I came I saw and I conquer Corregidor!

When I first heard about the corregidor 10 mile challenge - It was like hmmmm exciting, my first out of town run. The registration price? Not bad considering its an out of town trip with lunch and well organizing a run doesn't come free.

From day1 after our registration- I have no drive to beat a previous record of 2:01 in a 10 mile challenge. First because the previous 10 mile is short of 1K, second- the corregidor 10 mile challenge will happen a bit sunny already as it will start at 8am, and lastly because the corregidor 10 mile challenge will introduce me to what "Fartlek" really means-I mean beyond words I want my muscle to comprehend what this fartlek is all about.

So my game plan is to consider this my long run, which is part of my training program for my first 21K. And at the end of the run- ask myself if I am now prepared for a half marathon.

The hype of corregidor 10 mi challenge is really heightened. At the office we couldn't help talking about it....we were anticipating it, were excited about it and a little nervous- most of us haven't been to Corregidor, this is an unfamiliar territory for us.

Pre-race went on smoothly. We had our usual pre-race breakfast, egg, milo, sandwich. Then left home by around 4 AM. There were no hustles during parking- we waited our M/V SC. Everything is in accordance to the plan. The place is indeed for the runners alone. While on board the MV SC- the sun cruises staff offered the tour of Corregidor. We have our name listed but apparently we realized that we could be wasted to enjoy the tour so we hold our payment- and of course hubby was a little grumpy because he left his mighty weapon SLR nyahahaha. Before we docked I had one more sandwich and milo energy bar- feeling just enough food for the run.

We went to the baggage area- we were told that you can select from the available area allocated, there were no specific assignments - we were just told that someone is deployed to look after our baggages- we have no choice but to believe....and without a doubt- there were no reported lost baggage among our group and the nearby guys and gals who happens to bring their latest gadget in photograpy(at least within our area, I haven't confirmed in another tent).

We were told that the race will start at 8 AM- getting to Malinta tunnel was a short ride, I actually realized maybe we should have walked to Malinta as warm up instead of having a ride to that oh so cool tranvia buses. Also, there were some runners who weren't able to claim their singlet in Manila- which resulted delays in gun start. I bet it was more than 30 minutes delayed- at lot of us get bored. It was funny that a lot of runners (including myself) were impatient to have the gun start and most of the runners have to device various means like jump shots, photo ops etc to keep us busy some holler and demand that we start na. People were so bored-a lot of us were probably thinking of a terrible sun exposure. Maybe, the organizer could have added the usual stretching rituals to comoflague the late start hehehe.

at the starting line (the other end of malinta tunnel)

At the gunstart- my garmin lost signal. I have no choice, I have to run while trying to get a good signal and I guess I lost 600 m in the process- this is the lacking distance in my garmin....hmmm the downhill immediately turn into a major assault uphill waaaah! I thought I trained- but it was not enough....in less than 2Km I started my walk breaks....I cannot endure running the 45 degree assault because all the muscle group- calf, hams, glutes and abs worked up and I might cramp before the end of the race sigh! I realized that I have not done fartlek in the course of my running life and today- I learned how it felt- how the muscles worked....my mind was busy appreciating both nature, the historical time capsule probably recorded in each tree and on how my body works while uphill and heading downhill....then I also get busy smiling everytime I chance upon runner/photographer. Hmmmm....I guess most runner did not aim for PR- instead wanted to discover the surprise that Corregidor has to offer.
My training is not enough.....I need to find a fartlek training ground before my half marathon, it would make me strong.

Occasionally I would do people watching- I realized there were lots of couples running....hmmmm romantic running huh! With the cool breeze from the sea and some historical significant I am sure it was a nice conversation piece....an element for romance....very conducive for the singles huh! As for me, my husband speed up determine to do sub 2hrs.

Then came km 8- I was feeling the side stitch then I started walking and short running then I regretted having one more sandwich before the ship docked. Could it be the sandwich???

Then at km 10 it dawned upon me that I was actually hungry I drunk all my gatorade and water from my hydration belt and in every station I started grabbing water....waaah! I didn't know you could get hungry while running. Then I started to picture the pack lunch, the granola bar and all the food left in my backpack....waaaah! I felt like an animal running to catch its prey.

So at the final trail run I was running non-stop because I needed food at the finish line...my garmin registered 2:05 but I guess its more than that my guesstimate is 2:10- 2:14 finish time.

After reaching the finishline I hurriedly went to the hydration station- they were giving away water, granola bar from growers, TBR magazine, myra e moisturizer and ph-care. Whew! The taste of the growers granola bar felt so good in my mouth, then hubby picked up our lunch because I was so hungry already. My attention is all to my food and I didn't noticed that the short program ended.

Then the stage was swarmed with photo ops for some 750 runners- catching a nice photo souvenir in this adventure race. Wow! Everyone just needed a photo shot with the stage.

The long wait for the 5:30 departure was agonizing (knowing that we still need to work on the kids assignment at home). Some runners spend it availing the corregidor tour- we opted not to join aside from the fact that I was so wasted and our camera batt is already drained....instead of spending 250 pesos on the tour we bought the commemorative shirt of Conquer Corregidor.

my favorite group shot with the RunAdic

RunAdic tranvia shot courtesy of Edick

group pix at the finish line courtesy of Edick

So we spend the long wait taking a nap, some more walking like were in the park.

The zipline is indeed exciting (we've tried it from another place)? But we decided maybe next time in Corregidor.

thoughts....then before we knew it- 5:00 PM the tranvia started shuttling us back to the dock to board for Manila.

Overall- it was a great adventure from registration to the race. Maybe next time there should be more activities to cope up with the lull moments or an option to be able to go home early say 2:30 PM, I guess it's already enough time to freshen up and complete the photo ops. Whatever reason there is for the long wait to go back home still, I say this is one of the best race I had so far...hubby got his target of sub 2, I completed the race injury-free and so it is for my friends.

Probably this is my last race for the year. I'll just have more training runs left for my first half-marathon and future races for 2010.

Looking back- for this year 2009 my top five races are:

1. Conquer Corregidor
2. Time is Running: Run Rio
3. NB Power Run
4. Adidas King of the Road
5. Milo Manila elimination and the Happy Run

I missed the Mizuno and Condura race- I'll keep up hopefully this coming year I'll be able to join and see what's unique on this races.

Now for final question- am I in for the half-marathon? Yes. And I will train. My heart says yes, but the body has to cope up with the ardous requirement of a half marathon. And I hope to have a strong finish.

post race photo ops