All Saints Day Long Run

Swthrt and I just finished a 21K long run at Batangas City. We started at Avida Residences San Isidro at around 5:30am. Our destination was at Swthrt's home at Barangay Tulo and back. We were joined by Swthrt's brother Ed who was road testing his new mountain bike. This was the usual course we take every time we visit our relatives in Batangas. It was challenging course with lots of uphills. The run could have been a new PR if it was a race. Actually, Swthrt could have made it to cut-off time of Milo marathons of 2:30 for the half marathon. Our Time was 2:24:50 with an average pace of 6:53min/K. Swthrt expereienced pain on her left knee on our way back but managed to finish the run. We also need some suggestions on how to minimize chafing on her chest due to singlet rubbing.

Nike hanged at Adidas

Since I was not able to run at the Subic International Marathon to join the Nike Human Race I opted to do the second option of running elsewhere and just upload the recorded run in my Nike+ ipod. I was suppose to run on Saturday but our hectic family schedule did not permit me. I decided to log the 21K run at the Adidas KOTR to contribute even a few kilometers at the Nike Ambassador Challenge which I joined with Team Banana Running. This will be the longest run to be recorded in my Nike+ kit. The longest so far was 15.1K. I even made a power song playlist just for this run. At the start of the race I set the kit in the half marathon workout setting only and found out that it was set on the English system of miles. This gave me some difficulty of knowing my pace in minutes per kilometer. I would have wanted to know our pace during our run. Because of this, I just let it pass and just wanted to record my run. It was recording perfectly until we reached the intersection of McKinley Avenue going to Lawton Ave. The ipod just suddenly hanged up. I cannot use any function. I could not even reset it. I guess Nike and Adidas can’t be together. This morning, I checked on it hoping to salvage the recorded distance of 8 miles before it hanged up but to no avail. It did not save any data on my last run. O well, you just cannot rely on high technology. It is still best to depend on the good old but reliable Timex Ironman watch. See you at the starting line!

Swthrt sets new PR @ KOTR ’09

This year’s edition of the Adidas King of the Road (KOTR) gave runners another venue to prove themselves and set new personal best. This time Swthrt and I registered for the half marathon which was the main event for this race. This was highly anticipated since the New Balance race which was scheduled earlier than this race was postponed to a later date. It was a family affair for this race. Our eldest son, JM ran the 5K, while the youngest, Josh served as the official photographer. My parents also joined us to look after Josh.

We arrived at BHS before 5am, with enough time to do some warm-up run. We met with Vener and Xty and the runners from Honda Cars Makati.

with Xty and Vener and our son JM

Swthrt who had a limited practice run before the race was quite nervous at the start. The 21K runners were released on time and we were off for a good start. Our target pace was 6:30 – 7:00 min/K. Swthrt was doing great and we even had a chat with Jinoe going all the way to Kalayaan flyover before he pulled away. Swthrt was having a steady pace along Buendia Avenue. It was always at this area where she experienced some sort of a runner’s high as she would just run and that everything else was amazing. We reached the turn-around point along Buendia with no problem at all. As we made our way back, Swthrt would experience side stitches occasionally but she would continue on. We have our first break of Kitkat at the junction of Ayala-Buendia. We are experimenting on this energy supplement, hehehe (cheaper di ba?). Upon reaching the area covered by the 10K runners, the road was crowded with runners and was quite difficult to run. Swthrt had a first walk break going up the flyover. Tiredness begun to set in and so I told her to have another break, let’s have a kitkat! What was amazing with Swthrt was her desire to continue on. At this point, the cheers, high five signs and encouragements from other runners surely kept us going. Our run continued with walk breaks and slow jog to recover. Side stitches also attacked once in a while but Swthrt was able to bounce back and ran patiently until we cross the finish line after 2:40:+. It was a new personal best for Swthrt beating the 2:45:+ record at the Run for Home. It was a wonderful experience for both of us.

with Mae (in my own views) andn Manny (IceOne)

AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST

“We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.” II Corinthians 5:20

When I hear the word “ambassador,” I think of someone who represents a place or someone else. In II Corinthians 5:20, we all called “Christ’s ambassadors.” This means that we are representatives of Christ and we thus have the responsibility of sharing and imitating Christ here on earth. Athletics offer a great tool for us to reach others and impact their lives for Christ, especially for those in leadership positions.

Sometimes people view athletics as a separate entity of their lives, but we should also let our light shine through what we do in sports. Are you representing Christ in how you perform in athletics? It is so easy to get caught up in the pressures of sports. We start to focus on our name or reputation as a player and increasing our stats that we lose sight of our true focus of representing Christ’s name; so let’s keep that first priority. - Leah Metcalf

Training and race

For two weeks now I was able to run at least thrice a week. I run easy (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and long runs (weekends) at Fort Bonifacio during the Milo finals and at UP Diliman during the QCIM. I was with Swthrt during the two weekend long runs. Hopefully, our work schedules permit us to do our trainings regularly for us to be able to aim something big next year.

The 1st Quezon City International Marathon was a big success and many records have been broken and many firsts have been written. We should have not miss this, but we did for some unavoidable reasons. This was my first aimed full marathon but unluckily was not able to join it, and yes I was not also much prepared. Likewise, the series of events about the typhoons that hit the metro must have douse of our interest to register. For whatever reason it may be, this race was not really meant for us. Anyway, Swthrt and I did a 15K run within UPD campus on that day. It was a fulfilling run completing out target distance. . Hopefully this would set a pace for Swthrt setting a new PR for the 21K this coming Adidas KOTR. This will be her second half-marathon after the Run for Home.

An unforgettable experience happened before our run. I locked the car leaving the key inside after getting my hydration belt from the trunk. I was a victim of this thing, that I always remind Swthrt not to leave the car key inside the trunk every time I lend it. I guess I need to add Memo Plus to my health supplements, he he he. So as not to ruin our day, we still continued our run and went home with a cab to get the spare car key. Good thing I knew an alternate route going back to UP as most of the road are closed to traffic because of the QCIM being held.

Congratulations to our friends who run and finished the recently concluded QCIM.

See you at the starting line of Adidas King of the Road!