Be Cool Runner

Been three months since I wrote anything here, things I didn’t blog about in the past months seems irrelevant now, from MTR race review to Animo Run race review.

Anyway, my running mileage drop significantly last three months, and there are a million reasons why, since the start of the yr I have now enrolled in a gym with really nice treadmills, it can even detect my hr monitor.  Also they have cool gadgets that tells me how much body fat I have, which at 17.7% I think it is still really far off from an athlete’s ideal 8-10%. Anyway running rain or shine is  now easier.

Been crunching out 5ks on a treadmill for two days now, and well it is boring, I miss the wind on my face. But I think it’s a  over all workout, I can stretch properly in the gym, and do the rowing machine and some abs workout. Immediate goals for now would be to lose 3-5lbs for the month, and maybe join the condura run?? or some trail running, i wonder where they will hold the tnf 100? maybe i can sign up for a 10k?

happy new year everyone…

PS

for great treadmills and exercise equipments in legazpi go to Powermaxx, it is in landco biz center, pacific mall.  rates are 18k per year, 1200/month for students. If you’re a runner it is probably the only gym here with good treadmills.

It’s now final! Pre race briefing will be held at the Embarcadero, Legazpi City. October 17, 2009. More details to follow…

Made from Mayon Volcanic Debris coming from the trail itself, with it’s mold hand carve by local artist Rolando Binaday.

It is probably the biggest finisher’s medal ever to be given away, weighing at 900 grams, goodluck to the exclusive 500 trail runners who will get this.

It was a really lonely race for my first 21k, first of all I went there with no running buddy my lone running buddy is in camsur ironman, I met a few people I know but I dare not pace them, their freaking fast, ben chan and some MTR participants last year.

I had the goal of just finishing, despite the fact I felt like i’m really slowing myself for the first 10k, thinking I will do a negative split, somehow I did pretty bad on the second half, for one I was exactly the lone runner between  all the fast ones and the really slow ones. the first half was a little fun coz I can still see runners ahead of me, and some runners at my back, I finished it 1hr 11mins, just about my regular 10k run. But the second half all those runners must have run pretty darn fast I totally lost sight of them, and the runners at my back must have run pretty darn slow that it was just me and my waterboy in a motorcycle, I just felt really lonely starting 14k, people in the sidewalks started yelling “Last ka na?” I just lost my adrenalin during this time, I kept looking at my garmin and it was like a really long process of getting from 14k-15k…each 100meters felt like a mental torture, physically I’m fine, my legs a bit heavy but mentally I felt like a loser, constantly doing math on whether or not I can make cut off. my pace from 6:30min/k at start of turn around turned to 8:30-to as low as 9 mins, and this is where I lost a lot of time. So I did a 1hr 11mins first and 1hr 28 second pretty bad, to think that the second part was downhill.

Seeing that I have 30 mins to run a 5k to make cut off I tried picking up the pace, but that was it, not much juice left felt like I was alone doing long runs. I finished the race 2hr 39 mins, not making Milo cut off, and felt really bad knowing I can do a 1hr 10k in my trainings, but then again I didnt work on my long runs maybe that’s why. But at the brighter side of things I finish my first 21k, and they were nice enough to give me certificate and giftpack..YES!!!

And I fullfilled a personal goal to run the Milo 21k this year.

Pro’s on Milo

Lots of participants on the 10k, 5k and 3k, cheap registration

Cons

Less than 100 runners in 21k I think, and not much recreational runners, mostly qualifiers.

Maybe three water stations that are really far apart.

98 percent concrete roads.

Finally reach half of my total mileage for 2009 goal, also was finally able to do an LSD of 17kms, just 4 kms shy of my Milo goal, to put things in perspective I am now sure I can finish a 21k, but I doubt I can do it within the 2 and a half hour cut off time. Hope I can still get a gift pack and certificate, even if I finish last.

The Milo route towards the 10.5km turnaround is a slow long inclined, so it seems like I will be doing a negative split run after all, try to run faster on the downhills going back.

It’s here and it’s final..October 18, 2009

website and sponsorship is still being finalize..

Due to bad weather my long run 21k to Cagsawa Ruins was once again postponed. So I decided to stick to my runnersworld training program, putting my long runs at sub 7mins/km. This time around I train watching my pace instead of my HR, so at 6am today I head out with my running buddy who’s training for Ironman 70.3.

Being a trained runner at 6pm, doing it in the morning feels a bit weird it’s like my whole system takes awhile to warm up, my knees felt like they needed an oil change. Anyway after about 2kms into it I finally adopted and started cruising at my target pace. In fact at certain times we had to slow down since we were already cruising at 6min/km and I believe it’s too fast for training a long run.

Morning run problems:

1.) Long warm up and long stretching

2.) Waking up

3.) Food

4.) Sidestitch, I seldom get this but this time around I did so I’m blaming waking up early.

5.) Higher HR, hmm hotter than running at 6pm?

6.) Waking up, this is just the hardest thing. hehe

PS

472.5kms already…konti nalang 500km, I’m still determined to earn Baldrunner’s 1000k finisher shirt. Also almost 400kms on my New Balance 1063..one of the best 6 thousand bucks I’ve spent. Recommended to neutral runners, although I think if you have narrow feet like mine, it would feel a bit loose on the toe areas.

It’s been 9 months since I made a goal to finish a Milo 21k. Eventhough I slack off a bit on my training due to more time spent building my dream house. I am pretty confident I can finish a 21k road race, the big question is how long??? Milo has a cut off time of 2hr and 30mins for a 21k, so basically it leaves me no choice but to aim for this.

With less than a month left, I am now trying to up my training constantly checking my morning heart rate to see if I’m over training or not. I’m  still planning to do a 21k long run before the race to build my self confidence, finishing at least within 2hrs 30mins or close to that, or even actually trying the milo course before the race. Because I checked last year’s finish times and the slowest runner here in Legazpi finished at 2hrs and 16mins, now I dont want to be the last runner this year. hehe

Things to do before august 23

1. run a 21k within 2hrs and 30mins

2. have a very good hydration plan

3. more tempo runs, at least 2x a week

4. follow strickly my 3k recovery,8k tempo, 10+k long run per week

We get about six flights a day with the last flight leaving at about 4:30PM, so from about 5pm onwards the airport is free from traffic, so the parking area about 250meter loop is open to runners and walkers.

I’ve been training here for the past two to three weeks, running from our house to the airport is about 3kms then I’d do some tempo/speed run of 2.5- 3kms in the airport parking before I head back home, running a total of 8-10kms depending on how many loops I ran or which route I took going home.

My Road Review..

Washington Drive – To reach the airport coming from Legazpi you will need to run on this road, Washington drive is now completely asphalted, the thing is with the asphalt overly it’s softer on the knees but the banking on the side of the road also increases, making it less of an ideal road to run on. Although you can always take the concrete drainage top, which is relatively flat and safer from traffic.

Legazpi Airport Parking Lot – This is a very popular walking and exercise area, but after all my tempo and speed runs here, I’m still not fully convince it’s a great place to run, first of all I think the asphalt overly is just too uneven with some pot holes. It might be Ideal for walking, but for training tempo’s and speed i think nothing beats BU Oval.

pro’s -

Less pollution, the only smoke you smell is from the BBQ grills nearby.

If you live in Legazpi, chances are you are about 2-3kms away from it, perfect for that long warm up right before doing tempo runs.

Plenty of restaurants nearby to buy H20 and BBQs  etc.

Safe and Secure while inside

Cons

Very uneven asphalt road, not noticible to a some, but if you speed train on it, you’ll know.

I’m finally enjoying the perks of running with a gps HR atch, first I can run anywhere I want without concern about the information of how far I’ve run, then next knowing my pace side by side with my HR info really helps bring out the best in conserving energy for long runs.

Below is a google earth map of my run today…this Garmin is just sooo cool!

Aside from real time distance it gives me real time elevation, navigation, heart rate, pace, etc.. I would highly recommend this toy for every runner, nothing beats having the right gear in training, so you know your limits, and how far you can break them:)

I’m still looking for a running buddy and support group to run to either Cagsawa or Sto Domingo, 16k and 21k running distance. And hopefully later achieved my 30k while I’m 30 goal.