up for the 3rd annual Pi Day 5K (10K for me). It's an interesting concept: a VIRTUAL race which you run wherever you are, around "Pi Day," or March 14th (3/14). I don't think we will win any prizes, but it sounded sufficiently geeky to sign up for, and is for a good cause, donating part of the proceeds to the Expanding Your Horizons Network, which helps get girls and young ladies into STEM careers.
So now i have a finishing time for that race as well.
All in all, i seem to be mostly on track for hitting my main fitness goal, which is to get back to the shape i was in when i was a "runner." Between injuries and the fellowship, the past several years turned me into a bag of grease held together by soft muscles and sinew. The races i run mainly serve the purpose of "checkpoints" to keep me honest/accountable. Well okay, they're fun too.
This past weekend was just supposed to be a relaxing long-weekend-cum-short-vacation. We spent a few days in Hawaii, did all the touristy things, and met up with an old friend. However, while on the tour bus, it came to our attention that there was a little event going on on Presidents' Day called the Great Aloha Run. Apparently it was a big deal around those parts. After doing a little research on it (mainly to determine the distance, since I was incidentally planning to do a long run on that day anyway), I said what the hey, why not?,signed up, and ummm... ran with it.
I finished the 8.15 mile course in 1:31:01.
I'm actually somewhat disappointed with my time. Since I'm gunning for a 10K in a few weeks, i was hoping to at least finish this race in under 1:30. Interestingly, my mapmyrun app reported that I actually ran a MUCH longer race at 8.61 miles.
I ran almost half a mile more. Ridiculous! I guess if i want to clock in better times i'm going to have to learn to run the tangents better. I suspect that bathroom break around mile 6.5 didn't really help either. Oh well. Not bad, i suppose, considering that i did not prepare in any way, shape, or form for the race. Not to mention the relative warmth and humidity. Nor the upper respiratory infection i was nursing. Nor the big tonkatsu dinner i had the night before. Excuses galore! Let's see how well i do on that upcoming 10K; hopefully i won't have to come up with any excuses for that one.
Here are some pics:
Hanging loose before the start of the race. Despite my expression, i was not under the influence of any substance.
The requisite selfie at the starting line. Kid, why are you photobombing me?
Close to the finish, i identified a photo op, and posed like a real runner.
Done!
Requisite selfie at the finish, in the Aloha Stadium.
A little bit of wishful thinking when i wrote down my time. Oops!
This past weekend, i finished the 8th annual St. Joseph's 5K Fun Run/Walk for Wellness with a time of 29:44.
My goal was to reclaim my old "glory" and finish a 5K in less than 30 minutes. I have my doubts about the course's distance, since my GPS watch informed me that I only ran 3 miles, but i'll just take them at their word. Part of the problem is that there wasn't a clearly-demarcated starting line (that i could appreciate, at least), so i only turned on my watch when i arbitrarily deemed that i had "started" running. Perhaps i merely waddled through the first 0.1 miles of the race looking for the starting line? Meh. These are the problems one runs into when the race doesn't use chip time.
At any rate, my watch says i did 3 miles in about 28:27. So even if i had continued to run another 0.1 at a 10-minute-per-mile pace, i would've come in at 29:27. Mission accomplished!
Moving forward - i was able to do a "recovery" run the day after the race with minimal soreness. Meaning, i think my overall level of fitness is continuing to improve. I "should" be ready to run a 10k (and perhaps a "full" half in the next few months).
Onward!
At least i have pictures where i don't quite look like i'm walking anymore.
Keeping fit while on vacation in the Philippines is a challenging proposition. The caloric ratio of the bakasyonista (vacationer) skews almost completely toward the "intake" part. The reunions. The buffet lunches and dinners. The meriendas (snacks) in between. The relatives saying kain ka pa (eat some more)! The drinking sessions. Sometimes all in the same day. One's guts expand to near-epic proportions while the metabolism struggles futilely to burn the overabundant fuel. Time, the most precious commodity of all during a two-week vacation, is carefully rationed between friends and family, and the intention to exercise gets violently shoved aside in favor of another gimik (outing). Weight maintenance becomes nigh-impossible and weight loss becomes LITERALLY impossible.
Since I have a 5k lined up for the end of January, I forcibly carved out some time to run. Jet-lagged and woozy for the first few days, I sadly couldn't bring myself to run at all. When Gianina and I went to Singapore (a story for another post), I was at least able to do a quick treadmill 3-miler at the hotel: my first "run" of the year. I was only really, really able to run a little over a week in.
Afraid of getting chased by askals (street dogs), I opted not to run within the borders of our village. But I heard that there were plenty of "exercisers" at the local SM Southmall, so I decided to drive out there and do laps.
Amazingly, there was a fantastic amount of activity going on in the SM parking lot. For the uninformed: SM is the name of a chain of shopping malls scattered (or rather, placed strategically) throughout the Philippines. These huge edifices usually have massive parking lots to accommodate the multitude of shoppers that arrive every day. Prior to opening, said lots are almost completely empty, making them prime areas for activities requiring lots of space.
There were runners/walkers, who looked like they had been there since the crack of dawn.
There were kids playing volleyball.
There was a group of what appeared to be police or private security company recruits marching around in formation. I didn't take a picture of them in fear of being labeled some sort of security risk and subsequently detained. One can't be too careful about these things.
Most interestingly, in two separate areas of the parking lot, there were some sort of dance classes/sessions going on. I would say Zumba, but I'd just be guessing.
Everybody seemed to really be into it. Unfortunately, I had no context whatsoever for what was going on. Were they organized classes that the participants had signed up and paid for? Or did they just "organically" start from a small group of people clowning around, accruing a bigger attendance as time went by? Personally, I wonder if this is the Filipino version of "Tai-chi in the park" like they do in China. I did an internet search about dancing in SM parking lots but didn't come up with anything. Perhaps we could market it as some sort of tourist attraction. If it turns into a global phenomenon, you heard it here first!
With much difficulty (I'm not accustomed to running in 85-degree heat with 100% humidity), I slogged through a slow 4-miler. My performance wasn't too shabby, all things considered. For the remainder of our vacation, I ran three more times, although never again at an SM. I don't know if my efforts actually paid off in terms of weight maintenance (all told, I gained 8 pounds in two weeks... perhaps it would have been more if I had been completely sedentary?), but at least I tried. We'll find out at the 5k if there's been any improvement in my fitness level whatsoever.
