My first run was with Joanne, Ava, and Irene in the PSE Bull Run back in January 2008. Never really trained for it…just woke up one day, went to the race and tried to finish it. Haha. Gotta work on discipline tho, cos until now it seems that I’ve never really stopped doing that for a race. Ugh. The trend in 2008 to present: running era with my ladies -> work-indulgence -> running-after-working-hours -> foot operation -> lsd-ing with my brother and his friends -> and yes, work indulgence again -> hospitalization a little more than a couple of weeks ago. My training? Sleep whenever I can, and some positivity. Tomorrow (or later…in a matter of minutes) would definitely be a reunion. The ladies will be there, some of my batchmates from college, my officemates, and my brother and his friends. Everyone will be joining in on the “chip” fun. Quite a hectic schedule for me too. After the run, I’ll be meeting up with some of my friends back in college (whose wedding we’re currently coordinating), the son of my cousin’s birthday party in KFC (woot!), and head down south to watch Wanders (thanks to Miss AJZ and Mr. GV for the passes–yes, they gotta be in codes)!     I don’t mind if it rains tomorrow because I’ll be running again so tonight is with feel-good vibes, and I’ve been listening to Jamiroquai’s “Corner of the Earth”: “Little darlin’ don’t you see the sun is shining just for you, only today. If you hurry you can get a ray on you…” Tomorrow is a long day, so I’ll start heading home now: to the direction of the bed for a little bit of sleep, and making sure all the alarms go off...

The Fort, Taguig June 7, 2009 I woke up this morning remembering the last Mizuno run I participated in last year, and realized…haha! I ran 10KM there and I’m still running the same distance today. I’ve always believed that when you want to do something…the trick is to always believe. That’s what got me going for awhile now, but this time, I know the sequel to that is: consistency is the key. Race started at around 6:00am and as usual, I got to open the race kit in the car already, after waking up from a 3-hour nap. Yes, a nap. I usually sleep light before a race…and it’s only usually before a race that I do get to sleep.   Mizuno – Infinity Run Time Trials 2009: 10K Race   The killer word: Kalayaan! It never occurred to me that such a liberating word could actually trigger something traumatic from the past. Haha. The first time I joined an event with this route was in Adidas King of The Road in 2008. The words that came out of my mouth after: NEVER AGAIN will I join any race passing through this flyover. Then again, if you’re the type to never check the map online before having yourself registered for a kit…then never say never 😉 Botak was the second for me passing through Kalayaan (some of my so-called-rantings can be found somewhere in this so-called-blog har de har har) and my only reaction: I shook my head and wished I’ve put sunblock on. So I decided to not complain and just finish the race as soon as I can. I got to the turn-around point at about 00:34– beating my personal time for previous 5K races, but a little after that, I think...

  IE8 | 8 MilesI remember last year when a runner colleague of mine reported for work with colds. He told me that he got it from participating in  a road race the day before. He quipped : “You see the race pushed thru even if it was raining like hell”. Back then, I couldn’t understand why would someone do such a thing. Last Sunday, I got my answer. I woke up at 5:00 am – “I’m gonna be late!” (I thought the race would start at 5:30) I asked myself, now why would I want to run today ? I have a deadline and I still need to report to work later and it’s raining outside-I would just end up getting wet … then I realized that even if it wasn’t raining ,  i’d get wet anyway, and besides … I haven’t experienced how it feels to run in the rain yet. The way I see it, if there will be only a few runners today, then I would have a better chance of winning that laptop. Before I knew it, I was already in the parking area near the starting line of the IE8 race. This is a well-organized race : THis is the first time that I saw sponges in a short distance race. There were  lots of food and even cheer leaders in the aid-station .. talk about feeling like a pro! But wait … that’s not all: they even gave out coke in the last aid-station at the foot of the Kalayaan flyover! I finished running 13.4Km (I was also suprised at the distance) at 1:23 on my watch. My shoes were wet but what the hell, nothing beats running in the rain! In a nut-shell, I would give...

A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. Hmmm … “rotating column of air” -> that would best describe the DJs  on the radio show that I am forced to listen to when I commute to work. I think those DJs are very popular with our jeepney/FX drivers so no matter which form of public transport you choose, you’ll end up listening to them everyday. It’s a good thing though that all I will ever experience is the figurative definition of what a twister is. (or so I thought) We left for Clark last Saturday so that we can meet my friend, Isko at the jump-off area of The North Face 100 to give him some of the supplies he needs for the 2nd 50k loop. The weather was very warm and humid that day that everybody was wearing summer clothes; I didn’t even entertain the thought that I might need to bring my North Face Gore-Tex jacket for the next day’s 20k trail run. And so it happened: it started with a drizzle and then when it got stronger we decided to take shelter in one of the tents adjacent to the starting line. We were all surprised to see that the starting line fell on the technical committee’s command center, ruining it and almost hitting the people underneath. It was like the entire structure was trampled by an invisible raging Mammoth! I think I see …mammoth tracks…!!!!   The next few minutes happened so fast, I remembered that the entire place suddenly turned dark and I had to run away from the tent I was in...

May 23, 2009 Sacobia, Pampanga Clearwater Resort in Sacobia, Pampanga     We arrived in Sacobia, Pampanga on Saturday, May 23, 2009, a little after lunch and went straight to Clearwater Resort where we reserved for a tent good for four people.   Clearwater Resort in Sacobia, Pampanga | Tent T-104   After unpacking, we walked about 500 meters to the jump-off area in Expo Filipino Parking Lot and checked out the place, as well as waited for Kuya Isko Lapira and his friends to arrive at the base camp from their first 50k.   North Face Sacobia, Pampanga | Start / Finish Line The clouds seemed perfectly placed high up in the clear blue sky, just before it hit. My brother, Bolt: North Face Sacobia, Pampanga | The Calm Before The Storm Unfortunately, we didn’t bring a waterproof camera or else we would have been able to take a footage of it. Just took pictures and a video of how it looked after the storm!   North Face Sacobia After The Storm in Expo Filipino Parking Lot 2 | May 23, 2009 We moved away from the tents to try and look for Kuya Isko, a short distance from the wrecked Start/Finish Line, as he had texted earlier that they were already near. Picture of him holding the Gardenia and Adobo we brought him. Haha! Kuya Isko’s return to base camp in The North Face Sacobia, Pampanga after the 50K distance covered. The rain has just subsided, and this is me wondering if the 10k trail is gonna be as muddy as the North Face Trail Running Event I participated in Talamitam, Batangas last year… “How’s It Gonna Be?” looping around in my head 😀 Some pictures of how the jump off area...