my Condura run that never was

Posted on February 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

it all started with “my next long one would be the condura run.” even had a press release among friends that i was thinking whether to run the full or the half.  since i was still riding the high of the Singapore full, i decided to just run the half.  but this one-year running veteran forgot to register.  in fact, i totally forgot when the run was going to be until a friend asked me if i’m running.  so i decided to do the next best thing: run bandit! never thought i’d ever do it but there’s always a first time.

and so saturday night, like always, i prepared my gear.  i had everything ready:  shorts, singlet, socks, shoes, garmin, gatorade.  went to bed with a smile on my lips anticipating another one helluva run when i wake up.  i did wake up with the sunshine filtering through the venetian blinds on my window.  nice… i forgot to set my alarm and so i woke up at 8am.  wonderful… so much for being ready.

i wonder if the dolphins missed me?

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long time no run

Posted on February 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

it’s been a long time.  i ran the singapore marathon in december and it’s been downhill from there. from 42K to zero.  well, not really zero, if you count running from creditors and credit card collectors.

but it’s all in the past. i have started running again. pa-10K 10K muna around the village.  baka mabigla eh.  maybe i’ll do this 10K phase for a couple of weeks and then sabak na ulit sa half marathons like before.

i also promised myself i’ll start blogging again.  knowing me, though, i don’t know which one will go the distance:  the running or the blogging.

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Mizuno Infinity Run 2009: Where did my 3 minutes go??

Posted on June 9, 2009 | 4 comments

I was mighty proud of my Mizuno 15K run.  I finished at 1:25 by my watch and the official giant timer.  That they agree is a feat by itself as it doesn’t happen very often.  However, when I looked at the official results at http:mizuno.ph, my time was at 1:28!  Huh!? Darn, I should have known! The time included the line up to get the finisher shirt!

I thought, okay, somebody certainly slept on the job for 3 minutes. I forgive him.  I sleep for more than that in the office. 

According to Bards’ blog, Mr. Biscocho would make the corrections.  I will wait for that.  I know that he’s one of the best run organizers around so I trust that I will still see my correct time.

A day before the Infinity Run, I bought the book, Run Less Run Faster.  It’s an incredible book.  I just read Chapter 1 and my time on the 15K improved to 1:25 (my PB was at 1:35).  I can just imagine how I’ll run when I’ve read the whole book.  I’m sure it will even be better if I actually do what the book says.  Right now, the hook for me is the” Run Less” part.  I’m trying to find the part where it says, run only once a year and I will finish the 42K in under 3 hours.  When that happens, I will tell you all about it (did I just assume that there are other people reading this blog aside from me? Hmmm… maybe my schizophrenia is coming back. Time to visit my psychiatrist…). 

But seriously, if the book can really help me improve my run time, I will put a plastic cover on it.  That will not only show my appreciation but will protect it as well when I carry it during my runs.   In my last run with it, I spilled Gatorade on the back cover.

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The Mystery of the PNP Scourge (The Painful Nipple Phenomenon)

Posted on May 25, 2009 | Leave a comment

Sometime in January, around the time after the PSE Bull Run, I felt some pain in my nipples.  It wasn’t the kind of pain that bothered me enough to start writing to Wish Ko Lang but it was a bit disturbing because I didn’t know what caused it.  I haven’t been breastfeeding lately so that’s out of the question.  It went away after a couple of days so I left it at that.

The mystery of the painful nipple (which rhymes nicely by the way) manifested itself again and with a vengeance, after the DZMM Takbo Para sa Kalikasan.  It was more painful than the first and I started to worry.  Aside from calling Wish Ko Lang (“Wish ko po Sana na Tumama sa Lotto”), I started writing my last will (I leave my running shoes to my friend, Jojo. He doesn’t run but he believes in ghosts.  Just thinking of how he will spend his nights looking at my shoes would be a blast).  But being the genius that I am, I didn’t make the connection between the runs and the painful nipple.  As before,’ twas gone after a couple of days.  It’s a good thing I didn’t give my real name to Wish Ko Lang; and I still have my running shoes.

After a very deep study of the chronology of events, chemical and DNA analysis of the singlets I used, and watching BFF starring Sharon Cuneta and Ai-Ai de las Alas, I finally had a breakthrough on the mysterious PNP based on the following facts:

  1. I have two nipples
  2. My nipples hurt a.k.a. painful nipple phenomenon
  3. It has happened on two occasions – January and March
  4. It’s bad to comment about Sharon Cuneta’s weight when you’re in a cinema full of screaming Sharonians

Actually, I only made the connection when runningninja commented on it in Bards’ blog about The Day After a Marathon.  Hah! And nobody thought I could figure this one out!

Am I a genius or what?

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Botak Paa-tibayan Maze este Run

Posted on May 25, 2009 | Leave a comment

 First, my excuses:

1. I had a very bad case of diarrhea from (too much) eating seafood at the Mequeni restaurant in Holiday Inn Clark. (It was so bad that they refunded the bill). This was exactly one week before the Paa-Tibayan. Now that I think about it, my version should have a subtitle: Paa-tibayan (Ok ka ba Tyan?) I drank Gatorade in the gallons the whole week and so I thought I have successfully rehydrated myself. I also had generous helpings of lechon, crispy pata and sisig. They obviously didn’t help in the rehydration process but I won’t pass an opportunity to pig out on a very nice excuse of diarrhea. (Favorite line to wife: “Dear, kailangan kong bumawi sa nawalang sustansiya.”)

 2. The route had too many turns that I got confused: am I dizzy because of the diarrhea or because I’ve been running around in circles? That the marshals are less helpful than an MMDA enforcer during a heavy rain didn’t help either. The route in the original advice was different from the actual route that a lot of runners got confused. I saw one runner who went past the pasong tamo turn and I had to chase him to tell him his mistake. I caught him near the south super highway only to find out that he was not part of the run.

Now that my excuses are out of the way, I now declare that I had a bad run. I started to get the cramps on the 14 kilometer mark and I had to walk most of the way. Of course I ran the last 300 meters so it won’t be so embarrassing. I crossed the finish line running, with pa epek na hingal so nobody would know I was walking the last 7 kilometers or so. I finished at 2:19 by the timer displayed at the finish line, a full 9 minutes off my Condura run. I did manage to lop off another 4 minutes by just looking at the official results that came out. My official time was 2:15! Maybe I was very convincing with my strong finish that they decided to give me a 4 minute-bonus? Wow, these people are generous!

So now, if you ask me how I did, this is my standard answer:

My run results was at 2:15, my official time was at 2:19 but I believe the world is round and therefore I am.

There, I guess that eliminates any confusion on my time.

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My Sun Fun Run Experience a.k.a. Jusko, ano ba itong pinasok ko???

Posted on April 30, 2009 | 3 comments

I wasn’t planning to do the Sun Fun Run for two reasons:

1.       It’s a Saturday run and that conflicts with my laundry schedule.  (I need to wash the clothes on Saturday so I can iron them on Sunday)

2.       It’s a bit farther from where I live so I need to wake up earlier than when I do the laundry on Saturdays.

But then, it was a run that will benefit a foundation that helps kids so I decided to go.  I just hoped that the sun shines later that day so I could still wash the clothes when I got back.  Hah, my wife would be happy!

I was driving along South Super Highway when I realized that I don’t know where the assembly point is.  I just knew that it’s in Ayala Alabang (or was it Alabang Town Center??).  I thought I heard somebody tell me the day before that it was in the something de las Palmas or something that sounded like that.  Armed with that thought, not to mention very clear information, I drove to the ATC.  I found a couple of guards and asked for directions to the grrrspmd (para kunwari hindi nya lang narining yung first word) de las Palmas.  Lo and behold! They actually understood what I said and they knew where grrrspmd de las Palmas was! I was so happy that I went down from the car and kissed the ground where they stood praising the high heavens for sending me two uniformed angels to give me guidance.

 I was still basking on cloud nine when from the depths of my euphoria I heard one of the angels say : “Ser, sarado pa ho yon. Hindi kayo makakapasok.” Huwaat?? So where the !@#$% is the assembly point?

I decided to just go into Ayala Alabang and asked the guards at the gate.  Of course, they knew where the assembly point is and they even have a map of the route.  Thank you very much.  I didn’t bother to kiss the ground this time as it was already 5:25. 10K was supposed to start at 5:30.  So off I went to the Makiling Park where I saw everyone already assembled and ready.  I parked the car and walked to the starting point – immediately mixing in with the crowd pretending that:

1.       Like them, I came in early

2.       Like them, I didn’t get lost coming to the assembly area

A guy who obviously knew the terrain, told the crowd around him that it’s a hilly course and he wouldn’t be surprised if some people would already be falling off on the first uphill climb.  I thought: “Oh @##%, is he talking about me?”  And I chose to run the 10K!  My mind started churning out scenarios:

1.       I could go back to the car on the pretense that I forgot something then drive away when nobody’s looking.

2.       I could go to the registration and tell them that they gave me the wrong bib and get the 5k bib. Then run the 3k.

3.       I could take off my bib, walk on the course to just before the first water station, douse myself with water and when the first batch of runners pass, join them (not forgetting to say something like, “Wow this course is difficult!”

But before I could make a decision, Craig of Team Logan stood in front and lead the prayer.  Yes, yes that’s what I need. I closed my eyes and called on all the angels and saints in heaven (including my dead ancestors whose death certificates my mother kept) to help me in this run. I was actually hoping they’d just carry me and I could just breeze through the finish line smelling like roses.  I was assuming all the angels and saints (and my dead ancestors whose death certificates my mother kept) smell of roses.  Everything was a blur after Craig said Amen.  I heard somebody shout Go! and my feet automatically started running. Well, actually I had no choice.  If I didn’t move, I’d be trampled upon by the other runners who came charging like a herd of hungry buffalos.  (Hmmm… that was a bad metaphor.  I should have said: … the other runners who whizzed by like gazelles with their graceful gallops so beautifully executed, it’s almost poetic.

The first uphill segment was looming upon us right on the first turn.  Fresh legs helped and I was able to go through it at my normal pace – Easy! (My heart was beating at waaay past my maximum heart rate.  I thought I was ready to retire at that point. Hingal!  I also thought that I’ve gone through the worst that the course can offer.  It was farthest from the truth, I found out later.  10K and 2,000 gallons of water later (I spent a lot of time in the water stations that the staff there were already selling me a franchise for a water filling station) I crossed the finish line at 51:30 by my watch.  My legs and my heart were both protesting and were telling me that I had been running for three days non-stop judging by the way they felt.  Oh yes, I do talk to them specially during the long runs; begging them not to stop and promising them lots and lots of propel and vitwater (you know).  But that’s another story (or another blogpost).

Now, if I these people would just move aside so I can crawl to my car…

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as i pick my tongue from the ground

Posted on April 29, 2009 | 2 comments

Why am I suddenly starting a blog? 

Simple, as the number of races I’ve joined increases, I’m finding it more and more difficult to remember the races and my time for each.  Lately, to go around this problem, I decided to just remember my Personal Best and where I did it.  But this also proved too complicated for this aging mind.  See, that meant I needed to remember my PB for each distance and for which race I ran that particular distance.  For example, I have run a number of 10K races and I know that my best time was 51:30 in the Sun Fun run in Ayala Alabang. Easy, right?  But I also have to remember that according to those who know better, the actual distance of that run was about 500m short of 10K.  So then, my best time was 53:40 in the Takbo Para sa Kalikasan but since DZMM did not release an official time, that time was my PB-unofficial.  Now I can’t remember which becomes my official 10K PB. I rest my case (and my brain as it has just started shutting down on account of my head spinning from overwork). 

 

So I decided to just write them all down and put the list in my wallet.  Problem solved? Not quite.  My wallet is already thick with wads of paper where I wrote down all the other things that I need to remember (my home address for example).  If I add one more sheet of paper to the stack, I might have to buy a new wallet or throw away one or two of my lists (my birthday and my age as of the last one would be prime candidates).  So what to do?

Write a blog! Considering my utter lack of time (and more importantly, writing skills) to sit down and actually do it, writing a blog is the farthest from mind.  I did write a personal journal about my crush (who is now my wife, believe it or not) when I was in grade school but I don’t think that counts.  It may be up for nomination to the National Museum archives if I’m able to find it, though. Hmmm… there might be some money in that.  I will stop writing this blog while I call my mother.  Maybe she can find it in that old cabinet where she keeps the death certificates of my ancestors.  I promise, and as this blog may be read by the whole world you are all witnesses, that I will give her 2% of whatever amount the National Museum will give me for my personal journal. Hey, 2% of a million is 20 thousand.  My mother will be very happy (she doesn’t have to know the other 980,000! And I trust you all not to tell her!)

I was gone for five minutes and my mother, in her eternal wisdom told me that she couldn’t find it.  Also, that my journal is not that important to be in the cabinet with the death certificates of my ancestors. Darn!

So I have no choice.  This blog is the only answer.  Well, if you have other suggestions please tell me so I can stop this nonsense and have my race records where I can remember them.  If you give me the right idea, you can also be free of the torture of reading this blog.

But while I’m waiting for the perfect suggestion, I’ll just put my race times here.  I’ll just try and put in updates every time I race.  On top of that, maybe I’ll get inspired and write again every few years.

 

 

 

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