Upon learning that LeadPack team (Jinoe,Doc Lyndon and Ian) will organize this race, I registered immediately on the day race registration was opened at New Balance store in Glorietta. That was months ago. Fast forward today July 5, I was able to witness one of the best race for this year.

Seeing a lot of newbies and pioneers wearing Takbo.ph singlet was pretty unusual.  Usually during road races, you would only see a few runners donning the official singlet. Today was different, majority were wearing the race official singlet! The not-so-newbie would wear their orange singlets, frosh people would wear their blue singlets(although some of them are  really old members that simply don’t have the black one) and the pioneers the black one. It was a sight to behold.

The program formally started with Running Diva singing the National Anthem, some words from takbo.ph main man Jinoe followed by some stretching exercises by Noelle. I remember the guys around me were having fun doing those stretching moves…and while they were watching Noelle in awe Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

When I was in college, one of the “skills” I’ve learned was the art of cramming. I’d usually study a day before a major exam and still get away with it. As most of my major subjects (mostly Math related) didn’t require me to memorize words, I thought this “skill” would come in handy. I survived college somehow and I was known to be good at doing things in the last two minutes. Come graduate studies, I somehow still manage to pass comprehensive exams on 5 major units and…still got away with it.

Several years later,  I would still try my luck to “practice” my art. I decided to join Nature’s Valley run on the last minute and I thought I could still get a bib if I ask around. And so a night BEFORE the actual race, I managed to announce over my FB that I would need a 21km race bib, got several leads but as fate would have it, I was not lucky this time. For the first time, I woud be running a race with no race bib and as such, I would be labeled as a “bandit”. For noob runners out there, running as a bandit means you’re joining a race with no race bib (you’re not registered). As I was not registered for this race, I’ve made just one rule for myself, I will NEVER compete with runners for their hyrdation. Hence, I did brought my hydration belt and a handcarry bottle as source of my hydration. It was a bad idea really, the last time I’ve used my hydration belt was several months ago when my waist line was 34″, and without any yabang added, my waist line now is 30 and I expected the hydration belt would fell several times during the course.  And it did, three times!

As I have no PR to beat, I just promised myself to just keep on running until my hydration goes empty….and run with Donna Cruz Lardizabal. God knows I kept on singing “Kapag tumibok ang puso, wala kna magagawa kundi sundin to” on my brain I thought I was suffering the worst LSS (last song syndrome) of my life. Unfortunately, I stopped near the Kalayaan Bridge at Jolibee on my way to The Fort. Hydration went poof and I thought it was over. After a brief chat with the bossing of Team CB (Chelly Bautista), I proceeded to the starting line and, Brian gave me his ice cream instead.  Hows that running with a celebrity, as a bandit..and going home with an ice-cream. Priceless!oh and some photo-ops!!!

It was a bad idea to wear that green thing on my head! One of the race marshall there forced me eh hehehehe

PS: I do not promote bandit…really!

Yeah I’m still alive.

I’ve been “out of the loop”  for almost a month. I was advised by my doctor to “lie low” while I undergo some treatment and medical procedure. For almost a month I did nothing but forgot about running. I didn’t read running blogs, I didn’t check my facebook account to update myself about fellow runners happenings,nothing nada. Worst, I gained some weight  and felt like my fitness level is next to nothing. Every single day was a struggle, sometimes I would walk around BHS after work and I would grin with envy at runners doing their usual jogging session. Darn I hate the feeling of being helpless. Thank God the doctor found nothing unusual on my lungs and I was given a go signal to run. I was dying to run too soon so much so the following morning I did a Yasso 800 and registered an average of 3minutes:45seconds. So I could finish a 42km in less than 4 hours after a month of running hiatus?

Four days before the race I went to ROX and got my 15km race kit. Man I was like a boy who just received a new toy. The thought of finally joining a race and be “one of them” is so enticing. Saturday night came and I couldn’t sleep properly. I was like a newbie about to join his very first race. Lying on my bed already wearing my running singlet, shorts and socks (di ba obvious na excited?) , I tried hard to sleep but I couldn’t. For some reason, I kept on looking at my watch and kept telling myself “tagal nman mag 4am..“. Alas 4am came, I had a short breakfast consisting of a banana coated with chocolate, drank my coffee, then I  washed my face with very cold water and did the usual thing I normally do hours before the race. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been very busy last week I forgot to post some stuff on my blog due to my full-time work at a software company, my online raket that I started just last week and another outsourcing business I’m currently working on. To relieve all the stress, I signed up for this race (21km) as part of my tempo-run but also to double-check the condition of my right-knee on longer distances. Sad to say, but I still encountered a sharp pain on the lateral side of my right knee which forced me to utilize more of my left leg and in doing so, caused cramps on my left calf and slowed me down considerably from km 16 up to the finish line. I finished the race based on my timer at 2h:08min+.

Here’s my review of the race:

Positive:
1. Well marshalled race.One marshall even greeted me good morning which is a rarity in race events here.
2. Enough hydration station (water and electrolyte being served).
3. Race started on time

Negative:
1. Lack of kilometer markers.I do believe this is one of those MUST in road races here in the Philippines. All I saw from the entire 21km route were U-turn markers

2. No ribbon in the first U-turn in Ayala area.I remember I overheard one runner on our way to Ayala asking a friend of his (who was already on his way back to Kalayaan flyover) if there were ribbons being given. His friend replied “No” and as expected, this runner (and another friend of his) did a short-cut by crossing to the other lane going back to Kalayaan flyover. I wish I’d restrained myself that morning but my mouth seems to have a brain on its own that I blurted out “Hoy kapal ng mukha nyo!to these runners.

3. Long line to claim your freebies.Yes, I want to see the value of my registration fee, pinapatulan ko din to minsan! I hope race organizers would be more efficient in giving away freebies/lootbags after runners cross the finish line. I believe the last time I saw this being implemented was last yr when I first joined a road race (5km-Condura) where the lootbag was given right after crossing the line. The line was too long I didn’t bother to claim my freebies. Later it was announced that the next Earth Run will feature a 42km. I don’t expect marathon finishers to fall in line for several minutes to claim their rightful freebies after running for several hours! This system must go.

4. Ok this one is probably just me. But I really don’t like the taste of that bitter-sweet energy drink they gave.

Overall I like the way this race was organized except for those minor issues above. Later after the race, there was an announcement that a 42km distance will be featured next yr. This is something I look forward to in the future.

As of this writing, results according to the race organizer (adevents.com.ph) will be available on Wednesday.