By Sheer Will

Climbing Back

2012-01-04T22:08:00.001+08:00

You know you have become too busy when you have to make a calendar appointment for your social life. Tonight I had such an appointment but I found myself enjoying personal time instead. I escaped the metropolis after work and hied off to my new crib in the suburbs. I ate a quick dinner, played with my pup Astro, then grabbed my MTB to explore my new village.

The village name was appropriate: Hills, lots of them. As I admired the American architecture of this residential enclave, I wondered: if this busybee can find time to ride these hills regularly, there is hope for this fat-assed, slow biker.

In an hour of riding I actually found myself lost in the most beautiful section of the village. I was lost and loving every minute of it. As I passed by every cul-de-sac in search of the familiar route home, I had this thought: I worked my wits off for this peace of heaven on earth. It was all worth it.

I look forward to biking the hills again this weekend.

It gets better

2011-11-08T14:27:00.002+08:00

Fifteen minutes. That's what I set as my sanity break. Armed only with my BlackBerry, a BB Max connection, and a resolve to carve out the most out of life, I typed away at the micro keypad.

My calves are still a bit tight from the 25Km running I did last Sunday during the Chevrolet New Balance Power Run. I woke up early this time, but hard rains greeted the break of dawn. I have two choices: to avoid the rains and gamble on an afternoon run, or brave the cold, wet weather and embrace my aversion to it.

It was cold alright. Goodness, if at this temperature I am already chilling, what shall befall me when I ran in Macau? And how do I expect to finish a dream marathon in New York someday?

Two kilometers into the run I had to take walk breaks. I was still not properly warmed up. I ran when I could, and walked when I needed to. But I was falling behind. Way behind. I got my groove back only at around km11. At that time, I remembered why I wore a 2008 NB singlet emblazoned with Love Running More on front, and 25K on the back. I was hoping for magic. On that race, I finally fell in love with running, and although I had an average finish time there of 3:07, the last 5kms of that race remains my best ever 5K running experience.

I slowly caught up. Every kilometer or two I would overtake a couple of runners. I am way behind my original target time, but I plodded on. I said to myself, I will try to re-create the magic I experienced in Clark in 2008 in the last 5kms of this edition. Back then, I overtook 40 people net in my love-filled rush to the finish.

I started counting at km 20. The first 3-5 were extremely difficult, but I soldiered on. This time around, I wouldn't overtake on speed. I would have to do it on sheer tenacity. It gets better, Rico, always. A new view on work, a rekindled chance at love, new friendships made. It always gets better. You just have to endure.

I finished 5 minutes before cut-off time at 3:40. My career worst in this distance is 3:45 when I was still a stupid, stubborn, cramping newbie. I finished with a sprint and with no injuries. I overtook 70 people net in the process. I woke up, ran and finsihed. It could only get better.

No More Excuses

2011-10-02T11:00:00.002+08:00

So this is how my race calendar looks like for the rest of the year.

Oct 9 October Run 21K
Oct 15 Nike We Run Manila 10K
Oct 16     NAGT (AAV Tri) - super mini
Oct 23     Adidas King of the Road 21K
Oct 29     Adobo Run 15K
Nov 6      New Balance 25K
Nov 13    Run United 3 32K
Dec 4      Macau Marathon 42K

I am fully booked! No more excuses not to run. (Hey, I just did 10K last night).

I have been forcing myself to register to as many races as I can. The shoe runs (Nike, Adidas, New Balance), check. My last 21K (a shoe run too!) was Mizuno in June, which seems like eons ago now. As for October, I gotta rummage through my stuff to double check if I am already registered or not! Yes, it has happened to me. With all the race stuff on my running plate, I forgot I was supposed to race (no loss actually, it was the terrible MIM anyway). The absent-mindedness was due to work stress, but since this post is titled No More Excuses, forget I wrote it. :-)

Now, if only I can just buy my way to fitness. Haha! :-)

See you peeps on the road!

You Win Some, You Lose Some (Part 2)

2011-08-17T00:48:00.000+08:00

The Swim

I calmly entered the lake water and began swimming. The mass swim start is one of few occasions when my calm demeanor is an advantage. Water seemed clearer than last year as I could see better the colors and prints of trisuits swimming along or passing by me. This lake swim remains a favorite, as I happily glided through the water. In the middle of the swim chaos I simply imagined I was in MASA doing my favorite swim route - a combo of paddles and buoy. My big lake swim was peaceful except for that moment when the wave after me finally caught up. The stronger swimmers on this wave swam through me like a school of barracudas. I finished the big lake swim in 42 minutes. I thought then it was a good time as I did 41 last year, but on hindsight, the big lake swim in 2011 was actually shorter. Anyhow, I felt great leaving that lake for the smaller lake.

The smaller lake used for wakeboarding was clearly murky (pun intended). I couldn't even see my palms as I sliced through the water. In here I had to constantly front sight. I tried to minimize the head lift, but sighting will definitely compromise your horizontal body position. I did not have major direction swerves, but the curved swim path was definitely a challenge. I could already sight the swim finish arch, but it seemed to take ages to reach it. I finished the whole swim in 1hr7min. I was a bit surprised with the variance from my 1hr swim last year, but I took it in just the same. One leg down.

I had a relatively faster transition compared to last year, as I was relaxed coming out of the swim. The longest effort was putting on my cushioning gloves, but overall transition was still good. Within 4-5 minutes I suppose.

The Ride

I took my time mounting the bike. There was some traffic at mount area so I let the others take off first. I was confident about the ride that time. I held of food and drinks on the bike till about 10-15 minutes of riding. This was to make sure that my internal system has stabilized. The first 5kms I was just chugging along at 25-27kph, reasoning out that I should let the blood circulate first. After taking in my first gel I thought I would start accelerating, but my efforts were drowned by the headwinds. From stories about the bike course, the headwinds were supposed to be on the way back. My bike plan was supposedly positive split, but I had difficulty gaining ground because of the wind. On training rides, I would easily clear 30-35kph on flats, but at that time I had difficulty maintaining 25kph. I don't know if my legs were still fatigued from combing the CWC grounds for keys, but I did know I wasn't moving fast enough.

Not long after the rains came. In a BIG way. We were all being pelleted by water. Initially I could still see through my shades. Soon the water crept inside my shades and my vision was compromised. I ended up removing my shades for most of the ride. I started having chills as well. I remembered a training ride in AAV when rains came in torrents, thoroughly drenching me. In the 3km ride back to my vehicle, I was getting chills, almost to the point of teeth chattering. In Camsur I was gravely concerned. I just brought enough nutrition for a 90km hot ride. On cold weather, I have to continuously eat to prevent internal chills and avoid the risk of twin devils of hypoglycemia and hypothermia.

For the next kilometers and minutes I minded the time instead of my speed. Every 30 minutes I would eat gels and hydrate with Gatorade.The rains were still pelting my eyes that I found it difficult to keep aero position and reduce headwind drag. Whenever I would speed up a little, I could feel the windchill. It was frustrating. I was prepared for hot or rainy run, but not a prolonged ride under heavy rains. Fellow triathletes would go pass me, seemingly enjoying the rains, and my heart sank a bit each time. Even someone on mountain bike overtook me. It was frustrating and ego-bruising.

I spinned just the same. On the downhill portions going towards turnaround, I tried to pick up speed. I would attempt aero position at times, but the occasional triathletes on their way back crossing over to my lane scared the wits out of me. It is hard enough that there are wind chills, slippery roads and innate difficulty of quicking shifting to break hoods from aero bars; the danger of bikes or bystanders crossing over exacerbated the situation. Still, I picked up the pace. The rains have abated a bit. It was cold still though. The concerns over chills and nutrition were slowly replaced by making cut off time. I had an initial 3:30 bike target time, at a speed comfortable enough to allow a strong run. The rains threw that target time early on. At km 40, I was fighting with cut-off time.

I told myself if I could make it to bike turnaround in 3hrs after my wave start, I had still had a fighting chance. I arrived at turnaround 5 minutes off the mark.I that time, making it to cut off time was still a theoretical possibility, but I had to fnish the second half at 28kph or better, all throughout. With my time trial bike and carbon wheelset, I have done it before towards the end of long training rides. But those were made on flats. I remembered the rolling terrain after turnaround and my heart sank.

For the next 45kms my heart and mind battled it out. At times I would ram through dreamily, at times I would go back to reality and relax. My hopes dipped with the hills and rose with the downhills. If only I was not THIS heavy.

I fought this battle with two girls - a teammate who is on a relay with her runner friends and a girl I shared the bike speed in Matabungkay. There were probably at least ten more behind us, but our triumvirate was the one I saw valiantly holding the line. Matabungkay girl came from behind and pass over us. I tried to keep on eye o her as long as I could but my weight was pulling me down on the climbs. My teammate and I alternately took leads until the finish line. We were cheering each other everytime we pass the other, and silently the one ahead pulled the person behind. No we were not drafting; sometimes there is more honor in slowpokes like us.

Finally we entered CWC. Aware of cut off, I was prepared for the worst, but part of me hopes for some miracle. That hope fueled the occasional bursts of speed. Entering CWC brought back overwhelming memories of last year's race. To enter CWC means one has survived the risks and difficulties of the bike. For someone like me with bike as weakness, the arrival on CWC grounds is occasion enough to celebrate.

With mood still high, I dismounted from my bike, with my teammate just behind. Race director Guy Concepcion calmly said (I paraphrased): I am sorry Rico but you arrived beyond cut off time. Cut off was 5 hours after pro gun start. Cut off for me was 4:55 then, and for the relay 4:50. I arrived 5:05 from my wave start.

If there was a good way to cut off a triathlete from his race, that way has to be that of Guy's. Calm, collected, firm, pragmatic. I took it all in within the first 5 seconds. There is no miracle for me this time. I had my GRAND time and my Godly favors last year. This Sunday August 14, 2011, God made it rain for a multitude of newbies and gave them all a personal best they may savor for years.

Congratulations everyone, finishers and dream chasers alike.

You Win Some, You Lose Some (Part 1)

2011-08-16T11:37:00.001+08:00

The Road to Camsur

My race week began the moment I set my email to out-of-office, auto-reply. Finally, after almost a year of zone 4 work effort, I was taking a much deserved break. I had a half-ironman race to complete, I should be allowed a 5-work day reprieve from leading a systems project, poring over contracts, answering auditors and regulators, and dealing with never-ending stream of inanities.

There are a number of teammates participating and supporting in Camsur, but I chose to drive alone to the race destination. I cherished the time alone, the lack of structure, and the opportunity to stop and go on a whim. I was accompanied by 3 bikes (mine and that of two friends) and a good book. Days before the race, I tried to go race mode by reading Lance Armstrong's "It's Not About the Bike" (very good read!) and Dean Karnazes' "Confessions of An All-Night Runner" (liked some parts, couldn't relate much to the rest). Lying on my back on the deserted sandbar of Dalampasigan Resort in Sariaya, Quezon - my overnight pitstop enroute to Camsur - I savored in soothing solitude the true story of US Olympic swim hopefuls "Gold in the Water" (still reading it, but enjoying every bit of it).

My mind appreciated the RnR, but my body needed to peak for the race. I took a 2km jog on the fine beach, and played around with left-side breathing on the pool. Time seemed to slow down to my preferred pace, and everything seemed perfect with my world.

The Day Before The Race

I took a dip in the small lake to practice my new discovery which is left-side breathing. In Sariaya, I discovered that although I was not as comfortable with my left side breathing, I actually swam faster for the same level of effort! I had to take 5 time trials on the 20m pool to validate my eureka moment. Five out five times, I was faster breathing on the left, by at least 2 seconds for 20m. That should help me navigate the counter-clockwise swim in the small lake. Unfortunately, the buoys on the small lake were spaced too far apart and too low for me to efficiently use this technique. The other structures also trick the eye. It had to be front sighting, right breathing for me.

I was getting ready to do bike route recon by vehicle when I discovered I lost my vehicle key. Yes, my vehicle key! My first concern was "Oh no, I promised pa naman my teammates we shall all do this recon together." Bummer. My vehicle was also the de facto vehicle for our support team who rode the bus to cheer for us. I knew it was a panic situation, but I did my best to calm down and resolve the problem. Boy it must have taken a lot of calories to calm myself down. I methodically retraced my steps, twice, on the sprawling grounds of CWC. I suspected the constant walking in CWC before race day last year was the cause of my odd, race morning, wake-up cramp the race before, and here I was spanning the area again. At the same time, I was fighting the thought that I would lose my precious vacation and recovery time riding the bus home to get the spare key and going back to fetch my vehicle. I asked the CWC tiki hut housekeeping and the wakeboard desk if they found anything, but tough luck, there was nothing. I went to the front desk and reported the loss, and requested them to instruct guards to keep watch on my parked vehicle and prevent anyone from driving it out. What the guard said was like cold Gatorade on a parched summer run: "Sir, yung kasamahan namin may nakitang susi." I lost about 1.5 hrs searching for the key, but I was glad to know there is still a God.

My misfortune has not completely ran its course, however. After lunch, I suddenly realized how tired I was after that key search and how stupid I was not in not opting to get the cabana key from my roommate who went out of CWC for lunch. About 1.5hrs before bike check-in time, I finally got the chance to prepare my transition bags and get my bike for a test ride. In the middle of my packing I decided to squeeze in the test ride. I was out all of five minutes when I discovered I was locked out of the cabana. My friends thought I was already out to check in. Oh no! I survey the long bike check-in line looking for my roommate. I did this twice but for the life of me I could not find him. I asked acquaintances but nobody saw him. I was desperate as it was getting dark and the race briefing was about to start At last I saw a familiar face whom I know also knows my roommate. I boldly introduced myself and asked if he could call our friend. Finally I got the key and in 5 minutes tops I finished my transition bag packing.

Harassed, I hurriedly checked in my stuff. Once done, I went back to the cabana and I was fumbling through my shorts when an ugly reality reared it head again. I lost the room key this time. I retraced my steps again, including going back to transition area. I was distraught. Here I was just crashing in my friend's cabana and I had the stupidity to lose the cabana key. I went back to the front desk to report the loss. Good thing the housekeeping staff found the key on the grounds. In my haste I dropped from my shallow shorts pocket the cabana key.

I missed the race briefing, but I went my way out to have pre-race dinner with teammates in Magsaysay Avenue. Dinner was good, but I had to excuse myself early as I was almost ready to doze off in my seat. My teammate Sid was kind enough to bring me back to CWC, and Philip, a physical trainer, was very thoughtful in giving my tired self some good stretch.

Good luck to me on race day.

(to be continued)

Our Kind of TRI

2011-08-03T13:47:00.001+08:00

You have probably seen our royal blue trisuit. You have probably heard our support team scream and cheer in races. Here is another look of who we are and what we hope to become.

ENDURE Multisport

Know about 8 ordinary individuals hoping to accomplish something extra-ordinary on August 14 in the province of Camsur.

Please check out the Athlete profiles under the Team Page, where each one of us describe another member. We are particularly proud of that. No perfect writing there, only perfect love!

24th of July

2011-06-30T01:03:00.000+08:00

Where will you run on the 24th of July? I have been asked this question by newbie runners in the office. I told them I would run 10K in Takbo Runfest. Why not Rexona Run, they countered? There are many freebies and come ons, they added. How do I encapsulized in a sentence the many reasons I chose Runfest? I ended up simply saying, I identify with takbo.ph.

Yes I am a moderator of the takbo.ph forum. A very active one in its first 2 years of existence; not as free nowadays admittedly. Yes I am a friend of Jinoe and Quennie Gavan, owners of takbo.ph site, as well as Doc Lyndon of race organzer LeadPack. My race enlistment though is governed, not by personal debt of gratitude, but personal acknowledgement of the forum's role in the running boom as well as homage to the good, old values of takbo.ph.

My race is my expression of gratitude for the numerous friendships I made through the forum, the role the takbo.ph community played in my journey as a runner and a person, and the inspiration and avenue to positively influence others that membership in the community brings. Acceptance, tolerance, diversity, community spirit, never-say-die attitude, triumph over adversity through group struggle, achievement and fun - all these I learned and experienced within the community. My race is my display of loyalty to these values I cherish.

My circle of friends brought the same values when we formed a multisport team. In multisport, we are Endure; in running, takbo.ph. We were insistent on that. We pay homage to the site that drew us all. For us, to belong to takbo.ph in the realm of running is enough. We view with tinge of sadness then the splintering of the takbo.ph ever-growing class into smaller groups, beginning with small number and now with so many groups it gets hard to keep track. Whereas before there was only the takbo.ph banner, now each group has his own. I suppose it is inevitable. In an effort to belong and identify, each cluster formed a group. In a sea of so many small groups, does one truly stand out or belong?

When I race for a personal 10K best on the 24th, I shall wear my takbo singlet, not my Endure shirt. That is my testament that underneath the greater mantle of takbo.ph community, a runner and his group has room still for expression of self and group affiliation. For instance, I liked what Team CB did last year when they ran in takbo singlet with colored hair. It could be done. My personal wish is that current running groups can find that unique expression of takbo affiliation and group allegiance. At least for the Runfest. For the Runfest, let us be One. Different, but One.

See you all on the 24th :-)

Infinite Possibilities

2011-06-21T00:36:00.000+08:00

Sprinting to the finish line

Five pikermis in 5 weekends. The 2011 Mizuno Infinity Run 21K marked the last of my half-marathon series of run base building before I embark on my 10K series on speed. From our team Endure, only 3 of us are running the 21K. At least ten of my teammates are running the 5k as brand ambassadors.

Team ENDURE at Mizuno Infinity Run 5K

I looked at my Mizuno race with equal excitement and dread. Excitement because I hope to have the best race result here from within my 5 pikermi series, and dread because the weekly long rides and runs follow a cycle of muscle degradation and repair. I hope I recovered enough for this.

I was early for this race and started with everyone else. I tried my best to keep up with the crowd energy at the start, but it really takes me a long time to warm up. I think I got my groove only about 2kms into the race on the way to the Skyway. I slowly but surely attacked the uphill climb to Kalayaan flyover. Again, I only walked at water stations. So proud of myself for that. I tried to pick up pace a bit along the Buendia stretch. I tried to overcome the excess weight I still carry by engaging more my core and bigger muscles. I realize I tire less when I do this.

I was speeding up a little, inspired by the elite runners already on their way back, when suddenly I saw a familiar face. Holy tornado, teammate Melvin was already on his way back! I shouted and waved at my teammate but Melvin was not only wearing earphones, he was clearly so focused. It is not the grunting focus that one sees when someone is trying to dig deep for strength and inspiration, it was a quiet focus. The guy was in the zone! Calm, open face, quiet with a purpose. After him I would see strong runners/triathletes Ige Lopez and Mark Ellis. Wow, my friend Melvin is even ahead of these strong athletes. Holy tornado indeed!

Melvin about to finish with a really good personal best

I was so fired up with my teammate's outstanding performance I sped more a bit till the Buendia turnaround. I would soon catch up with the husband and wife tandem of Bro J and better half. In the past four half-marys these two would often be ahead of me - because I was often late and because they are better trained than me! I was so glad I finally caught up with them. I was steadily running and they were on Galloway run-walk strategy. We would find ourselves within each other's view every so often for at least 5kms to Lawton Avenue.

I also met sorely missed blogger Mesh with whom I share a surname, and how I wish I share her speed too. Mesh visibly slowed down to chat with me about Boston and Ironman, and she kinda pushed me to go beyond my usual speed.

I was still recovering from the uphill climb to Lawton Avenue when suddenly I saw Melvin again on the other side of the road. It was just about 1.5hrs into the race and the guy was already on his last two kms! Again, calm, collected face. Unbelievable! Few meters back was Ige Lopez and further back was Mark Ellis. Wow, my teammate was really pushing it.

Suddenly, I was fired up again by my teammate's efforts and I raced downhill towards McKinley. Alas, I lost momentum finding my way through Security Bank runners doing their corporate race. I only managed to escape them on the way down to Bayani Road.

Ah, Bayani Road, here we go again. Memories of Milo Marathon come flashing back. With my excess weight, I actually welcome more the inclines than the downhill, but I surged down just the same. Do your best effort at butt kick, I told myself. Sixteen kilometers into the race I made a time check: I have 40 minutes to complete 5K and hopefully do better than 2:40. Very doable at some other race, but I have an uphill climb back along Bayani Road to contend with. For the first time, I ran up Bayani Road the best way I could. I was huffing but I ran. I thought of my teammate again. Never settle. Run 100%. The possibilities for personal greatness is infinite.

Push yourself. Last 5 kilometers. I remember the best 5km stretch of my running life - back there in Clark in New Balance 25K Power Race. It was in that 5km stretch to the finish when I discovered I love running. I might not match my speed there, but I could match the effort I took there. And so I ran. And ran further. Push your limits. Believe.

In the last two kilometers I stepped further on my inner accelerator. One kilometer to the finish I came across teammate Ellen pacing her officemate. Here is another strong runner, Ellen. I said hi and continued my crusade. Five hundred meters to the finish line I remembered my run to the finish in the 2010 Cobra Ironman 70.3. Instanty I was transported back to Camsur, running the best 200-300 meters finishing kick I could muster. I was in the zone and my legs took a life of their own.

I crossed the Mizuno finish line 2:40:43. With Kalayaan flyover and Bayani Road, the Infinity Run was the toughest in my half-marathon series. If I count the fact that Greentennial Run was short by at least 500m, I had my best run time here in Mizuno. I am still far away from my overall 21K personal best of 2:28, but I finish this race confident in the thought I am considerably a better runner, weight and fatigue notwithstanding. I hope to bring this confidence in infinite possibilities when I go back to Camsur in August.

Everyday 5K?

2011-06-08T06:27:00.000+08:00

A triathlete's heaviest yoke is literally his weight. It is a drag in the swim, a curse on the bike uphill, and a burden slowing down his run.

Every morning I weigh myself with equal dread and anticipation. After losing about 7 lbs from my heaviest weight ever, my weight seemed to hit a minor plateuau. I could see more of my neck, my face is acquiring some edge and angles, I get positive remarks from officemates, I am slimming down, but that darn scale WON'T BUDGE! Bummer!

After 4 half-marys done every week - all done at relatively stable slow pace - I figured it is time to ramp up my act. Run more frequently, rack up the mileage, but do short distances at progressively faster pace. Everyday 5K it is! I've done it before, run every single effin day for 1.5 months. Lost 23 lbs and a Php3K weight-loss bet to a smart-aleck competitor who dehydrated himself before our weigh in. Sssheeeshh!

Everyday 5K but avoid running into injury and burn-out. Lose weight and pick up speed. Hope I could strike some dynamic balance. I am on day 3 now. So far so good. I hope I could sustain it.

From Here to Infinity

2011-06-04T23:39:00.001+08:00

Here I go again. Pursuing half-ironman dreams. 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21k run.

Triathlon always ends in a run! In an effort to finish strong, I am duplicating the training I did last year: Do a series of pikermis.

Half-iron dreams are built on half-marys. For my half-ironman training, I am doing at least 5 - in succession! That I will do the pikermi a day after strenous bike rides ups the ante. Bricks never felt so hard!

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One: Goldilocks Run (May 15, 2011)

At the finish line (Photo by James Rosca)

Goal: survive the first of my Here to Infinity series of half-marys.
I am doing this after a 90K ride at Jala-jala the Saturday before.

Survive I did. I ran all throughout the 21K, walking only to sip drinks in water stations. Yes I ran even the flyover - going out and going back. I must admit I looked forward to the walk breaks in water stations. Thank God Runrio is famous for many water stations.

Excellent race organization and lots of freebies (I like the Selecta ice drops), but the race lacks the warmth I seek. Weather was hot yes, and race was grand, but I see few familiar faces in the huge crowd.

Finish time: 2:42:30. Not bad given my weight and recent running mileage.

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Two: Greentennial Half-marathon (May 22, 2011)

Goal: Try to improve from last week's run.
Challenge: Do this after 55K tempo ride in Daang Hari the day before

I liked the vibe in this race. What the amateur hosts lack in professional hosting experience, they more than made up with energy. When I hear their antics from kilometers away, I chuckle. Good job Argo, KB and Michelle. The 80's vibe was tacky, but amusingly tacky. Tacky was the point, and they succeeded! So many familiar faces. The PowerPuff boys are pacers, Team Boring, etc. Water cups run out in a few crucial stations, which affected my race a bit, but it was made up by Pocari in the last few stations.

Once again, I ran all throughout with the exception of walk breaks at water stations. The route was flat but weather was challenging. Absolutely no shade here. First time to race in my Mizuno Wave Aero 9 - sockless! The shoes did not disappoint, notwithstanding the water that fell off the pitcher onto my foot!

Finish time: 2:40:34. Pwede na, I think. Route was a bit short though. Still good training.

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Three: Greenfields Clean Air Run (May 29, 2011)

Initial Goal: Improve my time supposedly
Final Goal: Survive and bring myself back to my vehicle
Challenge: Do this after hill ride in Verdana-Westgrove-Nuvali the day before
Complications:   Lack of sleep and phelgm

I was an hour late (my fault entirely). My alarm did not sound off and I did not note the adjustment in gun start. An hour behind meant I was 7-10kms behind the runners. Tall order! I pick energy from the crowd pa naman.

Towards the Mamplasan toll exit I was inching close to the last 21k runners, when suddenly they disappeared. Dunno what happend. Did the walkers ran, rode the jeep, went to Verdana? I had no idea. I ended up running the whole 21K route with no one close ahead.

It was a 21K exercise on mental toughness. The zigzag route inside Pramana village did not help. To recount a friend's tale: someone supposedly remarked "Kahit yumaman ako, sinusumpa ko, di ako bibili ng lupa dito."   I was initially amused looking at the houses, but 2-3kms of tight meandering on every street on the village is overkill.

Result: a sloowww 2:54:37. I was physically the last runner to cross the finish line, but results would show there were dozens with worse time than I had. I hope my next race performance would be better.

----------------------------------------

Next:   AKTV (June 5, 2011)

I should be sleeping now for this instead of blogging. As 2010 Milo marathon and Greentennial Half-marathon would show, MOA and Macapagal roads are tough nuts to crack.

Good luck to me.

----------------------------------------------------

Next: Mizuno Infinity Run (June 11, 2011)

Goal: Have my best pikermi time here for the series
Race Mantra: Never settle

So help me God.

SUBIT 2011: Perfectly Slow

2011-05-21T22:33:00.001+08:00

Race Account: 2011 Subic International Triathlon (Standard Distance)

Photo taken by Zinnia Villarin

On race morning I found myself dipped in the seawater absorbing all the sights. In the sea of tri-suit colors I could see the ENDURE blue of my teammates. Finally in the esteemed, longest running triathlon in the country, my friends and I were participating donned in our team colors. My teammates are huddled together about a few meters away on the shore while I continued to submerge myself in the calm Dungaree waters. There was nothing more I could do before the race. I have shared all I knew to first timer friends, and I have trained whenever work load permitted, which wasn’t often. I had wanted this to be an “A” race, but alas, I had ballooned to 20 lbs above my last year weight on account of stress. Heavier but wiser, undertrained but experienced. I would have to race this on guts, heart and smarts.

In the waters I chanced upon a former officemate whom I last saw about 5 years ago. I was surprised he was following my blog. I do not advertise my blog to friends; they just stumble upon it. He was doing his first triathlon, because one day he dreamt crossing the finish line with his son. He knew how to swim, he used to ride a road bike, but he dreaded the run. In a span of few minutes, I shared whatever last minute tips and cheer I could muster. Results would later show he finished. I am sure the wife and son were there at the finish line.

In the same Dungaree water pre-race I found a friend visibly worried and agitated. He told me his heart rate was abnormally high. I worried for him for he is an insulin-dependent diabetic. As someone who occasionally suffers from bouts of hypo and hyperglycemia, I know the how sugar fluctuations can wreck havoc on the body and mind. I calmly suggested we swim together to ease the nerves. Thank goodness things calmed down.

Photo by Denise Tayag

Calm. That is all I had going into the race. I calmly positioned myself at the back of my wave, about two meters from the right. It would turn out to be wrong decision. I was all calm inside, but the position I was in was chaos from start to almost finish. My heart rate did not shoot up despite the physical commotion, but I did lose momentum and a chance to glide with all the bodies swarming around me. I negotiated the 1.5km swim in about 44minutes, just about the same as my last training swim, but 7 minutes off my 2010 time. Boy, was I that overweight? Or maybe I was still in my 70.3 swim pace.

Photo taken by Zinnia Villarin

I think I was a bit faster in my transition one time. I rode my bike hoping to be not too far behind, but alas, I was too far behind with my mediocre swim. I promised myself I would not be afraid to overtake when I could – on uphills and downhills – but this time there were really few left to chase. Training rides to Sierra Madre and Subic did improve my climbing skills, and I felt I fared better than last year on the first 20kms of the bike, but I was unprepared for the strong headwinds on the second 20kms of the ride. I was supposed to conserve on the hills and speed up on the second half, but alas, the winds slowed me down tremendously. On what was supposedly slightly downhill on Argonaut highway I barely managed 25kph. I finished the bike ride with just a few bikers behind me. I consoled myself then by saying our age group wave was the last!

Inside transition 2 I still considered myself lucky for I could still run. On the same line where my bike was a triathlete sitted on the ground reeling from cramps and desperately crying for liniment. Unfortunately I do not carry one. If there is one thing I am proud of is that I have learned to prevent cramps due to overreaching or going beyond the pace you trained for. I may be slow, but I am perfectly slow if there is such a thing. Almost perfectly even pacing just below lactate threshold from swim to run. Only very slow…Haay, I wish I could burn those excess pounds soon. With me carrying the equivalent of a fat pug, any faster and my heart rate would shoot up.

Photo taken by Fatima Sugay

Again, I was hoping to overtake some on the run. But alas, I was too late again. I thought I had my Garmin charged but it died on me less than 50 meters from T2. I had few people to chase and no gadget to guide my pace. I just ran. I walked only at water stations and did my best to carry myself forward despite three weeks of forced rest from running, but my best at that instance was only 1hr24min for a 10K. A year ago I did about 1:15.

Photo courtesy of Gerard Cinco

Overall I felt good about the race although I was excruciatingly slow. The one good thing I will bring home from this is the even pacing I displayed despite the snail pace. I have my work cut out for me. Lose the excess weight and gradually increase the training instensity. I am thrilled that my former officemate and my diabetic friend finished. I am proud that the “A” performance that I originally hoped for myself was awarded to my teammates. I am prouder still of the camaraderie and support that my teammates displayed in Subit. In my book, in the area of team support we are all podium winners. My “A” race will come, and God willing, it will happen in Camsur this August.

To God be the glory.

ENDURE

2011-04-29T18:45:00.000+08:00

ENDURE

Born out of camaraderie of takbo.ph

Attracted by the waters of Camaya

Nurtured on the pools of Bonifcaio, Aguinaldo and Mahogany Villas

Wheeled through the roads of C6, MOA, DH, Bugarin and Jala-Jala

Lured by the promise of Camsur 70.3

Founded on the shores of Anvaya

Bonded on the hills of Subic

Forged on the anvil of Subit

Spread triathlon love in Animo

Suited up in Powerade duathlon

Went to Camsur to become IronMen

Turned Rockstars on the beach of White Rock

A year after we go back to Subit
To do what we always love:
Swim, bike, run;
Eat, play, laugh.

Godspeed, teammates and friends :)

Power of Three

2011-04-11T09:10:00.000+08:00

Power of Three

3 races registered -

an aquathlon, a duathlon and a 10K.

3 PRs courtesy of friends:

a sub-50 swim-run, a sub-2hr dua,

and an awesome 51min foot race.

3 DNS in 7 days

all because of a calf muscle

that cramps when pulled or stretched!

3 times I've got this:

One coming out of pool lap in NAGT LB,

Two jumping on a VFF photoshoot,

Three going for a giant, air-filled Earth Ball.

3 weeks I set aside to tame my calf;

3 weeks are all I've got before Subit;

3 weeks to bring down my weight,

with only swimming as my exercise.

Sigh. sigh. sigh.

But the Power of Tri is such,

that a man is compelled to surge on against the odds

On May 1, I rely alone, on 3 years of tri wisdom,

and maybe some favors from gods

Neptune, Mercury and Mars.

Halika Bata, Mag-Yakult Tayo

2011-03-28T09:27:00.002+08:00

Race intimacy. I do not know if there is such a phrase, but this is something I have been longing for the past few months. I miss the good, old, inexpensive races. So when my left calf muscle finally loosened itself, I let go of Php300 for a chance to do my 4th Yakult 10-miler.

The Yakult 10-mile race is a classic and it never fails. Once again, Rudy Biscocho started earlier than advertised and I was late again. I did better this time actually. My friend Sid and I were just 4 or 5 minutes late! My Yakult tardiness record is about 30 minutes, so late I ended making a wrong turn at the start and running a total distance of 21kms instead of 16!

Sid and I were taking it easy after an arduous Sierra Madre ride the day before. Easy runs can do wonders to the body and spirit, especially on asphalt roads and cool weather. With no time pressure and under the cover of darkness, we even managed to do pee stops along more rustic portions of Roxas Boulevard (We were too late for the portalets at the start). Peeing on the road - one of life's guilty pleasures and something I have yet to do on the "sosyal" grounds of Bonifacio Global City. I did pee on the road on queaky clean Singapore during a marathon along with dozen others unable to find an open restroom in the wee hours of the morning.

The Yakult course is two loops along scenic Roxas Boulevard - best road for a run in my opinion if a race starts earlier than pollution. I am glad to report that I ran all throughout, even on the flyovers, and catching with many others along the way. Sid and I gradually caught up with the race crowd, and by km12, I upped the ante a bit by promising myself and my faster companion that we should overtake at least 20 runners from then on. We were on a negative split mode so it was a good challenge. Slowly we overtook them, mumbling the count to ourselves a good distance after every overtaken runner. Halfway through we already reached our target, so we simply counted how many more we can overtake. By the time we reached the finish line, the count has reached 42. We outlasted all 42, even the lone brave heart who tried to overtake us back. Not bad at all for an easy, cruising run capped by 3 bottles of Yakult.

It was fun observing the runners running towards or away from us. This crowd is clearly different from the usual crowd, but on that particular morning I actually welcomed the change. Like us, this crowd was here for a basic run, and we got what we wanted. There were two Kenyans, a generous sprinkling of nameless, serious runners, and hosts of ordinary people out to push themselves a bit. I saw familiar faces from Adination BHS, MOA and Alabang, running ninja Sam, forefoot runner Mar, as well as meek runner Anna taking photos and still basking on her TBR marathon finish :-)

In the middle of the run, Sid and I encountered a runner or two shouting "Endure" to us. We smiled and nodded back. I thought maybe they recognized me from my blog, or from our recent Endure BlackBerry Aquathlon, but our funny conversation from some people at the finish line made me think otherwise. At the finish line, we made small talk with a parent of our aquathlon participant. Before leaving they had a photo taken with us. They were on their way out when suddenly the dad blurted, "Wait, Sid, ikaw ba yung nasa Endure video "Halika Bata, Mag-Triathlon Tayo". We all had a nice laugh. Sid, sikat ka na. Haha.

You can view Sid's video for Endure's BlackBerry Love video contest here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8tNI63Ex0o

Check out Endure's BlackBerry Love on Facebook if you want to win a BlackBerry Curve phone.

Because Athena Also Runs

2011-03-08T23:17:00.002+08:00

In support of Women's Day and Women's Month, let me repost a poem I made in December 2008. One of the Best Things to happen in 2008 was More Women Running. Now in 2011, they even have an All Women's Run. Ladies, you have come a long way. I give you all a snappy salute. Here is a little tribute.

Girls in Pony Tails

From the corner of my eye I see her

Slender girl prancing on moving machine

Clad in capri and sleeveless top

Bouncing hair on pony tail.

-o-

On the road I behold her

Goddess of the Road on pony tail

Long limbs like a gazelle's

Strides smooth as a whisper.

-o-

On cyberspace I see her

Woman of substance and strength

Her stories regale us all

She with her charm and pony tail.

-o-

Every now and then I think of her

Artistic soul on pony tail

On races I sometimes see her

Someday I will get to know her.

In support of International Women's Day, I am promoting this all-women's race. Yup, no men allowed as participants, but admiring from the sidelines is allowed. Luckily for us male bloggers, we also got invited to the race launch. Women's Health was kind enough to give a complimentary kit for significant women in our lives, so I gave one to a good friend.

What is special about the race? Well, there is opportunity at last for women runners to let their guard down and run free from obnoxious male runners. Haha. The racer back singlet actually flatters the ladies, and the finisher charm bracelet for 5K and 10K finisher is indeed a charm. Make sure to be clad in the official singlet to receive the bracelet.

My beagle Athena would have wanted to run, but for now this is exclusive to women. Maybe Athena can join the Pet Express Run :-)

BDM Stories: Second Chance, Second Wind

2011-03-06T22:42:00.003+08:00

I was undecided till the last minute: Do I use my paid-for kit for RunUnited, or do I hie off to Pampanga to watch friends cross the BDM finish line? At about 5:30am my left calf strain complained it had not yet fully healed and decided to ditch the 10K race and loot bag. I have had enough freebies anyway. At 8am my overworked, undertrained body made a deal with my altruistic mind: transport the bike to Pampanga, bike the dusty road, and cheer your friends in the process.

I have a swarm of friends and acquaintances doing BDM, but foremost on my cheer list is my Endure Multisports teammate, Melvin. I know my other friends are ably supported by their running teams. Of the sputtering of acquaintances I have on that road, little did I know I would end up actively cheering for Julius. Here are their BDM stories.

Second Chance

Melvin Pangan is a fast endurance runner and triathlete. He has several sub-4hrs marathons under his belt, and 6hrs++ finish in Ironman 70.3 and WhiteRock Triathlon. Among the triathlon disciplines, he is strongest on the run. Sadly, in the 2010 edition of Bataan Death March Ultramarathon, he had to stop somewhere between km70 and 80 if I am not mistaken. Bad luck or miscalculation, I do not know really know, but he did not finish that edition, and today March 6 he had mission to complete.

I arrived at km 102 at around 10:30am. I wasted no time and took out my mountain bike to trace back the route. I tried to cheer every BDM participant I met by saying "Go, go, go, sir (ma'am)" or smiling, nodding and doing the thumbs up. Many reciprocated, a few are simply too tired to respond. No worries. Maybe once I do an ultamarathon myself I would know what is a better and meaningful thing to say or do.

I met man-on-a-mission Melvin at km93 steadily running like it was just another marathon. I was prepared to support Melvin all the way to the finish line, to make sure his dream materializes this time, but Melvin disappointed me. He did not need me! Haha. The guy was still strong as a bull. Ok well, maybe a bull who has pastured through 94kms of hot grassland already. I biked alongside Melvin for a while chatting and clandestinely checking his physical and mental state. He was running, he was tired but in good spirits, with humor still showing.

After several meters it dawned on me to ask: "Wait, pwede ba ako bike along? Allowed ba ang bike pacer?" Melvin sheepishly answered, "Actually pare, hindi. Haha. BR is BR and he is strict." With that I moved ahead, but Melvin, admonished me to wait by his support vehicle ahead and meet his wife and brother-in-law. Among the many things I realized biking the route was that: Ang ultra, di lang pang sports, pampamilya pa. So many families and friends out there on the road it looked like barrio fiest!

I met Melvin's family and crew, snapped a few shots, and in less than 5 minutes man-on-the-run was off running again. After ensuring that he has no running issues aside from the given heat and fatigue, I bid him good-bye. "Takbo na, nasa top 20-something ka so just go for it." I made a mental note to try to go back for his finish, but it turned out I had to check on more friends till km80, I could not be as fast on an MTB as on a roadie (duh!?), and at one point I had to stop on a carinderia at baka ako pa ang mag-collapse sa gutom.

Melvin was greeted instead by teammates Carina and Marga at the finish line. The buzz I heard was that he finished #25 out of 159 or so participants. You did yourself, your family and friends proud, bro. Take a bow!

Second Wind

Now the BDM run of this second athlete was not as relaxed and self-assured as that of Melvin. Julius came into BDM just recovering from shin splints. I saw him the first time somewhere in km 84. I would meet him again somewhere between km 94 and 93. I really like Julius's BDM story, and frankly, I am raring to write it down and share it. But I am really just an impromptu support crew. Julius is the main man who ran those excruciating 102kms. The spotlight should be on him.

Julius, rest well, recover, and pamper yourself. After that we will await your story. Maybe then I can share the supporters' point of view during the last 8kms we trodded together. Eto lang ang parting words ko for now, "Hindi kasama ang pag-kanta ng Rocky team song sa support duties." LOL!

Small is Beautiful

2011-03-04T08:21:00.003+08:00

I can easily recall my most memorable foot races.

The 5k run that defined me and inspired the title of this blog is a small Milo elimination race in Baguio. My first race back in 2003, I was late, no warm-up, sprained an ankle in my stupidity and haste, persevered and limped the whole way to complete my first 5k and claim my first finisher shirt. Small race, lasting impressions.

My favorite 10K thus far is the 2008 Ictus Run in UP Diliman. It was my alma mater's centennial, I was running for a personal best in honor of my beloved university. It was my personal offering, my oblation run. I came short, but my personal effort - it was pure, it was honorable. Small race, grand intentions.

My best marathon experience occured not in clean and fancy Singapore, but in hot and dusty Manila. In 2009, a small group of friends and I did our maiden marathon during the Milo eliminations, supported by well-meaning friends who believed in our quest for self-actualization. It was a most beautiful story of camaraderie, encouragement, community spirit and mutual support. The 42k Milo crowd was smaller then, but big on courage, heart and spirit. Small race, overwhelming experience.

I long to experience again the beauty of the small race. On March 27, I shall do my favorite Yakult 10-miler for the 4th time if I am not mistaken.

BDM drama unfolds through my BlackBerry Screen

2011-02-27T23:55:00.001+08:00

February 26, 2011
Saturday, close to midnight

For the last 15 hours I have been glued to this black gadget I cradle in my palm and poke with my fingers. Through a 2"x3" screen I read in awe, fascination, inspiration and concern the development in the ultramarathon race that is Bataan Death March 160Km. An unassuming Everyman, Wilnar Iglesia, of Endure Multisport, Team CB and The PowerPuff Boys, is leading the race since this morning. That was my magic screen was saying. I have been glued to the screen since then.

The nifty gadget is a BlackBerry Torch 9800, current top of the line smartphone from the venerable company Research in Motion, maker of BlackBerry. Thanks to local reseller MicroWarehouse, RIM and my team Endure, I have this wonderful plaything. Honestly, I resisted it at first. I was a long-time fan of the user-friendly Nokia phones. Nokia phones I've had might have been easily breakable, but when it came to user interface, Nokia reigned supreme. Until I met BB Torch with its Operating System 6. I was converted.

BlackBerry Love
There are several things I love:

1. Email

(finally I get to open my yahoo inbox regularly, instantaneously!)
Here is a vital update from triathlon yahoogroup

2. BlackBerry Messaging (BBM)

Nothing comes close. This is the power app!

BBM Chat:
Topic: The BDM 160 Phenom that is Wilnar

BBM Chat Groups:

Don't mix business and pleasure; create discussion groups!

BBM Pictures:
Share pictures of runners, trade bike porn, tease dieters with food!

Endure support crewing cooking for Ronald on the right.

and lastly my favorite application of all

3. FACEBOOK

Wilnar with half a marathon left.

I was so glued to the BDM events I had to wait for Wilnar to finish before the stroke of midnight. Awesome, inspiring finish for a meek, humble guy that goes with the moniker handle Simply_Wilnar.

I just have to comment on Wilnar's Wall

I was so into the BDM online updates that I was still up way past midnight. So into it, I fell asleep holding my BlackBerry and waking up late for EDSA run.

I continued my online tracking of my friends' BDM progress in the morning. There was a mixture of anticipation, inspiration, sadness and hope as few end their attempt at personal glory, while others beat the odds and plodded on. The beauty of BDM lies not in its staggering distance, but in how ordinary men push their limits with full support of friends. Through the power of technology, I felt like I was there.

Let me end with a partial BBM post of Luis Arcangel, aka Gingerbreadman (GBM), an Endure teammate and recent BDM 160 finisher. Luis, Ronald, Wilnar and the rest of the 59 valiant men, we await details of your personal stories:

What I Did for Love

2011-02-14T14:36:00.001+08:00

Accompanied and taught officemates to swim at lunctime - the only common time we've got.
Swam along a friend for 1.5km straight to convince my friend that it is possible.
Taught a host of friends the basics of swimming.
Organized a mock aquathlon to convince friends that it is fun and doable.
Did number #4 four times for different sets of people. This became the SWAC series.
Paced a friend for the slowest, craziest 5k, enroute to my friend's becoming an ultramarathoner.
Organized race support for our group of first-time marathoners.
Rallied friends to support fellow runners besieged by Ondoy.
DNF'ed a marathon to accompany a dehydrated friend to a hospital.
Wiped out the bitterness of the DNF by loading drinks into my vehicle the following day, vowing never again would I and my friends suffer from dehydration. Camping out on a hill with friends cheering other friends out to do their first pikermi.
Witnessed friends learn how to bike. Biked with friends on their first century ride.
Risked my half-ironman training plan, did very long runs with a friend, and ran a marathon because I promised my friend it will be fun and glorious thing to do on one's birthday.
Signed up for another half-ironman because I want to witness friends do it.
Walked several kilometers to the run route of a long distance triathlon, organized an impromptu cheering squad of street kids, and screamed ourselves hoarse clapping and cheering Go,Go, Go.
Picked up my bike after a half-marathon, tucked in water bottles in my bag and clothes, and went back and forth to deliver water to a well-loved, first-time marathoner friend and her posse of pacers.
Repeat number 15 for a string of second-timer marathoner friends.
Commented on friends' blog every now then because I knew they needed the encouragement.
Pushed friends to write blogs because I knew they have the knack for it.
Founded a team to solidify our love for multi-sport.
Became the reluctant leader who sometimes bore the brunt of things.
Squeezed creative juices to raise funds.
Moderated, mediated, bridged or tolerated differences in a forum
Brought people together. A few even became couples.
Wrote a blog and shared my personal stories.
Never stopped believing in the power of love and the triumph of the human spirit.

Five is Feasible

2011-02-11T09:12:00.002+08:00

I stood there on my favorite strip of BGC contemplating the run ahead. There was I, about 20 lbs still above my race weight, apprehensive and excited about my speed interval. Six hundred meter warm-up and then I come upon the spot where my dreams of speed begin. Stretch, and stretch some more. Open up your muscles - your hip flexors and glutes - I would remember Kettlebell instructor Nico some sessions back.

I reset my watch and clicked start. I surge ahead, lengthened my stride, pushed until my breath almost ran out. I was almost dying, but four hundred meters after, I pressed my watch and looked in amazement! Two minutes flat. Was that good or bad? I did a slow math in my shortness of breath. That translated to 5min/km! Really, as in really? Great, a window of hope opened.

But that was 400m of gasping run. Speed has to be a glorious, exhilirating thing. It should be minutes-long, continuous, happiness ride. Or maybe cycles of orgasmic nirvana. Certainly not a juvenile, pre-mature expression of delight. Ergo, I have to last more than 400m of speed!

Experience and maturity should have given me endurance, control and some mastery of technique. If I have to last, speed up through technique, not brute force or pawning of your legs and lungs.

I gingerly jogged to my starting spot. Technique, technique. Breathe deeply in regular cycles, use the bigger muscles. Run from the core of your being. And I did. Four hundred meters after and I clocked 1:57. Yahoo!

I came back. In my excitement and I powered through the run again. I exceed two minutes by a second! Blah! I came back once more. Still above two minutes. Darn! My cumulative average is still above two minutes.

I went back bargaining with myself. I could leave that spot that night doubting my speed, or I can claim what is rightfully mine. I took a sip and cleared my mind. Think comfortably fast. And I did. Run in the moment. Revel in that delicate balance of power, speed and self-control. Speed need not be excruciating. It can be the most marvelous of things.

Marvelous indeed. 1:54 for my last lap without passing out nor breaking my shins. 9:55 for 2kms of trysts with speed. 1:59 average per lap.

Five minutes per kilometer is feasible. Maybe even better. I don't know when I could use that in a race, but in my mind it was a done deal already. Dozen, hundred, thousand more laps and my race pace of choice shall drop too. By sheer will, with God's grace, Yeah, five is feasible!

Condura in my Mind

2011-02-04T10:32:00.001+08:00

The Condura Run is special for me for the memories it evokes and the milestones I associate with it.

The 2009 edition for me was extra special. Before then, there were not many half-marathons and longer distances. I could only remember the Adidas KOTR 21K, Milo Marathon and New Balance 25K as the races for those who run long. The running boom was manifesting signs, but it was still not quite there. Condura was the tipping point. The Concepcions pointed to the Skyway as some lofty ideal, and the runners responded.

But the beautiful story for me is how runners helped one another in the run-up towards the race. A handful of runners from takbo.ph - new acquaintenances but all eager runners - rocked their brains out on how to encourage the runners to try the then formidable distance that is 21K. Jinoe and Que Gavan, Lyndon Cosico, Nathaniel Garcia, Cathy Daza and myself met many times to plan that fateful March 8 LSD when security guards in BHS were surprised by the turn-out at dawn by about sixty runners.

At at time when the only carbo-loading one can hear about is that for Milo Marathon finalists, takbo.ph came up with a CLP that is an attempt to put runners and bloggers in one roof. The CLP was also a meeting place to discuss a support station that shall eradicate the concerns about hydration and nutrition then. That support station would be emulated in many marathons and ultramarathons that followed.

I missed running the 2010 version, but I trained with friends and booked the first flight to Manila to catch them finish their first marathon. The Galloway method that a handful of us experimented in 2009 was brought to fore when many converts and advocates finished their maiden marathon infury-free and strong. The 2010 Condura Marathon was a milestone not only for many first time marathoners, but also for attracting the largest number of marathoners in a single local race I believe.

For the 2011 edition, my friends are either gunning for marathon PRs, using the race as training run for ultramarathon, or running or doing support in silent tribute to the race thay they once loved and hope to continue loving. I am part of this last group.

I shall be there in the Skyway in my black takbo.ph singlet, launched in the 2009 unofficial Condura CLP and worn with pride during the first running foray onto the Skyway. I am a founder and member of Endure Multi-sports team, but on that fateful day I am an ordinary runner submitting himself to the greater good of the running community. In the current sea of running clubs and teams, I pay tribute to the values that made Condura Run, takbo.ph, and maybe even the running boom today: self-actualization done in the spirit of collective support and fun.

On Sunday, amidst the sea of colors, may we all realize that we are runners all sharing the same road. Godspeed everyone!

Sorely Missed

2011-01-31T00:06:00.002+08:00

In December 2008, I had this blog entry entitled In Search of Heroes. I was a prodigal runner then desperately searching for running inspiration. I found them in blogs. If all I wanted was information, I could have simply used Google. But I did not want to be told what to do; I wanted to be moved.

For one reason or another, my heroes changed focus or faded into the background. Now, more than ever, I miss the following bloggers:

Just Another Head Fake

Sink or Swim

2011-01-17T08:47:00.001+08:00

Yesterday I did my first aquathlon for the year. It was actually a repeat of my first ever aquathlon back in 2009, where a then nervous Ian approach me, recognizing me from my blog. It was actually a case of the blind leading the blind, as apart from two mini-sprint triathlons and a long ago sprint triathlon, I was a newbie too. Ian has moved on to become a strong triathlete now based in sports-crazy Down Under, and I moved on to work oblivion after finishing a half-ironman :-)

That I made it to the 2011 Wetshop Aquathlon was already a triumph of sorts. I have never been busier in my whole career. I asked God for work challenges and He gave me a mountain load of them (Be careful...and specific!... about what you pray for). I managed to register simply because I was in the area for our Endure board meeting. I scheduled practice swims and hill runs only to cancel them because I was still rummaging through a mountain of work. From my holiday offseason, I managed three sessions of labored swims and one Sunday run. Good luck to me!

I finished unofficially in 47++ minutes. 27+ for an 800m swim and 20+ for a 3K hill run. Eeek, I was barely a minute faster than the 2009 edition, where the swim was actually 950m! I was 42 out of 44 then. I think I outswam and outran more than 3 or 4 this time! Haha. I wonder what the official results are.

To start and to finish. I have learned to cherish those little victories. In the busy-ness of work I crave for them like a candy to a child. I am about 25 lbs over my race weight from stress-eating. I could feel that weight threatening to weigh me down, but I swim nonetheless. Sink or swim; freeze or run.

For 2011, no matter how hard it may be, I choose to swim and run. Every occasion to do so is a little victory.

Room For God

2011-01-11T00:20:00.000+08:00

Last weekend my grand plan was to train (swim, bike and run), do pending stuff for my multi-sport team Endure, put into writing those overdue blog entries in my head, tackle the take-home work, and then go out and hear mass. In my physical and mental exhaustion, I only managed the first two and the last task. I skipped the emotional release that is my blog and the bread-and-butter that is work for spiritual nourishment and a chance at love. Bahala na. I think I got my priorities right naman.

I hurriedly went to Greenbelt to catch the evening mass. I circled the basement park lot about 3 times when I blurted out in frustration. Lord, minsan lang ako makapag-simba, bigyan mo naman ako ng park slot. Lo and behold, an SUV vacated a prime slot just in front of the mall basement entrance. There is indeed a God!

I decided to loiter inside the mall while I wait for my companion and for the mass to start. On the middle of the aisle I saw the Condura Marathon registration. I was eyeing the 21K marathon distance of that race, but I was simply too busy to register for it. Registration for long distances was already closed days before, but I heard organizers might open new slots. I casually asked and had to ask this twice in disbelief: Are you sure meron pa talagang 21K slot? Yes, there is a slot. Yes there is a God.

I registered in a jiffy. Eight minutes tops to complete the process. Five minutes to eat my free Hershey bar while I bring my unexpected Condura kit back to the car. Hurry up I said. In my Condura excitement, I forgot the mass has started.

I reached the church in that part of the homily where the priest explained: It is alright to have goals. Short-term, medium-term and long-term. But leave some room for God. Leave room for Him to do miracles in your life. I smiled. I just experienced a small one. In a few moments my companion arrived. God does His miracles in quirky ways - like park slots, race kits, flaming cheese and vanilla ice cream.

Lunti Run

2011-01-01T23:28:00.004+08:00

Distances:
1.5km (for 12 years old and below)/ 3km / 6km / 12km

Registration fee:
1.5km – 300php // 3km – 350php // 6km – 400php // 12km – 450php (RACE KIT includes: Event Singlet, Race bib and stub for 20% off on regular priced New Balance item)

UP Students may register at the UP IE Club Tambayan (3^rdflr, Melchor Hall)

You may also register online at http://runnersrunner.com/luntirunCheck out our FACEBOOK page at http://facebook.com/luntirun

Other registration sites are:
- SECONDWIND stores (45 Malingap St. Teachers Village, QC || Ortigas Home Depot, PASIG CITY)
- NEW BALANCE shops (Festival Mall, Alabang || Shangri-la Plaza); Saturdays and Sundays
- BIKE KING PHILIPPINES (Bonifacio High Street)

- MJ46 Factory Outlet (Bicutan)

- The Village Sports Club (BF Homes Parañaque)

(Registration is until March 20 only!)

RACE ANNOUNCEMENTS

2011-01-01T23:20:00.012+08:00

Oct 9 October Run Festival

Oct 15 Nike We Run Manila

Oct 16     National Age Group Triathlon (NAGT) Ayala Alabang

Oct 23     Adidas King of the Road

Oct 29     Adobo Run

Nov 6      Chevrolet New Balance Run

Nov 13    Run United 3

Dec 4      Macau Marathon

Dec         National Age Group Triathlon (NAGT) UP Los Banos

All I want for Christmas is Lego

2010-12-22T08:56:00.000+08:00

To create so much with so little. That is my memory of Lego.

Many Christmases ago I received a small box. A humble Lego set no more than 20 pieces that magically transform into a doctor riding a car ambulance. That box, small and simple it maybe then, brought me months of joy. With child wonder and enthusiasm I toyed with the pieces, reveling in each funny, crazy, outrageous combination I did with no more than 20 pieces.

Back then I sometimes wished I had more Lego sets - the pricey ones with gazillions of pieces. Looking back I think I did well with less. Did better with just 20 pieces. I wonder how much my imagination was stretched by having to make do with just 20 pieces.

This Christmas all I want is the Lego of my childhood. To remind myself that in this rat race I am in now, a child with enthusiasm and creativity can accomplish so much with so little.

Have a Lego christmas =)

Inspired by a Facebook post from Mark Mulder.

Urbanathlete Daw

2010-11-16T15:24:00.001+08:00

Having fun at Urbanathlon

(photo courtesy of Topher Montaos)

As early as the first edition in 2008, I have always wanted to do the Men's Health Urbanathlete Obstacle Run. I have always done obstacles as a kid way up till my teen years. Tires, hurdles, balance beam. How different would they be from my kiddie monkey bars and jungle gym? I've been there, done that...AS A KID.

This full-grown, overweight adult wants to be carefree and agile again. So despite the poundage yet to be shed from my extended athletic break and the calories from stress-eating that my new job is threatening to convert into fat, I signed on for 2010 Urbanathlon. I intended to sign up only for 5k, but ended up registering for 10K lured by the medal. Some habits die hard.

I was late for 10k, had to skip the tires and balance beam because of the long line of 5k people at the start. I did the garter maze, the hurdles where I almost pulled a groin muscle (note to self: stretch!), and the crawl where I was happily dirty and surprisingly fast. Ha!

On the last 50 meters the 8-ft Wall looms large. Despite prior pleadings to organizers Ian Alacar, Jinoe Gavan and Doc Lyndon, there were no cheat steps on the wall. So how am I going to pull up my XXX-pound self over that Wall? I observed and debated for a while and came to a conclusion: Maybe I can huff and grunt my wall over that wall, but honestly, I prefer to scale that Wall in better condition. So I sped towards the finish line to finish my 10K, took the time penalties and claimed my 10k finisher medal. Enough exertion for the day. The Wall will still be there for the taking. In my preferred time, in my personal style.

Transitions

2010-10-18T09:32:00.004+08:00

NAGT Alabang. Oct 17 (Photo by Carina / Marvin)

It's been a while.

A lot has happened in almost two months after I did the Ironman 70.3 in Camsur. I celebrated my completion of that formidable feat by eating to my heart's content for at least a week. Travel mate Ronald and I made sure we partook of sinful foods like crispy pata before we drove back to Manila. I easily gained 5lbs post-70.3. For two weeks after the race, I did little athletic activity - the most arduous was a 300m swim I managed to squeeze in between chats in the pool. No bike, no run. After 8 months of training I deserved it.

I wish I had the luxury of loafing after the race but I did not. I spent the two-week vacation I had in two equal parts: a week tapering and doing the race, the other week packing my life's material hoard in 12 balikbayan boxes, hauling them off along with furniture and plants in two truck loads into a new place, and unpacking them before starting a new work routine in a new company. I thought triathlon transitions are hard, but they are nothing compared to life's transitions.

It's been a while but I'm back. In the happy flurry that is work, I rejoice in those short morning walks or occasional sprints I do in the hills of Pasig, and in the Thursday swim nights with friends. Yes, I now share the same training hills with good friend Gingerbreadman although I think my friend runs on a different timezone. On the hills of Pasig I walk in Vibram Five Fingers, or sprint like a kid in my favorite K-swiss Ironman shoes. Meanwhile, in the cacophony of new things in my life, those night swims prove comfortably familiar.

This morning I did the min-sprint triathlon in Ayala Alabang. A mini-sprint! After an Ironman 70.3! My friends are incredulous! But in my personal scheme of things the mini-sprint fit perfectly. I signed up because I wanted to speed up. In 70.3 I have proven to myself that I can endure. This time, I want to be fast, or at least better than the turtle pace I used to love. That my new work allows only enough training time for a mini-sprint did factor in the decision.

I found myself sharing the starting line with tri newbies Neil and Timmy, classmates in our Thursday swim nights. I swim better than them, but in a mini-sprint, how many minutes can you actually lead over the newbies? Moreover, Tim and Neil might not have done a triathlon yet, but they like newbies of today have the privilege of training with those who already passed the rite of passage. I remember training for my first ever triathlon (a UPLB sprint!) all by lonesome, occasionally sharing the pool with then newbie (now coach) Ige Lopez. In 2008 when I came back to triathlon, I was the default swim "coach" of our office "team" of mini-sprinters, simply because of that lone 2003 triathlon experience. Among the four of us, I clocked in the best time of 17minutes for a 350m swim. Yup 17 minutes! Then 48min for bike and 21 minutes for the run. Finished in 1:26 minutes. I asked multi-sport batchmate Ian what was his first mini-sprint time and he said 1:21. He finished 70.3 in less than 7 hrs (6:30 I think).

A month after I joined the mini-sprint again and shaved 12 minutes from my pathetic time. This time, 1:14, with 10++ for swim, 38min for bike and 24min for the run. I walked in parts, but maybe because I burned my legs riding my mountain bike.

Last Sunday, I was thrilled to get out of the pool at 7:33 in my watch. With an 8++ time for the swim including the jog to the transition, I think I was in the upper quartile at least in the swim leg. It pays to have that experience of washing machine swims and knowing that you used to swim 2k straight for the last few months. A half-ironman vet slugging it out with the newbies. Haha. What I lack in innate physical skills, I shall make up with experience, technique and wisdom :-)

But really, it was not about me competing with others. It's me competing with myself. My teammates made fun bets on us (Neil, Tim and myself) but I took it all in stride. I have my own agenda: Do better, and in the process pull up others or be pulled up by them. I spent several Thursday swim nights pulling the leg, tickling feet, splashing water, and cutting swim paths of the newbies including Noelle and Karen. That should do them good.

And it did. Noelle came out of the water 3rd or 4th, winning the Mini-sprint in the end. I shall bask in her reflected glory by saying that not only did I convince her to run (and qualify) for Milo marathon, but I also persuaded her to give triathlon a try. Haha. Good job, Noelle! Kudos too to Karen who survived the swim to claim the 3rd place spot. Tim and Neil did good too, with swim splits of 9 and 10 minutes, respectively.

Ecstatic from the swim, I also had good transition one. I ditched the socks and dove my feet straight into my tri shoes (well, not really, caused I wiped them with a towel first hehe). I was steadily biking going into the halfway mark when Neil biked past me. Goodness, Neil, I know you will pass me in the bike, but not so early please. Haha. I had my own bike pace but I tried hard to keep Neil on sight for as long as I could. I did not catch the mountain biker-turned-roadie Neil. What I did catch is my own personal bike record. I shaved 6 minutes off my previous record. Yehey! To do better on the bike is number one on my training agenda. Thank you Neil!

I had good transition 2 as well. I ditched the socks again, confident in the powers of my K-swiss Kona shoes. No dead weights on the legs so I steadily ran, although not as fast as I wanted, maybe because of the excess poundage. Sigh, Neil was not on sight. I knew I was on my way to beating my PR but I also tried to beat Neil in the process because a teammate had the good sense (or is it loyalty and friendship?) to bet on me. I would only see Neil just before Caliraya Street, already on his way back. If I followed what at least two people told me that the turnaround was Pagaspas St, that meant Neil was ahead of me by 300-400 meters. Kinda hard to catch up at that point so my spirit sank a bit. I slowed down to get a drink, and only then did it hit me. I was right, the turnaround was just Caliraya St. Grrr, I should not have slowed down and gave up so easily. That shall cost RJ Pancake House breakfast for Neil and Karen. Sorry my friend, but Neil had the momentum.

I tried to pick up pace and saw Timmy still on his uphill climb while I was dashing downhill toward the finish. I was steadily running and accelerating. What I did not know was Timmy was targetting me. Haha. That competitive guy! On my last 50 meters, Timmy darted from nowhere to steal my limelight. What the....But I stopped there. I had my moment in Camsur. Let this be Timmy's. And so Timmy crossed the finish line at 1:00:23. Me two seconds after, and 14 minutes better than my previous record. I did not beat the 60 minutes, but it was good enough. I was thrilled to know later that Tim had the second best run split in the mini-sprint in the effort to catch me. Well-done kiddo. You can always have that bragging right that in your first triathlon, you beat an Ironman 70.3 veteran. Same goes for you Neil who clocked in at 58min. See you both in longer races. Maybe that time I shall do better not only in my standards, but in yours too. Haha.

Congratulations everyone. Happy transitions :-)

IronWill (First of Two Parts)

2010-08-27T16:06:00.000+08:00

Arms that glide

Wheels that spin

Run with pride

With pure heart

and IronWill

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Lord is my Pacer; I shall not want

Two days before the race I arrived in Camsur anxious to try the much talked about lake. Everyone in my group said we should take it easy, but all set their watches to chrono mode. I emerged from the big lake 1,350 meters and 47 minutes later weighed down by doubt. I came out last, 3 full minutes behind the next swimmer. I was even outswam by a less-assured swimmer and a newbie. Normally I do not mind being last, so long as I stick to my planned comfortable pace. But that practice swim did not give me comfort. The water was heavy; I felt sluggish; my legs seemed to drag, and my hips seemed to be cramping. First time I had that kind of feeling. Yes I could still make it with that time, but the room for error then seemed smaller.

Knowing that the swim leg is usually just a warm-up, I trained for a even-paced, 60-minute 2km swim, or 3 minutes per 100m. On practice swims I hit 55 minutes at best aerobically with normal swim, and did not exceed 1:05 even with front sighting in dark pool water. Almost always, I would swim with negative split – the second 1km faster than the first.

Why the hell am I having doubts this late in the game? Because I dreamed about this for years, and now after 8 months of training, I am just days away. Because my personal quest has become a group aspiration now, with six of my friends putting in time and resources to cheer me and other friends. I could not let them down. I did not want to let myself down.

I spent the night anxious and woke up antsy. I wanted to get our bike recon by vehicle done asap so I could try the small lake next. It did not help that we made a wrong turn to the boundary of Albay in our recon and wasted precious practice or resting time. A few minutes before the practice cut off time in the small lake, I dove into the water determined to fish out my confidence. Counter-clockwise swim was hard as I am a right side breather, but I pushed myself hard to get a good time. I did it in 15 minutes – enough to salvage my confidence. Forty-seven minutes in the big lake, a minute of run/walk, 15 minutes in the small lake, and 2 minutes extension for water chaos should give me 1:05. The last five minutes are for the uncertain.

I was still anxious night before the race. I simply could not “Not Make It” to swim cut off time. I did not train this hard and waited this long simply to be stopped on my tracks because the bell has sounded off. There was too much invested and too much at stake. I could swim a wee bit faster for greater time allowance, but I would be risking my race strategy of even effort all through-out. I decided it was worth a try, but how much faster I should go I did not know exactly. Underwater, there was no Garmin to tell me how fast I would be going.

The pressure was threatening to get the best of me so I threw it all up to Him. The Lord shall be my Pacer. I shall not want nor need anything else.

I woke up race day with a tight ball of a cramp on my right calf. What the ??? Was it because I swam hard after driving long and walking frequently the day before? I do get those occasional wake up cramps from sleeping on the wrong side, but why now!? The cramp ball hurt so badly it took 10 minutes for me to be able to stand, another 5 to be able to walk to the washroom, and that one hour after the muscle still faintly throbbed. Please God, not on a lake where more than 600 of us would swim, and where someone died last year.

As I walked towards the lake for a practice swim, I saw a low-flying chopper pass over. Seconds later, a 2' X 2' signage stand moved about and came hurtling through the walkway squarely towards me. In a split second the cramping and semi-limping me managed to jump vertically to let speeding structure go pass me, but the metal frame edges of the sign still hit both of my calves. Oh God, no, please. I had enough pressure, and my calf was still recovering, the last thing I needed was another bad omen. Please tell me You were just testing me.

Photo courtesy of RJ

After two swim dips, it was time for the race. I found myself starting alongside a friend and we agreed to pace each other, but several meters ahead I would get bumped by my left-veering friend. I decided to let him pass and go to his right instead. I didn't see him after that but results would show later he did just fine. Better than me actually. Well-done!

Let us try to pace together

For the whole duration of the big lake swim I relied mainly on right side sighting to conserve energy and go faster. Wary of my legs, I used my upper body to propel myself forward, and consciously paddled stronger on my weaker leftside. Long, smooth strokes. Glide. Those were my mantras. Water visibility was not as bad as told in stories for I could actually make out the trisuits of those on my breathing side. Unlike my dreaded practice swim days ago, I actually enjoyed the swim in the big lake. The faster above-40 males and the female athletes caught up with me on the return, but commotion was really nothing compared to those served to me by my helpfully bad teammates during practice swims. Or maybe I simply felt invincible and protected. It was calm, joy and grace that brought me to a 41-minute big lake swim – 6 minutes better than my previous one! I was ecstatic. God was pacing me indeed!

I was all smiles coming out of the big lake. Running on the mat to the small wakeboard lake I could hear familiar voices cheering me on. Marga, Ellen, Carina, RJ, Marvin and Emil, I could not thank you enough.

Out of the big lake, running to the small lake

Photo courtesy of Cherry of Vibram Five Fingers

The smaller lake was a more difficult challenge because of the counter-clockwise direction, but the difficult part already passed. I could relax just a bit. I front-sighted going to one end, breastroked to navigate the curved turn at the far side, and then veered to the right buoys for regular side sighting.

I was done in 1:00:23. Just within training expectations! I was a third already of a half-ironman. Just make my way to the bike and sulit na ang pagod at bayad! Thanks be to God!

God be with Me

Bike safe, have fun. That was all I wanted during the bike leg. I simply must survive the bike leg so I could proceed to the run. I am a slow rider and runner, but I have enough run experience to actually fare better there. Conserve during the bike so I could sprint to the finish line. That was the plan.

I might have conserved too much. The first 10kms I was cycling too conservatively at 25-8kph that a lady biker joked from behind: “You can do better than that, Rico! C'mon!” I just smiled. How does one tell a lady that I was actually having crotch issues at that time? Something seemed to be scraping against my nether regions. On race week I discovered belatedly that my Adamo saddle was too far back, way beyond the allowed maximum. The mistake was hidden by my huge Deuter saddle bag, now replaced by the sleek Xlab. Comfort vs safety? It was only on race day that I discovered that a centimeter could make a lot of difference on riding comfort.

I finally eased up on the saddle about 20kms into the ride. I was raring to catch up but that stretch was marked with road pockmarks. The fast biker is the one who manages to stay on the bike and ride flat-free, I told myself. So I diligently watched the road instead. God be with me was my constant prayer. I prayed harder when I saw athletes on the road with bike issues; more so when I saw directly a woman on a stretcher apparently hit by a bike. God be with me.

I was fast being overtaken by others so I decided to amuse myself instead. I took in the majestic views of the paddies and mountains, and interacted with the cheering crowd on the road. I rocked my body to the tempo of the children's “Go, go, Ironman”. I grinned liked a celebrity. Just like Terenzo Bozzone, I felt like a rock star. I was even called moviestar names: Sam, John Lloyd, Coco, Piolo, etc. It was all good until some nasty kids broke my delusion: “Taba, taba!” Shucks, I wanted to be trim for this Ironman, but I should not have insisted on a medium size for my tri-top. The suit felt like a compression shirt all this time and emphasized my round belly. I unzipped it a bit so I could relieve some of the pressure on my diaphragm!

My long bike ride was a continuous nutrition and hydration exercise. Eng Bee Tin ube pastillas Hopia, CDO cashew nuts and honey gel on my bento box, plus Gatorade and water on my plastic bottles. It felt like a picnic, with food as reward for kilometers passed, but I was careful about hydration to eliminate the mild bloat I was feeling. I might have drank too much pre-swim and during transition.

I shall remember this Half-ironman ride for the “Go, go Ironman” cheers and the rare opportunity to ride on aero position for long stretches. In Subit out of fear I probably used my aero bars for a maximum of 500m in toto, but here in Camsur I was cruising on the bars for up to 2-3kms in certain stretches. I felt like a kid let loose on a carnival. Finally, finally, I was crouched on the bike aerobars like the rest of the triathlon community. I would feel the newbie pain on my shoulders and back the next day, but what the heck, on those precious moments, I felt like an Ironman.

I tried playing catch up on the way back from the 45km turnaround. It was hard not because I was losing steam, but because the locals have begun to use their tricycles, motorbikes and pedicabs on the supposedly closed road. At one point I had to stop and dismount for a moving tricycle and a pedicab were blocking the course lane, and motorbikes were going the opposite direction on the other lane. That it had to happen on an uphill and that I had to walk my bike a few meters ahead for better angling was a bit of a downer. I wasted precious time. I was hesitant to use the aerobars more frequently for fear that some kid would suddenly cross the road and I wouldn't be quick enough to shift to the breaks. I still loved their cheers, but my constant prayer was: Please do not stay too close to the road. God, watch over all of us.

On the last 10kms I would catch up with a few bikers, but it was a bit late. I erred on the side of caution and would end the ride minutes behind my 3:30 target. But it was alright. I pretty much had even speed all throughout the 90kms. I had fun. I was safe. I was heading home to the finish. That's all that matters.

IronWill (Second of Two Parts)

2010-08-27T16:05:00.001+08:00

God Rained on My Parade!

Then came the run. Ah, I had been waiting for this part for hours. I have always dreamed that I would finish my first half-ironman with a sprint worthy of the race reputation. Even pace with strong finish. That was the divine script.

Out to run

Photo courtesy of RJ

I exited transition 2 a bit tired but in very high spirits. I was glad to see support group Marga cheering me on. Camera-toting Marvin would shout, “Go Rico, you can still do it” as I exited the transition area. I had about 3 hrs and 3 minutes to spare. That was it. Just run like you have always done and everything will come to a glorious end.

It was blazing hot starting my run on noontime, but I surged on. Thankfully, although I had signs of fatigue, my legs were not dead weights at the start of the run. I was so happy to be back in the race and see familiar faces. Way behind, I hoped to catch up in the run. The weather condition was tough, but I knew in my heart that running in the heat and running tired are two of my relative strengths.

It was a lot tougher than I expected. I saw people dazed, melting and chugging along like zombies in the blazing heat. Being conservative on the bike, I knew I was in better condition than some of them, but the heat and fatigue did get into me. I would run and walk. For the first time in my running career I would willingly pour water on my head and not avoid the water showers. I was confident my K-Swiss Kona shoes could handle the water. Those showers, I actually looked forward to them.

On the steep descents and ascents I would walk. On aid stations I would walk. But I pretty much run, err jogged, the rest of it. I finished the first 10.5kms a little over 1.5hrs. I could still make it. Jonas would see me and shout, “Negative split, Rico”. I gave back a half-hearted smile: negative split in this heat and fatigue? It was a long shot but I would try.

It was not only the heat and the progressive fatigue that were bothering me. I also felt bloated. The heat made me want to drink a lot, but I knew I had to take just sips. I contented myself to pouring more water on the head. Time was fast ticking. Just run below 8min/km, Rico, and you would make it to cut off time. Think half-iron dreams. Technique under fatigure. Dig deep. Remember how you ran long with Noelle for Milo marathon despite you being tired and race spent. Remember that piece of note from Marga that you grabbed from an envelop of well-wishes and how it remained safe and dry, enclosed in micro plastic bag deep inside your Zoot side pocket. Remember the inspirational video your friends made and how all of them were all waiting for you at the finish line. The race was no longer yours alone; it was also theirs. Now go out there and give it your best run!

The Lord was with me till the end. After my first 12km, He commanded the skies to turn overcast. It was a sign I was looking for and I soldiered on. I remembered the first time I did a 36km long run preparatory to my marathon. It was a solo run and way past lunchtime. I was hungry, tired and about to give up when suddenly the sky turned overcast and blew a most soothing cool breeze that stayed with me till the finish. Moments like those I feel God's love.

At kilometer 16 in Camsur it rained. At that precise moment, my heart wept with joy. You really want me to finish this strong, don't You? I could not thank You enough.

I remembered my TriKing simulation in Subic. It was searing hot from swim till the first 5k of the run, I was melting during the run, when suddenly heavy rain poured down from the sky. Just like that I got refreshed and finished the run exhilirated.

On my Timex watch and Garmin I had 30 minutes to complete the last 3kms. Wow, I could actually finish the half-marathon with a negative split. I could walk the difficult parts and run the rest, and still make it to cut-off. I was running merrily when suddenly the rain stopped. Holy God! You knew what I was thinking! You cooled me with the rain, and now you commanded it to stop so I could have my photo taken at the finish! I am awed and humbled by your Grace.

I was running my heart out towards the big lake when I stumbled upon a friend by the road ditch. The lady I was pacing with reached my friend sooner. My friend was on his knees trying his best to vomit out the liquid and solids he had taken. This friend is built like an athlete but has troubles with nutrition and hydration strategy. I lingered for a while to check on him, wary about the ticking clock and the safety of my friend. Memories of 2009 Subic Marathon raced back to my mind. Am I being asked again to cut short my race and help a friend? I was in the midst of an internal debate when my friend replied, “Go ahead, bro.” Seeing that my friend remained coherent, I went back to the race, praying that the few finishers retracing back the run route would also check on my friend.

Enroute to the big lake I saw race director Eric Imperio on motorbike. I was glad he was there so he could check on my friend, but his calm, concerned words of “You have to pick up the pace” went straight to the jugular. I could hear the announcer shouting the names of the finishers. Could I still make it?

I willed myself to run in the vicinity of 7:30min/km around the big lake for as long as I could. I limited my occasional resting walks to a few seconds just to catch my breath and to about two instances around the lake. I thought I got the time and distance right, but I might have miscalculated. My Garmin distance was supposed to be about 350m ahead of the race kilometer markers, but my Garmin was already close to 21.5kms and I was still running around the lake. On the way down from the lake I finally ran on a descent. I shall deal with the pain later. Finally I was out of the lake and on my last 500-700 meters.

On the second to the last turn I looked at my watch and saw I still have about 3 minutes. Could I run a sub-6 pace? How long was the remaining distance to the finish? I did not wait for an answer and simply decided to accelerate. Half-iron dreams. I was so near yet so far. Run. Think fast. Run fast. Half-iron dreams.

Almost there.

Photo by RJ

I made my final turn and the finish line arc came into sight. I never wanted anything so badly. I was running with eyes transfixed on the clock. My Garmin would later reveal that my pace was falling sharply from 7:30min/km to 6mpk to a race best of 5mpk in that last stretch. Within the last 150-200m I finally read the clock details. Twenty seconds remaining. What was the world record for a hundred/two hundred meter dash? I did not know, but I knew in those last few seconds I zoned out and ran my heart out.

When I crossed the finish line I did not know if I made it on time. Everything suddenly came into a halt and time shifted to slow-motion. Only when the announcer blurted out: “Enrico Villanueva, you are an Ironman” did I snap back to reality. I had a finisher medal on my neck and ribbon lei from my support group. I got a tight hug from Marga and a “You've got guts there” congratulations from Ernie Lopez who welcomed the last of us finishers.

When I crossed the finish line I did not know if I would make it on time. What I did know then was that every great adventure deserves a strong finish. What I have always known is that Ironmen come in different forms. Some possess lightning speed; others will themselves to finish. On rare occasions, a lucky few witness awesome displays of God's grace. In 2010 Cobra 70.3 Ironman, the Lord was my Pacer, Marshal and Cheerleader. He gave me sun, rain and clear skies. I could not ask for anything more.

Thank you to all who have been part of my journey.

Personal results from Ironmanlive.com

ENRICO VILLANUEVA

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
341	38	PARA AQUE PHL

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
1:00:23	3:42:35	3:03:48	8:00:21	556	103

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	1.9 km (1:00:23)	3:10/100m	552	100

BIKE SPLIT 1	45 km (1:48:58)	24.78 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 2	45 km (1:53:37)	23.76 km/h
TOTAL BIKE	90 km (3:42:35)	24.26 km/h

RUN SPLIT 1: 10 km	10 km (1:27:58)	8:47/km
RUN SPLIT 2: 21.1 km	11.1 km (1:35:50)	8:38/km
TOTAL RUN	21.1 km (3:03:48)	8:42/km	556	103

TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				6:50
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				6:45

Anticipation

2010-08-18T23:43:00.001+08:00

Are you ready?

I have been asked and I have asked that question innumerable times, more frequent as the days count down to Cobra 70.3 Half-Ironman in August 22. The best response I've got so far is from Mari Javier, who retorted with practical wisdom: “Can you really be ready?” That was already running wonder and fast-rising duathlete/triathlete Mari speaking.

So am I ready? I wanted to say yes, for I have been dreaming about this since January 2009. I spent 2009 building the courage to sign up, and the last 8 months of 2010 facing up to the challenge. Eight freakin' months! That's 70.6kms of swimming, 1,842kms of cycling and 655kms of running since January 3, 2010. I can no longer recall how many 2km-swims I have done and how many 90km rides I've made, but I do know I've never been this dark in my whole life.

I have structured a training plan individually customized for my personal goals, character traits, strengths and weaknesses. A plan grounded on science (yes I poured over sports journals – no, not the magazines, but those venerable kinds peer-reviewed by sport scientists). A plan enriched by the personal experience of others. It was a plan meant for a strong finish with a smile, not necessarily a fast one. It was a plan mirroring the philosophy that major races are epic journeys, not just one day accomplishments. It was a plan that slowly builds up while allowing myself to actually enjoy the process. And what a journey it has been.

In a few days time my journey ends. I hope it culminates with a rapturous experience. On Sunday I will know if I have been a smart athlete or a foolish one. With my unorthodox training plan, well-meaning friends have advised me to avoid over-training. I wanted to be defensive and say, “ I may bike or run long, but I do not overtrain,” but I quietly heeded their advice and watched my recovery days. I slowly built up my endurance to aggressive distances, and aggressively followed a resting schedule.

After days or sometimes weeks of rest I actually feel my body rearing to go at it again. I felt this best in my runs. The more I cut back and rest, the stronger and a tad faster do I get. I broke my 10K run PB on what was supposed to be a day-after brick run, and I finally nailed a real 21k negative split in the Rexona run, again a supposed after-bike, day-after run. For the first time in 2 years, I am running without injury or physical concerns. Best part is I am actually enjoying the runs. Is this peaking?, I would ask myself. Part of me wants to rejoice and proclaim, “Yehey, my plan seems to be working!”. Pragmatic part of me says that running after a 90k ride in the noontime sun is an entirely different matter. I will be content if I can run 80% of the course.

Am I ready? I am ready only in the sense that I have done what needs to be done according to my training plan. But a race has a life of its own – with some factors not entirely within one's control. I have done countless mass swim starts, simulated chaos in the pool, and front-sighted in deep, dark, green pools, but nothing can prepare me fully for the electrifying/terrifying spectacle that is the CWC lake swim start. Truth is, although I consider myself a water baby, and I have clocked way below the 1:10 swim cut-off for a 2K swim, there is still that possibility that a swim incident can happen and I will end up not making it to cut-off. When that happens, I will be devastated, moreso because swimming is my (relatively) strongest suit.

Am I ready? For this race I braved and won some road battles. For several weeks I built courage in the safe confines of Daang Reyna, until one weekend I claimed my stake on Daang Hari and proclaimed myself a King of the Road. How I did it is a blog post of its own, but I leave for Camsur with that confidence that finally I am biking on real, open roads. I am village biker no more! With the help of a fast-forward seatpost and a crotch cradle that is Adamo saddle, I finally learned to love the aerobars. I am no master yet on those balancing metal beams, but I am hopeful that maybe on at least a third of the bike course, I will be on aero position.

I am equipped for busted inner tubes, but how does one prepare for a broken chain, a busted rear derailleur, a broken crank, a wheelset that misaligned from a bad fall? The bike legs scare the hell out of me for the possibilities for misfortunes are greater. But I really hope to rise above that worry and enjoy the more than 3 hours I will be on the saddle. Bike safety I pray for all.

Yes, I am ready to see if my hours of labor will bear fruit. Yes I am ready for the challenge and the spectacle. Yes I am ready to be inspired and inspire.

I do not know how long it will take and in what manner it will go, but I am ready for the adventure – the highs and the lows. So help me God.

It is by sheer will that I signed up and trained for this race, but only by your grace will I finish this. Glory onto You. May Your light shine upon us all.

Takbo Runfest: Celebrating Friendships

2010-08-04T00:13:00.003+08:00

Last July 25 I ran the 10K in the Takbo.ph runfest. Months ago I already put in my race calendar that I would race the Matabungkay Triathlon that day, for it was a perfect day for peaking for my Cobra Half-Ironman in August 22. I am a moderator of takbo.ph forum and one of the takbo.ph community’s pioneers, but I reasoned out that my takbo family would hopefully understand that this time around, I must concentrate in probably the biggest race yet in my life.

But July 25 came and I found myself in Fort Bonifacio running. I was there for a confluence of factors but on hindsight I think I was there to be reminded of an important lesson.

Back in December 2008 I had this year-ender post entitled “The Roads are Best Shared”. In that post, I wrote about my hope that in 2009, I would get to meet more people and get to know the personalities behind those faces I see often on the road. God granted my wish. In 2009, I got to meet LOTS of people, thanks in big part to takbo.ph forums.

In takbo.ph it is as if I have discovered a secret – a formula for fun and sustaining the running passion. The formula is simple: sign-up, introduce yourself, greet fellow nervous newbies, show online your newbie enthusiasm, mistakes and learnings, look out for one another, share and give back, and at times, literally hold hands together towards the finish line.

But not everything is sugar and spice and equally nice. In a community of thousands, differences are a given, and disagreements are bound to happen. The running endorphins certainly did its part in cooling heads and glossing over differences, but the differences are there. It amazes me at times how something so diverse manage to hold onto each other. I believe it was because we all know – consciously or unconsciously – the takbo.ph secret to lasting happiness. For as long as we can, we hold onto that secret. We collectively zero in on the good, and laugh off the differences. We take everyone as they come, in whatever form they come. A culture of acceptance and tolerance has been created, and the same culture has been used to ward off elements that threaten to destroy the collective fun.

In accepting everyone, the community encounters people who thrive on the edge of what is acceptable and tolerable. People who find fun in testing that gray area called undefined. How do you deal with that? This is every moderator’s nightmare and I personally have to deal with a number of these. The key solution so far has been a combination of tolerance and respect. Tolerate differences only in so far as it does not affect the general sensibilities. Still a delicate juggling act, yes, but somehow we managed.

In my foray into multi-sports I tried to bring in that takbo.ph culture. It was so successful we managed to churn out multi-sport athletes out of many runners. In SWAC (Sheerwill Aquathlon Cup) we promoted and celebrated the values of pushing one’s limits, supported by friends, all done in the spirit of fun, with a little bit of competition thrown in to spice things up. The takbo.ph values of helping others was extended to Project Training Wheels where adult runners finally learned to ride a bike. There is even an informal how-to-buy a bike thread and people like Pio who would personally escort newbies during their first bike purchase. It was fun, exciting.

It was fun until we tried to put a structure into it. We had a successful formula, it was working, and now we are venturing into new territory. It was then that differences manifested themselves. We have always been diverse, but do we have enough common ground to last?

By virtue of being a moderator and originator of SWAC, I was in the midst of that multi-sport revolution in takbo.ph. I watched how friends surged and tagged in various ways. I have my personal views of how things could be done, but in the spirit of adventurism – we all being newbies – we let everyone try new paths. I sometimes worry about what my friends are doing, but in the spirit of understanding, and me not sure myself what is the best path, I respected everyone’s actions.

In our giddiness to try multi-sports we were mostly motivated by the novelty and challenge of it. We all tried to level up. How soon, how fast, in what way were some of the questions we had to answer. In the mad rush to find answers I personally felt we lost track of some of the values we had at takbo.ph: camaraderie, tolerance, fun, while at the same time making personal improvements.

I suppose that is why that fateful Sunday I was there in Global City, peaking not in a triathlon race but in a fun running event. Because only when you are truly having fun do you actually last in sports and reach your full potential. In Takbo Runfest I ran my favorite distance of 10K amid cheers of friends and just a day after simulating Matabungkay Triathlon distances for about 5-6 hrs. It was an effortless run and my 10K personal best so far (1:04:13 in my watch). I was there in Runfest to celebrate friendships and re-immerse myself in the values of takbo.ph. I hope to bring back some of those values to multi-sports.

I still believe that in sports as in life, only real friendships endure.

Running the Milo Marathon: Was it worth it?

2010-07-10T20:03:00.001+08:00

When I registered for the Milo Marathon, I had the following stated goals:

1. To acquaint myself better with the workings of my body and mind. I am treating the marathon as integral part of my half-ironman training. I do not care how long I finish, but I simply want to let my body know that 5hrs or so of exertion will not kill me.

2. To remind myself of what is important. Discipline, selflessness, helping others, community spirit, friendship, mastery of oneself. I hope to get back to those values that make me do and love all these sports activities in the first place.

3. To keep a promise to friends. To Noelle whom I convinced to run her first marathon on her birthday, and to EO who was sidelined from running the Milo marathon last year.

Have I achieved my goals?

It took 42.195kms and 6:15hrs for me to rediscover what I have long known. The marathon is a distance to be respected and it demands training dedication. For this marathon, I only had three long runs (21k, 26K and 30K), completed 3 weeks before the race, with the last two done 3 days apart with one sprint triathon in between. Fool-hardy I know, but I had my reasons.

I had to work around training partner, marathoner-wannabe Noelle and I's schedule. Noelle is a busy, active woman and I am a harassed employee and half-ironman wannabe. We took advantage of the Thursday Adination Run schedule to do our first very long run. Thanks to Jix, Argo, Allan, Bongski and Bong, Noelle and I had company for the first 21K of our target 30K. Just before midnight, Noelle completed her 30K and I survived my jump to 26K from 16K. Surprisingly, I was able to apply my new run form (fold the legs, butt kick) honed through what I call my "form intervals" and keep up with the others, all of whom are stronger and faster than me. I had to take longer breaks and slower pace though in the last 5km to avoid injury. I was bent on supporting Noelle on these training runs, but I was very cautious and listening to my body all throughout. Noelle - she was strong and showing good form.

I was still investing on sleep and recovery when 2 days after my first long run, I had to participate in the Animo Triathlon to support newbie friends. In the swim, bike and run, all my newbie friends overtook me. Haha. I swam at my half-ironman race pace, had my worst bike ride, and had to run-walk the last leg. I had a good 300-meter butt-kicking sprint to the finish though. Well, that was actually a celebration that my temporary insanity is momentarily over. My friends had fun; I had fun. I was slow but not injured.

I was good until I had to wake up for a 4am supposedly 35Km long run the following day with energetic Noelle. What am I doing? I asked myself. I should be resting and not training for a marathon. I only had one aim that morning: survive that last long run. The key to survival was form under fatigue . TUF. Technique under fatigue was my mantra, borrowed from Happy Hour Levy. Run from my core, fold the legs to lessen the torque. I was able to keep up with faster runners Noelle and Jun for about 21kms I think. At many points I knew I was slowing them down so I just let them go ahead. What I did were my form intervals. When I get too far back I would mentally focus on form and miraculously I would speed up without effort. Eventually I had to rest and Jun would run ahead. Along the way Noelle and I stumbled upon EO. In the last 12-15kms it was just Noelle and I. Noelle would support me by slowing down and waiting for me. I would like to believe I was supporting Noelle just by sticking it out there.

My three long runs helped me last the Milo marathon and not injure myself. But clearly, I lacked mileage and adequate recovery from the long runs for a decent marathon finish. At the starting line I entertained dreams of a sub-5hr finish, but I threw it away as early as km21, which I reached at about 2:35. I realized it was hard to have a goal of "just finish". There has to be a time goal and a target marathon pace attached to it. I told myself the marathon was just a training run, where the process was more important than the time. That all I had to focus on was maintaining my running form all-throughout and perfecting my nutrition and hydration tecnhniques. That I shall run by feel, do programmed Galloway walk-breaks, listen to my body, and stop if necessary.

And that's what I did. I run well when I was running. I no longer had my Garmin, but I estimated I finally lowered my comfortably hard long run pace to 6:30. I Gallowayed at water stations. I listened to my body. Perhaps I took the run-by-feel and listen-to-my-body too seriously. I do not know if the mind-numbing loops, humidity, or lack of hunger for a specific time goal got into me, but I was walking more than I should. I was not cramping, I was not exactly tired, I was well-fed and hydrated. But I felt like walking more than running. I supposed what I lacked was motivation. I tried to recall how much I loved running over those Roxas flyovers, but going a zillion times over them was a chore. On the second half I tried to summon my half-iron dreams mantra, hoping I would at least maintain my first half pace. It never came the way I wanted it to be. It only told me that this drudgery must be endured if I wanted to get stronger.

At km32 with about 4.5hrs of aimless running, I wondered how Noelle and EO were doing. I scoured the runners corral about 3 times looking for Noelle at the start but I failed to find her and wish her luck. But I was confident she would do well. I saw no sign of EO too. I figure both have finished by then. My role as a marathon friend was done. I simply had to survive the drudgery of the last 10kms. I knew from my Singapore Marathon experience that the last 10K could stretch for hours. But I told myself that while I may be a little fatigued, I was far from cramping. I could still afford my leisurely walks and occasional runs at 6:30-7min/km and make it to cut-off time. I may have no definite time goal, but on my second milo marathon, I wanted to make it to the official list of finishers.

I was within my impromptu sub-6hr goal when I asked someone with Garmin how long do I have to endure. The person told me just about 4-5kms. With about 50 minutes to spare, I decided to simply walk and not rush myself to the finish line. I was surprised at that point why my Gallowaying friend Carina with whom I have been alternately leading and lagging behind suddenly decided to run. I kept walking bored thinking I probably had just about 3kms to endure, when I saw a km4.5 marker. WTF!!! I just have about 30minutes to make it within cut-off. I could probably run a sub-30 4.5kms, but I refused to risk injury and my mind shut down many kilometers ago. So I walked in defiance of the time. I stayed by the sidewalk and tried to amuse myself with the bay view. I was tempted to stop first for a cold drink from vendors seeing all water stations have ran out of supplies at critical time, but I figured friends might be waiting for me at the finish line. I think I saw about 5 people who were several hundred meters lagging behind me before suddenly appearing. I could still actually outrun them but I didn't bother. It was only in the last 200m that I found my motivation to run. I remembered my first marathon and how pacer Migs selflessly got out of the lane for me to have my moment in the sun. A marathon deserves a strong finish, so I got out of my lethargy and gave it a sprint. I finished my training run in 6:15.

Have I achieved my goals?

Yes I know my mind and body better now. I know more now that my body is capable of great feats if sufficiently motivated. By the power of wanting to support a friend I was actually able to will my body to do long runs.

Yes I touched base with the people and values that really matter to me. I was extremely happy to see friends from takbo.ph once again - on the road, on support stations and at the finish line. The only bright moments of my 42km of drudgery were greeting fellow runners and giving my widest smile and heartfelt thanks to supporter friends.

In last year's Milo, I gave myself in support of others and I was rewarded with the most memorable race experience thus far. It was so memorable an experience I wanted friends like Noelle to experience it. Noelle finishing and qualifying for the Milo finals is her achievement alone, but part of me feels glad I was part of her journey. EO told me after the race that he decided to stop the race at km18 due to cramps. We shall have our moment of greatness, buddy. July 4, 2010 was for Noelle =)

Self-mastery. Good Old Values. Friendship. For these alone, the 6-hr, 42km ordeal was worth it.

As I sit down and type this, I try to assess my recovering body. I can swim now and just this morning I did an easy ride. I am optimistic that my feats of endurance and sacrifice will continue to reap dividends. Within the next few weeks I hope to get stronger. In Camsur 70.3, I hope God will look kindly at what I 've done and strive to do. On that day, may He smile back at me.

42.195 kms to find the answers

2010-06-10T13:58:00.001+08:00

Should I run the Milo Marathon or not?

Start of the year I already have an answer. Yes, I should! By July I should have lost a lot of weight, my quadriceps and hamstrings would have been so taut from all the half-iron prep biking, and I should be in fighting form. The ambitious dream was I would not train specifically for a marathon but with my improved fitness from half-ironman training, I would do better than my milo debut (5h:16m).

It's June now and I am still around 180lbs. I have lost enough weight and lots of fat to clinch third place for BLC 2, but I am still far from my target weight of 165 lbs. I can feel my quads and hammies are a lot stronger with the regular long rides I've done, but all those rides robbed me of the time and energy to run long. At best, those stronger muscles developed by biking allowed to me run better at short intervals of 800m. Would these qualify as Yasso 800s and training for a marathon?

Triathlete friends tell me that running a marathon will take away weeks from my training. They are right. I simply cannot do a long run and a long ride within a space of 3 days. I need time to recover. From experience, I need at least two weeks of no running to recover from a marathon. Two precious weeks!

I also treat the marathon distance as sacred. In my book, one should not run it just for the heck of it. The marathon has a purpose, and its walls disappear only to those who respect it enough to prepare well for it.

But I am running the Milo marathon just the same. By doing so I hope to achieve the following:

1. To acquaint myself better with the workings of my body and mind as it exerts effort beyond 3 hours. I am treating the marathon as integral part of my half-ironman training. I do not care how long I finish, but I simply want to let my body know that 5hrs or so of exertion will not kill me. Instead, it will uplift me and make me stronger.

2. To remind myself of what is important. Discipline, selflessness, helping others, community spirit, friendship, mastery of oneself. I hope to get back to those values that make me do and love all these sports activities in the first place.

3. To keep a promise to friends. I told friend Noelle months ago that a marathon is a great way to celebrate a birthday. I still believe that. I may not run the marathon as fast as my friend, but I will be there on the road to celebrate that milestone. Months ago I told Milo training buddy EO that I will do the Milo marathon and do my best to legitimize my Milo marathon completion. I cannot guarantee my finish time my friend, but I will be there on the road running and cheering you on, just like the way it should have been last year.

I have barely a month to extend my new found short run form to a long run of a marathon. I have about two weeks to re-acquaint myself with the mind- and body-numbing very long run I espouse for a marathon.

Am I a fool to go for the full? On the familiar roads of Milo I will soon know.

Torn

2010-06-04T00:50:00.002+08:00

It's almost midnight now and I should have been asleep two hours ago. I have so valued rest and recovery in my half-ironman training that for the past two months I have logged my daily sleep hours, hoping to average at least 7 hours per day every week.

To rest or to go online. This is but one of the many issues I wrestle with daily. In pursuit of rest I have gone out of touch. Suddenly, I am no longer connected. No blog to write, no blogs to read, no forum to read nor answer. I have fallen way back in my email and Facebook updates. That I have very limited site access during work hours and I am too tired to go online when I get home do not help.

I have devoted most of my weekends to biking that it's always a challenge to find time to go home to my provincial base for some family celebration or gathering. I know my family understands but I also know I need to spend more time with them.

I follow a well-orchestrated build-up of a training plan. To deviate is to allow set-back and risk not peaking at the right time, or injuring myself in an effort to catch-up. In pursuit of my planned 90km rides I often miss the short rides of a number of friends who have recently bought bikes and revel in the excitement of riding their new toys. I know that kind of pleasure - I have been there and in many instances I have related that joy with them. I feel guilty at times. In some ways I have influenced them to try multi-sports, and now when they got their bikes I am not there as often.

It was a lot better when the aquathlon series SWAC (Sheerwill Aquathlon Cup) came into being. At that time I have had enough aquathlon experience to share something and guide newbies, many of whom actually fare better than me today. Now I am a newbie myself - a half-ironman virgin and wannabe - anxious and needing guidance like they do. I do not know whom to help first - myself or others.

It was a lot better last year when I was preparing for my first marathon. At that time, our small group was composed of mostly marathon virgins. We help one another. We went through the numerous LSDs and tempo runs together. Hopia LSDs and Liempo Tempo runs I fondly call them. Somehow that kind of camaraderie manifested again in our collective preparation for Subic Triathlon. Those bicycle rides and reconnaisance swims, they were fun and helpful. Splendid bonding and training.

After Subit, we leveled-up so to speak - in our own various ways. Just a little more than 3 months more and it will already be Camsur 70.3. Many intensified their training. I on the other hand found myself sitting back and contemplating.

Subit made me realized a few things. I may not like it, but 20 years of leisure swimming made me relatively strongest in that discipline. I may complain of aches and pains in running, but follies and lessons from running way back 2003 somehow made me a better runner. Truth is, I have more conviction saying I am a marathoner than I am a triathlete. I may like cycling, but I simply have not logged enough time to be really competent on it. I have improved my bike skills, but I am no longer as confident now that I can ramp up my average speed to 30kph in time for Camsur. I have recalibrated my strategy: I will conquer Camsur not by ramping up my speed drastically, but by extending what speed I have now to last all 8 hrs or less for the race. The fight is not about speed, it's still about endurance. It's about form and technique, more than power and strength.

This is my realization. This humble realization I arrive at after careful study and I carry it with conviction. But it is a realization of the slowest of the slow. This newbie and wannabe follows a plan he customized for himself - a plan different from the norm but something he firmly believes is best for him. Not wanting to be always having to explain and defend what he believes in, he keeps the plan to himself but follows it faithfully. In quiet nights he swims. In a secret oval he concentrates on improving his form, reveling in the discovery that by changing his form alone he can confortably run below the 6-minute per kilometer pace he always thought was a barrier. On hot weekends he tests the science of endurance, pacing and this wonderful concept of teleoanticipation.

Those solo swims, runs and rides, I relish them. But I do miss the group training. The solo training sessions are for perfecting form or nourishing the spirit, but nothing beats group sessions for fun. I always say to friends that the satisfaction is not in the race nor the time - it is in the journey getting there. That journey - it must be done solo at times, in groups at other times. I want my first half-ironman to be a meaningful one, like my first marathon. My Milo marathon - it was memorable because it was a personal transformation and an experience shared with others. I want my half-ironman to be a shared experience too. Many times I am so tempted to run the Milo marathon this year - if only to relive the memories and remind myself of what is truly important.

Somehow I will find that balance. Somehow I will find that perfect mix of family, work, friends, training, hobbies and other interests. I do not want to be torn. I will be whole again - not by my will, but by God's grace.

A Race That I Deserve (Part 2)

2010-05-21T22:20:00.001+08:00

I climbed up the stairs to Transition 1 heart leaping with joy. At that moment, my worries vanished and all I felt I was pure, unadulterated joy. I was so pleased with myself I did not notice I lingered in transition one for 5 precious minutes! My usual T1 time would be under 2 minutes, but I took a mental note to spend time eating and drinking at transition instead of slowing down and worrying about it during bike time. I was aware of the daunting task of hill climbing up ahead. I was prepared for that, but not the pleasant shock of doing better than expected on my swim. On hindsight may be I could have spent just 3 minutes in transition (nutrition and hydration included). But overall my transition time was time well spent. I wanted to savor that one shiny moment.

I subsisted on cheers of friends to allay whatever apprehensions I have on the bike. Of the three disciplines, running is actually my weakest, but I fear biking the most. I am not afraid to have scratches, but I do not want broken limbs and God forbid, bike-induced disability or death. That my sense of balance was forever affected by a swim-induced middle ear infection in the past does not help. But thanks to Subit and my cycling buddies I slowly conquered my fear and handicap. In preparation for the race I ventured out of residential villages and Mall of Asia onto the roads of C6, Daang Hari and the treacherous roads to and from Ocean Adventure in Subic. Slowly I was getting used to riders ahead or behind me, and vehicles passing by me.

I left transition one on my bike, smiling for a photo op courtesy of friend Jan. I was also armed with conviction that despite the trials of the week, all was well and that I had prepared well. My God would take care of me.

Out of Transition (photo by Jan Blando)

What Comes Up...

I knew the first 7kms will be mostly uphill. I knew there’s a part there consisting of almost 3 kilometers of straight climb. The first time I did that I was spinning up at lowest gear and speed of 8-9kph. I wished then I could go lower in gear and faster in speed, but that was it. Friend Erick advised me to just comfortably spin and I am forever grateful for that tip. On my second recon, I managed to spin up that same climb at 9-10kph, small improvement but I took what I could take. On the actual race, I adopted the same strategy of spinning up, with that mental image of my hips, thighs and legs acting as set of two coherent pistons slowly but economically chugging to the top. I smiled when I saw my cyclometer reading of 10-11kph on the same climb. Heck, at one point I even reached 14kph! Well what do you know! Yeah, slowly but surely I was improving. Best part was that while I may have panted a little climbing up, the limbs were still relatively fresh. I was saving those limbs for the run. The spectacular forest view was a bonus.

If there was another thing I hope to improve on my biking skills, it was to have just the right dose of assertion if not aggression. I have long abandoned the concept of competing with others and trying to pass or catch up with others. I only compete with the standards I set for myself. But it’s another thing to simply let others pass by when I know I could actually do better. Once or twice during the climb I let another biker go ahead of me, only to be forced to trail behind him and follow his slower speed because I was hesitant to overtake. At the bike turnaround I even let the rider behind me go ahead and make the turn first! I should get an award for generosity, sportsmanship or maybe stupidity! Haha. But I promised to work on the roots of this hesitation: fear that I would get sideswept as I try to overtake, uneasiness in doing turns, and my still evolving idea of the ethics of overtaking and being overtaken.

...Must Go Down

Then came the downhills. Ah, the downhills. I attacked them still with caution, but the recon we made definitely shored up my confidence. In those downhill rushes, I managed a few times to max the gears and pedaled to go faster. With hands firm but relaxed-as-I-could-be on the handle bar, I leaned forward, made myself as aerodynamic as possible, and let go. I surrendered to gravity, my training and steadfast belief that my God would protect me. My cyclometer which I avoided at downhills would later tell me that I reached a career high of 59.9 kph at some point. I must admit I was still afraid in parts, but I was glad to have actually enjoyed the downhill rush in certain parts. In the years to come I hope to enjoy the bike leg as much I enjoyed the swim in this year’s edition.

But the downhills are not without its downside. On my way back there was yet another long, continuous, curved downhill where I spotted a participant seated on the ground beside his bike. Two bystanders seemed to be checking on him who seemed dazed or maybe momentarily shocked by what appeared to be a fall. It was a sharp curve and a fast fall – too fast that even though I wanted to check on him I was simply going down too fast to safely stop. I hope he was alright.

When I made past the 90-degree downhill curve leading to Airport and away from Dungaree, I knew the treacherous downhills were over. First thought that came to mind was: maybe this time I could safely overtake. Maybe this time I could reap the fruits of holding back a little during the hills and patiently spinning up those climbs. I surveyed the bikers ahead of me. Uh-oh, they were already few. Have I been so conservative? Coming from the Ocean Adventure turnaround I was overtaken by 2 bikers. Could I overtake at least 2 bikers on the second half – while sticking to my strategy of comfortably hard ride?

The Long Chase

My first target was to finally overtake the guy whom I kindly or stupidly allowed to make the turnaround before me. Nice fella actually but I think it’s time I took the lead. Prior to downhills I even had to slow a bit so this guy could take the plunge first and I could enjoy the downhills by myself. Safety first for me before ranking. Comfortably spin and mind my cadence and soon enough I would naturally overtake. And I did. I did the same with 2-3 more bikers. Soon enough I saw a friend and batchmate from dragonboat rowing and underwater hockey years ago. I believe the hills took some wind and leg power from him. With smiles and cheers of “Go, Go, Go”, I passed him. After him there seemed to be a chasm. Uh-oh, where are the rest?

The others I saw after the second turnaround at Asian Auctioneers. Heck, the faster ones are already at km 35 or so and I was just at about km 27. Spin, spin, spin I did again, lured by the speed of the faster cyclists but held back by the thought I still had kilometers more to go. Do not be tempted to speed up by taking so high a gear. Stick to the comfortably hard gear. Be patient. I had my new aero bars on, but since I lacked practice on them, I used it just for one or two stretches where the road was really flat, wide and almost vacant. At that time I was averaging on handlebars around 28kph, which I could have raised to 30kph, but I was so worried about the run. I tried doing instantaneous cost-benefit analysis of gearing up versus saving up, but in the end my desire to have a reasonably good run prevailed. I really wanted to run the last leg. Cramps are abomination for me.

At about km 30 going to Waterfront

Photo by Pio Sugay

I passed by the spectator-decked Waterfront almost by my lonesome. Heck, where were the others? I drew in the cheers and the energy of the crowd, but I really wanted to find the others and be part of the race again. I saw them only after the final turnaround at Asian Auctioneers. At that point I also saw a couple of riders just coming from the Dungaree part. Great, I was still part of the race and was far from the last. Spin, spin, spin I did again, until I finally caught up with another friend from the early wave. The hills also made him suffer. I learned later from results that there were many other riders after me. I might have been too safe and conservative, but I did not do so bad after all. To have survived the hills without incident, even managing to actually have fun riding the downhills at certain moments was reward enough. No flat, no brake failure, no broken chain, no skips in gearing, no incidents. Thank God! My come from behind catch-up on the second half was just a bonus of my patient strategy.

On the ramp, off to run

Photo by Carina Manansala

Finally I was running. Now I could ask myself if my strategy of holding back in the bike will pay off in the run. I saw some fast runners - that was a good sign unless they were already in their last round. I was in good spirits and good condition - the legs were very far from cramping, a little tired but not heavy. I was surprised I could actually run the moment I got off the transition ramp. So far so good.

Photo by Gerard Cinco

I was running slow but steady. I was hoping to run at 7min/km average pace - good enough pace for a standard triathlon considering my 10K personal best is just 1:06. Unfortunately my 14 month old Garmin seemed to be nearing its end-life and died on me even before I biked. I played it by ear. Ran comfortably hard, trying to be conscious of form and heart rate.

Glad to know I was neither the last biker nor last runner

Photo by Migs Castro

I was doing okay until my my third round. I felt the difficulty of the run after that round. It was not a wall that I suddenly bumped into. It was a slow struggle to win over fatigue. Yes, fatigue was finally seeping into me. It was very similar to the feeling I had running the last 5kms of my first marathon. I tried to analyze what it was and what caused it. I was not cramping. I was well-hydrated, maybe even a little overhydrated in an effort to fight the heat. But I was used to the heat. My late training starts always caused me to involuntary heat train, till noontime heat at times. I almost finished my second, big, Clif Brownie Bar. Should I have eaten more? The way I always eat a lot during training? Should I have brought the hopia I always eat during marathons? Maybe. Maybe I should have run longer and more frequently during training, instead of heavily favoring the bike practice? Maybe. Did the physical and mental stress of the recent week finally catch up with me? Maybe. Ah, lots of theories to test during future training.

I did overtake a couple of runners. Despite the creeping fatigue, I managed a 200-meter dash to the finish. Finished strong and smiiling. Thanks to constant cheers from friend Ellen and the merry group of takbo.ph at the finish line. You guys are a wonderful bunch of people.

Sprint to the finish line, Stop watch, then Smile =)

No, that was not my time.

Photo by Pio Sugay

But here are some things I do know:

I finished 290th out of 318 finishers. Not bad for someone whose initial goal was simply to finish this training race.
I outswam 54 triathletes and had a splendid time in that lovely bay.
With my conservative bike strategy, I still managed to outbike 17 people.
Except for water breaks, I ran all 10kms of the last leg. I outran 45 participants - with a run deviation from personal best of only 10 minutes.
I may have not achieved the best case scenario of 3:30, but my 3:41:89 is just seconds away from Gelo Arellano's 2009 time which I appropriated for myself as some sort of benchmark.
I initially thought I had been too conservative. But my immediate post-race heart rate and spent feeling akin to finishing a marathon told me I gave it all that I've got.
I came out more confident for Camsur, secure in the thought that slow the improvements may be, they do manifest themselves. I leave this race enriched with more intimate knowledge of what my body could do and knowing specific areas I could actually test and work on.
I thoroughly enjoyed the race, and would fondly remember the fun recons we had.
The support and cheers of friends - how do you put a price tag on that?

I got a race experience that I deserved - nothing more, nothing less.

For that I thank God, family and friends. I look forward to doing this again - fitter and wiser next time, and in company of greater number of triathlete friends and supporters.

A Race That I Deserve (Part 1)

2010-05-12T00:18:00.002+08:00

Olympic Virgin in One Big Party

When I decided to do Subit, all I had in mind was to do the Olympic standard distance triathlon preparatory to Camsur Half-Ironman. I knew Subit was the longest running triathlon event in the country, and I had heard a couple of good feedbacks, but I never realized that my supposed training race was THAT big.

I only appreciated the magnitude of the race when I first set to do route recon on March 27-28 and April 24-25 with a couple of friends. Our merry group of nervous newbies were clearly there to befriend the open waters and steep hills of Subic. But why were members of established teams also there? We spotted the familiar colors of Polo Tri, Sunkist, Fitness First, Tri-Clark, Herbalife, etc. Clearly, everyone - not just us newbies – were prepping for a race that I would later realize was used as some sort of ranking among local triathletes or teams.

Me? I just wanted to survive this race – specifically those curved downhills where I knew other athletes have fallen in the past. I could endure those long uphills, but those downhills I could only manage with some practice and tons of prayers. During breaks and downtimes our group would huddle and examine not only the route but also the splits of last year’s race. Just how do we compare to the 2009 finishers? I saw Fernando Zobel's time and holy cow, if he did 1:45 on bike and 1:03 on run, what about me!? Curiously, Maricar Reyes – feminine and frail-looking she may be – had a decent time (2:37:06). From my recollection of seeing her before in the gym and Nike Running Clinics, I deduced she is one feisty and fit lady underneath that pretty, delicate appearance. Me – I had weathered BLC 1 & 2, but I still needed BLC 3 and 4 to be in better fighting form. I glanced at the last page of the finishers and searched for some finish time or someone I could reasonably benchmark this fat Olympic virgin. I do not know and could not spot Gelo Arellano in a crowd, but I knew enough he is Drew’s older brother and I knew myself enough that his time seemed doable for me (swim 38:17, bike 1:53, run 1:10 for a total of 3:41:33). My realistic goal was to swim within 40 minutes, finish the bike leg with legs fresh enough to run (hopefully within the neighborhood of 1hr40min), and never walk nor cramp for all 10k of the run (and do it close to 1:10). Only exception allowed was walking while sipping water in front of aid stations. That last bit was my homage to marathoner Jeff Galloway.

Training Tapers, Pressures Pile Up

Subic April Recon at Dungaree (photos by Zack)

I had my one last training hurrah on April 25, one week before the race. It was an 800-meter swim, 20K easy bike up-and-down the hills, 10K bike cruise down to Subic Boardwalk, and 2.5k easy run loop – all-done in the hot, burning sun. I was obviously fatigued by such effort, but I was not at all sore. Unfortunately, the combination of hot weather outside, cool air-conditioning, training fatigue and viral company of at least 4 triathletes with severe colds/flu-like symptoms took its toll on me. Monday morning after, the moment I felt something odd inside my sinus I remembered the slimy phlegm I saw floating on Dungaree waters and recalled the wheezing of my friends. Urrghhh….Bummer! There I was trying real hard not to overtrain so as to not to get sick, only to get the virus on the crucial taper week. I know from experience it was a nasty virus, but good thing I was healthy enough not to be completely downed by it. It was a cold or flu threatening to run its course but valiantly stopped on its tracks.

Monday was not only fight flu day but also bike check day. Just the day before my front brake locked onto my wheel after I sped through an unseen crack on my way down to Ocean Adventure. Just coming off a gravity-pulled max speed of 56K about 300m earlier, I luckily managed to uncleat and dismount - safe and unscathed, but scared shitless when my bike suddenly stopped. WTF, I just had my bike thoroughly checked two weeks ago! Monday night I had it checked again in a more reputable shop. I was told the newly installed brake cables were trapped in their housing, my headset had busted bearings, and the new pulleys in my rear derailleurs were actually incompatible!

In the noontime heat I hied off to Cartimar to search for compatible pulleys. The better shop there told me that my replacement pulleys were actually good with its ceramic bearings. It was my bent dropset that was causing skips in my gears. Drenched in sweat in my office garb of long sleeves shirt and tie, and not knowing whom to believe anymore, I asked the mechanic to do just what needed to be done. I shall test ride it myself when I hopefully find time.

Work was not a refuge from bike stress as it was hellweek for me. On April 30 I was supposed to submit a vital document to regulators. With help with senior colleagues, I have been laboring on this document for weeks and my Subit taper week happened to be the work crunch time.

Middle of the week on Wednesday I managed to squeeze in a relaxing swim after a strenuous work day, only to come home to a Pomeranian litter delivered while I was swimming. I would normally watch through the first night whenever there is a new litter, especially for breeds as tiny and delicate as Pomeranians. Mentally drained and physically tired, I reluctantly asked my kennel hands to check on the pups at least once during the night. I woke up next morning to the news that one of the pups managed to slip out of the already narrow grills of the whelping cage and fell one-foot onto the floor. My helper found the poor pup at early dawn. It looked okay before I left Manila on Friday, only to weaken and die before midnight. Sigh.

Thursday night I tried to get home early to test ride my bike at least once. It rained the moment I left our house gate. Not exactly well, I went back and prayed that the last mechanic did well his job.

Friday I submitted the work document, sat through a very important meeting trying my best to recall things and sound intelligent, left the office at lunch, did last minute supplies shopping, and packed my bags for Subic. By 4pm I was off driving to join the traffic rush out of the city. Before dusk while cruising through SCTEX I received message that what was supposed to be a simple hemmorhoid operation for my 73-year old dad had to be postponed to make way for another, more critical, high-risk, expensive disease and procedure. It was hell week indeed and my world was fast crumbling. There goes my tri-bike budget I told my ride buddy as I tried vainly to make light of the situation. That lone female pup that died, it could have fetched a big sum to help defray the medical bills of my dad.

Unsettling Calm

Race day morning (May 2) I was more quiet than usual. Just the previous morning I found myself suddenly and uncontrollaby sobbing inside the bathroom. It must be pressures and myriad of concerns trying to express themselves. I only have one train of thought that moment: God, I am already here in Subic. I trained hard for this. I have been a helpful athlete and a good son. Please give me a race that I deserve.

I snapped out of the doldrums immediately and immersed myself in the spectacle that was Subit. I cheered friends doing the Sprint on Saturday and celebrated their personal victories. But Sunday morning I was back to reality. What I felt was eerie silence - a calm that neither soothes nor relaxes. I did not know if I was worried about my bike, my father, our nascent team. I dunno really. I just remembered drinking litters of water preparatory to the swim and hying off to the deeper part of the waters to unload what I drank.

After a long wait our age group finally hit the waters. I mechanically walked towards the waters and dove only when the water was waist deep. There was physically commotion, but nothing compared to the silent turmoil in my mind. Used to mass starts in our regular wednesday night swims, I was oblivious to the swimming crowd. I got hit in the face causing water to seep a little into my goggles, but I could not care less. It was good that just a week ago I was forced to swim blindly 750m of the same beach when I left my goggles. God is still good; He prepares me well.

Just like in the past, swimming worked its magic on my troubled mind and body. Eventually I got my rhythm. Long and steady strokes, whoever was ahead, behind or beside me. I used to be timid in the pool, often giving way to others. But that morning I claimed my right to be there. I swam my pace and raced with myself in that sea of athletes. I have been told about the trench but when I first saw it, what I felt was awe, not fear. Fascination, not trepidation. Gone were the week's woes. It was all green - calm, clear and comfortably cool. I was in my element. I was at peace. Long steady strokes. I haven't had my fill yet when it was time to turn around already.

My swim was two loops of nirvana. Best swim I've had in my short 2-year multi-sports history. As I completed the second round I noticed the swim crowd was thinning. I knew we were the last wave, but had I been left behind in my joyous swim? Eventually I reached the shore. Sweet Jesus I made it in 37 minutes! The best I recorded in the pool was 39 minutes. I was ecstatic, moreso when I saw friends cheering me on as I ran my way to the transition. Go Sheerwill I heard my friends. Thank you, thank you was all I mustered. That and a big smile on my face.

Wow, there are others behind me =)

Photo by Jonas' wife

The only thing better than a good swim
were friends cheering you on. Thanks!

Photo by Carina

Biggest Loser Contest (BLC) 2: Sub-Rico

2010-04-18T22:05:00.001+08:00

I was all set in winning BLC Season 2 (Jan 3-Mar 30), but this guy...

BLC 2 Champ Doc Topher

....wrestled the title from me.

Topher wowed us all with a 12.11% weight loss (23 lbs),

but he had a slight gain in body fat percentage (muscles loss? pero muscular pa rin?)

For the whole season I kinda know Topher is my toughest competition,

but on finals night I got blind-sided by this guy....

Jet

who shocked us all with a massive body fat loss! (8.3 percentage points!)

Ika nga ni Jet, "Mahalaga ang role ng first runner-up..."

I grudgingly settled for third place, proud still of my weight loss (6.8 lbs)

and prouder of the significant body fat percentage drop (4.5 percentage points).

Me with BLC 1 Champ Bryan

Ang ultra buddies na sina Topher at Jet ay nakalamang kay Rico

ng Php500 each sa pagpanalo sa Sub-Rico Challenge.

Nag-Sub-Rico rin naman ako. Tinalo ko ang dati kong weight nung BLC 1 finals

at tinalo ko rin sila hehe...

Jan, 4th place

with 4.10% weight loss and 0.8 fat percent drop

Carlo, 5th place

5.24% weight loss, half percent fat gain

at sila pa...

Sid, Ronald and Natz

and Izie (in purple) and Tracy (in orange)

Mga 3 lbs na lang at baka bumalik na ako doon sa end-2008 weight ko

Actually simula na ang BLC Season 3 for me,

pero ako lang contender dahil sa tindi ng half-ironman training ko,

wala na akong panahon mag-organize.

Wala nang cash incentive, pero you can still try to beat me - vicariously.

Sub-Rico!

I am still losing weight and hovering around 177lbs.

I hope to bring my Subic Triathlon weight below 175lbs. I have two weeks.

For Camsur in August, I hope to get back to my college weight of 150 lbs. Sana, sana.

BLC 3 for me still August.

Maybe by then I will peak at 7% body fat like Jake Cuenca during his Bench campaign.

Jake says he is now back to 11% body fat.

Maybe for BLC 4 I can do sub-Jake.

Jake Cuenca at the BLC 2 Final Weigh-in

Thanks to Carlo and Marga for the pictures

Kabahagi Ako: Sharing skills, Changing Lives

2010-04-07T15:41:00.001+08:00

I received an invitation to attend a bloggers' “friends con” yesterday for VSO Bahaginan's 2010 Kabahagi Run. Initially I was hesitant to attend as I was tired from previous day's strength training. Moreover, as much as I wanted to run this race, I was already booked to spend that weekend doing a recon of the Subic triathlon course. But I attended. Initially because it was a friend I haven't seen in a long-time asking me. Yes, Doc Lyndon, my supposed Kuya based on good looks (haha), is now race organizer, part of the triumvirate that is LeadPack along with Takbo.ph's Jinoe and organizer Ian Alacar.

Over good food at Paul Calvin's Doc Lyndon and Jinoe regaled me with stories of how they prepared for Green Miles, the last race they organized. How they measured via Garmin, on car and on foot, the race distances, and how they themselves put up the pylons and water stations. Back-breaking work I must say, but the gleam in their eyes belied that. Once upon a time I was part of this group, plotting the first major takbo.ph pre-2009 Condura LSD and bringing into reality the unofficial 2009, 250 runner-strong, Condura Carbo-loading party. I am not part of Lead Pack, but in Doc Lyndon and Jinoe's new professional venture, somehow I feel, Kabahagi Ako.

VSO's Arcille with LeadPack's Doc Lyndon, Jinoe and Ian

The same feeling of belonging, of community and sharing, permeated the air as Arcille Raagas of VSO Bahaginan talked about her volunteer service organization and its fund-raising venture, the Kabahagi Run, now on its second edition. Like the NGO that's behind it, the Kabahagi Run is devoid of commercialism and frills one sees in races nowadays. It is a little race that could, should and would. The kind I long to join once in a while to get back to that era when things were simple, true and pure, and where running is a joy in itself, not an excuse to see, be seen or to look cool. That the race supports the cause of volunteering is just a happy bonus.

As Arcille explains the volunteering efforts and as Ian describes the routes, I felt a tinge of regret. I wanted to be part of this race but I couldn't. I wanted to get a race kit for myself along with the simple but fabric-superior singlet. It is the kind of singlet I will proudly wear in BHS because I relate to the cause. But I restrained myself from getting a kit; instead I got the jacket emblazoned with the proud words: Kabahagi Ako. I am a volunteer myself. Kabahagi ako at nagbabahagi ako. Sharing skills, changing lives - my own, of friends and that of strangers. Every blog post and forum thread I make, I volunteer part of myself – my thoughts, mistakes, successes, lessons and aspirations. Kabahagi ako.

On April 25, 2010, while 3,000 of you will do the Kabahagi Run, a couple of us newbie triathletes will do our Olympic distance triathlon simulation. After a 1.5k ocean swim and 40k bike ordeal with steep hills, my friends and I will run a 10K.

Ah, the 10K. A favorite distance but something I find hard to be good at. While more than half of my runner friends already did sub-60 min, sub-50min and even sub-Piolo, I am still stuck at 65 minutes. I am supposed to focus on half-marathon this year, but I am always on the look-out for that special race – preferably a run for cause – where I can finally break that mental and physical barrier. It could have been the Kabahagi Run. But it can't be; I will be away somewhere. So I hinge instead on the quixotic thought that maybe I can try breaking it again on a triathlon – the Subic triathlon. Quixotic, yes. Stupid probably. Almost like an Impossible Dream. But sometimes, it is dreaming and chasing the impossible that bring us to greater heights. In some ways, the fight against poverty and underdevelopment is akin to an impossible dream. But volunteers everywhere persevere and make a difference. I want to be part of that dreaming and chasing. I shall measure my success not in the time ran, but in the quality of effort I put in and the difference I made.

Long Hot Summer

2010-04-02T13:20:00.001+08:00

April and May. For most part of my life these two have been my favorite months. In summer, there is no school. From 7am to 7pm, the kid that was me would be out on the street building castles from construction sand piles, Tower of Babel from flat rocks and and compacted earth, and making kites of out newspaper or plastic and flying them over narra and acacia trees. Summer also meant the traditional, often viewed as mandatory, family trip to the beach, swim pools, lakes or rivers. In summer the family had to quench its thirst for water and adventure. Summer is for wading in the pool, riding the trusty BMX, and racing on foot across baseball fields and trails of vacant subdivision lots.

I am now in the nth summer of my full life, but in many ways I have stayed true to the lure and promise of summer. My 2010 summer calendar is packed so much with activities I had to pencil in and highlight rest days lest I forget them. For this year, my summer began earlier on mid-February when I decided to book myself on this adventure called Camsur 70.3 Half-ironman on August 22, 2010. I know the rains will come on June, July or August, but for me, Summer 2010 officially ends in August. Long bike rides, biking up the mountains, Wednesday Swim Nights, open water swims in beaches and lakes, heat training runs, and cool summer night runs. Ahhh, summer!

I wish I was back in my high school English class writing about what I did with summer. Just barely a month into my long hot summer I have already been in several fun adventures, the kind of stuff you want to write and tell stories about. In the guise of training I've been to MOA, C6, Subic and Anvaya. There are many more places I wish to explore. Oftentimes however, I am either so soaked in the fun, or expired from having too much fun that I had no time to sit down and write. But the stories, I have always carried them in my head, and everytime I remember them I smile. I still have several months of summer. There is still enough time for short stories of summer. I hope to share them with you soon.

On Changing Routes and Failed Expectations

2010-03-23T00:34:00.003+08:00

Sheerwill with pacer Kikay Runner (Noelle)

Half-Ironman Dreams. Chased one half-marathon PR at a time. That is the theme of my 2010 running.

The plan is to bring down my half-marathon Personal Record from 2:32 (taken at 2009 Globe Run for Home) in series of key races. I have chosen Century Superbods Run, Globe Run for Home, and Nature Valley Run as the benchmark races. Choice was made on one key factor alone: hydration. I wanted to chase my PR without the burden of carrying hydration. In the area of hydration, Runrio had his slips, but the Afro-maned guy knows how to face the music, and continues to learn his lessons. Expensive, yes, but for key races: in RunRio Sheerwill trusts.

The general plan is to bring down the PR in increments of 15 minutes before August. 2:30, 2:15, 2:00. Ambitious, yes, but if I fail to reach the stars, I hope to land at least on the moon. I have successfully crossed 2:30 in Century Run (2:28:11) without injury and finishing strongly. Maybe I could replicate my training plan for Globe.

The 2009 Globe Run I remember fondly for its refreshing foray into Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. The flat, asphalt roads of the business district and the new sights gave me a half-marathon PR that was pleasantly ran, achieved without much effort, and coming only two weeks after my first marathon.

One look at the 2010 Globe Run route and I was convinced it was the next key race I was looking for. The route was what the marketing touted it to be: a run through the heart of Makati, on the relatively flat roads linking Stock Exchange Plaza, Greenbelt and Glorietta. Why it even promised to pass by Ayala-MRT station and parallel to EDSA! Coolness! Only Globe will have the influence and muscle to effect such a route. In my excitement I tried to convince friends to run it. This is a PR-route, I told them. Just look at my half-mary PR which stood for more than 6 months. I was even able to convince Noelle to run it and be my pacer! Why, a number of friends were even joining our pace group. This would be one hell of a race party!

I was sold with the Globe idea and was willing to shell out Php750. That there was a group discount that brought the kit price to Php490 was just a sweetener. That I learned I could get a free race kit by virtue of being an employee of an Ayala Land tenant only made it sweeter. That I was invited to the bloggers’ launch and was also entitled to a free race kit was like getting choco toppings on your free ice cream! Globe is good!

Globe and Ayala Land actually delivered. The Globe coordinator for Social Media (Coy Caballes)) was professional and helpful. Globe gave me my kit on the spot at the launch for bloggers. I was promised a free kit by ALI earlier, but unsure whether I would actually receive it, I welcomed the Globe kit already on hand. But ALI did give me the promised kit Thursday before the race. Thank you Globe and ALI.

Everything was going great until that THURSDAY before the race when I learned the route was changed. WHAT THE F%#$#^^&!!! There goes my quest for new PR, my mind screamed. I have negotiated a 2:20 time with my pacer Noelle, although I had been training for a 2:15 time actually. But with this new route, with that long downhill-uphill passage that is Bayani Road, 2:20 suddenly seemed like Mt. Everest - beautiful but unreachable for me. Some small changes I could still tolerate, but to change the heart and soul of a route, that is a No-No! The least that could have been done was to replace the route with something similar. Was it changed to be more challenging? I have no problem with that, but please…change it before people make their decision to race.

I tried hard not to be bothered by it, but I was seething inside. I wanted to back out from the PR pursuit, but I have already enlisted a pacer and have a pace group hoping to run along. One month of careful planning and fastidious training, all that to be rocked by sudden route change. I may be slow, but this slow-fat triathlete also tries to be world-class in becoming the fastest slow-fat triathlete that he can be! Within a month I delicately balanced bringing my comfortably hard pace from 7min per km (mpk) to 6:30mpk; allocating time for swim, bike and runs; juggling training, recovery and social life; avoiding injuries and burn-out; losing 5lbs, and eating sensibly. It’s a demanding life I signed for, yes, but all I ask from a race is that I get what I signed for.

I trained for the original route, which was mostly flat. The flyover – I could physically and mentally hack that for I love flyovers. I was prepared for it. But Bayani Road? That was not part of what I signed up for.

I rested three full days for the daunting task ahead. On race morning I tried to be jolly, but inside I was in tenterhooks. Suddenly I am no longer confident as I was during my training runs. It took a lot of inner positivism to counter the demons inside. I started deliberately slow at about 6:30/40mpk, not only because I am a slow starter but also because I now needed to save up energy for Bayani Road. It was a quick pass through Makati – not even 2kms of central business district I think. Yeah, the race lost its come-on and charm. It has turned to be Global City Run.

By km 10.5, one hour and 10 minutes have passed. I was just on the dot for our original 2:20 target. I was just entering Heritage Park with Noelle, Sid and Timmy. Normally I am an even-to-negative splitter on the half-mary. Normally I would be more confident at this point. To a certain degree I was. The 2:20 target was still alive and I picked up the pace. My pace and heart just sank when I saw our Heritage route deviated from the usual RunRio route and ventured onto the rolling outskirts. What the heck! It was not enough that they included Bayani Road. They even had to make the Heritage Route harder! Grrr!!! I was not prepared to run this terrain at my new race pace. The rolling elevation was not evident even in the revised maps. That we have to zigzag in these rolling portions further dampened my spirits.

The only cheery note on my uphill climb along Bayani Road was when someone called my attention and asked if I was Sheerwill. The makeshift PhotoBongBong back bib with my slogan By Sheer Will was long torn off, but this amiable girl beside me probably remembered me from my blog or my takbo.ph avatar. Florian, or raspberry, it was nice to have met you, but sorry if I was not as chatty and cheerful as I was trying my best to shake off disappointment while catching my breath. Congratulations too on your run for I saw you finish several seconds ahead of me =)

When I reached Lawton Road from Bayani Road I was spent. I had to slow down for a while and exhale deeply to get my second wind. This happens to me rarely for I am a very even-paced runner. I was trying hard to catch up with my pace group Noelle, Sid and Timmy, who were several meters ahead for most of our run. At km 17 I had a time check. I had about 23 minutes to finish the last 4 kms within our pace group target of 2:20. That meant running a little below 6mpk. Although I would hit 5 or 5:30 in the last 500meters of every single training run, my original pace plan is really to go no faster than 6mpk.

Sub-6 pace in the last 4 kms seemed daunting but I suspended my disbelief. I would simply run it the best I could. Screw the tired legs made taut by unexpected downhills! I quit looking at my Garmin in the make-belief that maybe, just maybe, I could actually go faster than what I trained for. I have closed off the rational me; it was all heart from there. I didn’t know how fast I was going but slowly I overtook Julie who was minutes faster than me in Century Run. A kilometer more I overtook Janine who logged in 2:15 in the last Century Run. At km 18 I passed by Timmy, a stronger half-marathoner than me, for he had to deal with ITBS concerns. At the same kilometer, Noelle ran ahead after checking on Timmy, presumably to help pace Sid who was way ahead of us all and who eventually finished at 2:21.

In the last 2km I made another time check. The 2:20 goal was already out the window, but a PR was still well within my grasp. If I ran no slower than 7mpk, I can still finish 21.1km in 2:25/26. At that point I was running closer to 6mpk, and definitely no slower than 7mpk. I was rushing down coming from Kalayaan flyover, determined to lower that new PR as close to 2:20 as possible. At the Buendia-Paseo intersection, my Garmin said I should be down to my last 200-300 meters, but there were still two turns to the finish line! What was wrong!? I knew in that instant that the distance was off and I just prayed that my usual last kilometer pace pick-up could extend further and tide me off till the actual finish line. Once again, I abandoned the Garmin. I focused. Half-iron dreams, half-iron dreams, I would chant. In the last 100-200 meters I saw idol Mesh shouting Finish Strong. In one last spurt, I did. My last 500m were my best lap in the race.

2:29:50 in my Garmin, pressed from the time I stepped on the mat till the time I crossed the finish line. Garmin translates it to an average pace of 6:56mpk for a distance of 21.57kms. Other Garmin-ed friends reported longer distances.

I don’t know what to make of my time. That finish time, which was not even a new PR, plus the 6:20-6:40mpk reading I had on flats and a strong finish were the only other things I had.

Did I succeed or fail? If I failed, where I was wanting?

Have I actually transformed from the 7mpk guy to a 6:30 guy on flats?

Did my training pay off? Is it worth replicating?

Have I already adapted to the new pace? Can I use it to build a faster one?

Sadly, I have no definite answers. The route change rendered most things inconclusive and incomparable. I now sit with calves and hamstrings sore from being forced to take stress beyond what it was trained for. No amount of Powerade and water can wash the opportunity lost, disappointment and regret. It might take a little longer for my muscles to recover; even longer for the confidence to be regained.

Half-iron dreams. Beaten but not crushed. Waiting for the next race that will actually deliver what it promises. Looking once again for a half-marathon onto which it could safely anchor.

Everything Else is Priceless

2010-03-18T01:11:00.001+08:00

2010 Ateneo Aquathlon
Classic: 600m swim, 6k run
March 14, 2010

Registration Fee: Php450

Cost of Tri-suit: Php4-6 grand

Photo by Daniel Sicad (lakas.com.ph)

Cost of digital photo: free thanks to friends

Photo by Dennis Ravanzo

Everything else is priceless.

...the smile on friends' faces

Photo by Gerard Cinco

...the pre-race photo ops and goofing around

Photo by Dennis Ravanzo

...the feel of anticipation and the confidence that you have trained enough

Photo by fotosports (Rhia)

...knowing that you improved well in your transition time

Photo by Let Guieb

...finishing with a friend close behind

Photo by Daniel Sicad (lakas.com.ph)

...A new personal record!

54:25 vs last year's 58 minutes

Beat 14 people in my age group of 55 men

Swim time of 14:48 vs last year's 16:50 (Beat 20 in my age group)

Transition time of 1:15 which is better than those of 38 men in my group

Run time of 38:22 for 6k vs last year's 38:45 for 5K (Beat 11 others in my group)

Photo by Aries Rosales

...Seeing SWAC (Sheerwill Aquathlon Cup) graduates get age-group medals

Photo by Aries Rosales

...Being part of people's achievements
The Hermit's Journey
The Hotlegs Runner
Argonaut

...in the company of friends

Photo by Aries Rosales

Brickin' at Clark

2010-03-11T00:56:00.000+08:00

It was a sudden decision, and a bold one. After debating within myself whether I should make the trip to Central Luzon to see friends cross the 2010 Bataan Death March (BDM) 102K finish line, or just stay in Manila, do my Yakult race and my brick session in Mall of Asia (MOA), I decided to shoot two birds with one stone by bringing my brick session a bit closer to the BDM finish line.

After my Saturday morning bike session and brunch at MOA with friends, I hurriedly went back home to rest a little and pack for my Clark adventure. I left Paranaque a little past 4pm and was in Clark by 7pm. I had tough luck though searching for a budget hotel near the Clark perimeter. I stupidly entered the perimeter road near the Clark main gate and had to endure for an hour the traffic and chaos in the tiny road of bars and pleasures of the flesh. Finally I found a reasonably clean and cheap hotel (a Korean one), but I have to come back after an hour so the staff could clean the earlier trail of an overstaying guest.

Tired and famished I hurriedly looked for dinner. Original plan was to have light dinner for I was deep into Biggest Loser Contest Season 2 mode, but in my hunger and weariness I found myself in C! Italian restaurant. C! was supposedly my post-brick session fare, not my pre-session carbo-loading place. I found myself seated in the garden area, surrounded by lights more suited for a cozy date, me dressed still in shorts and casual sando, and me consuming by my lonesome a huge, smoked salmon panizza named Antonio Miguel. The first 3-4 strips of the panizza were pure bliss, but the last 3 were like the brick session I planned to do the morning after - hard to do but must be finished!

This is Antonio Miguel the panizza, not my friend Fermin Antonio Miguel aka Timmy

Finally settled in the hotel, I had difficulty sleeping on account of the panizza feast I just gobbled away. I was dead tired but could not sleep! Sigh! Eventually I did manage to get some shut-eye, only to wake up feeling like sh*t at 9:30am. I was definitely paying up for all the sleep debt I had accumulated. I missed my brick session start time by at least 3 hrs. Grrr! This is the problem if you are the session organizer and lone participant. You tend to slack!

Breakfast was not much help in lifting up my spirits. I still felt sleepy and decided just to shower before going back to bed for yet another hour of rest. Maybe I could do my brick after lunch. The cold shower luckily brought me to my senses. I reasoned out that it might happen that on the biggest race of my life (the 70.3 for now), I could feel the same sh*ttiness. Do I just let it overcome me? With that thought, I felt a sudden rush and excitedly suited up for the trip inside the former airbase.

I originally planned to wear cycling jersey and shorts, with arm covers to complete the biker look, but some voice told me to wear my trisuit for the first time. If you are summoning the ironman spirit, you might as well look the part. Besides, people you know were either racing in Manila, or running or supporting in BDM!

And so this was how I looked before the session (gulp!)

(looking stupidly at my timed camera propped on top of my bag inside the vehicle)

The prelude to being is becoming, and part of becoming is dressing up the part. So pardon me if I offended your senses. Better you be introduced to the sight online before I offend you further live. Haha! Part of the suiting up is the shoes. I am still on my quest for the ideal shoe, but my current favorite now is K-Swiss Keahou II. Admittedly I was drawn to the brand because of 2009 Camsur 70.3 winner Terenzo Bozzone who is K-Swiss-sponsored. I already have a Timex watch, a K-Swiss pair of shoes, and a trisuit. Just finish 70.3 miles in 8 hrs and I am already an half-Ironman. Anyway, here is the pair of shoes whose looks and cushioning blow me away.

Cycling in Clark is heaven. Mostly flat roads, with the choice of shaded roads or open sun, and option of attacking some hills. I parked my support vehicle (manned by me!) near the parade grounds and initially did the 2.25km bike trip around the rectangular grounds. Truth to tell I was afraid my lack of sleep will cause me to collapse so I played it safe. But soon enough I felt better and ventured onto the hill roads of the 2009 New Balance Race course, but avoiding the dusty backroads and turning towards Fontana early on. It was a nice 6-7km loop of flats, climbs, downhills and long flat push, shady or scorching hot in parts.

I was happy to hit 42kph max on the short downhills, sustain 30-37kph in the long flats, but the uphills had me spinning comfortably hard at 12kph. Haha. The uphills pulled my 50km average to 22kph. Evidently, I have some work to do on the uphill. Average rate of perceived effort is comfortably hard. I didn't want to push too much. I didn't want to collapse out there. Hehe. I originally planned to do 90kms, but I still had a run to do and a personal promise to see friends cross the BDM finish line. I reluctantly stopped at 50kms, but happy enough to have logged in more saddle time and achieve higher speeds in some parts.

My bike ride was eventful for one particular incident. After speeding one time on a downhill I heard my rear tire going flat. I pulled over along the hot, deserted, open road and tried in vain to pump air enough for me to bike back to my vehicle about 2-3kms away. It was useless as I heard air hissing out as I pumped. "Do not worry" I told myself. "You've changed inner tubes once before. Surely you can do it again. Treat this as practice should the unfortunate incident happen in Camsur."

I took off the wheelset and started to pry of the rubber from the metal rim. Goodness, the rubber would budge a little using this plastic lever I had, but I could not disengage it completely. Panic and calm wrestled within me. I took note of the time, imagining I was there in the competition with a flat tire. Calm down, Rico, calm down. Minutes later I finally got the rubber wheel out. I just had to push harder, past what I initially thought was a rubber breaking point. The rubber was made to be more resilient that what I imagined.

With the rubber wheel out I pulled of the leaky inner tube and tried to wrap the spare tube around the rim. What the heck, how come this limp tube looked longer than the rim circumference? Did I buy the wrong tube? The store said it was the standard specs. 700-23, right? That was what was written in the box, on the tube and in my cyclometer. WTF was wrong? Precious minutes passed by as I pondered on this conundrum. I tried to recall how the neighborhood bike mechanic first changed my flat tire. He inserted the inner tube first into the rubber wheel and then fitted the combo into the metal rim. Ok, just trust that the seemingly long, limp tube would fit inside. I did it and it felt funny, but when I inflated the inner tube it did fit exactly. Stupid me for forgetting about the inflationary effect! Costed me 25 effin minutes!

My planned 21k run as part of the brick session was reduced to 10k. I had to do at least the run distance of the standard triathlon I hope to first try in SUBIT. Do this as quickly as I can so I can hie off to San Fernando for BDM. Since I was just on comfortably hard mode on the bike and the ride was shorter than my recent long rides, I was tired, but not a wreck, when I got off the bike. It also helped in my run transition that my Keahou II had the best cushioning I have experienced so far. Soft like New Balances 1063 but firmer than the former. Soft to cushion my weight, but firm enough to allow for toe-off and propulsion forward. On runs my slow diesel engine normally takes 1-2kms before fully warming up, but the Keahou allowed me to feel good in less time or distance. Splendid!

It was an easy run though as I was really wary of my dwindling food and water supplies, and again, I did not want to collapse with no familiar face on sight. I decided to stick to the parade grounds for the run so others may at least notice me should any mishap take place. I think was I just doing 7-8minutes per kilometer. I did occasionally speed up though whenever I encounter the one or two other runners in those grounds. I was donned in a trisuit so I must act like a fast one. Haha. Overall, my transtion and run time was 1h32m, inclusive of water or food breaks and a trip to the john where I had to wiggle my way out of the trisuit to take a leak, where I took a picture for posterity, where the old maintenance man speaking in the local dialect was eyeing with curiosity and suspicion the camera-popping, half-naked me. Haha.

Me after taking after a liquidity break

(My gulay I had to partially undress to take a leak!)

Before this trip I was still groping for a way to support runner friends out on a venture I honestly do not completely understand. In my mind, the only way I can finish a 102km race is to have a strong motivation - something I failed to find when friends tried to convince me to join. Prior to my run I tried to express support the way I know and understand - to text my friends out there in the BDM sun that I too was running in the same hot sun after the ordeal of pedalling on a bike for hours. As I completed my last lap and passed by a heroic monument, a realization hit me: 70.3 miles and 102 kms are our individual ways to find meaning in our lives. While our motivations may not be clear at the start, at some point in our parallel journeys, surely we stumbled upon something enriching and edifying.

With my 50k bike and 10K run brick session done, I hied off to San Fernando at km 102 to see friends who did the race and the people who supported them. Unfortunately for me, I lost precious time searching for that marker and had to contend with the early race start and end. I reached the marker before 6pm with just enough time to congratulate the finishers who all glowed with their achievements, and chat with the supporters who were differently tired and satisfied. I just had enough time for one photo op with the km102 marker, but overall it was a journey worth taking.

In Moments like These

2010-02-24T23:00:00.021+08:00

Race Moments

A Personal Best

Made possible -

by a buddy on your side,

smiles and cheers,

and push by a friend.

Personal triumph

Shared.

Remembered.

For moments like these,

I join races.

Half-ironman dreams are chased one race PR at a time. For 2010, I have lined-up a slew of half-marathons, hoping to bring down my personal best to close to 2 hours before I set foot in Camsur in August. For the Century Run, I have a small, realistic goal: bring down my PB from 2:32+ to sub-2:30. Simple enough but it has evaded me for quite sometime. A number of my Biggest Loser Contest (BLC) Season 1 batchmates are now doing sub-2 or zooming towards it, and here I am still trying to hurdle the 2:30 physical and mental challenge.

It's not that I don't have the will. I have it in heaps I think. My goodness, I am Sheer Will! It's just that everytime I try to press on the speed gas, physical issues pop-up: plantar fasciitis, stiff calves and the like. Clearly the pains are weight and training intensity related. I am enrolled in BLC Season 2 now, but for the meantime I have to find a training strategy that will yield me sub-2:30 without breaking my legs.

For the Century quest I went back to my proven combination of progressive fast-slow intervals and even tempo runs. I did this more careful now about differentiating between stress that improves and stress that injures. Stress, then rest. Repeat cycle till you reach your goal. I did my last short tempo run Thursday prior to the run. The accumulated stress of training put me a little below target pace, but I left it at that. The last two days prior to race I would rest completely, hoping to reap training gains on race day itself. Massage and prayers would take care of the rest.

I have also welcomed the support of friends. Running buddies EO, Tracy and Doc Marvs, fresh from their Condura Marathon would party at my target 7-minute pace. For the most part of the race, I tried to stick to an even pace of 6:45min/km. I know myself enough that I would naturally slow down on the hills and might not be able to maximize racing downhills for fear of stressing my calves too much. I would also strictly follow Galloway 50m walk breaks at water stations. Taking all these into account, I figured I would actually average 7mpk. I am happy to note that despite the difficult Bayani Road on the half-way back, I pretty much ran an average pace of 7mpk. Best part was I was doing 6:30 mpk on my last 2 kms and a sub5mpk on my last hundred meters. A PR, an even-to-negative split run, a strong finish - always my preferred combination.

But I owe my pacers big-time. Fiercely independent me is normally uneasy relying on others, but Milo marathoner me learned long ago that some pursuits are best chased collectively. And so I smiled seeing and running with EO, Tracy and Marvin close-by or within sight. On km10 I was just on target but EO just allowed me to stick to my race plan, assuring me that he would push in the last 5kms if needed. Tracy would always be her smiling, positive self assuring me that it could be done. Marvin would always announce with glee an oncoming downhill.

At km 16 going up Bayani Road, our party of four was actually a minute or two ahead of schedule. EO told me he can pace me at 6mpk if I wanted, but I did not want to risk our gains by burning out toward the finish. I told him I would try to survive the uphill back and run the rest at 6:30mpk. At km 18, we are still a minute or so ahead of the 2:30 schedule so I was becoming more confident. It was at this point that I truly appreciated my pacers. If it was me alone I might slack off or even doubt myself that late in the game. But at that point, I was running not only for myself, but also for my pacers. If I race alone my triumph or failure is mine alone. That day I did not want them to share in a failure. I wanted a shared triumph. At that point, two phrases and a song occupied my mind. Half-iron dreams and Posible would echo in my mind, in between strains of Rivermaya's song Posible. Half-iron dreams. They are possible. I aM Possible. With that thought I raced the last three kilometers, the last two kilometers being my best laps.

I crossed the finish the line surrounded by friends, with a heart leaping with joy for a gun time of 2:28:44 and chip time of 2:28:11. A humble time by most standards, but it was the best race experience I've had in months. Glory be to God and thank you my friends.

Lead Pacer EO, for just being there and believing in my race plan

Cheerer Tracy for being a constant, positive presence

Pusher Marvin for mentally and literally pushing me in some parts.

Smiling at the finish line with pacers EO and Tracy and takbo.ph's Jinoe

For moments like these, I love races.

(Post title inspired by this Christian song)

In Moments Like These

In moments like these, I sing out a song

I sing out a praise song to You, Lord

In moments like these, I sing out a song

I sing out a praise song to You.

Quest for a Superbod: BLC Chronicles

2010-02-23T01:57:00.001+08:00

I am a weight loss veteran. I have lost weight for many reasons:

(a) Vanity. I wanted to look good for the dating scene.

(b) Health. High blood was giving me neck aches and causing me to be grouchy.

Normally I win my weight loss battles. I just let go of my weight concerns once the original motivation has gone. This time I am losing weight for Performance (athletic performance you green mind!)

I want a Superbod not because it is eye candy and picture-friendly, but because I want to swim, bike and run faster. I do not want a dumbbell-pressed, machined-crunched, creatinine-induced biceps, abdominals and pectorals that are good only for posing and preening on the beach. I want, need, seek muscles that will bring me closer to my half-ironman dream.

Biggest Loser Contest Season 2 (Battle of the Abs) was conceived out of this vision. This time, we do not only want to lose weight. We also want to encourage lean muscle mass. Muscles that actually help us perform better. The Biggest Loser is the one who has the biggest combined drop in weight and/or body fat percentage. For Season 2, I will contend with these people:

Natz(L) Jet(C) RJ (R)

Junar(L) Angel(C) Topher(R)

Carlo(L) Jan(C) Tracy(R)

Izie Marga

Ronald Sid

So how am I doing in my quest to be a Superbod?

I lost a couple of pounds already. But I am really pumped up by this Sub-Rico Challenge: Beat Rico in BLC 2 and win Php500! Sorry this is for BLC 2 participants only. But you can always try to beat me vicariously. BLC bandits my cheapskate (frugal daw) friends call it. Haha. I am not yet at that income level where I can offer this to everyone! I suppose this challenge is a win-win proposition for us BLC participants. I badly need to win (or at least do well) to avoid being debt-ridden.

I have approached BLC with a three-pronged strategy. When I think BLC I see RED. Rest, Exercise and Diet. In the past I lost weight mostly by running my ass and belly off. I supplemented it with dieting, but I exercised myself to exhaustion mostly. Problem with this is that it is Pyrrhic victory – I lose weight but I burn out in the end. Burn out is also an issue I have with dieting. After feasting on oatmeal you tire out eventually.

BLC, BLC , BLC. How do I win and not burn out in the process? Just like in marathons, the key I discovered is in even pacing. I exercise hard and diet seriously, but not to the point I puke out from difficulty. Rest – physical and mental – is something I have learned to value. I have tried successive hard or long runs, but the weight scale would not budge down. I invested hours in sweating it out, but that robbed my body of the time to recover. Under duress, my body protected itself, converted to fat whatever little food I fed it, and gave me lingering muscle tightness. Stupid, counter-productive exercise. I gave myself two days of rest a week and the weight scale cooperated. Now we’re talking. The two rest days, consider them as my Galloway walk breaks ;-)

I started calorie monitoring via Daily Burn, long enough to be familiar with the calorie counts of my usual diet, and short enough for me to realize that my restricted diet is still not enough to create a calorific deficit necessary for weight loss. They say that if exercise is king, diet is the queen. True, very true. I can still change my diet and accelerate the weight loss process, but I resolved to do it the sustainable way. I substituted refined carbs like rice and bread with natural sugars and healthy fats in fruits. On training sessions I munch on monggo hopia, lotus seed mooncake, or granola bars. I feasted on fibers and vegetables to feel full. I increased my protein intake a beat. More fish, yoghurt and soya products to repair the muscles I routinely tear down as I attempt to speed up.

Five more weeks till BLC 2 finals (Mar 28). I am banking on my EQ, negative split and strong finish to claim the title. I have trimmed down enough to muster the courage to buy myself a tri-suit. I considered wearing it in Century Tuna Superbods, but propriety prevailed over me. Maybe I can don it on the Ateneo Aquathlon.

Tri-suit...a month back I wanted to lose weight simply to fit into one.

Tri-suit... I look at it now thinking of what I can be and what I hope to become:

A Superbod. Abs that slice through waters, V-shaped back that can withstand a 90-km bike ride, and quadriceps that permit a sprint with a smile to the finish line.

Half-iron Dreams

2010-02-19T23:09:00.001+08:00

On January 14, 2010 I finally registered for the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Triathlon.

1.2 miles of swimming

56.0 miles of cycling

13.1 miles of running

----------------------------

70.3 miles of racing

8 hrs to test oneself.

To test oneself. What an expensive way to test myself. Usd183.75 for solo registration fee, a couple hundreds more for accommodation and food expenses. But the expenses only serve to magnify the seriousness of my pursuit. Seven years after I first joined a triathlon on a whim and a dare, and 2 years after consistently immersing myself in the sport, I want to try IT. After finishing several mini-sprints and sprint triathlons without time pressure, I want to know if I can do a half-ironman within the requisite 8 hrs.

Two years ago I do not even know what 70.3 means. For the longest time I cringed at the thought of calling myself a triathlete. I swim long, bike slow and run even slower. At best I consider myself a recreational triathlete, for that is what I really am. Tri-ing for the sheer fun of completing the challenge. This time I want to focus on the Athlete. I want to be a TriAthlete. Not the kind that stands on podiums, but the kind that knows his body and mind well, and has the ability to use them – refine them - to achieve physical and mental feats. I see beauty, nobility and fulfillment in that pursuit. That lifelong pursuit to use our God-given gifts to improve ourselves and help others. Like iron on the anvil, I wish to subject myself to heat and pounding - in the hope of getting stronger, better and useful.

I dreamed about doing the Ironman the first time I saw the Team Hoyt video. A retired man pushing his disabled adult son to complete several full Ironmans. If the dad can do it, surely I can do it too. I very rarely cry but my eyes did get misty watching that video. I have admired Team Hoyt since then, and developed fondness for the local running version here that is Team Logan. The closest I’ve reached to the Team Hoyt dream was running the Subic Marathon with Team Logan.

Team Hoyt ( from Google images)

Team Logan with Sheer Will

Photo by Aileen Eway

When I registered, there was a part that asked about one’s triathlon achievements. For a while the thought that I was not good enough to even join the race did cross my mind. But my name did appear shortly on the athletes list. I was overjoyed like a child getting his first bike. That was it. I am a participant now. A wannabe. An aspirant. After missing the inaugural version in 2009 I am finally in. Back then in 2009 I figured I should be a better runner first. I exchanged the half-iron dream for the marathon dream. My marathon did help me – I sped up a little and got considerably stronger in endurance. My marathon pursuit also taught me lessons that I could carry on to my half-iron pursuit. About what true competition and being an athlete really mean. About the value of motivation, friendship and good will in transforming the daunting into do-able.

A dreamer. That is what I am. An average guy who fulfills his dream one swim drill at a time, accelerating on his bike a kilometer per hour at time, and running after the half-mary goal one PR at a time. What I lack in innate speed I make up with endurance, creativity and an indomitable spirit. On hindsight, the liempo tempo runs, hopia LSDs, Biggest Loser Contest (BLC) Seasons 1 & 2, the Wednesday Swim Nights, the Sheerwill Aquathlon Cups (SWAC) editions 1-4, and the planned Century Rides were conscious or unconscious attempts to come closer to the half-iron dream. I owe Gingerbreadman Luis my improvement in run pace from a lazy 8min/km to 7min/km. I organized LSDs and joined LSDs organized by others. I goaded Gerard and other people to join me in my quest to lose weight. I had hoped to inspire others, but I ended up being inspired by BLC winners Bryan and Allan, and my fellow contenders. In countless swim nights we simulated mass starts and thrashing in the water. I initiated SWAC to encourage newbie friends, but in SWAC I found other multi-sports friends who push and pull me in our collective half-iron quest. I am banking on the same pool of good will for our Century Bike Ride series, for this time I sorely need to go the distance and speed up my biking.

Half-ironman Dreams. Dreams are not free. They are paid with your time, sweat and pains. I but continue to dream just the same. I go there to Camsur with body made better by sheer training and with a heart that has always been burning brightly. If there is no cut-off time I know I can finish the challenge. But I really hope to finish within cut-off time and get a finisher’s medal as reward. I can swim 2kms now under 1 hr, bike at 25-27kph on the average for distance of up to 60kms, and run half-mary at 2:32 best. I have dotted my race calendar with a flurry of half-marathons, hoping to lower my Personal Best with each major race. I have devoted my Saturdays for long bike rides – slowly picking up speed and distance in the process. I have considered getting coaching sessions. On race day I do not know what will happen. Will my goggles get kicked off my face? Will my tires go flat? Will my legs cramp? I do not know. The only thing I am certain is that I have a dream and I live to pursue that dream at the moment. I would leave Camsur certain that this average guy dared to dream, worked hard for it, and tried. So help me God.