Posts Tagged with: "Races"

Despite the gloomy weather, over 5,000 runners showed up for the One La Salle run at The Fort yesterday. As I viewed the sea of green before me, I wondered if I had registered for a race or unwittingly signed up for one big La Salle family day.

– A sea of green –

– One brave soul.  Runmd proudly wears his Ateneo singlet –

Just as hubby and I found our way to the crowded assembly area, it started to drizzle and then pour. Runners huddled under tents while others allowed the rain to drench them from head to toe. We were part of the latter group; why shield ourselves from the rain when we were definitely going to get wet anyway?

Soon after the 16k and 3k runners started, we 5k runners were off. (Yes, all of us 5,000 runners started practically at the same time.) I bid my husband goodbye and went ahead not in an effort to break a PR but more to find some room to breathe. This was, after all, a training run for me; my first 5k after the shin splints.

For the first half, I ran at a comfortable 6:00 min/km pace, intentionally slowing down when I found myself reaching 5:00 to 5:30. No way was I going to reinjure myself for this race! It felt awesome to race under the rain, something I’ve never done. I didn’t feel as tired and I felt like I could go on to the finish line without ever taking a sip from my amphipod. Boy was I wrong.

As I closed in on the 3km mark, I suddenly felt depleted. I knew that there were two things to blame for this pathetic scenario: 1) staying up late the night before to read books with my daughter (that’s the life of a running mommy!), and 2) lack of training (my longest run was a 5k during my past 1.5 month imprisonment in shin splint hell.)

I swallowed my pride. I began to walk (argh…a mortal sin in the TBR world because no one has ever caught me walking in a race—much less a 5k!) and, in an attempt to appear strong and cool, I made it look as if I was just taking a water break.

It turned out to be a futile strategy since a runner suddenly appeared beside me, almost like an angel from the sky. How I wished that he looked like Gabriel with long blonde hair, unblemished skin, with his chiseled chest shining through his white robes staring at me with his blue eyes saying “Be strong. I shall run with you.” But, this man was old, dark, chubby, and short and he said to me in the gentlest manner “Maganda ang pace mo. Ituloy mo lang yan. Sasabayan kita.” And, with those words, despite his non-angelic features he became a blessing to me. We ran together.

God, all that drama. You’d think I was running marathon. Or, at least, you’d think that the man ran with me the next two kilometers to finish the 5k race. Soon after he uttered those words, we made a left on the road along with the rest of the 5k pack to discover that we were at the finish line. Whaaat?!  According to my Garmin, the 5km race had ended at 3.3km. Was the route inaccurately measured?  Did all of us make a wrong turn?  Did they miss a sign along the route?  Did they lack marshalls (I didn’t see any!) to point us in the right direction?  I don’t know.  All I knew was that it was the shortest 5k of my life. 

We were in for an even bigger surprise: a long line for us to pass through the finish line. I bet we were lined up even longer than the time it took us to run the race. I apologize for being sarcastic. But, my sarcasm was a lot lighter than the complaints from the crowd. One veteran runner repeated himself like a broken record as he waited in line “Terrible. Another badly organized race. Terrible. Terrible.”

– Runners waited in line to claim race giveaways being distributed from a truck. The scene reminded me of a NFA rice allocation. –

After my 5k-run-that-was-actually-a-3k, my hubby and I met up with my nephew (who I, unfortunately, didn’t see before or during the entire run) and my three bodyguards, uhm, actually they are my three kuyas, who just came to watch.  We chatted for a while, took a few photos, then called it a family day.

Thank God for the drops of water from heaven.  Running in the rain was perhaps one of the few, if not the only, positive experience I gained from this race.

– TBR’s biggest fans: my hubby, my nephew (center), my three brothers –

– Big smile from Mr. Mike Enriquez of GMA7. He looks so friendly but don’t be fooled. He’s scary. –

– with Rorie, Joy, and Cat from Binan, Laguna.  I bet they feast on putos before every race. Lucky them! –

– Paparazzi shot of Nina Huang and Fernando Zobel. –

– Finally get to meet Jhamfrens –

– Active achiever Vince and his cousin –

– Bumped into Okaido (am I right?) who reminded my husband about how lucky he is to have me (thanks! I owe you one haha) and her friend –

– Great-looking couple, Gelo and Cris –

– Mark P. of Happy Feet is all smiles after his 16k.  Goodbye injuries, hello long runs! –

Are you wearing GREEN or BLUE at the One La Salle race this coming Sunday?  

Most of the runners will definitely be sporting the green singlet accompanying the race bib.  But—all in the spirit of fun—some of us Ateneans are planning to wear blue.  

Now, to my La Sallite friends (or is it, La Sallian?) please don’t find offense in this.  It is not meant to be disrespectful either.  We just want to express our fierce loyalty towards our own alma mater.

Unfortunately, I have been through every sports store in the South searching for a blue singlet but to no avail. I was tempted to purchase those Adidas school jackets but my thriftiness ruled over me. (So much for fierce loyalty, eh?)  I’ll probably have to wear my aqua, white, or black singlet then.  Anything—as long as it’s not green heehee. 

Running with me on Sunday are my husband (a neutral guy because he was schooled abroad)—and hopefully (because he doesn’t have a race bib yet) my 17-year-old star athlete nephew.  This nephew of mine was pulled out from Bacolod and given a full scholarship to play basketball for La Salle Greenhills. He’s going to be the first Pinoy NBA player—in all of our dreams!  I’m pretty sure we’ll be eating his dust on Sunday even if he’s never raced a day in his life.

For now, this proud Aunt shall leave you with a basketball video of her not-so-little nephew.  See you on race day!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKg4L9v_blk]

– video courtesy of Gary Villanueva

To all those who signed up for Rush to Infinity Run, the race organizer has announced that starting time is:

15k – 5:30 a.m.

10k – 5:45 a.m.

5k – 6:00 a.m. 

Disregard the 6 a.m. starting time written on the envelope.

I’m guessing that half of you visiting the blog today have this question in mind: “Tuloy ba ang Pringles?!” followed by a nervous glimpse at the gray skies and strong winds hitting the metro.

The answer is: As of 11am Saturday, YES, the Pringles race is pushing through tomorrow!

Thanks to Marga of Transition Zero for forwarding this SMS from Jaime Endaya of P&G: “Our race organizers are tracking the course of the typhoon and we’re expecting the storm to be out by 3am tomorrow. Should be a short and fun race tomorrow.”

Argh, I envy you for racing Pringles. I wish I had signed up. Oh well, have a good one. I shall see you at Doc Fit instead.

Like a loyal, hardworking employee, I am distressed over this “sick leave” I had to take, anxious over the fact that—while I was away for just a few days—I may have lost my momentum at work.

It’s been four days since I was attacked by feverrhea. In TBR’s Dictionary, this is defined as “the fever that sets in after you’ve gotten dehydrated from intestinal flu, which always comes as a shocker due to the large amounts of blue Gatorade in one’s system, particularly that of TBR’s.” Oh well, I guess all the cups of coffee I drank during that seminar last week dehydrated me into pieces.

Anyway, I’m all better now. Flushed feverrhea out of my system and down the toilet. But, it doesn’t erase the fact that I lost FIVE full training days. I can’t shake the thought that I may have lost some of the fitness I worked so hard for the past few weeks. Five days is significant considering I’ve been running every single day except for Mondays for almost a month now.  Suddenly, all I did for the past five days was drink soup, watch TV, and…oh yeah…I finished seven banner designs and a flyer too.

Oh well, I’ll find out soon enough.  I will miss all three races this Sunday (as if I was planning to join all of ’em!  Just Pringles initially…until I got sick) but, if our weather permits, I’ll be running again tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that.

Good luck to all of you joining Pringles, Market Market, and Takbo Para sa Kalusugan!  I wonder which race will have the most runners.  Your guess is as good as mine!