Its been a long time since my last 5K run at JAL run and I'm about to race again. I could still remember my last JAL run and I'm sure many would agree that a 5K run is equally difficult, or even scarier than racing a 10K if your planning to race it really well. What scares me about 5K races is that the one training ingredient necessary to race this distance well, is the one I always keep on missing. Yes, I've been missing a lot of speedwork sessions.
But I missed this distance so much that I wanted to give it another shot. I've registered at BOTAK Paa-bilisan. As I arrived at the race venue there where like 1000 plus runners in the area. I saw Joms who would be running the 10K distance after claiming my race kit from BOTAK staff.
I was again gonna pace with my friend Regie (supposedly) througout the race. When the gun sounded I tried to get away from the traffic of the crowed and started running as fast as I can. I couldn't find Regie because of the many runners running, but I know somewhere he'll find me and with be running together soon. True to what I thought just after 500 meters Regie appeared out of no where and we were running together. While nearing Lawton avenue I saw Joms. Joms is the ultimate Happy Feet target and if he was running 10K, he's sure is fast. I could see my heart rate quickly shoot to 170 after the first 1K. At 2K it was already reaching 180. On the 3rd kilometer it was reaching 186. Nearing the fourth kilometer my feet began to burn! It haven't felt such sensation before but it felt like overheating. I also felt gasping for air. I knew I need to slow down. I tried, but it seems my heart rate is stuck to 180 plus. So I did the worst or maybe wisest decision to stop and walk as I tried to have my heart rate fall. By this time Regie vanished within my site. Many other runners had passed by including Joms. My spirits were down at that point, but I wanted to race and finish the 5K race running than walking. So I started running again. I kept up my pace until I reached Joms again. I decided to pace with him until finish (Note that he's running 10K). The last 500 meters, Joms motivated me to try and add speed to my pace until the finish. So I tried doing what he said until I reached the finish line (Thanks Joms!). I clocked 21 minutes and 50 seconds (I think). But I need to get the official time from Botak to be sure. I may have called this race a bad race day. But I'm taking this one as a good lesson learned. I've learned to still continue to pace evenly even in short races as 5K. Amidst not being able to get a PR, I was still able to enjoy the race. In fact after the race I got to meet blogger friends Run Unltd, Bro J and Running Fatboy (Thanks Bro J for the wonderful pics). I also got a picture with Ms Elma Muros. To Oknoy and the Botak peeps, congratulations for a great race. Now the only bad race day is if you aren't able to race. But everytime ill finish a race may it be a PR or not, it should either be a good race or a great race.
See you guys on the next races. Keep on running and racing!
