Happy Sunday, people! :)
Being a 27 year old lawyer takes a toll on my fitness. My job requires me to just sit and write for the most part. Also, I'm at an age when I don't really feel the need or desire to go out anymore, especially considering that fewer and fewer people around me are up to it, because they're out there settling down and making babies, hehe.
Anyway, at this state, extra effort is required of me to look for activities to keep myself active, in order to somehow keep myself fit. So when my good friend Ana (Banana) asked me to be her buddy for a 10k run, I immediately said yes!
711 is hosting this fun run, she said. We'd get a medal. Who wouldn't want a medal! I wanted one!
But yeah, soon I realized that I had to earn that medal.
When Ana registered for us online, we had about 7 weeks before the race. The first two weeks, I just went out and did some brisk walking in Ayala Triangle.
After that, boss MJ, a triathlete co-woker of mine, gave me this walk to run plan:
The running plan MJ gave me was super helpful! :) I felt stronger and stronger as I followed it, even if I wasn't able to finish it due to lack of time. I'm sharing it here for my fellow weaklings out there. :D (Yes, you can run! Go for it!)
Fast forward to 13 March, when I was scheduled to pick up my kit at the 711 where I paid for my registration. Experienced a bit of a hiccup here. They pulled out the kits early, and I was instructed to just claim my kit at the venue. Also, the sales clerks at the store had no idea why this happened. They told me that MAYBE my kit will be returned because there had been a miscommunication.
Not cool, 711 :( better coordination, please. Also, brief your sales clerks about what's up so they'd at least know how to respond to complaints. :|
I was forced to assert myself and talk to management. Eventually, after three visits back to the store, I got my kit:
For Php500 I got a singlet, a race bib, and a tracker.
The instructions indicated that the tracker is supposed to be attached to my shoe like so:
After that, I had to activate my bib so that my run would be recorded. Experienced a minor hiccup here. It took me about 20+ tries before bib finally got activated.
Hiccups aside, I was going to have fun on this run. But before that, me and my friends had a fun run sleepover! Yay! :D
Me, Ana, Cris, and Seth.
I think we had a little too much fun because we got to the venue the morning after a wee bit late. :/
It didn't help that the event was not too well-organized. When we got there, there were a bunch of runners just floating around. It wasn't clear where we should go. There also wasn't any centralized announcement system to let us know what's up.
We just found our way to the starting line and found out that we missed our gun-off. The organizers just let us pass.
Okay so I have no pictures when I did the actual run because hey, I lived in the moment! :)
To be fair, I liked the route. :) we ran along the Skyway in Alabang. It gave me a spectacular view of the sunrise :) This also meant that the run pretty much went on a straight path, with a little uphill and downhill. Nice.
Since this is my first run, I was not able to run the whole time. What I did instead was a run/walk. I just made sure that I ran for at least two minutes for every five minute interval. :)
I finished the 10k run faster than I expected! I thought it would take me at least two hours to get it done, but I finished it in an hour and twenty six minutes. :)
Btw, a gentle reminder to runners out there, please, please try to keep out of the way of other runners. I think the general rule is to keep right. I won't judge you if you'd like to take selfies or whatever, but pretty please be considerate. Don't block the finish line just to take that picture to give due consideration to people who want to make good time. I almost had to shove away people just to cross the finish line. :|
Anyway, I was happy to run into a law school friend after finishing my run:
He was kind enough to keep me company for a while when I waited in line to get my loot bag. The line was long.
For finishing the run, I got a shirt, some crackers, a bottle of Pocari Sweat, and a MEDAL! :D
The event could have been more well-organized. I'm just too tired to go into the details.
Another friendly reminder, fellow runners, please clean up after yourselves. I mean, seriously. :(
Trash everywhere :(
In spite of everything, it was a fun run for me and my friends. :)
Buddy Ana and me.
We're so happy we're finished!
Only Seth wanted to place because she's intense like that. (Love you Seth please don't kill me!)
Happy with their finisher shirts.
We celebrated with brunch in Legaspi Sunday Market. Good times! :)
Joining a fun run is a great idea if you want to start exercising. It gives you a goal you can work up to and look forward to. You also get an extra boost of confidence once you finish. :)
Ana's talking about doing a 16k run now.
Challenge accepted!
You can learn more about 711run1500 here: http://www.run711.com
Be happy!
<3 Missy
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