I managed to sneak in a run this evening despite wanting to go home early. It was an easy 9 kilometer run from the office then down to Mckinley Hill and then back to BHS. I did that same run exactly a week ago and was pleasantly surprised that I was on track for a sub60 10k had I continued to run. 

The run this evening was a little bit faster. It could have been because the weather was a bit better. It could have been because I was wearing cooler clothes. It could have been a multitude of things that might have affected my run but I know one thing is for sure; the knowledge from PatJo’s coaching from last Monday helped. A mouthful of information was an understatement to all the concepts on POSE running that the team had learned that evening.

I must admit, a week will not be enough to see any significant change in my speed but I felt a little bit more efficient. I was toeing up much faster and running with a higher cadence. I felt less stress on my joints. I was more aware of my form too. 

I couldn’t keep up the faster turn over just yet because I run out of breath but with more practice, a time will come that I can be able to sustain the high cadence. 

When I started running, I looked up POSE/Chi running because I learned that they were one of the most efficient ways to run. Since I started running 3 years ago, I thought I was doing it right. The big ball of reality hit me hard last week and it took me to school. At this age, you really can still teach an old stubborn marsupial new tricks.

Here’s to hoping that I learn a lot more from coach.

I planned on waking up early today. I had set the alarm at 6 and as sure as the sun shining bright and strong after a storm, my phone rang its alarm at 6 am. Instead of waking up and changing in to running clothes, I kept on pressing the snooze button. After about 4 snoozes, I managed to pull myself out of bed to change.

I ran for a good 30 minutes and ended in a good huffing, puffing and dripping wet mess. It was a great run. I missed this feeling of being able to release some much needed endorphins early in the morning. I cleaned myself up and as routine as the wheel turning over to move forward, I inched myself to work. They day went by pretty fast with the thought of a good swim to end the day. 

The pool wasn’t meant for me today. I wasn’t able to head off to the pool because of some other obligations in the house. I managed to complete everything fast and quick so I can just spin and do a light run afterwards. 

I wanted to end the day with a good quality workout. As I was moving my stuff into the other house, the unexpected happened. I was carrying so much stuff that I hadn’t noticed that my grip on my watch wasn’t too secure. It dropped to the concrete. It sliced through the air like a hot knife through butter. I wasn’t able to check the damage as I picked it up because of the other items I had with me though, 

As soon as I got to my room, I checked the watch and was mortified to see the the LCD was broken. My heart dropped as hard as how my Garmin dropped on the concrete. I was devastated. It was a gift from Tricia and I was so guilty to have ruined it. 

I proceed to do my spin workout but was too bummed to even care about it. I ran but only reached a little over two kilometers. 

Yes. I am the most unlucky person on the earth. 

Things should start picking up after today’s set of unfortunate events.

Dimsum and Siomai 30 Days of Sweat Challenge Update:
Day 1: 80 Minute Spin at 80 RPM
Day 2: 30 Minute Run in the Morning. 45 Minute Spin and 15 Minute run in the evening.

In the spirit of running and being a runner, I willed myself to love what I loved doing over the past 3 years. As much as I hate to admit it, but I haven’t been enjoying running lately. Swimming and spinning has taken up most of my time lately which is good. I have been feeling a little guilty because I haven’t worn my running kicks for the longest time.

I made time for myself to run last Sunday and Monday. I did 11 and 15 kilometers respectively and they weren’t easy. I could blame the weather or my new shoes but the real reason I had a hard time was because of my zero mileage. I wish I ran more.

In other news: I am cooking and dieting again. Today’s food was Two Mushroom and Bacon in light soy. I would have been the perfect light snack but the bacon jinxed it.

It looks a lot more appetizing and it certainly tastes a lot better than what it looks like in the photo. I am also back on my camote diet. I hope I can sustain this up until Camsur which is in August.

Thank you for joining guys!

A big special thanks to our sponsors for making all this possible.
Adidas
Milo 3 in 1
Sassa Activewear
Nature Valey
Men’s Health
Women’s Health
Runner’s World
BlackBerry

A big shout out to the volunteers from ANR! You have our utmost eternal thanks!

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All photo credits by my good friend and excellent photographer Marvin Opulencia. Check out his stuff here:zmarvin.multiply.com/​

Time check: It’s barely two months to go before the year ends and that with the advent of the new year comes the Cebu City Marathon.  I ran last January at the first installment of the Marathon and I had a lot of fun. I was a little unprepared but I ran it for the distance and for the experience. The thought of running on pedestrian forbidden roads excite me and that was what was offered to us in the last Cebu City Marathon. The route along the coastal road of SRP literally took my breath away.

I just had to take that photo of myself at the halfway point of the race.

I really want to run the marathon again in 2011 but I haven’t really been prepping myself up so for those who are running it, here’s some good advice from someone who had fun the first time around.

Get to Cebu early. I arrived at Cebu Friday night. I was able to check out the SRP highway and I was able to go around and relax. Saturday was spent checking out the route and then eating! Sutokil is an excellent place to carbo load. Just go easy on the shellfish if your the type with the weak stomach.

Hydrate! Bring just enough. It was my first time to run with a hydration back pack in that race and many thought it was too much for the marathon. It was! By kilometer 30, I could feel the weight of the backpack coming down on my shoulders. I shouldn’t have filled the pack up to the brim in that race. The organizers did such a good job with hydration and nutrition that I barely got to drink from my pack.

Enjoy! I loved the view. I loved the experience. Even though I didn’t get to break my PR in that race, I had a lot of fun. Most importantly, respect the distance. 42 kilometers is no bitch that you can slap around like a dead sea slug. Train and enjoy. Have fun.

I had the chance to go up to that hotel that had the Edge Coaster and I was able to get a good birds eye view of the SRP coastal road that I ran way back in January. Seeing it now made me realize how reckless I was back then. Fresh from completing my first marathon, barely half a year later, here I am again running my second one. Marvel at the view. After which, go out and train. Two months is more than enough!

Full Size Here

It is such a sight. Running along that coastal road was euphoric.

Here’s a closer view of the SRP.

Full Size Here

Endure spent the last Sunday doing an easy 5k at the recently concluded Immuvit Race Against Time Run. It was a fun free event where anybody was free to join. It was part of Immuvit’s campaign to raise awareness about feeling young and not thinking about your age.

I had fun running my 5k with Erick. I paced with him and it was fast. I think we managed to do a 25 minute 5k. Had trouble keeping up with him and I think he had trouble holding himself back so I can keep up. I was good training for me.

I had a lot of fun listening to the talk. I learned a lot about Somatoprine and how it is the chemical that keeps us young. The release of it slows down as we age but with the right diet and exercise, we can induce our body to release more. With the help of Immuvit, we can fight Somatopause

Thanks to our resident ultramarathoner and ultra-triathlete Ronald, the team also got some pairs of VFF’s for running use.

Thanks to Cherry and Carlos for experimenting with us! We will not fail you guys! We will put them to good use! I’ll try to come up with a review as well in the coming weeks!

If you aren’t busy this Sunday, come over to BHS for a VFF run. It will be a lot of F-U-N fun!!

More photos of the fitting after the jump!

Ever since I took up swimming and biking, I have been seriously forgetting the need to run. I have been putting off running for so long now that the calluses on my feet are all gone. I have been putting off running for so long now that it somehow doesn’t feel natural for me anymore.

After a good month long break from running, I ran again last night but that same euphoric feeling that I experience every time I run wasn’t there anymore.

I planned to run my normal 11 kilometer route last night. It was quite ambitious given the fact that my last run was a measly 5 kilometers more than 2 weeks ago at Dean’s Cup but I still aimed to do it. It started off pretty good and it felt really really relaxing to be running again.

Feeling the breeze flowing through my ears was always a sensation I yearned for when I ran. I was happy I still got felt that. It was relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. It was a blast feeling the strong gust of winds along Esensa. It was a joy running along the side walk of Lawton Road. The occasional game of patintero between road deformities, pedestrians and jeeps were always a good way to break to monotony. The rush going down Mckinley always proves to be what I enjoy most from the route; fast, weaving and certainly the easiest stretch that I will run through.

Things started going down hill when I was on my way out of Mckinley. My lungs and body could handle the effort but my feet can’t. My long break from running was rearing it’s ugly head to haunt me. The long break has apparently thinned the calluses on my feet. I started to feel a burning sensation on my left foot and I could really feel the need to slow down. With every step I took, I could feel the blister getting bigger and squishier. I slowed down considerably. I had to stop at 9 kilometers because pain was beginning to be unbearable. I need to run more regularly to get those calluses back.

I finished off the run with one loop around BHS and I could never have been so relieved to stop. Has the love for running faded? Has the joy of pounding my feet on the ground proved to be too stressful for me? Have I unlearned running? I think I just need to run more often. Got to get back into the groove.

Walking up to transition area to set up and get body marked. As always, feelings of hurling my guts out were present. I was a good thing Tricia was there to calm my nerves.

Yoda and I at the finish line just before the race. Yoda is the Endure Mascot.

With the team and our patented Triangle Formation. Ellen, Pio, Rj, Me, and Tiff. I was glad they were there.

Me and my ugleh swim form. Bent knees and all.

Coming out of the pool for the first time. I look like a sea monster. I wish it was more than just looks and that I also swam like one. :( Getting out of the pool was the hardest. Had to do that a total of three times.

It was quite a run from the pool to transition area. I was lucky enough to bring a pair good fitting slippers.

I was out of T1 in a couple of minutes. I made sure I had my shades on so that I’ll look like a PRO. Oh yeah. That my friends is how you properly mount up to a bicycle.

I look happy. I finished the 20k bike at around 51 minutes. I am still slow. Thanks to the humps though, I have a reason for being slow.

Oh yeah. My second Triathlon is complete and here’s to hoping that I do more.

Thank you Tricia for coming! I love you! With out your support, I wouldn’t have finished the race.

I am far from calling myself an experienced triathlete and I believe it would still take countless hours in the pool, on the bike and on the pavement for me to really come close to the level of experience that elite triathletes have but here are some things to keep in mind when on race day to make sure that your first race will be fun and that you will live to race another day.

Prepare your gear before you go to sleep. This includes race kits, goggles, swim cap, the clothes the you will wear. This even includes your bike. Make sure everything is rolling OK. Pump up your tires to 100 PSI. Don’t forget your water bottles. Don’t forget your bike tools. Don’t forget your shades and your helmet. Put them in a transition bag (I keep mine in a transition bag. Its a bag where I keep my shoes, bike shoes, some clothes, and everything else. I got mine at Secondwind. Cheap too!) or a basket.

The blue bag there is my transition bag. I always keep everything in that bag so there’s no chance of me leaving something at home.

Set up well at transition. As soon as you get body marked, head on over to transition and hook up your bike to the bike rack. Take out your shoes and open them up. That way, it will be a snap to put them on later in the race. Put a little powder as well around the ankle area so that your foot will just slide in even if they are wet. Set up everything in a way that once you get there you won’t forget anything. Put your helmet on top of the bike to make sure that it will be the first thing you’ll grab! Safety first!

Take it easy in the swim. Nobody wins a triathlon by blazing through everybody in the swim. Take it easy and slow. Don’t get too caught up in the crowd because all you’ll get are lungs full of water. Be prepared to get kicked but don’t let that put you out of your groove. Zone out and just swim! An average of 2.5 – 3 minutes per 100 meters is good enough and you’ll still be able to get a good and decent finish.

T1: Top to bottom. In transition 1, coming from swim to bike, wear everything from top to bottom. Helmet, Shades, race belt, shoes. Make it systematic so you won’t forget anything. Make sure you wear you’re helmet the right way and not the other way around.

Attack with your strengths. If you’re strong on the bike, give them hell on the road. If you’re a good runner, give them hell on the pavement.A lot of my friends have finished this way. Gingerbreadman Luis on his first duathlon blazed through his run to overtake and finish ahead of most of the guys.

T2: Drop everything and run like hell. I heard of many horror stories of people crashing in the run portion of at triathlon. Make sure you still have some energy left and that you can still run easy. Spin easy on your last kilometer on the bike to give you legs some sort of breathing space. Don’t go out running with your helmet on!

Dance to the finish. It’s your first triathlon so you might as well make your finish memorable. Do a cartwheel. Scream out loud like a Spartan. Crawl to the finish. Do anything. Just make sure you finish the race happy and enraged and fueled to join your next triathlon.