Condura 2010 - Half Marathon

What a fantastic day it was! Condura Run 2010 was indeed a success. About 8,500 runners participated in this much awaited running event of the year. For some it was their first run, others did a mileage level up from their last year run, and many have set their new Personal Record (PR). The introduction of the full marathon in this year’s event made it more exciting. Though there were some new highlights in the race, there were still some problems that frustrated some of the runners.

I have been preparing for this event hoping to get a new PR for my half marathon. I was hoping to run the 42km but since I just recovered from an injury, I did not risk it and instead trained for a 21km. It was full determination and excitement that pushed me to take on the challenge and focused on meeting my target time which was 2:15, I finished the race at 2:18:31 (official time). I was practically running at an average pace of 6 min/km in my first 10km which lead me to another PR hitting it in 61 minutes.

I was steady in my first 14km and started to slow down to recover at the 15th km. As I was approaching the Kalayaan flyover, I planned to walk, luckily Val (fellow GRC member) caught up with me and started to run with me. My legs were already fatigued but I was not ready to give up especially when I was close to achieving my goal. As I reached 21km in my garmin, I already hit 2:14, but it was 700m to go at finish line. It took me another 3-4 minutes to reach it. It was a good finish for me obviously as I hit two PR's in this event.

Truly, preparation is key in achieving my goal. I was glad also that my injury had fully recovered. Will continue my training as I am yet to meet my target time that I set for this year. Here are some highlights/lowlights of the event.

Highlights

1. Fireworks at the start line
2. Cheering squad and bands playing at designated area to cheer the runners.
3. Sufficient water stations.

4. Banana supply at Takbo.ph and Reinier aid station.
5. Portalets were situated in designated area as well.
6. Different finish line for 3k/5k and 10/21/42k

Lowlights

1. Street lights were off at the Kalayaan Flyover.
2. Medals were not available to some runners . Refer to Condura’s announcement here.
3. Long waiting time at the 10km finish since runners were queuing at the end of the strip.
4. Distance was excess of 700m (at least from my garmin).
5. Results were not accurate, some were timed later, while others were earlier. Hope a timing chip can be included in Condura 2011.

It was a successful event, hopefully next year's event will address some of the areas for improvements that were raised also by other bloggers/runners. Next year would definitely something to look forward to. Meanwhile, back to training for other events.

Gone Running Club with Junrox (Tigerboy)

With Val who gave me a push in the last 2km. Thanks man!

With Junrox discussing his new full marathon PR (3:40!) and giving some tips on how to improve my running.

Ronald and Noemi, while waiting for the rest of the group.

With Bald Runner, met him at the finish line.

With Natz (I2runner) and his friends. You were fast natz! Great Run!

With Mike, finishing his first 21km. Congratulations!

Welcoming Jay at the finish line. He was late by 23 minutes at starting line but still managed to finish strong.

Jay discussing his skyway experience.

Another group photo.

Ready for Condura Run

Another week has passed and I must admit that it was not a very good training week. I felt tired and there were times that I am just not into a running mode. I was not able to follow my training plan to the letter and was 20km short of my planned distance for the week. I guess, the aggressive build up in mileage in the last 3 weeks had me stressed out. I guess it was a sign to hold back and took some time to rest.

There was no bike training last week as well and just focused on running. I did two weekday run (11k each) and one Long Run (21k). Surprisingly, I did get a PR for a 21km run, I finished at 2:24 last Sunday. It was a 10 minute improvement from my best 21k which was during the Ayala Eco Dash held last year. Thanks to Jay for pacing with me. Hopefully I get to beat this time and set an official PR at the Condura Run.

Speaking of Condura Run, this will be my anniversary run as I officially joined run races in the 2009 Condura Run where I ran my first 10km. I was hoping to do a full marathon for this event, but I have been nursing an injury after my first marathon in Bangkok in November 2009 and decided not to risk getting injured again this year. I still have some discomfort in my left hamstring but I am lucky that I can run and managed to build some mileage. I do hope that on Sunday, the injury will not go back and continue training for the next events.

This year, I am glad that more of our employees at CCAC (Concepcion Carrier Airconditioning Company), a sister company of Concepcion Industries Incorprated (CII), are joining the Condura Run as runners. Most of them who are new to running will be joining the 3km race, those who ran at 3km last year are running 5km this year, and some of the 5km runners will do the 10km run. Mike (Aftermarket Sales Director), and Ric (EHS Manager), will be running their first 21km. Hopefully they find running as a means of their fitness activity and becomes a part of their daily routine. I'm sure some, if not all of them will be bitten by the running bug. Meanwhile, most of us in the Gone Running Club will be running the 21k, and 3 of them will be running the full marathon. Good Luck to you guys!

I still have a week to do some easy runs and hopefully no injury gets in the way. I think I am ready on Sunday. Will try to enjoy the run and just let my legs bring me to the finish line with a new PR.

To those running at Condura Run, see you all on Sunday and Good Luck!