Photos Talk - 45 min run of a 45 yr old man

Photos taken at the end of my birthday run this morning. I could have run 45K but i chose to spend my time with Swthrt and kids. There will be more days to run 45K.

Good Friday 30K Run

We started our run at 5:00am

Our starting point at Baranggay Tulo, Batangas City (taken after we finished the 30.6K)

at Barangay Sampaga, Batangas City

Swthrt at Barangay Sampaga, Batangas City

road going to Lyceum Batangas with Calumpang river at the background

with just 1000m to Star Tollway

Swthrt in front of Honda Cars Batangas, Balagtas Diversion road

run along Balagtas Diversion road

photo op after running 23K

pa-kodak muna ako

Signage going to Batangas Port

Swthrt and Ed having walk breaks

approach of flyover to Batangas Pier at Bolbok, Batangas City

run along P. Burgos St. at Batangas City town proper

still at P. Burgos St.

Swthrt approaching city plaza

Batangas City Hall

vendors in front of Basilica Immaculada

Basilica Immaculada

Simbahan ng Satisima Trinidad at Pallocan West near SM City

uphill road going back to starting point

having walk breaks after running after 27K

finally at the finish of 30.6K run !

Our Post-Christmas Long Run

Since we started running last year, going home to the province has becoming more exciting. It was because aside from visiting our families and relatives there, we can always do a long run. Last December 26 when most people are still asleep after the merry makings on Christmas day, Swthrt and I woke up at around 5am and prepared for the longest run we ever did. Our goal was to run from Baranggay Tulo, Batangas City to Eternal Garden in Alangilan, Batangas. We will be visiting Itay (Swthrt’s father)’s grave since it was our first Christmas without him. We have no idea of the distance we will be running but we are quite sure that it will be longer than our usual route we run every time we visit Batangas. To at least approximate the distance we will be running, I decided to use my nike+ ipod.

At 5:30 am we were ready to run. We started at a slow pace for our warm up. It was very cold. We increased pace to 7min/km as we go along. It was a good run all the way to Stonyhurst School in Baraggay Pallocan where we met Ed (Swthrt’s brother) on his bike. He will be guiding us on our way to Eternal Garden. We will be taking a detour since the Bridge of Promise in Baranggay Gulod is still not passable. It was damaged by typhoon Pepeng. We took the road going to SM City then turned right on the road leading to the town proper. We took a right turn at Prieto St. after crossing a bridge (forgot the name) and turned right again at Rizal Drive. At this point we ran more than 10K. It was here at Rizal Drive where we faced a great challenge of running uphill all the way to the Provincial Capitol. And so before doing it we had our first Kitkat break and conquered the hill. We then proceeded to the main highway going to Eternal Garden. It will be at least 3K more to our destination according to Ed. With 1 kilometer to go, Swthrt felt pain on her chest. We took a walk break and assessed if she can continue to run. She told me she was not feeling dizzy nor she was feeling weak. It was the pricking pain on her chest every time she spoke that bothered her. Our guess was it was an acid reflux attack that she has been experiencing for the fast few days. After a while Swthrt had a burp. She felt better and proceeded with our run. We arrived at Itay’s graveyard after 1hour and 41 minutes of running covering 14.5Kms. We stayed there for at least 8 min and had our second Kitkat break before heading our way back home.

This time, it was a question of can we still do it? And without hesitation, or should I say without any choice, we made our way back home. It was harder this time. The sun was up which made it hotter at this time. There were also more motorists on the road where most of them had no regard to runners and drove faster than they should. And the fumes coming out from the jeeps and tricycles in the city area really made it harder to run. The route going to Baranggay Gulod was no problem. We had short stop and bought a bottle of water to replenish Swthrt’s hydration bottles. Upon reaching Baranggay Pallocan, we begun to have walks break especially after taking on the series of uphill going back to Baranggay Sampaga. With more than 21K ran, we felt the soreness on our legs and the heat of the sun that drained all our energy. It was our longest run ever. We took our last Kitkat bar and finished the whole course running and walking for almost 4 hours covered a total distance of 29Kms. It was a tiring but fulfilling run that we had.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

See you at the starting line on Rizal Day Run!

Long Run @ UP

This is just to log another long run that I completed last Sunday at UP Diliman with Swthrt. This time, i used my Nike+ ipod to track the distance we covered for the day. This will also allow us to deviate from the usual route (known distance route) and still be able to get the distance we ran. Our target was to have at least 15k easy pace run. As we ran, we saw Jonel, who joined us for a while. We also saw Vener and Xty, getting ready for the race, Mighty Run, scheduled on that morning. We finished our run after 2 hours covering 16.56K. It was another fullfilling workout as i prepare for the 32K challenge, The Rizal Day Run, organized by Baldrunner on December 30 at Camp Aguinaldo. See you at the starting line!

Weekend long run at UP

It's been a long time since we last ran inside UP Diliman. Last Sunday was a welcome treat for us to run on roads covered with trees. We have prepared for this run and so we woke up early and we're at UP campus as early as 5:00 am. We even caught the organizers of the race (YesRun) scheduled for the day setting up the starting area. Our target was to have a long run at a comfortable pace. We started it with a warm-up run around the academic oval and did some stretching before proceeding with our goal workout. We ran on routes we have never run before. Below is the route where we did 3 rounds completing an aproximately 15K distance.

Official travel and running

One thing about my work is that I get to travel to places to video/photo document our office’s projects and events. Last Dec.2-3, I was in Zambales to document the on-going seminar- workshop on the country’s disaster preparedness. It was a multi-agency collaborative project called “READY Project” wherein maps on different hazards such as landslide, storm surge, earthquake-induced hazards (e.g. gound rupture, liquefaction, tsunami) were plotted and disseminated to different baranggay officials nationwide for them to be aware of the different hazard-prone areas and make appropriate contingency plans. The event was held in a resort in Iba, Zambales.

Having foreseen an opportunity to run, I brought running shorts and singlets with me. The first day was all work. The following morning, I woke up at around 5am and at 5:30am I was out to run. I ran a few rounds around the lighted basketball court of the resort and along the pathway as it was still dark. Just before the sun was out, I went to the beach shore to continue my run.

I ran for an hour, good enough to give me a good sweat before taking a bath and get ready for another day’s work. We returned to Manila after lunch.

All Saints Day Long Run

Swthrt and I just finished a 21K long run at Batangas City. We started at Avida Residences San Isidro at around 5:30am. Our destination was at Swthrt's home at Barangay Tulo and back. We were joined by Swthrt's brother Ed who was road testing his new mountain bike. This was the usual course we take every time we visit our relatives in Batangas. It was challenging course with lots of uphills. The run could have been a new PR if it was a race. Actually, Swthrt could have made it to cut-off time of Milo marathons of 2:30 for the half marathon. Our Time was 2:24:50 with an average pace of 6:53min/K. Swthrt expereienced pain on her left knee on our way back but managed to finish the run. We also need some suggestions on how to minimize chafing on her chest due to singlet rubbing.

Running continues

What is good about Filipinos is their ability to bounce back after a massive disaster or calamity. Ondoy’s devastation in Metro Manila and nearby provinces brought out the good deeds of every Filipino. Volunteers and donations in cash and in kind started to pour in from different rescue centers of the government and other private institutions. Even in the school of our son, JM had set-up donations and relief operations wherein students that were not affected by the typhoon had a chance to help those calamity-stricken families. Our office and our employees’ organization had their share too of helping the victims of Typhoon Ondoy. The running community through the different clubs and groups have set up fund raising drive (e.g. TKO250 of the Hardcore Runners) or organized races (e.g. Rescue Run, Juan Run) for the benefit of the typhoon victims. This is the true spirit of bayanihan in the Filipino culture. With all these fateful tragedies, life has to continue and so is running.


Last Sunday, the OctobeRun 09 pushed through. I’m sure that there were already posting on the race recap for the said event. Swthrt and I were not able to register for the race and because we don’t want to be bandits, we instead ran inside UP Diliman campus. There were still a lot of runners when we arrived at UPD despite a scheduled race. We started a round of warm-up at the academic oval before stretching. We then proceeded to run the outer and bigger loops inside the campus to finish a 9.65K (6 miles) run.





It was quite hard to run after a long break. Swthrt struggled at the early part of our run but was later able to manage the whole course. It was a good run for both of us. We hope to have more practice runs to prepare us for longer distance races such as the Adidas King of the Road and the postponed New Balance Power Run. We were registered for the half marathon for both races.


Our prayers for the families of the victims of the typhoons continue. May the Lord grant us the wisdom to understand His message for each one of us in all this tragedy. God bless us all!


Tonight, Swthrt and I did a 5k easy run at BHS.

First time to race at UP

Since UPD has become our regular weekend training ground, we have never run an official race within the campus. This Sunday’s “Hataw Pilipinas” will be our first race at UP and it will be followed by the “Dean’s Cup UP Law Invitational Triathlon and Fun Run” on the 30th of August. We just hope that the thrill and excitement of joining a race will overshadow the boredom of running around a loop for several times. Also, seeing friends at the race will surely make it more enjoyable and fun. See you at UP!

Same route but with a different experience

I have already posted twice our weekend run from Home to UP. I’m not keen of posting another one because it may become a duplicate of the previous postings but last Sunday’s run had a different twist. It was a fine weather with some drizzles at the different part of the route. We arrived at UP with a lot of people since it was UPCAT day. The academic oval was not closed to traffic even though it was a Sunday. There were still a lot of runners around the oval. A running club with their uniform singlet was very visible. We also saw couple Vener and Xty doing their training (preparation for the full marathon for Xty) along the way and some familiar faces we called classmates, hehehe. We were able to complete our target of 3 rounds before going home. It was not a great run though. The sight and smell of food at the stalls set-up around the oval was very tempting. It was really hard to run as I smell the tasty Shawarma and the sumptuous foods displayed at the different booths, hahaha. As we made our way back home, Swthrt felt a slight pain on her knee. It was her first time to experience it. It became persistent as we continue to run along Katipunan and after taking on the Kalayaan flyover, we had to walk the remaining kilometre on the way home. The good news is that after taking a rest overnight the pain subsided.

Another Home to UP Runabout

Last Saturday, July 11, Swthrt and I had another runabout from our place to UP Diliman via Katipunan Road and then C.P. Garcia. We then ran a bigger loop (not the usual academic oval)inside UPD before having a 3 minute pitstop at the bikers tambayan near Palma Hall to replenish our hydration bottles. We then proceeded home via Katipunan Road then Boni Serrano Road completing a 17K run in 2:25 (including the pitstop). Hopefully this practice run will boost Swthrt's confidence on Sunday's Run for Home 21K.

Our route, distance calculated using Google Earth.

Father’s Day runabout with Swthrt

The recent incident in the family and the opening of school year has kept Swthrt and me from running for more than two weeks. Last Saturday, June 20, we had our first practice run of 6.6K at UP. We planned it to be an easy run. It’s really hard to start if you are sidelined from a long break. We were already gasping for air even at the early kilometers. We accomplished our goal and it was great to be back on the road running.

The following day, we had a Father’s Day runabout. Here was our route: We started from our home then we turn right at Katipunan White Plains all the way to Temple Drive going to Green Meadows. Upon reaching Ortigas Avenue, we turned left going to E. Rodriguez C5. We then proceed to Lanuza St. and returned back to Green Meadows going to Whiteplains and then Boni Serrano. It was fun and we were able to cover approximately 11+K (using Google Earth). This was our second runabout, the first was from our home to UPD and back.

The only problem we encountered was vehicular traffic along C5 and the heat of the sun since we started late. We left home at 6:00am and back after an hour and 38 min. We crossed over two walk bridges for us to be on the side of the road pacing traffic for safety reason. We had a short pit stop on our way back at Shell station in White Plains to replenish our hydration packs. Hopefully soon, we can do the Camp Aguinaldo to Fort Bonifacio runabout route.

Since school has started, we have been having problems on how to squeeze in running into our weekday schedules. We have to support JM in his adjustment period as high school freshman and Josh, who’s now on his third grade and needs help in his studies too. We have to be home early to do this. The only possible time for us to run is on weekends which also happened to be the schedules of most races. Last summer we were able to have evening runs. How about you? When do you have your weekday runs?