Finally.  Someone (or maybe all of us—haha) knocked some sense into them.  The Takbo Bayani half marathon is now open to women.  I’ll pass.  I’ve lost all interest in this race.

A friend once recommended that I write about injury prevention in running.  Was he talking to me?  Little Miss perennially injured Bullheaded Runner?  I thought that I could easily dictate the ways to do the opposite—how to get injured—because of all the mistakes I committed in my brief running experience.

Here are 10 easy ways to find yourself in the doctor’s clinic:  

1. Buy a running shoe based on its color and look.  A doctor once asked me why I did not purchase the shoe he had recommended months ago for my flat feet, I replied “Because it didn’t look good.”  His response “Vanity thy name is injury!”
2. Live in denial.  Your shins are sore.  Your knee is throbbing.  You’ve been feeling exhausted and tired.  Yet, you tell yourself that nothing is wrong and you lace up your shoes for yet another run or race.  Listen to your body and take a few days off if you must.
3. Don’t stretch.  There’s still an ongoing debate over the importance of stretching.  However, I personally think that stretching after a warm up, such as a 5-minute walk, and after a run will help loosen up any tightness in the legs.
4. Don’t do anything else but run.  Again, some runners may not agree with this.  But, I do believe in the importance of strength and cross training to work the muscles that aren’t used in running.  It is important to strengthen your core, quads, and shins to prevent injury.
5. Increase mileage drastically.  You doubled your mileage from last week?  Hey, that’s great—if you want to get injured.  You should increase mileage only by 10% every week.  If you feel you can do more, don’t.  Stay on the conservative side.
6. Go fast.  For beginners, some experts do not recommend that you focus on speed immediately. (I know, some of you may not agree!)  I believe it’s important to build your base through LSD (long slow distance) before you attempt to win races.  Boy, am I guilty of this one and have I suffered for it.  I was humbled when I read this great article about adult-onset athletes, I think it was written with the old, naive, and overzealous me in mind.  (Thanks Idnod for sharing!) 
7. Join all races.  Have you noticed the popularity of races around the metro lately?  There’s a race almost every week!  Do not attempt to break your PR in every single race.  Choose specific races and train for them well.  If you must join every single race, then run some of them at training pace.
8. Drink only when you’re thirsty.  Never underestimate the power of liquids in running.  It can make or break your run.  Make sure you are well-hydrated at all times.  If your weight drops drastically after a run, drink more liquids to compensate that water weight loss.
9. Lessen your food intake.  Some people fall into running as a means to lose weight.  As the pounds drop, the greater the desire to speed up the weight loss by decreasing food intake.  As a runner, you will need to fuel your body with the right foods to ensure that your body can cope with the intense activities.  Eat up, I promise you that running will burn them calories!
10. Think you are invincible.  Most people don’t give a damn about injuries—until it happens to them. Be aware of ways to prevent injuries (and practice them) in order to enjoy a fun-filled, non-stop, and pain-free running life.

After last year’s successful event, the Mommy Milkshake Marathon is all set for its 2nd run (no pun intended.)

DATE: August 10, 2008, Sunday

DISTANCE: 2KM

ASSEMBLY AREA: Back of NBC Tent

REGISTRATION: 6:30-7:30am

RACE START: 8:00am

The Mommy Milkshake Marathon is a fun run for the whole family to promote the advocacy of breastfeeding.  Pregnant women (with their OB-gyne’s go signal), moms, dads, and kids are all invited to join this event. This is truly going to be a “fun run” without competition against other runners (unless of course you feel like it, heehee) and there are no cash prizes to be given away (although I heard there are freebies).

If you’ve got a pink shirt, wear it for this event.  Runners are encouraged to wear pink.  Yes, even the men.

Registration and participation is free but pre-registration is a must. Call the Mommy Milkshake Marathon secretariat at 780.9898 or 713.8144 or email mommymilkshake@gmail.com to pre-register. 

I’ll definitely be there with my two boys.  Who else is coming?

Takbo Bayani is an upcoming race organized by the City of Marikina and the Marikina Sports Commission through Hon. Marides Fernando and Hon. Vic Sabiniano.  There are two things terribly wrong about this race:

1) Bayani Fernando’s head superimposed over his clipart physique on the registration form.  Que horror!  A graphic designer’s worst nightmare…

2) The exclusion of women in the 21k race.  Yes, you read it right.  Only men are allowed to participate in the half marathon.

I was bothered by this last week but I gave the race organizers the benefit of the doubt thinking that they must have had a good reason to ban women from the half.  Apparently not.

From Marga’s blog, she quotes a runner friend who questioned the race organizers about the gender bias and this was the response:

“It was a decision made by the Marikina Sports Commission to limit the 21k to male participants only because they felt that there might be very few or no female participants at all. We’ll take note of your concern and maybe in our succeeding events we will consider all genders in the 21k category.”

I think that’s the lamest excuse. Have these race organizers ever attended a race? Are they implying that we women can only run as far as a 10k? Do they not know that some women can even outrun men? And, one last question, are they living in the 21st century?

I am certainly not joining Takbo Bayani.  And I hope no one else does.  That’s why I’ve scrapped it from my list of races.

Thank God it’s Friday!  I work from home but I still look forward to weekends as bonding time for the family and, of course, for early morning runs with friends or the hubby.

Turns out that this weekend of mine will start out in a Rush.  10 cases of blue Rush, that is.

Vince of Rush was generous enough to surprise me with 240 bottles of Rush.  Yes, 240!  That’s like a full year’s supply of sports drinks for me.  It was enough to fill up the trunk of my car and leave no empty space in my storage room in the garage.  It should keep me fully hydrated in each race I join, every training run, gym workout, or treadmill run at home.  It’s like an everlasting fountain of Rush.  I love it.

Thank you to Vince and his brawny “delivery men”, Coach Rio and Ben, as well as Eric who came in to help. Each case weighed a ton but due to Coach Rio’s 2% body fat, Ben’s strong biceps and core muscles, and Eric’s well-toned physique, they loaded my car with all the goodies in no time.

Have a good weekend everyone!  Good luck to my dear friend Marga and her team mates, Don and Caroline, who are joining the O3 Long Distance Triathlon tomorrow in Subic.  To all those joining Milo, especially the marathoners, have a great time too!  Let’s all wish for a rain-free weekend!