Sante Barley Domination Run 2013

Another successful running event to end my 2013 race season (yeah, I do have a race season so I won’t burn out) thanks to Sante Barley.

This caps of my 3-21k (including a 25k NB Run) for the year.  And what a very fitting end as I got a PB of 2 hours!  Okay, let’s summarize:

RACE	Distance/Chip-time	Distance/Soleus-time
Milo HM	21k/2:09:31 (9.76km/h)	21.62k/2:09:38 (10.0km/h)
New Balance – 25k	25k/2:36:11 (9.61km/h)	25.77k/2:36:12 (9.9km/h)
Sante Barley HM	21k/1:59:40 (10.61km/h)	21.35k/1:59:43 (10.7km/h)

Coming from a 2:10 HM to a 2:00 HM is a huge improvement.  Thinking about it I have come to a couple of theories:

1. Milo HM probably was a case of the jitters plus blisters
2. NB 25k adjusted the shoes but the Buendia overpass was too much for me
3. Sante Barley’s route was relatively flat with very few turns; plus the 2 previous experiences helped

For now I’m just happy with the result.  As I think aside from the reasons above, my trainings really did it for me.

Going back to the race, was a bit irritated even before the race began as (1) traffic at Pier area due to trucks and this was 3am!  Almost didn’t make it here; (2) 30 minutes late gun start, although I made it just in time, plus the wait due to the delay.

The route was mostly flat with a few minor inclines.  I felt it on the 7^th or 8^th kilometer mark as we approach the end of coastal hi-way on the way to Cavitex.  After that it was a straight, relatively flat Cavitex road, then back.

There’s nothing much to say about the race though as I made an even pace all through out.  Except that I think after the first 8k I began taking water at almost every stop.  I don’t do that on practice runs but for this race I felt the need to.  It didn’t affect my time that much though.

I knew I was doing great after the 10k where my time was around 57-ish minutes.  It was there that I focused on my pace and form and not to get too excited.  Although I felt the need to slow down coming in to the 20km, but upon seeing the clock at 2:00:xx gave me my second wind.  I got a strong finish (along with a strong facial expression)

As for the way the race was organized, my comments below:

1. Late gun start – this is a big negative for me. 
2. Dark portion on some part of the route
3. No energy drinks on station – although there was plenty water
4. Late-finishers complained about dried-up water stations (wouldn’t know)
5. Heavy investment on photographers – plus plus points!
6. New addition – late result posting!  Its been more than a week now! (update – released after 8 days!)

What a way to end my running season!  I’m really happy with my performance. 

So what’s next for me?  I’ll take running easy now (or at least I plan to).  Not much pressure in running xx distance at xx time – just to enjoy running.  Unfortunately, last weekend run was a 1:33:xx 10-miler – still a competitive time for me.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just run it as I feel it.

If the next few weeks I’m still up to running “competitively”, I might just move on to the longer 32k.  Hmm, still having some “boring” issues during long runs, might need to work on that first.