PSE Bull Run

Distance: 10K
Time: 1 hour and 6 minutes
Date: January 8, 2012
Pace: 6:36 minutes per kilometer

Bull Run

A bull run in the stock market means a period of increasing share prices in the stock market.  It is also the time that the investors are aggressive (or bullish) and is one indicator of how our economy is performing.  Some stock markets including our own Philippine Stock Exchange holds bull runs to spur hopes of a bull period in the stock market which directly translates to good economic fundamentals and high investor confidence.  This run was a run for the economy.

The Course

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line and the shortest distance in a race course is... a straight line.  A straight course is an easier run as you tend to lose momentum when passing through curves and turns.  The 10K course was such a straight and simple course. It starts from 28th Street all the way to 26th Street and 5th Avenue to enter Kalayaan Flyover and proceeds to Buendia before taking a u-turn near Malugay and back to the 26th street using the same course except that you'll use 3rd Ave going back instead of 5th Ave.  While the elevation profile is generally flat, the climb to and from Kalayaan flyover is always a challenge to runners.

The Race

It was a hectic training week with me already logging 30 kilometers and 3 hours on bike before the start of the race so I decided to adopt a race to train approach and run at an aerobic rate.  As long I get to finish each kilometer below 7 minutes per kilometer pace I should be fine.  For the first four kilometers including the climb to Kalayaan Flyover, I was struggling with some slight muscle pain so I had to endure until I get warmed up. At the 5th Kilometer, I was already able to go at a faster pace without much pain so maintained that pace to the finish line.  It was a bit dark in Kalayaan flyover before 6 am though it was tolerable.  Hydration (Water and Energy Drink) was overflowing and the water was cold which was a good way to rehydrate.  There were also sprinklers in the course of the race to refresh the runners.  Since the organizers had limited the participants, the run didn't feel crowded and runners had space to run.  I ran the 10K race course though I did hope to run the 16K category since they had a cool finisher shirt and medal for 16K but 16K and 21K slots were as a hot as a top selling stock.  Overall, it was a good run and with it comes the hope that the economy can be as successful as the run.

Team Total Fitness Running

It was another good run for Team Total Fitness.  We (Charles, Gryf, Andie and me) all joined the 10K category.  Thanks to Chris Sports for providing our race kits.