Sun after the Rain (RU3 and NB Power Run Recap)

NB Power Run - Photo courtesy of Jun and Anna (The Meekrunner)

The New Balance Power Run last Nov. 6, 2011 was a wet and wild experience of running under the rain. Swthrt and I had second thought of running when we woke up that early rainy morning, but the urge to race prevailed. We prepared ourselves for a cold and wet run as we trooped to Bonifacio Global City for the 25K category we were registered in. It’s been long since we ran under heavy rains. It was a great race for Team JRunning except for the few blisters on our feet and the challenging run on flooded area near the office of the Department of Energy. It was like running on an adventure trail run for most of the participants. We finished:

Rank Bib #   Name                     Gun Time      Chip Time

962   1604    Josephine Estrella    03:22:54        03:22:20

963   1605    Joseph Estrella        03:22:54         03:22:19



RU3 - Photo courtesy of Jun and Anna (The Meekrunner)



The Run United 3 Race at Mall of Asia was a different story. The weather was exactly the opposite. It was hot from start to finish. Having registered for the Afroman distance (a dub named for the 32K category), we woke up as early as 2am to make sure we arrive at the venue early enough to have a warm up run. We started slow and steadily keeping pace with a group of 4 runners from MOA all the way to Buendia. They certainly helped us hold our pace and reserved our energy for the latter part of the course. As we took a U turn at Buendia, we started to increase our pace. The heat of the sun was almost unbearable as we reached Roxas Blvd. but we still managed to move on. My initial calculation at this point was we could break our last year’s record of 4:26:00 but an incident prevented it. It was a red letter day for Swthrt and any lady runner could attest how hard and uncomfortable it is to run having the monthly period. The long distance and the scorching heat of the sun added up to the uncomfortable feeling. We had to make a pit stop at the Petron Station at the corner of EDSA and Macapagal Avenue. The final 2K was the longest as we continued on and had to walk the most part of it. The finish line arch was a sight to behold as we ran the last 500m to the finish. It was still a great run despite Swthrt’s predicament. Our time was 4:36:+.

RU3 Race result:

Rank    Bib #     Name                        Gun Time           Chip Time

1631     39824    Josephine Estrella      04:37:01              04:36:13


1632    39825     Joseph Estrella          04:37:02              04:36:12

How you look at the hills

For most runners, the hills post the greatest challenge during races. Technically, a hill is a slope or gradient in a road that commonly intimidates runners. It may vary in form from a long and gradual incline to a short but steep ramp. Running hills could be tough and may require great power and strength in legs and core muscles. This can be achieved by having constant practice in running hills and an extra core and leg training exercises.

But do we really have to fear running on hills? For some runners, running on hills can be fun, for other races or tribes it is a way of life. For the thrill seekers, hills gave the adrenaline rush needed, thus inventing sky running (race to the top of a mountain) among others, as an adventure or extreme sports. We don’t need to fear on the hills. It’s just how we look at it.

In life, we are also faced with many hills. It could be a long and lingering ailment or an unresolved problem or it could be a short but painful experiences. These things we cannot avoid in life but we can be strong in conquering it. Like a runner who constantly practice running on hills, dealing with our problems and not avoiding it will give us strength emotionally in handling those difficulties in life. We become a stronger person after each victory. Problems in life need not be feared. It’s only how we look at it that makes it difficult.

Seeing our problems or difficulties as an opportunity to see God’s power and His great love for us can make any problem insignificant. Like a good coach, God allowed us to have problems to strengthen our faith in Him. Let us look back at those victories we have in conquering our hills in life together with Jesus and be confident that there are no greater hills that we cannot overcome if we get our strength from Him. God bless us all!

16 years ago...

May the Lord continue to bless and protect our marriage.

Need a coach?

During my early days in running, I got the privilege of training with Team Baldrunner and its elite team of coaches at the ULTRA. It was when more and more people are getting serious into running not only for physical fitness but also as a sport. Running clinics and group trainings was a common event then. Other runners would even have their own personal coaches to further improve their performances in running. A coach plays an important role in an athlete’s quest of being the best in their chosen sport. A coach guides its athlete in every step of the way, teaching them the basics to a more advanced techniques. He designed training schedules that would bring his athlete to his/her peak condition on game time. He even asked his athlete to do drills that sometimes seemed irrelevant to the sport but later would proved to be beneficial for the athlete. A coach can only be able to do these things because he himself had done it. He had been through all these and had become victorious.  All these things we follow because we believe that our coach knows what he is doing. Others even followed without asking the rationale behind doing those drills during training. All these we do because we have full trust and confidence to our coaches.

In the race called life, we can also have one true coach and his name is Jesus. Jesus had live among us. He experienced what we are experiencing right now. Jesus had been showing us the way to be victorious in every trial or problems we have in life but have we listened to Him? Have we put our full trust and confidence in Him that we fully obey Him and be victorious in every trials and difficulties we have in this world? Or you have yourself or others to follow? Why don’t you try Jesus. He can be your life’s coach! God bless us all!

Photos Talk - Team JRunning's coming races

Two races for Team JRunning, Hope to see you out there! Keep on running!