Who needs rescue

 

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.

TOR # 002

 

Backseat, for now.

Tempered addiction, that’s what I have -  and thank goodness it’s that!   When some ‘more’ important things come along, running takes a backseat  -  and the thing is, it doesn’t make me fret that it does. 

But I have been running still;  just as often as I can manage to.  When things are settled…   (I doubt though if it will anytime soon.)

***

Excuse me!

The PSE Bull Run results are out.  As I said, I was already pretty happy about my personal race experience..  until PSE decided to put out the runners’ finish times.

I secretly hoped that they had instead chosen  to just keep those wadaheck records to themselves.  It might have put a milder ending to the already sad stories of the registration mess and the memorable, first-of-its-kind drama of having a long runners’ queue at the finish line. 

Bull Run’s verdict on me:  75 minutes for my 10K (!).  Thank you but I’m no 75.   I just can’t sound more pikon. 

Good thing, I took effort in timing my run accurately.  By the way, their record shows I waited on the queue at the finish line for 5 whole minutes.  Pretty nice for a cool down -  a timed cool down, that is.

***

Missed.

The Happy Run pictures and stories in the blogs evoke envy, at least for me who missed it.  I especially like the idea of passing by Heritage park with a string orchestra playing to runners’ much delight (if I got the detail right).

***

MSD.

Ever heard of MSD?  That’s my friend, Dree’s, version of a milder LSD.   You guessed right, it stands for Medium Slow Distance.  That’s what the fakers do -  pamper themselves in runs.  Look at that, slow na nga, medium-distance pa!  LOL!   This Sunday, we will do MSD -  who wants the same flavor?

***

Coming soon!

Passion Runner has a cool, bright idea in mind that will surely benefit a lot of pros and new running enthusiasts within the UP community.

Now, Eric, I’m posting this to push you to make it happen soon. 

***

(Doesn’t belong here but I’m delighted by the coincidence so I’m sharing it.)

This is classified under TONR.  Anyhoo, I just emailed this lunch my accomplished MBA application form to UP.   I had stayed up until late last night hoping I would be able to sort it out already by then.  Well, I was able to only a little after 12NN today.

At about 3PM, I received an email from NUS MBA telling me they’re already on their final lap of recruiting a ‘quality class for [their] August 2009 Intake’ and that I should put in my application soon. 

Huh, talk about timing.

 

TOR # 001

 

Chilled, Defeated.

I was supposed to run this morning.  I was able to wake up as planned, took a visit to the bathroom, but after taking a peek by the window and getting a sighting of the chilled darkness waiting for me, I went back to bed and curled beneath my warm blanket once more. 

I thought I was lucky to have the option to ’stay comfortable’ as it’s not a race day anyway.  But up to now, I feel a bitter taste in my mouth for having lost my first battle of the day.

***

Breathe!

It’s true that the intervals training at the Nike clinic every Tuesdays satiates my desire for speed.  But this week’s session gave me an idea of what for me could be another possible cause of my death:  overexhaustion.  Don’t worry as this should be more hilarious than scary. 

As usual, we were supposed to do 3 sets of 3×3oom intervals, which was later on reduced to 2 sets as I was (as usual) in the latecomers batch and the lights at ULTRA went out on us just when were about to begin our third set.

That was a salvage case for me.  At the end of the second set, I was already all exhausted that I felt I was developing some sort of premature fever.  My legs still felt strong but my breathing was in trouble and the tips of my fingers were feeling unusually cold (and I’m sure it wasn’t just the cold air).

Truth is, I really intend it to take seriously the intervals as I want to have my lungs get used to dealing with greater amount of stress.  Breathing has always been my weak point in endurance running.  While my legs could pretty well handle the continuous pounding, my lungs and heart usually couldn’t go as far.

***

Not hassle-free

If you’re unhappy with the hassles in claiming your race kits for the PSE Bull Run, know that you’re not alone. 

When is it coming, PSE?  Everyone’s all excited now prepping up for their first race for the year. 

Well, whattheheck, the registration hassle issues are already there (!) so just make sure Sunday’s going to be great race day for us. 

***

Coached, coaxed to finish.

The LSD run with the Nike clinic last Sunday was one of my favorite non-race UP runs for me.  How can it not be one of my favorites when I’ve gone sub-70, for the first time!, in running a 10K distance. 

I have my pacemate, Sandy, and our coach-pacer, Coach Sardeña, to thank for this personal feat.  Coach said we finished it in 69 minutes!  Now that’s whole four minutes faster than my 10K race PR. 

Coach said he’s racing the Bull Run too and he can pace me.  Now that alarmed me a bit as I’ve seen how reeeaally fast he runs (last Sunday he would run forward and back twice just to keep checking on Sandy and I), and so if he pace me I’m sure to be destroying the entire race experience for him. 

Hahaha!  That was too assuming of me!  What he actually meant was that he’s going to run it his race pace and after finishing it, he can run back to look for me and then pace me.  Oh…  that is the only BESTEST way to go, what with my snail running!

 I can’t help it, I am excited for Sunday.  Yipee! 

 

Thoughts run too

I have really intended for this blog to contain ONLY stuffs on running and racing, and the other things that circle them closely and those in between.

But I learned that apart from my legs, and my body, other things in me run too as though having a life of their own.  My thoughts ran a 10-miler today.

I spent my Saturday morning, working as part of the service team, in a Christmas party at the Molave Youth Home in Quezon City. Molave houses (technically it’s a jail) hundreds of minors, both male and female teenagers, who have committed minor(?) crimes.

It was an eye-opener for me. And it triggered the 10-miler run for my thoughts today.

My current mood says my thoughts are now doing its cool-down stretch.

Pretty much like how one’s first full marathon he or she finds to be life-changing, my two-and-a-half-hour stay at Molave this morning afforded me a 10-miler thought run that was high in memory and contemplation value.

Some people get a taste (for some, an overdose even) of the unpleasant things in life at too tender an age.   I feel for them.

As I got really affected by just observing them, I did not manage to hold back one of the questions running in my head.  I asked one of the boys, “Pano kayo dito pag Krismas?” (I meant to ask, “How do you celebrate Christmas here?”)

I will pray for them, especially this Chirstmas.

Have a wonderful and meaningful Christmas, dear friends!

A “thoughtful” run

After missing my supposed morning run yesterday, I decided I would have to go out to run late evening when I arrive home from work.  And so even if it was drizzling outside and my housemates almost nagged me about my intention to run -  when there’s a storm and it’s late evening already, la la la  -  I went out and got myself a quick 6K run in UP. 

The acad oval was nearly empty last night.  I was sharing it with just about four other guys who might have badly needed that run too, hence, the determination in running late night on a very lonely solitary acad oval.  The mood of the place even got me into senti mode.  It was a “thoughtful” run for me.  So many things crossed my mind and at some point I knew I was already being driven forward not by my legs but by my wandering mind.  I was thinking, thinking, thinking.  More into thinking than running. 

I stopped feeling the tension on my legs as my mind was preoccupied with so many other things.  I wasn’t disturbed but my mind was active like a person who gulped three cups of coffee in one sitting, then again it was also at peace.  Reflective mood, more that.  So leg pains had no place in that reflective mind.  I even joked I might need to employ that exercise in actual races –  it might just get me running faster and enduring the pains better.   Ha!  Na-ah.  Nowhere in the race you’ll find any opportunity to think of things other than running fast to get a new PR.  Or it could just be me, my competitive spirit, hehe.

Now I know why I love running.  Most of the time, it gives me a time alone with myself.  It gets me to think well and deeply about life and all the complications that go with it.  And then it tells me to go back to the basic and keep it simple. 

Just like in running, it has to be so simple as it teaches you that you only need to run, run  and run in order for you to be a good runner.  The only way to live life and to live it well is precisely to live it and to decide to live it well.  Nuninuninuni.

There’s Math in running

 

Just because I’m a frustrated Mathematician, I figured that even in running sports there are plenty of mathematical operations at play.   For now I could at least enumerate those I had personal encounters with.

Additions/ Plus’es:   Running shoes (parked my regular rubber shoes), running shorts, sportswatch, weekly running plan, my own runners group, this blogsite, receipts of sportsdrink purchases, new runner friends, melanin (tanner complexion)

Subtractions/ Minus’es:  Free time on weekends, disposable income (due to purchase of new gears/gadgets), laziness, dullness

Multiplication/ Times:  “Angas” points, race certificates, knowledge of running blogsites, race photos, clothes for laundy pile

Division:  *Can’t think of a good one now but I hope someday I can say – PR!!!