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I am pooped.

Annie, Mary Anne, and I ran an estimated 18k for 1 1/2 hours at Alabang early this morning. That’s the farthest I’ve gone ever. Close to the end of the run, my big toe started hurting (I cringed at the thought of another dead toenail), my calves felt sore, and I was slightly exhausted…but, boy oh boy, did it feel awesome.

Now I know what Rick, my new blogger friend, meant when he wrote “My legs stiffened up quickly after I stopped running, a good sign that they got a good workout. Just an overall pain and stiffness from hard effort, nothing indicating injury.”

I read Rick’s blog just last night and thought little of the post, but after this morning’s run, I completely got it (as I’m sure all of you other running masochists do!) Eureka, I thought!

Last summer, when I had started building up to a 10k, each training day challenged my body to its fullest. I would arrive home feeling like a truck ran over me yet my mind would be racing with excitement over the next run. Nowadays, I’ve been religiously running at an easy to medium intensity 4x a week but I knew something was missing. On good days, I would run 10k nonchalantly. On bad days, I wouldn’t wake up for a scheduled run and force myself to make up for it later on the treadmill. Either way I’d end the run feeling like I didn’t even workout at all.  Yup, I was still running but I felt like my body was bored.

Now I know the reason: it wasn’t challenging for me anymore!

So, today I declare that, every Saturday henceforth, my runs shall be long, intense, heart-wrenching, leg-numbing, belly-shrinking, toenail-blackening workout days. I shall challenge myself to run longer every other week (as best friend Jeff Galloway advised) and welcome, if not conquer, sore muscles and aching feet. I shall focus more on my time, not my speed nor my distance.  And, I should arrive home saying only these five words: “I’m pooped…but I’m happy.”

Bring on the pain, brother!

– Poster image from Sabah Climbathon 2007 –

Congratulations to Merlita Arias, a Filipina runner, who won 9th place in the Women’s Open (4:25:23) of The Mt. Kinabalu International Climbathon held August 25-26, 2007. The course involved running up and down 21k of Mt. Kinabalu (4095.2 m), Malaysia’s First World Heritage Site. It’s no wonder why it’s called “The World’s Toughest Mountain Race.”

Other Filipino finishers include:

Ige Lopez, 40th Men’s Open (4:11:47)
Nina Dacanay – 22nd Women’s Open (6:22)
Mon Marchan – 26th Men’s Veterans (5:50)

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas—especially Pinoy runners!  Haha.

Click here to read a related article from Journal Online.

Thanks to King Bernas from Pinoy Runners E-group for the information.

Get out and run towards your nearest sports outlet. Almost all the major brands are on sale now. Just make sure you’ve got moolah in your pockets!

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MIZUNO

Paseo de Magallanes BMG building Roof Deck
August 28 to 31, 2007
Running Shoes go for P995 to P3,500

With the entire family in tow, I went to Mizuno on the very first day of its VIP sale. I only had one thing in mind: Mizuno Wave Creation 8. Were they going to put it on sale? I doubted it. But, optimistic ol’ me had high hopes that one size 9 pair of the said shoe would get mixed with the old stocks on sale and would instantly fall on my lap like manna from heaven. I sat there for minutes—alongside my two children as my hubby purchased new golf shoes and two gloves—waiting for those shoes to descend from the sky. Nope. Nada. No shoe.

God helps those who helps themselves. So, I tell hubby that I must “work” for the shoe. By this I meant that I had to travel one floor down via elevator towards Mizuno’s retail store in the same building. The elevator doors opened like heaven’s pearly white gates. Had I died and gone to running shoe heaven? There lay my Mizuno Wave Creation 8 in all its beauty (well, its price tag was shining brightly too!) I tried all three colors (green for women and black/red and orange for men) but I ended up liking the women’s the most. Did I buy it? Not yet. But I know it shall be mine. Oh la la la.

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NIKE

Nationwide sale from August 24 to Sept 14, 2007

No tackling for me at Nike Women, Greenbelt 3…although grappling over a sports bra with another woman (or her boyfriend) sounds like a great workout. After turning in my dying Nano and Nike+ kit for repair in Power Mac, I skipped on over to Nike while my good hubby distracted the kids at Powerbooks. When the kids are away, Mommy can shop in peace so I happily left the place with a nice top for only P870. Saved myself a cool 20%. Yeah.

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ADIDAS

Yup, they have a sale too, but I have yet to confirm if it’s open to the public. I shall post about this once I get the go signal from them. If not, I’ll just tell you about the new outfits I get from there. Haha.

If you need even more reason to run (and bike or swim) then this should give you one. On Sept. 8, the Gabriel Symphony Foundation will hold its 5th Annual Multi Sport Celebration in Memory of Gabriel, the little boy of Atty. Butch Sebastian and Senator Pia Cayetano, who was born with a rare chromosomal disorder and passed away at nine months.

The idea is to get people to participate in a sports event of their choice for the purpose of raising funds for the foundation (while having fun and getting a good workout, of course!) The foundation supports children with disabilities, such as those in need of cleft-palate-lip operations, as well as blind and deaf children.

On Sept. 8, you can choose from the following activities: (as taken from the Gabriel Symphony website)

• Individuals – they can do the regular run, walk or bike for any length of time and distance and target a specific beneficiary by donating a specific amount for every kilometer that they make.
• Kids – there will be a Maxitoylab Super Kids Triathlon wherein kids will accomplish a triathlon with distances based on their age category.
• Pinay In Action (PIA) Women’s Tri – this will be a buddy system triathlon wherein a seasoned triathlete is partnered with a first time or neophyte triathlete to guide them through a triathlon distance of 250m swim, 10km bike and 2.5km run.
• Clubs – groups of friends belonging to a Club that will run or bike together for a cause and not just simply for a workout.
• Corporations – employees of a corporation come together for a team building activity and get fit by doing a relay for 12 hours.

This will be held from 6:00AM to 6:00PM at the Polo Field of Alabang Country Club, Ayala Alabang Village, Muntinlupa. Food and drinks will be available for all participants. For more information, visit Gabriel Symphony, email blessings@gabrielsymphony.com or call Vib Marabut at 552-9003 or mobile number 0927-4045187.

Can one DNF in a Virtual Training Run? If so then that was exactly what I did this morning.

I was in Alabang, my running ground, at exactly 4:30 am as agreed upon with my other Virtual Running buddies who were running at their own spots all around the world. I was so ready to run after missing two consecutive VR’s due to family duties and the bad weather.

Entering the village gates, I didn’t realize that the guards would be the last human beings I would see around the area until I parked my car at San Juanico Street. It would be a gross understatement to call the scene eerie, it was chilling, spine-tingling and downright frightening for an overly imaginative person like me. The entire village was asleep but I already had visions of vampires having just devoured all its inhabitants and leaving this village like a ghost town. The orange lights that illuminated the streets did nothing to appease my petrified soul. It just added to the whole spooky Halloween ambiance I found myself in. Oh, I smelled fear in the air and it was emanating from the nerves of only one petrified runner — ME!

Having driven all the way here and not wanting to disappoint my fellow running buddies, I conjured up the little courage I had left and parked my car across the dimly lit tennis courts. I remembered the carpenter that was found dead there last year, the crime left unsolved, and perhaps his soul still yearning for justice. What if he decided to pop up and ask me for help? Ack, I scrubbed that thought from my brain, yanked out my ipod, and jumped out of the car. I decided to brisk walk towards Madrigal Avenue, the main road where the guards were, while I fumbled with my entangled earphones. I desperately needed to hear music — or anything at all — just not the deafening silence on these streets! How could I possibly get my ipod to work when my hands were shaking in fright?! I stared at the empty road before me and knew instantly that I would not survive this run.

I ran back towards my car as fast as I could and headed back home. I spent more than half an hour driving to and from Alabang. Reaching my house at 5:05 am, I wasted no time in squeezing in a good run on my treadmill before I reported for work as Mommy. I ran 6 km for 35 min while watching Conan O’ Brien and HBO. It could’ve been better but I’m glad I still ran. Hitme said “a run is still a run even on a treadmill” and, after my treadmill run, I can still echo what Mary texted this a.m. “Ang sarap tumakbo!” (It feels great to run!)

Next week, can someone please remind me to bring a running buddy or meet up with Coach?

Reports from other Virtual Running buddies:

1. E-rod
   
2. Hitme
3. Steph
4. Ben
5. Nora