Pinay In Action

Oooops, she did it again. Not Brittney Spears, but Senator Pia Cayetano who once again organized Pinay In Action. This event is more than a running event, but an advocacy on the rights and health of women. Kudos to you Senator Pia.

My wife and I were pretty excited about this event because we had a grand time last year. True to what we expected, we did enjoy this run. We got as expected plenty of freebies and was able to meet so many runner-blogger friends.

More than me, my wife was ecstatic for breaking a new 5K PR of 32 minutes. Congrats to my wife!

The picture is courtesy of Joe a.k.a. The Looney Runner

Breaking PR!

Early in the morning she prepares her things, snaps the footpod on her New Balance shoe and tell's her husband "lets go". This occured 3 mornings every week anticipating a 3K or a 5K run. Her eager husband joins with her during the 42 minutes run. It all started with a 42 minutes 5K. But as time flies, it seems her husband's Garmin is broken, or she's really just improving rapidly. But a month has passed and its amazing 7 minutes has been shaved off from her 5K time. And yes, I'm not kidding its just a month. So I see the enormous potential of my deary wife, and I'm anticipating to get amazed as the weeks go by.

Condura Run 2009

Last year's Condura 2008 was one of the best race I joined last year. I knew that this year, the Condura race would also be a great event for me. Last year, I paced the 4:30min/km pace in the 10K event. Similarly, this year, I was also to pace, but with a slightly slower and more relax pace of 5:00min/km.

This year though for me was a better experience. For one, its not just an experience for me, but for my wife as well. She also paced during the event with a speed of 7:30min/km. I remember her first 5K which took her 45minutes to complete. Now, she can finish the race in 35 minutes!

The run was smooth and fun. It was a familiar route, and there were literally thousands of runners who joined each event category. On the 10K alone, there were thousands of runners who joined. During the run I bumped into a lot of friends. First was Reva Magno, a triathlete and the girl who won 3rd overall in the 10K. I also saw Leroy who I met during our mountain climb at Mt Malasimbo a couple of weeks ago. I also saw Maricel, one of the fastest female runner I know who was on her way back, but unfortunately was running as a bandit (and I guess was running an effortless training pace). I also bumped into, well, not really a friend, but a celebrity - Rovilson. I tell you, this guy is for real! He is as fit as he looks and he runs really well. Talk about big and fast. On my way back while climbing the fly over, I saw an old college friend Diego. I've been seeing him in races and I would say he has improved a lot (really a lot!). He has improved so much that he even smoked Rovilson. Anyway as I crossed the finish line I looked at my garmin and the distance registered was 10.02 which was very accurate. My finish time was a little bit faster than the desired pace that I was pacing, but it was kinda near.

After the race I got 2 copies of Men's Health Magazine and some freebies. The run was all worth it. Sad though that we need to leave early so I didn't get to congratulate the rest of the 21K finishers.

Btw results are out. You can find them here: Condura 2009 Results

Mt Malasimbo Puerto Gallera

Its summer again and that means two beach hot spots in the country will once again be crowded. One is of course Boracay, and second is Puerto Gallera.

Last saturday we wen't to Puerto Gallera with an ironic intent. The waters weren't our main goal, but it was to climb Mt Malasimbo.

We arrived at the shores of Mindoro around lunch time, took a 30minute lunch and headed to the jump off point. Mt Malasimbo is a towering mountain which anyone can spot even along the shores of Puerto Gallera.

The climb compared to other mountains was a steep ascent. Our climb wasn't really the most difficult part of the climb. For one, we were blessed to climb a dry trail. It was steep, but it wasn't bothersome. Before our trip to Malasimbo, we were warned of the limatiks (blood leeches) around the area, so I was prepared with an alcohol spray. Good thing that I didn't encounter one while climbing.

We set camped at 750+ meters above see level and had decided to assault the summit the next day. Now, the most difficult part wasn't really the climb, it was the camp. The campsite was open and the gust of wind was so strong. Adrian and I decided to sleep early around 8pm since there were nothing much to do anyway. Not to mention that our camp site was limatik infested and I got bitten twice already on the foot, so it would be wise to stay inside the tent instead of joining the others during their socials.

That was just the beginning, the worse part was about to come when the wind became stronger, and the rain started pouring. The wind was so strong that the pegs was pulled out. Tiny splashes of water came in our tent, and my bag got wet (which was my fault for not putting any rain proofing). The rain and wind never really stopped even on the next day. We decided to postpone the assault to the summit and decided to head down.

Again the trek down was harder than the climb because aside from being steep, the trail was muddy and slippery. But, we all made it in one piece.

Before leaving Puerto Gallera, we had a quick 30minute swim, took a shower and off back to Manila. It was kind of a difficult climb, but a good cross training in preparation for Condura. I had to rest two days after the climb. After two days of rest, a 10K tempo run later will be exhilirating.

Unfortunately no pictures yet... next time when I get my hands on my friend's pictures.