a running start

I really felt guilty for not being able to run on the last week of 2013 because I was on a road trip with my friends. Guilty and envious. Haha. Most of my bull runner batchmates, in our facebook page, are posting about how they are sticking to the program. A lot of them are regularly doing  (very) long slow runs with some already reaching the 30k-mark. Wow! I have a lot of catching up to. That is why, last week I ran for four consecutive days. Hehe.  Not sure if that's healthy but I had no pains after so I'm still glad I did it. I experimented on different paces to determine the ideal one to use in future long runs.

Day 1
Last Thurs, January 2, I went for a 7km-run from our condo to Luneta park and back.  I did several rounds around the Quirino Grandstand using my usual 2:1 slow run-walk pace. I was hoping to finish 10 km but my nose got irritated by the dust from the construction nearby so I left early. It was a really a slow run. My average pace was 12.55 min per km. Boo!  The holidays really got to me.

only 7km in 91 mins, oh no!

Day 2
The following day, I ran again, this time, at the Mall of Asia with Royson.  Imye was supposed to come along to practice for the 7-eleven half-marathon she also signed up for but she got sick that day. It was Royson's first long run after a long time.  Haha. Again, we used the 2:1 slow run-walk pace and finished 10 km in 2 hours and 2 minutes! That's roughly 12 min per km. Hmmm... that is still toooooo sloooooow!  With an average pace like that we will not be able to finish 21 km in 4 hours, the cut-off for the 7-eleven run and our target time for the first half of the TBR dream marathon.  We need an average pace of 10 min per km to reach our target time so we decided to run again on Sunday and try out a 3:1 slow pace. 

will never reach the cut-off time at this rate

Day 3

I couldn't wait for Sunday to try out the pace. Haha. The following day, I did a maintenance run back at the Quirino Graandstand.  Fortunately, it was no longer as dusty as the other day.  I ran for 47 minutes and finished 4.21 km using a slow 3:1 pace.  My average pace was 11 min per km. Yey!  It was still more than 10 minutes but with this average pace, we can already make it to the cut-off time. :)

around the grand stand, faster this time

Day 4
We were thinking of joining of a fun run at Diliman that Sunday but on the last minute, we decided to back out and just run. Dom and I met Royson at Welcome rotonda; and the three of us met up with Imye and her cousin, Herald at Philcoa. We got to Diliman a little past 5 AM.  It was good that we decided not to join the fun run.  They haven't started the fun run by the time we got there.  They moved the gun start to 6AM. By that time, we were already done with at least two rounds around the academic oval.

We used the 3:1 slow pace.  After a few minutes, Herald and Dom went ahead of us using a different pace. The plan was to do five rounds around the academic oval and then assess if we can run some more. We were comfortable with the pace and soon we were lost in our merry conversation.

Royson and I were wearing our TBR training shirt.  By the end of our first round, we were greeted by a lot of our TBR batchmates who were also there with their own running groups. Hmmm... let's see if I can recall the TBR batchmates that we've met.  First, we were greeted by a big group of runners who were on their 2nd day of LSD in Diliman.  I'm assuming that was the 4:1 running group of Dexter et al. We met a father with his son who was part of the fun run.  He was pacing his son during the race.  Alice, one of the people I've met during the bull session in Nuvali, ran with us for a while.  She said she was comfortable with our slow pace. We chatted while we ran.  She was the one who actually told us about Dexter's group.  After one round, we went our separate ways.  We met a couple both in TBR uniform; a lady running with two older gentlemen; a serious solo runner; and blogger Jema with the Singapore team.  I have to say, the academic oval was full of TBR dreamers.  Everyone greeted everyone.  It's a very supportive community I'm lucky to be part of.  We actually convinced Dom and Imye to join the next TBR. Hehe.

After 5 rounds and a few meters, we decided to stop. We ran 11.5 km in 2 hours and 10 minutes.  Our average pace was 11 min and 22 sec per km.  Not bad! With that pace we can already cross the 21 km mark in 4 hours. Yey!  We just need to maintain the pace.

After eating breakfast at Maginhawa St., we went home happy and satisfied.

with Royson, Dom, Imye and Herald at UP Diliman

I am proud of myself for starting the year right.  It's funny to think that before, for us to run 10 km, it has to be in a fun run with all it's trappings (medal, finisher's cert, loot bag, singlet, etc).  But now, 10 km is just part of our regular training. Haha. I love thinking about these little signs of improvement. Definitely, after almost a year of running, we have gone a long way. Pun intended. :)

[running past] pace up fun [run] 2013

[RUNNING PAST] are stories about the running events that I have joined before I started this blog. Expect retro-post such as this to pop up every now and then. .

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Fun run number five was also connected with the University of the Philippines.  May 19 last year, Royson, Imye, Dom and I joined Pace UP 2013.  It was a project of the the UP track and field team, and was endorsed by popular personalities from UP such as Coach Rio and Ramon Bautista.  The race route, of course, was around the Diliman campus.

fun run number five

It was our first time to run 15 km. True to the description in the poster, the 15 km route took us to every "nook and cranny"of the Diliman campus. I got to see unfamiliar places and buildings in UPD.  It was like a running tour of the place. Hehe. It was a little difficult to run at the academic oval because the road was being prepared for asphalting during that time but there were areas where the roads were smooth and better paved.

running tour of UP Diliman

photo credit: Pace UP 2013 FB

I was not the designated photographer this time around.  We decided to run at our own personal pace so we didn't run as a group. Too bad I wasn't able to see souvenir pictures of us from the two official photographers (not sure if there were more) who posted their pictures :). Anyway, no pictures while running this time.

some scenes before the run

I was so tired and drenched with sweat by the time I crossed the finish line.  We finished 15km that day. Yey! We also got a finisher's medal for completing the race. Another medal form UP. Haha. According to iRace.ph here were our official time:

Dom 1 hour 48 minutes

Royson 2 hours 20 minutes

Gopher 2 hours 29 minutes

Imye 2 hours 49 minutes

My average pace was 9 minutes and 56 seconds per kilometer. That was faster than my usual average pace by 4 seconds. Haha. 

We conquered a new distance. Yey!

run 15 km, check!

[running past] upaa bagong sigla fun [run]

[RUNNING PAST] are stories about the running events that I have joined before I started this blog. Expect retro-post such as this to pop up every now and then. 

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The UPAA Bagong Sigla fun run last March 24 was part of the celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the UP Alumni Association. When I first heard about it in a faculty meeting, I knew that it was going to be our fun run number four. Aside from benefiting the university, the venue was in UP Diliman which was where we usually do our midweek runs back then.

wow! a century-old alumni association

Aside from my usual running group, I invited some of the other faculty to join us. Dom joined Imye, Royson and me. Chris was also there but he was with some of his college batchmates.

running along our usual route

photo credit: Without Limits Philippines

It was our first time to run 12 km.  It was also the first time I got to see some parts of the Diliman campus. There are really a lot of places there to run.

once again, i was the designated photographer...

...so running selfies were in order. haha

so nice to get souvenirs from the official photographers

photo credit: Without Limits Philippines

We were able to finish 12k in 2 hours. That's an average of 10 minutes per kilometer, our personal best back then. We also got our first finisher's medal for this run aside from the other freebies! :)

at the finish line with Imye, Royson and Dom

finally, a medal from UP. haha

congrats to us and our alma mater!

spirit of the marathon [documentary]

One of the good things of being part of the Bull Runner community is the sharing of information. The following youtube link was shared over our TBR batch facebook group.

It is a documentary by Jon Dunham in 2007 entitled "Spirit of the Marathon".  It follows the lives of six people as they train for the Chicago Marathon.

Preparing for a marathon myself, I could not help but be emotional as I watched the film.  By the end, I was already crying and laughing at the same time. Yes, I am crazy. Haha.

If you are an aspiring marathoner, watch this film and see how it will affect you.

 

"when you cross the finish line
it will change your life forever"
poster from IMDb

[running past] afterglow fun [run]

[RUNNING PAST] are stories about the running events that I have joined before I started this blog. Expect retro-post such as this to pop up every now and then. 

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Chris, a friend from work invited me to join the Afterglow, a 5k glow-in-the-dark night run March 16 last year. It was for a cause close to his heart. The run was to raise awareness on depression in the Philippines. Royson, Imye and I joined Chris for our third fun run.

with Chris, Imye and Royson

It was our first time to run at McKinley Hill and our first time to try out a night run.  It sure was nice not to wake very early just to make it to the gun start. Prior to the run, there was a short talk from the Philippine Mental Health Association and the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation about depression and identifying the early signs.  It was quite informative.

warming up

This event was very different from the first two runs we've been to so far.  It was a bit "teen-oriented". A party atmosphere dominated the air.  I guess it was more of a party than run. Then again it was for a good cause and the 5k route was made more challenging with all those uphill runs. The road was not completely closed to traffic and there were cars that crossed the runners' path. Very dangerous in my opinion. We had to be alert when running through intersections.

To complete the party atmosphere, the runners were splashed by "paint" every now and then.  The "paint" were barf-like (for lack of a better term haha) in texture when wet and looks like colored libag when dry.  It smelled kinda sour too.  But its all in the spirit of fun.

splashed by "paint"

There were no official timer so there was no way of knowing our official pace and running speed.  I guess most of the participants were not concerned about that. I have to say that Afterglow was a different experience. It was fun but it is not a type of run that I would join again.  Maybe I'm just too old for that kind of party atmosphere. Haha.

And I believe that was the last time our running group joined a 5 km run.  I see that as a sign of improvement.  :)

partying with paint and running

the challenge of ligñon hill

I went on a road trip to Bicol with my barkada from Dec 26 to 30.  We drove from Manila to Camarines Sur to Albay to Sorsogon to Camarines Norte and back to Manila.  Needless to say, I was sitting inside an AUV for most part of those five days. And ... no runs.  I know that's bad, especially with the TBR Marathon just a few weeks away.

To compensate for this lack of physical activity, my friends and I decided to visit Ligñon Hill in Albay during the 3rd day of the road trip.

with Imye, Royson and shy Magayon

Ligñon is a 156-meter high hill which has a view deck for the Mayon Volcano at the top and lots of other interesting activities.  The steep winding walk from the base to the top of the hill  loaded with fun and adventurous activities was just what we needed.

adventure from top to bottom

We drove to the top of the hill and decided to walk down and up back again.  At first, I tried to run but the road here is much much steeper compared to Nuvali's so we ended up walking instead. According to my running app, we only walked a total distance of 1.44 km but the elevation was 19 m during the first kilometer and a whopping 97 m during the last 0.4 km!

walking and posing along the steep winding road

side trip: view of the airport

side trip: a closed hanging bridge

side trip: a japanese tunnel

Perhaps the most challenging part of that morning's walk was when we decided to use the kapit-tuko trail going back up to the top of the hill.  As if walking up the steep paved road of a tall hill was not challenging enough, we decided to forgo the main road and use the unpaved steeper "trail" at the side of the hill. It was an adventure!

first part of the kapit-tuko trail

climbing up the make-shift ladder was the easiest part

looking for trails, securing footholds and grasping tree roots or branches can be tiring

finally, we made it to the top

time for a little snack

We had a great time with our Ligñon hill nature walk.  There's a zipline too and rappelling!  Perhaps we'll try those when we return to Albay.  I didn't get to run that week but I was still able to sweat it out while discovering a new place. 

hoping the Mayon won't be as shy when we return

[running past] philhealth nationwide [run] 2013

[RUNNING PAST] are stories about the running events that I have joined before I started this blog. Expect retro-post such as this to pop up every now and then. 

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The Philhealth Nationwide Run 2013 in February 17, 2013 was the 2nd fun run I joined.  My barkada had such a great time with the Red Cross Million volunteer run that we had to repeat the experience. We chose another run that would benefit health care just like with the first run. I just chanced upon the poster of the Philhealth run in one of the LRT stations, and that was that.

with my original running group

It was our first time to 10 km and it was so tiring! We ran from Luneta to EDSA and back. We ran but, most of the time, we walked and took pictures. Haha. Back then I was still not aware that there are lots of photographers in running event. If you wanted a souvenir, all you need to do was smile for their cameras :)

i was the group's designated photographer...

 

...so there were lots of selfies while running

We finished 10 km in 1 hour and 48 minutes. Yeah, we survived our first 10 km run! That was definitely better than 5 km!  We received a finisher's certificate. Yey!  I remember watching the finishers of the 18 km category and felt envious.  Haha.  Envious of their speed, of their endurance and of their medal. We told ourselves that one day we will run just as fast and just as long. :)

finishing 10k at 1 hour and 48 mins

not bad for first timers

happy with our finisher's certificate

10k run, check!