The Mio Alpha arrived at my home in a simple, inconspicuous black box with an image of the watch on it. To be honest with you, I had never heard of this watch so I wasn’t particularly excited about it, but one line completely changed all that for me. One panel of the box read: “The world’s first performance level, strapless continuous heart rate sport watch!” (more…)
It’s not an ultra marathon. Not an adventure race. It’s an expedition!
Last week, I met with good friend and ultra marathoner Tin Ferrera about a project she was involved in. When I learned about it, I almost fell off my seat. It’s called The Cordillera Great Traverse (CGT) 2015 and, it comes as no surprise that, with such an ambitious and worthwhile project, it was initiated by an impressive group of passionate explorerer, adventurers, hikers, and, yes, runners and ultra marathoners.
WHAT IS THE CORDILLERA GREAT TRAVERSE (CGT) 2015?
The Cordillera Great Traverse (CGT) 2015 is an expedition which aims to establish the longest and the most scenic hiking/trekking destination in the Philippines by connecting the six provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Philippines.
Last Sunday, my alarm clock rang at 2:30AM waking me for the early call time of World Vision Run. I registered for the 21k.
As I rolled out of bed, I knew something was wrong. The room was spinning around me. I slowly made my way towards the bathroom swaying from side to side like a drunken person (which is just the same as me having only 3 sips of wine!) After I splashed water on my face, the dizzy spells disappeared and, being the naive and somewhat cuckoo runner that I am, I proceeded to prepare for the race by preparing a light pre-race breakfast of coffee, apples, and peanut butter. (more…)
“Laspag!” In English, it means exhausted or worn out. “Laspag” is a word commonly heard in the running and triathlon world after a grueling workout that leaves the athlete feeling completely spent. You may presume that the said endurance athlete would opt to collapse in bed after the workout gorging on food, but some will be forced to proceed to the office, others will play with their children when they get home, and for some completely insane ones (and believe you me, there are many!), they will workout AGAIN later in the day. (I know, I was once of them. Heehee!)
Personally, I’ve used the word “laspag” often because, well, I feel it quite often too. I feel exhausted after long workouts or even shorts ones where I push extra hard. I also feel tired after races where I give my all. Now, if I had nothing to do the following day, I wouldn’t worry about a thing. But, really, when does a working-running mom like me ever have downtime? So, to make sure that I fully recover from a tough workout, I do the following:
1- If it’s not too hot out, for long runs, I wear compression tights or calf sleeves. These aid in blood circulation and muscle recovery. My favorites are CW-X for compression tights and Zensah for compression sleeves.
2- I take Enervon HP within 45 minutes after a long run or ride. (I even took some with me to Berlin and drank it right after the marathon!) I like Enervon HP because, well, it’s chocolate hehe. Second, it offers the perfect combination of 3:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio that’s important for muscle tissue repair and recovery.
For long workouts, I usually have a bottle of cold water in my Spider bottle packed in my cooler. This bottle has a container to hold the Enervon HP powder plus a mixer for easy blending. Super cool!
Spider Bottle is available at Chris Sports, Secondwind, and Sabak. The Spider Mini2go (seen above) is Php990. They also have a mini (no container) for Php500.
3- I raise my legs for around 15 minutes when I get home. Sometimes I fall asleep while I do this LOL.
4- If I feel any aches or pains, I ice the area for 10 minutes.
5- I eat clean food for the rest of the day to aid in recovery.
6- I drink tons of water throughout the day.
7- I train easy the following day. Always make sure that your program allows for hard-easy days so that you allow your body to recover from a hard training day.
8- I get a massage every Sunday evening. I chose that day because I usually have my long runs or races on Sunday.
That’s basically what I’ve been doing the past couple of years to avoid laspag attacks. So, when Enervon HP asked me to be their endorser and record a radio ad for them I said “Yes” without batting an eyelash (then, I got nervous and warned them that I get bulol sometimes and I have a nasal voice LOL!) Have you heard it already? Lemme know what you think. Please be kind haha.
