Nike Human Race

The Nike Human race was the only race event where I was present, but wasn’t running. I really wanted to run in this event even as a bandit for not having a nike foot pod and i-pod. It was unfortunate though that I got injured last Wednesday. The ironic thing was I got injured on a treadmill. I wasn’t even running my fastest pace, nor was I running a long one. Anyway, it’s useless to mourn about something I have no control over. I decided to still go to the Nike Human race and support 2 of my friends who would be running the event. They were actually my Church’s pastors: Pastor Nixon and Pastor Ado. I may not have been able to run in this event, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy being at the venue. I may not have the same joy as the people who actually ran, but at least it was a nice time to bond with my friends, and my wife (who also joined me to watch). Here are some of the pictures and videos taken during the event:
Norman and Thesa Prieto Valdes
Me and Philip
Pastor Ado Running

Pastor Nixon Running(Still Smiling Early on the Race)

Norman Running

What Has Been Going On Recently

Its been awhile since I've last posted a blog entry. And thats because there are so many things to do and I haven't had the time to blog lately. But a lot of things has happened so far and I'd like to share them.

I know this was weeks ago so sorry for just posting it now. I had the chance to join the Mommy Milkshake run. And what makes it so special is that I was gonna run, uhm.. walk.. well run and walk with my family. Many familiar faces were there such as Jaymie, Joms and Aljo. The distance was just around 2.5 km but it was fun being with my family.

The week after was a no race day. But it was a date with my family. In the morning, we attended the Baby Sign Language seminar that was lead by none other than TBR! It was such a fun class and we had learned so many things about baby signing. This is all thanks to Jaymie. For those who have babies and toddlers younger than 2 years of age, I would recommend to join Jaymie's class. I've been trying to teach my daughter to do signing. As of now, she knows how to sign bye bye.. :) We spent the rest of the day at Richmond Hotel where we got the perks of gym, an indoor heated pool and a breakfast buffet the next day. Although I didn't run the Men's Health Miracle run, I still got to tuck a run at the treadmill. I wasn't really disappointed not to run the race since being able to spend with my family was definitely priceless. And besides, it was at the hotel where I got to run my fastest treadmill run. I was able to run 8k (which is for me long for a treadmill) at an average pace of 15.2 km/h.



Meanwhile at the Men's Health Miracle race, even if I wasn't there, I'm proud to announce that my running buddies Glenn (picture on the right) and Reggie (picture on the left) won 2nd place of the Team Relay at the Men's Health with a total time of approximately 37 minutes for 10K.

As for me for previous week, most of my runs are on a treadmill and a few runs outside. The longest I've had so far was 13 kilometer last monday at my second favorite running getaway - Makati Park.

Will hit the treadmill again tonight with my friend Omar.

Running Slows Aging According to Standford Research

To us runners this is like duh...

But to skeptics you can read on in this link: Running Slows Aging.

What makes this study important is the fact that it has proven that the health gap of runners versus non runners is extremely wide. So if you are looking for an anti-aging secret, then maybe Glutathione isn't really the best solution.

The Story of the 1968 Olympic Last Place Marathoner

With all the olympic hype this month, I'd like to share a story of the 1968 Olympic last place marathon finisher.

In the year 1968 (I wasn't alive yet), as the Olympic awarding has just finished and everybody was about to pack their things and leave, the announcer began asking everyone to remain as the last runner, bloodied and limpingly entered the stadium. He was welcomed with a standing ovation. His name is John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania. It was early on the race when John Stephen Akhwari had a terrible fall were he hit his head and broke his knee. Amidst all the circumstance, he never stopped running and limping to the finish line.

When asked why he never stopped. He said this famous line "My country did not sent me over 11,000KM to start the race, but to finish it".

This man was not the fastest nor the strongest runner, but many remembers his name until today because of his perseverance. Very few could even remember the first place finisher.

Here is a youtube link of his run: 1968 Last Place Marathoner

Speedwork, Tempo or Both?

Has anyone tried doing a heart pounding 8x350 meter speed session followed by a 10KM tempo workout?

Normally when I have my speed sessions, its either a tempo run or a speed interval workout. And I don't do both together. It was actually my first time to both interval training and tempo training at the same time today and this is all thanks to my triathlete friend Joy Reginald Antolin (left picture). He is one of the Fort Strider's fast runners and is definitely the fastest swimmer I know personally. He is one of the athletes of Team Herbalife and he has contributed at the recent SUBIT triathlon for their team to garner the 1st place title. He also took the 14th place overall position. Now I've always wondered how this guy manages to train. This morning I was able to join him in one of his training. So the plan was 8x350 speedwork. Then a sub 50 minute 10K workout. He said that nearing the competition it will be more like 10x400 and a longer tempo. But what made me realize how serious he is with his Triathlon training is when I accidentally saw him one night at Bonifacio High Street around 9PM doing another speed session and I saw him on the same day doing the same thing in the morning. I haven't even mentioned about his Cycling training and Swim training and who knows where he tucks those.

To Joy, keep up the training, and I hope you get the prize at the White Rock Triathlon.

Btw, the guy on the right is The Fort Strider's club vice president Norman Pascual. Also a member of Team Herablife and a certified TI swimmer.

Running on Treadmills

I've looked through the internet for opinions about which is harder: running on a treadmill or running outside. Some says running outside is harder because of the wind resistance. Others says the treadmill because its boring. There was even an article that says adding a percent incline on a treadmill makes it harder since the force of wind resistance is negligible. So it seems that this has been an ongoing debate.

Since its rainy season here, I had no other choice than to run on a treadmill. Hence this curious question came about. For a couple of days lately, a lot of my runs are being done on a treadmill and so I have my personal answer to the question which is harder. For me personally, I felt that its harder to run on a treadmill because it requires a lot of patience to run at one place where the view is monotonous. Running on treadmill makes me miss the air gushing to my face and the view of The Fort and other runners passing by.

So far, the longest treadmill run that I've done is 47 minutes. Most of my runs are just between 20 to 30 minutes. But to compensate on the mileage lost, I try to run at my tempo pace.

Here are some of my treadmill workouts:

1.) Distance: approx 11KM
Average Pace: 13.5KPH
Time: approx 47 minutes

2.) Distance: approx 6KM
Average Pace: 14KPH
Time: approx 25 minutes

3.) Distance: approx 5KM
Average Pace: 13.5KPH
Time: approx 21 minutes