Warning:  This will be my first all-Tagalog blog post, my brain cells were not moving fast enough to translate Tagalog thoughts to English. In short, tinamad ako.

Sa mga panahong ito alam nyo na siguro ang mga nangyari sa 34th edition ng Milo. Marami kayong nabasa tungkol sa tagumpay, mga bagong PR na napagwagian, mga birhen na dina birhen, sa larangan ng marathon ang ibig ko sabihin. Ang nakakalungkot, may mga nandaya at may namatay. Pero sa mga nakakita sa akin nung Milo, marami din nagtatanong sa akin “hoy Sam, ano nangyari syo, bigla kang nawala na parang…NINJA!”

Ano Ang Nangyari
Well ayos na sana ang lahat eh. Ang ganda ng pace ko hanggang 8th km, chillax pace nga mga pare koy. Nsa 5:55-6:05min/km ang average pace. Ka pace ko sila Noelle at Prince pero nauuna ako ng konti. Kse ang evil plan ko eh sige sabay lang ako sa kanila, pero pag dating ng last 5 kilometer, babanat ako ng malupit na parang yun na ang huling takbo ng buhay ko. Alas, ako ang nabanatan..ng malupit! Pag dating ng 8th kilometer, malapit sa Uniwide, biglang kumirot yung sa banding kidney ko at ilang parte ng tsan ko. Alam nyo mga pare, bago pa man akong tumakbo, may sakit nko sa kidney. Masakit, ang magkasakit sa kidney. Read the rest of this entry »

English literal translation:  Let Batman decide

I have no idea how Batman came into picture.  Originally, it was “bahala na“, derived from “Bathala na” or “leave all to God”. I guess our fascination with heroes allowed most Pinoys to associate with them in times of trouble. But honestly, if I’ll have it my way, I wish “Bahala na si MacGyver” became more popular.

As I’ve said previously, I’ll be running the marathon distance on July 4. I was really surprised when I was told that the route will include 3 loops. Bad trip. I’m really bad when running races with loops. Last time I ran a race with loops (Philippine Independence Half Marathon) I got bored and just ran 2x instead of 3 loops, ok partly blaim clueless marshalls but really, one of my weaknesses during races is boredom. This Type A guy easily gets bored when doing things repeatedly. And running 13km 3x? Hello??!! To make things more complicated, I think I’ve also gained. Like 6 lbs. OK that Eat-All-Chicken-You-Can is partly to blaim for this! So if you guys see a fat ass running with bored, hindi maidrawing na face come marathon day, please wake me up. Add to that lack of mileage. I read somewhere that its better to be undertrained than overtrained. If thats true, dude this one’s super dooper undertrained. As if that will make me feel better.

My plan then is, force myself to enjoy a boring route, maintain a consistent pace (probably a 7:30-8 min/kim;I know its ridiculously slow) and cheer for familiar faces aspiring to join the finals. Make myself uselful you know?

See you guys on July 4. As for me, bahala na si Batman!!!

Wow I just did it. A one word title.

So I’ll be running 42km on July 4 (I initially thought July 6), for the 34th Milo Marathon here in Manila. Am I prepared? Hell no. My one month running hiatus just destroyed my preparation. To date, the only “long” run I’ve ever done was that poorly organized race called Philippine Independence Day Half Marathon held two weeks ago. No I didn’t fall for that “run-this-race-if-you’re-a-patriot” marketing hype. I ran it because I need mileage and best of all, registration fee was cheap. When was the last time you run 21km for only php350? Many runners consider it one of the worst race this year. Heck I didn’t even run the entire 21km route, the race marshalls were so incompetent beyond words that several runners got lost (including yours thank you) and by sheer frustration mixed with confusion, ended up running just 18km. This race got buried in my vault of oblivion, hence there’s no blog needed for this one.

Going back to Milo. I can’t miss this event. My first marathon was a Milo event and I thought it would be a mortal sin to miss this one. Running my first marathon brings me back those memories, like where I took a crap twice, the first instance at Shell station near Kalayaan Flyover and second instance somewhere in Bayani Road. Wow moments. I was able to finish it albeit no Milo medal because I finished it way beyond cut-off time (takbo.ph gang gave me a customized Milo medal though-even better!). I just hope I’ll be able to finish this one decently. Anyway, this will be my fifth marathon and I’ll be royally pissed if I don’t even get to finish this below their 6 hour cut-off time.

Wish me luck, I need a lot of that!

Still feeling lethargic, Sam wakes up around 5am to run. He proudly announce the night before over FaceBook that his schedule the following day is to run 4 hours, to make up for 4 days of no run. As he drag his tired legs and prepare to wear his running gear, he noticed  swarms of insects making endless circles around the light bulb outside. He knew it would be a challenge to wear his running shoes, which he placed outside, those the insects seems to be having some sort of street party. He hates insects, especially those that flies around. Armed with Baygon, he ventured outside his comfort zone and prepared himself for the Final Solution. “This could be a nice warm up exercise” he said to himself. Aiming his Baygon to insects like a soldier peppering his enemies, he was quite enjoying the exercise. It was intense, he noticed that the “enemy” were slowly getting into his face, into his shirts and all parts of his body. “Die baby die!!!”, Sam was shouting inside while he continuously press the button to release more toxin into the air. Five minutes of this exercise, the “enemies” were all down and gone. With the massacre done, he was thankful PETA was not around to witness his “accomplishment”. He went out and finally proceed with his run, checking his watch, it was already 5:15am.

His usual training ground was closed that day (DLSU-D Campus/Oval track), he was prepared to run on the road…together with joggers, jeepneys, truck and what have you.  As he was running cautiously and slowly, he noticed a couple of jeepney passengers staring at him. At one point, somebody shouted “Hoy Ninja!” which caught his attention big time. Sam feels like an elephant in a dog show, easily noticeable, easy target by bystanders and the likes. As he was running, he can’t  help but noticed that his city (Dasmarinas Cavite) has not yet embraced the running fever, for he was the only guy running ALONE that day.

After a kilometer of running slowly, he got bored and decided to push his luck and run at 80%-90% effort for two kilometers. Alas, he was able to run 2km in 8 minutes, he said to himself “That was bad ass and I won’t do this again ever!”. He went back on the same road for another 2km but he was too tired, too burned out to continue anymore. Finally realizing that his 4 hours run plan is all messed up after committing a newbie mistake, he decided to jog…and went straight home. He took a shower and as the cold water continuously poured down to his tired and weary body, he thought of Milo’s 3hours and 45 minutes cut-off time for 42km. He has been waiting and preparing for that running event and he thought there was a lesson that day he could apply for that race. He won’t be “racing” in the first 5 kilometers, he probably would just go between 5:45-6minute/km pace and slowly increase his pace every 5km or so.

Lesson for the day:
You get burned out in the first kilometers of the race, you’re finished, extinct…a dinosaur. Sounds cute isn’t?

This morning, I went for a 30 minute recovery run in the grassy area of dlsu-d oval. No specific training for me today, just an easy pace to help me regain back my leg strength. Cris Sabal and Aileen Tolentino later arrived and I informed them of the problem I had the previous day. Cris checked the muscle (iliotibial band) in my right leg and compared it with my left leg and informed me that it was too hard and tight. I joked that what he felt was a solid rock-hard muscle but he just reiterated his observation that mine was unusually too hard. He suggested a regular massage (self-massage will do) to get rid of the tightness.

Later on, I told him that I’m working on strengthening my core. I do the “usual” core strengthening I know like full crunch, leg raises and the likes. He suggested that the best way to strengthen and stabilize the core should not consist of bending my spine like what I’ve been doing, but focus more on plank exercises. He asked me to do the following for 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between: Read the rest of this entry »