A Bit Longer and Faster [20190721]

Day two, July 21, 2019, started a earlier than day one. Not as early as I had hoped (5 or 6 AM) but at least it was earlier than 10 AM.

I noticed that my pace for the first two kilometers were faster compared to yesterday. But on my way to the third km, I started to slow down. Speed is something I really need to work on.

metrics for the day

From my condo, I went to CCP complex. I went up the ramps of CCP and the film center for some added challenged. I felt a bit dyspneic but not so much to stop my walk. I ventured along road parallel to Macapagal up to the GSIS complex gate. Saw a lot of taxis parked there and there were some hidden eateries at the side of the road. I should try eating there one of these days.

longer distance

My music was a little mellow this day.  Ben a Ben  and Rey Valera were playing at the background. Not your usual running music, but it made me feel relaxed.

I’m glad my distance has improved.  I think I will work my way up again to 10k. ;)

hotel sofitel at my back

Catch of the day

I chanced upon a shooting while walking back to Roxas boulevard. They turned the grassy area near harbor square into a foreign looking park complete with picnic tables and nice looking bbq grills.

The actors looked foreign too. I’m not sure if they were shooting an ad or a film. I wanted to take a closer picture but I was told we were not allowed to do so. Oh well. I hope I get to see whiter film or ad that was.

a shot of the shooting

Walk Gopher [20190720]

Before starting this blog, right after I had my talk with my doctor, I already started devoting time for walking with friends. Usually, we do it once-a-week, for 45 minutes or for 2.5 km, at The academic oval of UP Diliman. It was walking rather than running because I still tire easily, and because I just wanted to start somewhere easy and progress from there. So far, it has been good. We got to finish one round around the oval. Sometimes more than that. However, it was too infrequent. My MD actually recommended brisk walking every other day, if not daily.

I revived this blog when I decided I should do my walking/running everyday.  Yup! That is the challenge. To walk at least 45 minutes or at least 3 km on a daily basis. And like what I wrote in my previous entry, I hope blogging my experience will help in motivating me to do the physical activity regularly. 

The plan is to post to following on a daily basis:

1. A map showing the route I took during my walk/run,

2. The speed, pace, distance and other metrics car of the runtastic app,

3. A selfie of me while doing the activity (as evidence and for vanity’s sake), and

4. The “catch of the day”, a photo of something that caught my attention during walking/running to keep the post (and my walk/run) interesting. 

I’ll also post about my random thoughts and musings while walking/running.

Alright! To start this off, here’s my post about my walk/run last 20 July 2019 (Saturday).

I actually started a little late that day, at almost 10 AM. I wasn’t really planning to walk/run that morning but I just decided to do so. I decided to go to the CCP complex which is near my place.

my route from Rizza Memorial Complex around CCP complex and back

It was little hot, and because that and my late start, I had the place all to myself. The throngs of runners who frequent the place during weekends already went home. I must say I liked the peace.

all the other runners already went home

I walked most of the way.  Towards the end, I tried doing a 1-min run:1-min walk pace like what I used to do when I was training for the marathon. But I ended up doing that for only 5 minutes. Boy, I was really deconditioned.  I’m not disheartened though. I know I can improve on this. I just need to be consistent with doing daily physical activities.

I covered a total distance of 4.75 km in 1 hour and 7 minutes. Not bad! That’s an average pace of 14 minutes to cover one kilometer. That’s part of the goal also. To at least reach my previous pace of 10 minutes per kilometer.

metrics for 20190720

Catch of the day

This painting on the south external wall of the CCP caught my attention as I was walking along  Vicente Sotto street going back to Roxas Boulevard. It was the first time I noticed this painting.

at the south side of CCP

At first I though it was just a bunch of curvy lines. But the more I looked at it, the clearer the image became. It was a person, probably deceased, covered with a cloth. I heard a group of youngster from behind talking about it. That most probably it was a commentary about extra-judicial killings. I’m not really sure what it meant and I would have to search for more information about it. But the painting really has a way of catching your eye and drawing you in.

Well, that’s it for my first day. I imagine as I progress further, I’ll be writing less and less. Hahaha. But let’s see. 

Running Anew

It has been a while since I last posted here.  So many things have happened. So many things have changed.

I started this blog to document my runs. That includes training and actual fun runs and marathons. Unfortunately, just like my other “ningas cogon” projects, this one didn’t last. Hehehe.

The original plan was to document all of my preps and the actual run as I embark on my Bull Runner Dream Marathon journey. Yep, a real marathon with me going through the whole 42km.

Well, the good news is, I’ve successfully gone through the Bull Runner Dream Marathon... twice. Hahaha. I’m a full-fledged marathoner. The bad news is, I wasn’t able to document these marathons here as originally planned. Aside from the two marathons, I also served as pacer for a friend, as she did her 42km-run. Felt like I did the full marathon three times with a lot of half mary’s in between.

But after that, I stopped.

at the finish line of my first marathon

marathoner 2.0

Work got more toxic. I got more sedentary. I gained back the weight I lost. Huhuhu. I lost almost everything I gained. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get back to the groove...until recently....

Two months ago I found another reason to run. Unfortunately, it was not a good reason.

I consulted a doctor two months ago because I started to experience dyspnea while doing activities that required a little extra effort. I found myself short of breath when walking three flights of stairs or walking a block while carrying a heavy bag. I was also started to develop edema of both legs after prolonged sitting or standing which I know could be signs of cardiac failure.

My cardiologist said I had mitral valve prolapse but that does not explain the dyspnea. Fortunately, after several blood tests, a 2D echo and a treadmill exercise test, he said it was not cardiac failure. He said I was deconditioned and my treatment included meds, diet and aerobic exercise. Thus the need to go back to running.

It’s not the most ideal of circumstances. Heck! I think, I could have even avoided this whole health thing had I continued with the running. But there’s no use thinking about what could have been. It is time to start anew.

I revive this blog as I rediscover the joys of running. I think it will give additional motivation thinking that something creative can come out of running again. I plan to post my progress as my way of documenting what’s happening and also as a weird way of making me accountable. Not sure if that makes sense but those are my reasons.

So that’s it. As I dust off the imaginary cobwebs and dust bunnies that accumulated in blog, I declare it officially re-opened.

Gopher is running again.

lessons form coach jim

Jim Lafferty is a marathoner, a retired P&G General Manage and co-founder of the Bull Runner Dream Marathon. He posted this message a our TBR FB group page.  It is definitely worth sharing. 

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At the end of the day, our bodies are our own and our choices are ours to make. I can only offer advice. It is for your to use or to disregard.

As many of you know, I am 50+. I am a former American Football Player and still weigh in at 93 kilos. I am more weight-lifter than runner. I have had 2 knee surgeries from the 1970's when doctors were less developed in orthopedic surgery than today. I was told in 1980 I would "Never run over 1 mile again" and that was, well, 30+ marathons ago! As a physiologist, I have coached now no less than 7,000 beginners to their first marathon, with 99% completion rate.

There are exceptions to every rule. But in let's say 95% of the time, the following principles are TRUE. Take them or ignore them at their own risk.....

1. Beginners should focus on FINISHING NOT TIME for their first marathon.

I did not listen and rarely do others. So I guess I can't complain. But it breaks my heart. I would say 95% of newbies with a time goal, MISS THE GOAL as they underestimate the marathon as a distance and event. Then in their disappointment they miss out on the joy they should be having of joining a very exclusive club! Only 0.1% of the world finishes a marathon in their lives! Please throw away the watch for TBR. Run for joy and finishing. You will have many more marathons to go for time.

2. You must recover after each run over 20 KMs. 2 weeks for 20-30 KMs, and 3 weeks for anything 30 Kms+

Yes the Kenyans do weekly 30 KMs runs. But this is after decade or more of consistent training. It takes YEARS to fully develop all the connective tissues properly. The body improves itself through a process of breakdown and rebuilding to keep it simple. When you don't take time off, and rest, you don't recover. At best this is dead legs. At worst it is injury.

Please follow the training plan. PLEASE. You will be stronger in the race if you listen to the advice and take proper recovery after long runs.

3. The optimal long run is 3 weeks out. When in doubt, ALWAYS push it 4 weeks out rather than 2 weeks out.

It takes an average person 3 weeks to fully "heal" from a 30+ kms run. You may think your legs feel "fine" after 3 days, and indeed in a 5 kms run they may be. But if you try to go long again, you will find out all the tissue damage! Because recovery is a function of age, it is often the case a 23 year old can go 2 weeks out, while many 50+ people like me start to move our long runs 4 weeks out. I can tell you this. Of my 30+ marathons, my 10 WORST nightmare races were when I ran my last long run ony 2 weeks out. I found my legs dead on race day and I was walking like crazy from 25 kms onwards. I learned my lesson----3 weeks out!

4. The world's best runners only race 2 marathons per year; So why do you do 4 and think you can get away with it?

The Kenyans will admit they run for MONEY....and so they are highly motivated to run as many marathons as possible. So why do they do only 2?

BECAUSE IT TAKES SO LONG TO HEAL! You pay a huge price if you don't allow healing.

In my day, the rule, and it worked, was "Take one day off from HARD running for every mile you RACE". This is how Frank Shorter and Bill Rogers and alot of sub 2:10 marathoners trained. So if you run a hard 5 KMs, you take 3 days (3 miles) off from hard running. If you run a marathon, THAT IS ONE MONTH OFF FROM HARD RUNNING.

If you take a month off from hard running (not "running" but speedwork or long runs) then plan to cycle back into training, you can see why it is really only 2 marathons per year. It works.

Manila is the "marathon capital of the world" and I love it! We have at least 8 marathons in our city when even New York has only 2! Most cities have only 1. We are special. And I am proud.

But there is a negative---TOO MANY OPPORTUNITES FOR PEOPLE TO RUN TOO MANY MARATHONS!

Please be prudent. Paula Radcliffe says, "No matter how many marathons you run, you have only 10 good races in your body" and i have found she is right. Plan for your marathons. Make them special and train right. Don't over do it and spend you time in injury and burnout.

That's it! I care about all of you, I cannot wait to see you and cheer you at TBRDM, and I hope this helps. But at the end of the day, it is your body and your choice. Good luck and Jaymie and I are with you every step of the way!

new distance, new pace

Like what I wrote in my last post, I think one of the signs that I have improved as a runner is the fact that I am now running distances in regular training that would only run before in fun runs with all the fun fare. My regular training for the last two weeks was all about that.

Royson, Imye and I resumed our regular twice-a-week maintenance run but this time we added LSD runs during the weekends. This is part of our (more serious) training for the TBR Dream Marathon and for the 7 Eleven run.  We also tried a new faster pace. I have been used to running 2:1 slow for so long that I was surprised that I was able to keep up when we decided to run 3:1 moderately fast pace. Wow! With the 3:1 run-walk pace, our average pace ranges from 8:30 to 10:30 per kilometer. Nice! Applying what I've learned from the TBR training, I found it also comfortable to run a faster speed using short strides and an increased cadence.

Last January 10, the group ran 16k around MOA!  The last time I ran 16k was during the Bull Session at Nuvali. That was the farthest distance I have ran so far. But wait... there's more... by the following Sunday (Jan 12) at Diliman, we ran 18k using the same 3:1 moderately fast pace. We deserved medals for those two run. Haha. My (R) hamstring, (L) gastrocs and the soles of (B) my feet were the sites of aches and pains but aside from those, I felt fine. We celebrated by eating corn on a cob and having our feet massaged. That was a nice reward.

This week, we ran twice at MOA just for an hour each.  We tried a 3:1 fast pace on the first day and a 4:1 moderately fast pace on the second. We finished 6.8 km for 3:1 fast and 6.5 km for 4:1 mod fast. I am more comfortable with the 3:1 pace. That's what we will use for the 7 eleven half marathon tomorrow which we will consider our LSD for the week.

After running my first 21 km, the goal is to run 30 km two weeks before the big marathon day!

I feel I am now transitioning as a runner. I am slowly leaving behind my newbie self.

We no longer need medals or loot bags to encourage us to run. The goals are different now. I am different now.

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!