Team JRunning weekend run

One thing I like about weekend is that I get to spend more time with Swthrt and the kids. Swthrt and I always look forward to activities we will have on weekend and running will always be on the list. Last Saturday,October 15 2011, it was the whole family that went to UPD. Swthrt and I were scheduled to run at least 10K at an easy pace. JM, our eldest son, had to do an experiment for their myth busting project in Biology class together with his classmates. While Josh, our youngest son, does not want to miss the fun came with us.

11K easy pace Saturday run

We arrived at UPD a little late. It was almost 7 am when we started to run. To keep us motivated, we tried to look at the situation as an opportunity to also have some sort of heat training. We normally are still running by this time if we run in a half or full marathon. We usually start our run in front of the Abelardo Hall and do stretching at the parking space in front of Palma Hall before completing our goal for the day. JM and Josh joined us in our first round of the oval and eventually wait for JM’s classmates near the Sunken Garden. As always, it was difficult at the start before finally picking up on a rhythm for our run. Swthrt tried again using an ipod while running. She has been used to running without it for quite a long time. It seemed to work well with her as she was able to keep a consistent pace as she went along with the beat of the music.

After finishing our goal (we were able to do 5 rounds of the Academic Oval which is equal to 11K which is more than our goal), we went to JM who was already with his classmates discussing on how they would go about with their experiment.

Afterwards, we went to Kiss Restaurant at the Bahay ng Alumni building for breakfast before getting on a full day of activities.

5K easy run and speed works

For our Sunday run, October 16, 2011, we went to NAMRIA in Fort Bonifacio at 5:30 am and got caught in traffic as a race was on-going along Bayani Road and Lawton Avenue. After getting through the traffic and have brought Josh at NAMRIA compund where he would have a tennis training with his coach Swthrt and I went for a 5K run along Bayani Road. When we returned to NAMRIA compound we did speed intervals and hill repeats. One good thing about our office compound is that it has a good terrain ideal for different types of training. One loop of the compound is approximately 250m. The road from the main gate going to the back of the compound was down hill ideal for hill repeats. We also have courts for basketball, volleyball and tennis.

 

 

AMAUIBLOG was in Manila

The author and owner of one of Maui’s well-visited blogsite, amauiblog returned home last December 2010. Liza or Ne, as we fondly called her was my one and only sister. Though the circumstances surrounding her return to the Philippines were not that good (we had an uncle who died whom she paid respect to), we were glad that she was home after almost 8 years living with her own family in Maui, Hawaii. She only had a week to visit our parents and relatives.

Liza was also a runner in her own right as she was able to join and finish several cause- oriented fun runs from where she lives.

She was also a member of an all-female team who joined the famous Hana Relay in Maui.

And being a runner, Liza took the opportunity to join us in our regular runs in UP. Together with Swthrt and I, Liza enjoyed running at the UPD Academic oval even with the eyesore garbage left by the students who participated in the annual UP Lantern Parade the night before our run. Prior to our run, Liza said that she might only be doing a couple of rounds of the oval but she was able to do more rounds after enjoying every round with a cup of taho.

She surely missed eating it. When we were little kids, we always wait for the friendly taho vendor who regularly went to our apartment every morning.

After the run, we took her around the campus where swthrt and I would normally run, and places when running inside the oval feels boring for us. We planned to run again the following day but the weather did not cooperate. Hopefully, when Liza returns again soon, we can spend more time running with her not only in UP but to the rest of the running venues we have here in Manila. Or better yet, she would experience the thrill of joining a race here in the Philippines.

Photo Talks - RMCHS Batch82 Family Fun Run

*Photos by John Santisteban

RMCHS Batch 82 First Family Fun Run

For us, running is not only a sports but a family affair too! Last November 14, 2010, Batch 1982 of the Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School held its first family fun run inside the UP Diliman. The event aims to strengthen camaraderie among batch mates through a healthy cause. The affair dubbed “Takbo, Lakad, Chika” exactly described the said gathering. The proceeds of the fun run will be used as initial funds for this year’s Christmas party of the batch. Details on this will be announced soon. The fun run was initiated by the batch’s 2 Bottles Club (2BC) with the support of various section representatives. A good number of batch mates with their families grace the occasion despite the fact that it was Pacquiao versus Margarito boxing match.

The fun day
Swthrt and I arrived at UP at around 5:15 am. We decided to do a couple of rounds of the academic oval before proceeding at the registration area at the side parking lot of the Bahay ng Alumni.

After we have registered and made some chika with batch mates, we continued our run to complete our 10K goal for the day as part of our training. At around 6:30 am, we returned at the venue and prepare for the event. I opened the event with a prayer after which batch mate Robert Cornelio thanked and welcome the participants. I led the stretching before we started the run.

When everyone was finished, we did some raffle of prizes donated by some of our generous batch mates. Food (Carrot cupcakes) and drinks (Powerade and Real Leaf Tea) were also provided courtesy of Liza Diño. The day ended with a family picture taking for souvenir. It was obvious that everyone who participated enjoyed the gathering.

So to those who missed the fun day, hope to see you next time!

*Pictures grab from RMCHS82 e-group site

Less blogging and racing, but more running

Tons of work and lots of home chores occupied most of our time during the past weekdays. Less races are scheduled during weekends. Plus the problem with PC and laptop at home also adds up to the reason of less blogging. There was not much to blog but more to run. We had a good run for the past two weeks as part of our training program for the coming QCIM this December. As a matter of fact, we have seen some of our friends also doing their training at UPD on weekends. It was only this week that we missed our weekday runs because of bad weather conditions in the afternoon or evening. Hopefully we will have a good weather this weekend for our long runs.

On less races joined, Swthrt and I have been selective on joining races these days. It was not because there have been no good races but economics would dictate that it will certainly affect our finances. The high cost of registration fees make us think twice before registering. It was a good thing that races scheduled for the year are posted in Takbo.ph which allowed us to pick up races that would fit in to our training schedules. Races would also help us assess our current fitness level as we did in our training.




So, to our running friends, see you on the road and keep on running.

First weekend run for the year

Wanting to start the year right and staying fit, Swthrt and I had our first weekend run at UPD. Last Sunday, we arrived at Abelardo Hall parking area a few minutes before 6:00am and it was still dark. We decided on running at the academic oval only (late last year, we have been trying different route inside the UP campus) since we will be meeting with our friend, Chiqui later. We already did 2 rounds of the oval before being joined by Chiqui. We have been pushing her to try joining races for quite some time. We were able to accomplish our 10K easy run goal for the day.

It was also nice to see friends like Vener and the Solemates, Jun and Mariel. Keep on running!

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.

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!

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.

Dean’s Cup UP Law Invitational Triathlon and Fun Run

Being disappointed with my first race held at UP which is the Hataw Pilipinas, I was quite apprehensive in joining the 1st Dean’s Cup of the UP College of Law. There were questions that bothers me prior to this event. First, will it be a well- organized race considering that this will be their first time to organize this event. Second, will there be more participants to this race since there will be at least three races that will be held within Metro Manila on the same date. There was the Tatakbo ka ba? Fun Run by the GMA 7 network expected to draw more crowds and the Smash and Dash Fun Run by Greenhills Shopping Center and Sun Cellular. Third, will Swthrt and I make a comeback and be well motivated to finish this race coming from a not so good performance in our last race.

Even though we registered early for this race, we only got our race kits last Saturday after a good 10K practice run at UP. To my surprise, Swthrt ‘s singlet was not yet available that we have to comeback for it later in the afternoon. At this point, I was really hoping that everything will be well come race day. Anyway, I was able to talk with Eric of Run for Change, the coordinator for this event, who assured me of a good race and participation of a good number of runners.


The Race
We arrived at UP at around 5:20 am and park our car near the College of Engineering which was a block away from the starting line for the race. Swthrt and I did some warm-up run and stretching prior to the race. We saw Jay, Prometheus Cometh, who was doing his long run. The race started a few minutes after 6 o’clock. It was a separate start for the different categories. The 10K runners were released first. We have to run one loop of the academic oval and a portion of the University Avenue to complete a 2.5K route and then 2 laps of the outer loop with 3.75 K distance per lap. We saw Vener and Christy while doing our first lap of the outer loop. Swthrt and I decided to run at the pace we did last Saturday targeting a 1:10 time for the 10K. Finishing less than this time will be better. There were a good number of participants especially in the 5K and fun walk events. Enough water at the hydration station. There were volunteers handing over the cups of water to the runners. One volunteer even took time to cross the street (we are running on the opposite side of the street where the station is) just to offer us the cup of water. There was also a food station which offers energy bars, bananas, and more for the 10K runners at the University Avenue. We finished the race in 1:08:+ and got our certificates, bananas and freebies at the finish line.

Bananas for everyone!

Lots of freebies which includes Hershey's drinks and dark chocolates

Swthrt had a souvenir photos with Hershey’s and Kisses mascots. Overall, Swthrt and I were satisfied with the race organization. Congratulations to Eric and the people behind this event.

with Eric of Run for Change

After the fun run, we went to the university pool to witness the start of the Triathlon event. We saw familiar faces such us the teams of Second Wind, Hector, Nevil, Jeremy.

Briefing before the race

There was Mama Ting doing the solo event. We also happened to see a cousin of mine who will be joining the event for the first time. The triathlon event was graced by Senator Pia Cayetano who was also a Triathlete. She fired the starting gun for the athletes. We were not able to finish the event and had to go home early for a church worship service. We went home happy and contented looking forward for another great race at UP.

First wave of swimmers

Mama Ting on her second set of the swim leg

with cousin Chris before the race

For now, we are gearing up for the 21K New Balance Power Run. See you there!

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.

Photo Talks - GIG Run '09 at UP

Keep on running!

*Feel free to grab your photos if your one of the runners above.