Four- ‘ow’- ‘ow’

So there is a quite good reason to be excited, and scared too (!), for this coming Sunday’s.

Runner No. 400 can’t quite decide which feeling outweighs the other, Excitement or Horror?, for this weekend’s Conquer Corregidor 10-Miler race.

Some friends are going more for the place, than the race, (and I can only guess I’m going for both, hehe) so expect the sweeping vehicle to be fully packed with runners who won’t make it to the cutoff time –   or who might showcase the ‘look’ of appearing too distressed to still make it to the finish line.

OR –  I could be totally wrong.  You don’t know what sort of magic Corregidor might bestow its visiting runners, to enable them to, probably, run the race with decent enough times.

Anyhow, four-ow-ow finds this a very interesting race.  Doesn’t quite suit me but I’ll say it again –  runners, RAK EN ROL time!  

Ran(t) –> updated

It’s final exams week at the school, but let me just let this out:

MAS MASAYA TUMAKBO KESA SA MAG-ARAL (!!)

Bow.

(Then again, it’s not all about feelings.  Prepare Mak8, I’ll run away all my school-related stress in your race.   Nice idea, what with your killer slopes, hahaha.)

Updated, 2:09 PM

Just put down the phone after receiving a long-distance call from Mother.   She told me I should have had gone home this past weekend.  She went like, ‘may international event ata dito, ang dami ng foreigners, mga nagba biking, swimming, blah, blah..’

Apparently, they watched the Cobra Ironman 70.3 yesterday at CWC.  Wow.  Tell me about it;  I’m dying of envy now.

By the way I told her I knew about it and that my friends and I were supposed to join it.  She wouldn’t believe me, unfortunately.  Probably she saw Bentley and Bozzone at the race, and thought to herself I was such a fake athlete.  Hahaha.

Hataw for a comeback

Before I totally kill the life in me, let me run, and let me write about my intention of racing again.

Let’s HATAW it this Sunday!

But first, a short recap of the past month’s run deprivation torture:

* School busy-ness kicked in and it had me raise the white flag.  Conclusion:  I’m no superwoman (only Cathletic, hahaha).  I can’t hack it to keep my running addictus mode while coping with this work-school-hassle-du0.  (Man I’m barely surviving my exams! WAAH!!)

* I actually had one nice race last July (same day as Milo-Manila), that gave me bragging rights of finally outrunning Big Boss.  But it cost a lot, not just on me but on my guardian angels and all the saints in heaven (hahaha!) –  I finally outrun our CEO all because he quit midway to finishing the race due to a really heavy downpour.

(FYI:   Prior to his quitting, we had a close fight.  We were just 1 to 2 meters apart, alternately overtaking each other.  And when it suddenly rained and he ran away for cover, he even shouted (seeing I had no plan of quitting it), ‘I don’t want you [guys] to get sick!’   I just gave a polite smile, but at the back of my mind was a rather crazy thought -  ‘You just don’t like it, that I’m beating you this time, Boss!’)

* So soaking wet I was, while finishing the second half of that 1ok race (that actually measured 13km) in the company fun run.  Since I’ve always loved running in the rain, that race was a special treat for me more than anything.  By the way, I placed second in 10k women’s category (ahem, among four, hehehe!).

* Next three weeks were almost lifeless (read: run-less).

* While NOT-running, I had to endure the following additional tortures:

1)  While out to Cebu for work, I woke up on my first morning there peeking from the hotel room window to say Hi to the morning sun, only to get a dose of an envy-inducing surprise:  Right on the road facing our hotel was an ongoing weekend race!  Nice, thank you, insult me more.

2)  I’d often bump into our many runner-bosses here and they’d ask if I’m running the next weekend’s race.  I thought answering that with a ‘No’ should be enough suffering for me -  but for some reason, they’d second it still with a ‘Why?’, grrrr!

3)  For some weird co-incidence (or are you doing it intentionally to get me envious, Rene?), I get to see and say Hi to Jazzrunner as he passes by our village for his morning runs, while I’m rushing to work.  This morning I saw him again, and he was even able to share with me some chikka about the QC International Marathon this October.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - — – - – - -

So what better strategy is there to do a comeback than to ‘hataw’ it..  Only that I’ll be demoted to 5K as I join my dear friend, BandanaRunner (naks!), as she runs her last race in Pinas before flying off to U.S.  (FYI, she is our most revered VP for 5K in the MPG gang.)

*What Carla, I’ll pace you for the first 1km, SAIS!  Hahaha!  (I wish!)  

Faster than Feria, almost

 

What a joke.  Alright, that was Feria’s signal no. 2..   

(Uh-oh, not that I had wanted it give us a strong blow, but having grown up in Bicol, that is soo NOT a signal-No.-2-as-we-normally-have-it-in-Bicol.  And it’s not so bad a thing too that I skipped a half-sure failure in a quiz scheduled yesterday, as our prof decided to cancel our class.  Sometimes oftentimes I just get lucky.)

While checking on the TV news last night (and t’was typhoon Feria being discussed by the newsguy on a weirdly peaceful rainless night), my housemate, Dree gave this funny comment: 

‘Ano nga ulit running speed mo?  Ano ba naman yan si Feria e mukhang mas mabilis ka pa d’yan eh..’

At that time, I didn’t catch it to be that funny as I was busy munching on a piece of cake.  This morning, while riding a cab I caught more clearly the windspeed specs of typhoon Feria:  15kph. 

Not so fast, I thought.  Actually quite too slow, I thought further.

So arriving at the office, the topic of chitchat was still Feria.  From the 29th floor, we peeked from the glass window and saw just slight drizzle.  Amid the chitchat, I mindlessly muttered an angas joke (recalling to mind that Feria blows at only 15kph):

‘You know, Feria’s slow..  It said in the news 15 km per hour lang daw speed nya.. Mas mabilis pa nga ako dun eh, hahaha!’

Man that threw my officemate off her seat!  She kept laughing and laughing, and then it dawned on me that yeah, that was a funny statement.

But no, I am Not faster than Feria.  She is slow, yes, but I can’t (yet?-or-EVER) muster enough prowess to stage a sub-60 time for a 15k. 

At least not in my waking time.  Hahaha.

 

Something new in UP

 

(..well, at least for me.)

It’s a brand new stuff in my UP running routine.

We tried running this route (first time for me! )  last Saturday  –>

It’s a certified ‘winner’ route, but for sure not anything new to other frequent UP campus runners who one day in their lives got some tummyache due to UP-Acad-oval-overdose, so off they went exploring the outer streets in UP. 

This 7km route takes you to the outer borders of the UP campus, going out to C.P. Garcia (that connects Philcoa and Katips) passing by the mysterious and now-bigger Math kingdom (Hi, my ex-college!), back inward to pass by the Executive House and UPDP office, then along the U Ave. stretch..   (I should stop this.  You may check the map above.  As I always say, pictures give better blah-blahs.)

Oh, one more interesting note -  it passes by the famous HeartBreak hill.  And I went crazy and egged on my running buddies to race me on the uphill.  Only one obliged.  And even outran me.  Hahaha.

I hope the Heartbreak hill portion becomes a staple part of the route for UP races.  Or..  I’m also thinking Not..

OK I’ll shut up and Run

 

If only dreaming equates to doing..  I would have easily logged in my 500th-kilometer running mileage by now. 

These are the times I’d gamely take another runner’s slap on my face, for my apparent talking-more-than-doing on my supposed get-back-on-training-mode-ASAP- plan..  These are the times I could get crazy enough to pinch my ear and scold myself, ’Just shut up and RUN, now.’

So..  alright.  I’ll shut up now.

…

But children and students of the world, hear this:   SCHOOL, isn’t good for running.  Nah.

 

***

Even as I suffer from running mileage malnutrition, I still (apparently) enjoy some fringe benefits from having the reputation of a ‘runner’  –>

(Cathletic eats a lot and eats frequently – at least 6x a day!, and she doesn’t hide it -  not from her friends, not from her officemates, not from anyone.  Not humungously ‘a lot’, but very OFTEN.)

New officemate begins to notice C has been munching again, when it’s barely an hour after lunch break.  And C isn’t oblivious of the fact that she might be scandalizing new officemate of her eating habit.  So yesterday PM..

C:  (While munching, turns to N.O. with the bag of chips)  Would you like some?

N.O.:  Hehe, no thanks, I’m still full.

C:  Are you getting surprised?  You always see me eating, hehe..

N.O.:  OO NGA.

The guy answered straightly.  And man I wasn’t prepared for that so-honest reply, haha.  I would have expected something like, ‘Di naman’ -  but surely a ‘Di kaya’ reply is one flat out big lie.

But then he redeemed himself by adding,

N.O.:   That should be okay.  Di ba kasi runner ka daw.  I mean, I hear from some people here that you run.  It must be your metabolism..

C:  Ah,.. umm.. di naman

I wish I could tell him there’s no connection there, at all.  I’ve always had an appetite like this.  Weirdly, it’s got nothing to do with my running.  But that’s a fine excuse you’ve put forward for me. 

At least I don’t need to be explaining on something I couldn’t explain myself.  Hehe.

Ultimatum expired

 

I gave myself a two-week ultimatum to get settled with this new work-school setup, and then get back to regular training. 

(Not only did my running slack off, but many things as well, ahem, like stuffing this personal sports diary.  What was there to write about anyway, except for tales on how to rush to my evening classes straight from work, and how to fake a smile to dampen my profs’ presumed irritation over my 30-minute tardiness.  Man it’s no less one kind of sports activity I tell you.)

I haven’t been completely run-less anyway.  I managed to squeeze in some weekend long runs and.. uhm, that’s about it I think.  Okay, okay, pathetic Cathletic.  (And they even rhyme, geesh.)

Last Friday (my last run to date, yikes!), I was able to finish 3 laps of the Acad oval and I felt my calves react the day after.  Hmm, I missed the feeling, hahaha.  Sunday came and I had planned of joining the Takbo guys for a group LSD (a.k.a. bandit run at the PTAA race) and I overslept.  Hmm, I missed the run and I missed the people. 

So have I adjusted yet to this new work-school setup?  Heck no, and only heaven knows if I ever will -  but there’s ONLY one thing I’m sure of:  

The Two-Week Ultimatum Has Expired. 

And this entitles me to lace up my shoes and hit the road more often, again.  

Instead of availing the KOM run adventure offer, I buried my face on our BA201 problem sets.  Now I’m eyeing on the Botak 100K on the 28th, and yes this one shall be for real.  A 10-miler, yum yum. 

Camaya Coast Aquathlon, 2 of 2

Takbo.ph Men Aquathletes & Lady Trail Runners  (Photo from Bong/Ellen)

When stride length begins to matter

Now on to the second strategy:  Take it easy on the uphills and just chill-ride the downhills.

I got wiser on the second and third loops, as I was badly forcing it to run even the steep uphills during the first loop.  The first loop mistake had me panting for breath as I made my way up to the top of the hill for my first approach to the turnaround point.

I miscalculated the energy requirement of the course, and I mistakenly took the put-on confidence of comparing the uphills there with the hill reps workouts I’ve been doing the past weeks.  Bwehehe, what a feel-er gets for herself.

Man I realized some parts of that trail was impossible to run on!  Some portion were too steep, and the ground uneven, that I was literally trying to grip on tree branches and roots alongside the trail so that I won’t slide back (on second thought, that could just be me -  my waning sense of balance due to exhaustion).   And then on the way back, one tackles the same set of slopes but this time trickier -  for the downhill.

While running the downhill was apparently easier, since one only needs to chill ride the gravity pull’s momentum, it proved doubly risky too.   If one isn’t careful and misses to apply the needed brakes for the steep downhills, he can easily slide all the way down the bushy ravine by the hillsides.

It didn’t help too that the occasional sharp turns along the course made it twice mean for the runners.

Mind you, I even spent some nuninuni moment while tackling alone a certain stretch of the foresty trail meditating on ‘What if I accidentally take a misstep and fall all the way down there?’   It wasn’t a very good thought.  Especially while racing.

Some rugged trail for this one awesome race. (Photo from Ziggy)

So how did I tackle my second and third loops of the run?  Take it easy on the uphill, walk if you must, but don’t spend all your energies trying to run the un-runnable.   Then on the downhill, do the “hataw” run but with extra care.

I managed to get the third place in the women’s category mainly through this strategy.  There were two lady runners I had to overtake in the second and third loops to make me land 3rd in ranking.  The “hataw” downhill run did it.  With my longer running stride, I was able to take full advantage of the downhill runs, as it made me go pretty fast without much effort.

Warm Finish

What’s good with smaller races like this is that the setting feels more intimate and the organizers’ tone more personal.  I think most of the people there know each other and I recall the host throwing jokes here and there to some of the participants.

And what a warm finish you can get!  Approaching the finish line, I was edified to hear the host announcing my race number and name over the microphone, asking the people around to cheer for me.  Man that was something!  I mean you don’t get that from the usual running races!, for some valid reasons.

Survived it, thank God!  (Photo from Bong)

Approaching the finish line, I also saw my friends from Takbo all rushing to take in-action photos of me..   and I thought that was a really, really nice feeling for a finisher -  to see friends wearing their happy faces, apparently delighted that you too survived that mean trail, hahaha.

What a “sulit” race

Aside from the race adventures, the reg fees were more than reasonably cheap for the perks it came with -  free bus ride from Manila to Bataan and back, free boat ride, post-race lunch and merienda (with bottomless buko juice!!), a Speedo finisher shirt that costs P499, free swim and kayaking, and free massage and henna tattoos.  My reg to the 10k trail runwas only P800.  Now tell me of a better deal than that.

Chillax time after the race.  (Photo from Ian)

After lunch and the awarding ceremeny, Jihan, Rico and I went for a quick swim and also tried kayaking.  Ian got himself a henna tattoo and became our designated photog for the swim and kayaking.  Bong, Ellen and Zigs went back to the trail run course for some more photo-ops.   The group got back together for merienda and a little past 4pm, our boats came and then it was ‘Bye Camaya’ for us.

What a race that was for me..  It’s been three days and my personal Camaya hype seems not dying down anytime soon.  How can you when you even have news exposure to back your joke-winning moment from that race and too many nice photos to give you some instant good laughter dose anytime you like it.

Camaya Coast Aquathlon, 1 of 2

Mariveles, Bataan.

May 2, 2009.

T’was one mean rock ‘n roll race for me.   My first taste on trail running, and one crazy trail I got for my first.   Thanks to Rico and Bong for the heads up on this race.  I could be one of the most late registrants to the race, along with Jihan and Ron (my MPG buddies), and I was doubly troubled with not exactly feeling at home in a dual-sports event like this.

Yes, that’s a stark contrast with my feeling comfortably “home” in the usual road races -  I feel it’s a community I belong in and it’s my territory.   In aquathlons and triathlons, I find myself twice, even thrice, a faker athlete.  Hehehe. Little did I know that smaller dual- and multi-sports events like this offer so much fun.  And I mean, FUN.  But that’s not to say it’s all fun-as-you-know-it.  Nah, it’s fun because it can mean for you -  one heck of a loony adventure. 

And I’m twice glad to have spent it with my nice and cool friends from Takbo.ph

The Camaya Gang:  Ian, Ellen, Ziggy (in front), Bong (back), Jihan, Myself, and Rico.  (Photo from Bong)

Look what I got, afterall

As I’ve been avoiding Manila races this summer -  as I claim it’s too hot to be racing in the Metro these days -  I tried scouting around for out-of-town races.  So an opportunity to join a side-event -  the 10k Trail Run -  at the Camaya Coast Aquathlon Challenge came, I gave it a quick processing time for nuninuni, and on I gave it a go.   Impulsive daredevil I can be.

Days before this race, it had been raining almost everyday.  I already psyched myself for a possible muddy race on my first trail run.  I was thinking then, ‘Good luck to me, run a muddy trail with my good ‘ol RUNNING shoes’.  Then again I know I’m self-confessed ‘taong-gubat’ so I knew I’d survive it.

Anyhoo, surprise of surprises! –   it was the one blazing summer sun that welcome us at Camaya beach last Saturday.  I know I prayed for a good weather, but I forgot to qualify what a good weather is for me:  no rain, not much sun, just chill tempered weather  -   then again that’d be too bratty for me already to have to demand from the good heavens those specs, LOL!

To keep it short, I ran my first trail run on a blazing high noon heat  -  gunshot to signal race start at around 10:30AM and finished my run a little past 12NN.   Now tell me, honestly -  if given a choice -  doesn anyone really likes it to run a race at that time?   Oops, I’m not complaining, just making the point that what I’ve been trying to avoid in Manila I got at Camaya twice in dosage, LOL!

Now isn’t that cool!   Start of the race was at the beach front.  Loose sand running -  not as easy as it seems. (Photo from Bong)

I call it crazy, some call it mean

It’s both.  The trail run rocked!, not just because we had to endure running it on a high noon heat but also because the course was crazily challenging.

Race course consisted of beach run + few flats in coconut and tree plantation + mostly uphills/ downhills (varying in steepness) of uneven ground, narrow pathways skirting the hill sides amid a foresty trail + plus little stream crossings.

This trail run gave me important lessons on race strategizing.  But you should know that just halfway to finishing my first loop (of 3), I almost semi-cursed the trail and began playing with the thought of DNF-ing this race.   At that time I had to honestly admit to myself that the course went way difficult than I had expected.  Every now and then I would feel the top of my head and realize it was like an active volcano waiting to erupt anytime.  I nearly overheated, while barely done with my first loop in the race.

And you think that’s either a pre- or post- race scene?..  Nah, that was DURING the race.  After finishing my first loop and about to do the beach run portion the 2nd time, I felt my legs went heavy with attempts to keep running on the loose sand, and so I gave in and walked some parts of the supposedly ‘beach run’, hahaha! Now you wonder how come I placed 3rd?, LOL!   You bet, this [non-running] photo is my favorite.  It doesn’t fail to give me a good laugh whenever I get reminded of the medal they gave me, hahaha! (Photo from Bong)

So the first strategy was to hoard water.  I mean, get as much water as I can get -  not just for drinking but also to frequently pour on top of my head to cool me down.  I’d always think to myself, ‘Cathy, chill okay, the merchandise might overheat.. chill..’   I might have consumed a total of 6 bottles of mineral water from the stations -  3 of those I drank and the other 3 I bathed myself with as I kept on pouring water on my head, every 10 minutes or so, all throughout the run.

I thought that was a good race strategy.  It got me going til my 3rd loop. 

(To be continued..)

Greenfield City Run: Rockin’ Sta. Rosa

Greenfield City Run:  A Great Escape. 19 April 2009.  Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

 

All I knew was that I haven’t raced yet for the month, and that my standing rule is:   At least one yet no more than two races each month.  But what came out of this humid summer air and the scorching heat is yet another rule:   Preferably out-of-Manila race (coz it’s darn hot here!)

Given that equation, Greenfield race was the IT for me this April.  And it didn’t disappoint. 

 

Back to Normal

I ran 10K in this race = I’m back to my humble self again, thank God.   That’s because I realized for myself that 21K is no joke a race distance.  I know I didn’t suck in my first half-mary at Condura (in fact I think I ran it well, was injury-free and was even totally pain-free after that race)  but I have learned one important lesson:  Yes go run longer distances but DO your assignment if you want to run tall and go home safe.

My training these past weeks were mostly semi-serious speeds on weekdays and just a 10K on weekends.  Now I can’t possibly do an abrakadabra wishing to finish another 21K with a decent finish time.  See, I can be some crazy daredevil other times but I too can be sane.   (Whew! Thank heavens she can think straight!)

From MPG, there were only Francis, Carla and myself who invaded Sta. Rosa, Laguna just to run.    Note that the  night before this race, we were eating Peking duck at Frans’ house as it was his mom’s birthday, hahaha. How was it as a pre-race food?  Ahh, just perfect..  makes you forget you have some real hard work to do (to race hard!) the next day.

MPG was there!  Francis, myself, and Carla a.k.a. BandanaRunner, hahaha!

(Thanks to the MPG Southerners and running couple, Carla and Frans, for hosting me in this race.)

 

Not stably sane though

I wasn’t aiming for a PR in this race..  or at least I said I wasn’t.   But sanity is not a permanent thing for me.   By KM 2, seeing how many kiddos speed ahead of me and how they made it look like running is such an easy task, I decided to run it well and try get a PR anyway.  So it became more of an effort for me to look around and delight my eyes with the nice view.  I was pretty serious I think, conscious of my pace and my form.

But nah, I had a good finish time but not good enough to beat my 65 min PR for 10K at the Miracle Run.  I finished my 10K here in 67 mins, 2 mins off!

Never mind though, I got for myself a nice FREE! breakfast with my wacky Takbo.ph friends.  Thanks again, Mhel for opening your lovely home to us all. 

Some pics from this race:

The race venue at 5:10 AM.  We were waiting for the gunshot for 10K runners programmed at 5:45 AM.

The race venue at 8AM.  We were then lining up for a free!  Photovendo group pic.

Not just CAN RUN but CAN JUMP (high) too!

Our Photovendo group pic wishes to be a staple display on the study table.   With Mark, another one‘atat’ MPG applicant, hahaha!

OK, the staple Binibini shot.

And Carla was then shouting at me, “Sure ka yan na yung Binibini pose mo?…”

Ahh.. I think so, how else ba?  LOL