Corregidor Test Run

For the first time in my life, I was able to visit the famous island of Corregidor. I have heard the historical significance of the place, but I never got the chance to visit it in my 29 years of existence. And having not done so is a major major mistake (sounds familiar).

I'm glad I was invited to experience running along the roads of what the American's call "The Rock". The experience was quite different than all the other places I have set foot on. What is spectacular is that you get to run along areas in the place with plenty of historical contributions. But beautiful as what the Island can offer poses great challenges. Yes, the hilly roads of Corregidor makes it a very tough course. But as the old saying goes "No pain, No gain".

And the good news to us runners is that a race is about to unfold on Dec 19, with only 1 tough distance. A half-marathon distance, on the hilly roads of the magnificent island of Corregidor.

So we better start fueling are muscles and prepare. Just a piece of advice to other runners, this race will require tons of hill training. I think speed work on the track will not be enough.

I Survived the Adidas KOTR 21K Race

Woohooo! I survived the KOTR (Adidas King of the Road) 21K race. After 2 years of running, this was to be my first 21K distance race. I have tried one 42K last year but never have I tried running a 21K before. Since Adidas has been showing off its great looking singlets, I was lured into registering for the race. I registered on running the 21K event for the mere reason that I have always been missing any long runs. The truth is, for months already, my training only involved short distances of 5K in tempo pace. I don’t know why, but when I decide to do a longer run, I always end up doing short ones. The longest I had on one weekend was a 10K. I had to do something about skipping long runs. I knew my endurance have declined, and if I’m not going to put back those long distances, then I won’t be improving at all. Now here was my chance. At least I know I won’t skip a long run if I paid PHP500 to run it.

Now here comes race day. Like I said in my previous post, I was having race jitters. As we gathered at the starting line I bumped into El Kiyoshi. My goal for this race was to finish at least with a time of sub 1:50. But as the clock started ticking, I had fears of cramps or worse to get a DNF(Did not Finish). But I was psyching myself that I should finish the race. I’ve already set my heart rate to play around 74% to 87%, and my strategy was to keep my heart rate on those zones for the entire race. When the gun started I paced with El Kiyoshi running at a sub 5min/km pace. I was trying to listen to my body trying to find if there is anything wrong. I did not experience any problem so far not until the 10th kilometer as we were heading back along Buendia. I felt my left thigh burning, and accompanied by numbness in my left calves. This was the same experience I had during the Philippine International Marathon, the only difference was I was having it at the 10th kilometer marker. This was the time when I was questioning myself what in the world have I gotten myself into. Instead of getting panicky, I told myself that whatever happens I should try and finish the race. There are instances especially climbs when I had to stop and walk when I felt my left leg muscles felt to be giving up. I normally detest walking, but in this case it was the only strategy I had to finish the race. My finish time was no longer in my mind. It was just a question of finishing it or not. So I tried to slow down my pace, listened to my legs, then when it feels tight, I’d walked for a couple of seconds, and when it feels a little bit better already I’d run again.

At the 14KM marker, I was thinking of not turning right and just head to the finish. But again, that would be cheating. I told myself DNF is not an option. I’ll finish this race whatever it takes. I took a right turn, slowed down and held for dear life!

Time was fleeting as many runners overtook me. But it doesn’t matter anymore. All I wanted was to survive this race. I couldn’t any longer feel my feet. But the funny thing is I knew I was moving. And it was just a matter of time and I finally crossed the finish line. I felt I was the happiest runner alive. I was glad I survived my first 21K. I finished a time of 1:43, a PR to break on my next 21K.

After the race, my legs were cramping I felt like vomiting. Thanks to my officemate and co-blogger Ian who handed me a glass of water after the race. That helped a lot mate. :)

I think I should be incorporating long runs in my training. I still need to decide my next half marathon race. But I hope I’ll be back with a vengeance.

Btw, my wife broke her 10K pr with a time of 1:02. We’ll be celebrating a movie later for our PRs.

See you again on the next race.

Enervon Prime Memo Race

It was quite a while since I tried racing a 5km run. But lately for weeks, since the rain has been terribly disturbing my training, I had zero long runs, and most of my runs would only last 5km. Good thing Memo race fitted well as a tune up race.

Joining Memo race was somehow unintentional. It was my dear wife who suggested joining the race last week after we attended the Mizuno run clinic. And I’m glad I joined it.

The race was organized by Unilab and proceeds would be given to the elderly at Paranaque. Contrary to other races, the distribution of giveaways began even before the race started. There were quite plenty of giveaways, and this did not include the loot bag that was given after the race.

We took a couple of giveaways before we had our bibs checked, and we didn’t have time to do our warm up. I told wifey that I’d be working hard well during the race since I have been training less for the past couple of weeks. So I told her that I wouldn’t be pacing along with her. As the gun sounded I started running the course trying to overtake as many runners us I can. The route was quite familiar, and according to my watch had quite an accurate distance. I finished at 20:04 and received my loot bag after crossing the finish. I saw my auntie Maricar who was there supporting my cousin Eirene who also joined the race. We talked for a while as I was waiting for my wife. After my wife finished the race at a very good time of 30:52, we still tried to get as much giveaways as we can after the race including a Jollibee hamburger. The only thing we skipped due to a very long queue of line was the free photo booth.

Again, if races are organized by Extribe, you can’t go wrong (almost). We had a short and sweet run with plenty of freebies and it pretty much made our day.

Globe Run for Home Results

At last, the official results are out. Thanks to Globe and Run Pix. You can analyze your run and compare how well you did against other runners in this link runpix.com

Heres my stats, and at last a very accurate time:

Globe Run for Home

I was really excited about joining this race for one particular reason, and that is the ability to analyze your run accurately through the use of the timing chip. Me and my wife were registered to run the 10K category. True to what Globe said, there were plenty of runners who joined the event. There were 6000 runners according to Globe.

Before the race, I remembered the story of Eric Lidell, and I got reminded of what the Bible says:

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." - 1 Cor 10:21

So I prayed and told God that I'm offering Him this race. And I knew that if I did my best with whatever God has given us, then He is glorified by it.

I lined up in front of the starting line and chatted with some people I knew including Pastor Junn.

When the gun started I paced a 4 minute / km pace until the 3rd kilometer. Then I slowed down a bit and my pace played around between 4:18 and 4:25 throughout the whole course. Heading back I saw my wife and she was encouraging me throughout the run. At kilometer 7, I was dead tired. So before the buendia fly over assault I walked as I drank 100 plus until my heart rate subsided. Then I made the final assault, hanged on and didn't mind my heart rate monitor because I knew it was over shooting. The next thing I knew, I was 500 meters away from the finish line. According to a running magazine I read before, if you can still do an all out speed to the finish line, its likely you didn't do your best. But no... I was trying to sprint and my speed went only as fast as 4:00 min/km on the last hundred meter.

I clocked 43:42. I did my best for the Lord and thats what counts. I might not be as fast as the elite runners, be he gave me the legs to run. I gave my best for Him because in the first place, He gave His best for me. Thank you Jesus.

These are the things I liked about the race:
1.) They used the timing chip so that you can analyze the run
2.) There were ample supply of 100 plus
3.) The weather cooperated
4.) Lots of food stalls at the race area. My wife particularly liked the Puto Bumbong.
5.) Free photo vendo pics which they say will come out soon.

These are the things that needs to be improved:
1.) I heard there were litters along lawton avenue that were not cleaned up.
2.) The awards weren't given immediately to winners. Prizes will have to be claimed at the Globe office.
3.) Frankly I was expectant that the results will be out right after the race. This is because they were using a timing chip technology. Base on my experience, if the race is organized by Finishline, the results are out on the same day at www.runrio.com. Its kinda ironic that the results took more time to be published than before considering the fact that the timing chip was used.

There may be plenty of contrasting opinions about the race, but for me and my wife, we had a great race. I enjoyed the run, and even if the results aren't out yet, they promised it will be soon.

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!

Botak Paabilisan Good Race Day

Its been a long time since my last 5K run at JAL run and I'm about to race again. I could still remember my last JAL run and I'm sure many would agree that a 5K run is equally difficult, or even scarier than racing a 10K if your planning to race it really well. What scares me about 5K races is that the one training ingredient necessary to race this distance well, is the one I always keep on missing. Yes, I've been missing a lot of speedwork sessions.

But I missed this distance so much that I wanted to give it another shot. I've registered at BOTAK Paa-bilisan. As I arrived at the race venue there where like 1000 plus runners in the area. I saw Joms who would be running the 10K distance after claiming my race kit from BOTAK staff.

I was again gonna pace with my friend Regie (supposedly) througout the race. When the gun sounded I tried to get away from the traffic of the crowed and started running as fast as I can. I couldn't find Regie because of the many runners running, but I know somewhere he'll find me and with be running together soon. True to what I thought just after 500 meters Regie appeared out of no where and we were running together. While nearing Lawton avenue I saw Joms. Joms is the ultimate Happy Feet target and if he was running 10K, he's sure is fast. I could see my heart rate quickly shoot to 170 after the first 1K. At 2K it was already reaching 180. On the 3rd kilometer it was reaching 186. Nearing the fourth kilometer my feet began to burn! It haven't felt such sensation before but it felt like overheating. I also felt gasping for air. I knew I need to slow down. I tried, but it seems my heart rate is stuck to 180 plus. So I did the worst or maybe wisest decision to stop and walk as I tried to have my heart rate fall. By this time Regie vanished within my site. Many other runners had passed by including Joms. My spirits were down at that point, but I wanted to race and finish the 5K race running than walking. So I started running again. I kept up my pace until I reached Joms again. I decided to pace with him until finish (Note that he's running 10K). The last 500 meters, Joms motivated me to try and add speed to my pace until the finish. So I tried doing what he said until I reached the finish line (Thanks Joms!). I clocked 21 minutes and 50 seconds (I think). But I need to get the official time from Botak to be sure. I may have called this race a bad race day. But I'm taking this one as a good lesson learned. I've learned to still continue to pace evenly even in short races as 5K. Amidst not being able to get a PR, I was still able to enjoy the race. In fact after the race I got to meet blogger friends Run Unltd, Bro J and Running Fatboy (Thanks Bro J for the wonderful pics). I also got a picture with Ms Elma Muros. To Oknoy and the Botak peeps, congratulations for a great race. Now the only bad race day is if you aren't able to race. But everytime ill finish a race may it be a PR or not, it should either be a good race or a great race.

See you guys on the next races. Keep on running and racing!

4th October Run Festival teams with Real Life Foundation

This coming October the 4th October Run Festival's theme is "The Start of A New Life". Looking back at the past I would say that running has helped me live a healthier lifestyle. I'm sure many runners if not all could name tons of benefits of running not just physically but also psychologically.

This time around not only the runners will benefit from the event, but also those young people who are less fortunate to pursue a higher degree of education.

The Fort Striders has teamed up with Real Life Foundation who's vision is to help less fortunate young people pursue their dreams in this event. So running the event means no matter how fast you cross the line, you are a winner in many young people's eye who cannot afford a good education.

The Race will be held at the Fort NBC Tent on October 26, 2008 and it will start at exactly 6:00am. There will be 3 events namely 3K Boys and Girls Division, 5K Men and Women, and 10K Men and Women. Start of Registration is to be announced. Once registered, the race packet and shirt will be given. Furthermore a training CD will be provided for all those who registered after the race. This will be useful for those who would like to seriously pursue running as their sport.

The prices are as follows:

3K Boys and Girls (Must be 12yrs old and below):
Champion: P1500
Runner-up: P1000
3rd Place: P500

5K Men and Women
Champion: P3000
Runner-up: P2000
3rd Place: P1000

10K Men and Women
Champion: P4000
Runner-up: P3000
3rd Place: P2000

For age category winners: Medal & Gift Packs

Tiktakbo Recap

This month of June has already been fully booked for races. Last week was the Rush to Mizuno Infinity, today was the Tik-Takbo, next week would be the One La Salle run, and the week after would be the TNF100. The week after that would be the Milo marathon, but I’ve yet to decide if I’ll push myself to joining that. Anyway for this Sunday’s race was Tik-Takbo at UP.

We arrived at the race venue and got to talk with Rio. I finally met Passion Runner (Eric). I tried to examine my legs and they still hurt since the Rush to Mizuno Infinity Run last Sunday. The night before this race, my friend Omar called me and we found out that we are both running at the Tik-Takbo 18K race. I told him I’d be doing an LSD and it would be great if he could join me during the run. I’ve done a long run in preparation for the Pasig Marathon at UP before, and I must say that UP is one of the best places where you can do your runs.

As we gathered at the starting line, I saw Omar and greeted him. Two of my pacing buddies are also at the race: Glenn and Reggie. They were in race mode though for this event. In the back of my mind, I also wanted to race, but my legs are telling me to keep it easy this time. I wanted to repeat the strategy I’d done last week at the Mizuno Infinity Run (overtake as many runners as I can, and try to run as fast as I can) but plainly my body just can’t. Its unfortunate a week is not enough (for me) to recover from last week’s race. I’ve already allotted two rest days for the week, but the pain in my legs remained there. But in any case I’ve decided to run the 18K. I’ve registered and I’m not quitting. I’d like to run and enjoy the run whatever it takes. But for this event I will have to run a little bit slower (if I still want to run the succeeding races, especially the TNF100).

When the race started I ran beside my friend Omar. There was one blooper during the early parts of the race. My left leg got bitten by a wasp. Good thing endorphins are great pain relievers so the pain was bearable and a few minutes after the pain was gone. Omar by the way has started running just a few months ago but I was surprised with the many achievements he has already accomplished. He has challenged himself and completed a 10K and 15K race. Now he has challenged himself to run 18K and I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before his first Marathon (42K).

At kilometer 4, Omar told me to go ahead, but I was hesitant to do so for two reasons. First is I’ve given my word to assist him, and second I’m not sure it was a good idea to be too excited and face the consequence of a major injury. I told him I wasn’t after beating any time. Anyway to cut the story short, as Omar was persistent I decided to break out and speed up my pace not until I saw kuya Melvin. I checked my watch and his pace is around 4:40 min/km. I decided to accompany kuya Melvin until the finish line. I thought that this should be the fastest I should go, and anything more than that might cause me some major injuries. Besides this was suppose to be an LSD run and a 4:40 min/km in someway is a little bit over my intended LSD pace of 5:00-5:10min/km. For the whole run I made it a point to put my heart rate in Aerobic level but a little bit close to Anaerobic so that I could still reap enough fitness in the race. I was happy reaching the finish line with Kuya Melvin and got to talk to Glenn and Reggie’s race experience.

Now comes the surprising part. When the 1st placers for the different age category were called I was in disbelief when my name was called. I knew I overtook many after the 4K mark but I never thought I'd overtake that many. The prize was a privilege to have my own singlet and running shorts built by Botak with my own specifications.

The best part is Glenn (picture on the right) and Kuya Melvin were both 1st placers in their age category as well.

The bad news is the actual race distance registered in my watch is 14.4K. So its way short of 18K.

My next race would be at Animo run. I'll be running with my family this time. wooohooo..

Taguig Run

We joined another race event last sunday. But this isn't a race event familiar to many runners. Well, almost. Not until after getting to the race venue and we saw too many elites! The race event wasn't as fabulous or as well marketed as the other races held on the same sunday such as the Vertical Run and the Doc Fit at UP. Yes it was not well marketed, but it so happened that the makati elite varsities and runners had a nose for this race. The entry was cheap and they knew they had the shot to win in the events.

I joined my very first and shortest race: The 3K 41 years old and below category. My goal time was at least a sub 12minute 3K. It was the shortest race I've ran and after finishing I wasn't that exhausted compared to my other 10K races (with pretty obvious reason of course). I was surprised I clocked at 9minutes and 10seconds, but there was something wrong with the distance. My watch only registered 2.3KM. So its 700 meter short. And I knew there was something wrong since when I was about to add speed to the pace, the finish line began to pop at my sight. So there wasn't any more time to add momentum to the speed. So indeed, this was my shortest race. Well, the race was'nt that well organized. But what do you expect with such a small budgeted race.

Anyway, I'm happy I had another race event in my record: The 3K...uh I mean 2.3K race at Taguig. :)

Mizuno Run

This was a highly anticipated race since we have been attending the Mizuno run clinic for many Tuesdays already in preparation for this race. This was an exciting race for me because it would be my first time to race a 15K. And racing for the first time in a particular event almost feels like racing for the very first time. There were a lot of things going through my mind. First, I was strategizing on the pace that I would be running. Run too fast, and I’d probably end up walking the next half, run too slow, and you’ll end up disappointed. And since this was my first 15K, I practically had no idea on what pace I’ll be running with.
5:30AM I had my number checked and we gathered inside the starting line. I met up with Teddy and Reggie. Teddy was holding the 5min/km banner flag. I could see my heart rate already elevated to a whopping 125bpm even if I was just standing there with the crowd. It really felt like racing for the first time. As oppose to my usual races, I was actually standing in the middle of the crowd this time. My mind is telling me to keep it easy, enjoy the race and finish it. When the horn sounded, me, Reggie and Teddy started running. The first thing we needed to do was to break away from the crowd. Then a couple of meters me and Reggie were talking about pacing with the 5min/km held by Teddy or if we would break away and run our sub 5min pace the way we usually do with our 8K tempo runs. We eventually decided to run a faster pace and we told Teddy that we will move ahead. We were running an average of 4min/ 20secs for the first 5K of the race and everything felt okay. At the Heritage turning point, it was uphill and we still manage to run between 4:30 and 4:40 pace, then we went inside the Heritage park cemetery, and boy, it was my first time to go inside. It was really beautiful. Getting out of the cemetery we had to climb the uphill until reaching Bayani Road. Then we turned right to Mc Kinley road. Now, the surprising part was, the 15K runners were told to turn right to this road (I’m not sure what’s the name of the road). Yeah, the Fort is my turf, but never have I passed by this road, or even knew that the road existed. The place really looked beautiful. Unfortunately, this was probably one of the hardest routes of this race. It was a long steep downhill, which means you will have to endure a very long steep uphill going back. At the turning point it was a 45 degree angle going up, so you won’t have enough momentum to run up. I felt my calves burning and I noticed how our speed really slowed down. There were a couple of meters that I had to walk and allow Reggie to move ahead. But Reggie couldn’t bear the steepness of the hill also, so there was a point he also needed to walk. At reaching the water station, I drank 4 pocari sweat to regain those electrolytes. I began to run again at a sub 5 pace. Reggie was there catching up not until we parted ways at the Mc Kinley road as I tried to maintain a 4:40 pace. At the last 1KM I gave it my best shot to run a sub 4:30 pace to compensate with the time lost during the steep uphill. I finished with an unofficial time of 01:09:46. I was happy with the results, since I was actually just aiming for a 01:10:00.
After the race, at last, I met the Bald Runner face to face. Congratulated him and had this little chat. Also saw thebullrunner and congratulated her for her 5K race, after a long abstinence due to her knee injury. I’m happy for her she didn’t experience any knee pain during the race.
To evaluate the race, this was probably one of the hardest routes I’ve ever tried (2nd to the Pasig Marathon). It could have been a great racing event except for the fact that there weren’t any free water at the finish line. I had to buy my water for 25pesos. Running a tough 15K with no water at the end can really put you into trouble. But anyway, I would like to congratulate Ige and the Mizuno team for organizing this event.

Pinay in Action Family Bonding

The “Pinay in Action” is the first and biggest women’s running event in the country. For some reason, I was excited about this event. This was the Sunday race event where I am not planning to race but am very excited about. It was the race event where I get to bring my whole family including my baby Meekha. My wife and Meekha will join the 1.6KM mother and daughter run. I on the other hand plan to run and tag along with friends who would be running the 10KM event.

As we arrived at the NBC tent, we saw Reva who would be running the 10K event. She asked if I could assist to pace her during her 10K run. Our plan, if possible is to get her a sub 50 minute time. I should say that was the most “showbiz” run I’ve ever joined… hehe… On the 3rd loop, we were already running beside Pia Cayetano, and of course all the camera were on her and all the peeps running beside her. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be there since I’m a guy. Senator Pia asked few guys (including me) to stay far behind while they do a photo shoot. So I had to ease the pace so that Reva could get nice photos running beside Sen. Pia… wohoooh. Those were the good part of the 10K race. Now here comes the bad part. First the 10K event requires everyone to run 4 loops around Serendra and Bonifacio Highstreet, and for any runner, counting the number of loops that you have ran can be confusing, most especially if you are very much concentrated with your run. Yes there were ribbons being distributed. However, the color of the ribbon for each loop are the same. Now the big problem is, the ushers would find it hard to determine the number of loops you have already ran and so they wouldn’t be able to assist you if you already need to head for the finish line. Lucky for us, I was wearing my T3 and so I already know the number of kilometers we were running. Unfortunately, the road toward the finish line was different from the road where we started, and we weren’t aware of this. To cut the long story short, we missed the road to the finish line and after asking an usher were the finish line was, we had to go back and look for it. It probably took minutes to find the finish line which shattered the possibility for the sub 50 minutes goal. We reached the finish line and Reva clocked 51 minutes and 45 secs in my watch. Oh well, things like that really happen to races.

Now, it’s the turn of my wife and Meekha to run their 1.6 km race. They gathered in front beside two women in wheel chairs. Meekha was in a stroller and my wife would be pushing while jogging. The 1.6KM race consists 4 x 400 meter around the loop. I was there taking a phone video of starting gun so Ill be posting this video here in this blog. I was walking/jogging along my wife while she was running around the loop. It was pretty cool to see many people taking pictures of my wife and baby. Hehe… so Pia isn’t just the famous one. My baby got plenty of pics too… hehe. I wish this was televised.

After the run, we went inside NBC tent to get those plenty freebies! We got a month’s supply of Downy and Ariel. We also got other freebies such as Enervon C vitamins, a taste of Herbalife Meal replacement, free Herbalife fitness test, and Nesvita oaths. There were also plenty of booths that sell fitness products.

After a couple of tour inside the NBC tent booths, we head our way to Serendra and we dined at Contis. It was a very nice Sunday where I get to spend quality time with my family. We’ll be attending church in a while and will be thanking God for the wonderful blessing today.

Pinay in Action

I know its awkward for me to post this announcement, but ill announce it anyway. Calling all women, young and old. Go and join the Pinay in Action to be held at the Fort Bonifacio NBC Tent. There will be different unique running events and a health and beauty fitness expo from 6:00am to 7:00pm. For more details visit http://www.pinayinaction.com/.

Ill be there to support my wife and daughter who would be joining the mother and daughter race. Oh, needless to say, my daugther is 9months old. I hope there are prizes for youngest runner.