Thursday, August 9, 2007

vR rUn Episode #3

Have you ever heard the saying "God is good!".... I often hear it from one of those Christian Channels on cable but today.... indeed! GOD IS GOOD!

I woke up at exactly 4am. 10mins after my alarm clock started spewing "Kailangan pa bang imemorize yan!?" lines out of it. :) Hey, that's the only radio station I know that plays 24hrs. Got my sorry sleepy @ss out of bed and changed to my all yellow running gear. I know that its stupid to run out in the Manila Streets at 430am let alone if I'm wearing dark clothing right!?

No time to waste, I skipped the bars, and I ran out of Gatorade! Grabbed my hydration belt and got going exactly at 430am. Still no sign of rain by this time. Opssss.... I might have had spoken too soon.... cause just after a good 5 minutes of warm up jogging rain drops the size of cornbits started to drench me cold. Whew! Thank god I didn't multiply into the thousands. :D I pushed my pace by early trying to maximize the cooling effect im getting. I did a hard 15minute run but had to stop cause I felt somethings wrong with my stomach... No, I didn't need to go to the throne. I needed to puke! It was my hyperacidic tummy working against me. GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! I had to stop and good thing there was a near by 7-11 convenience store at the corner. I bought the usual Propel drink by Gatorade and wasted no time hydrating and filling in my carry-on flask. Good thing the rain also stopped by this time. Im pushing for my 2hr training run!





Banggi texted me earlier that she would be running around the Makati area and so I decided to do my loop thru Makati and swing by her route. So from Roxas blvd, I took Buendia Eastbound to Makati BCD. Met up with Banggi at the usual running park at Salcedo and did about 2km run together. Boy, she was strict with her programed 10km run. She stopped running and started walking after knowing that she already did 10km. hehehehe We made the route pass by her place so that she can have her post run MickyD treat, did I smell Chicken Nuggets Banggi?!? :D



I pushed on going back to Roxas Blvd and doing a loop inside CCP complex and running through Baywalk, Pedro Gil East and then back to San Andres. Completing again another 2hour Virtual Run.




Since most of the guys from outside the country got a shock of their life the last time I posted my VR recap, I chose a better route this time. And didn't take any pictures of the suicidal parts of my route! hehehehehe



CCP Facade: this usually is filled with runners. I guess everyone skipped training and did more sleeping today.







Philippine Navy Facade: Even Mr. Buko man skipped selling today.








Baywalk Waves









God is good! It didn't rain that much early today. Heck! Eric was ready to offer a dozen eggs. While I was also getting ready to offer my own if it didn't stop! :D I'm glad i was able to train today. Crossing my fingers for a good Sunday race.





Now for the sad part of my run today. I heard about it from my friends and saw it in the not so Front Page of the broadsheet. Baywalk is gone! I'm not a big Baywalk fan, but I did enjoy doing my runs there since 2006 when i started running. I didn't need any iPod cause the diverse music selection alone in that area makes you either love it or hate it. Either way you will be running fast. :D I hate to be very political about it. But I just can't help it! When I joined the dragonboat team of our school back in College. I used to walk all the way from Pedro Gil to CCP. Didn't have a car yet so the jeepney is my bestfriend. and the closest route was Pedro Gil. Back then this part of Manila Bay used to be Very Dark, unevenly paved and filled with either doped sleepy people or plainly sleepy or plainly doped people. It was a very scary affair walking through that part 3x a week at 430am too! Good thing it got rehabilitated and lights were up and some security guards are passing by the area. Running at night is hard due to the amount of traffic but it was surely fun. You can ask Smith, cause we were still able to make some runs here 2 months ago.


Mrs. Franco (not her real name). She's a regular Baywalk morning walker. She said that they tore down the establishments last July 31.










It has been only a week since they chopped the place. Already this floor lights are gone! Whats next, the chairs and lamp-posts!?

I miss the old Baywalk. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be dark and dope infested again.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

vR rUn #3

Come out and join us for our next virtual training run. Runners from across the globe connect and train virtually with each other through the power of 21st century technology. We have had participants from the Philippines and Malaysia going stride for stride with their virtual buddies from San Diego, Orange County, and Seattle.

DATE: 9 August 2007, Thursday (Manila Time)
TIME: 4:30 A.M. (Manila Time)
DISTANCE: 10 km/ 6 miles (or whatever you wish)
RUNNERS/ COURSE: (I’ll update this as more people join up)

1. E-Rod - Newport Beach, USA
2. HitMe - Quezon City, Philippines
3. Banggi - Manila, Philippines
4. Ben - Manila to Makati, Philippines
5. Renz - Metro Manila, Philippines
6. Marga - Paranaque, Philippines
7. Steph - San Diego, USA
8. Gretchen - Seattle, USA
9. Jaymie - Alabang, Philippines

To Manila runners, let’s join hands in prayer for the storm to stop and the sun to shine brightly tomorrow morning. Otherwise, it will be a treadmill run for most of us. For me, that just points to a slow pace and sore knees. Ack!

Sign in if you want to join…


Ok so my problem now is should i run in the rain???? hmmmmm.... Will my stash of Fern-C supplements be able to help me avoid getting a cold and push my 10km race this coming sunday? hmmmmmmm...... Im still hoping for a new PR soon. I hope this Sunday is soon enough. :)