Goodbye! Goodluck! PHILSPADA TEAM!

I have been training in Pasig Ultra Track for almost 3 months now. In those 12 weeks I have known the regular folks there.... Senior Citizens brisk walking while talking about politics, High School track teams doing their workouts along side with the usual UP and JRU track team. And there are the regular folks just wanting to stay fit or loose some weight.

Coincidentally the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (PHILSPADA) team started their training, for the South East Asian Games in Thailand, the same time as I did. They were my training day classmates. By 5am they are already at the usual hangout corner at the track, some still catching a snooze while others are just chatting while waiting for either Coach Buen or the light of the sky to arrive first. :) By the time I'm already doing my workouts they are just starting their warm-up routine. I'm not really sure how long they train but they do train twice a day. Once you are with them you won't even ask what their disabilities are.... You will only be amazed at their abilities.

Let me show you what our typical morning training looks like.....

note::: If by any chance you are from any other countries in the South East Asian Region (Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia......) ...... BE AFRAID.... BE VERY VERY AFRAID......

- That's Andy, our bet for the High Jump and Long Jump Event -

- New shoes! Care of the Philippine Sports Commision -

- The 3 coach, Trying to check if the thrower's chair can be modified for the athlete on the left -

- "parang building yan kid, di ka makakaabot sa 5th floor hanggat di ka dumaan sa madaming hagdan... easy lang at aabot ka rin sa mga pangarap mo"

- she's no athlete.... but she's there everyday supporting her husband (previous photo, guy on top left)-

-waiting for their turn, time trials-

-our 4x100m relay team, andrew, ryan, pacaldo, delbert-

-stretching before warm-up-

- Coach Joel-

- just another beautiful day, keeping the long jump sand box soft-

Today is their last training day. They will be leaving for Thailand tomorrow morning. Ok I have to admit..... I'm a bit sad that their going. But at the same time happy cause I know for a fact that these guys will be kicking some serious @ss on the track! :) GO TEAM PHILIPPINES!!!!





Oh and did I mention that the JRU team trains there... It just so happens that she's the head coach. :) Madam Elma Muros - the heptathlon queen. I managed to be thick-faced enough today to ask for a picture with her. She laughed at me and even directed the shot to be front lit. hahahahahaha

Clark Marathon 2008

mY 4th FAILED attempt in breaking 20minutes in the 5km event.

The weather was perfect. Training was ok. Rest was also enough.
I guess it's just not my time yet. I guess I'm not ready enough.

Unofficial race time: 21:12.06

"The record will be broken, I just don't know when...." -haile gebraselasie

Will skip Subic on Sunday, and just prepare for the PSE BullRun on the 27th.