A trip to the DOC....... finally!

I managed to gather all my courage and face the hard reality of my still aching left shin. I gave the doc a visit today and exposed two 11x14's profile of my lower left leg..... Just the thought of knowing the results tomorrow is working like a quick and really strong dose of java to me right now. My fingers are still crossed.

slow Recovery.....

Crisp white sand beaches, relaxing sound of the waves ashore, and an endless supply of drinks and food galore.... El Nido.

If only I can swim a whopping 10 miles from where I was imagining that place. :( I have been stuck in the middle of the sea for 6 whole days of work... work... work... Ok here's my disclaimer again, I AM NOT COMPLAINING. The food was great, the people were nice, and the assignment was a bit challenging so I did enjoy it a bit.

As I am still recuperating from my shin splints, I knew that I had to take steps in making sure that I can continue my cross training activities and by this week do some light running already. Got a new running injury gear before I left manila. It's a shin compression sleeve :P

- I just look really cool on those orange coverall :P -

This is what kept me sane for 6 days in a 3 floor 300sq/mt living quarters. Well I did most of my cardio-heartbreak workouts on the bike and did some light 3km and 5km runs on the treadmill. Then I tried to push for 10km last Sunday, so far so good no additional pain. I can manage to do some more light running with only a very mild and manageable discomfort.

Update:

10-10-07
Chaia is back in town. The usual h@ppyFeet present in our regular training runs around Makati planned on a quick bite after the training. Unlucky me, I still had to go back to my apartment, I forgot to bring my shorts. And so I decided to start my workout from my apartment giving me another 3km of mileage to my workout. Was also able to meet up with our uniform supplier. Great news! Final design was approved and downpayment was already made (thanks Bangge!). I can't wait for the first race in November where we can debut our brand spanking new h@ppyFeet uniform.

10-12-07
I met up with Renz at about 6am we planned to do some track work today, but it turned out that the track was exclusive for Philippine Team Practice and Senior Citizens only. hmmmmp.... So then just decided to run around Ultra Sports Arena and took advantage of the uphill/downhill terrain. Was another good 40minute workout for me. I still didn't push my legs that far since I'm still hoping on a good race next Sunday. :)

batTling thE pAin

Today marks the 6th day of absolutely no running for me. When I finally decided to take the next step in my training by getting a coach, here I am stuck or even taking some step back in my current fitness level. Random thoughts, flashing in my mind, of my finish time increasing by the second. Will I ever recover from this pain that I was st@pid enough to get myself into?

I have been Icing, Resting and Massaging(with some Chinese smelling oil) my shins for the past few days. Doc Brent even gave me some anti-inflammatory meds for it. But I've been a really good patient and only took it on extreme pain day which was last Tuesday.

Lately I have been biking and last Sunday did some 40 minute swimming. I hope to do more of the swim training only if I could find a good lapping pool nearby. Rizal Sports Pool is reserved for the Philippine Swim team at 6am and opens at 8am. So if you know of a good lapping pool near Makati or Manila area which opens at 5am or 6am please leave me a comment.

Milo Legazpi City Elims 21km Picture Updates

Sorry it took some time for me to upload this pictures.

Mizuno Running Clinic

Traffic!

God d@mn Traffic!

arrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I went out of the office thinking that it was early enough for me to fetch Renz and be able to get to the Mizuno Run on time. Well Thursday night traffic in Makati is just terrible. I was stuck in the same place for like 20mins. I even sent Renz and SMS saying that he should walk and take a motorcycle ride going to the place just for him to get there and be able to join the run. Well I guess luck wasn't really on my side last night.

I was able to arrive at the Mizuno Bonifacio High Street Branch at around 7:35pm already. It actually took me an hour and half just to get to Fort Bonifacio! WT........ anyway, I tried to stick around and look for the usual faces, Jaymie, Renz and some of the fast elite runners. I bumped into Marga, another TBR's regular reader.

Ok I learned my lesson well last night. I'll bring my bike going to the Mizuno Run next time. that'll save me an hour for sure. :) I hope you could come and join their Running Clinics every other Thursday. The next one is set on

October 11, 2007 7:00pm.

- tbr and marga -

NB Power Race

Although my pair just gave up on me I still love my NB. I'm on the lookout for a new pair, 2 actually. One for training and a racing flat, I'm taking Totoy's advice on this. :) Well here's the take on their latest event.


What : NB Power Race (the next level)
When: November 11, 2007 6:30am
Where: Clark Freeport Zone
Race Events: 10km open || 25km open & age category
Race Fee: 300.00pesos only

Here's the great thing about this race. For the first 500 entries to the 25km race they will be providing an RF-ID timing chips! Looks like my prayers for a Champion Chip event has been answered by NB!

There's still time to train! Bump up your weekly mileage and see you all at the race!

Deadline for entries is on OCTOBER 14, 2007

There's also a "RUN for CURE" 5km fun run on October 21, 2007 6am at the Powerplant Mall. For more details call 898-1933

FAME rUn

"Buhay Marino"

Well i got a taste of what it's like to live a life of a mariner when I had an assignment to shoot for an oil company. Good thing it only lasted for a 2 weeks. Going out of the the vessel and you'll just see an endless horizon of ocean water it does take a lot of courage and well a lot more courage to work on such a place. I salute all the Filipino Sailors for having such quality.

5:42am

A sea of mariners (im not sure if they were trainees or full time employees already) were gathered at the starting grid already. All I heard was the warm up drill going on. So I skipped it and just looked for the h@ppyFeet members that I had registered for the event. I guess John Pembroke (a UK based runner visiting the PI) was already getting worried that he might not be able to get his race packet from me. I saw him already in line for the on-site registration table. :D Gave him the race packet and looked for the other runners. When all of a sudden I heard the race gun fire! It was only 5:56 on my watch. I guess they were really serious when they said that the race will promptly start at 6am.

Good thing Mon(our senior h@ppyFeet member) gladly took all the remaining race packets from me. I ran as fast as I can manage and just avoided all the traffic by going on the wrong side of the street. Good thing was that by the 1st km the runners were already spaced out. That's when I returned to the race course.

1st Turn around point

I felt that I pushed a bit too much so I decided to slow down and just maintain a good pace for the next 3km. The course also had some good incline parts. So I decided to apply my previous race strategy. Run fast as I can on the flats and just maintain a good pace on the incline.

2nd Turn around point

I still felt good and I was still very conscious on my running form. If there was something that I learned from Milo Legazpi race, it was to CONSTANTLY REMIND myself of my RUNNING FORM during a race.

I got a chance to run along with Joms and Lala by the 4th km. What surprised me was that Joms wasn't pacing for his 5km event. He only pushed harder when he asked for the time which was already nearing 19mins and we were still about 1km away from the finish line.

2nd lap

Passing by the Start/Finish line for my second lap, I was still feeling good and still very conscious again of my running form. Again I tried to push every 300meters checking if I can maintain it longer. Well I wanted to play safe this time so I reserved some for the last 2~3km of the race. I was pacing alongside a runner from mariners running club. I tried to hold on to his pace for almost a kilometer. After a good 4+minutes I felt that I still can push my pace, I did a good 2meter push and it was just in time before the slight incline which I needed to pace back a bit.

Last 2km

I knew the distance, I also knew that John and Totoy was a good 4 minutes ahead of me. I just needed to maintain my fast pace for another 1.5km and still have some left for a good push at the very last minute. Last turn, West side stretch of Mall of Asia. I did my final push. Straightened back, a little lean forward, changed my breathing and full strides. I saw the clock hitting 49:55 I pushed and again I jumped for a 49:59 finish. I just hope they did record it as a sub 50min finish. I was a bit dazed at the finish but I held on. I hope this is how I always finish a race. And hopefully I wont forget what I've learned from the last 2 races.

- h@ppyFeet moment -

After the race Doc and I planned on doing a trail run back at the San Mateo Mountains.


The mountain scene changed a bit since the last time I went there. We were greeted with this very nice view. We tackled the shortest trail there Roxas trail. We met a couple of MTB groups along the way and most of them and the locals where asking Doc and I where we had parked our bikes??? hehehehe But we did overtake them at the climbs and even on the single track section of the trail. I think they were really surprised to see that we were also going fast. Well we were just doing a nice and fun run. :)

We took the paved Halo-Halo trail going to our rest stop Giant. We were then greeted by a sudden downpour just about 500meters away from the sari sari store. We were just hoping by this time that the Instant Noodles will be instant enough for our already severe hunger. Ok so we did have the instant pancit canton...... and some rice.... and some luncheon meat..... :D hahaha we were stuffed that I was getting worried on how will we be running back to the car. It took us until 2pm for our run. The way back was full of power walks and a lot of talking.

I hope next time more h@ppyFeet members would join in the fun of trail running.

Paging RENZ, JOMS, JUDAH, CHAIA and the others! Let's go trail running again!