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?

After the long break

It has been a long time since my last post. I had a long break from blogging but not necessarily from running. Last May 1, 2009 was our first runabout from our home to UPD. Swthrt and I had this idea for quite sometime and it came to reality. We started to run at around 5:00am from our home along Boni Serrano Rd. in Murphy all the way to Katipunan Road before we took a left turn. After about a kilometer, we did some stretching before proceeding to our destination. It was a challenging route of uphill and downhill along the way especially on the Katipunan Flyover in Aurora Boulevard. And to be cautious, we took the side of the road where we will be facing traffic. The distance from our place to UP entrance in Katipunan was about 5K. Upon reaching the academic oval Swthrt was still able to run 3 more rounds while I finished 4 rounds before heading back home. It was a total of 16.6K run for Swthrt while I completed a total 18.8K run. Who knows, maybe next time, we can run from our place to Bonifacio High Street. With our consistent mileage build up, impossible is nothing!

Half marathon in Batangas

I love travelling and one of our destinations this summer is Batangas… Swthrt’s home province. What made our recent trip to this place very exciting for us running couple was that, we had the opportunity for LSD.

We were actually invited to the house warming of Swthrt’s brother, Ed at Avida Residence in San Isidro, Batangas City. We arrived there Saturday afternoon and stayed overnight. At dawn Sunday, Swthrt and I scheduled a run from Barangay San Isidro to Barangay Tulo (Swthrt’s place) since we will be missing weekend races scheduled on that date. The distance was estimated to be more than 10K (~10.6k). We started at around 5:00am from Avida Residence and we were joined by Ed who also ran with us during the last Christmas break.

at the boundary marker of Barangay San Isidro and Barangay Libjo

Swthrt with Ed running behind

The early part of the course was new to us up until Sitio Gulod. Swthrt felt early a slight pain on her shin but still opted to continue on. We had a comfortable pace as compared to our usual long runs since we have to follow Ed’s rusted pace (his last run was in December).

in front of SM Batangas City

uphill road at Barangay Pallocan

We reached our turn-around point which was Swthrt’s residence in Barangay Tulo in 1:25:00 without any problem. After refilling my hydration bottles, I went on my way back to our starting point. Swthrt and Ed decided to call it a day and went back home with my parents-in-law. This time I decided to pick up my pace but was slowed down from time to time because of the summer heat. I even have to pour water to my head to keep me cool. Upon reaching the Shell station beside SM City Batangas mall, I decide to buy Pocari sweat to refill my bottles. It was good thing I carried some money for contingency measures. It took me 1:10:29 to finish the second half completing my 21K run. It was a fulfilling run, simulating with the 21k runners in Greenfields City Run last Sunday, hehehe.

Prior to this run we had a 6.6K run at UPD last Saturday with our friend Chiqui. It was another fruitful weekend for us in running.

Running in pain

It’s been hard to squeeze in our training schedules at ULTRA lately. Either we are not feeling well or there are important tasks to do. That’s why we are really craving for speed workouts. We had a short but good workout run (4K) at our office ground last Thursday night. We had to stay up late and wait for the coding ban hours. Last Sunday, Swthrt and I had a good 5 rounds (11K) at the UP academic oval. Our original plan was to run at Fort Bonifacio covering the regular 10K route for races but the sudden change of events lead us to UP. On our way there, we saw bunch of runners, BR’s runabout group along Katipunan Avenue. Their number seems to be growing and can be likened to a group of bikers every Sunday. Upon arriving at UP, the Takbong May Yabang race was already on its way. We saw blogger runners joining the event like Jinoe (manokan express) and Que, Vener (rununlimited), Anna (the meek runner) with her family, Dennis (running fatboy), Eric (run for change), Dra. Doray (doralicious), and coach Rio (runrio.com) among others. We also saw Lester on our way home. Anna even had our photos taken while we’re running. It was a good workout as Swthrt is trying longer distances during weekend runs. Hopefully, she will be able to build up her base mileage and gain confidence to join in a 10K race soon. Though there was still pain on her shin after running for several minutes she still manages to run well. I too, had several minor inconveniences lately like I had cramps on my toes after running beyond 7K. Sometimes it was accompanied by minor pain on the side of the feet. I only felt these in the recently concluded Happy Run Race and last Sunday’s run. Is this common to runners? I can feel that my feet get wider as I run. Could this be possibly true? he he he.

Photos by the meek runner, thanks Anna.