Part 1: Thank You, 2013!

It’s the last day of the year!  As always, I look back on the year that was…

2013 was year of extremes for me.  The first half was a roller coaster ride coming from the high of London Marathon to literally dropping to a low with my bike crash to finishing Ironman 70.3 Cebu.  By the 2nd half of the year, I decided to take it s-l-o-w as I enjoyed my off season while maintaining my fitness (in other words, I still swam, biked, and ran like a fiend but I didn’t race LOL).

I know it’s cliche, but I must say that it’s been another wonderful and blessed year.   Sure, I had my fair share of crap thrown my way,  but each event in life will only affect you in the way that you wish to see it, either as a blessing or as bullsh*t.  I choose to view them as blessings.  Here are my blessings for 2013…

1) London Marathon (April 21)

The best marathon I have ever joined in what has come to be my favorite city in the world. I was fortunate enough to have been sponsored by Unilab Active Health to participate in this race and Timex for my slot. Bonuses? I broke my PR at 4:24.  My family got to travel with me.  And, we passed by Paris after!

London Marathon was a week after the devastating bombing at Boston Marathon.

– At the finish line of London Marathon –

– my hubby and kiddos pick me up at the race –

2) Ironman 70.3 Cebu (August 4)

This was my 2nd Ironman 70.3.  After a foot injury months before the event, a bike crash a month before the race, bad weather the day before, and a flat tire during the bike leg, I was proud to have finished this event alive!  I felt like a warrior!  Rawr!

Thank you to my Coach Andy Leuterio for training me through London Marathon and Ironman Cebu 70.3, Specialized and Dan’s for my beloved Shiv and helping me care for him.  Thanks also to my team Unilab Active Health for the support and camaraderie!

– Bike crash a month before the race. Save for several unsightly wounds, I was lucky to have come out of it without any broken bones and alive! –

– Bike leg of Ironman 70.3 Cebu. Photo by Michael Ocana –

– Hugging Sen. Pia Cayetano at the finish line. Photo by Tong Pascua of Photo Ops –

– Happy finish! Photo by James Go –

3) The Bull Runner Dream Marathon 2013 (February 22)

Last February 22, 584 runners became marathoners.  It was the 4th TBR Dream Marathon.  Every year, we hope to continue helping more runners reach their marathon dreams.

– Farrah Rodriguez, TBR Dream Marathoner –

– Marice Laxa-Pangilinan finishes her first 42k a day before her birthday. She was paced by husband Anthony –

– TBR Dream Marathon 2013 Medal –

Last August, we launched the 5th Dream Marathon. 800 slots were gone in 37 minutes. We ended up accepting a total of 900 runners who are currently training for their first marathon on February 16, 2014. Batch 2014 is a fantastic bunch of committed and enthusiastic runners. It’s been a fun-filled journey so far to train for their first marathon with them.

– with Batch 2014 of TBR ULAH Dream Marathon –

4) One Run (November 16)

We organized One Run, a run to raise funds for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda, shortly after seeing the devastation in Tacloban and surrounding areas.  We were overwhelmed with the response from the running community as we collected a whopping P615,000 in cash and a significant number of in kind donations.

One Run was organized by The Bull Runner in cooperation with Unilab Active Health with the support of Gatorade. Thank you also to Bonifacio Global City, Run.ph, Simple Hydration, Proactive, Photo-Ops (our official photographer), HDSI Medic Team, Jun Cruz and Mike & Macel Janeo.

– Triathletes Kuya Kim Atienza, Raffy Zamora, and Erwan Heussaff joined by friends at One Run –

– Sen. Pia Cayetano and friends came to support –

– Triathlete friends came to help and volunteer –

5) Finalist in Rappler Do More Awards (October)

I was honored to make it as finalist in the Rappler DO MORE Awards.  It was awesome to be among a select group of Filipino achievers who “do more” than is expected of them.

6) Anton finishes his first triathlon (October 20)

As part of our Quaker Challenge as a Quaker Supermom, we made it our family goal to be more active together.  Anton’s goal was to finish his first triathlon, which he did at the Ironkids last October!  I couldn’t have been a prouder momma!

Thank you to Quaker Oats for motivating us even more to conquer our goals.

– My not so little boy showing off his medal –

7) Running, running, and more running

Sure I’ve been into triathlon the past couple of years, but running is still the sport that brings me the most joy.  I will always be a runner.  It was great to participate in local races and use these as training for my A-races.  The races that stood out for me were the following:

Run United (March 17)

– with great friends Lit, Ton, and Jun after Run United 1 (March 17) –

Run United (October 6)

– Run United Philippine Marathon –

New Balance Power Run 25k

– with friends Ton, Jun, and Maiqui –

Those were the highlights to the awesome year of 2013.  What were the highlights of 2013 for you?

NEXT: Part 2: Thank you, 2013!