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!  

Philippine International Marathon (‘Pasig Marathon’)

8 Nov 2009  |  Km 0, Roxas Boulevard

And so I went to PIM excitedly, but shamelessly training-less.  I’ve read somewhere (and from almost everywhere, actually) that the fastest and most sure way to get prepped in running a race is precisely to run.  No close substitutes.  And that renders my volleyball (ahem) and badminton games futile in compensating for my zero run training.

But I had high hopes of enjoying my racing time at PIM.  Afterall it’s been quite some time since I joined a Manila-based major race.  And whoa!, MAJOR it is.  If you were there at PIM last Sunday, you know exactly what ‘major’ meant.

Come race day, I committed another major ‘blunder’  (at least among runners who join races) –  we arrived 20 minutes late!  I said to myself, ‘this is it!, Brother is in for a weird start..’   The other 10K runners would have gone past the second water station already while we acted like lost little puppies, helplessly searching for the checker (who apparently left his post already) to send us off and ‘try’ catch up with the other 10Kers.  As if.

If I may just mention –  it didn’t help too that my brother needed to visit the portalets and that he found my suggestion (of a crude solution to his concern) frustrating to hear, hahaha!

Claiming our race kits had me do some minor ‘pambabraso‘ at ABS Foundation office (got mine in just around 5 mins), but on race day, I was pretty much impressed with how BIG and HAPPY the race venue appeared to be.  To my mind, it was ‘Fiesta!’

Some new personal learnings from this race:

1)  Running fundamentals don’t change.  Training-less and all, I ran the entire course continuously and rather stably strong (read: stably slow, hahaha).  Well, I only wanted to stress on pacing.  Again at PIM, I’ve seen plenty of runners quickly get back to running mode (and speed up!) after I overtake them.. only to succumb to premature exhaustion and resort to walk breaks again.

2)  Unlimited Gatorade drink is always a welcome treat to runners, especially for a newbie like Brother who can’t believe it that ‘Gatorade is unlimited, I’ve finished 10 cups already!!’ (post-race).

3)  Oh music is such a pacer –  it makes you speed up and it slows you down.  I’ve noticed that my pace was sort of partly synched with the tempo of the song playing on my iPod.  Norah Jones and Jack Johnson caused my legs to get bit lazy while classic MJ got me upbeat and feeling invincible, haha.  (You should know this is the first time I wore music on a race, as I’ve seen it ruin my pace from previous trainings.)

And so item 4 is related to above..

4)  Life is like an iPod shuffle –  You never know what’s playing next.

Save for the race kit claiming hassles (we registered at Gold’s Gym, Rob- Gale), I’m grateful to PIM for another memorable race.  My brother had a great time, even if he got lost (‘major’ lost!) in finding his way to the the finish line.  The man thought the finish line was at the starting area so he stopped as soon as he reached the flagpole area (dang!).

Thanks PIM.   I enjoyed my Kenyan-runners sightings.

(The Kenyans looked horribly lean and dark, and incredibly fast!)

Last Wednesday night, I fell in love again..  with running. Eww, cheesy.

Not that I have fallen out of love from it, let’s just say it was sort of a forced cool-off, as my schedule grew bigger than me  I could hardly squeeze in quick runs in between work and school, and yet other personal stuffs.

So last Wednesday was special.  I surely had to admit I terribly missed running in the evening, at UP.  I felt really happy I could even get  teary-eyed about it.  (Believe me, I felt that much mushy and spotting Lino Cayetano a few meters away from me has got  nothing to do with it, promise.)

No more cool-offs, dear running.

I am officially registered to run the 10K side-event at PIM, and all I can say is,

RAK EN ROL REPAPIPS.

(And I know that just totally ruined the ‘emo’ mood of this post. He he he.)

Walang kokontra.  I am doing this  –>

Philippine International Marathon:   A Run for the River

Nov. 8, 2009  |   Quirino Grandstand, Luneta Park

Full Marathon & Relay,  Side-events: 3K/5K/10K

*More details found here –>  KapitBisigIlogPasig

I am doubly excited.  My brother Daryl is spending the weekend here in Manila just to join this.  Oh thank heavens this time I’m his yaya-photog no more (unlike in AutoReview Run).

How nice.., our first official race together –  and this early I need to accept the fact that I’ll see him only at the starting area and finish line.  This young man will surely make me eat his dust as soon as the gunshot for the race start is fired.  Poor slow me.

I’m excited nonetheless.  First time to run from Km 0 at Roxas Blvd!  

All the same, without volleyball this weekend, I got just as much body aches.  Thanks to that badminton overdose last Saturday night.  More important, thanks to my a-la-action-star stance when on the court.

Yes, I dive for it.  I risk my dear life for the shuttlecock.

I think the tigress in me comes out during playtime, and I totally forget about acting demurely.

Something like this.  I fell down the floor on my knees more than thrice while saving a shot, good thing I didn’t hit hard.

All for fun, at one point I found my lone self up against two guys on the opposite side of the court as my opponents.  Of course you know what happens next –> I went gasping for breath I thought I’d get a premature death, hahaha.

I thought the badminton craze had died already.  Apparently there is a quite a good number of loyalists on the sport, and possibly (I’m guessing).. a budding resurgence..

I was with some crazy bunch of badminton addicts last Saturday.  Well, what do you call people who keeps the court warm with nonstop games from 5PM to 11PM?    C R A Z Y.

.. is also the day I. Get. Older.

Dear world, thanks for celebrating with me, with great races right and left.

Whether in SIM, Adidas KOTR, or Nike Human  Race –  I wish everyone a grand time on the road!   And don’t forget to say a little prayer for me.  I’d really appreciate it.  :)

All our big bosses are running their first 21K at the KOTR this Sunday.  Funnily, the CEO casually asked for some tips from me when I bumped into him on the elevator.  It’s another case of ‘barking at the wrong tree’.  The man can be funny.

Look what this MPG-to-the-core gal has gotten herself into again  –>  some crazy semblance of ‘cross-training’ despite a sorely zero base training (in running) to speak of,  hahaha.

For some funny coincidence of forced game invite (company sportsfest) and a free one (with friends), I managed to squeeze in two sports all in one afternoon.  Last Saturday I dipped my hands in both badminton and volleyball.  The result:  Aching muscles (!).

And yes, up to now they’re aching that I told myself I’ll never play volleyball again (at least for now I wanna tell myself that; may change in a span of two hours).  Why do I so blame volleyball for my post-game aches?

For one, you do a lot of bending in volleyball -  your default position (at least that’s how I know this) is to bend your body low, in anticipation of the ball possibly landing in front of you.  I think this is where I got most of my post-play pains. 

For the more important reason:  I am so NOT good in that sport (even if I’ve been badly wanting to learn it).  I don’t need to elaborate but I’m just so not good at it.  I told my teammates I was the critical point and that they should stay close and cover for me;  and that, they did (those people were just so nice and cool!).   But it only served to highlight the point:  I was becoming a burden, hmp!  And the ache was more psychological –  clearly worse than physical pain, go try it.. wehehe.

The volleyball folks did not run short of encouraging words; even the coach would egg me to join every match (I honestly don’t know how he bears it to watch me play as I was so ‘olats’, hahaha). 

Now if I get crazy again and with some peer pressure, I might give it another try (on volleyball), but I doubt if that’s anytime soon.  For now let me get some healing, and go back to doing a sport I’m most confident at.  Don’t guess, it’s a given. 

This is what you call ‘pahabol’.  PSsst!  READ THIS. (You may skip on my boring race accounts and rants on obstacles to training, but this one try spend a minute or two.)

Today, October 15, is Blog Action Day ‘09, on Climate Change.  Go on click on the link, that saves from more blah-blahs.

So I should talk about climate change.  Nice thing, only problem is I really haven’t been doing my homework on it –  and I honestly don’t know much about it.

So this must the eye-opener for me and for you, my few dear gorgeous readers –> that  like me, some of you might have shamelessly little knowledge on the topic of Climate Change.  And even with our so-limited understanding of it, I can guess we do care –  and we will learn to CARE MORE if we have a deeper understanding of it.

Read up.  While we listen to news of hearings on who-to-blame for that Pangasinan flooding (was it an act of God or of the San Roque dam operators), let’s try see the bigger picture of things and read up on Climate Change.

But of course you care.  We do.  :)

T’was my second shot at MOA, for a race.  The first was special because it was my first take on running a 15K distance (for Power run);  the second was made even more special, running a race grounded on a most time-relevant charity cause  (TRR being  a benefit run for ‘Ondoy‘ typhoon victims).

Yup, it’s quite easy to guess the sort of ideas that buys me out, hehe..

One of the more memorable race bibs, I’d say.

I was registered to run 10K for this race.  Loony attack, simply.  This morning I had decided to be humble, so I ran 5K instead.  The race started bit late at about quarter to 7AM, but just in time to accommodate us, supposedly latecomers.

I had a pretty good run -  just like TRR, nothing fancy but tasteful enough.   It was most inspiring to see some elite runners acting as race marshalls and manning the booth.  Talk about the local running community trying to take social relevance to greater heights  (Ohnoes, now I talk like your usual loco politico, wehehe).

And I call this ‘the city runner’ shot  (love the backdrop!)

It also fills me with glee that TRR had become a reunion race for me and two of my best girl pals, Dree and Bless.  One gladly took the role of being my personal driver;  the other my ‘sosyalerang yaya’. *Peace Dree and Bless!

And yes, for the mandatory Finish line shot..

Cold symptoms have gone serious.. I am resting this, lest I be the one needing a ‘rescue’ on The Rescue Run 

On second thought, I’m really in a bad shape for a race, for any race.  Good thing that for TRR all you really need to think about are: 

1)  a guilt-free P200 donation instead of a pressure-laden race reg fee

2)  it being a run for a cause come-on-everbody (!) type instead of an intimidating competitive race

3)  there are no singlets (only race bibs) to put stark contrast between TRR participants and regular MOA grounds joggers  (A-ha, I need the camouflage)

4)  Ondoy victims

My last run, a quick one ’round the village, was sooo freakin’ eight days ago and I figure that by tomorrow I’ll be completely down already with this darn colds.  WOW, good luck to me on Saturday.