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I came, I swam, biked and ran, and…I conquered! As I type these words in the comfort of my own home, I can’t even believe I had just finished my first triathlon early this morning. Was that really me? You mean I managed to finish the race without drowning or clinging on to the lane lines for dear life? Before I get philosophical here, allow me to share the juicy race details:

{ CHECK IN }

I was a bundle of nerves—uhm, I was like that all week—when we arrived at 6:05 a.m. for check in. “Let’s go. I think I’m late.” I told my hubby over a hundred times. Of course, we weren’t that late but, being the newbie that I am, I disliked the fact that tardiness was adding to my stress. I picked up my race kit, got bodymarked, stickered my bike and helmet, parked my bike, (all with Marga’s guidance) and discovered that everything was less complicated than I imagined. Before I knew it, we were at the pool waiting for the race to start.

– What would have I done without Marga?! Let’s go, Team BWK! Banggi, start training. –

– Iron lady, Ani de Leon. Bow bow bow. –

{ SWIM – 350m, DLSZ pool }

This was the portion I was most concerned about, but as all 13 of us mini-sprint women (maybe 15 since two arrived late) were waiting for the go signal, I was surprisingly excited and psyched up. It must’ve been the crowds, the friends cheering me on, the feeling of being in a real competition that made me forget, albeit temporarily, about the long, arduous swim (at least, in my standards) that was about to commence.

– Trying to stay calm –

– Last photo with Marga in case I drowned –

– Waiting for the race to start –

So, I swam at a modest pace, not too fast, not too slow. I was kicked quite a number of times, but thankfully not in the head. It was a struggle to stay relaxed while seeing all the swimmers pass you by, but I knew that if I wanted to finish, I had to pace myself. After lap 3, I believe I paused at the end of every 50m lap to catch my breath and foolishly waste some seconds glancing at the hubby or smiling at friends. Let’s just say those pauses at the pool were both physical and emotional requirements to survive the grueling swim. By the last lap, I just swam away with only one thought in mind “Just get it over with.”

– I didn’t drown! Woohoo! –

{ TRANSITION 1 }

I climbed out of the pool to realize that my slippers were at the other end of the pool. I yelled to my hubby “Slippers!” and instantly he dashed out to get them. (See, that’s the reason why hubby’s been running 3x a week; it was really to be quick and nimble when he acts as my support.) Hubby ran with me towards the transition area and watched me get ready for the bike. It was quick; again, less complicated than I thought.

– Smooth and easy transition. Thank God for the trisuit –

{ BIKE – 12k, Ocho Ocho Loop, Ayala Alabang }

The day before the race, Annie had lent me her roadbike, but after encountering problems with it, I decided to go for the safer but slower alternative, my hubby’s mountainbike. I biked the Ocho Ocho loop just the day before the race (yesterday) so I was pretty confident about not losing my way; however, I was very concerned about my speed. I knew I would be moving at turtle’s pace.

As I mounted the bike, I was with two other people, but when I made my way out to University Ave. towards Country Club Drive, it was like everyone disappeared except for one man in front of me who was biking at a leisurely pace. A few minutes after, some athletes—Harry Tan and a couple of other guys—passed us by and it confirmed the fact that I was going very slow; I felt like I was stuck in a slow mo movie. Yawn. By the time we reached Cuenca, the man who I initially found super slow increased his speed and, before I knew it, he was nowhere in sight. I was biking alone! Double yawn. I didn’t even feel like I was in a race. Pretty soon, I reached the finish line and boy was I eager to get off the bike.

{ TRANSITION 2 }

Parked the bike. Removed the helmet. Drank a bit of Rush. And, much to Annie’s horror (she advised me against this early on but my OC-ness got the better of me), I stopped to re-tie my laces. She’ll be glad to learn though that I only tightened one of them.

I was expecting to walk out of the transition area like Daisy Duck or, if you want someone more relevant, Erap, but I was surprised to find myself jogging out of there in my regular running form.

{ RUN – 3.4k, Ayala Alabang }

Now for my favorite part: the run. I ran in complete comfort as if I had just started a race; the swim and bike portions had been erased from my body’s memory. For the first time, I ran without my Garmin but with my hubby’s water resistant timex. And, being the runner that I am, I only remembered to start the timer in this portion!

We were to run two big loops around the area and I felt strong all the way. It was only here that I felt I was doing well. I was outpacing people, even men, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Time passed by quickly here; well, it was just 3.4 km after all. According to my timex, I finished the 3.4k run in 16.39 min so my ave. pace was a little below 5 min/km.

As I neared the finish line, Annie came by for support and paced me until the end. She was so serious that I wanted to laugh out loud but she even shouted “Sprint. Sprint” and so I did. Hubby was at the finish line waiting for me. He says he stuck out his hand waiting for me to high-five him, but I didn’t even see! I was just probably in awe over my finish.

– I did it! –

– With Annie who showed up to watch and support. Thanks Annie! –

{ WHAT’S NEXT? }

Can I be honest with you? I ended the race thinking: Was that it? Did I really finish my first triathlon? Why doesn’t it feel like it? Why am I not doing cartwheels and celebrating?

I’m still unsure exactly why. But, my best guess is that I’m a runner and I’m a masochist. Hah! I like ending a race drenched in sweat with my legs and feet tight and tired and the rest of my body yearning for a massage. At the end of this mini sprint, I didn’t feel weary and worn out; I felt like running more. (No, not quite ready for a sprint tri. That’s where I’ll definitely drown.)

So, running more is what I’ll be doing. For the next few months, I’ll be training for my half marathon. Exact details of which I’ll share with you in due time.

The triathlon was just something I had to try for pure fun and I’ll probably give it another go in the future. But, for now, I shall resume training with my one and only love: running.

– Triathlon mommies: Bunny, Me-Anne, TBR, Caroline, Dedette, and Ting. Mommy Power! –

– Foreignrunner after his 1st sprint tri. Congrats! You had no reason to worry –

– Athletic couple, Maui and Coach Ige Lopez, with their friend. –

– Finally, a photo with the famous Drew A. I waited in line for this photo. Daming fans. –

BIG BIG THANK YOU TO…
Marga for introducing the trisuit, staying calm during the race and guiding me.
Annie for showing up and pacing me.
Jamike Lopa for lending me his race belt.
Mark Parco for providing last minute race belts.
And, of course, to the hubby who woke up in the wee hours of the morning just to transport the bike, wait, watch, take photos, run for my slippers, and more—all this on an empty stomach!

Feast your eyes on the new singlet for the upcoming Adidas King of the Road slated for October 11, 2008. Oooh, I can’t wait to join this race…

– Men’s Singlet on top. Women’s in the bottom. –

Registration details are as follows: (UPDATED)

WHAT: ADIDAS “King of the Road 2008” 5K, 10K , 21K
WHEN: Saturday, October 11, 2008, Race Start: 5:30am, Event Ends: 9:00am
WHERE: Fort Bonifacio, Start and Finish Line: 28th Street, in front of Honda, Fort
REG FEE: P300.00 (inclusive of race singlet, race number, certificate)
REG VENUES:

– Adidas Shops in Podium, Trinoma, Megamall, Rockwell

– Ground floor of Vazquez-Madrigal Bldg., Annapolis St. Greenhills, San Juan (recommended for bulk registrations of corporations, schools and organizations). Phone: Mr. Biscocho (727.9987).

REG DATES: September 22- October 9

– Marga & Jeremy posing with the Pinoy Ultra Runners lanyards. Bagay sila noh? I mean, bagay sa kanila yung lanyards –

Buy 1 Pinoy Ultra Runner lanyard for only P100 and you will give fellow Filipinos—Pinoy Ultra Runners Jose De Vera, Jocelyn Saw, Peter Rivera and Paolo Punsalan—a chance to compete in the OXFAM Trailwalker 100, a 100km run/hike/walk on the MacLehose Trail in Hong Kong on November 7-9, 2008.  Click here to view the trail.

If you are interested, please contact Jeremy Go at jeremygo@gmail.com or 0917.852.7587 or Neville Manaois at fundrun@gmail.com. 

Jeremy Go gives us a brief backgrounder on the OXFAM and the Trailwalker:

OXFAM is UK based confederation of 13 organizations working with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Originally called the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, it was founded in 1942 in Great Britain and now has presence worldwide, including the Philippines.

The Trailwalker is the largest fund raising event of OXFAM HK, basically it is a 100 KM run/hike/walk held annually on the MacLehose Trail, a 100 km hiking trail across the mountain ranges of the New Territories with a 48 hour cut off.

Oxfam Trailwalker Hong Kong is the first Trailwalker in the world. Other countries like UK, Australia and New Zealand follow the Hong Kong model closely. In 2008 for the very first time Belgium is also organising Trailwalker in their country.

Part of the requirement is to raise funds for OXFAM. Since 1986, more than 42,000 Trailwalkers have raised over HK$ 158 million to support Oxfam’s various poverty alleviation and emergency relief projects. We are doing our part by selling these lanyards to donate to OXFAM, when the team reaches HK.

A few helpful links:

Pinoy Ultra Runners site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailwalker

http://www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.hk/en/home.html

There’s been a lot of buzz around this shoe, the Nike Lunar Trainers, even if it isn’t out in the market yet. There was the Nike Lunar Test Run we had last August. And I read about Runwitme‘s similar experience in Malaysia.  Plus, Jeannette Wang‘s positive experience using it when she won the Singapore Sundown Ultramarathon (84km) with a time of 9.5 hours.

The Lunar Trainers are set for a limited release this October 2008—meaning the distribution of this shoe is not massive and not a on a wide scale like other Nike shoes—while bulk of these will go on full blast in early 2009.  

For those of you who would like to reserve a pair of Lunars (retails at P4,995), below are the contact numbers of Nike outlets.  Nike says there are only 18 pairs each for men and women per outlet, except at Nike Bonifacio High Street where there are 30 pairs for men and 18 for women:

Black Cat, I-Np Glorietta 729.14.73 / 813.00.82

Nike Park – Greenbelt3 757.44.91

Nike Park – Sm Moa 556.07.89

Nike Park – The Fort 856.25.86 / 856.25.87

Nike Park – North Triangle 901.35.47

Despite the terrible weather, runners of all shapes and sizes—wannabes, newbies, recreational, serious, ultramarathoners—showed up in large numbers at ROX last night for the Running Aid Part 2 session. 

– Neville Manaois on anything and everything a runner needs –

Neville Manaois, team principal of Pinoy Ultra Runners, gave a comprehensive talk on Running Essentials enumerating each item a runner needs—from shoes to petroleum jelly—for distance runs. Neville was very knowledgeable about the topic, not just discussing items he’d picked up from a book, but obviously drawing from his own experiences as an ultramarathoner.  

– Dr. Paolo Punsalan on the proper form for runners –

The next speaker, Dr. Paolo Punsalan, a Pinoy Ultra runner and Orthopedic Surgeon, discussed Running Form & Technique for distance runs. I was in and out of the session but I did pick up a number of important points. He emphasized mid foot landing which is consistent with Coach Jo-Ar’s training with me. Dr. Punsalan also mentioned leaning forward, minimizing arm swing, high cadence (90 per leg per minute) and maintaining balance while running.  He even dissected the form of Haile Gebresellasie for all of us to attempt to emulate…yeah let’s keep on dreaming.

I highly recommend this talk for runners. I hope the Pinoy Ultra Runners and ROX will have another run (no pun intended) of these talks as it promotes running to non-runners and gives us runners the opportunity to improve ourselves while avoiding injury.

To all those I saw last night—Marga, Jeremy, Hector of Nike, Philip and his wife, Felipe of SOS Village, Andrew of Epic, my TI coach Nonoy B., dad and mom of CougCat, bugobugo, Mel, Irene, and Omar—it was nice seeing you. Neville, nice chatting with you again. Hope to run with you on my side of the world.