Takbo PAA 2010

Takbo PAA was a fun run organized by the Pediatric Alumni Association (PAA) of St. Luke’s Medical Center held at Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill, Taguig City. The race aims to promote the advocacy of PAA in promoting the welfare of the children in the community. And since I was working as a pediatric nurse in SLMC that time, I together with my colleagues at work joined the said event without hesitation to show our support to our beloved Doctors. This was my first race to have an uphill and downhill route and boy, was I exhausted and sore!

But I was happy because I hit my personal best during this race finishing it at 28 minutes and 54 seconds, 7th among the women runners and 38th among the overall 5K participants (running hills has its own perks!).

For the race result, please click here:

Takbo PAA 2010 Race Result



Posing with the dear Doctors who organized the Run



Here are some useful tips when running hills:

1. Try running hills in a slower pace. A common mistake made by runners (I'm guilty of this too!) is to run fast on uphill, wasting energy and ends up out of breath at the top of the hill.

2. As you approach an uphill, make sure you have a good running form. That is, your back should be straight and erect; arms should be at a 90 degree angle and should be moving forward and back (not swaying side to side); your back should be straight and erect. You can lean very slightly from the hips but make sure you are not hunched over.

 Improving your running form can help you run faster, more efficiently, and with less stress on your body.

3. Swing your arms lower and shorter. By keeping your arm swing lower and quicker, your legs will stay lower to the ground -- resulting in a short, quick stride.

4. You can begin your normal stride once you reach the top of the hill. If you ran the hill properly, you will be able to pass runners who end up exhausted from spending too much energy from running fast on the uphill.

5. When running downhill, the best way to do it is to lean forward slightly and take short, quick strides. Don't lean back and try to brake yourself. Let gravity pull you as you run downhill. Try to keep your shoulders just slightly in front of you and your hips under you. DO NOT over stride. Avoid taking huge leaping steps to reduce the pounding on your legs leaving it sore for a long time.
 

"Running downhill requires the muscles to lengthen, or make eccentric muscle contractions, which can cause microscopic tears in the muscle fibers and generate more force than when you're running uphill or on flat ground. To make matters worse: It's easy to hit top speed on a steep descent—and the faster you move, the harder each foot strikes the ground, and the more pounding the muscles endure."- Jason Karp, Ph.D., May 2009 issue of the Runner's world.