Hibernation

It's been a while since I last written anything here... I got quite busy at work, nothing really entered my mind but to run after work and train. Yes, I'm still running. My DM (Dailymile) account can prove it.

I'm training for 21K and I still have less than 2 months to prepare. My Sundays are always my "race" day so to speak. I'm not in a race event, but I treat that day as my longest and most challenging distance. My longest so far is 12++ kilometers and I'm targeting 15K this Sunday, then 17 on the next, until I can steadily do a 21K a week or 2 before the race itself.

I take advantage of the training to release the stresses I've met during the day and meditating, seeing inside myself, and gaining strength again to face another day. I also target a weekly distance goal. I started with 32K, then 40K last week, this week 42-44K.

Some experiences during the Training:

I accidentally stepped on a stone and somewhat twisted my ankle. It wasn't that bad, it didn't hurt either. But pain started to manifest days after. But I can still run without limping. The limp occurs once I rest. Hope I'm not overdoing it. Next would be, I feel my toes are hurting. It's like I'm gonna have dead toenails. My legs doesn't hurt anymore after I run. They recover faster now. My quads and calves are more defined now (I think). Got better pacing this time.

My goal for now is not to run fast for my first 21K. I just like to have a strong finish, a decent finish time, and most of all enjoy the race. I may not be fast but I know I will be in the future.

What do I miss?

The various Saturday and Sunday races. I miss the adrenalin on the starting line, hearing the drums when you're near the finish line, the finish line itself, when you eat breakfast/lunch after the race, the pictures, etc.

What I'm enjoying now?

The training itself, freedom from smoking (2 months baby!), that I'm having better running endurance, I can run farther, my DM, FB, and Twitter accounts. Got new DM friends: some I know, some I don't, some Filipinos, some foreigners, some are runners, some are doing duathlons, some are triathletes. We keep ourselves updated and we encourage eachother to go and be better every day.

That's about it. Hope to write more often starting today. Keep on running guys!

aNR - Alabang August 3, 2010

It's another wet and cold run!

Stretch... and then it rained...

We watched some as they ran under the rain

we <3 Gatorade!

Playing around

See you at the races!

Rexona Run Pictures

As promised, here are the pictures I was able to gather from the run. Enjoy!

Photovendo pictures:

Sleeping while running?

Collated pictures:

Breakfast

with Malen


Dave - 21K finisher!

Am I sleepy?

The original running group of our unit...we are missing a couple of peeps here.

See you at the races!

Rexona Run 2010, second 10K

After last week's Runfest, here I am waking early in the morning again to join Rexona Run 2010. I'll be having my second 10K. I wasn't that prepared physically for the race because I didn't have the chance to train and I still have muscle sores from my badminton game last Friday (after 1.5 months of not playing). I only ran once and that is a 5-K run in Madrigal Business Park with ANR and that's it. Mentally, I know I can finish this race.

We arrived in MOA around 4:30 AM. With me are my office and running friends then we met Malen at McDonald's. I helped Malen attach the D-Tag to her shoes (thanks to Youtube for the helpful info and Sir Jet P for the site). We left our stuff inside Jerome's car and off we went to the starting line. We watched as the 21K runners go and before we knew it, we (10K) runners are being called to assemble and be ready.

At gunstart, I didn't bother to run fast. My goal is to have a steady pace and conserve my energy until I reach the finishline. The route was relatively flat all throughout the race. I reached my first to third kilometers sub 6 mins but to my surprise I was over 30 mins when I reached the 5-K mark. What!? I lost my pace somewhere. I just ran and felt tired, felt sore on my right shoulder, my adductors, and hamstrings. I love the fact that the event is abundant with water and Powerade so there's no reason to be dehydrated.

As I reached the last kilometer, I walked a little and heard an old man murmuring "1K na lang" (1K to go) and he looked tired. So I smiled at him and affirmed that we'll finish the race in no time and he smiled back. He decided to run again and I cheered for him. He even said "thank you." It felt good to see how a simple affirmation and cheer can boost someone's focus to finish the race. I clocked in at 1hour and 11 minutes. No PR for me.

After the race got my loot bag and see what's inside:

Got lots of shampoos, deodorant, facial wash, laundry soap, soup, canned tuna, and a granola bar

Met with some running friends from Facebook:

Katrina - I've known her in high school. Her sister is my batchmate. This is her first 10K.


Jerome - he ran 5K

Then we had breakfast:


A shot from one of the photographers on the event:

Will post more pics. Still waiting for photo contributions from my friends. :D

See you at the races.

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** This will be my last run. I will focus on training for the meantime and be back in October. I'm with ANR Alabang, I won't stop running!