Monday, August 16, 2010

Bronx Half Marathon—DONE!

The crew after the Bronx Half Marathon. We made it!

It could've been the result of cooler temperatures, cloud cover, six inches less hair, or the liberating feeling of running in a sports bra ... but I'd like to think that it's due to good old fashioned hard work that I shaved four minutes off my Queens half marathon time to finish the 13.1-mile crazy hilly Bronx course in 2:18 today.
I was so shocked at seeing the time as I hit mile 13 that I went into a full sprint to the finish line. At around mile 5, I was convinced I'd blown the race by going out too fast in the beginning and not taking the walk breaks I'm used to early enough. I was over-confident from finishing a half marathon three weeks ago and excited to tackle the hills after my difficult yet rewarding hill workout with the Adobo Running Club last Tuesday. So I powered up the hills, all the while repeating in my head, "Run on your toes! Run on your toes!" Then I gleefully sped down the hills basking in the cool breezes. And then ... I got tired. Crap. If I had an inner cheerleader giving me peptalks during the last race, this time I had a world class bitch telling me off, "Oh so you thought you were Speedy Gonzales huh? Look who everyone's passing now! Yeah, I'm talking to you." I felt dejected for a little while and then suddenly just thought, you know what, it really doesn't matter that I messed up earlier. I can still keep putting one foot in front of the other. All that matters is that I hold this pace and keep on trucking on.

So I did. And somehow, before I knew it, I was passing the mile 11 marker. I'm not gonna lie and say that mile 12 and 13 came in a flash soon after that because that's completely untrue. In my very limited experience, nothing feels as excruciatingly long as those last two miles. Heck even 400 meters feels like an eternity when you're nearing the end. But somehow, I managed to finish in good time, without having to crawl towards the finish line.

Since I'm exhausted and my capacity to write a post with structure is now overcome with a desperate need for some ZZZs, I'll finish with a bunch of random bulleted thoughts:
  • When I run in a sports bra, men who pass me tend to pass and then look back for a frontal view. This never happens when I run with my shirt on. I wonder if other women have noticed this phenomenon. I also wonder if there's something in a man's genetic makeup that causes this.
  • In relation to above bullet point, I'm gonna keep pinning my number to my shorts during warm weather races. It's great to have the option to remove the shirt when I want to.
  • Petroleum jelly is a great running buddy. Buh-bye, chafing, buh-bye.
  • If I'm gonna keep joining half marathons with the goal of using it as a long run, I'm gonna have to consciously keep myself from trying to race. Long runs are supposed to be done slower than race pace and not in a quest to achieve a new PR. Hear that, Celine? Repeat.
  • In relation to above bullet point, if I want to use a half marathon as a long run, I'm better off tacking on the miles before the race. The pull of the post-race bagel and banana table is much too strong for me to resist.
  • I am starting to feel something funky in my left knee every time I run downhill (and thereafter, when I try to walk down stairs). I'll have to rest that and invest in an icepack (or maybe a bag of frozen peas).
  • The most wonderful reward after all that running is a classic Filipino breakfast of tapsilog with turon for dessert. Having someone run in front of me with a picture of tapsilog on his back could be the key to my completing the New York Marathon in November.
Aaaaand that's all she wrote. Good night.

7 comments:

  1. This is silly but I just had to check out what the Adobo Running Club does hahaha! I was thinking I SHOULD petition for membership. I love adobo, and I'd run from anyone who'd want some of my adobo.

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  2. congratulations, celine! be careful with your knees and make sure to get rest today! you can put off pole dancing classes for a day ya? i LOVE tapsilog! it's one of my favorite breakfasts...and tocino...and langunisa! always with eggs. :-)

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  3. Chin - hahaha isn't it funny that they're actually mostly foreign? adobo love knows no cultural boundaries!

    Jan - thanks! my knees feel much better today. I am taking a pole class today but will probably do it barefoot to give my knees a rest! oooh craving for tocilog now!

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  4. The Adobo Running Club is absolutely without question the best running club in all of the USA!!
    ;)

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  5. I agree! PS: All this talk of adobo has made me eat adobo a record amount of times this week!

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  6. ey cel. i had the same problem with my knees before, and both knees at that, every time i went down the stairs. it's apparently a common problem for women because of the way our bodies are structured. basically, the outer muscles are pushing inwards, and the inner muscles aren't strong enough to counter the push. if i find the copy of how you can stretch that part before doing anything physically rigorous, i'll send them over to you.

    congratulations on the completing the half marathon!

    ... and on to making adobo.

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