Milo Marathon 2010 Manila Elims

This was some sort of a homecoming of sorts. I can barely remember. Was it '02 or '03? But I am sure that my very first run was in a Milo Marathon. I did 10k that time. I also remember I did a sub-60 :oP not bad for a very first run. I should not forget also that I was 25 lbs lighter then. Fast forward to 2010. 21k 2:28. Not bad. Definitely not good.

Adidas Sundown Marathon 2010

For now, these pics will be the content of my post. Still in Singapore, and the lazy bug has bitten me :oP will revise when i get the better copies of my pics. Sooner I hope than later.

a podium is a podium is a podium.

yes, it's some lousy neighborhood run.

yes, competition was lean.

and yes. thats me. podium finish. silver. :0)

on the medal though, it says, 2nd runner up

the breakup

i don't know how to break this to you.

it's been a sweet ride.

first time i saw you,

you instantly caught my eye.

reserved in nature,

with hints of raciness.

your silhouette, your form.

and your name.

i've always loved names with

uncommon letters like "x" or "q".

in your case, you had a "z"

i fell in love.

we soon fell into a deep relationship.

i wont say you were with me all the time,

but you were there when i needed you.

those cold mornings.

those equally tiresome nights

in up, around the fort.

sometimes we'd fool around makati.

you were my first time.

you were with me the whole time before that.

and when we finally did it,

you took me every step of the way.

you never gave up, and neither did i.

but recently i've noticed, that,

you're starting to give me a bad fit.

i think you've outgrown me.

you feel a little bigger than before.

i've tried to remedy that.

i've looked for solutions that would help.

things would be ok for a while,

then it would be worse than it was before.

now, its just really painful.

whenever you hurt me,

i just imagine the pain is not there.

you know this will really hurt me,

as much as it will hurt you.

but i think that we should move on.

i can never get rid of you,

but i don't think we can have

the relationship we had before.

expect that we may spend less

time together. sorry.

we had the best times together,

but we should always do,

what you and i are supposed to do.

what were designed to do.

go forward.

it's a mirasol (miracle)

so after Globe Run for Home, the worst half mary ever for me, i just didn't feel like doing anything more for the day. so i just gave my friendly neighborhood, home-service spa a call to get a post-race rubdown in the afternoon. i actually wanted to have my old reliable hilot, but it was going to be in short notice, so there is like a 93.2% that she wont show up.

at 2pm my therapist promptly comes over. i ask her if they did any "sport" therapy, coz i ran in the morning. she said that "it" wasnt on the list, but that she knew what to do. so i lay flat on my tummy and she did the work. man her technique was amazing.

therapist: ser, tumakbo ba kayo kanina? anong distance?

me: 21k

therapist: ah malayo layo na rin pala (there was no tone of amazement in her voice. it's usually the opposite)

me: pwede na rin.

she goes on with the rubdown.

therapist: dati akong track varsity nung college eh.

me: ahh.. (thought baloon- kaya naman pala di sha na-amaze sa distance)

therapist: actually ser, di masyado bugbog muscles nyo. ok yung pag strecth mo kanina.

pag pinulikat kayo ser, ganito gawin mo (she then gives a lesson in form on how to do the right stretching technique in the event of cramp. together with some anatomy jargon that i did not understand)

p.t. kasi yung course ko nung college. pero di ako nakatapos.

me: thought baloon- huwaw. what are the chances of that happening? a former track varsity, AND a p.t. dropout. giving me a post-race rubdown.

therapist: ser tapos na.

me: ano nga pangalan mo? para ikaw na lagi papatawag ko.

therapist. mirasol po.

sweet...

why i run

this is the kind of pic that will make anybody think about losing weight. check out them man boobs. this was taken july o9 i think. before i got hooked on running. when i stumbled upon this, it gave me clarity, why i started running. hindi ba kayo kinikilabutan?

i'm tired

thats me 15727. :-) dammit, i missed the sub 2 hour time, by 6 minutes :-(

yes. i have been absent lately. in the last four weeks, i ran condura and century. 42 and 21 k distances respectively. i had a three-day on location shoot, and tomorrow im off to jakarta for a brand seminar. and in these four weeks i was still able to squeeze in some mileage, as i prepare for the may sundown marathon in singapore.

i

am

tired

i feel it.

i look it.

wait. gotta run.

men in tights...err..jogging pants

i was supposed to go up today and do my run. but i woke up late, and to save time, i decided to go to the gym instead.

in the gym that i go to, there are typically two groups that go there. first group is the sta lucia pro basketball team, and the other group are composed of seniors. not the stepford wives club, lets go a little more older than that. both men and women. the titas, go there after bringing the kids or grandkids to school. the titos and lolos go there typically, i assume before work.

the titas you can spot, with their lv bags, jewelry, and their head to toe outfits of nike women, or stella mccartneys. the titos, you can tell by... aside from their womanizing tales from the night prior, by jogging pants. usually in black or navy. any guy above 40, this is the staple. im starting to think that mens legs deteriorate after four decades. aaak. i refuse to believe that. what is the big mystery of old men and jogging pants? ill find out in a couple of years. for the meantime, i will stick to my shorts. or my good ol cwx :-)

Century Superbods Run Registration

before anything, i will admit, yes, its my fault, i am late, thats why i had a crappy time registering for the century run. in this post i will just merely share my experience. :-P

monday. a day after my 42ker, i rush over to nike at the bhs, because!.. i thought the last day of registration for the century run was the 18th, but no, it was the 8th. fine. im off by one digit. so after work, i dragged my, what felt like wooden stumps, attached to my torso, legs to the end of the line. para palang avatar to sa haba ng pila. doesnt help that i did a marathon a day before too. 30 minutes elapsed, and in my head ive gone 5kms, but in reality ive moved around 10 feet towards the registration table.

1 hour elapses. the line has migrated to the outside of the nike store. we were crowding the store daw. at this point you start going into this zone that you notice and realize small things. after seeing people passing in front of me, i realized that i had a certain aberration to heeled slippers. the guy just at the back of me was having an argument with the "needy gf" or wife, whatever. then theres this guy, who walks past the line, then comes back.

guy: ano meron, bat may pila?

saleslady: century run registration sir.

guy: hmm...sali kaya ako..

guy reads poster. looks at line. takes a token look at the nike merchandise, then leaves.

sheesh. poser.

i text my friend: ive realized that i had a certain aberration for heeled slippers.

friend: kahit na yung havaiannas?

me: mismo

friend: i have four

i

thought

so

oh goody. im at the table. sir wala nang 10k bibs. balik na lang kayo bukas

*smack in the face

my first full mary. what worked. what did not.

my first full marathon, as i may have said in a previous post, was actually unplanned. a decision made out of moment insanity. it might have been the Christmas ham, the sluggish feeling i got from overeating every other meal. the guilt. the sugar crash. but its over and done with, and all i can do is review what worked, and what did not - in that 42km quest for glory.

what worked:

the mileage - yes i know i just crunched-in, a 16 week program into 4 weeks. its insane, and any running expert would advise not to do that. but the strict following of the mileage requirement, really helped condition my mind to the pain and the fatigue. there was nothing unexpected.

rehearsing your run - 3 weeks before condura, i was constantly using the exact same gear during the long sunday runs, that i would be using in condura. same shirt. same tights. same socks. same shoes, same everything. even the same flavor of gu. come condura, i did not stress about the possibility of chaffing, blistering, or some piece of gear falling apart.

having a trailer for the last 10k - my best friend migs, did his 21k then went back for me on a bike. he did not need to carry any stuff that i wanted to unload, but during the latter part of the race, with the runners getting thin, it really gets demoralizing. having a buddy along to push and motivate you really goes a long way. in fact, it was just embarrassed to walk with him on a bike, so i kept on running.

fueling up - before the race: days before the race i ate a lot of carbo rich foods that really worked for me - even if i ran on empty during the later stages, i felt extremely well during the first half. after the race: stocked up on gu, powerade, and salt. plain old mcdo salt. im a salty sweater so i had to take up some, just to make sure i wont collapse.

making a plan - as early as october, i was planning already of making a full mary within the early part of the year. so at that time, i planned to make all the necessary adjustments to my running that would make that possible. i chose to do develop the forefoot strike running style as one of the key points to that. i read and did the necessary research to do that. i was thinking i needed a couple of months to adjust. and i did. i planned on making a "fighting weight" for the race, to make myself competitive also. diet and cross-training made that possible.

what did not work:

non-change of lifestyle - all that night outs and bad habits (drinking and smoking- yes i know) did not do me well. even as late as the friday night before race weekend, i was out with some officemates. and i paid dearly for it. by the last few kilometers of the run, i was already winded.

one point that did not work vs. a lot that did. good batting average. but obviously not good enough. i targeted a sub 5hour race. i finished it, just under 6. not bad. but not great. there will be other races. there IS one thing that i learned about me that had been with me all along. and one thing that could be one of the most important things to have when doing a marathon. that i hate quitting.

i conquered the skyway

to the best of my ability, i will write this post. im doing this while my masahista is busy bringing my legs back to life. and so when she orders me to face up, i cant continue writing. so i will keep this short. and put another more in depth post with pictures next time. so in a nutshell, condura started on time. 700 of us 42k runners started at 4am. bayani road was dark. kalayaan flyover was dark. skyway was... well... dark. water and 100 plus was a-plenty. COLD water and 100 plus, not. the course dint have as many portalets as it was described in the race map. i outlasted my ipod (which died after 4 hours) AND, the cheering squad. on the way back to buendia, only 3 drummers were banging away, while the others, looked more tired than i was. my best friend, migs, after doin his 21k, kept me company on a bike, from km 34-39. i ran coz i was embarrassed to make him see me walk. but as soon as he turned at bhs, i did the british international school loop, walking again. hehehe. made in 5:48. just a shade over 10 mins. before the cutoff.

photo from fitandrun.info. shot by estan cabigas. thanks.

i pray that...

i dont oversleep.

i ate the right stuff.

i did the right mileage.

i my right foot holds up.

i dont get the squirts later.

my music player doesnt die on me

i get parking quickly later.

i finish in sub 5 hours.

everybody will be safe in the condura race.

everybody will have fun.

that i sleep soon.

this is for all the marbles

today is the 31st of january, sunday. its a little less than a week before the condura run. if you would glance at the top of the blog, it says 6 days. i just completed my last "long run" before the race. nothin tough. 8k. which i comfortably finished in 1:10. i dint want to push myself. i dint want to open the opportunity for injury. just the required mileage, and thats it.

it is also around a month ago when i decided- why not? do the full mary at condura. its one of the more prestigious races here anyway. and only a handful of races have the full marathon distance. 6 days away. did the training. did the mileage (ok, ok, im a few kms short). registered. got my game plan on. playlist, check. all systems go. ive read a lot of runners blogs saying that your first marathon is always the sweetest, most memorable. im excited. i hope its not anti climactic. i feel like a virgin, doing it for the very first time. will she laugh. was it good for her as it was for me? i hope i dint look stupid.

preparation. opportunity. see you at condura.

same same

lets give way to some non running stuff.

this is, by the way, just how the conversation went, as how i remembered it.

cast • me. art director. 30 something dude... well, check out my profile

sara • copywriter, my partner, alcoholic in denial, drama queen.

sara: i think ill be single for a long, long time.

me: you HAVE been single for a long time.

sara: uhm... i just came from a relationship, remember?

me: eh, well, even if you were, you were just everywhere. so it didn't seem that you were, at all.

sara: what do you mean? i resent that. everywhere? i've been loyal.

me: yes i know that, but, wala lang. para kasing, there was always something goin on with you. i cant ask you randomly: hey how are you guys? and youd say: same same. its always, you guys arent talking. or you almost broke up last night a couple of times, before you actually did.

sara: but we didn't go long enough to say that.

me: you know what i mean...

its only a real relationship when you can say same same.

before i was on the road, i was in the sea

it has been a couple of months since ive tasted saltwater in my lips. so long that ive even forgotten how long. i think august was the last time. wish i could dive soon. i miss the flight-like feeling of gliding through the water. the weightlessness, the strange clike running, it gives you a different level of freedom. in a way i attacked my running like i did my diving. i just closed my eyes and took the plunge. whos up for anilao this weekend? oops.. i think i have a race

i wish for a place to run...properly

typical of the non-pro runner, which is a status i share with a lot of runners in manila, i have a day job. which means i merely crunch in the running workouts between meetings, presentations, errands, and other work-related sh*t. fine. i can do that. all i have to do is to be not so picky on where i run. and just run somewhere close to everything else. and i am not. really. i really am NOT picky. but please, PLEASE, give me a good evan surface to run on.

i run in basically two places. up and makati. sad to say, my feet and all the other parts attached to it get sore after running in both places. i will no longer discuss the dangers of running on uneven surfaces. my almost 8 years in the up college of architecture taught me that public roads and sidewalks should maintain a certain grade so that rainwater can properly drain off, but dude, you gotta be kidding me. at the up academic oval, these are literally ramps, laid out sideways. :-( check out the pics. and in makati, there's so much goin on in the sidewalks. hydrants, utility posts, plant boxes, well, you get it, right? its like a video game of dodging and jumping over stuff.

so mr-president-of the-philippines-to-be, i wish for even and safe sidewalks and roads.

training at a time of pitches

it says 2am on the upper right hand screen of my mac. this macs starting to look very inviting to put rest my head on. big pitch tomorrow at 11. and a brand presentation at 4. and a marathon less than 2 weeks from now.

im pretty sure i am not the only runner thats in advertising. and im also sure they have the same thoughts in their minds. EVERY PITCH means, cigarettes, booze, unhealthy takeout food, loooong hours, and very little sleep. hey, im supposed to have a recovery run tomorrow. what now? maybe i can do my run in the afternoon, after the 4pm preso. if im not too tired. if i even have will to gear up. i wonder how the other Mad Men train. any mad men out there? lemme know how you train. as for me... ive done it the past few months the only way i know it. i WILL it. . i WILL the mileage.

gawd, i still have to lay out a flyer... hmm.. i think the chickenjoy is here.

im an idiot

i have a confession. during the early part of my "running career", i partly ran because there were a lot of girls during races. yes. fine. so sue me. so anyway... karma bit me in the arse this morning.

i was set to do my required 16 km this morning. i had a 10 am meeting in ortigas, so i headed off to up at 5:30 so i would have time to get ready. i have this 8 km route that i follow in up, so doing this twice would do. on the first round of this route, i saw this girl going the opposite direction. hmm... fairly cute, nice form, looks like she runs regularly...oh well... back to the run... on the second round, i see her again. opposite direction - again. she must be doing the same route. so i just go about with my run, then unexpectedly, when we were side by side, i heard. hello... THE HOT GIRL SAID... HELLO.. you must bet thinking, wow! go for it! i mean...dude like me, what else should i do? and my response? I JUST SMILED. as she ran by, i wanted to hit myself in the head. what the WTF was that dan? you idiot! you should said hello back. or like make a u-turn and talk to her... gawd... i look back, and i see her continuing her run. i wonder if she's goin to be back tomorrow. im an idiot.

the road to condura

yesterday i registered for my very first full mary. 42kms. at first i was wishy washy about it. it took me a couple of weeks to decide on this. the plan was that the adidas sundown marathon in singapore would be my first full marathon, but since it was late december, and when i charted my training program, i found out it was too early to train for may, might as well go for something earlier.

5 weeks. thats all i had at the time. i crunched the 16 weeks of training to that. i mean, it was under the assumption that i was gonna start from zero- that i am not. so i proceeded with the five weeks. after a pair of cwxs, two sore feet, two sore knees, a dozen or so gus, a blister, and a youtube video showing how to tape weak arches, i am ready.

i can see it now. pacing in the skyway. i wanna kiss the finish line when i cross it. all my doubts gone. i will do this. like what my colleague, mags said: kaya yan ng yabang mo.

please don't stop the music

i started my run at around 8:30. i wasn't scared that the sun was already up, it was a cloudy day anyway. so i turn on my (fake) ipod shuffle and went about my way. by km 11 the shuffle died-again. ok ok. not to put too much pressure on the 750peso music player. it's full charge only lasts around 3-4 hours- ok. IM GOOD WITH THAT. needless to say i spent the rest of the run with no tunes. just the sound of my feet hitting the pavement. maybe i should start out condura with no music first. hehehe.

what should've and what really...

what should've happned:

i wake up at 5am so that i can hit my 8k fort bonifacio route by 6. i do the 8k, with the 8minute uphill training. i get to the office by 8:30, take a bath and get some work done. wow the boss for the early turnaround.

what really happened:

because of the pitch win yesterday, we celebrated. and seh-luh-brayt we did. the boss brought the team to bowler. the team consumed two bottles of absolut vodka, and a part of johnny black. needless to say, we were all pretty drunk stupid last night. i got home around 2am.

i wake up at 8:30 with an absolut hangover. i was so dehydrated that even the pimples in my face dried up. i take off my shirt and i look at myself in the mirror. i see cuts... hmm.. maybe this dehydration thing aint so bad, afterall. i dragged myself around the apartment for the next hour to get to work. i got in at 11. i have a meeting at 4. and i am now writing this entry instead of doing work. 3 hours to go. i have nothing to show for today...no work. no 8k

to mary or to half-mary

a few weeks back i tweeted that title to my post. its been five months since my first legit race. kennys urbanit 15k that was. i was terrible in that race. i took almost 2 hours to finish that 15k. but many many races after, i can do 21k with my eyes closed. i even ran philstar with not a minute of sleep. im a little bored with the distance. and it doesn't help that the fort bonifacio/ makati race route has been ran, literally, to the ground. so 42k is the next frontier. the next distance to be conquered. so now im trying to crunch the full marathon distance training in 4 weeks. yesterday my program called for 28k. it WOULD have been cool. BUT, like the philstar run, i wasnt able to get some shuteye the night before. as in.. zero minutes. while i was attempting to sleep i took a quick look at my watch, and i saw, 4:24 am, oh well, might as well start running early. so at 6 am, i was already stretching in up. and with no sleep, i proceeded with my run. by km 10 i was already feeling dizzy. and by km 14, i felt like i wanted to puke. so by km21, i quit. i ended my run. im beginning to wonder if i have the heart for a full forty two kilometers...

2010 will blog

let me see what happened the past few months. i ran... kotr 21k (nice singlet), timex 21k (21k PR, 2:19), new balance (which was painfully delayed) 10k. ateneo run 10k (my wallet and mobile phone got stolen at this run) and the philstar celebrity run 21k (which would have been the 21k PR if the route wasn't so goddamn long. 23k man!). whew. sorry it would have been way cooler if i was able to write about them in detail, but since the past few months were just a blur, i couldn't. that should do for now. so for the new year, i promise to post more often. more reviews (if someone would care to read), and more pics (if someone would care to look. i don't have facebook, mind you.) for everyone to see.

im back

after a lengthy process of logging on, recovering my password, i AM back. i know this usually happens when you don't post regularly to your blogs. i know. i've had two blogs that, for the life of me, cannot remember the passwords to. but this one, to the best of my ability will keep. i owe it to running, that i keep this blog active.