It's been more than a week now since I ran at TAKBOcaue Leg 2, which was held last May 17 at the town of Bocaue (takbo = run, thus Run Bocaue), and was organized by the batch 2001 of the St. Paul College to raise funds to donate to their Alma Mater. This is the second part of their event, and I also participated in their first event last January. Unfortunately, the things I want to write keep filing. Not sure if there will be a third one, but if there is, I would most likely participate to finish the series.
| Takbocaue Leg 1 | Takbocaue Leg 2 |
In their first leg, I ran 10km, which is their longest distance for that event, and finished at 1:00:16. For their second leg, which I joined, the longest distance was 10 miles or around 16.1 km. How long did it take for me to reach the finish line? I will talk about that later, after I talk about my overall experience of the event.
Although the assembly time was at 3:00 A.M., I arrived at the venue as early as 2:30 A.M., not because I wanted to be early, but because I find it hard to sleep. Maybe due to adrenaline. But because of that, I arrived at the venue when they were still setting up.
With nothing else to do, I just proceed with warm-up exercises and some light jogs to avoid any injury when I run later. Also saves me from doing Zumba, which took place before the run, since I'm pretty awful at moving my body when there is music.
Anyway, the run starts at exactly 4:00 A.M. As you can see in this picture, I was at the very front of the starting line. Not like I was competing for the podium or something. Me and my friend, whom I later caught up with, just want to have a smoother start to be as close to our target time. The route we take is mainly flat and paved, which helps in maintaining consistent pacing, though at the same time, there were a couple of areas with little to no lighting, but the organizers have informed us beforehand, so many have brought headlamps and running lights to improve visibility. As part of the route, we also got to run inside the S.t Paul Campus, though there was really nothing to see, since it was still dark.
When I was about 7.5 km, I accidentally swallowed an insect that had tortured me for a good 500-600 meters, though it did not really affect my pace that much. I probably lost more time when I stopped at the hydration station, since I forgot to bring my bottled water, and when I stopped at the Lechon station, to only be told that it was reserved for our second loop.
Aside from those minor inconveniences, there were no incidents that took place, and we safely reached the finish line almost at the same time. But as soon as we get our medals, we've gone into separate ways. My friend goes to find his wife and daughter, who both run in the 5km category, while I proceed to pick up my belongings at the baggage counter, as well as my finisher shirt, since I was soaking with sweat. Little did I know that we would not be able to meet up again that time, because while getting my finisher shirt, I would meet my old boss from my previous job, who had invited me to breakfast.
So, what is my final time? I finished 10 miles within 1:31:33. Just 1:34 mins. shy to finish 10 miles at sub 1:30. Can probably go faster if not for those minor inconveniences that I encountered earlier in the run, but I was able to make my fastest record not only in 10 miles, but also within 10 km in just a single run. The time difference between my new record and my previous record is also quite huge, and it just shows how much I have improved in just a short time.
That was it for me. Thank you for reading my post, and see you on the next one.
