Category Archives: Bullish Insights

2011 was one hell of a roller coaster ride for me complete with double loops and hair-raising moments. But, it was definitely a year with bountiful blessings that I’m thankful for.  Here’s what made 2011 a great year for running for me:

(1) Races of all shapes and sizes.  There were huge, well-organized, near perfect races as well as small fun runs that I had the pleasure of participating in.  I thank all the race organizers and the people who work behind each race to make it memorable and safe for all of us runners.  It’s no joke to stage an event and I do believe each runner should be grateful for each experience.  If there’s a flaw or a mishap, then raise the issues with respect and in the proper forum.  My personal favorites were: Condura Skyway Marathon, Run United, adidas King of the Road, and Mommy Milkshake Fun Run.

– with Alvin after running my fastest half marathon at RU 1 –

(2) TBR Dream Marathon 2011.  TBR Dream Marathon will always be one of the biggest highlights of each year for me. It’s a fave race that I’ll never get to run, but one where I have the great fortune of witnessing first- and second-time marathoners achieve their dreams.  Most of TBR Dream alumni go on to become my good friends in running, too.  Just one of the many gifts from TBR Dream that’s worth all the sweat and tears that comes into organizing it. Looking forward to see our 3rd batch cross that 42km finish line!

(3) Meeting celebs and legends!  I had the pleasure of meeting legendary runner Jeff Galloway, getting international star Apl .de. Ap of Black Eyed Peas to grace TBR Magazine cover, rubbing elbows with Coach Erik Spoelstra, and last but not the least, speaking with Congressman Manny Pacquiao!

– Super Pinoy star Apl. de. Ap –

– Starstruck over Manny while he browses through TBR Magazine –

(4) Traveling! Oh boy, the runs and the travels!  Thanks to Women’s Health for taking me to Boracay for Beauty and the Beach for it’s 2nd Anniversary. Thanks to Mitch Felipe, Armand Mendoza, and Misibis Bay for inviting me to the Misibis Bay Fitness Escape.  Thanks to Francis Velasquez and Jeffrey Ang of Circle Productions for taking us to Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon. I flew to Bohol with the family too. Thanks to Guam Visitors Bureau and EON for taking me to Guam for the awesome Guam Koko Road race.

– Boracay with Lara Parpan and Christine Ong of Women’s Health, Summit –

– with Francis Velasquez at the trails of Cdo-Dahilayan Ultramarathon –

– with friends from the Guam Visitors Bureau before the race start –

Special thanks to Gatorade for flying me off to New York to participate in my 2nd ING New York City Marathon. I ended the year with a wonderful trip to San Francisco and Sacramento for the California International Marathon, too.

– After the NYC Marathon 2011 –

– During the California International Marathon –

(5) Trying to Tri. So, I got my feet wet (a bit) and found out that I could seriously enjoy the triathlon world. Thanks to The Next Step Tri Camp for allowing me to be saling pusa in their camp. I had a blast there bonding with Team Hammer friends. I also got a swim coach with teammates Adel, Bic, and Jake and learned to love the water.  Running and marathons got in the way this 2011 (as they always do because it’s pretty evident that running is my love!), but I hope to get more into triathlon this coming year.

(6) Humble running achievements such as breaking my half marathon PR at Run United 1 with the help of running buddy, Alvin, and finishing a total of 7 marathons by the end of this year.  There’s still so many goals to reach, so many roads to cover, and oh so many marathons to run!

(7) Partnering with Sun Broadband and Cherifer Premium.  Thank you to Sun and Cherifer for the trust and the support in helping me get more people to run!  Thanks also to Hammer Nutrition, Oakley, and Gatorade for the support!

There’s only one thing I’d like to happily bid goodbye to this 2011.  Good riddance to Morton’s Neuroma which hit me in May and practically bugged me for the rest of the year.  Boo to you for making me missing Phuket Marathon!  I look forward to not seeing you this 2012!

May the coming year bring you lots of joy, laughter, bliss, and good health as you cover more kilometers on the road!  Hope to bump into you soon!

Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.

– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A.A. Milne

– Lunch with running buddies Jun and Annie. We had banana-carrot cake in UCC for dessert. Aaah, yummy! Definitely not as good as Leona’s carrot cake from Cebu though! –

After two consecutive marathons and non-stop work, I gave myself the entire December to run easier, work less, eat more dessert, and just do nothing (which is something I hadn’t done for so long!)  Yes, sometimes, this Bull believes that she’s gotta slow down too.

The past two weeks have been incredibly refreshing.  I’ve spent more time lunching with friends (strictly following the dessert rule!), playing with the kids, cleaning up their rooms (which was a workout in itself!), redecorating my home office, and eating more dessert (have I said that already?) rather than facing my Mac which is usually right in front of my face all day, everyday.

It’s how I hoped to end this crazy, busy year and exactly how I wanted to start 2012.  *Note to self: pencil in more “do nothing” weeks for 2012.

Question: How do runners celebrate the holidays?

Answer: We have our own Christmas Run, of course!

– After our Christmas Run this morning, me, Annie, Jun, Ton, Trixie, Angel, Miriam, Jun, Lit at Sentro –

What’s a Christmas Run?

A Christmas Run is defined as any activity done by an individual or group moving at a speed faster than a walk that is executed anytime during the period of December 20 to 30.

The run can be done at any location, at any time, and at any distance but early morning—4:30 AM to 6:30 AM—is highly recommended for participants to 1) feel the cool Christmas air and 2) possibly partake of Puto Bumbong from Simbang Gabi.

Pace must strictly be easy, non-competitive, and preferably one that allows the runner to laugh at senseless jokes the entire time.  Stupid jokes that are associated with Frosty the Snowman or Rudolp the Reindeer, although relevant for the season, are strictly prohibited.

Who Can Join a Christmas Run?

It is recommended but not required that all participants have been running together for over 6 months and have accumulated a total of 300 kilometers together.

It is a non-negotiable that all runners sincerely enjoy each others’ company.  If there’s one rotten egg in the bunch (e.g., no sense of humor, makes too frequent stops at the restroom, too pacute, the list goes on and on) then the runner may be expelled from the group after a consensus is reached (preferably before the Christmas Run invitation/SMS has been released).

Why Consider a Christmas Run?

TBR highly recommends a Christmas Run among your best running buddies.  It’s the one time of the year that you do exactly the same thing you’ve been doing with your running group: you wake up the same time, meet at the same place to see the usual faces, run more or less the same distance, and have breakfast at the same restaurant to order the same ol’ breakfast meals, but without cheesy words exchanged and just by showing up on this special weekend, you essentially tell each other that running together has been one of the greatest gifts you could’ve received this year.

Merry Christmas to everyone! Enjoy the Holidays!

It was the perfect setting for our 3rd Bull Session this morning. Our TBR Dream Marathoners ran long for 1 hour and 45 mins. in the cool and nippy holiday air at NUVALI. I won’t say much in this post since these photos will effectively show you how much fun we had this morning.

Congratulations to our TBR Dream Marathoners for running strong today!

– Class pic: Runners during today’s 3rd Bull Session at NUVALI –

– Pace group led by TBR DM alumni Mark Terrado before we started –

– Pace group led by TBR DM alumni Miriam Valero, Angel Motomal, and “Kots Mike” Janeo –

– Bull Session’s lead coach Lit Onrubia, NUVALI GM, Jun Bisnar, and Ripple 100 and TBR DM runner Andre Yap –

– Off they go! Love these NUVALI roads! –

– TBR DM alumni and current batch run together –

– TBR DM alumni Craig Logan (far left) paces his group –

– These Snail Runners sure know how to hop and jump too –

– Here they go again. Jump! –

– TBR DM is a beginner’s marathon, but our course is challenging enough for any serious runner. Our marathoners are toughies! –

– Group led by TBR Dream Team Jun Cruz –

– What comes up must come down –

– We couldn’t help it. Here’s another class pic –

Huge thank you to our TBR DM alumni who paced our marathoners, NUVALI for the full support, GATORADE for hydration, and everyone else who always go out of their way to make each run or talk special for our TBR DM runners.

TBR DREAM MARATHON 2012 is co-presented by SUN BROADBAND and RUNRIO. EVENT PARTNER – NUVALI. MAJOR SPONSORS – Gatorade, New Balance, Oakley, and Otterbox. MINOR SPONSORS – Timex, Nutribar, Secondwind, Nathan, Chris Sports, ROX, BGC. DONORS: Neat Feat. MEDIA PARTNERS – Multisport, Ripple 100.  LOGISTICS PARTNER: Creative Juice.

I arrived in Sacramento two days before the race giving me enough time to get acquainted with the city. It was my first time here.

– Hello Sacramento! –

The entire city of Sacramento—an easy 2-hour drive from San Francisco—is quaint, relaxed, and filled with character. The roads are flat and lined with beautiful autumn trees showing off their leaves in brown and orange hues. The architecture of the houses have an old-fashioned charm and some of the landmarks in the city are majestic and breath-taking, particularly the California State Capitol which was where the finish line of our race was strategically located.

– Organizers set up the finish line at Capitol Park a day before the race –

– CIM traditionally has two separate finish lines for Men and Women –

Before the race, the weather was much too cold for me. Temperature was in their low 40s with the wind—oh boy, the wind!—giving this poor little Pinay runner goosebumps every single time it swept past us. I was optimistic that the weather would improve during race day.

– What a crazy, windy day –

– Outside the convention center –

My hotel was conveniently located just a few blocks away from the Sacramento Convention Center where the race expo was held and, more importantly, near the finish line at Capitol Park. Braving the winds (and thinking this was a good way for me to acclimatize…brrr!), I walked to the convention center to claim my race pack.

The California International Marathon Expo was relatively modest compared to other large-scale international races such as the ING New York City Marathon or even Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. This expo had a small community feel to it, which was something I looked forward to even for the race itself.

– CIM banner –

– Lots of runners at the expo –

The expo was filled with runners that looked fast and nimble. This was no surprise because CIM is known as one of the fastest courses in the US (even Runner’s World says so in its December 2011 Issue). I couldn’t count how many runners proudly wore their Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, or other popular marathon jackets or shirts. There were quite a number of senior runners who were double my age, but could probably run twice as fast. Gulp. A friend and I joked that we could easily be the last to finish at this marathon even if we broke our personal records!

Good thing I met good friends and fellow Pinoy runners at the expo to make me feel more at ease.  It was Amale Jopson, wife of Ironman champ Noy Jopson, who convinced me to register for CIM.  Way back in February, Amale persuaded me to abandon plans to run Macau Marathon and go for Sacramento instead.  She said it was one of the fastest courses and we could come together, no husband, no kids, just a short trip for some serious racing.  I signed up that same week!  (Thank you Amale for recommending such a great race! Amale finished at an amazing 3:46. Congratulations!)

– Jane-Jane, Veronica, Lit, Amale and Andrew of Team Philippines sponsored by New Balance –

Claiming of race packs was well-organized and informal. All I had to do was look up and find the balloons spelling out “Race Packs” and I found my way in no time (like I said, it was a community-type of expo.)

– Got my CIM race pack! –

– Shopping time –

– Tons of samples to taste –

– Kids create posters for their beloved runners –

I claimed my race bib and timing chip (ipico just like RunRio) then lined up to claim my race shirt and race pack. Then, I was off to shopping at the expo. I purchased an official marathon shirt, sampled a lot of bars, and perused through the booths of several other races in the US. I caught sight of the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge: back to back marathons of Boston and Big Sur for an exclusive group of 400 runners only. Of course, you gotta qualify for Boston first! Wow, I wonder if I’ll ever get to do this in my lifetime.

The expo also offered several talks for runners. We took advantage of this and attended the talk on “How to Run CIM” which provided us with practical and useful tips for the next day’s race.

– How to Run CIM talk –

– Carol, one of the speakers, has been battling cancer for 2 years and ran CIM as her…get this…257th marathon! –

When I got back to the hotel room, I laid out all the loot from my bag and couldn’t believe I was just a few days away from running my next marathon…

– See the little blue pack on the upper right of the shirt? I was most ecstatic about that freebie: a serving of peanut butter! Aaah, life’s little joys –