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Where in the world—or, at least, in the Philippines—is this?  

Word is, this scenic course may just be the venue for The North Face 100, the upcoming trail run that many of us are looking forward to.  According to Neville Manaois of Pinoy Ultra Runners, the race organizers should finalize details within this week or the next.

In the meantime, hang on to your laces!

For more photos, visit the Pinoy Ultra Runner’s site.

Oddly, I am still in recovery mode after the Takbo Para sa Puso last Sunday. I think it’s pathetic that it’s taking my legs almost half a week to recuperate from a short 5k, but I am patiently waiting—while scratching my head, biting my nails (and soon toenails too if it takes longer), and eating loads of chocnut—for that one fine day when my legs feel light and strong again.  Uhm, I’m optimistic that The Day will be tomorrow.

In the meantime, there’s one thing—actually it’s a race—that is keeping me happy and all giddy with excitement. It’s the Fuego-Mizuno Run on June 15. This race is for members and endorsed guests only, so if you are neither one, there are two options for you:

1) Buy a club membership before June 15, or

2) Befriend a member (even if it’s just for three weeks!)  

Fortunately for me, Mizuno invited me for the race. Phew… I was already going through Facebook in search of prospective Fuego-member friends.

Here are the details of the race from Coach Rio‘s website:

DATE & TIME
15 June 2008, Sunday
Assembly: 5am
Start of Race: 6am
Awarding Brunch: est. 8am

VENUE
Start/ Finish Area Main Clubhouse, Peninsula de Punta Fuego, Nasugbu, Batangas

CATEGORIES
3K/ 5K/ 10K

ENTRY FEE
P450/ Member
P500/ Endorsed Guest

Non-refundable. Includes: Race Kit, Individual Medals, Brunch and Giveaways.

The Fuego-Mizuno Run is organized by Club Punta Fuego Inc. and Mizuno for the benefit of the Punta Fuego Village Foundation Inc.

Visit Coach Rio‘s site to download the registration form and view the coursemap.

Before Doc Fit’s Takbo Para sa Puso, there was another celebration for a fit doc. Last Thursday, Happy Feet met up out our favorite carbo-loading spot for Doc Oknoy’s birthday party.

– Birthday Boy (in black) at the center –

Doc Oknoy may have turned 40-something but he has the energy and wit of a man half his age. His humor and cheerfulness is contagious, one that makes you just want to be around him when you’re lamenting over an injury or whining about a bad run. He’s just one those guys who can lift your spirits just by the sound of his laughter.

There were no runs that evening. But, even so, there was a lot of talk about races, heart rates, and most especially, about other Happy Feet runners who were not there (hee hee!) It was a night of laughter and camaraderie among people whose lives were brought together by a shared passion for all things running.

– Happy Happy Feet runners: Jan, Daniw, Stephen, Banggi the Priss, Doc Oknoy, Marga the brutal sex master, Ka Totoy, Photographer Ben. Seated: Michelle, Joy, TBR, Sensei John Ting, Master Mon –

Happy Birthday again, Doc Oknoy! And to all Happy Feet-ers, see you again at the next race…or the next party! Chaia, we missed you!

Allow me to start at the end of the race because that’s where all the excitement was—at least for me. Here’s the loot I took home from my 5k run at Takbo Para sa Puso in U.P. Diliman this morning…

Do you see the medal right smack at the center of the photo? Yes, that’s mine—woohoo! I won 10th place in the non-MD Women’s Category for 5k. My official time was 29.03 mins.

– Top 10 winners for Women’s 5k. Check out the 3 winners behind me…they could be my kids! –

I took home the drawstring bag and singlet they gave to all runners, plus P1,000 cash and other freebies from sponsors. What a pleasant surprise for me!

You see, I arrived at the assembly area a little bit concerned about the pain in my left shin. I did my warm-ups and stretching with Annie then set my negative thoughts aside. I forced myself to think that I would survive a short 5k run with this slight discomfort. No pain, no prize, right?

As soon as the gun went off, I had little time to think at all. I ran at a steady pace of 5 min/km thereabouts from Km 1 to 3. At the 4th km, my lack of endurance finally showed as I slowed to an average pace of around 5:30. The uphill climb in that portion made things a little bit more difficult, but images of our hill training with Coach Jo-Ar came to mind and when I applied the techniques he taught me, they just worked like magic! I ran the last kilometers again at a steady 5 min/km pace.

– with Coach Jo-Ar. Salamat Coach para sa lahat ng hirap! haha –

– with my training buddies, Annie and Zorro (Yes, I’m kidding!) –

The race was as smooth as it could be for me. No negatives, all positives: (See what a thousand bucks can do to my mood!)

• My pace was steady. I think next time I should throw more sprints in there, but maybe when I’m a little bit stronger already.
• The pain subsided for the most part of the race and only returned (with a vengeance if I may say so) around lunchtime today.
• The race was very well-organized by Coach Rio once again. I especially liked the fact that Coach Rio is the emcee of his own races. At the finish line, he could easily identify the elite runners and share their resume with all of us less talented runners! Hah!
• Bonus: Mark P. of Happy Feet shared his secret restroom with me. (Sorry I’m not telling!)
• I met a lot of readers from the blog. Finally, they aren’t only names, but runners with faces! It was a pleasure to meet you!

– with Jujet de Asis, 1st place 5k Men’s Category (17.38 mins). Jujet and I share the same birthdate. Do you think we’ll have the same finishing time in the future too? –

– Marieton Pacheco reads TBR! How cool is that?! Here I am with Marieton, her hubby and friends –

– with good friend Marga (Transition Zero) and her friend Jenna –

– Finally! A photo with Eric (Run For Change) –

– with Skinhead81 –

– with Coach Rio, Councilor Dorothy (1st place 10k Women’s MD Category), and real “Doc Fit” runners. Dr. Yong Larrazabal (3rd from right) and Dr. Peter Mancao (rightmost) joined NYC Marathon last year and are eyeing the Chicago Marathon this year. Go docs! –

For official race results of Takbo Para sa Puso, click here.

Just wanted to let you know I’m alive and kicking.  A bit down and depleted from the tumultuous week I had—a rollercoaster of sorts due to the evil injury that came and went every hour of every single day.  I didn’t know if I was injured, recovering, fully recovered, or just going insane.  All I know is that I did all I could to alleviate the tightness in my legs during the past week.

I skipped blogging for two reasons:

1) I was getting really frustrated furious about the injury.  Had I ranted about it over here you would leave your computer screen with your eyebrows connected as one, both nostrils flaring, then you’d head straight for your boss, husband/wife, or best friend and yell at them for simply breathing.

2) This baby Macbook Pro of mine needed some upgrades.  It was the first time I parted with it for three whole days (not counting vacations) and, while I thought I would die of boredom, I actually felt liberated from the reins of the world wide web…and oh yes, work.  (Forgive me for not answering your comments yet.  I will soon!  Let me catch up on work first!)

Anyhow, I’m back.  I’ve got my 10k race bib for Doc Fit which I’ll be exchanging for a 5k due to the injury.  For now, my 10k debut (not that it’ll be such a momentous occassion) will have to wait…just until June I hope.