Category Archives: Running + Triathlon

During our first Bull Session for TBR Dream Marathon 2013 earlier this morning, Coach Lit Onrubia mentioned seven books for those training for a marathon. Here they are along with his reasons for recommending them:

1) Running for Mortals by John Bingham
2) Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham
Both these books are incredibly inspirational. Bingham reminds us why we run and why we choose to do a marathon.

3) Making the Marathon Your Event by Richard Benyo.
This is a very honest, intelligent and practical book about how to run your best marathon, regardless of your goal.

4) Marathon: You Can Do it! by Jeff Galloway
5) Training Programs by Jeff Galloway
Both these books will help you internalize the Run-Walk-Run method as the master, himself, teaches you how and why.

6) Chi Running by Danny Dreyer
7) Chi Marathon by Danny Dreyer
Dreyer explains why form is the most crucial element of efficient and injury free running. He also includes training programs for how to improve your form and your performance with each run.

7) Marathon, the Ultimate Training Guide” (4th Edition) by Hal Higdon
This book is fairly new. The 4th and latest edition was released just last year. It’s a “5-tool” book, meaning, it covers everything you possibly need to know about marathon training. Higdon’s presentation is excellent, frequently polling tips and pointers from at least a dozen other veteran coaches to arrive at best practices for training as either a novice or an advanced runner.

Remember this video? It’s part of a series of Gatorade videos entitled: Driven.

Watch the sequel below. Doray Ellis shares her experience on 5i50 Triathlon in Subic.

EAT & SLEEP ALL I WANT?

The past two weeks flew by in a blur.  My training revolved around Tri United 2 on July 1, 2012.  A couple of weeks ago, I was preparing for the race and, last week, I was recovering from it.  Read all about it HERE.

With Tri United 2 done and over with, there was a brief respite from the chaotic training schedule.  I thought I died and went to Couch Potato heaven when I read Coach Andy’s command last week:
1) Eat all you want
2) Stay off your feet

Just as I was about to invite all my friends for an eat-all-you-want steak meal at Mamou, I noticed that Coach Andy had added “in moderation” to the first order.  And, No. 2 didn’t mean training was off; it only meant that I would get a couple of days rest, swim more, bike a bit, and run for only one day.  (I know, I know. One day to run.  How sad is that?    Coach Andy received a whining text from me Friday that I NEEDED to run. Hah!)

Well, I enjoyed the past week.  It was an opportunity for me to slow down and find my bearings.  After chasing after missed workouts, the ticking of the clock as I tried to drop my kids in school early and fetch them on time (lest Li’l Bull Runner snobs me again for picking her up 5 mins. late), and looming work deadlines, I felt like I could finally heave a sigh of relief and breeeeathe.

Breathe I did.  And smile. And laugh.  And celebrate.  And eat all I want (including that thick slice of Smoked Bacon at Chelsea. Yum. Yum.) Then, in the blink of an eye, I find myself here.  It’s Monday.  The last day of my rest day.

THE STORM IS COMING

Coach Andy said that the past week was the “calm before the storm.”  Now that recovery week is over, this only means that the storm comes…TOMORROW.  Aaah, tomorrow, serious, heavy training begins.  This is the week where we load up in preparation for Ironman 70.3 Cebu.

I look at my program for this coming week and I don’t know if I’m going to laugh or cry.  Just reading it makes me sweat.  It’s frightening when you read lines like: “Bike until muscle failure” or “Push hard until you cramp.” I would also love to see “Eat peanut butter like there’s no tomorrow” but perhaps that’s for next week.  For this week, there’s going to be a lot of sweat, muscle tightness, and Suffering with a capital S.

But, I must admit, I’m all for suffering! Hah!  Suffer now then during the race!  That’s my motto.  So, while I’m anxious over the week to come, I’m also looking forward to seeing how far this body can go…especially with the Shiv.  If I can survive this week (and the next), then Ironman 70.3 Cebu should be a celebration of the past month’s sweat and sacrifices.

Happy training to everyone doing Ironman 70.3 Cebu!

Where did the past couple of weeks go?! After Laguna Phuket Marathon, a long bout with intestinal flu (yes, when you’re training for a tri 1-week downtime feels like forever), and a couple of milestones in biking and swimming, I’ve realized that I barely had enough time to stop and write this. So, here’s how training went the past couple of weeks:

SWIM

Swam my longest ever distance, 2.9k. Wow. Never did I imagine myself swimming this far. Imagine, when I did my first mini sprint in 2008, I wanted to die when I had to swim 750m.

BIKE

Finally, I ticked my first century ride off my to do list! I wrote about it HERE. Just like the swim, I never thought I could ever bike this far. Nope, not after a handful of stupid bike crashes and having difficulty riding in aero position or dismounting.

How did it feel to bike 100 kilometers?  It felt like crossing the finish line of my first marathon!  It was about achieving what I once thought was impossible.  It was about hard work, not just in those past few hours of that ride, but during all those past months combined since I got my Shiv.  It was about having this fantastic thought cross my mind once again:  If I can do this, then what can’t I NOT do?!

– Jun and I after our 100k ride at NUVALI –

I still have a long way to go with biking, but it’s been a great ride so far.  (No pun intended.)

On another note, Coach Andy conducted another power meter test on me last Friday. And it wasn’t fun at all. It was quite the opposite. It was 1 full hour of Suffering.  Yes, Suffering with a capital S.

The Power Profile Test was conducted using a Computrainer Lab unit, one of the most accurate commercially available ergometers in the market, with CS 1.6 load measurement software and Training Peaks WKO+ analytic software.  The test took roughly an hour including warmup and recovery per test of 3 x 5seconds Neuromuscular, 1 x 1″ Anaerobic, 1 x 5″ VO2 Max, and 20″ Functional Threshold Power.  (But honestly it felt like 4 hours especially since I came from swim training and we did this during lunch.)

– The start: when I could still smile –

– with Coach Andy Leuterio: the King of Suffering (kidding!) and my bf, Specialized Shiv –

– See the laptop? It showed my watts, calories, speed, distance, etc. All photos courtesy of Andy Leuterio-

The results? Coach Andy sent me a Power Profile showing my Power-to-Weight Ratio per specific test: 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 20 minutes and Power Based Training Zones based on Hunter Allen and Dr. Andrew Coggan’s book “Training and Racing with a Power Meter”, which compares power-to-weight ratios for a vast range of cyclists ranging from untrained individuals to world-class riders.

For now, my rating is: “Fair/Moderate” for 20 minutes max, “Moderate” for 5 minutes max, and “Untrained” for anaerobic and 5sec sprint (hey, that’s pretty accurate! haha) My heart rate of 170bpm is pretty high for my Functional Threshold Heart Rate.  Coach Andy told me to watch my heart rate during the bike portion of Tri United 2 to avoid bonking and to just catch up on the run.  Hey, hey, I like that plan!

RUN

Highlight for the past couple of weeks was my Run United 2 half marathon. I didn’t realize how much I missed running. It was just wonderful to go out there and do the one thing that I love and feel completely comfortable doing. At the back of my mind though, I was thinking: How the hell do I run 21k after swimming 1.9k and biking 90k?!

Wish me luck at Tri United 2 on Sunday, July 1.  It’s going to be one long race: 2k swim-60k bike-15k run! Let’s go!

Last month, I chose to race Tri United 2 on July 1 (next week) instead of 5i50 held yesterday, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t join in on the fun…at least in the water!

Jun and I decided to swim the 5i50 course at Subic as part of our training for Tri United 2.  We arrived in Subic’s All Hands Beach at 2PM to view seemingly calm and still water.  Looked good to me!

– A portion of the 5i50 swim course –

– Race participants checking out the course. One guy yelled: “Parang nasa washing machine!” –

Jun and I jumped in and, almost immediately, I wondered what the hell I was doing there. The waves were pushing me back and forth. We tried our best to swim in choppy water just as the other swimmers were doing. After one loop, the newbie swimmer in me declared that training was done. I had enough “fun” for one day (and swallowed enough sea water to provide my body with sodium until Ironman 70.3!)

– Jun and I –

I heard the water during the actual race was much calmer since it was the morning.  As for me, my mission was accomplished. My goal was to allow myself to swim in turbulent water in preparation for the worst case scenario in a race.  Oh yeah, this scared me to death alright!

– with Tina and Patty, my bike skills classmates with Coach Norman Pascual –

– Nice bumping into no less than Carlos, the guy behind the awesome site swimbikerun.ph –

We decided to drop by the 5i50 race briefing to wish our friends the best of luck and a safe race.  Everything from the set up, the sponsors’ booths, and briefing were impressive. I had a tinge of regret about not joining this race, then after a split second, I came to my senses, heaved a sigh of relief, and rejoiced in the fact that I still had 7 days of training before my big race. Phew!

– Spotted Secondwind-Sun Team Benny, Jay, and Lods –

– Ricky Pena of Sun and his wife Rory and my teammates Pot and Ed Inocentes –

Congratulations to all the finishers of 5i50!