Most of my friends and even family members were surprised when I told them that I will be doing my first 5 kilometer race which happened yesterday at the Mall of Asia, The National Geographic Earth Day Run. Overall, I made a review about the said race and wasn’t really that happy about it. But I did learn a few things and also made a fool of myself out of it.
One, I am happy with running with a newbie Estan Cabigas. He asked me to make some comments on his running and I gave him a few thoughts to think about. First, he has a great and correct posture in running. I have a bad posture in running and something that I have to constantly correct by looking into a mirror at the gym or simply by seeing the pictures taken of me during races. Two, he is a heel striker which is very common. Good thing he is working cushioning shoes that is perfect for this race! I’m also a hell striker and something that I also want to change to maximize speed and endurance. Finally, this guy doesn’t seem to get tired easily! If you look him up in Facebook and other pictures, it seems like he is just WALKING! Man, talk about a lot of energy! For more information about this guy, check him out at http:fitanrun.info and his photo blog at www.langyaw.com 
I will be running with Estan for his next 10k up to his first 42k race.
Two, running and photography — I brought my newly minted Olympus SP-800UZ and took some pictures while running. Here’s a picture of Estan. Alas, I bumped into a road block and bruised myself — my knees, my hands, part of my rib cage and even my face! So lesson learned — when bringing a camera in a run:
Go! Go! Go! Estan!
- Slow down and stop to take pictures
- Move to the side of the road if possible
- Put the camera back in the bag
- Survey the road ahead and repeat instructions if you want to take more pictures
Three, I still managed to enjoy the race!
I guess the thing that I liked about this race, in spite of writing a bad review about it is that it made me EXCITED! I tossed and turned and lacked sleep because I didn’t know what to expect in my first 5k race! Just because I already did several marathons and already doing ultrarunning doesn’t mean that I have no respect for short distances courses. On the contrary, those who run the shorter distances are to be admired because training for speed is actually more challenging than training for endurance. Training for endurance requires more time and consumes more energy. But training for speed requires more effort because the strength training involved for speed training is more rigorous and in some ways, the discipline involved is much more different. For example, in running ultramarathons the lack of sleep is part of the training program but also sleeping is important. As a rule, I notice that almost ALL ultrarunners don’t get enough sleep the day before an ultrarunning event. For short distance runners, lack of sleep will kill the performance and the speed.
In short, let’s respect all the different distances and admire each one for the challenges that they present themselves. For those doing the long distances, remember you were also once in that category where huffing and puffing till you blow your body down was something you find funny. Learn to laugh at yourself. I know I have. How many runners do you know have ran a marathon, fell down and finished a race with bleeding knees and shoulders? Er, I actually know just two.
Thumbnail Image courtesy of Estan Cabigas Photography.
9 comments
1 ping
estan says:
April 19, 2010 at 4:28 pm (UTC 8 )
hahaha… okay lang yan pre. baptism ng new oly mo.
thanx for the critic and tips kahapon. until the next run. hehehe
kenneth casquejo says:
April 19, 2010 at 6:23 pm (UTC 8 )
Ganda ng singlet mo bai!
titaniumrunner says:
April 19, 2010 at 6:28 pm (UTC 8 )
Bwahahahhaha! I wore the Izod Pasig singlet for this race because I didn’t really like the National Geographic singlet that much. They call it a “technical” shirt which proved not worthy of a washing machine as it already suffered some lose threads after getting it washed by the cleaners!
Other than that, how can they tell me from the other runners when I post pictures here? : ) That’s another reason why I wore a different colored shirt.
Lei says:
April 20, 2010 at 6:49 pm (UTC 8 )
why olympus?? that camera was only good in underwater….if u noticed ur picture… its really poor and no details… hehehe (ako na ang photographer)
dapat kasi sa susunod kunin mo me personal photographer mo…para d sayang ang memories and u got a better shot.. peace blas… mwuah!
kassy says:
April 20, 2010 at 8:55 pm (UTC 8 )
kulit mo!
you should’ve texted me, i was at natgeo!
titaniumrunner says:
April 21, 2010 at 2:44 am (UTC 8 )
Really? You were there? Too bad!
titaniumrunner says:
April 21, 2010 at 2:45 am (UTC 8 )
Thanks for the support, Lei! Kasi yung Olympus kasi.. pasok sa budget even with zero interest! Ha! Other than that, it can do HD video, which is another thing that I am looking into putting video blogs here. So ayun, nag nosedive sya. Anyway, I will prove to you that somehow it can take decent shots. Just need to get used to it, that’s all.
Lei says:
April 24, 2010 at 7:53 pm (UTC 8 )
Im looking forward to that… cge prove me.. hehehe…I can teach u how to set up ur camera if u like….about aperture, shutter speed and AF. kung bibili ka ng dslr tell me ha may alam akong murang store na pasok sa budget and pwede din card…
Jeffery Waterman says:
May 12, 2010 at 11:20 am (UTC 8 )
I will be reading more from you as soon as you post it. I love your blog. Thanks for it. I never can figure out how you all do these blogs so in depth I get lost in the first few sentences.
Fit and Run.Info » Blog Archive » Titanium runner’s short comments about my running - says:
April 19, 2010 at 6:12 pm (UTC 8 )
[...] at Titanium Runner, who ran with me in yesterday’s Earth Day Run 2010, actually, his first 5K run after doing [...]