I was given a new pair of shoes and guess what’s the name? Mythos Samurai III! – the running ninja’s new weapon.

It comes from an Italian brand Diadora, more popular to us Filipinos thru their line of soccer shoes. The Diadora Mythos Samurai 3 belongs to the light range of the Italian brand in terms of running shoes and can fit into the combination and range of shoes designed for racing.

The weight of the shoe is at 270 grams (9.5 ounce) making it an ideal shoes for training and racing. I’ve already tried them during my tempo run and I can say its very light and responsive. Its got a good combination of flexibility and lightness, a good choice if you plan to compete in road races on medium-fast pace. Read the rest of this entry »

Sat 12pm

I got home around lunch time and the wife was surprised why I got home early. She knew that I’ll be running my first trail run- 57km (that started 5am-ish that day)  at that and she expected me to arrive past  5pm. I told her that I didn’t finish the entire run, that  I only got as far as the first loop (the route requires to finish 2 loops for 57km total) and the reason why I didn’t finish the race was because I lack heat training, the race was too hot and sun’s killing me. It was raining cats and dogs outside the house and I wasn’t really sure if I was able to convince her of my alibi.

Rewind  10 hours earlier

I picked up Xerxis (ultra team mate from Team Ungas) around 3am and the plan was to pass through Carmona Exit to reach Sta.Rosa Laguna. The road from GMA to Carmona exit was treacherous, several uphill that you could not see the next incoming vehicle and the downhill roads  you have to be very careful with, there we no lights along the road, several sharp turns in the road with no necessary warning signals, I was wondering if the local government of Carmona were a bunch of monkeys that didn’t pay attention to road safety(much apologies to real monkeys).  To make things more complicated, it was raining that day that I thought I’d rather run another 102km than drive along those roads.

Xerxis was hoping that it wouldn’t be too hot during the course, I could only agree with him by nodding my head and not say anything as I was more concentrated driving on that hell road while muttering in my head biblical passage Psalm 23 with slight innovation…”even though I drive through the road of shadow and death,because you are with me, I fear no harm.”  We reached Nuvali club house around 4am where the rest of the 25 and 50km runners were already gathered. Read the rest of this entry »

Greentenial Race. I joined this race not because I am alumni of La Salle. Yeah I made the Brothers very happy for spending 7 years under their educational system (undergrad and graduate) but really, the sole reason why I joined this race is because..its libre pare! I honestly thought the race organizer is practically giving race kits away as I’ve been getting offers for free race kits from several friends/team mates*laughs*.

I woke up around 3am, too excited kse. It was a familiar feeling, waking up early, prepping up the stuffs I need, checking my shoes, clothes to wear etc. I was out by 3:30 am and was able to find a very convenient parking area just few meters from the starting line. As I’ve been training the past few weeks with gel-based orthotic on my shoes to deal with my heel spur, I used it as well for this road race, although this would be the very first time I would be using it on a race. I met Blas who gave me my race kit, met fellow Powerpuff Boys and greeted some friends. The race started at exactly 5:am after some stretching exercise by Argo (who also gained weight).

I run comfortably for the first 5km with an avg pace of 6-6:15min/km. However I have to slow down from time to time as I felt my orthotic insert moves sideways. It was a pretty annoying experience as I knew it would be just a matter of time I will have to take off my shoes, re-adjust the thing and continue my run. On the 8th km, I saw my inserts protruding from my ankle area. I have to stop, remove my shoes, re-adjust the thing and move on. This happened several times on both feet. You know the feeling, its so hard to continue a constant pace if something stops you from doing so. By 15th km, I have had enough of it I removed both my inserts and hold it on my hands while running. As I don’t want to risk again my injury, I slowed down considerably for fear I might re-ignite my injury. I’m fortunate that even if I was running without my inserts, I don’t feel any pain. Somehow, I’m thinking if buying custom-made orthotic  is more practical. I finished the race in 2:21min(unofficial), too far from my 1:56 PR but still glad I’ve made it without any serious issues.

After the race, I stayed around with Powerpuff boys for some post race ceremonies and games. It was something I’ve never done before, as I usually left the race place practically right after I cross the finish line. I just soaked myself in this race atmosphere. Seeing other people crossed the finish line, seeing people have photo-ops with other people, seeing friends running again…it was really a blessing that we were all given an opportunity to run today.  I will be chasing Half Mary again next month and I promised that this time, I will do better than before.

I just hope to find a new shoes that will have the best cushion with plantar support so that I don’t have to buy orthotic (by the way, it also cost almost same as a running shoes!). I wonder what the running ninja’s next shoes (weapon of choice) will be….Nuninuninuninuni….

Tomorrow marks my return to extramarital affair with the road. Yeah, I’ll be running 21km at Greentennial Half Marathon tomorrow Sunday at MOA complex. Just to let you know, I’ve been running the past few weeks. Logging in an average of 30-40km/week with tempo run, interval run,simulated hill runs and resistance training in a gym. While I don’t expect a sub 2 hours for this race (my P.R for 21km is only 1:56), I just hope all my efforts will pay off. My aim for this is to test if I’m fully healed (heel spur), or its just my brain telling me I’m healed (hahaha may ganon??!!)

Hope to see you guys around tomorrow.

Thanks to Blas for the free race kit!

SMS conversation between Blas and Me:

Blas: hoy Sam umattend ka nman ng bloggers night ng Reebok!
Sam:  I usually ignore blogger invites, but because its you, I will.
Blas:  Ok kitakits
Sam: Cge

My dear friend Blas have been bugging me to update this blog every time we meet. I honestly feel he’s the only runner blogger that still anticipates updates on this blog (hahahahaha!)  So when he invited me for this Reebok race where he’s one of the running ambassadors, I made a promise to him not to miss it. So I went to Paul Calvins hours ago where this bloggers night took place and I was…in shock and awe. I didnt know anyone. There were probably less than 10 runners-bloggers that I personally knew. Running Diva was there, the Bull Runner was there and so was Kulit Runner, Jet Paiso (gained weight),Rod Runner (gained weight),Titanium dude (gwapo pa din), Vicky(it gets very hot every time I’m near her..i dont know) , Bro running and wife and the rest, I have no idea who they are. Either way, it looks like the number of runner-bloggers are just increasing and I see this as a positive thing. Read the rest of this entry »