SIM 2009 - my side of the story

I love to go to Subic, simply because of the Duty Free Shops. I'm a chocolate addict, (Hi! my name is Let and I'm a chocolate addict!) and whenever we got the chance to go to either Subic or Clark, you would find me in the Chocolate section of shops here. But it's a different story now, we drove to Subic because Erick would be doing another full marathon at Subic International Marathon.



Last Monday,  I asked him if he is physically ready in doing another 42K after the last QCIM, I told him he's no Ultrarunner or hardcore like many runners who were doing the TKO250. These runners are physically, mentally and emotionally ready in doing back-to-back-to-back full/half marathon. It was only last Thursday when he decided that he would push through with run. I told him to run in an easy pace and not to push himself too much to prevent any injury which he agreed to.

We left 10AM yesterday for Subic, but we have to check-in first at Holiday Inn Clark where we will be staying. After leaving our baggage at our room, we're on the road for Subic. Erick doesn't want to be late.

On the way to Subic via SCTEX

We arrived at Remy Field around 1:30PM.

With Bro. Ronnie aka RunnerforChrist

Erick getting ready.

On his way to the shuttle bus

My turn :D

The bus left not later than 3PM, I prayed to God to give Erick the strength and courage to finish the race no matter how long it would take him to. And to guide him and keep him away from any harm. I really don't know what to expect! All we could do was wait!

HOURS LATER:

This is what Erick looked like after finishing his race:

He became nauseous after the race and went straight to medical team (Notice how he's still smiling!)

I gave him iced-cold softdrinks and chocolate bars

He said it was a tough race, and water was the only available liquid he could get from the water station, there was only limited Pocar, good thing he has his hydration belt with him. Despite all of this Erick got to finish his fourth marathon in 3hours 56minutes, which was a best for his personal record. The medal look good!

Congratulations to all the finishers, it was a tough course (Erick said) and I envy all of you for doing a full marathon, it's still one of my goals, a goal that I hope I could achieve (in the near future). Praise be to God for keeping my husband safe and sane! To God be the glory!

Photo courtesy of Bro. Ronnie

I'm getting stronger and I LOVE IT!

It was a very special day for me. I turned a year older! A new leaf was added to my book of life.

It was also the date for the Quezon City International Marathon. And I' am registered for my second half marathon. Since we live just a few kilometers away from Quezon City Hall which was the starting point for the marathon, we took our time to check stuffs we will be bringing. Power Gel (check), Gatorade (check), Bananas (check), Race kit (check), water (check), extra money (check), tissue (check). Everything's ready and Erick and me are both ready for a great run in store for us.



We left the house 10minutes before 4AM, we would be taking the Quezon Avenue leading to Elliptical Road, only yo find out that it was already closed for vehicles. Off to East Avenue instead, upon reaching the corner of Matalino Street the the road was already barricaded and was only open to vehicles of registered runners. We were able to find a good parking slot inside Quezon City Hall, which was I think was guarded and hoping that no theft accident happened.

Ate a banana, gulp Gatorade and then went to starting line, and saw a lot of runners whose excitement can be seen through their face. Saw the familiar faces from the Takbo.ph family, Jinoe and Queenie, seasoned athletes, and the Kenyans who came a long way just to gazed the Philippine running community and spiced up the competition. At exactly 4AM, the 42K runners were given the GO! I was still in line to take a pee when I heard it, I saw Erick running towards me, gave him a good luck kiss and whispered prayers asking God to guide us and give us the strength to finish the race. I would be waiting for him at the finish line.

I went straight to the assembly area and did some warm-up. I took a spot in the middle of the pack, at exactly 4:30AM we were sent off,  which I think was a good thing, I wouldn't want to run under the heat of the sun. I saw Gigi aka "Fitmommy" in front of Kalayaan Avenue, chatted for a bit, but off she go, she's really one fast mommy. I was targeting 2:30 finish time and decided to keep pace with the official pacer for this time who happens to me Roselle aka "Running Diva" whom I've known in the running community since last year.

While approaching Philcoa, I ran a little faster  than my usual pace and was able to keep pace with the 2:15 pacers. I also saw these three guys who were in front of me who were chatting, told myself that I would just run behind them if they keep their constant pace. On our way to UP Oval via University Avenue, we saw some of the 42K runners on their way to Commonwealth Avenue. I tried to keep my 7:00minutes/km pace  so that I would be able to conserve my energy throughout the race.

It was a breath of fresh air running through Commonwealth Avenue vehicle-free, and for sure I would be joining the 2nd QCIM next year. It was such a festive mood along the avenue, there were Drum and Lyre from different schools who were there to give us a good beat. Cheerers along who also offered sliced bananas, water,Salonpas, and petroleum jelly. This was one of the BEST race I've joined so far. Whenever and wherever I saw a runner I know, I would often shout their names and would give a thumbs up sign or would give words of encouragement which I also got from them whenever we saw each other. The likes of SecondWind Team Hector, Mikey, Neville and Jeremy.

Upon reaching Tandang Sora Avenue, I notice one of three guys I mentioned earlier running besides me. So what I did was I kept pace with him since we were both running in a constant pace. Was able to chat with him while running, his name is Dennis, wearing Bib # 8761, and he's good-looking(Hi Erick, :D). We ran almost all throughout the race, we would chat for a while, and would sometimes coach me, since he's been running longer than me. He would then remind me of how many distance still left, how would we finish if we continue our pace.

There were still a lot of the 5K runners as we head back to Elliptical road. There were still a few more kilometers to go before the finish line and I was still in my groove at this point (Praise God!). Honestly, I didn't felt that much pain in the legs compared to what I had when I did my first 21K. And I'm more comfortable with the distance, I'm no longer afraid of it, I think I would be doing a lot more 21K in the near future. And hopefully, I would be able to train for my first full marathon at the Condura next year.

There have been a change in the 21K route, rather than going through Batasan Road we had our turn-around point at Batasan Avenue corner Commonwealth, and instead of passing through the UP Ayala Techno Hub, we ran inside Trinoma compound. As per the water station, it was GREAT! I didn't have problems at all with regards to hydration, I didn't bring my own hydration belt and just put my trust with the organizers and boy, they didn't let me down, most of us I guess. Since I know the route by heart (because I've been living here in Quezon City for more than a decade), as we reached Trinoma, I knew inside that there were just a few more kilometers to go. I have to sucked it in and think of the finish line, think of how glorious and elating it would be. I was still running with Dennis, he told me that if I can no longer run, he would push me (literally!)

We were 500meters away from the finish line, when Dennis saw his buddies, he told me to go ahead and he would wait for his buddies. I got tempted to walk, and walked I did! 100meters to go! I have to run, looked at my watch 2:29:35! Got to do it, I could almost smell the sweet taste of victory, finish line was almost at reach. Managed to clocked in my 2nd half marathon at 2:30:22. A new PR for me, did beat my first half by 3minutes which was an accomplishment for me. (BTW, Dennis was just right behind me, along with his buddies) Thanks to Dennis for pacing with me. I also got my first medal for doing a half marathon, I'm so proud of myself, BUT I wouldn't be able to do it without GOD. And I just bring back all the glory to His Name.

I waited at the finish line for Erick. And saw MJ and meet Ron.

With MJ and Ron, we all did 21K. (Thanks MJ for the picture)

Erick crossed the finish line at 4:15, a PR for him also, breaking his 4:17 record. But he was wasted, I can see how hard he took his full marathon and how it took it's toll on him. By the time we got home, he literally went straight to bed after taking a shower. Told him to take a rest and we would have a massage later. He was also craving for food, he was looking for gotto, liempo, lechon manok or whatever food comes to his mind.

The day ended with a half marathon in the morning, lunch out with my family in the afternoon, and a fellowship with close friends in the evening. What's a better way to celebrate a birthday than this? Thank you so much for those who greeted me, personally, called me, texted me, send message via Yahoo, Facebook, Friendster. I love you all guys and may I celebrate my next birthday with you again. God bless us all. :)

Donations for the victims of Ondoy

It's time to do our part and help those people devastated by Ondoy. The Filipino people is known for Bayanihan, let us show the world what the Filipinos are made of. Let us extend our help, may it be in cash or in kind, let us do our part!

Greetings friends in the running community.

In light of the typhoon that has left most of us emotionally drained, we would like to encourage the running / multi-sport community to pitch in and help out.


Kindly help us spread the word that we are extending help to our friends who were affected by the typhoon ondoy.  Lets maximize however we can help, announcements in your blog, multiply, tweeter, or your status in facebook will be greatly appreciated.

Secondwind will be accepting donations:

• blankets


• singlets, jerseys or shirts


• old footwear


• food


• other items that can still be used
  

We will be accepting until Thursday (end of day) and will donate to ateneo thru Neville Manaois, PUR team principal, secondwind teammate and ateneo professor.  Volunteers to pack and help transfer goods on Friday will be most welcome.

Maraming salamat in advance sa lahat ng tulong na maaari niyong mabigay.

Address and map of Secondwind Running Store

Powerade Duathlon Leg 3

It's always nice when you're joining a race but it's even nicer when sometimes you just have to be an "audience" or "supporter". And that is the scenario earlier today when my beloved husband joined the Powerade Duathlon Leg 3 at MOA by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP). He also joined the last leg which was his first road Duathlon. Compared to the last leg there were a lot more "duathlete" who joined, and almost all of them are eager and excited about the race. There were a lot of familiar faces during the race, Ian aka Seabiskwit, Pinoy UltraRunners  Hector, Jeremy, Mikey (also of Second Wind), Rico Villanueva aka Sheerwill, Ryan (forgot his last name) just to name a few.

Athletes who joined the race

Erick fixing his things at the transition area

Chatting with good friend Mikey

A briefing was held first informing the athletes of some changes in the route of the race. And started at 6:45AM, the athletes were off to their (2x)3.5K loops from Bradco Avenue to Macapagal Avenue/Coastal Road.

Here's Erick finishing his first loop. He finished his first run of 7K in 34minutes.

Off to his 30K bike ride

He clocked in his 30K bike ride in 59minutes which I think is not so bad considering he is using a mountain bike. God permits he would be able to buy his road bike in the next couple of weeks in preparation for the Speedo Tri. Leg 4 at UPLB on October 3.

And here he is completing his duathlon with the last 3.5K run in 17minutes. (Thanks daw kay Mayo sa pag pacing sa kanya)

As per his official time-keeper [me], his time is as follows:

RUN1 (7K) : 34minutes

Transition1: 2minutes

BIKE (30K): 59minutes

Transition2: 1minute

RUN2 (3.5K): 17minutes

Total Time: 1hour 53minutes

A thought from me:

I really like the "I CAN DO" atmosphere of runners, bikers and every athletes out there, though in the heat of the morning sun, though you're the last of group, we try to push ourselves to the limit. No distance bounds us with what we can do, on how long the ditance we can run and how many kilometers we can bike. It's the CAN DO attitude that sets us apart from others. Congratulations to all the runners, bikers and athletes out there who believe that they CAN! :)

Races! Races! Races!

There are so many scheduled race for the last quarter of the year. As excited as any runners out there, here are the race we're already registered in.



New Balance Power Run - Raising Hope

September 27, 2009, The Fort

For more details visit New Balance Site

Milo National Finals

October 11, 2009, Luneta Grandstand

QC International Marathon

October 18, 2009, QC Circle

For more details visit the Runnex Site

I will also be joining the Adidas King of the Road, registration for this race will start o September 21. How about you? What races will you be joining? See you at the finish line. :)

My First Half at the Ecodash - A Run to Remember

This race was not intended to be my "initiation" on my first half marathon nor supposed to run on this race. Up to now I still don't know how did my husband convince me in running a 21K at the Ecodash. The night before the race, I still have jitters and in a way was praying for a rain that would stop the race. Yes, I know that is so selfish of me, but came to my senses that I still have to do a 21K one time or another, do I have to prolong my agony?!

I woke up 3AM and heard to no rain outside, so this is it, the moment of truth. Erick and me got dressed and put the things we needed inside the car. At exactly 4AM, we're on our way to Fort Bonifacio, there were already cars parked when we arrived at the area. The race would be starting 30minutes late for those who would be coming late which was not a big deal for me. Erick, me and one of his colleague did some warm-up, we ran 2K and did some drills.

At 5:30, the gun was fired to mark the start of the 21K runners. It was still dark when we started, Erick paced with me, and run alongside with power couple Vener and Christy and some Takbo.ph peeps. Vener was teasing me "naku, Let mahabang distance ito" (Let, it's a long distance run), still chuckling I answered him "oo nga eh, sabi kasi ni Erick try ko na daw para mawala yung fear ko sa distance na 21K" (yes, but Erick told me to run on this distance so that I can overcome my fear of the 21K distance). Erick run beside until we reached the middle part of the Kalayaan Flyover, for he has to reach his target finish time. As soon as I was heading down the flyover, rain was pouring, who wouldn't want to run in the rain? This was the scenario all through the route.

It was 48minutes when on my watch when I was at the end of Kalayaan Flyover on my way back to the Fort area. I was saying to myself to finish within 3hours. My first 21K experience is a memory I will treasure, up to now I still can't believe that I've ran a 21K race. As I was heading back to the finish line, I saw Erick running towards me which was what we have talked about [he finished with a time of 1hour 48minutes]. After he run the race, he would be pacing me up to the finish line, but I think the toll has fallen on me. Both my legs had cramped but I couldn't afford to loose time. I must cross the finish line no matter what. When I check my watch, it was 2hours 21minutes past the starting time and I was still 2kilometers away.

Erick told me to push it and have a strong finish, but I was running/walking due to the pain in my legs. Just 1kilometer away, I pushed myself and ran as fast as I could. I could almost see the finish line, yes! I can do it! I crossed the finish line with a time of 2hours 33minutes 17seconds. YEAH! The smell of victory is so sweet. To God be the glory!

Thanks to Sir Ipe, Bards, Master Mon, Vener and Christy for cheering for me whenever they saw while we were running.

I have no camera, no photos for my first half :(

Kenny's Urbanite Result

I was excited for this result, for this is my first 15K run and the first race I joined that used a timing chip.To view your race result, click on the image or this link

As for my result, I finished with an official time of 1:57:58. I'm not that happy with my result, I could have done more, and I would improve more if I would take my training seriously. But for my first 15K, I think this would do. [training! training! training!]

Me approaching the finish line

Congratulations to all the finisher! See you at the next race. :)

Kenny Roger's Urbanite - A Nite to Remember

While most people are already at home or at the mall or doing their thing on a Saturday night, I was running inside Heritage Park at Fort Bonifacio which seems to be odd, what on Earth am I doing inside a memorial park at night? WHY am I here?

Simply, because I'm one of the many runners who joined the Kenny Roger's Urbanite last Saturday night.

It was a night to remember for many runners, this race is the first race to be held on a Saturday night and this would be my first 15K run. For the past weeks, I've been training my *ss of for this race and for my first half marathon, if I'm not running I'm in the pool swimming [which explains my very tan color] ;)

with Jaimie, Raymund, and Bobby

Erick and I arrived at the Fort early, anticipating parking problems. We arrived there past 5PM and parked in front of R.O.X. Erick had to leave me for he has basketball tryout at his office, so off he go after we grabbed a bite at Market Market. There were lots of people in the mall, so I decided not to go inside and headed back to our car.

It was already 7PM, the race area was almost full of runners, I decided to do my warm-up. I did a 2.10K run and drills afterward before proceeding to the area where I saw Jaimie, Bobby and Gigi. We chatted what our game plan will be and what our target finish time would be. It was really nice seeing people whom you've come to know while enjoying running. Though you get to see them not that often, it seems that whatever bond you have instantly clicked when you're together. So glad that I joined the Happy Feet and is still proud to be a Happy Feet member because I have come to know these people. ;)

The festive atmosphere was  all around, you could feel that most of the runners were excited especially me. I don't know but I was really energetic that time, maybe that's the difference with a race held at night.

that's me chatting with Ian a.k.a Seabiskwit

with Vener a.k.a RunUnlimited

Since I was the one registered for the race, Erick promised me that he will pace me since this is my "first" longest race [so far]. The gun fired exactly 8:15PM, the crowd and runners were cheering, and it was a nice feeling. Hubby said that I have to conserve my energy, so I stopped chanting. Erick wanted me not to stop running and finish the 15K without a break, so that's what I did or at least up to the 8th kilometer. This was when we exited the Heritage Park, I felt the burning pain when I stopped so I ran again until we reached the dreaded McKinley Hill. I had to do some uphill training, when there was downhill I took this opportunity to save some time.

At K.13 this is when I [thought] that I hit the wall, I thought that I cod no longer push it through. But thanks to my very supportive husband, he gave me moral support, when we're nearing the water station, he would dash to get some Powerade and water for me, he would tell me when to eat my Sportbeans, he would ask me if i need "tubig?" or "powerade?" Could I ask for anything more?

My plan was to cross the finish line together with my husband though he's not registered, but at the last 200meters, my husband keep telling me "it's near! it's near!" I shouted at him "YES! I know!" I think this made him angry, silly me, why did I do that? for that last 200meters, I was running alone, with my running buddy nowhere in sight, I kinda felt sad. But as soon as I neared the finish line and saw the bright light and crowd, my spirit lifted up. It lifted more when I saw my time at 1hour 57minutes 44seconds, yey! I still made a sub 2hour finish time.

I saw Gigi after the race but have to leave her to find my husband first. I apologize to him and then did our cool-down drills. We stayed after the race to watch the Dare-Duo team Marc and  Rovilson and Paula Taylor.



The race was great, the Finish Line team deserves an applaud for a job well done. If I have to rate this race, I would give it a 9, I believe there's no perfect race, but what makes a race almost perfect is the effort that the organizer give to it's fullest. Let us give credit where credit is due. Congratulations to all the finisher and to Coach Rio's team.

***Photo courtesy of Gigi [fitmommy] and Jaimie, thanks. ;)***

Run For Cory Tomorrow

This post came from BullRunner's blog:

We, the iamninoy steering committee, would like to invite the members of the iamninoy Runners Group, to don your yellow iamninoy shirts tomorrow and run for Tita Cory as she is laid to rest.  For non-iamninoy members, we invite you to run in yellow shirts together with us or in your own groups.

For those in the South, some of us will meet at 7 a.m. tomorrow to run loops around the Alabang Country Club loop.  We invite you to join us.  Park your cars at Woodrose.

If the South is too far, feel free to gather together with friends and run as a group in Tita Cory’s memory.  If you would like to get a group together, post a comment here with your venue and time to inform other runners who may join.

As passionate runners, this silent tribute is the best send-off we can give our beloved Tita Cory.  We will do what we love in her honor.

* To running bloggers, kindly spread the word through your own blogs.  Thank you.

It's Over?!

It's over! My swimming lessons at Bert Lozada's is over!

My feet [I] had a several weeks break from running and boy! how I miss running. My last run was the Milo Marathon, wherein I improved my 10K finish time by 7 minutes, which gave me a new PR of 1hour 10minutes for a 10K run. I even missed running on Globe's Run for Home [ hehehe, kasi hindi ako nagpa register ng maaga, it would have been nice running sa Ayala Avenue].

Anyways, I took a break from running because my everdearest husband enrolled me at Bert Lozada's Swim School, nope not to "enhance" my swimming skills but for me to "learn" to swim. If you would have asked me one month ago if I know how to swim, my answer would be a big NO, but it's a different story now, and I quite feel sad thinking of all the years I  wasted that I didn't took the initiative of learning how to swim.

I started my lesson last July 2, at Ace Water Spa which is a partner of the Bert Lozada Swim School. For 10 session of an hour each, my hubby paid P4,250, P4,000 for the instructor fee and for the indoor swimming fee, and the P250 for the membership fee. My coach [teacher] was strict but kind, Coach Mel has to put on his patience cap for me, and he always did on our every lesson. I would have taken picture of me with my coach and classmates but bringing of camera inside the pool area is prohibited, so maybe next time when I visit them I will post our pic here.

Right now, I know the freestyle stroke and the butterfly stroke, hubby said I had to refine my technique so that I would not gasp for air, and I would be able to finish 50meter lap without stopping. Yey! I'm happy that I have accomplished something, I'm happy that my husband is happy that I know now how to swim. It's really a fun and relaxing feeling when you're in the water. For now, both me and hubby will be training[swimming] at Amoranto Pool, keep on swimming. ;)

Since my swimming lessons are over, I have to train for my first 21 for the Baguio Centenial Run or for the Quezon City International Marathon. Hope that I would be able to attend the Runnex Free Running Clinic which Jazzrunner posted on his blog. See you all the finish line.

For those interested on the swimming lessons you may contact their pesonnel at, they would gladly help you.

THE BERT LOZADA LEARN-TO- SWIM PROGRAM
VENUE: ACE WATER SPA  INDOOR HEATED POOL
399 Del Monte Ave. Cor. Banawe St. San Francisco Del Monte QC.
Tel# 468-9903 / 367-8041 / 367-8062   Look for Ms. Mildred Santiago

Due Post

I have about two post due, the Powerade Dualthlon at MOA and the 33rd Milo Marathon wherein both me and esposo break our personal record. :D

I've been busy lately with my kids and my swimming lessons. Hopefully I will find time within the week to update my blog.

Reply from Finishline

I have received two email reply from the Finishline folks and I would like to post it here for you to read. I was glad I heeded the advice of Sir Ipe aka Kinderdorf in posting in our e-group the Happy Feet, for they replied in my post there.

Here is the first email I received from Erick Pasion asa Passion Runner:

Hello Let.

This is Eric aka Passion Runner. I moderate the site of Rio. The comments come in but it takes time for them to go through all of them and the organizers, Rio and his staff only view the comments section the day after they post the results. Do know that they review all the comments and try as quickly as possible to respond to all of them. Now, it's been only one day and perhaps they just have a lot of post-race matters to attend to. Please do not think that they are ignoring you or disregarding your comment. I will forward your concern to Rio, Vince and the technical staff in charge of the race results. They will surely get back to you on this.

Regards,

Eric

And this one from Vince Mendoza:

Hi Let, Felipe and to all other runners concern,

My name is Vince Mendoza of Finishline.

First of all, I would like to apologize for not being able to answer your queries immediately. I only had a chance to read my email today as there were other concerns about the race that we were trying to address yesterday.

We apologize for such incident and rest assured that we are doing our best to review the results. Please be assured also that we would never ignore your email. In the future, please feel free to call or email me if there are some issues that needs our immeidate attention.

I have personally asked our technical group to look into this and get back to you within 24 hours.

Should you have other concern, please feel free to call me at 703-1736. You can call me at this number anytime of the day.

Thanks,

Vince

With a big event such as running or any event that an organizer have, they should expect problem to arise and be ready to act on. There are also other runners whose name was not in the race result, so I'm hoping that they will get back to us as soon as they can. And BTW, thanks to Eric and Vince for replying.

To Finishline Team -- Not again???!!!

As I was adding another entry to my blog about my race day at the Men's Health All Terrain today, the results came out and was eager to check my official time as well as my husband. Both of us beat our personal record with our trail run. As I type our surname in the search box, mine came out in the result but husband didn't. WHY? WHY? WHY?

We encountered ANOTHER problem!!! Yes both me and my husband beat our personal record but the race result didn't reflect my husband's name and finish time. He finished 5th overall with a time of 50minutes and 17seconds according to his Timex watch.

This isn't the first problem we experienced with a race organized by the Finishline team (I don't have any grudge against them, maybe it's the system). The first one was with the TNF100, wherein I inquired with them with the age category winners, asking them when choosing the winner under the age category do they choose the youngest or the fastest runner among the group?. Sad to say, I didn't got any response from them and didn't even post my "hinanakit response" online. So we just let it go. CASE CLOSED.

With the Men's Health All Terrain Race, my husband name is not reflected in the race result (or MAYBE masyado pang maaga kasi kapo-post lang ng result). Kristel (Vince Mendoza's sister assisted my husband in changing his event from 15K to 10K (Bib# 1094), he got the race kit from her early today before the race started. I just hope that Finishline Team would do something about this. Who wouldn't want to see his name in a race result moreso, if you're in the TOP 10?

King of the Mountain Race and a little bit of Wowowee =)

A day before the King of the Mountain race, esposo and I went to Second Wind Running Store to register for the said race, and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Neville Manaois of Pinoy Ultra Runners. We chatted for a while about the race course and some other stuffs about running. After that, off we went to Ultra for some run.

It was a break from the usual Sunday race, we joined the King of the Mountain which was held last Saturday. There were a lot of runners and bikers who joined, some familiar faces and some new.

A pose before the race start

The race consist of a 1.5K road which was all uphill leading to the 7K trail which was mostly uphill, muddy and wet. I was gasping for some air almost all the course, and stops once in a while when I see my heart rate elevating. I'm trying on a heart rate training (my hubby insisted on doing it so that I'll be able to monitor if any palpitation occurs, thank you for the Polar RS200 again).

I met Sir Rene aka Jazzrunner, we ran together mostly in the trail course, I even got many pictures from him while running and walking. I was already running for 1hour and 20minutes while I past the 8K mark, since most of the remaining 2K is downhill, I decided to finish it in 10minutes. My kids and hubby where already waiting for me, good thing they were there, for both of my legs had cramps, instead of running downhill, I walked slowly. 500meters to go, I dashed to the finish line ignoring the pain in my legs, I crossed the finish line in 1hour ans 33minutes. Mikey gave a first aid on my cramps, thank you so much, you're a life-saver.

Esposo, finished 54minutes (he's becoming faster and faster). Free food were given after the race. Here are some pictures from the race day.

With Sir Rene

Erick and Sir Totoy (placed 6th overall and celebrated his birthday last Sunday)

Some new found running friends

With Elmer (he's a Dragon Boat crew)

With the kids and Nanay

After the KOTM, off we went to Antipolo Church and some swimming at Amoranto. We were also scheduled to watch the Wowowee All Stars in Araneta, it was a request from my mother-in-law we couldn't refuse. Here are some pictures I took on that event.

We had a blast that day, went straight to bed to have a good night sleep for another race on the following day.

A Biker's wife

It's been a while since my last post because I've been so busy lately. At the end of the day, I'm almost too tired to add entry to my blog. Here 's one entry that have been past due, almost two weeks ago, the 3rd Clark Off-road Duathlon was held and my esposo joined. This race was scheduled on the same day as the Mizuno (which BTW marks my first year running anniversary). Most of the runners in the running community here in Manila I know (and don't know) is joining the Mizuno Race in The Fort, I would have been there if I had a choice but I have to be the "supportive" wife for at least a day or two. I would just be posting picture from the event (the recap would come from my husband, if he'll do it).

With Elmer, Ian aka Seabiskwit and Erick

Bikers prepare for the event

With PMTB buddy Adrian

It was good day to race, after several days of rains the weather was cooperating on the race day. Esposo said, there were a lot of strong athletes who joined including those who are member of the Philippine Team, Mr. Leo Oracion and many more, he assessed it would be hard to win in a race where strong competitors are so many. The race started with a briefing from the organizer

Race Starts:

Notice how strong the runners look

Two running buddies who are leading the pack

That's my esposo (in blue)

Nearing the transition area

Transition:

All smile for the camera :)

Start of the river trail (Sacobia)

After four bike loop, participants have to run another 5K of trail. It looks like a grueling race, biking and running under the scorching heat of sun, river crossing, and wet shoes.

Off to another 5K trail run

Almost there

Esposo's time (according to me):

First 5K Run Loop - 29 minutes

First 7.5K Bike Loop - 30 minutes

Second 7.5K Bike Loop - 29 minutes

Third 7.5K Bike Loop - 32 minutes

Fourth 7.5K Bike Loop - 30 minutes

Second 5K Run - 35 minutes

He ranked 23rd overall but was supposed to be 19th because the person in charge of recording the time did not get his number and name correctly. Sayang!

To all those who joined, congratulations whether you finish or not it's one tough race. See you all again next year and hopefully I won't just be the photographer but a participant too.  Other photos are posted in my Facebook account. Please grab it there. (Search nyo po Let Guieb). Thanks.