Earth Run 2009

I had seconds thoughts leaving the house to go to the race venue since it was raining really hard. I was unsure if the race organizers are planning to cancel the race event. But since I made a promise to kuya Melvin that I'll be assisting in pacing the event, I needed to go to the race venue. I prepared my things and headed to the venue.

I was suprised that amidst the rain, packs of people went to the place. Now it was clear that whatever happens, the race will push through. I got the pace flag, and got myself ready for the start of the race.

When the gun sounded I started running at a comfortable pace just a little bit faster than 5min/km to compensate with the hilly terrains of the course. My friend Teddy tagged along for the first 1 or 2 kilometers. But since he was planning to only do 5:30min/km so he told me to move along. At the 3rd kilometer marker I saw my officemate Narod and his girlfriend.

The road was wet and drizzles of rain was falling, but it was quite a blessing because it made the run a lot more relaxing. The only problem was my shoe was filled with water and it was quite uncomfortable and heavy. But it was a fun experience for me. You don't get to run in the rain that often. :)

I finished the race a little bit faster than the desired pace flag though. I also got a hold of the Earth Run shirt!

To think that the weather did not cooperate, but the organizers were able to pull off a great race.

PROS:
- Enough water supply
- Clear race direction markers
- Lot of race Marshalls
- Great freebies after the race
- There were race pacers during the race (hehehe i'm one of them)

CONS:
- There was an incident of Robbery in the area
- All race category all started at the same time that caused some traffic.

But overall the race was really well organized.

16K Trial Run

It has been a while since I ran longer than 10K and since I've volunteered to pace this Sunday for the Earth Run, I decided to do a trial 16K run with the same speed as to what I'll be pacing this Sunday.

I ran side by side with my running buddy Regie where we started at Bonifacio High Street near Honda. We passed by Mckinley road up to Mabini Road then to TESDA. Then from TESDA we went back to Bayani road and down to Heritage where we took a U-turn at C5. We headed back to Mckinley Road and went down to Mckinley Hills, then back again as we headed back to Bonifacio High Street. We logged 16K as I stopped right after my Garmin hit the 16K marker. We finished the run in 1:19:12 with a pace of 4:57min/km. We pretty much did an accurate pace thanks to my friend Alvin who told me that using the Garmin's average pace is much useful than displaying the eratic pace.

It wasn't a hard run, but it wasn't an easy one either. My average heart rate was in the aerobic zone but it was a beat lower to my anaerobic zone. I never felt this great for months. I'm now putting back base mileages and hopefully be running a half marathon soon. Thanks to my pacing buddy Reggie once again for running beside me this morning.

See you guys at the Earth Run!

The Takbo.ph 2008 Year Book

Thanks to Jinoe and the Takbo.ph for this great yearbook. Can't wait for this year's year book. :)

Pacing for Earth Run

I wasn't aware of the upcoming Earth Run until I walked inside R.O.X. and saw people clamoring for a red gorgeous singlet made by Boon equipment for only 200pesos. I've had so many running singlets, and this one stands out. The Earth Run singlet was so gorgeous, I wouldn't be surprised if people registered only to get a hand of the singlet. I registered myself for the 16K and my wife for the 5K (which she intends to change to 10K after experiencing the TNF 100). I got hold of the blue singlet, while my wife got the red singlet.

This morning, I went to our usual tambayan where I saw kuya Melvin who asked me if I could pace during the Earth Run in exchange for a running singlet.

I said yes to get a red one of my size. Now I'll have blue and red Earth Run singlets. :)

I'll be pacing 5min/km for the 16K category. A 1 hour and 20 minutes work for a free nice red singlet and to shave 1000+ calories from the double Whopper I ate last weekend.

Oh, and if I'm lucky enough to be one of the top 300 to finish 16K I can get the Earth run shirt:

Nokia Sports Tracker

Are you looking for a GPS watch and you can't find any here in Manila? Then never fear, the Nokia Sports Tracer is here.

I was suprised and amazed with the new technologies emerging. And this particular article from http://lefthandmouse.blogspot.com featured by takbo.ph caught my attention.

http://takbo.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=277&Itemid=1

TNF 100 Experience - Conquering the trails

It was a weekend experience for our family to spend time at Clark Pampanga. It's all because of one single event called The North Face 100. The race was to be a memorable experience for my wife as much as for me for two reasons. First it was her first 10 kilometer run, and it was her first trail event.

We arrived at the venue around 4:45 am. We saw runner and blogger friends Jerry and Marga. We had our race bib checked and stayed in the car for a short nap after. After being powered up by the short nap we went to the starting line and saw some friends: Jaymie, her husband and Jun.

The first set of runners were the 21K runners. After 10minutes it was our turn. The first 1km of the race was pure road. As we reached the area where we are to go down the sacobia bridge there was a bit of traffic due to the narrow path leading down the bridge. The next set of trail until kilometer 5 was a sandy trail. Some parts of the trail have ankle high flowing water that we needed to pass by. It was at kilometer five were it was inevitable that our shoes and socks were to get wet. After 5 kilometer, we need to hike a little bit up the mountain and run the muddy trail until we reach back the sacobia bridge heading to the finish line. It was an amazing experience for me and my wife. As for how the race was organized it was organized pretty well even if the there were unforseen circumstances that happened the day before the race. Such as the heavy rain that poured and destroyed the water stations. But as far as me and my wife's experience is concerned, there seemed to be ample suply of water and Gatorade.

After the race was also a treat thanks to Ben's PhotoVendo that took very nice pictures of us after the race. There were also lots of supply of gatorade and energy bars.

Now I can't wait for the next TNF100. Where would it be next?

The North Face 100 Clark, Sacobia Angeles Pampanga

If you are into hiking and running, then this is your thing. I've joined the very first TNF100 at Nasugbu, and this time around for the third installment of the TNF100, they are moving to Pampanga. I'm very much excited for this race since its also the first trail running event my wife will be joining. I'll accompany her during the race and I just hope she'll love it.

For those who will be joining the race, see you all this Sunday!