(Rainy) Sole Racing

Slowly getting my blog backlogs done.

I had the opportunity again to run in the second leg of the Safeguard-2XU Sole Racing series, this time moving to a new race location - SM Mall of Asia, last 18th of August. It had the same setup as the first leg - a race kit claiming expo which doubles as the race village come race day.

August 16-17: Race Kit Claiming

I was one of the first (excited) people who came to SM Mall of Asia's Music Hall to claim my kit and my fellow blogger friends'. I was so early, some of the booths were still being prepared the time I arrived. As usual, claiming was hassle-free, the staff were very friendly and approachable, and they even took time to counter-check each of the contents of the race kits in front of whoever's claiming them. I had the chance to have a quick chat with Runrio's Ally Lim before heading out, carrying 4 heavy race kit bags back to my car - mine, CJ's, Thirdy's and Rolly's.  

Race Kit Claiming at SM Mall of Asia's Music Hall

Race Kit Contents

August 18: Race Day
Race day is red and black day! Having joined Leg 1, I had the 2XU calf compressions. This leg, they gave away the 2XU sunvisor. I also purchased my third pair of Thorlos running socks (Thorlos 84N), the model which guarantees maximum cushioning, and I'm so excited to test run it on this event.

Red and Black! Alpha-mode ON!

Assembly time was 3am, with gun start slated at 4am. It was drizzling that early Sunday morning but nothing could stop runners from enjoying a good 21km race.

With fellow early bird Patrick "Runningshield" Concepcion

Met my favorite running couple Wes and Mish - they're part of the Six:30 Loveliest Team, competing in the Fastest Team Challenge

The 21km race route was mostly flat - a perfect PR course!

I had my usual target of a sub-2 half marathon, but with the flat course, I was hoping a sub-1:55. But alas, by the time runners reached the 6 to 7KM mark at Roxas Boulevard, it rained! Not just your ordinary rain, but a rain so hard visibility was low. I had races before where it rained but not like this. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it. It was a perfect reason to skip hydration stations and keep on running. I was a bit concerned though that with wet shoes and wet socks, the dreaded blisters would come next. Fortunately, I was wearing Thorlos, and it delivered as expected - no blisters whatsoever!

Half-way point. Wet as hell!

The race, with its limited participants (a thousand runners), is as intimate as it could get. That for me is the best feature of Sole Racing. It's also a venue wherein you could see mostly seasoned runners participating, so you'll get the adrenaline rush to go faster.

Before the final right turn at Seaside Drive

Almost at the finish! Tired. Wrong running form. Haha!

Yay, I managed to still do a sub-2! 1:59:48 to be exact, haha! Amid the heavy and wet shoes, I'm contented with my results and still consider it an achievement. Of course, post-race is the time to meet runner friends and take snaps.

With Thirdy, Rolly and Coach Mherlz

With Team Alpha1 teammate Bry FFS

With Wesley, JP, Rolly and Gilbert - the fast bunch

We stayed for the awarding ceremonies and the raffle. Thirdy was one lucky guy, winning a Timex watch in the raffle. I had no doubt Six:30 Loveliest Team would bag the Fastest Team Challenge award. When they went on stage to receive their trophy, I was a bit envious. I wish my running team's still active. But everyone has their valid reasons to be on a hiatus so it's no big deal. I'm just emo. Hehe!

With Rikki, Rolly, Mommy Vimz and Thirdy

Six:30 Loveliest - Fastest Team Challenge Winners! Congratulations!

Post-race breakfast at Chowking with the usual suspects

I placed 128th out of 825 21km finishers. Since the results released were based on gun time, I plugged in the data at MS Excel and created my version based on chip time. Haha, excel geek. I then posted below image on FB, including results from celebrities and runner friends.

Consistently doing a sub-2 weee!

Leg 3 is on October 27 at Nuvali! Surprise, surprise!

Run, Rain and Pain: 25k at the New Balance Power Run

I'm not a fan of the rain. I miss gym workout sessions when it rains. I miss my running training program when it rains. I'd rather stay home and keep dry.

All that changed on a rainy, Sunday morning of November 6, when I forced myself to go out of bed, and attend the NB Power Run event. I didn't want my money to go to waste; I paid 1000 bucks as registration fee for this! Hehe!

Good thing I'm all geared-up for the downpour. I had my running jacket on as well as a cap to protect my eyes from the rain. My pair of shoes helps keep out water as well. Puddles of water were everywhere, and there was a particular area in the race route were flood waters were about an ankle high. Runners had no choice but to submerge their running feet. Wet shoes... Wet socks... Blisters!

Luckily, I had running company with me, my teammates from Team Alpha1 Coyote and FFS. FFS graciously offered to pace me and Martin. No pressure for me though, as this is my first 25k event, with a sure PR as long as I finish. I appreciated how FFS controlled our pace at the first few kilometers - making us slow down on road bends, advising us to keep steady on uphills, and on top of that, running ahead of us when we're approaching hydration stations and handing us cups of water as soon as we reach the water station. Now that's good pacer service!

We picked up pace at the final 10 kilometers, and by this time, we were overtaking a lot of runners who weren't able to manage to balance their energy reserves well. FFS' strategy worked! We managed to finish in 2 hours, 36 minutes and 59 seconds. Given the weather condition, that's a great time.

Almost at the finish line!

Team Alpha1 25k Finishers

Post-race breakfast at Pancake House

Runpix Analysis - Notice the negative split at the final 11k!

Now the only problem I had with this race is why the heck the finisher's medallion given during registration? If there's any rationale to that, I'd like to know.