Run and Raise Scholars and some Running Tips

Derek was absent but Runners abound at the blooming venue at Aseana City for the Foundation of the Society of Fellows in Supply Management, Inc. (SOFSM) and Philippine Institute for Supply Management (PISM) Run and Raise Scholars. The race was staged for the education sponsorship/scholarship of fifty (50) Students of the University of Makati and Jose Rizal University, and it was a success.

10K Runners

I wasn't supposed to join this event as I was scheduled to have a reunion run with Mr. Kennon for the same day, but few days before the event, the tight schedule didn't allow me to even prepare for such a challenging reunion. And luckily, Ms. Lia of RSH (our Manager for Team Diadora Philippines) was still able to reserve a race slot for me.

The night before the event, I only had a thrifty 3 hours of sleep, woke up 2AM and wasn't able to grab another doze for the next few hours so I just got up and prepared myself at 4:00AM. Going to the venue by Taxi, the driver (E&E Trans.) noticed that I was up for an early morning activity and we zoomed the more or less 30 minutes ride with exchange of chit-chats about table tennis from which he is good at (based from his stories) and morning jogs/runs with his dog. Our exchange of stories brought back some memories back in my College days when I was still agile at a ping-pong table, and the memory of an old runner in one of the races I joined back in Baguio who was blazing fast than I was on a 10K distance with his askal dog in under 42 minutes. I remember these master-and-dog tandem got to the top ten and the dog was also given a special award for his feat.

Ms. Tia of PepSquad Events

At the venue a few minutes before the race, I met with my fellow Diadora Ph team mate Sam who's up for the 10k category. I thought I was also running for 10k but since I was late in notifying Ms. Lia, my distance downgraded to 5k which is the only remaining slot for our team. On the other hand, Allan (who hasn't arrived yet) is gunning for the 3k. All distance categories were then well-represented by our team.

Gun-start was fired at 5:35 AM and runners were full of energy and speeding out for the flat course covering the routes along Aseana and Macapagal Avenues. As I started, I began running on my race pace and tried (and hoped) to keep it constant. I thought of running and pacing at the back of someone who's ahead of me with the same pace than I am. Then I saw this old foreigner who seems running relaxed and I aimed for him but his long strides made him faster than my own race pace. So after just about 800 meters, the foreigner was already way ahead of me. I was running solo already until I chanced upon three ladies in front of me running the same pace as I am. They look like mother-daughters-tandem and they look strong and fast. Judging from their form, they are track and field athletes, aside from the Mom (wearing Milo 2011 singlet) who's age still doesn't show but seems as strong as the two daughter-looking girls. As I U-turned at Macapagal Ave., I noticed that these girls are running for the 10k distance as they went straight ahead and their Mom was on the 5k category.

On my Diadora Mythos Samurai 3

Just after a few seconds from the U-turn, I heard the Mom talked to me and said "tara sabay tayo, sabayan kita, wag ka lang hahataw ha?".

I told her "ate hindi po ako makakahataw sa inyo, nauna nga po kayo sa akin e!".

From that conversation, she began pacing with me and gave me some useful running tips which refreshed my mind. Most of the tips she told me affirmed the things that I have already learned from my own running experiences, save for one which I thought I was doing right - proper breathing in (from the nose) and breathing out (through the mouth). This she told was to prevent my throat from easily drying up. When I'm sprinting, doing speed works, and running on race pace, I can't help but to breathe in and out both from my mouth as I can't seem to take in more oxygen if I breathe in from my nose (unless I stretch or enlarge my nose holes, which is unpractical while running, LOL!).

She also advised me not to rely too much on energy drinks. She said she already qualified a few times at the Milo Marathon for her age (of 52) and achieved top 3 for 10k distances with only water serving as her hydration. Wow, it did amazed me!

This is how you do the "sikad"

Another tip that she told me: "sumikad ka". The meaning of which is to lift off with more power by pushing off the extended leg just before it transitions to the drive phase. Coincidentally, this "sikad" word has been on my thoughts for a few days and weeks already, as I've been trying to figure out if doing this technique would really help me with good foot landing and running better. While she continues with her explanations about it, I realized that the advantage of such is that the leg will be lifted higher (like when you do your knee-highs) at the recovery phase that will help you avoid from over-striding, keeping you upright, and making your feet land naturally on mid-foot and at the center of your gravity/body's mass.

During this whole conversation, I was already puffing hard and can no longer talk much but I was glad that she did paced me so I was pushed to my limit. As we get near the finish arc, she no longer accompanied me towards the finish line and she just turned to the sides. I saw her again at the Pocari Sweat hydration booth and thanked her for the pacing, the running tips, and got to know that her family was all athletes from Runners to TriAthletes. She told her son's name who is a TriAthlete but my memory served me with no space to remember it. And if I remember right, her name -- my pacer-turned-5k-coach's name was Janet Pedrigosa. I searched her name from Facebook but got no chance to find her.

Team DiadoraPh

Race Profile:
Distance: 5 km.
Official Time: 00:25:29
Official Ranking: 11th

Race Info:
When: 15 April, 2012.
Where: Aseana City, Parañaque
Event: Run and Raise Scholars

Race results may be checked from Runningmate.ph and some more photos from the event may be viewed from DiadoraPh facebook album.