Category Archives: Bullish Insights

Moms complain about it all the time. Entrepreneurs rant about it. Runners often do, too.  Since I am all of the above, I have even more reason to ask for it: MORE TIME, please!  I need extra hours—just 4 or 5 more—to tick off all the tasks I have to accomplish in a day.

The past week, we’ve been busy preparing for TBR Dream Marathon 2011. So, I would like to sincerely apologize for the lack of meaningful updates here lately. I’ve had little time to stop and ponder much less come up with any interesting running posts due to intense preparations for TBR Dream, which is—can you hear 400 nervous and excited hearts thumping simultaneously?—less than two weeks away.  We’re pulling out all the stops to make this a better one. Hang on to your seats, TBR Dream runners!

I also haven’t had the time to sit down and write a Run United 1 Race Report.  In a word, it was fantastic!  As for my run, it was completely exhausting yet exhilarating.  Paced by my forever dependable and indefatigable running buddy, Alvin, I pushed my body as hard as I could in training and during the race to break my 21k PR by a whopping—drumroll please—10 seconds!  I covered 21k at 5:28/km vs 5:32/km in my best 21k last year.  For some reason, I find this hilarious but, at the same time, it’s annoyed me enough to commit to more training come summer time. (You hear that, Alvin?!)

– Alvin and I after crossing the finish at 1:55. I could hardly breathe. That was one tough yet memorable run. Photo courtesy of Chatey Retuerto –

With the lack of time, I’ve also let go of my plan to do Subit in May.  With my crazy sched, I’ve managed to squeeze in 4x a week runs, 2x a week strength training, and 2x a week cycling/spinning.  But, the swim?…pfffttt.  None.  I can only start swimming after TBR Dream which is too close to Subit.  In order to avoid possible drowning or potentially embarrassing situations in a triathlon, I shall target another race instead.  Triathlon, will you please wait for this busy running mom to get her act together?

In the meantime, I’ll pray that God grants me more hours today to get a massage. I got one last Saturday, had another one last night, but c’mon one can never have enough massages right?

This BULL SESSION 4 makes it to my list of memorable runs. And, I hope it’s the same for most of the TBR Dream Marathoners Batch 2011.

Last Saturday, Feb. 20, 2011, over 200 of our TBR Dream Marathoners and friends came for their last long run—30k at NUVALI—before marathon day on March 20, 2011. Everything was perfect for a long slow run: the air was fresh, the weather cool and windy, portalets, hydration, and security from NUVALI (you guys are awesome!), Gatorade, plus lots of smiles and light conversation among future marathoners to keep us all entertained for hours.

– More than half of all our registered participants showed up for this practice run at NUVALI. Less than a month to go before the big day! –

– Lit Onrubia (right) led the briefing which had our runners going into groups: run all the way, run:walk intervals of 9:1, 4:1, and 2:1. Other runners trained at their own walk intervals like 3:1 and 1:1. Also in the pic are Ton and Jaimie from Team Bacon, a group of TBRDM runners who thrive on bacon after LSDs –

– TBRDM alumni, Lito Lopez, Jun Bisnar, GM of NUVALI, and Reylynne de la Paz, show their support for the next batch. TBRDM is all about paying it forward, after all! Thank you to NUVALI Team for the all out support during the practice run and for the race. –

– The hubby (center) was one of the pacers for 9:1. Thanks to all our volunteer pacers! –

– We owned the road that morning! –

– Some runners chose to run by the lake of Evoliving Center. Love this area especially in the morning –

Our TBRDM runners were committed, determined, and all smiles!  It was great getting to know each runner—not just by their race numbers but by their life stories and personal experiences.  If there’s something that sets TBRDM apart, it’s the intimate and personal bond that is formed among runners, volunteers, and organizers as we train for their first or second marathon.  We’re one big happy bunch!

You won’t see anyone frowning in these pics—even if we ran for over 4 hours!…

– Last year, Marc was a participant and Gail was a volunteer. This year, she’s the participant while Marc signed up as her pacer –

– Who would’ve known that one of my favorite professors at ADMU would join TBRDM?!  Sir Bobby Guev in white along with other TBRDM runners –

– Girl bonding at 2:1 pace. So much fun! –

– Yup, we have triathletes who’ve signed up for TBRDM too! –

Congratulations to all our TBRDM runners who ran their longest run last Saturday! See you on race day!

Thanks to Eric Alfonso for all the images. More photos on my Facebook account.

Thank you to our Partner NUVALI and Co-Presenters New Balance and Cherifer Premium.

Major sponsors: Secondwind Running Store, Gatorade, Photovendo and Run Rio.

Minor sponsors: Timex, Thermos, Omron, Milo, Hammer Nutrition, Nutribar, Nathan, ROX, Chris Sports, Health Food, Forward Lean Running, Cadbury Zip, Kinesio Tex, Robinsons Supermarket, Starbucks.

Hotel Partners: Paseo Premiere and El Cielito. Media Partners: Runner’s World,  Men’s Health, Women’s Health. Logistics partner: Creative Juice.

Rico, Rics, or RicoV is one of my closest guy friends since highschool.

During our teenage years, I used to talk to him almost every night. We would talk about everything that mattered: crushes (more of his!), homework, friends, songs, and, of course, Euphoria and Faces. Yes, that was what highschool life was all about, after all.

– Rico’s highschool graduation. I was in 3rd year highschool. L to R: Joanne, me, Pwe, Nich, Vicky, Rics –

– Fun summer weekends at the beach: Miggy, Nich, Mariano, Krie, Veejay, Fat, me, Rics, Cel, Kat, PWe –

Rico was the goalie of the La Salle football team. Something to be proud of for any athlete, but even more for him. You see, he only had one working eye. In his infancy, he lost his right eye to Congenital Glaucoma.

Others would’ve tagged themselves as handicapped, but not him. He had a positive outlook and a sense of humor that wouldn’t allow for this. His favorite trick was to ask us girls for our hands and—if you were the unfortunate victim that day—he would drop his porcelain eyeball onto your palm.  (Gross!) A traumatizing sight indeed, but a scene that would have all of us bursting out in laughter.

He always made us laugh. But he was also one of the most sentimental and demonstrative ones in the group. Perhaps because of his experiences growing up, he was more sensitive to those around him. He was the one you could count on to drive you home, keep the girls company through hours of shopping without a single complaint, or give you comfort when you were down.

Rico and I kept in touch through the years. Even as he migrated to the U.S., and we both married and raised our own children, and now that he’s a single dad to his 2 girls, we still chat about our lives through the internet. We talk about everything that matters most now: family, career, schools, and, only recently, running. (Yup, no more Faces!)

– Nov 2010: All grown up! Visited Rico in LA before NYC Marathon. L to R: Jay, Nich (who ran NYCM too), Rics, and myself –

– Rico’s girls and my kids hanging out in Chuck E Cheese –

Rico got into running just when he was going through a difficult divorce.  He ran his first half marathon several weeks ago finishing at 2:01.  He is currently training for his first marathon: LA Marathon on March 20, 2011—coincidentally on the same day as TBR Dream Marathon—and he’s been working at it seriously and consistently while raising the girls on his own. He didn’t verbalize this to me directly but I know that training for the marathon has helped him have a sense of purpose and given him direction through the tough times.

What’s even better is that he’s using the run to help other children who are blind or partially blind like him. Rico is raising funds for the Blind Children’s Center, a family-centered agency serving children with visual impairments. He is less than $300 shy of his $3,000 goal. If you would like to help one of my dearest friends help others, please click HERE and donate.

All the best in your long run this weekend and on race day, Rics!

On most mornings, after dropping off the kids in school, I make my way to my favorite coffee shop at the nearby town center. I almost always arrive at 7:30 a.m. even if it doesn’t open until 8:00 a.m. There’s a full 30 minutes when I can do nothing but let time pass.  But, I don’t. I take the hands of time, clasp it into mine, and I almost don’t want to let it go.

This morning, I sit in the outdoor chairs by the soon-to-open coffee shop in the middle of the center embracing the half hour I am blessed with.  A cool breeze gingerly brushes upon my cheeks while the gentle sun keeps me warm enough to rest comfortably.  It is not completely silent; I hear the janitors sweeping the dry leaves, watering the grass, and chatting with the guards. I hear the birds chirping, the planes zooming by, and the gush of water from the koi pond behind me.  It is morning music to my ears, the rhythm from the day that’s starting to arise. I take everything in—every single detail—from the guard’s name tag to the ants carrying the heavy load on their backs. Do ants even sleep?  I wonder.  And, my mind wanders.  I think about everything—and also nothing.

These 30 slow minutes make a huge difference in my cluttered, chaotic, and taxing day. There is an endless to-do list to tick off, a parent-teacher meeting to attend, and homework to supervise.  There’s a tempo run this evening following a 1.5 hour bike ride yesterday and a lung-busting speed session at the track the night before.  With the heavy load I put on my body—pushing it to go beyond exhaustion so it can work even harder on the days that count—it is these 30 long, slow, and sublime minutes that provide a sense of balance, sanity and serenity.

30 minutes with a non-fat chai tea latte, three times a week.  Consider adding it to your training program.

Runners are not too different from surfers; we experience our runner’s highs and lows riding through undulating waves of emotions arising from met goals to false expectations. Most often, we’re on the crest of our running career training for a dream marathon, breaking PR’s, or reaching distances once inconceivable. But, there are times when we hit a trough—an injury that never goes away, burnout, or boredom—and it feels like a bottomless pit that, if not managed properly, can drag you down into a sea of sorrow and, sadly, flabby muscles and additional poundage.

I found myself in that pit a couple of months ago. For a while, I didn’t want to climb out of it, but, fortunately for me, I found gentle reminders of running—a person, a picture, or a memory—that yanked me out of that black hole and gave me inspiration to run with passion again.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’d like to share with you some of the people and things that inspired me to lace up—either for a gym workout or an LSD—and got me to fall in love with running again:

LEA SALONGA. Yup, that’s right! One morning, I was scheduled for a workout but I was too lazy to even get my run apparel on. Ready to head out the door in jeans and a top, I quickly browsed through the morning papers and chanced upon Lea Salonga’s column about getting back into training. I ran back upstairs, changed into my running clothes, and I found myself running on the treadmill that same morning. Just goes to show you don’t need a runner or a super athlete to get you back out there. Pick up a good book, surf the web, browse through blogs to find your inspiration from other people’s words.

ISIDRO VILDOSOLA. Nothing stops Sid from grabbing podium finishes, not even a missing limb. I met him a couple of years back at various runs and I get the chance to chat with him once in a while. He’s a humble guy with a lot of achievements. Couple of weeks ago, I bumped into him at Ultra Track Oval and he proudly showed off the Silver Medal he won at the Asian Paralympics. Congratulations Sid! You’re an inspiration!

– with Sid and the nicest medal I have ever seen –

– Spread of Asian Para Games Daily –

– Sid bags Silver for the Philippines in Men’s 1500. Missed Gold by a split second –

* JEFF GALLOWAY. I don’t know exactly how many people all over the world Jeff Galloway has inspired through his books and coaching, but I am definitely one among the hundreds and thousands. I was lucky enough to be in his presence while he was in Manila for several days.  While he gave words of wisdom on running during talks and workshops, it was during our downtime—over meals, on the way to our hotel in Cebu, or while we were running—that I was completely and utterly inspired by him. He would talk about his experiences with Steve Prefontaine, Alberto Salazar, and Bill Bowerman and he made them real and human to me—not the legends that I only read about in Runner’s World and books. He told us countless tales about his running when he was younger and anecdotes about other runners. He and his wife, Barb, are prime examples to me of real runners of character who unselfishly want to spread the love for running.

– Jeff gave this to us while we were in Cebu. We couldn’t stop staring at it.  Photos above show him running along with Prefontaine. The business card is a copy of Pre’s card when he worked for Blue Ribbon Sports which later became Nike –

* TBR DREAM MARATHONERS. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: my favorite part of TBR Dream Marathon is getting to know the runners who signed up for the race. While others would hate to run at the back of the pack, I embrace the responsibility with open arms during our Bull Sessions. As sweeper, it is almost a gift to run with those coming in last because you’re a witness to the struggles as they push their bodies to the edge and, at the same time, you see them grow before your eyes—from weak to strong, from sedentary to long distance runner, from insecure to confident. I’ve met a runner who battled cancer, a dad who’s restarted running, and many more. We start the run as strangers and end as good friends who inspire each other to achieve new heights.

So, who’s your inspiration today?  Happy Valentine’s Day!