Hello I’m back! This month I’ll be joining all 21km races namely Eco-Dash,  RotaRun and New Balance. I should have joined Milo San Pablo race (another 21km) first Sunday of this month but I ended up staying in the hospital four days prior to the race day so I wasn’t able to prepare. Anyway come this Sunday, I’m planning to finish 21km within or below 2:17. Why 2:17? Let me show you my race results for 21km so far:

1st 21km race : 2:37 Botak Paa-Tibayan
2nd 21km race: 2:27 Globe Run for Home
3rd 21km race: Plan to finish at least 2:17

If I’ll be able to achieve 2:17 on Sunday, I plan to do 2:07 for RotaRun then 1:57 for New Balance Race. If I don’t do 2:17 on Sunday, I’m back to drawing board and will do changes on training. As you can see, yup I plan to improve my time by 10 minutes for the next 21km races. I know its pressure for me but somehow, I thrive and enjoy the pressure I put myself into. Success on each race is just so sweet I’m always looking forward for improvements on succeeding races.

They say when you join a marathon; it can either break you or elevate you into another level. I like to believe I’m in the latter part. The disastrous marathon performance I’ve experienced gave me an opportunity to put more emphasis on discipline and hard work on my trainings. Indeed, my succeeding races after the marathon were all PR, although I believe I can improve it more. So see you guys on Sunday and I hope we all improve!

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(syempre di ko makakalimutang iblog to)

I remember I claimed my New Balance shirt last week when two guys approached me and said “pare kamukha mo yung guy sa Men’s Health Magazine”(translation: buddy, you look like the guy in Men’s Health Magazine). I pretend not to know and just said “yeah so many people told me that, but really it was just a look-alike”. But in reality, it was me! Hehehehehe!

The interview was conducted two months ago. It was all about how I lose weight by running. Although I was 150lbs during the interview, I’m happy to report that I’m now 138lbs. Three more pounds to lose and I’ll be in my optimal running weight! Running..you gotta love it!

My tender big toenail
A Marathon run brought you a new color
Soon you will be gone
I will miss you my friend,
From deep, deep inside.
So Sad, so Sad…

Five days later and 4 lbs heavier after my debut marathon run last Sunday, I finally was able to do a recovery run this morning at oval track. It was just an easy 7km run and up to this day still reeling from painful toe nail on my right foot. It’s completely red while my other foot’s toe nail has a small red patch on it.

I did a quick search in the internet to know how I got this and here are possible causes:

Tight shoes: I’m not so sure of this as the upper section of my Nike LunarGlide+ has enough room for my toe nails

Downhill running: Big toe is forced against the tip of the running shoe which causes excessive trauma. Same as above, there’s more than half an inch space between tip of my big toe and upper-inner section of my shoes

Toe nails not trimmed properly: Screw me I think this is the reason. After the run, I checked my foot and I noticed an extra 3mm toe nail on both big toes. I initially dismissed this as the cause but after doing more research, I found out that one of the preparations you MUST do before a very long run is to trim your toe nails properly. It doesn’t help when somebody assured me that it will turn black after a week and then falls on its own. It’s funny how much effort I’ve prepared for my marathon only to be greatly affected in a negative way by my toe nails.

Having said that, I’m still proud of it because I consider it as a badge of honor for running a marathon because not anyone can completely finish a marathon here in Philippines dba? Now I’m scratching my head whether I should push through with 21k run on July 19 to join Globe’s Run for Home or just rest..oh well.

All my plans for preparations for ATC race tomorrow went just that, PLANS. I was planning to do a 20k LSD from Dasma to Cavite City. However, I woke up too late I did not pursue it anymore. In the afternoon, I planned to do tempo run for 6  km but ended up doing run and more walk, and worst, end up walking the rest of the remaining 4 km on my way home. Saturday morning came I plan to run, it didn’t happen again due to laziness. My alarm sounded exactly 5am, hit the snooze button, 5 minutes later it sounded, I hit the snooze button again, next time I know it was already 11:30am! I wasn’t really feeling bad, my body seems able but I guess I lack discipline. In every sports, it is discipline that seperates boys from man. This is something I really have to practice if I want to improve myself!

With my botched up plan, I’m not really looking forward to beating my 1:1:46 time I had from Greenfields 10k. However, I will still aim for it as I really don’t want to feel bad on that day.

Have you had your own bad training day?