Runner No More ?

I haven't been running for the longest time. Once there is no goal for me to attain in the future, the urge to wake up early in the morning, put on running shoes and hit the road has disappeared. To do so as a form of exercise just seems.... CRAZY!

Why do that when I can just go to the comforts of the air-conditioned gym and just work out there? Why face the rain, speeding cars, terrifying dogs, polluted airs plus the normal headaches associated with waking up at 4AM just to RUN ?! That is just absurd! I would rather spend the time in the comforts of my bed and wake up refreshed for the day. I would rather go out the night before than worry about the number of hours I have left before the alarm sounds off at 4AM.

Why join road races when I get chaffed, blisters, stomach pains, cramps, feel hunger and thirst, side stitch, and no place other than the sidewalk to sit on?

Is this runner turning into a non-runner? Methinks so!

It has become surreal that I have accomplished some full marathons and too many half marathons to count (at least with my fingers and toes) given my current situation. Did I really do those things? How did I do it? What was I thinking??

The "runner me" doesn't sound like me anymore. The old me has now been replaced by a lazy person, quite comfortable to just sleeping and relaxing instead of doing the pains of running.

Whereas I had some regret before on cancelling my NY marathon, now I am just glad to have done so. If it wasn't cancelled, then my Sunday begins at 4am instead of 10am, and I would have to sleep in the afternoons just to offset waking up early. I would have less time to spend with my wife as she definitely doesn't want to train for a full mary. I would pressure myself in attaining the required miles per week (rain or shine) especially the required miles for the long run. I would have gotten a massage every so often but would groan every time the person massages my thighs. And let's not forget the pain relievers I have to take for my foot, the tape I used to stretch my leg and the heel cups I used for added support.

It really is hard to be a runner!

Don't worry, I haven't really quit on the sport (yet). But 21k and 42k seems too far reaching for me now. Right now, I am comfortable with the 10k distance. Instead of joining weekly races, monthly races are our comfort zones right now.


Next one we will be joining will be this Saturday's Figaro Run

NYC 42.2km - CANCELLED !

Although I have decided to do it on last Saturday's Run, doing it was a lot harder than saying you will do it....

SIGH!

See below:



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

Dear dennis que pe!

We have received your cancellation notice for the ING New York City Marathon 2010.

We're sorry to hear that you won’t be participating in this year's event. You are eligible for guaranteed entry into the ING New York City Marathon 2011. Please note that you must still apply for guaranteed entry into the 2011 event and pay the entry fees as well as applicable optional fees.

Now that you have cancelled, you cannot be reinstated into the ING New York City Marathon 2010. Your decision was final. If you did not cancel and are receiving this notice in error, please contact us at marathonmailer@nyrr.org.

Please note that your registration fee for the ING New York City Marathon 2010 is non-refundable. Also, you may not give or sell your race number or timing d-tag to another individual. NYRR will bar you and the person running with your number or d-tag from all future NYRR events, including the ING New York City Marathon.

Sincerely,
Janet Cupo
Manager, Registration Operations
New York Road Runners, ING New York City Marathon

NBA Fit Run 10k - August 14,2010

NBA Fit run was another race organized by Runrio group but it was just announced a week before said race.

During that time, we were looking at joining the Run to Read race but when I went to the sports store in Glorietta to register, the line was so freaking long that I decided it wasn't worth it anymore. Luckily, Kulitrunner posted on her blog about a Saturday race in Mall of Asia area.

With a cheap registration fee of only Php 300, it was definitely worth it for us. For that amount, we got a nice singlet (but no XXL size for me - Boo!), bib number and a finisher certificate. That is sufficient already :)

It was also capped at 2,000 people which is what we liked about. There is something intimate about joining a smaller race rather than a race with 8,000 - 15,000 runners and this is something we were looking for.

And let me say, that we LOVE Saturday races! It makes our Saturdays that much longer plus we have an extra day to sleep more rather than the other way around. That is why our next race will most likely be Figaro Race as it falls on a Saturday.

Going back on the race, Per and I agreed that we would run it individually and wait for the other at the finish line. We both did the long Rexona 21km a week before so this should be quite easy to accomplish.

Boy, were we wrong!

The start (as always the case) was easy but by 4km, I was getting tired. Panting hard at 5km and envying the people doing that race and finishing already. At 7km, I was psyching myself that I am close to the finish line but I know that I wasn't. At 8km, I stopped to walk as didn't want to faint on the road. A blister was forming on my left foot. DAAAAAMMMNN!! At 9km, I was back at MOA, making a final right turn at the end to run straight to the finish line but I was just soooooo tired and out of shape. I just wanted it to end! I crossed the finish line at exactly 1:05:00.

And walked on the race course to look for Per (couldn't run anymore due to the stupid blister). She came by a few minutes later, also exhausted but with a determined look to finish the race. And finish it she did.

Now, we are both looking at just doing 5km races! Hahaha















Running with Per for her last 300 -400meters to the finish line and we got some couple photos! Yehey!









On a side note, I also use road races as my quiet time with Him and I especially like it when I see the sun rise in front of me. It is quite a spectacular sight to behold.

On this particular morning, through my quiet time, I realized that my dream of running NYC should be set aside first. Through this, a decision is finally made.... I will not run NYC this year. There will be other NYC marathons in the future. It will still be waiting for me should I decide to run it. For now, there are far more important things in life that I should put my attention to (and besides, I am too lazy to train too... hehe). Who knows? Maybe in the future, I will be able to run it with my wife next to me and that should be worth the wait!



Good luck to all the Pinoys joining this race. It should be a very exciting race! :)

What's Your Distance?

When you see a race you are interested in joining, which category do you join? The shortest one or the longest one or the middle distance?

Races ARE happening every week now and usually two events at the same time. So there are a lot of choices for us. But once you've chosen the race you wanted to run and it could be because of a variety of reasons such as proximity to your house, the cheap registration fees, the nice singlet, the finisher medal, the charity it is helping, the friends who are also joining said race or many more countless reasons, you are then forced to choose which category you would tick off and pay for.

Right now, mostly all races have a 5km and 10km event. Some have the shorter 3km event or the longer 15km or 21km distance. And of course, there are races that offer the full 42.2km distance. For me, price doesn't come as a factor in my decision making as longer distances are just P100- P200 more expensive, which is justifiable given that there are more water stations and marshals required for the longer route and more fees needed to pay to close off the additional road that is needed to cover said distance.

For Runrio races, there is an additional perk to joining longer races. For the recently concluded Rexona Run last August 01, 10km and 21km runners can download their pictures via photovendo. But for 3km and 5km runners, they can only get the free pictures at the finisher area (via picture taking booth at one of the tents there). For the 21km runners, they have an additional perk of getting a finisher medal once they have completed their races.

New Balance had the same thing two years ago when they had their event in Clark. Aside from the finisher medals for 10km and 25km, the singlets had the race category of the runner written at the back of it. Bragging rights indeed!


Some races though have the same perks for all categories - that is finisher medals for all categories and same color singlets. But before you start complaining that it should always be equal for all race categories, let me tell you that that isn't the case for international races. In the Singapore Sundown run I did, they only gave finisher medals and finisher shirts for the 42.2km and 84km finishers. Shorter distance race categories get a singlet or loot bag at the finish line. So, it really comes down to the race organizers choices on this and we just have to respect it.


When it comes to perks, I am usually biased to joining the longer races for stuffs that the shorter distance will not get and that is usually in the form of finisher medals. Yes, I am hooked on these shiny shiny things!

But....

If every category were the same and you will all get the same stuffs, what would you run?

The short but out-of-breath-and-can't-talk-anymore 5km event?
The longer but still lung busting 10km event?
The torturously long 21km but can finish it at a much slower pace?
The super duper hard 42.2km that takes away your entire morning? And something you really need to train for!
The crazy crazy 50km, 80km or beyond ultramarathons? Where your training here is Running 42.2km once or twice!


For me, it's always the 21km as it is the right distance for me given the pace, speed and the bonus of calorie burnt in it. Without that, 10km becomes my default race category, which is quite good too for speedworks.

Unfortunately with my injury right now, 10km becomes my race distance category unless a shiny shiny object blinds me again and have me ticking off the 21km box again..


There was a time I was hooked on doing 42km but training for it just takes too much time and for now, I am very very lazy to hit the road on my own for a period of 3-4 months just for one race.




What about you? What's your distance?

Best and Worst Couple PR! (Runfest & Rexona)

It has been a few weeks since we both did a road race so we were semi-excited to do these two races. Excited in that we get to run with a lot of people again, enjoy the sights, get the loot bags and get runner's high once we cross the finish line. Not so excited in that we didn't want to wake up early anymore. We have gotten so much used to sleeping late on a weekend that it was difficult trying to wake up at 4am! YUCK!!!

Not to make the same mistake as the previous race, we set up three (!!!) different alarms this time around and they all worked... worked at giving us huge headaches that is! Too much ringings!!! Hahaha!

The first race was Jinoe's Takbo.ph RUNFEST. What made this race unique were the personalized bib numbers bearing our names and singlets (with matching color) having our names imprinted in it.

We were mildly stressed when we haven't received Per's race kit yet on the week of racing but there was a collective sigh of relief once it was finally delivered to my office address. Phew!!!

Since we haven't ran in a race for some time and with the sad news that happened in Milo's 21k and AND Cebu's 10k race, we were a little more cautious with ourselves. That was when I decided to run with my wife and treat it as our bonding moment.

I brought her camera with me on the race so that I can take pictures of her running(or is it suffering?) the 10k. Our aim was for a new couple PR. That for me was achievable as current couple PR is about 8 minutes from Per's best solo 10k PR and about 20 minutes from my best solo 10k PR.

And achieved it we did! Yay! Thanks to the nice weather for making it easier for us that day. There were also ample waters here so no problem on hydration. Route was exactly 10km. Good job guys (too bad we didn't see you there)!

Time of 1:13 something... from 1:14:54 last year



One of pictures from Takbo.ph's website.











Market Market



10k Finishers


REXONA RUN


This was a can't miss race from our favorite race organizer as his track record shows lots and lots of water/ sports drinks and marshals to guide the runners.

I was contemplating whether to do 10k or 21k but Per made me decide when she WANTED to do the 21k race! Wow! Did I create a monster?

So I joined with her for the 21k race with no time expectation due to lack of training and lots and lots of overeating! ;)

Race started on time and we were at easy pace throughout the race. Unfortunately, I had to take two toilet breaks, which slowed us down. One was at Sofitel Hotel so we got odd stares from the employees there when we came in all sweaty and with our race gears on. But I didn't care. Better the toilet than the shorts right? That to me is still the very worst thing that could ever happen while in a road race. Wouldn't you agree?

The route was fantastic! It took us behind Roxas Blvd and to a lot of greeneries. Lesser cars and jeepneys to avoid too. With the flat route and nice weather, a lot of runners got a new PR.

Not for us though as we got our worst time ever! Haha. But at least we didn't come in last and it was proven even if you're last place, you still have something to drink at the water stations! That made this race outstanding for me.

Loved also the very nice finisher medal and the loot bags! It's nice that Per and I got one set each for this race for the 21km race. More reason to run long races in the future... if only my feet will get healed!














Both races were quite good and we were happy to be involved with them and to experience them together.


To God be the Glory!