Weekly tips

I bought a planner called The Complete Runner’s Day-by-day Log 2009 Calendar (by Marty Jerome) during my trip to NYC last month. You can use it to log your daily mileage, compute your weekly totals and create a cumulative bar graph of weekly mileage. Although I use the computer daily, I still prefer pen and paper recording over excel spreadsheets. As an added bonus, weekly running tips can be found at the end of each week.

Tip for the week: Schedule your runs in writing. Putting “Run” into a specific time slot on your calendar empowers the moment. You’re more likely to follow through.

See you at the Bull Run on Sunday.

Runmd got his groove back

My post marathon blues are over!

2 weeks after my first marathon, I was able to run 15k  with a total running time of  1:27:37 in BHS-Lawton-Bayani-MKH-BHS, last Sunday. There were two 30 minute stops at km 5 and km 11 for taho and rehydration. We started running at 7 am and finished at 9:30. I ran with the T2 ladies (Bards, Mesh, Cathy, Tin) but it was traffic-stopping Chuchay I ran with for 15k.

Tomorrow is Christmas day but since I don’t celebrate Christmas, I will run 10-15k in UP.

Happy holidays!

I lost my pride in Singapore . . .

Pain is temporary but pride is forever. A lady was holding that sign at around kilometer 5 trying to egg us on to continue running. That statement couldn’t be any truer.

When I registered for the race last July 29, I was asked to provide my estimated finishing time and I reported 4:30. At that time, I could already run 10 km in less than an hour and I figured I could run a 42.195 km race in less than 4 hours after more than 4 months of training. S0 4:30 was a conservative goal, at the back of my mind I was thinking that I will finish before that time. I was wrong.

Official time is 4:58:51, Garmin time 4:48:57 at 42.50 km.

There are a lot of reasons and excuses I can come up with in order to justify my poor finish. But it will be a useless ungentlemanly exercise. I was armed with tons of chutzpah when I went to Singapore but now I am loaded with frustration. I am disappointed at myself.

I didn’t blog about my sub 4h goal. I only told 3 people about my plan because I wanted to surprise everyone. I was the one surprised.

What killed me was leg pain. At around km 20-21, I was doing well with an average pace of 6:00 (2:00 -2:10 time elapsed by my watch) but at km 25-26 I couldn’t run anymore because of severe leg pain. My hamstrings were soooooo painful I couldn’t run nor briskwalk with my legs. I was walking. Nakakahiya. Mesh passed me by and tapped my back pushing me to continue running with her (Thanks Mesh!). I tried to keep up with her but I couldn’t. I also wanted to make sure that I will finish the race and not crash before 42k so I didn’t push that hard. Good thing I didn’t have cramps.

More about my personal experience of the race in my next post after I try to tease out my pace per kilometer from my Garmin.

On the brighter side, the race was really amazing. Lots of water stations, liniment, cheerers, banana, GU and the view of the sea was spectacular. The expo was fun as well. A lot of running stuff were on sale. I even had my feet analyzed (again!) in the Adidas booth and the result was NEUTRAL GAIT. Although I have low to flat arch with a tendency to overpronate, I run neutral BUT after running for sometime, I might switch to overpronation. So I still need to use stability shoes for longer distances.

The guy from Adidas also said to wear the proper shoes because most people run their first and last marathon at the same time.

I believe him.

I’m too frustrated to run again.

Singapore Marathon

Leaving tonight for Singapore to run my first marathon on December 8. I hope I finish this one.

Travelling, Running and Shopping

This is a weird title but it sums up what I’ve done lately.

 

I will try to condense everything I did for the past three months in this post.

 

The reason why I have not been able to blog (and race!) as frequently as I usually do for the past three months was because I have been travelling for work and for pleasure. I missed important races like the Adidas KOTR and NB Power Race. These past three months are also important because I should have been preparing for the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon where I am running the 42K race. I know now that I am not fully prepared for the race but since I registered already, I tried to squeeze training runs between meetings, city tours and flying. Needless to say, I logged in more airmiles than running miles. And whenever I got frustrated for not running, I shopped for running gear.

FIRST STOP — GREECE AND EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

I went on a cruisetour with my medschool classmate. We went to Paris first, stayed there for two nights, then took the overnight train to Rome where we boarded the ship. From Rome, Legend of the Seas took us to Greece (Mykonos, Rhodes, Athens), Turkey (Ephesus, Kusadasi), Cyprus (Limassol), Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria), Italy (Naples, Rome) for 12 nights then I backpacked to Florence, Pisa, Venice, Vienna, Prague and finally, Berlin where I took the plane back to Manila. I went to all these places in 22 days! How many kilometers did I run? 75.6 kilometers only which is about 25 kilometers per week. Most of my training runs were done on the ship’s treadmill and the 10th floor running deck except for a 2 hr 20km run along Elli beach in Rhodes, Greece.

Legend of the Seas upper deck with the green 0.5 mi running track to my left

the ship’s fitness center

 

Elli Beach, Rhodes

 

 

running (or posing?) along the hilly northern part of the beach in my new NB singlet

 

NEXT STOP — KUALA LUMPUR

I have been here many times and have actually blogged about running in the park behind the Petronas Twin Towers. This time I also tried the facilities in the hotel gym and Fitness First. I spent 8 days in this city and ran a total of 33.2 kms. I visited the Nike Store in KLCC and bought 2 running shorts (nice spandex-like material with leggings inside) and a shirt only to find out later that they’re 15-20% cheaper in Nike BHS.

NEXT STOP — US

I knew I was going to Philadelphia for a medical conference as early as January this year so I already planned to visit my best friend in NYC who lives a few blocks away from Central Park. I even considered the possibility of entering the NY IMG Marathon but it was not within my schedule. I arrived in Philadelphia on November 4 and was in NYC from November 10-18. There was no time to run in Philly because I was busy attending lectures and sleeping off my jetlag. There  were banners all over the city announcing the Philadelphia Marathon on November 23. I visited the the PR- “Philadelphia Runner”  store where I had my foot arch analyzed. Mizuno BHS said I had low to flat arch. The staff in this store said the same thing (sigh!) so I bought a shoe with a lot of medial support. I was made to choose between a lot of brands and I chose  . . . . . .  NIKE! I got myself a NIKE Air Zoom Elite +4 for 99.95 USD. I thought it was cheap because there was no sales tax for clothing and shoes in Philadephia but found out later that it was on sale in Paragon in NYC. I also bought Runners World mag,  GU Energy gel (Chocolate Mint flavor) and a blue NIKE long sleeve running shirt for the cold NYC weather to pair with my running thights from Berlin (10 Euros only!). In short, no running in Philadelphia, just shopping.

NYC was a blast running and shopping wise. I ran 3x in Central Park. My first was a 10k run, followed by a 29k run around the whole park perimeter, the reservoir and along the East River bank; then another 10k run while raining. I spent 16 days in the US and logged a total of 49kms, all in NYC. Another reason for not blogging lately was my Garmin 305. I was so frustrated with it. After 3 months of usage, the top part got separated from the bottom part of the watch exposing the hollow inner part. Initially I secured it with scotch tape but it was difficult to charge. I was also afraid that rainwater and sweat might seep inside and destroy the watch totally. There was also some corrosion noted in the rubbery part along the sides. I don’t know why this happened. Is my sweat very acidic? I’ve read better reviews about 305 than 405 but when Garmin promised to replace my 305 with a refurbished one (upgrade not possible, buti pa si Philip), I decided to buy a 405 and sell the 305 when I get the new unit. I mailed it from NYC. I bought my 405 in The Running Company in Columbus Circle along with a race number belt and an NYCM commemorative cap. For the third time, I was judged as having low to flat arch with a tendency to overpronate. I also went to the Puma outlet in Woodbury and bought Puma shoes (the ones being worn by Usain Bolt in Runners World) for sale! It was for neutral runners, with minimal support. Sumakit ang paa ko after running 10k with it. Running paraphernalia were also on sale in Paragon Sport in Broadway so I bought a race waist pack there. I had my feet and gait analyzed again this time with my feet being videotaped while running on a treadmill. Low to flat arch na nga, overpronator pa!

NEXT STOP — HONGKONG

I will be in HK on December 1-4 for work. On Dec 5 I’m flying to Singapore for the Dec 7 marathon. I have to run in HK. Any suggestions where? I will be staying near Causeway Bay and have found this route: http://www.run.com/showroute.asp?map=316645 . Last time I was there was in 1998.

Delinquent Blogger

I haven’t posted an entry for a month because I had an “amazing race” vacation. I visited 17 cities in 9 countries travelling by air, sea and land. And yes, I ran. Sadly, I was able to log only 60 kms of running for 22 days and most of that were on treadmills. Pics to follow.

Cairns pics

other runners in the esplanade

start of the 2.5 km biking and running trails which at certain points do not run parallel to each other

a remora attached itself to the glass bottom boat

photo taken from the mini sub, a small boat with an underwater chamber surrounded by glass walls

another underwater shot

I bought this TNF handheld water bottle while shopping for running gear

Running in Cairns

Been here for the past few days and have run twice already, 14K last Sunday (my long run) and 5K this afternoon (tempo pace). Will try to squeeze in another run tomorrrow before I fly back on Thursday. Some pictures of the running trail by the beach along the Esplanade which is just behind my hotel. More pics to follow, including underwater shots of the Great Barrier Reef.

Nike Human Race 10K recap

I placed 19th among 300 runners with an official time of 52:27. Garmin 305 measured the distance at 10.28 km, with a finish time of 52:21. The 6 second discrepancy was because of my late start since I was in the middle of the pack. I looked at my time at km 10 just to check if I did a sub 50. I didn’t, 51:08 lang. This sub 50 thing is so elusive.

So how was the race for me? Let me sum it up by posting a long recap sans pics using the initials NIKE RIO.

N – NERVE-WRACKING. Everyone was agog about the hills of Mc Kinley. I ran the route once during the Mizuno 1 and twice during my evening runs. I wasn’t too conscious about my pace then so I was just running leisurely. Yes the route was hard but it was manageable and with so many people running with you, it didn’t feel like an ordeal. it was just like outrunning other shoppers in a mall during midnight madness. In this race, however, I wanted to achieve a true 10K PR (sub 50 sana!) so I wanted to run really fast. But all the odds were against me: the route was hilly; I didn’t have enough sleep because I arrived from a flight at 10 pm, drove myself home from the airport and slept at 1 am; I was nursing a cold; I failed to use the restroom before the race — part of my ritual; I didn’t bring water with me. All of these things filled my head while I was trying to outrun and outpace myself. Moreover, it was my last race before I take a 1 month hiatus from morning races to fulfill a religious obligation. I wanted to end the month with a bang.

I – ICONIC. The race was full of running icons in the running community (Neville Manaois of pinoy ultra runners, Coach Rio of course), showbusiness (Tessa Prieto, Drew Arellano), and the blogosphere (Jaymie the Bullruner, Bards of Bananarunning, Patrick of runningshield). It was a Nike race so I was expecting some famous people to show up at the race and they did! Other bloggers I met were My Iron Shoes (thanks for the ride from BHS to MKH and back, huwag ng mainit ang ulo!) Happy Hour Levy (ran as a bandit), DATC (wore both his Garmin and Nike band), Mukhang Guilty (my pacer — I couldn’t run as fast as him so I just made sure I could see him about 250m ahead of me all the time and I knew I’d have a decent finish time), Running Fatboy (who was wearing the Human Race shirt from abroad), The FitMommy (who chided me for running in the gym for another 5 K after finishing the Red Cross Run a week ago), Prometheus Cometh (Nike promo boy with his bevy of young girls) and Bugobugo85 (thanks for the tip!). Kathy and Chuchay (who won a cruise for two, congrats!) were also there.

K – KINLEY. Running around BHS 2-3x/week is becoming a bit boring. MKH is more conducive for training because of the challenging hills, 7-11, and fewer vehicles on the road. It was a good place to start and finish. What made the place more ideal was the small number of runners compared to other races making it easy to maneuver yourself between the crowd after gun start. Going inside Heritage Park was also a very relaxing experience. Good thing I didn’t choke on the plastic bag when I bit off 1 corner so I could drink and douse myself with water. I just couldn’t take the banana and ensaymada from the stations no matter how tempting it was to do so. Baka madapa ako sa kakalamon.

E – ELEVATIONS. The hills were punishing! I still feel soreness in my gastrocnemius muscles as I type this. I am not used to hilly terrains because my training runs are mostly on flat roads (BHS, treadmill). I need to run in MKH more often now.

R – RIO. Best race organizer.

I – INSPIRING. There is something about running with other people that provides one with an additional push. It’s not only the spirit of competition that permeates the air but a certain feeling of belonging or shared goal/vision — to reach the finish line! I used to say that I like running alone so I can concentrate on my pace without someone pushing me to the point of no return or pulling me back after all, I am not aiming for an olympic medal. I just want to beat my previous record everytime I run. But after joining fun runs for 8 months, I am beginning to like running with others.

O – ORGANIZED. Once again Rio has outorganized himself. His races keep getting better and better. Congrats! Keep it up.

See you in the October races!

Kita kits bukas!