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So I crashed on my bike 11 days ago.  (If you missed reading the drama of it all, you can hop on over to this post.)  And I’m currently dealing with a foot injury that is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r to heal.  And, to top it all off, I’m still uncertain if I can actually survive Ironman 70.3 Cebu on this delicate foot.

But, the past 11 days, despite the frustration and worry, I did have mini triumphs.  Okay, I take it back, they were huge achievements for little ol’ me!

First, I got back on the bike again.  Just the trainer since I was delayed in having my bike repaired. But, hey, that’s a start right?!  In fact, I think I got gigil.  I was on the trainer 4x last week, including a ride during our short family vacation in Tali.

– 60k in Tali to be one with those who joined Tri United 2, my missed race, wherein they covered 2k swim-60k ride-15k run –

Second, as soon as my wounds healed, I got back into the pool!

– I covered practically healed wound with Tergaderm and Gladwrap just to be sure! –

And, last but not the least, just this morning, I was able to run my longest since April!  A 10k without pain and with friends!

– Fun run with friends! Photo courtesy of Kaye Pascual –

As my way of giving back, I’d like to share with you some tips I learned during the past several days on getting back on the road after a crash or injury:

AFTER A BIKE CRASH

1) If you crashed on your bike, get back on the road as soon as you can to reduce your fear.  As long as you are well already, you must mentally overcome the trauma from the accident by hopping on your bike again.  Now, I was advised to ride the exact route of the accident, but that I may have to disagree with.  I don’t intend to ride that route ever again! LOL

2) Check your helmet and bike.  Before you bike, make sure your bike has been serviced and checked for any damage by a good mechanic.  Check your helmet as well for cracks.  I learned after the accident that bike helmets actually have an expiration date.  So, even if your old bike helmet looks intact, make sure that the foam inside can still absorb impact well.

3) Take care of your wounds.  Tergaderm, a waterproof, breathable bandage sold at Mercury Drug, was my best buddy throughout this ordeal.  I also used Fucidin, a gauze with antibiotic that didn’t stick to the wound like regular gauze did.  Both allowed my wounds to heal rapidly while being protected.  It also allowed me to bike and run.  As for swimming, swim only when the open wounds have healed.  It can get infected in the pool.  You also don’t want to spread your germs in the water.

4) If you can, swim in the sea.  We all know that salt water can heal wounds.  I took a trip to the beach and soaked in the water despite how painful it was. (I’m wincing as I type this) But, by the second day, most of my wounds had miraculously dried up!  (So dry that I got to swim again with my Coach 10 days after the crash!)

AFTER AN INJURY

5) Start slow.  Even if you feel fully recovered, get back into running slowly.  Build your base again before speeding up.  Do not get overly excited about getting back into running.  (Take it from me! I’ve made this mistake quite a number of times heehee)

6) Get therapy.  Don’t stop therapy, such as deep tissue massage or ultrasound, just because you’re feeling better.  Try to continue what you were doing that helped you to recover.  I go to Peak Form at the 2nd Floor of Riovana for my therapy.

7) Strengthen.  Most of our running injuries are due to muscle imbalances.  If you don’t want to reinjure yourself, you must find the long term solution to your problem.  Most of the time, common running injuries can be corrected with strengthening exercises you can easily do at home or in the gym.  Ask a running coach, ortho surgeon, or a gym trainer about the proper exercises.

8)  Stretch.  I’ve found that one of the best ways for me to prevent and recover from any kind of injury is to stretch often.  I stretch after each run (never before a run when the muscles are cold).  I also try to have a yoga session at least once a week.

9) Run on the treadmill first.  When you’re just testing your legs again after an injury, it’s best to go on a treadmill which is softer than the road.  This provides less impact on your body.  It also allows you to quit immediately should you feel pain as opposed to being stuck in the middle of nowhere outdoors and having to walk back and risk re-injury.

10) Run-Walk.  There’s no better way to slowly get back into running then to practice the run-walk technique.  Try running 5 mins and walk 1 minute or, like what I did, run 3 minutes then walk 30 seconds.  The walk breaks may seem like nothing but they do make a huge difference in giving your muscles a time to rest even briefly.

11) Think about time, not distance.  When you’re just getting back into running, you may feel disappointed over the short distance you’re covering, especially if you’re used to running longer distances.  Try not to get frustrated over this.  Watch the clock instead and target time, not distance.

12) Celebrate the little victories.  Always be thankful for having the opportunity to swim, bike, or run again. Every little achievement counts especially after you’ve been through a trial, such as an accident or injury.  Know that you’ve come out better, stronger, and ready to fight another day!

If you have any other tips to share, feel free to post!

Wow, I am so glad we’re finally having something like this in Manila! I think it’s great that these services are being offered to triathletes. Even better how coaches and companies are collaborating to further grow the sport.

Event: Pinnacle Camp
Date: July 11-21, 2013
Venue: Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club, Primo Cycles, Focus Athletics

Pinnacle Camp Leg 1: July 11-15 Zoom In Zones Testing

Lactate Test, VO2Max, Power Zones, HR Zones, Etc.
To be conducted by: Radek Valenta
Former Pro European Tour Cyclist, Australian Institute of Sport-Trained,
Coach to Olympian Triathletes and Cyclists, www.zoominzones.com.au
Venues: Primo Cycles July 11-14 Bike Trainer / Focus Athletics July 15. Treadmill/ Bike Trainer Option
Fees: P 8,500.00 for Zoom In Zones Testing
Or avail of the RETUL Bike Fit Plus Testing Package only from July 11-14: P15,000.00
By Master Bike Fitter Glenn Colendrino *only a handful of slots left due to pre-booking

Pinnacle Camp Leg 2: July 16-18 Gatorade Sports Science Institute Testing

To be conducted by: The Gatorade Sports Science Institute
Venue: Focus Athletics
July 16– Gatorade sweat test/ July17– Hydration planning and Physical Assessment/ July 18– Functional TrainingFees: none *20 slots only

Pinnacle Camp Leg 3: July 19-21 The Pinnacle Training Weekend

To be conducted by:
Dan and Ani Brown of The Next Step
Andy Leuterio of Alpha Training Systems
Ige Lopez of Transition One
Betsy Medalla of Just Add Water
Venue: Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club

July 19 Fri: 4pm, 3k Open Water Swim/ July 20 Sat, 6am Long Brick, 5pm Recovery Swim/ July 21 Sun, 7am Run Session, pm Optional Recovery Swim

Fees: No Coaching Fees, *20 slots only. For Pico Sands Hotel Bookings, email- reservations@picosandshotel.com

To Reserve your slot for each leg, email nextsteptri@gmail.com
Gatorade and Enervon HP drinks available during sessions
Timex, Enervon Activ, Aquasphere, Yurbuds, 2XU and Rudy Project items up for grabs!

The Unilab Active Health Pinnacle Camp
The Next Step
in Cooperation with Zoom In Zones, Alpha Training Systems, Transition One, and Just Add Water
Co-Presented by Gatorade, Enervon HP, Enervon Activ, Rudy Project, Timex, Aquasphere, 2XU & Yurbuds

Just one month to go until Cobra Ironman 70.3 and Alaska Ironkids! I was at the presscon a few days ago to learn more about the upcoming event.

– Women Power! with Vimz of Kulit Runner, Lara Parpan of Women’s Health, and Ani de Leon of The Next Step Tri Camp –

– with Ton Gatmaitan representing Gatorade, Anton Gonzales of KSwiss, and Yong –

Mr. Fred Uytengsu, the man behind Ironman 70.3 Philippines, announced that the swim will be slightly modified from last year’s route.  It will have a deep water start in waves.  Use of timing chip starts had yet to be decided upon.  The bike route will be the same as last year’s course (ack headwind again!)  And, the run has been slightly modified.

Kenneth Cobonpue also unveiled his new design for the medal.  The blue in metal symbolizes the swim, the black rubber for the bike, and the brass for the run portion.

– Ironman 70.3 Cebu 2013 Medal designed by world renowned designer Kenneth Cobonpue –

Here’s some interesting facts shared about Ironman 70.3 Cebu 2013 during the event:

Individual Category
Female 262
Male 1519
Total 1781

Relay Category
All Male Teams 57
All Female Teams 22
Mixed Relay 43
Total Teams 122
Total Members 366

Total Participants
Individual 1781
Relay 366
Grand Total 2147

PRESS RELEASE: The Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines returns to Cebu, the country’s number one tourist destination, as the province hosts its fifth edition as well as the Alaska Ironkids Triathlon on August 3 – 4, 2013.

Already in its fifth year the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 has become the biggest and best Ironman 70.3 race in this part of the world with over 2,000 participants from 35 countries across six continents. All slots for the race were sold out four days after they were offered to the public and more than 600 individuals are on the waiting list.

The Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines starts with the 1.2-mile swim in open water at the beach of the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa in Mactan Island on August 4.

The 56-mile bike ride will traverse four cities (LapuLapu, Mandaue, Cebu City and Talisay). The culminating 13.1-mile run will be at Punta Engano, Lapu-Lapu City.
Race organizer Sunrise Events, Inc. expects the coming race to top the wildly successful races of the past four years confident that this year’s race will be its biggest and most exciting ever.

Alaska Ironkids Triathlon will be held at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa on August 3. It is the local junior version of the international Ironkids triathlon series. It is open to youngsters age 6 to 14 years old and aims to promote health among the young through proper nutrition and an active lifestyle.

Leading the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines are the professional triathletes notably three-time champion Pete Jacobs of Australia. Jacobs is a regular fixture of the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines. He will gun for a fourth consecutive victory after winning the past three editions in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
He will have his hands full against Cameron Brown of New Zealand and Alaska Team TBB’s Mathieu O’Halloran who placed second and third in the 2012 race. Other male professionals to watch out for include Ben Allen Australia, Fredrik Cronberg of Sweden and Michael Murphy of Ireland.

Defending women’s champion Caroline Steffen of Alaska Team TBB returns to defend her crown. Her strongest challenge will come from 2011 champion and 2012 third placer Belinda Granger who is fresh from her triumph at the Century Tuna 5i50 Triathlon in Subic last June.

Expected to compete for the crown are Bree Wee from the United States (who placed second last year), Alaska Team TBB’s Christie Sym, and Jacqui Slack of Great Britain.

The Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines is a qualifier for the IronMan World Championships Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada on September 8.

For more information, check out the Cobra Energy Drink IronMan 70.3 Philippines website, www.ironman703phil.com.

“A miracle is a shift in perspective” 

– quoted by Gabby Bernstein from A Course in Miracles

The Crash

I woke up on the sidewalk of Daang Hari Road with my friends and a crowd of bikers hovering over me. What happened? Where was I? In my mind, I had been pleasantly biking along. Last I remember was thinking we were definitely going to reach our 100k target because we all felt strong and fresh at around 57k.

My friends told me I had crashed. The look of worry on their faces was indescribable. They said they heard me scream and, within a few seconds, I keeled over to my right side, slammed my head, elbow, and legs on the ground, and skidded with my bike for a few meters on the rough concrete. They said I lay still on the middle of the road for a long 2 minutes. By then, a crowd of bikers stopped and blocked the road from oncoming vehicles for us. I was breathing, then I began to mumble words. I even managed to give my cellphone password so they could call my driver to fetch us. My friends knew I was alive, but they worried about the damage done on my body.

I woke up dazed, confused, and clueless. I could not remember anything from the accident. I tried to remember the names of my kids, Anton & Nia, and when I said their names I heaved a sigh of relief that I didn’t suffer from amnesia. I asked my friends what happened and they explained it in detail. At that time, I thought I had been conversing normally with them. Later that afternoon, they admitted that they feared for me because I had asked them the same question and they answered in full detail five times over.

I was rushed to the Emergency Room of Asian Hospital. I had a CT scan, xrays, and treatment of my wounds. I was cleared from any brain trauma and broken bones. I went home with five huge wounds on my right arm and legs (aka tocino as the bikers like to call it), a bump on the right side of my head, neckpain, a cracked helmet, and a scraped handlebar on the bike as souvenirs. Still, I felt blessed to be alive. It could have been a lot worse and I was lucky.

– In the ER of Asian –


– My cracked Specialized helmet kept me safe. Thanks to Dan’s Warehouse for offering to replace it upon hearing of my accident –

The Injury

The accident put things into perspective for me. You see, for the past two months now, since the day after London Marathon last April 21, I’ve been suffering from Post-Tibial Tendonitis. Post-Tib is an injury on the inner ankle often caused by overuse. Flat footed runners, such as myself, are more susceptible to this.

For the past months, I’ve barely been able to run. With Tri United 2 and Ironman Cebu 70.3, I’ve been worried, frustrated, sad, and angry. Even if there weren’t any upcoming races, I still would’ve felt the same way because, well, you know me, I just need my running.

For the most part though, I’ve been trying to be optimistic about the injury. I got therapy done at Peak Form regularly. I had my foot taped with Rocktape.  I focused more on what I could do such as swim and bike rather than what I could not do. And, I even refused to rant about it on this blog thinking it would go away if I didn’t acknowledge it. (Yeah right, LOL!)

It’s NOT The End

So, I haven’t been running because of the injury. I can’t swim because of the accident. I’m skipping Tri United 2 this weekend. And, Ironman Cebu 70.3? Hmmm that’s up in the air right now.

It sucks. Yes, it really does.

Usually, I’ll throw a tantrum about how 6 months of training has gone down the drain, how unfair life is, and proceed to drown in my sorrows with a bottle of Nutella. But, for some reason, I don’t feel like doing that at all. I’m disappointed, but I’m not devastated.

Like I said, the accident put things into perspective for me. In the blink of an eye, without warning, my life could’ve ended, yet I came out with wounds that will heal in time. To complain about an accident, an injury, or a missed race at this point seems silly or, worse, ungrateful. It’s a miracle I’m alive.

I came home that morning of the accident and kissed my kids on their cheeks as they ate breakfast. I whispered my kids names to myself again, Anton and Nia, and scooped a spoonful of Nutella into my mouth. Life is good.

All roads lead to adidas King of the Road 2013 on July 7, 2013 with the 10k and 16.8k race categories.  Runners of all shapes and sizes have been seriously training for the race and anticipating a well-attended event.  Among those that are expected to show off their running prowess on race day are two of the top elite runners in the country who are expected to defend their titles as King and Queen of the Road: Eduardo “Vertek” Buenavista and Mary Grace delos Santos.

I got to interview Vertek and Mary Grace to learn the secrets of these two winning runners.  (Hope you don’t mind. I translated them from Tagalog into English already):

KING OF THE ROAD 2012: EDUARDO BUENAVISTA, 34 years old
Best times:
5k – 13:58.43  – 2002 Asian Games, Busan, South Korea
10k – 29:02.36 – 2002 Asian Games, Busan, South Korea
21k – 1:03.42 – Incheon, South Korea
42k – 2004 2:18:44 – Beppu Oita Marathon, Oita, Japan

– Eduardo Buenavista wins first place at adidas KOTR 2012 –

QUEEN OF THE ROAD 2012: MARY GRACE DELOS SANTOS, 26 yrs old
Best times:
5k – 17:44
10k – 37:49
21k – 1:20
42k – 2:49

–  Mary Grace delos Santos wins first place at adidas KOTR 2012 –

TBR: How long have you been running?

EB: I started my professional career as a runner last 2000 but I’ve been running since high school as a track and field athlete. I got to join the 1997 Palarong Pambansa when I was in 4^th year high school in which I ran the 1500, 3000, and 5000 meter events.

MD: Since 9 year’s old up to the present.

TBR: What are the top medals you’ve earned from running?

EB: It was during the 1998 National open that I won 1^st place in the 1500, 3000 and 5000 meter events.

MD: Malaysia Standard Marathon, Hong Kong Standard Marathon, 2012 KOTR Singapore Asia Championship, National Milo Marathon Final.


TBR: What distance do you enjoy running the most?

EB: I enjoy running the 10k distance. Short and easier to manage.

MD: 10k, 21k, and 42k.


TBR: Tell us more about your experience running adidas King of the Road last year.

EB: I joined the 16.8 distance and won 1^st place for the Men’s Filipino category with a time of 54.39mins. By winning the Filipino category, I won Php 30,000 and was sent to Singapore to represent our country in the Adidas KOTR Southeast Asian Championship in which I won 1^st place with a time of 53:12 minutes.

MD: I ran the 16.8k in 1 hour and 3 minutes. 
I won the cash prize and a trip to Singapore to represent the Philippines for KOTR Asia Championship. 


TBR: How did you train for adidas KOTR 2012?

EB: I was training for both Milo Marathon and adidas KOTR that time.  I did my speed workout in the morning and road race training almost everyday.

MD: I trained every day that time because I was preparing for the upcoming Milo National Finals.

TBR:  Are you ready for adidas KOTR 2013?  How’s training been for you?

EB:  Yes. So far so good. Right now I’m focusing on developing my speed in preparation for KOTR and also for SEA Games where I will compete in the full marathon event.

MD: I’m not as prepared this year for KOTR because I haven’t had much time to train due to work.

TBR:  Why did you decide to join KOTR 2013 again?

EB:  I want to defend my title here the Philippines as King of the Road but most especially I want to represent our country again in the KOTR Southeast Asian Championship.

MD: I joined the KOTR to participate and support the KOTR and I love to run.

TBR:  What advice can you give to other runners?

EB: To my fellow runners who want to achieve a better time, I only have a few words for them. Discipline, dedication and hard work are the keys to success.

MD: My only advice is that you should have self-discipline, proper training, and always listen to your coach. 

WHAT’S NEW AT ADIDAS KING OF THE ROAD 2013?

Aside from bumping into Vertek and Mary Grace on race day, there are other things to look forward to at adidas KOTR 2013.

For 2013, adidas opened a new category exclusively for students 25 years old and under. The 10K Relay for Students is set specifically to encourage the youth to get into a healthy, active lifestyle and to give them a chance to represent their alma mater.

On race day, adidas will also be rolling out BOOST™ to more of their adidas running products. It will come in more colors, too.  What is BOOST™? It’s a groundbreaking innovation in adidas footwear technology featuring superior cushioning that allows runners to store and unleash energy more efficiently with every stride. The new Energy Boost collection will be available worldwide at adidas Sport Performance stores and selected retailers on July 7, 2013, race day, at PHP 7995. Visit www.facebook.com/adidas for more information.

adidas King of the Road will be on July 7, 2013 at Bonifacio Global City.  To register visit: http://adidaskingoftheroad.com/ph/index.php