Training and race

For two weeks now I was able to run at least thrice a week. I run easy (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and long runs (weekends) at Fort Bonifacio during the Milo finals and at UP Diliman during the QCIM. I was with Swthrt during the two weekend long runs. Hopefully, our work schedules permit us to do our trainings regularly for us to be able to aim something big next year.

The 1st Quezon City International Marathon was a big success and many records have been broken and many firsts have been written. We should have not miss this, but we did for some unavoidable reasons. This was my first aimed full marathon but unluckily was not able to join it, and yes I was not also much prepared. Likewise, the series of events about the typhoons that hit the metro must have douse of our interest to register. For whatever reason it may be, this race was not really meant for us. Anyway, Swthrt and I did a 15K run within UPD campus on that day. It was a fulfilling run completing out target distance. . Hopefully this would set a pace for Swthrt setting a new PR for the 21K this coming Adidas KOTR. This will be her second half-marathon after the Run for Home.

An unforgettable experience happened before our run. I locked the car leaving the key inside after getting my hydration belt from the trunk. I was a victim of this thing, that I always remind Swthrt not to leave the car key inside the trunk every time I lend it. I guess I need to add Memo Plus to my health supplements, he he he. So as not to ruin our day, we still continued our run and went home with a cab to get the spare car key. Good thing I knew an alternate route going back to UP as most of the road are closed to traffic because of the QCIM being held.

Congratulations to our friends who run and finished the recently concluded QCIM.

See you at the starting line of Adidas King of the Road!

Photo Talks

ADIDAS KING OF THE ROAD 2008

Kuya Hector, Bro J, Swthrt, Alwyn, JM

Swthrt( Baby) and I

JM and Swthrt

My first KOTR

Much have been told about the recently-concluded “ Adidas King of the Road Race”. Let me share my experiences too! This was my first KOTR race and I was as excited as the thousands of registered runners. We went home last Friday from a prayer meeting at around 12 midnight. Our churchmates knew we had a race on Saturday morning so we started the meeting earlier than usual. We woke up the following day at 4:00 am, prepared ourselves, check our race bibs and off we went to BHS. While in the car I was looking for my ipod which I planned to use for the race. I thought I placed it on my bag but unfortunately I left it at home. All we got was JM’s ipod which I can’t use because the receiver for the nike sports kit was on my ipod. Besides, he is also going to use it. We also got the sports watch which I wanted swthrt to use to track her time during the race. Anyway, I didn’t want to disappoint myself so I told Swthrt that God might want to tell us something. I got back on my excitement mode with the hope that I will not miss God’s message for us during the race. We arrived at BHS at around 5:15am. 10K runners will take off at exactly 6am. You could feel the excitement in the faces of multitudes of runners. I saw familiar faces of bloggers/runners and met with my officemates and cousins who’ll also be joining the race. Swthrt, JM and I did some warm-ups. We also studied the race route posted for the 10K as well as 5K. Swthrt and I was able to do simulation run last Thursday night to most part of the 5K route. We just missed the portion from DOE going to the road leading to University Ave all the way to Market Market. This helped Swthrt gained some confidence in running her first 5K.

The Race.
The 21K runners were released at exactly 5:30am. 10K runners were then called to the starting line. Swthrt and JM were positioned behind the 10K runners since they will be running the 5K. I was joined by Gemini0522 who will also be running the 10K with knee injury. We positioned ourselves in the middle part of the assembly area. I had a goal and a plan in mind. Plan A was to finish the race within 1 hour. Plan B is to at least set a new PR in 10K. My plan was to start faster than my usual pace and try to sustain it to most part of the race. The starting gun was fired and the runners of the 10K are on the road. I heard gemini0522 shouting at me “see you at the finish line Bro J”. I felt good at the start of the race and was still coming strong as I approached the intimidating Kalayaan Flyover. I knew this will be a tough portion because some of my friends have already run this course in previous races. I was able to make it through the flyover. The site of the water station at the foot of the flyover makes me run even faster plus it was downhill. I was able to keep pace even for short time with Erlito, my high school classmate. I ran at a steady pace all the way to the half point for 10K. On my way back, my cousin Alwyn caught up with me. We had a few chat and then I told him to just go with his stronger pace and went ahead. I also ran with my officemates, Norman who gladly offered me his water to freshen me up. The return route at the flyover was harder than I thought. I had to slow down and took shorter strides and try to avoid walking. As I near The Fort, I knew it will only be a few more kilometers to the finish. I tried to push more, hoping to hit my goal of 60 min. As I approach the finish line, I looked at the clock but I’m having a problem with my sight because I did not use my eyeglasses. I think I hit 1:06 for this race, 9 minutes faster than my previous PR. I may not achieved my goal but I have set a new PR and I felt great about my run. I thank the Lord that He protected me on this race. I was welcome by Swthrt and JM at the finish line.

Swthrt and JM also have a good run of the 5K route. They just told me that there was no water station along the way and that it was really hot because the sun was already up by the time they started. Swthrt finishes the race in 34 min while JM clocked 32 min. Hooray for Swthrt and JM!

JM and Swthrt

One thing I was excited about is the insights that God allows me to see in the different experiences I have in every race. This time God has spoken to me again. Nowadays, runners are given a chance to take advantage of the technology. More gadgets are available to runners either to improve their time or to aid them track their pace, distance and more. I don’t think this is wrong. I also took advantage of it. I had a nike+ sports kit given to me by my brother, Relly. This time though, I was not able to use it. I unintentionally left it at home. I knew I had to run this race and finish it even without any gadget, and that’s what God made me realize. I can finish this race by focusing on my goal and not depending on anything else. Just like in our spiritual run towards the goal of being with God in the finish. Now, there are more than one ways offered to everybody to be assured of salvation. Others offer memberships, philosophy, or even items for possession to obtain salvation. God allowed me to know that I don’t have to depend on any of these. What he wants is for us to focus on the goal of finishing the race by faith, that is trust and obedience to God. The people whom I had ran with along the race somehow encourage me to go on. It may be likened to the believers we encountered in our daily living, who encouraged us, give support, guide us and cheer for us. They make the race easier for us. They are God’s language of giving help and sustaining us to finish the race. In the end, what matters most is how we focus on the Author and Finisher of our faith, our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless us all!

Just in time …

Many instances in my life I have experienced God’s hands working just right on time. This is one message He had showed me, He has the perfect timing. These have been proven many times in different occasions in my life. His guidance, blessings, provisions, protections will always be there whenever His child needed them. We have a major project in the family which involves finances. This month, God touches the hearts of the people whom He used to help us financially. Just in time before we needed it most. God also thought us to continue to trust and obey Him, to seek His kingdom and His righteousness and all things will be added unto us. There were leadings from God which we have to respond to for God to be able to work in our lives. We’re glad we responded accordingly. To trust God and see things in different perspective was even more difficult. It was not easy especially during this time of financial crisis not only here in our country but even around the world. But one thing is clear that God will always be more powerful and greater than any crisis around us. In all these, we want to bring the glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless us all!





God’s way...
God’s language of telling us his ways sometimes come even in simplest events in our lives. I guess all runners were as excited as us over the much awaited “Adidas King of the Road Race” on Saturday, October 11. Swthrt will be running her first official 5k race and God made a big exclamation point on this event. Yesterday, we received the pair of Asics running shoes which her sister Joy and brother-in-law Den bought for her. As you can see we were beneficiaries of the blessings which God has given to our loving and gracious brothers and sisters. Hopefully we can break-in swthrt’s shoes tonight. We are planning to run at BHS and afterwards attend the Running Aid 3 at R.O.X..

A busy week

This weekend was the opposite of last week’s fully loaded workout. It started with a no Friday night run due to work. Swthrt needed to finish her budget plans for their branch so she had to work overtime and afterwards we went to a prayer meeting. Plan B was put into place. We will run Saturday morning before going to the Science Olympiad competition where our son JM will participate. But because we went home late (already 1 am of Saturday) after the prayer meeting, we were not able to run Saturday morning. We have to be at JM’s school by 8 o’clock in the morning before going to the Phivolcs office in Diliman, Quezon City for the Science Olympiad.

The Olympiad
It was the 5th Philippine Society of Science Youth Clubs Science Olympiad National Finals. Twenty schools from different parts of the country will compete to be the National Science Olympiad Champion. The competition was divided into two major parts which was the Practical (laboratory experiments) and Theoretical Exam (essay) in the morning and the Oral Quiz competition in the afternoon. Only the top ten schools from the morning examinations will proceed to the second part of the competition. The second part was divided into two phase. The first phase was, the teams will be asked 20 questions which they have to write their answers on a white board. Only the top 5 schools with the highest scores will battle out in the final phase in which they will be asked again 20 questions and they will answer it by pressing the buzzer. This time any school can answer even before the quizmaster was not yet finish in asking the questions. My son’s school, The Learning Tree was declared the champion. Congratulations to the school and their team composed of JM, David and Vica. Thank you very much to all our friends and families who have prayed and supported their team. To teacher Ryan and teacher Mena, thank you for guiding our children. To teacher Francie, Thank you for giving our children this opportunity to grow and experience this event in their school life. This will not be all possible without your support.

The TLT Team with teachers and parents

The Learning Tree Team, JM, David, Vica

My family

Finally we were able to run
We finally had the time to run Sunday morning at UPD. Swthrt and I was able to do 4 rounds (8.8k) easy run at the academic oval. Swthrt ran the first 3 rounds with our friend Chiqui, while I did 3 rounds of “fartlek” (the Swedish word for speed play). After Chiqui was done with her workout, swthrt and I had ran another round before calling it a day. It was our only run for the week and we do not want to force ourselves. Anyway, it was a good run. Most of the runners would know how it feels to have a good run after a long break. We are hoping to have a better running schedule this week to prepare for the Adidas KOTR. Swthrt will be running her first 5K, while I will try to improve my PR in the 10k event.