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.