In lieu of running in UP

Yesterday, I decided to go home straight after school instead of doing my 10k easy run at UP as originally planned. I wanted to study but on my way home, as an afterthought, I ended up watching “The Mummy : The  Tomb of the Dragon Emporor.” Of course, before I headed to the Cinema, I was already thinking whether I would still have time to run after the movie. If the movie starts at 5:40, it would end around 7:30 and I’d get home by 8:30pm or so. Still enough time.

Getting sidetracked

The movie did end at 7:30 or so BUT instead of heading straight home, I ended up shopping for… new running gear! Haha! There was this big sign that said 50% OFF at Landmark in Makati. I couldn’t resist. Well, in all the malls that I’ve been passing through (ie. Rockwell Powerplant,  SM Makati, TriNoMa, Glorietta and Greenbelt), I couldn’t help but pass by all the Nike, Addidas and Department Stores to check out their sporting goods since almost everything is on MidYear Clearance Sale. I was hunting for running shorts or a running cap for my 1,000km Club incentive. I ended up buying new Nike Shorts for P890. Not bad

After buying my new pair of Nike Shorts, I still went around the mall but this time, I was headed to BIZU to buy myself some whole wheat Ciabatta Bread (after 6pm, BIZU sells everything at 30% off). By the time I was done shopping, it was already 9pm. Would I still have time to run? Errr… Maybe… Hopefully…

To run or not to run

I got home at around 9:45. I was contemplating whether I should run or not… but there’s one thing for sure, I didn’t want to get penalized P500 for not running. (See previous post: Serious Training) Another thing, there was something in my head that I wanted to get rid of, and running usually clears my mind. There was one thought however that was preventing me from running, two actually… 1) I was definitely going to finish late, around 11:30 since my homework as 10k at an 8min pace and 2) I was going to do stairs the following day (stair workout read: HELL WORKOUT).

Care to guess what I decided to do? … Yes, RUNNNNN! It was late, I was tired (was up at 6am for class) but my resolve was firm. I was not going to get penalized and I would be putting to waste all the hard work that I had already put in since I haven’t missed any training or running homework yet.

I ended up running 10k at 1:03:34… I guess I was way off my 8mins per pace. I started out somewhat faster than usual, then I found calves aching, especially my left. So I decided to slow down. Despite slowing down my pace, I still ended up doing the 10k in a little over an hour. I was actually surprised since I thought I was already going at a snail’s pace.

Right after running, I took a quick shower and went straight to bed. I was already concerned whether I’d wake up in time for training the next day. It was 12:30 on my clock and I’d have almost 6 hours of sleep. Hopefully my muscles wouldn’t be sore the day after.

The Morning After

I woke up at around 5:45am and my left calf muscle was still twitching. I’m surely going to die later… Haha! Upon reaching ULTRA, I did the usual 2km warm-up, followed by a complete set of drills… then STAIRS. 10 reps of the bleachers and then 7 reps of the regular steps. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that hard. Maybe I took my time going back down or catching my breath or I was already getting accustomed to the workout and improving my cardio. Whichever the case, I’m happy that I had improved.

After the stairs, I was told to do 4×150m. I’d post my times but I had mistakenly erased the time on my watch but as far as I can remember, the first two laps were a little of over 24 seconds while the last two were over 25 seconds. The usual core workout followed the 4×150m.

A test of determination

Looking back at yesterday and today, I guess I have already set my mind on achieving something and my resolve is firm… There was no way I’m going to give myself lame excuses. I like the quote that I recently came across…

-Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes
from focusing on what excites you.-