2010 BDM Ultramarathon - The Goal To The Top Ten

(me, Isko and Albert - all veterans)

I am sitting here at my office with sore/swollen feet, blisters, sore legs and achy shoulders and thinking I should be somewhere else. Bedroom is a far better option! Even walking is such a feat. I told Don this is the price we pay for racing under the hottest month so far on this side of the planet.

Even before the race started, Jay  commented how humid it was and it did not get any better later during the race. It was hot. Hotter than last year. It was reported that the day temperature reached a blistering 41 degrees Celsius. My race report last year can be read here and here.

TRAINING and PRE-RACE STRESS

A month before the race or exactly February 07, I ran the Condura Marathon hard as part of my speed training. Ray K once said that the best speed training for an ultra is a marathon. I agree.

For BDM, more hill repeats than I could safely handle. Even when doing long runs, I always included hilly course and avoided flat ones (that is why I sucked during the flat course of the route). I abandoned intervals in favor of tempo runs which meant running the majority of the distance in race pace. As for hill repeats and tempo, I am a firm believer that the pace should be way faster than your target pace during the race itself. Once your body gets used to this faster pace, the race pace becomes manageable. You can run then fast even on hilly course. Needless to say, there were times when it would be safe and okay to trot or jog instead. It is, thus, very important to listen to your body. After all, the purpose of training is to build your body; not to destroy it.

Running is an experiment of one. After all, we are all different. You have to find out what works for you in the scheme of things. 

Then 2 weeks after, this was followed with a 8-hour run from 6AM to 2PM to heat train and as long last run. With 2 weeks before BDM, it was comforting to think that there was enough time to rest and taper. On the contrary. Life happens indeed. My wife gave birth, I had to wake up early than usual to bring my son to school in the morning, had to drive around a lot, office-related job stresses, court hearings, deadlines, etc., etc. I almost got sick too. There was not enough time to recover.

START

(final adjustment on gears)

We reached KM00 at around 10PM in convoy of 3 vehicles. Don and Albert were with us. Bert and Shower were my crew and Boyet as our driver.

We saw familiar faces and new ones. Everybody seemed happy at least for now. My standing joke being - wait until you reach KM50 and up and all those smiles would turn into grimaces and frowns. It was dark (no illuminating lights installed again just like last year) at the start line as if it foreshadowed of things to come. 

Isko, Vener, Jay, Don, Albert and I congregated in one of the corners. It was Isko from whom I found out that Ed (last year's champ), the 2nd and 3rd place winners did not join this year's race. I was not sure what it was but I felt my heart quickened upon finding this out. Less competitors so to speak?  

THE PLAN

My training was centered on beating my time last year so that I would get into the top 10 (was number 11). To do this, I must eliminate the poop incidents (geez, 3x last year, yuck! :). So no chocolate-flavored fuel and drinks this time. As for fuel, I only consumed gels to eliminate intestinal problems. Expensive but it worked absolutely fine. Walking was avoided and my pace of 5 minute running to 1 minute walking was totally abandoned. Gotta race!

Before the race, I even went to check the splits of 2009 winner and it was amazing. He ran an average pace of 5:22/KM! The other sneaky plan was to finish the race under 10 hours or specifically to run within the pace of 5:55/KM. Easy on paper but not when one is already running the course under the sun.

The race started at 11:30PM, thirty minutes earlier and we sped away. It was magical as the first few meters, there were "springs" under my feet. You know that light springy steps and I knew instantly my plan to make it to top ten was possible at leat at this time.  

FIRST 50KM

As they are wont to say: YOU RACE THOSE WHO SHOWED UP AND NOT THOSE WHO DID NOT.

There were two runners tailing me behind during the first few kilometers. Later on, I found out they were July Oconer and Hermogines Olvis, tied at 4th place.

The lead pack of 4 were runners from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Fast, young and nimble. Most likely 15 years or so younger than myself. 5th lead runner was "Saly"  Muhammad Sallehan Zainuddin from Singapore. Young, fast and slim too. I was content to be in 6th place. The goal, after all, was to make it to the top 10.

But you know there were rare occasions when everything worked in synchronicity as if all the stars aligned perfectly.  This was it.

As Rick Gaston once advised me before Condura: "Start slow and then let 'er rip!" and that was exactly what I did. Looking back, the first 50KM was exhilirating! I felt like flying and only wished I could maintain the strength all throughout the race. The first 50KM was ran in 4 hours, 50 mins or so or on pace to finish under 10 hours. (N.B. Garmin 405 conked out at KM62 with the time of 5 hours and 57 mins).

It was somewhere between 30 and 40 kilometers when I overtook Saly and the two other runners from AFP. Pesky dogs were all over the route as well and it was annoying to stop just to avoid being bitten. It sort of interfered with the momentum. Good thing the glare from the headlamp with matching growls scared them  away. 

LAST 50KM

Being at number 3, the next chase was number 2 position. I could see him (Randy Bumahit) from a distance and would often require my support crew to "recon" the road ahead and behind us. As they say, run smart. Running is not only physical but a battle of intelligence too. Most often than not, lead runners lose their lead because they often become complacent.

   (Sharing the narrow highways and roads with vehicles)

There were several kilometers were Randy and I were running close to each other. He served as my beacon of light ahead and my goal was not to lose sight of him. Sometimes, I overtook him just to lose the lead to him again. I have to hand it to him. He was strong and maintained his pace all throughout even as I shamelessly thought he would break down sooner or later before the finish line. I was wrong. 

    (One of the "time" marshals)

Everytime I passed a time station, I always asked for the lead time of the first and second runners ahead. Chasing the lead runner would be a folly. As the results would have it, he was ahead of me for more than 1 hour but he failed to break the course record of 9 hours, 9 minutes.

FINISH LINE

A few meters to the finish line, I raised my right fist to heaven and uttered a short prayer. It was humbling and I was so thankful I survived the race in one piece.

I crossed the finish line in 11 hours and 1 minute and Rick Gaston was wondering why I did not make it under 11 hours. I did not care anymore because of fatigue. I could have pushed it during the last 2 kilometers but being assured of the  top 3 position was enough consolation. Perhaps, next year. Haha.

    (Race director BR and I were discussing about the weather)

POST-RACE THOUGHTS

This time, I planned to stick around a little while at the finish line to see my friends cross. I was glad I did.

Pampanga will always be a treacherous part of the course. Speeding buses, trucks and huge vehicles will always be a menace. Stray dogs as well.  Blisters having formed under the balls of my feet again, I could not run on the unpaved road side. The rocks under my racing flats would hit my blisters! There was no choice but to share the road with the vehicles and could care less if I got run over. Really!

The longer you stay on the road, the riskier. Hence the faster you finish the race, the safer and  better.

Heat training is absolutely imperative! So is proper hydration.

Sleep-loading a few days before the race is equally important as carbo-loading (which I don't believe in so much).

Seek and recruit crew who are runners also. They know what to do.

Have some mantras in your mind while running help you to achieve your goal. Last year, it was "one step at a time", "every second counts", "run intelligently", etc. worked for me. This year, it was "history", "glory", my son "Marcus" and above all, the prayer always thanking the Creator for giving us health, strong feet and legs, strength and endurance. Not all people have what we have.

Congratulations to all the finishers and BR for putting up this race! To my crew and race marshals, job well done! Friends, thanks as well.

See you next year!

Cheers,

Jon