Men's Health All Terrain

I have been in a running hiatus for like 2 months already. I knew I needed to get back on my feet soon, and I would be more motivated to do so if I join a really great race. So, I’m returning to the sport by joining the Men’s Health All-Terrain Race on May 16. It will be Men’s Health 5th anniversary, and they will celebrating it with an all-new trail in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna on May 16, at 5am.

Nuvali is an eco village being developed by Ayala Lands, and they have opened their territory for this exciting event. In this vast and naturally rich site, runners and bikers will get to experience running and riding on pavements, dirt roads and grass lands.

I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic as now if I wasn’t there to see a sneak preview of how the terrain will look like. Men’s Health was gracious enough to arrange a 6K trial run for us and the test run was fantastic.

The terrain in Nuvali comprises of 3 types as I mentioned earlier. Pavements, grass and dirt. Majority of the trail will be dirt. What this means is depending on the weather, the dirt could be wet and slippery, or it could be thick and uneven. For those who might be interested in running using an ordinary running shoe might find this doable, if the weather conditions are right. Also, runners and bikers should be prepared for a really hot weather since the trail is an open area. That means, you wouldn’t have the luxury of trees to cover you.

Participants may choose to run the 6-kilometer, 10-kilometer or 16-kilometer trail course, or ride their bikes on the 20-kilometer or the 40 kilometer route. But for those up for the challenge, there is also the option to do both the 10-kilometer trail run and the 20 kilometer bike ride.

Here are the registration details from Men’s Health:
Registration is now ongoing at Aktiv Sports and Lifestyle Centers in Trinoma and Festival Super Mall, ROX in Bonifacio High Street and at the Summit Media Office at the 7th Floor of Robinsons Cybergate Tower 3, Pioneer St., Mandaluyong, City. Deadline of registration is on May 7, 2010.

Oh btw, more prizes will be given out. There will be Top 5 prizes for each category.

See you guys there.

It has been saddening for our Fort Strider’s family for the passing of our good friend kuya Larry from a motorcycle accident in Bicol. I remember meeting kuya Larry at the Mizuno run clinic 3 years ago and he was the one who invited me to join the Fort Striders club. He was also there at my first running event during the first Run for Hope at Rockwell Powerplant. I’m sure some of you may have already bumped into him a couple of times since he is one who readily volunteers as a pacer.

Kuya Larry has been an inspiration to me. He once said that running is the best investment one can have. You’ll never miss him every time you meet him during your runs because he’s the type of person who would practically greet everyone he passes by.

Kuya Larry, you will always be remembered. And for everything, thank you.

17.5KM Long Run and 80KM Long Bike

I had agreed to the invitation of my friends to do a long bike last Sunday. I wasn't signed up to any race event so I thought it was a great idea to have my bike experience its first long journey. The longest it has traveled was around 45KM in a single journey.

Prior to Sunday's long ride, I had to do a long run just to complete my weekly mileage. I thought the Saturday before the long ride was the perfect day. I logged around 17.5KM last Saturday.

I met up with my friends at Kalayaan corner C5. We passed by C5 heading toward Eastwood. We passed by Antipolo until we reached Morong and headed back passing by Cardona, Binangonan and Taytay. At Antipolo we had rice stew (yup lugaw). Going back at Binangonan we passed by a buko stall. I don't know if someone else would agree with me, but drinking buko juice seemed a lot refreshing than drinking a bottle of Gatorade.

After getting back to Manila, we passed by a little bit at Joy's place where we each had a glass of Herbalife shake. I couldn't believe burning 2000 calories could easily feel well replenished by a single 80 calories shake. But really, I felt so full and well nourished after the shake that after reaching home, I had no qualms on heading to Glorietta to accompany my wife shop.

It was my first 80KM ride and it was a fantastic experience that should have a regular slot in my training.

Urbanathletes get challenged at the 2009 Men’s Health Urbanathlon

Racers at the 2009 Men’s Health Urbanathlon held last November 22, 2009, Sunday, 5:00am enjoyed an all-new race course at McKinley Hill, Taguig City. Over a thousand participants of the famous city-based, multidisciplinary race integrating various urban structures as part of the race course had to go through five major obstacles: meter high MMDA barriers, a weave of metallic bars, a six-storey building, a chain of low crawls and an 8-foot wall!
Some personalities spotted racing down the tracks were QTV’s Ang Pinaka host and Amazing Race Asia participant Rovilson Fernandez, Ateneo Blue Eagles point guard and Unang Hirit host Jai Reyes and GMA entertainment reporter Nelson Canlas.
The top racers of the 2009 Men’s Health Urbanathlon who braced the course and obstacles with unbeatable speed and persistent strength were Regie Lumauag and Honeylyn Leonardo for the 5k run and Alvin Canada and Hazel Madamba for the 10k run.
Hosted by Magic 89.9 deejay and UAAP sportscaster Boom Gonzalez, the 2009 Men’s Health Urbanathlon was made possible by official sports drink Gatorade, Cecon, Frenzy, official festival sponsor Kenny Rogers Roasters, and the home of the 2009 Men’s Health Urbanthlon McKinley Hill. Special thanks to Timex, Fitness First, and St. Luke’s. For results of the race, visit www.finishline.ph or www.menshealth.com.ph for more details.

Race for Shine 15K and Divisoria Day

It was unexpected when Kuya Melvin informed me that they needed a 6min/km pacer for the 15K of the Race for Shine run. I wasn’t aware that there was a race like this on a Saturday so I didn’t intentionally joined that run. However, I was glad that Kuya Melvin informed me that if I was to pace during the event then I’ll get the race packet for free. Since a running event is a good way to motivate you to complete 15K then it was a good deal for me.

Besides, the run is really for a very good cause. It benefits those people who suffered from autism.

Anyway, I had a good run and I made sure I averaged 6min/km. The distance though was kind of short of 700 meters according to my polar watch.

But the calorie burning did not end there. After the race, Meng and I immediately dressed up to head for our Binondo/Divisoria adventure. It has been a year since we visited Divisoria, so here we are again racking up Christmas presents. After a few stroll at Divisoria we headed to Binondo along Ong Pin street where we ate at an eat-all-you-can Chinese resto which was the same resto we visited last year. Of course we also passed by Eng-beetin to buy those tikoys. I have always liked their strawberry flavored tikoys.

When we got home, we weren’t done. We already started wrapping the gifts and placing it under our Christmas tree.

It was a very exhausting but fun filled Saturday.

7th Animo Run

Again for the 3rd time, I've decided to join the Animo Run 2009 in its 7th season. Despite my bad experiences before, I still opted to trust that the organizers will continue to improve their races as they are doing this running event yearly.

3 Years ago, I had a very frustrating experience at the race because of the way it was horribly organized. I sent the organizers an email giving my suggestions to help improve the race. They promised they would improve it on the next race. The year after, it was again horribly managed. This year for crying out loud I had my hopes that the Animo run race organizers have learned their lesson.

So here I am again doing the 5KM race. Perhaps the reason I opted to join was the fact that I thought that I had a legitimate chance of winning the alumni category again after winning it last year (which took like a month for me to claim my prize). My goal was to run at the utmost intensity that I can.

As we approached the first turning point I could see that there were only around 20 people ahead of me. After that I started overtaking a couple more. I knew that there were 3 fast DLSU category runners ahead of me. However one was the College of St. Benilde librarian, the other was Carranto the CSB's track and field athlete and the other was a DLSU taft swimmer. Other than those 3, I wasn't aware of another alumni who would be ahead of me.

I arrived at the finish line, got my shirt and gatorade water. However 2 minutes after crossing the finish, one of the organizers saw that my barcode is still attached to my race bib. I was so frustrated after seeing it there. How in the world could someone forget to get the barcode when it is the single most important thing a person assigned at the finish line should do? They should have just forgotten to give me the shirt or the gatorade (as I can get them myself), but to think that they forgot to get my barcode? I took the barcode off and gave it to them. But I knew from then on that my time will be 2 minutes or more off from my actual time.

I'm not sure if I should have won my category or not. I'm anticipating to see the winners and their finishing time. I just hope that the actual winner for the alumni category is faster than my finish time of 21:50. Knowing this would make me feel more at ease. But at least I want to know where I actually ranked.

If my experience was bad, the experience of the other runners was worse. A couple of minutes later, a 50-meter line to the finish had build up. This can be too frustrating to the runners who wants to know their true finish times. To top it all, there were no kilometer markers and very few water station. And, the race bib colors for both 5K and 10K were the same. You can actually blend with the 10K and run early during the race even if you plan to just run 5K.

I hope this post could be constructive to the race organizers to help them improve the next race. But knowing their resume, I'm not even expectant next year. In fact this year's Animo race seems to be my last.

After the race my frustration kinda subsided after meeting some friends like Mike and Nora the Golden girl. Everything was even cooler after watching Manny Pacquiao beat Miguel Cotto. As frustrating as the race was, I'm still glad the God blessed the Philippines with a wonderful day.

Urbanathlon 2009

If running races has always been your weekly morning ritual and it feels monotonous already, then the Men's Health Urbanathlon 2009 this 22nd of November at McKinley Hill Taguig is what you need.

This race will be extra challenging, but extra fun. I've signed up for the 10K event and this race would be something new. It will not be the usual lung busting running, but the race will test your strength and flexibility.

Since this will be my first Urbanathlon, then it will be very exciting. I saw the obstacles that will be used during the event last night and I should warn runners to be extra careful with their watches and heart rate monitors. I'm thinking of not wearing any gadget during the race.

Anyway I'm inviting you guys to come join me. You can register at RUNNR at Bonifacio High Street.