My Wife is Running!

It has been awhile since I posted a new topic. I have been in hibernation for too long. And for running, yes I still run, but not as many as I used to.

But probably the best news I have is that my running evangelical job has paid off. I was able to have my wife join me in my training.

For this year, I have re-organized my plan. Aside from just setting goals for myself, I have vowed to help my wife learn the sport of running. But there were several changes that took place. First was I need to dedicate time to pace with her during certain parts of the run. Second was I had to adjust my time with hers. Third, I get to act as coach even if I'm far from being capable. Fourth, I had to tuck in hard runs to at least maintain my fitness level, and the only way to do that is on evenings after work. Yeah its hard work, and there are times that I missed training because of work overtime. But then again, whenever I hear my wife in the morning wanting to run makes me feel I'm doing a great job.

Anawangin Cove

The Philippines is not called the Pearl of the Orient for nothing. It has many secrets hidden within its 7107 islands. Fortunately, the paradise of Anawangin is but a bus ride away from Manila. When you arrive at Pundaquit, you have two options to get to the paradise. You can rent a boat to bring you there, or you can trek and traverseMt. Pundaquit to reach the destination.

Of course as Adventure seekers, we plan to trek Mt. Pundaquit, reach the summit, and head down towards Anawangin beach. We started our trek around 5am and was able to reach the summit at around 7:30am. After resting, we head down towards Anawangin beach and arrived at around 10am. The whole trek lasted for 5 hours and it was all worth it. This is probably the best way a runner can do his/her cross training.

The adventure didn't end at Anawangin beach. There is also a spring along the area, and there's a tiny mountain where you can trek to get a bird's eye view of the whole beach.

The next day, we opted to go to Capones Island to see the old lighthouse during the time of the Japanese invasion.

I might have missed the PSE Bull Run, but this was really worth it.

Happy New Year

Its been a while since my last post. It has been a fun and a busy vacation week. It has been a great 2008. There were plenty of races we that we've joined, and it was also the year were we met so many running friends. I hope to see all of you next year and I'm excited for what is to come in this year 2009.

My personal goal about this year is to simply: Keep on running and to love running more.

Anyway I'd like to greet everyone a Happy New Year. I'm sure we'll have a great year this 2009.

Jr Striders Breakfast Party

A year has passed and looking back brings a lot of memories. We have seen the many benefits of running. And perhaps the most important benefit is that it has been the avenue to build friendships. This Christmas, I thank God for allowing me to make plenty of PRs... or Personal Relationships.

One morning, with my Fort Striders family, we spend the time bonding at Josh' place were we ate Glen Pogi's ultimate longanisa. We also had a taste of protein packed Australian cereals care of Kuya Melvin. It was a time of stories not just about running but pretty much anything under the sun such as Regie's lovelife and Glen's future business plans.

We finished the day with our stomach and hearts filled with longanisa and laughter. :)

Antipolo Run

What a great way to end year 2008 but with a great run of course. Not a race, but a run with running buddies. It was also our so called farewell run for Wilbert who would be leaving for the US this 1st of January. It was my first time to be doing a run to Antipolo.

I was with Mikey, Vimz, Wilbert, Bobby and Tanya as we started off from Brookside Ville and then after 2KM of running we did our warmup. From that point onward there were so many steep ascent all the way to our destination - the Antipolo church. The whole jorney, although challenging was fun especially when you get to talk with a group of runners. We had plenty of photo ops at our destination and Vimz and I got to buy some Antipolo suman!

Heading back home was also a different experience. We passed by a different route and encountered the steepest downhill road. According to Mikey, he had ran on the steep road in which he couldn't stop because of the momentum. So we just slowly walked downhill, and had some photo ops.

We got back tired and happy. We had to part ways with Bobby and Tanya after. I rode with Mikey together with Vimz and Wilbert and we ended the day by having a brunch at Tiendecitas

To Wilbert, God Bless on your LA Marathon training. Hanap ka na ng training route sa Seattles.

I'm looking forward for another long run next year. :) Btw, thanks for Vimz for the photos.. :)

Night Runs

For most runners many already hit the road around 5am doing their morning runs. This is to avoid the heat of the sun and the only time where they can fit a run in their schedule. For this week though most of my runs are during the evening. I end work at 6pm, reach home at around 630pm and run going to Bonifacio Highstreet and head back home.

Evening runs has its own unique impact to your running experience. Its more quiet since there aren't that many runners who run in the evening. Its only when I get to Bonifacio Highstreet where I would see few people running around the area. I also feel so peaceful while running at night.

So again for tonight, I will hit the road. Care to join me?

Yakult 10 Miler and Dream Match

2 major events happened this weekend. First is the Yakult 10 mile run which most non-runners doesn't really care about and second is the Dream Match between Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La-Hoya and every Filipino knows about this.

Let me give a brief recap on my 16K run during the Yakult 10 mile race. I arrived on the scene of the race 15 minutes before the start of the race. It took me some time though to enter the chute and the reason is really a long story so I won't be mentioning about that. When the gun sounded, I wasn't actually inside the chute yet. I hurried to have my bib checked and ran. Along the way I saw Josh and Regie pacing each other. Regie my pacing partner was suppose to pace Josh for the whole course, but Josh insisted that if Regie wants to pace with me he could do so. So to Josh, thanks for letting Regie join me during the race. This was also the race where I'll be able to test my new Garmin 305 for its longest run within a week. Unfortunately, I got disoriented when the gun sounded that I forgot to press the start button, not until around kilometer 2 of the race. Anyway I had fun running this course and I'm grateful to Regie for not leaving me during the whole race. I finished with an unofficial time of 1:13 and 34 seconds. This was my first 16K race so theres a PR for 16K. After the race though, we were in a hurry to leave and have breakfast at Rockwell so that we can get to Makati Sports on time for the Manny Pacquiao bout. We weren't even able to attend the awarding. I saw the takbo.ph gathering area early before the race but its unfortunate that we didn't had enough time to drop by.

About the Manny Pacquiao bout, well, I'm sure most if not all have seen the fight so I don't have to give a recap about that. But I'd like to mention that Maywheather Sr. was not totally wrong about what he mentioned about Dream Match being a circus. He was right in saying it was a mismatch. His mistake was he voted in the wrong guy.

Congratulations to all who ran the Yakult 10 miler and of course to the pride of our country Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.

P.S. I got the photo from Vimz. Thanks Vimz!