Mukhang Guilty’s BLOG

I’ve got the flu, and it sucks, this screws my training routine

The non stop rain in the week prior to race day made me assume that this wet and windy weather will spill over to Sunday’s race.  I was wrong!  The weather turned out to be warm and sunny… someone must have forgotten to do the rain dance….

They say that three’s a charm, and those who choose to ignore history are bound to repeat it.  This was Mizuno’s 3rd time to host a road race (1st was on March 30, 2008, 2nd was on June 29, 2008), and I expect that they have learned quite a few things from their past races and that this race should be close to, if not spot on perfect.  So did they do a good job?  Read on…..

The following were my observations / opinions:

1. As expected of Mr Biscocho, his races never start on time… they always start AHEAD of time.  The gun time was 5:25 am.  Knowing that it was a Biscocho race, I was there at least 40 minutes before the scheduled start.
2. Race corral areas for 15, 10, 5 kilometers were clearly marked.  Race marshals checking you in were easily identifiable (they were dressed like golf caddies).
3. Race route was simple, and distance was accurate.
4. Water and Gatorade stations were plentiful, they also had enough cups filled with either water or Gatorade as I ran past the stations.
5. MAPSA did a good job with the traffic
6. 1.10.10 is a clever idea, they’ve one upped Nike and Adidas this time around.

Pending the official race results (whether accurate or not), I don’t have any complaints about this race, it was perfectly managed (please keep it up Mr Biscocho and Mizuno).  The only constructive suggestion I could give would be for Mizuno to provide OFFICIAL PACERS in the future.  Running with a pacer can help a runner achieve their their race goals… be it a target time or target pace.

____________________________

I ran my heart out this race, and just like any other race, my only goal was to beat my personal best time.  I am displeased with my race results as I only managed to shave a minute off my personal best time of 1:13:28.  I do have some theories as to why, but we have to wait and see in 2010.  For now, balik training for MILO….

____________________________

RACE RESULTS ARE OUT:

Place No.  Name Age S 15k Pace
===== ====== ===================== === = ======= =====

38 624 Harry Tan Jr.  34 M 1:12:25 4:50

5K 10K 15K

The ‘Evil Plan’ according to Bananarunning

I had my sights set on running this year’s Milo Marathon, but due to bananarunning’s ‘BardsBaliwText’ on doing a 42k ‘LONG RUN’ at the Botak Paa-Tibayan 42 race, several other T2 Runners (myself, V, E, myironshoes, runmd, K, Ate ni K) decided to either sign up with bananarunning, or run as bandits.

Race Planning

We decided to field our own support crew for this run because:

1. We believe that it is not proper to be drinking off the water stations as some T2 Runners did not register for the race.
2. Most road races in the Philippines are notorious for having too few water stations, or water sources that are suspect (you’d see floating stuff on the water drums)
3. T2 runners are evolving… more than half of our runners are now capable of running full marathons. We are now working towards having our own support crew so we could be self sufficient in any Marathon race we join.

Botak 42k Race Route

A copy of the map was downloaded from takbo.ph to mark the locations of the kilometer support points.

The Route Plan

We also decided to put up T2 banners to distinguish our support station from the Botak water stations so as not to confuse the runners.

T2 Banner

Race Start

This OBVIOUSLY was NOT a Biscocho race, the race started LATE, around 4:50 am.  I was concerned that it will be unbearably hot towards the latter part of the race.

KM 1 – 21, Keeping Up with the Hardcores

I was told that Team Baldrunner’s Hardcores will be running at a pace of 5:30 to 6:00 min/km, that was my target pace, so I decided to keep pace with them.  The first 21 kilometers of the run was relatively uneventful, I was quite familiar with the terrain as I’ve ran the route several times… there were no surprises.

KM 22 – 28, Steady lang…

As we crossed the Kalayaan Fly over, some of the Hardcores started to increase their pace and started to pull away.  At this point, I decided to just maintain my pace, so as not to burn myself out towards the end.  It was also at this point when some of the elite 42k runners were on their way back to the finish.

KM 29 – 35, Fatigue and the Cursing Runner

After reaching the Pasong Tamo / Buendia turnaround, instead of making a right in Ayala towards Makati, I was surprised that I was made to turn left towards Kalayaan by a road marshal.  At this point fatigue was starting to set in, my pace dropped from 5:30 to 6:00, the temperature has started to rise as the sun was directly on me.  The heat became so unbearable that I took my first walk break at Km 30, alongside was another runner who was cursing at the race officials for making him run a complicated race route.  I walked for 200 meters, then continued running till I reached Km 35 for my second walk break.

KM 36 to 38, Walk Run Walk Run

Kilometers 36 to 38 wasn’t very pleasant, my legs were becoming heavy and my 200m walk breaks are now at every kilometer, instead of every 3 to 5 kilometers.  I was tired, and was weary of my finish time.  I pushed myself to reach Km 38 where I knew that the T2 support van will be waiting with cold water, and Gatorade.  I took a two minute breather, downed some Roctane and Gatorade before going up the Kalayaan flyover.

KM 39 to 42, To Infinity and Beyond!

Having fueled myself with Gatorade and Roctane, I feared not the Kalayaan flyover and attempted to run it like a runner with fresh legs. 🙂  But just like a defective cellphone battery, I ran out of power after 60 seconds.  I had to settle for walking up the flyover, running on top of the flyover, and walking again on the downhill portion to save my quads.  When I reached the bottom of the flyover, Javy pulls over and encourages me to move on.  Just like Singapore, the last 3 kilometers felt like forever, but unlike Singapore, my body wasn’t totally wasted, I managed to cross the finish line at 4:27.

with RUNMD

T2 and Friends

Thoughts About The Race

1. I’m not sure if the distance was really 42.195, my polar registered 44.6
2. Why did they change the route at race day?  I took time to understand the route so I could plan the logistics for support, the fact that they changed routes screwed up our support.  I understand that plans change, but the change should have been communicated, either through email, ROX (or wherever you signed up), or through the running blogs
3. The route was complex, I had to cross reference the Botak map with a much more detailed map to figure out the turn points.  It didn’t help that THEY CHANGED IT LAST MINUTE.
4. If understanding the route was already difficult, how much more confusing would it be to a runner who never had a chance to read it in detail?
5. In fairness, there were marshals at every turn point, but the problem is they were not THAT VISIBLE, and PROPERLY TRAINED.  I had to keep a watchful eye for them at every turn point, and once I spot them, I always had to yell and say”42 ako, saan? diretso? kanan? kaliwa?”… c’mon Mr Race Organizer, men have trained sheep dogs to guide herds of sheep, I’m sure it’s so much simpler to train humans to guide humans.
6. What was originally intended to be a long run turned out to be a redemption marathon for me.  The 4:27 finish time WAS my target finish time in Singapore (I finished the Singapore Marathon in 5:07).

Singapore SC Marathon vs Botak 42

The Botak 42 was tougher than the Singapore Marathon, it was hotter and the race route had more rolling hills.  How was I able to improve my time from from 5:07 to 4:27?

1. I ran Botak 42 injury free, I had a bad case of untreated Post Tibial Tendonitis during the Singapore Marathon.
2. Mileage mileage and mileage.  Last year, I was putting in 45 to 55 kms per week, this year it’s 66 to 75 kms
3. I had 5 hours of sleep, sleeping in my own room was definitely better than sleeping in a hotel room.  I always have this problem of being unable to sleep the first night in a hotel.
4. I wore the right pair of shoes.  The New Balance 903s that I wore in Singapore didn’t offer enough support, the Asics Gel Kayano 14s did a good job in Botak 42.  I highly recommend the Kayano 14s for those who require a good stability shoe.
5. Home court advantage, we had support, I was able to hydrate myself properly
6. Imodium (thanks br)

So what’s next?
… milo milo milo

I read this interesting article about the tallest Pakistani man coming to the Philippines to raise money (50,000 USD) for a foot operation.  I’m attaching the article from Inquirer.net below……

Pakistan’s tallest man seeks help in RP

By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 13:32:00 01/08/2009

Filed Under: Celebrities, Human Interest, People

MANILA, Philippines — “My height is a gift from God,” said Ijaz Ahmed, a towering Pakistani who has come to the Philippines to raise funds for his right leg operation.

Ahmed claims to be 8 feet and four inches and weighs 287 pounds.

According to doctors, Ijaz, 26, is still expected to grow by three to four inches, giving him the chance of clinching the Guinness World title for world’s tallest living man.

Ijaz hails from Punjab and has worked as farmer before his injury, having been born to a family of farmers.

In 2002, Ijaz injured his foot in a car accident.

Doctors told him the operation would cost $50,000 and so in 2006, he embarked on a tour to raise money for his operation.

Over the past two years, Ijaz has raised a third of the total amount required for his operation.

Ijaz took a trip to the Philippines after he met Ann Sia of Clara International during a 2006 event in Malaysia.

Sia said Ijaz was a guest in her company’s event along with a three-foot man. Upon learning of Ijaz’s condition, she offered to host Ijaz after he visits Manila for his fund raising project.

“My friend Ann invited me to go to the Philippines to raise funds for my operation. She said the people here are friendly and very kind,” Ijaz said.

Sia said a Filipino pledged to help Ijaz on his leg injury and has scheduled him for a medical checkup at a Makati hospital.

When asked if he has a girlfriend, Ijaz smiled and said: “Right now, I don’t have a girlfriend because in Pakistan, we have arranged marriages. My parents will choose the girl for me.”

Ijaz, through the help of his caretaker and interpreter Jamil Ahmed, has submitted papers for application to the Guinness World Records.

Ijaz will go back to Pakistan in December so Guinness World Records can measure his height, said Jamil.

At present, Bao Xishun of China holds the Guinness World record because Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk was stripped of the record in August 2008 when he refused Guinness representatives from getting his height.

“I have already submitted papers to Guinness but I do not really mind if I am hailed as second or third tallest living man in the world. I am happy I am here today,” said Ijaz.

Ijaz, who heads a non-profit organization for differently abled children in Pakistan, said he has dreams of peace, accessible healthcare and education for everyone.

Ijaz will stay in Manila for less than a month.

YOU WANA KNOW HOW HE’S RAISING MONEY?  CLICK HERE

After completing my morning run, I was off to do some shopping in the afternoon.  I have been on the lookout for a nice laptop case for my Macbook Air, most of the ones on sale in Power Mac and iStudio are either neoprene sleeves, or hard shell cases.  I was looking for something more unique, so I googled the Mac Store in Beijing, got the address and planned to check it out.

The Mac Store is located at The Village at Sanlitun, the place is easily accessible by Bus or Subway.  After downloading all the pertinent subway and street maps into my phone, we headed off to the Village.

We didn’t have much trouble in getting to The Village, the Beijing subway system is tourist friendly, the ticketing machines were bilingual (unlike Shanghai), and so were the station signs.  

The North Face 100 Ad in one of the Subway Stations

When we got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see Adidas, Nike, and Mizuno stores.  Note that these stores weren’t just regular stores, they were multi level super stores.  Somehow, I forgot that I was there to shop for a laptop case and eventually ended up wandering into those three stores.

4 level Adidas Store

The Adidas store had everything, running stuff, basketball gear, Y3, casual wear, accessories.  But what caught my attention was the Adidas Footscan station

Why can't we have something like this here?

The footscan system analyses a runner’s gait pattern through a pressure sensor mat.  The runner runs on the mat, the sensor records the weight shift of the runner’s foot from heel strike to toe off, and the accompanying analysis software (by RS Scan) prints out a graph of your strike pattern, and a shoe correction recommendation.

Barefoot running

I did have a hard time understanding the specialist’s explanation of the results, he was speaking to me in Mandarin.  I was alright with conversational mandarin, but technical terms such as over  pronation, supination, gait were just too complicated for me to understand.

The image above is a graph analysis of my gait, it plots the roll of my foot (pronation / supination) vs time .  The green colored graph represents my left foot, while the red colored graph represents my right foot.  The graph divides the time into three sections…. 0.00 to 0.15 second (heel strike), 0.15 to 0.70 second (midstance), and 0.70 to 1 second (toe off).  The white shaded area represents the mean values of those who tried the footscan system.  What this graph implies, I couldn’t understand anymore, the language barrier had me lost… I HAD NO CLUE as to he was saying.

Footwear Adviser Screen

The footwear adviser screen above shows that both my feet are normal.  However, the Mid Sole Correction proposal at the bottom half of the screen says that I need shoes that have (2) Rear foot motion control or (3) rear foot anti pronaton wedge… I’m not sure what that means but based on my limited understanding, your feet may be normal, but once you run, gait analysis will show that normal feet can supinate or over pronate too.

The Adidas store is not the only store that had kick ass analysis equipment, the Mizuno store also had a proprietary analysis system

Two Floors!

It’s called the Precision Fit System, and unlike the FootScan system where you have to run on a mat, the Precision Fit System first asks you to fill out a questionnaire on your running habits, then it goes on to capture instances of your feet and legs while 1) standing with both feet, 2) standing on one leg, 3)  squatting.

It prints out a shoe size recommendation.

My left foot is bigger than my right foot.

Then it prints out the analysis, together with the size and model of the Mizuno Shoe that best fits your feet.  I don’t really understand what’s written because it’s in Chinese, so all i can do is hope that the Mizuno stores here in the Philippines would bring in the Precision Fit System.  I’ve tried on Mizunos before (Wave Precision 8), and I was quite satisfied with it, they make good running shoes… and having this Precision System in their stores will definitely add to their credibility as a running shoe manufacturer.

Other than the Mizuno, Adidas and Nike stores, there were others like Puma, and The North Face as well..

Multi-Level Nike Store

Puma

TNF

BUT WAIT… isn’t this supposed to be a post about my trip to the APPLE STORE 🙂 ?  Going back to Apple, I didn’t find anything interesting or unique, I just liked the store layout, and the facade.

... Giant Macbook

As mentioned in my previous post, running shoes are the most important investment a runner should make.  Understanding one’s foot biomechanics should be a prerequisite in choosing the right running shoe.  Having the right pair of shoes could spell the difference between getting a PR (Personal Record) or visiting a PT (Physical Therapist).  If you are a newbie runner, and you want to learn more about finding the right pair of running shoes, you can start by reading this or this.  These two articles should be informative enough for you to make an educated decision in the absence of the high tech analysis equipment.

It goes without saying that the opportunity to run is always part of a runner’s agenda when traveling to a foreign country.  The idea of running in a foreign country elicits a sense of excitement on one hand, as one looks forward to see the famous landmarks described in travel books or shown in Nat Geo, and caution on the other, as one may get lost in translation (especially when the locals do not really speak english) which could eventually lead to getting lost literally.

I was hoping to be able to do some running around Beijing.  Being ‘severely OC’ about my weekly mileage, I made sure that I’ve completed all my required tempo and long runs prior to my trip.  That way, if my plan to run gets derailed, I would have at least hit 90% of my required distance.

We were booked in The Raffles Hotel Beijing, the hotel is located along the historic Chang’an avenue.

Photo courtesy of raffles.com

Chang’an avenue is around 50 to 100 meters wide, with ample sidewalks for running.  Quite a number of important architectures, such as the Great Hall of People, the National Museum of China, the National Grand Theater, Tiananmen Square, and the gates to the Forbidden City are located along this road.

The hotel is roughly 1.5 kilometers from the Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, so it’s but natural that I plan my run around that area.  In my hotel room, while looking for a pen to draw the running route I created while referencing Google Earth, i saw this inside the desk drawer.. 🙂

The JOGGING MAP… (errr, not a jogger, but a runner) says that the route is about 3.46 kilometers.  The route distance was too short for me so I decided to run the recommended route and extend it further by running around the walls of the Forbidden City, the estimated distance should be around 10 to 11 kilometers.

Actual route as mapped by Polar RS800 cx GPS pod

In front of the hotel before the run

My not so little brother and I started our run by heading towards the Forbidden City before double backing to Tiananmen.  The run along Wangfujin Street (A) was quite chaotic, the street was filled with retail shops, and running on this street was like running an obstacle course, there were lots of people.

We ran a distance of about 0.7 kilometers before turning left towards the east entrance of the Forbidden City (B)

The road that leads to the east entrance of the Forbidden City is roughly another 0.7 kilometers, the side walks are much narrower, and one should take special care when crossing the street as Beijing drivers can be quite unruly, be sure to look on both directions before crossing.

.... stop look and listen before crossing

East entrance Forbidden City

The run around the walls of Forbidden City was around 5 kilometers, a moat surrounds it, and this is the highlight of our run, I really enjoyed this part of the run.  The park-like environment felt calm and peaceful.  The photos don’t really do justice, you have to be there to experience it.

The moat that surrounds the Forbidden City

25 degrees, nice and cool... Priceless

I almost got run over here... head on with an incoming car

After completing one round around the Forbidden City, we headed back towards the hotel to Tiananmen. The crowd grew thicker and thicker as we approached Tiananmen.

@ Tiananmen Square... wide pedestrian lanes, but too many people

There were just too many people so I decided to turn around, and head back to the hotel.  We finished the run in about an hour and six minutes, with a distance of about 12 Kilometers.   The average pace was around 5:30 / km.