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TBR RACE REVIEW: THE FORT RUNNING FESTIVAL

DETAILS: Oct. 17, 2010, Bonifacio High Street

ORGANIZER: MLB Road Race Specialist

RATING:

THUMBS UP:
– simple but challenging route
– ample water and Pocari Sweat stations
– enough marshals
– adequate directional signs and kilometer markers
– loot bag with bananas, Pocari Sweat, plus free Goody ponytail holders (like FS Run)

BETTER JOB NEXT TIME:
– sudden gun start for 21k (even the host didn’t know the 21k race had started!)
– no lights at the dirt road during the 1st kilometer
– short 21k

This was a small and simple race.  For the runner who wanted a safe and enjoyable race without expecting much fanfare, this race delivered.

– Race awarding –

——————————————

MAKE OR BREAK RACE

This was a big day for me. It was to be my last and longest run before New York Marathon.  And, just to make sure that I was on track for my goal, I decided to join The Fort Striders run at Fort for a 21k time trial.  Let’s just say this is something I felt I had to do to either 1) Build my confidence for my dream race, or 2) Make me the most anxious runner in all of New York City if I went below my own expectations.

My goal was a sub-2 hour 21k.  My personal record for a 21km was at Cebu Marathon last January when I clocked in at 2 hours and 1 minute. Ouch.

My good friend Alvin offered to pace me for this run.  I looked forward to having him push me to run faster.  But, at the same time, it made me 10x more nervous.

AND THE RACE BEGINS…

When the gun was fired, Alvin and I walked towards the starting line as the 21k runners charged away.  Talk about relaxed mode. I thought we were both trying to delay what was to be a very exhausting and challenging 2 hours ahead.

The route took us towards the I.S. and British School area, our regular tempo route with Alvin.  Much to our surprise, it was exactly the same course we had run in numerous times in the past.  Woohoo!  This race was ours, well, at least for the first 5k!

THE PINK RUNNER

As we entered Lawton, we spotted a female runner in pink ahead of us.  I’ve seen her in past races so I knew how strong she was.

Alvin and I continued to run a steady pace and, by chance, we overtook her. She was on my right side as I ran past her.  Faster than I was able to say “What-the-hell?!” I found her on my left overtaking me!  After a few minutes, we overtook her again.  And, as expected, she forged ahead leaving us a few meters behind.

I whispered to Alvin “She is very competitive.” Later on, I added “We’re very much alike!”

I SEE PINK ALL THE WAY UNTIL THE END

For the rest of the race—from Heritage Park climbing up towards Bayani Ave. where pink runner’s pacer guided her all the way until the finish line—we stayed safely behind pink runner.

It was pretty obvious to me at that time that Alvin was using her to motivate me to maintain the pace.  He would tell me “Let’s get her at Essensa” and I would barely manage a word, just a little snort which could have meant “Uh huh” or “No way!” Or, he would signal to me with his thumb and index finger right in front of his face and I would try to read his lips “She is THIS near!”  And, I would stare at him blankly focused on running my own race regardless of pink runner’s presence.

Sure, I wanted to beat her.  Of course, I wanted to overtake her.  But, with all humility, this woman was strong and I thought I’d collapse if I tried chasing her down.  Was I willing to go all out to chase after her when I knew deep inside that I was already running a race that exceeded my own expectations for myself?  Not really.  (Maybe after New York, yes?!)

I was running what I felt was the best 21k race I ever run so far.  Not once did I glance at my Garmin, but I felt it.  And, I knew that if I ended the race strong–whether or not pink runner was ahead of me—I would be happy.

STRONG FINISH

As we neared the finish line, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The clock read 1:52.

1:52?! NO WAY?! Only in my wildest dreams!  I stopped my Garmin and got confirmation.  Yup!  My time was 1: 52 with an average pace of 5:29/km, but it was only for 20.45 km. If adjusted, my time would’ve been 1:55 for a 21k.  Well, that’s still 6 minutes better than my Cebu PR!

I placed 6th Overall for Women’s 21k.  2nd Place for Women’s in my age category.

To say I was happy was an understatement.  I was overjoyed. And, if I knew how to do cartwheels, I would’ve been doing them all the way to the car.

– with Jun & Mariel (The Solemates) and hubby –

– with new friends after the race –

After thanking Alvin, congratulating Pink Runner (yes, I sought her out and shook her hand), and waiting for hubby and friends to arrive, we ran more kilometers to total 32km for the day followed by our usual breakfast at Sentro.

New Yoooork (concrete jungle where dream are made of) I am so ready for you!

Care to drool over more running gear? Drop by the newly opened running store on Roxas Boulevard: A RUNNER’S CIRCLE (ARC)

– A Runner’s Circle is at Aloha Hotel, corner of Roxas Blvd and Quirino Ave –

This is the first store of A Runner’s Circle in Manila. But, it’s first store is based in Los Angeles, California with an impressive history. Only three years old, ARC won MyFOX LA’s Best Running Store (for 3 years in a row) and LAS&F Magazine’s Best Running Store (for the past 2 years).

I was invited to the store opening this morning and was honored (and surprised!) to do the ribbon cutting.

– They’re open! –

– with Robin and Perkins from ARC –

I met LA-based Robin of ARC who evaluated my foot type using the Aertex foot scan (I believe this is the store’s best asset next to friendly staff, of course!)

How the foot scan works:

1) Place your foot on the plate. Image of your foot appears in less than 10 seconds.

2) The image shows where you put pressure (Robin said it should be on the heel while mine had slight pressure on top), arch, width, and recommended insole (if any)

Robin also toured us around the store.  They sell the following brands of running shoes: Brooks, Asics, and K-Swiss.  With a US-based branch, there are a lot of unique products in ARC that they easily brought into our local shores…

1) ARC merchandise

2) Amphipod! Wooohooo!

3) Footwheel for plantar fasciitis. Thank God I won’t need this anymore, but it may be better than the golf balls I used

4) DeFeet socks and Zensah compression

5) Aertex insoles

6) The Stick!  Woohooo again. I’ve been drooling over this online.

7) Therabands

Hopefully, we get to visit A Runner’s Circle in LA in a couple of weeks before we head over to New York.

A Runner’s Circle is located at Unit H, Aloha Hotel, 2150 Roxas Blvd.cor.Quirino Ave. Malate, Manila

Store Hours:
Monday to Friday 10 am to 7 pm
Saturday 9 am to 6 pm
Sunday 10 am to 5 pm

Facebook: A Runner’s Circle Ph

Click HERE to visit website.

I still get teary eyed and emotional when I remember TBR Dream Marathon at NUVALI last May 22, 2010. And, I’m sure a hundred other runners, volunteers, dream chasers, together with the rest of our TBR Dream Team will say the same.

During the 1st Bull Circle, we hoped to share the experience with the new batch of TBR Dream Marathoners. What better way to do it than to present a video. Thanks to Jun Cruz (The Solemates) for creating this for us:

It was a full house at ROX last October 13, 2010 as over 200 runners showed up for the much anticipated BULL CIRCLE 1: THE MARATHON DREAM, the first of a series of talks in preparation for The Bull Runner Dream Marathon.

Speakers Neville Manaois, Coach Ige Lopez, and TBR Dream Marathon alumni Jun Bisnar, Mai Mai Lim, and Gene Tiongco engaged the audience with their heart warming and engaging stories of their own marathon experiences.  Jun Bisnar also presented Hero Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides scholarships to orphans of soldiers, as the beneficiary of TBR Dream Marathon 2011.  The talk ended with a Q&A where runners got to ask the panel anything and everything on their minds.

– Ask away! –

More than the talks, it was a chance for the new batch of TBR Dream Marathoners to gather together. We reminded them to look around and get to know each other as they would meet more often in the next 6 months.  It was also my chance to meet the new dreamers!

– with TBR Dream Marathoners Mia, Jordana, and Mimi who have been genius enough to journal every step they take in their marathon journey.  They started way back during registration. See Jordana’s photo below –

– Jordana, TBR Dream Marathoner 2011, shows off her TBR Dream Card –

The next Bull Circles will get more technical as we discuss gear, nutrition, hydration, strength and conditioning, and many more.

Thank you to our partner NUVALI, co-presenter New Balance, major sponsors Secondwind Running Store, Gatorade, Photovendo, minor sponsors Hammer Nutrition, Nutribar, Nathan, ROX and logistics partner Creative Juice. Thanks to Jordana Queddeng for the images.

So I’ve been eating relatively well since the end of July.  I can’t believe that I’ve gone this long on low-sodium, low simple sugar, and as little processed food as possible.  What I thought would be a killer diet turned out to be a lifestyle change I can actually live with.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve had my little slip ups.  Quite a number of them, actually.  Harvie, my friendly nutritionist and food conscience, once told me that I’m one of his most difficult students. While I manage to eat proper wholesome mini meals every 2.5 to 3 hours, I also succumb to the temptation of stealing a handful of treats from my kids’ lunchbox or tasting a spoonful of ice cream. But, that’s about it.

Only twice did I mess up BIG time.

1) The first was when I overdosed on Bee Cheng Hiang one Sunday. Being half-Chinese,  I have fond memories of devouring loads of cured pork from my lola’s cabinet almost every Sunday.  Yummy and, at that time, completely guiltless and harmless…or so I thought!  The last time I feasted on these was every single day we were in Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Marathon last February.  Since then, I had been craving for it.  Then, one Sunday, we were in for a treat: they had the Chinese food bazaar at Powerplant Mall and there was Bee Cheng Hiang right before my eyes. I thought I died and went to Chinese food heaven! For a moment, time stood still, tears started flowing from my eyes, and I ran (in slowmo) towards the stall reunited with my beloved.  I spent P800 on cured pork, chili pork, and golden chicken coins.  Gone in a couple of hours.

2) Then, a few days ago, I chanced upon the new Shakin’ Shots of KFC while ordering the kids’ lunch.  We bought one box.  I tasted it.  Liked it.  Tried another one.  Liked it even more.  And, you can probably guess what happened next.  Needless to say, it was finger lickin’ good!

What happened hours after both instances was something I never used to experience in the past.  I had major migraine attacks probably from the sodium and whatever else they put in that food.  Harvie would probably say “Those things come from the devil,” which is exactly what he said about fries this morning.

For half the day after eating those “evil food” my head was pounding.  I could barely work or focus on anything. I didn’t feel like working out.  I couldn’t sleep.  I could barely get out of bed!  In short, I felt like total crap.  I thought: Is this the price I have to pay for eating healthy all these months?  Why not continue to eat the same way as before and remain completely oblivious to the junk I was ingesting?!

But, of course, I was ranting. And feeling awfully guilty about cheating on my diet, too.

Looking back, the migraine is really the only downside to healthy eating (I know, I know, it wouldn’t even have happened if I didn’t cheat at all!)  I continue to reap the benefits of a more nutritious diet: more energy throughout the day, faster recovery after long runs, less cravings for unhealthy food, slightly smaller belly (I wonder if it’ll ever fully shrink to pre-preggy size?!) and last but not the least, enhanced performance during runs.  It is completely amazing and I have no intentions of heading back to my bad eating days.

As for Bee Cheng Hiang and KFC, can I be honest with you? I know I cannot bid them goodbye forever.  Life is too short for that.  I will indulge in them once in a while and in moderation.  Maybe just P400 worth of Bee Cheng Hiang at the next encounter.