I ran 21km at the 2nd Quezon City International Marathon last Sunday, and I must say, for one who hasn’t joined an organized race since April 2010, it was a great experience to be out there once again, enjoying the crowd, the ambiance and the long distance.
My race bib and singlet for QCIM2
My training for this race wasn’t completely on-schedule. I think I may have fallen short of my mileage. Nevertheless, the main point of joining was to have fun and enjoy, and finish in one piece.
The route was very simple: Take-off from Philcoa, then go into UP for a round at the academic oval, then off to Commonwealth Ave. all the way down the turnaround point. On the way back meant another round in UP before heading home to the Finish at Philcoa.
I wore my new Adizero Ace for this race, and thankfully, it held up despite the minimal cushioning. Maybe I stretched it a bit coz I did feel some soreness in my knees after the kilomter 15 thereabouts.
Running with RJ, who coincidentally had a similar color combination Adizeros, was great, and we made sure we didn’t push strong early on. He did a real even pace, quite steady and rhythmic, which I tried to follow. It was a good, even pace two-thirds of the race. I just had to fall back a couple of times to catch my breath and rest my sore calves. I guess my lack of mileage showed in the second half of the 21km.
My race ended right near the UP School of Economics on the way back. That was were my Garmin said it was already 21km, with a reading of 2:55. When that happened, I said to myself, “ok, my race is over.”
And then I just walked most of the way out of UP after catching up with Neil, RJ, who were my pacers in my first-ever 21km at last year’s Timex Run. Coincidentally, my finish time was almost the same. They both also started walking once they hit 21km.
Like some other runners, I got dejected when I noticed the disparity in the km markers along the route compared to my Garmin reading. To be off by 2km halfway through means a really longer second half.
So I didn’t push anymore. I signed up to do 21km, and that’s what I did. The last 2.2km back to the “showbiz” Finish line was just a cool down, but we jogged a bit on the way there para kunwari we were still in good shape.
That's me and RJ on Commonwealth. Grouchy meets Steady. Photo grabbed from The Greentennial Run Facebook page.
It turned out that the 21km route measured a distance of 22.3km! I didn’t bother taking note of my finish time coz at that point, it didn’t really matter anyway. In true grouchy fashion, I could care less.
Overall, the 2nd QCIM can probably considered a huge success, with the large turnout of runners and a bunch of Kenyans winning almost all the top spots, as usual. Everyone was over-hydrated with water and Powerade. The only downside was the overlong 21km route that ironically was PATAFA-certified. IMHO, last year’s QCIM was definitely more festive.
This race reminded me why I didn’t particularly enjoy running long distances. Its all about pain. Sweet pain. And its great to bring home a medal after all that.
My off-season has now started, but come January, will just focus on the shorter distances, like 5km and 10km.
I was telling RJ that shorter races are better: racing flats look nicer, you don’t have to wake up too early for races, you don’t look too wasted at the finish, the reg fee is cheaper, the girls are cuter, and you can still walk properly for the rest of the day.
Here's what I got after running 21km and then some.
