Race Kit Claimed! Run United 2 Race Expo

I feel the excitement all over again now that I finally have my newest race kit! Run United 2 - Are you ready for me? :D

I thought the the race kit claiming area was well organized. Although it might be too early to tell because it is only the first day after all, it appears they have sufficient counters to serve the running public. :P

The 21K race kit as promised included a belt bag which I'm sure many will want to use on race day. I myself am considering it because the start point and end point are different. [See the logic?]

You will see the race expo easily because it is the corner of 26th and 9th (and because you were most probably given a map when you registered). They had not finished setting up yet when I claimed my kit but I bet it will be swarming tomorrow with various running showcases and enthusiasts, so you better be there! :D

Anyway, it feels so great to be back! Aside from its being my come-back race, it is also my wife's first run as Mrs. Hugo! Oh, the goosebumps I had when the assistant handed me Tey's envelope labeled [Her Name] Hugo.

Race Shopping 2012

Now that I'm back on the road, I'm also back on one of my favorite pastimes -- shopping for races!!!

And where else to look but in takbo.ph! :P

If you want to see me on the road for some reason :P, here's a list of the races I plan to join this year and why:

June 17 - Unilab Run United 2 2012 RU2 21K (SM MOA) - For the 3rd straight year, I am joining the Unilab Run 2. I guess I'm just a big fan of Unilab (2). :P

Back on My Feet - Run United 2 - 21K

My first registered race after my wedding is a 21K!

A few days after our wedding, my wife and I registered for Run United 2.

Although frankly the registration assistant at Toby's MOA was not very nice, it felt so good to be back that I shrugged it off immediately and started getting ready for my come-back race!

EARL: Very happy to be back | TEY: Happy as well, but a bit annoyed, when she had almost been registered for 10K.

My last race had been the Nike Run on October 15, a day before I proposed marriage to my then-girlfriend, now-wife Tey. :D

But anyway, here I am again! After a long "downtime", I'm nervous about this decision to go 21K. It sure feels like my first time again. Maybe I'll try the training I did for my first 21K.

I'll see you guys on the road again! But where's my watch?!

Early Runs Takbo.PH Run Fest 2011

Let's pretend for a while that the doctor did not advise me not to run anymore and that I did not write my previous blog...

....

OK, enough pretending. Doc would probably say he told me so but I just had to run this year's Run Fest. Last year I did a PR 5K at this event but last Sunday I wasn't hoping to get anywhere near the upper 80%.

Nursing my knee pain, I started out my 16K with a 7.5 min/km pace. I was able to keep it up until around the 4K, 5K mark where I slowed down even more and I just alternated it with walk breaks.

My low EQ got the best of me but I was obviously not in any condition to run, especially a 16K that passes McKinley Hill. Oh the horror! That dreaded hill of my first ever 3K run(walk) in 2009 continues to haunt me until me now.

But do you know what is more painful than trying to get your bad knees across 16K of asphalt?!

My singlet did not fit!

No amount of holding my breath can allow me to wear that singlet! It's funny now that I think of it but imagine what I felt when I was trying it on the night before! Emphasis on trying. Ha!

But cmon, my knees nor my doctor stopped me, how would not wearing the singlet do otherwise?!


Finish Strong

Near the finish line, the marshal saw me limping my way through. But he cheered me on and said "Last 1K. Keep it Earl. Then finish strong."

That gave me a little boost and I finished as strongly as I could. My girlfriend and I really appreciate the fact that the marshals call the name of the runners. After all, the names are much bigger than the number, and I felt much bigger than the distance.


Happy Anniversary

It was a good event overall. I want to greet takbo.ph a Happy Anniversary! May this group continue to support its members to inspire new runners all over the globe.

It's definitely not a perfect event (what is?) but like runners always say, "Keep moving forward!"

Good job and congratulations for another year of awesomeness!



Pictures

Here are some shots from the event.

My lovely personalized bib (I so love my full name :P)




At Mini Stop


Alot and Tey


Tey and Earl


Yeah.


Showing off our pretty 16K medals. Whattahair!



The Superposition? My left knee couldn't carry me that much and so I was having a hard time balancing on one leg.

Run Like a Cake - 45 Goldilicious Years!

Fort, May 15, 2011. Tey and I joined the 21K event of the Goldilocks Fun Run. It's my first yellow singlet so I was excited to wear it on race day. However, I seem to have gotten  fatter and I looked like a 3-layer wedding cake wearing the singlet!

I am now (at least) 15 pounds heavier compared to last year's 21K at Nature Valley (Run Rio Leg 2). The more I run, the more I eat, the heavier I get! I can't believe this! For more than a year of running and joining races, this is my heaviest at almost 160 lbs and without a strand of muscle to show for it. And to prove that I am now on the far opposite side of slim, I have now CHAFED for the first time! In the past, I couldn't relate to run blogs and magazines regarding chafing. Now I'm so sore. :P

But despite all this bitterness, I enjoyed the Goldilocks Fun Run. And I felt strong. Heavy, yes. But strong. I wasn't fast, I almost did not beat my 15-lb-lighter 21K record, but my run was quite steady, compared to my previous long races. It felt like I had a lot of energy (stored).

I think I also had extra energy because I was not holding my belly in anymore. :P I used to do that to have good looking photos but now that it's out of proportion, what's the use? I embraced my big tummy and I ran blissfully.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm now carefully crafting a plan so that I can be lighter on my feet. I do it for my knees and for other health benefits. And I think I should start that by putting down this chocolate I have in my hand now (it's messy for the keyboard too). But I want to point out that being "fat" should never be an excuse  to miss out on all the fun!

I liked the route of this run, going through the whole length of Buendia to Osmena. But it was just so hot! When I was at the Buendia flyover on my way back, I felt like a cake in an oven. I was starting to get dehydrated, I think, that I started getting pins and needles all over my body. But I survived, thanks to ample water supply at water stations.

I was able to finish with a new PR, but only by 30 seconds! But it's not bad for a heavier version of myself.

A good one for Goldilocks and for Rio.

Here are some of our pics from the event:

...and what else but the Superposition!

Takbo.PH Night Fest 2011

Welcome to the dark side.

Tey and I ran our first night run last Saturday (April 9) at the first night run of 2011 at Filinvest Alabang. Being a Southern Metro person (Sucat native), it was an easy yes to register for this takbo.ph event.

It's been a while since I ran nights. When I was still in UP, I used to do night rounds on the oval after my last class. I even tried (once) to do night run at Manila Memorial Park but I found that a little creepy so now I stick with morning runs for MMP.

Those night runs felt so very 2010 that I had forgotten the feeling of running at night, the extra effort of trying to see the road and near-missing the craters. [Silly me did not have a head lamp or other source of extra lighting.]

Do or do not - there is no try.

I now know that it's also critical to train for different situations like this. I realize that I'm an "after-office" runner. Being a night-shifter for most of the last 5 years, "after-office" means morning. [When I was in UP, I taught normal day classes so I ran at night.] The night run I suppose would feel like a morning run for regular people (I'm irregular?).

Ok, I guess I'm just making excuses. I finished at 1hr 15mins and my girlfriend did 1hr 12mins. Go figure. :))

Yoda once told me, "Fear is the path to the dark side." But I disagree. I think only courage would bring a runner to tread the dark side. Or was he talking to Anakin?

Night Pics

It was a good run with a nice route, fun hilly parts, great running community, and awesome pictures as well. :))

After Run

Start/Finish Arc




Skechers SRR Shirt!






...and Superposition! :)))






...Superposition with Jinoe. :))

Running Free at Hyundai Fun Run

Roxas Blvd, April 2, 2011, Saturday.  We woke up at 3AM. Or should I say, Tey woke up at 3AM while I just stayted up and waited for my shift to end. [Thanks to my teammate Alfredo for trading shifts with me.]

We started preparing for our first free race - the Hyundai Run for a Cause. Two days before, we got our free singlets with bib and RFID. I found it a little weird that my bib number did not match my RFID number. But heck it's free. Why should I complain?

We reached the venue just in time, just when they were starting to introduce the emcees (Regine Tolentino and Boom Gonzales). Maybe it was just too early for them but it appeared (at least to me) that they were a bit confused on how the event should go. Like Regine did not know that she was supposed to lead the stretching or that they should properly introduce their guests (who were Richard Gomez and his wife Lucy, to mention the more prominent ones). But it turned out ok later on. Maybe they just needed to warm up a little.

The Wave and the Sea

Hyundai took the "Wave" system seriously. In the past races that I joined and that had waves (like 10.10.10 and Condura 2011), the waves were just more or less about a minute apart. Being in Wave B, I experienced firsthand waiting for more than 5 minutes before we started. Well safety comes first. Hyundai must have thought you can never be too careful.

The run itself was pretty straightforward (almost literally). The route was along Roxas Blvd and starts and ends near the Grand Stand (much like the Manila Milo Marathon). There were a lot of volunteers along the route, some cheering, some taking photos, many passing bottles of water.

At 20,000 runners, it was practically a sea of people so it was surprising to see my former (or future?) co-faculty John Martin (Recio) there. I thought I'd give him a "High Five!" but I was busy huffing and puffing through all the 7 holes of my bayabas.

At the finish line, I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of my college orgmates (UP Gears and Pinions in the house!) were Marshals for this event. Here's some of them with this bodyguard shot.

L-R: Jayreus Jimenez, King Almazan, Renz Formoso, Riznel Cresino

Strong Finish (sort of)

I thought I did pretty well but maybe my watch was fast? It felt like my usual pace and I thought I would probably finish just a minute or two over an hour. But it's more than a couple of minutes. My unofficial time is 1hr 10mins which is not bad but I know I could have done better. I could blame it on a lot externals but it would still go down to how well I prepared and how I execute that for a new PR.

And how heavy I am! I feel 10 lbs heavier this year (which I think I am!). I thought fastfood would make me fast?! Oh, the lies of the cheeseburger. :P

Super Pictures


Let me share the other fun pics I have from the event.

...with Tey (before and after)

...and you know what's coming..

...the Superposition!


L-R: Miguel Estepa, Homer Ramos, Bino Santos, Moan Anical


"The JunFacs" L-R: Miguel Estepa, Homer Ramos, Bino Santos, John Martin Recio
[Thanks for sharing these pics!]

...with the UP GPs Marshals!


...with another co-faculty Bino Santos. Congrats on your first run! Hindi ka na virgin! :P


Tey


Yours Truly

Registered for Takbo.PH Night Fest

Tey and I are officially registered for the Takbo.ph Night Fest!

My girlfriend registered on opening day at Trinoma (after her new PR 21K at Run United). She was not allowed to sign up for me so I registered the next day (March 7, Monday) at Skechers Greenbelt 5.



Looking forward to this new experience and to my SRR T-Shirt. :))

See you there guys!

Run United 2011 - My Runaway Girlfriend

My girlfriend's stronger than me.

It took a while before I realized it. I guess it's not just my running that was slow that day.

Already done with my 10K, I was sitting at the curb, taking some pics, and waiting for Tey to complete her 21K. We had decided that I was to run 10K only because I have a shoot the night before.

I would say my 10K was ok. It's not that bad. If I compare it to my last 10K (Adidas KOTR), I did a little better. 1hr10 now compared to 1hr12. But compared to last year's Leg 1 (Century Tuna) or last year's Unilab 1, well, hmm, um.... Ok, next topic.


Runrio Leg 1 2010 (Century Tuna) : 1hr 8 mins
Unilab 1 2010 : 1 hr 2 mins
Adidas KOTR 2010 : 1 hr 12 mins
Runrio Leg 1 2011 (Unilab 1 2011) : 1 hr 10 mins


After running, I stretched and I claimed my finisher's kit and my bag from the baggage counter and proceeded to wait for Tey at the corner of 7th and 28th.

Tey finished her last 21K (Condura 2011) at around 3h8m but she was injured then. Her 21K before that (Unilab 2, 2010) was at 2h54. While I waiting, I took a few shots, like this one of Tessa.



I heard the announcer on the mic say "2hrs 30 mins! You can do it guys!" I thought I'd sit down for a while because Tey would still take 20 to 30 minutes.

But like a flash of lightning out of the clear blue sky, Tey suddenly, unexpectedly came running in front of me like she's chasing Piolo.

How did she do it? My fastest 21K is 2h52 and my 23k split in my last 32K will only put me at 2h45 tops.

I snapped out of my mathematical trance when I remembered that I was sitting there to take pictures of Tey.

Here I am trying to overtake Tey (Thanks to Peng Magbiro for this nice shot).



It was a great run for Tey. From 3 hours 8 minutes, she shaved off more than 30 minutes for an official time of 2 hours 34 minutes. No, it's not right to call that a shave. That's a 6-inch haircut plus blow dry.



Good job to my girlfriend! Last year, she did not even want to run. 3K was unimaginable. And now here she is - even stronger than I am. If she has a blog, I'll save it to my favorites, read it, and take down notes.

Here are some more pics from the event.

Ceelin Kids







Tey and Tessa




My fast and strong runner girlfriend Tey





Earl and Tey



...Superposition!