Philippine International Marathon 10k

Calories Burned: 799 cal
Finish Time: 1:13:00

The Philippine International Marathon aimed to gather funds for the revival of the Pasig river, the main river that courses through the heart of Manila and exits at Manila Bay. I live in one of the barangays (villages) alongside the river that got affected by flooding in the recent Ondoy storm.
Registration was easy enough and cheap, only P250. The problem was with the claiming of the kits. My kit was totally not released on the scheduled date. I went back to where I was supposed to get it 3 times. In the end, I had to go to ABSCBN to claim the kit on the night before the race. This was the major boo boo this race had.

The 10k race pretty much started on time at 6am, but the sun quickly bore down on the runners. The route along Roxas Blvd was exactly the same as the Milo marathons - flat except for the flyover in Pasay and 200 meters or so longer than 10km.

The start of the 10k run at 6am. The sun was already way up.

The fly over at Pasay at the 4k mark made some people walk, and me stop to take a photo :) The heat though was not enough to stop the top two 10k runners who were already on their 7th km while we were just on our 3rd km.

The organizers said there were about 11,000 participants most of whom were in the 5k category. The 5k runners were so plenty that they started in three batches. We saw many of them just walking. This was fine, except that the trailing 10k runners (me included) were effectively stumped by the blocks of 5k walkers. It was quite a challenge maneuvering around them. In the end, I just enjoyed the crowd and walked with them cheering on the Rexona girls, UST alumni, and other colorful groups.

All in all, the PIM was quite a success and I just hope that this translates into good news for the Pasig river. Here's a quick math. The registration was P250 and there were 11,000 runners so that would have totaled P2.75 million pesos. I know the organizers have expenses and all, but there should still be ample funds left for the Pasig river.

Race Vitals

Start Time: on time, but maybe they could have made it start earlier
Participation: local runners, students, daming tao
Rate: P250
Route: Roxas Blvd, longer than 10k
Race Freebies: certificate of participation, singlet
Personal Experience: 7/10

Quezon City International Marathon

Calories Burned: 807 cal
Chip Time: 1:10:26

I got there late! The tail end bunch of 10k runners were already past the Philcoa area when I finally got to see them. But all is well :) I felt strong in this race; unlike the past weekend (Milo) when I felt so exhausted.

Thousands of runners participated in the first ever Quezon City International Marathon.

I even met some friends along the way. Near the 5k mark, I caught up with my previous gym trainer and chatted with him a few minutes before moving ahead. And then after crossing the finish line, got to meet my officemate, who also ran 10k, hanging out with his wife and kid. It was fun, fun, fun. Oh and the biggie of the event was having my photo taken with the Asian champ, Elma Muros. I'm so happy.

Elma Muros is almost a senior citizen, but look at how fit she is! Maybe she can do a full marathon right there and then.

The main highlight of QCIM for me is the route. Commonwealth has 8 lanes on each side. All those 16 lanes were blocked for the event (at least as far as the 10k went). It's a kid's paradise to just run along that wide a road. Ang lawak lawak, yipeee! According to my sister though, the resulting traffic caused by the blocking of Commonwealth ruined her Sunday morning drive to church. She reached her quota of curses just before going to church. Too bad for her.

A rare sight: Commonwealth Ave. free of vehicles except for ambulances.

So maybe next year, the organizers should inform the people better, and also, QC residents should make themselves more aware of what's going on in their city. For me and the thousands of participants though, the route was a refreshing break from the usual location of races.


Race Vitals

Start Time: it was on time; I was late
Participation: Kenyans, other foreigners, local runners, students, daming tao
Rate: P300
Route: Commonwealth Ave, fantastic!
Race Freebies: Nike Shoebag for 10k participants, drinks, granola bar, certificate of participation, timing chip (but no runpix analysis), photovendo pictures (but not free)
Personal Experience: 8/10

Milo Official Results

Official Chip Time: 1:14:30

Results of those who ran with chips can be viewed here http://www.nestle.com.ph/milo/. Later though, when milo updates its website with new content, the url would probably be different. So for that inevitability, here's the location of milo's data at runpix's website: http://www.runpix.info/mnc09/ge.php. And here's where you can get the photos http://free.photovendo.ph/index.php?eventID=2009101101.

And as usual the conclusion I gathered from my results was that I can be faster. Ayos lang naman yun, hehehe; basta may picture! hehehe.

In my case, there really wasn't a lot of difference between the chip time and the starting gun time. May be next time there will be (crossing my fingers).

The Milo finish line was a queue. We were just actually walking here.

And of course, where was I when the winner crossed the finish line? Never mind me, but a huge congratulations to the winner; he finished in 31 minutes. Amazing!

And me!

33rd Milo Marathon National Finals 10k

Calories Burned: 827 cal
Unofficial Running Time: 1:15:00

I haven't raced for sooo long; I couldn't believe how much I missed it -- missed the 4am rush, the smell of fresh unpolluted pre-dawn air, the hustle and bustle of other runners to warm up and get checked in, the excited atmosphere behind the start line, and the gun start.

I used to view running just as a tool to lose weight; now, it's a way of life. And the Milo Marathons have a way of bringing me back on my feet and on to the road than any race I've joined. It holds my first 5k, my first 10k, and my first comeback race -- this one.

The early morning rush of the 10k runners.

Just happy to have run and finished. Never mind the time. Well..

One of the doctors who gave great tips on proper running and how to avoid injuries. I actually consulted with him afterwards about my moving kneecaps.

Urbanite Official Results

These are my official results from runpix.com. It's my first time to use a timing chip, and the details that came up are, sheesh, too much! Hehehe. Here's to hoping we know how to use these data to help us be better :)

21st place in my age group, not bad. 26 runners passed me near the finish line -- wow, i seem to have done the opposite when they told us to dash; i might have just walked.

Oooh, so that little dot there was me? Yehey! Proof that I finished!

Grabe ang bilis naman nung winner or ang bagal ko naman! Which perspective to take? Ok, I'm just happy to have finished it. Let's put it at that.

There were also pix available at photovendo, but I'm happier with the picture my friend took of me and Marc Nelson after the race. Hihihi. That was a better memory :)

Kenny's Urbanite Run

Calories Burned: 669 cal
Running Time: (unofficial) 1:09:56
Distance: 10km

Despite the kit claiming chaos I went through in Urbanite, the race night itself was an excellent experience. On to the route.

Dark Bayani, Steep Mckinley

Like many runners there, it was my first time to run at night. Finishline tried to help us out by giving glow in the dark bracelets and bibs, but those were useless in traversing that really dark Bayani Road. Better include flashlights in the kit. I kept checking if the runners ahead of me tripped on some stone or crevice. It was better to slow down than be sorry. I instantly feared for the 15km runners who had to go through the whole length of that road.

When we got past the 5km marker back on Lawton Ave, we turned right on Upper Mckinley Road. The bright lights illuminating our every step there was such a huge contrast to Bayani Road. It was like we were in a different city. Mckinley Road was posh and obviously a residence of the wealthy. Average wage earner me could only look and marvel and run. And ran down the hill I did. Then whoa, the U-turn at the end had me run back up the road. That climb up was looong. I might have walked three times just to give my knees a break. I really need to incorporate some hilly runs into my training; and I really need to do something with my income. Hahaha! Running really gives me time to think of all sorts of things.

Participants Galore!

When races are held in the morning, I usually arrive just in time for the start of my event or maybe a couple of minutes earlier for a little warm up. I usually don't see the other runners doing the longer distances. That's why watching the 15km runners start was very exciting. They are the runners I aspire to run with soon, well, maybe later, much later.

Go, go, go 15km runners!

Next up, the 10km runners. I was here, yeah! Find the one with three chins, that's me. Unlike the 15km event which started late, the 10km event started on time. Thank God for that because I wouldn't want to be on the streets with the angry car drivers way past 10pm. Runners finishing before that didn't even get spared the impatient horn blaring on 5th Avenue. Oh well.

the den of the 10km runners

And the ads were not joking when they mentioned that there were a lot of celebrities. Why, I even got a picture of Marc Nelson trying to get my 10k straw! No matter how good looking he is, he won't get that straw necklace.

My glee is just embarrassing. Hihihi!

Race Vitals

Start Time: 10k was on time
Participation: lots of foreigners (i admit i was counting them), some heavy ladies like me, but mostly they looked fit
Rate: P600 (pricey for me)
Route: mostly poorly lit roads, but only Bayani Road was really dark; lots of inclines
Race Packet: glow in the dark bands (divisoria-make), glow in the dark race bibs, timing chip, nice and soft singlet, eat coupon (Urbanite meal), donate coupon
Sponsored Charity: 57-75 and Hands-on-Manila
Loot bag: Coke Zero, Powerade, Trail Mix, Mineral Water (is the loot bag even vital?)

Personal Experience: 8/10. If only claiming my race kit wasn't such a headache. If only I got my singlet with the race kit. If only there wasn't just a single claiming site. FYI Finishline, I registered on time, and please do better next year.

POLAR RS200

This is the watch that I use to track the calories I burn during my runs and other fitness activities. It's the Polar RS200. It also comes with a heart rate monitor and a foot pod. I got it through a promo from Fitness First that lets members buy Polar at a 25% discount. The retail was 15k, but I only bought it for P11,625. Nice huh?

Stronger Heart

The heart monitor has turned out to be indispensable for me. Through it, I learned that my heart has become stronger because of all the cardio I've been doing. 4 months ago, running steadily at 8kph on a treadmill would already make my heart beat as high as 165bpm. Now, I can do it with just 155bpm on average. You can just imagine how elated I felt when I realized that I was not only losing weight, but getting stronger as well.

Faster Feet

Getting faster really isn't much of a target for me; however, if I can finish earlier, so much the better! I use the foot pod when I'm not running on the treadmill. It can measure the distance, speed, and pace of runs after it has been calibrated. Right now, I think its measurement is a little bit off. Not the foot pod's fault though, hihihi. I might have calibrated it wrong. For example, according to Milo and some of the runners of the 10k side event at the Milo marathon, the 10k was actually a bit longer. But my polar said it was just 10k. Also, the 5ks that I ran were only read as approximately 4.6km.

Despite my calibration issues, the foot pod allowed me to see that my pace was becoming faster. At the Mizuno run on June 7, my fastest pace was 5:38 mins/km. At the Takbo Para Sa Pagbabago run on August 2, my fastest was 4:45 mins/km.

Kaya Natin! Takbo Para Sa Pagbabago

Calories Burned: 283 cal
Running Time: 28 mins 30 secs
Distance: 5km

Whoa, this was my fastest run so far. I surprised even myself. Haha! Uhmm, but in this picture, I'm still the last runner. :)

Takbo Para Sa Pagbabago (Run for Change) held at the Ateneo University was offered as a foot race in honor of Cory Aquino's life. Well, at the time the race was announced, Cory was still alive, so it was a sad but meaningful coincidence that the theme of the race was about pagbabago (change) on the day that the nation was celebrating a hero who helped us change the government. Instead of bibs, we had yellow ribbons tied on our wrists (or wherever you want to) with our numbers written on them.

Back to the race. The starting line didn't swell with runners, but those who came did look like they knew the difference between speed and pace. I'm still a bit confused by those two -- I know the spelling's different, uhmm, but I have no clue about what else. Still, because this was just a fun run, there were others who were there just for the pleasure (if you finish) and pain (if you trip) of running.

When the race began, the people ran so fast, I got swept up with them. You see, I normally lag behind, but I thought the guys behind me would have run straight into me if I hadn't moved my feet faster. In 10 seconds, I was panting. Next time, I'll just stay in the middle of the pack, or maybe at the back.

Ateneo was very scenic, very green. My delight at the route allowed me to just simply enjoy the run. The road was soft asphalt but not slippery despite the constant rain before the event. At the end of the race, I found myself hoping that they'd organize more runs in that campus.

So thanks to the Atenean student leaders who through braving the risk of a storm gave us old people a chance to rekindle our hope of changing our country for the better.

Race Vitals

Start Time: a little earlier than scheduled
Participation: students, student-athletes; many local politicians "running" in 2010 too(?)
Rate: P80 only, totally affordable
Route: relatively flat with a few hills, nice greenery everywhere
Race Packet: silicone wrist band, race number on a yellow ribbon, certificate of participation

Personal Experience: 10/10 perfect :) i can be easy to please but there was ample water and the organizers paid attention to my questions, the fee was reasonable, the route wonderful, the weather cooperated. Can't ask for more.

Run for Hope Canceled

According to Takbo.ph the Run for Hope on Sunday at UP is canceled. Drat! I was preparing for the 6.6km the whole week. Well, life is just full of surprises. But that doesn't mean I'll leave my running shoes in the cabinet on Sunday. I have a back up plan!

So that my efforts -- including nightmares of tripping, sweaty shirts, boring hours on the treadmill -- don't go to waste, I'll just join the run at Ateneo instead. Since Ateneo is just beside UP, it wouldn't really disrupt any logistics I've planned (not that I have any). It's also for a good cause. And it's shorter! Just 5k :)


A note about the pictures: The UP photo came from this site: http://img355.imageshack.us/i/06upyr3.jpg/. And I got the Takbo Para Sa Pagbabago poster from takbo.ph.

33rd Milo Marathon 10k

Calories Burned: 755 cal
Running Time: 1:15:29

Most of the thoroughfares going to Roxas Blvd were blocked to the irritation of our taxi driver. He got surprised when we told him that there was a marathon happening at that time (5am). "Abot dito?" was his incredulous question when we were on Buendia Ave. Yup, that was how long it was: 42km total from km 0 and back.

But I wasn't gonna run 42km! 10km would already be hard enough for me. This was my longest race so far and I wasn't even prepared for it. I had wanted to prepare a lot and finish a 10km run on my own in PSC or at UP, but that didn't happen. My mom got hospitalized for a week prior to the run. The sleepless nights at the hospital was just too gruelling for me to try running. She got out on the Wednesday of the week of the run, so thankfully I was able to manage one 45-minute run in the PSC track. That run was the hardest: my legs felt like lead, and I couldn't find my rhythm.

When I woke up at 4am for the 33rd Milo Marathon, I knew that there was only one thing that I could do: try finishing my 10k.

There were hundeds of 10k runners. Wow! You know what, the energy streaming off them was probably one of the things that just kept me going after the starting shot was fired - 5 minutes earlier than scheduled.

RACE
Roxas Blvd was flat for the most part, except for one flyover. There were some parts of the road that were sloping towards the sidewalk so that I felt I was running at an angle. There were lots of marshalls and water stations serving not just water, but Milo and Gatorade too.

The real highlight for me though was seeing the long distance runners who were already on their way back. I wasn't even halfway through my 10k, when the first 42k runner passed! He was soon followed by a group of 21k runners. They looked so effortless when they run. Seeing them made me wanna run faster too, but all I could really do was shuffle along. Well, maybe in another lifetime.

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Mizuno Infinity Run

Calories Burned: 362 cal
Running Time: 34 mins

When my friend and I got off the taxi to join the other runners on Mizuno Infinity Run (June 7), the first thing she noticed was that I was one of the few who were wearing jogging pants. Haha! She wasn't even going to the run, but she was my one-woman support team-cheerer-photographer-guard-and fashion critique!

Route
Compared to UP's up and down roads, the 5k route at the Fort was flat. I was thankful for that; uphills are a real calf burner. However, I soon missed the trees at UP because as the sun climbed higher, the lack of shade at Makati (or is it Taguig?) became more apparent. The other difference was at UP the roads were made of asphalt; it was hard concrete all the way at the Fort. So as I was running/walking, I decided that as much as possible I'll be choosing runs scheduled at UP more than those scheduled at the Fort.

Race
It started a few minutes after 6am. A lady runner beside me was already complaining about the race being late and about the sun coming up soon. I wasn't at all surprised that when it finally started, she zoomed past me and several other runners. She was fast!

There were plenty of race marshals. They were always telling us not to run on the sidewalk, but every now and then, somebody would run where they're not supposed to. Sigh.

I havent been to enough races to have a good opinion about how a race should be organized, but I couldn't help but wish that the runners were allowed to use the roads (or at least the side we're running on) exclusively -- no cars allowed. We had to look over our shoulders for cars coming behind us. I don't think that's safe.

What I loved about the Mizuno Infinity race was the singlet - light fabric, sporty design, and seriously blue. I saw guys at the gym wearing their Mizuno singlets proudly; I'm still too embarassed of my flabby arms to wear mine outside of a race.

Result
I'm running to lose. No doubt about that. I didn't burn as much calories in this run as I did at the K.I.D.S. run but I think that's because of two factors: the route is flatter and I finished faster (well, just two minutes faster, lol!).

My weight a week after the Mizuno Infinity Run was 144.8lbs. That means I lost around 5lbs already since I started really trying to lose weight the healthy way. :)

Run with K.I.D.S.

Calories Burned: 400 kcal
Running Time: 35 minutes

That's me - the hunchback with a ponytail. This was minutes before the event started on May 31 at UP Diliman. The category I joined was the 5k run.

UP is a nice place to run, if you can still breathe well enough to enjoy the scenery. The trees along the academic oval form a shadowy canopies that provide a reprieve from the sun. When the race started though, I wasn't really able to enjoy the view because everybody was a running rabbit eager to finish the race; I was a turtle. Within seconds it seemed, I was looking at everybody's backs.

It was my first run. I just wanted to move at a steady pace. But UP's up and down and curving roads wouldn't allow that. I'd go turtle speed up and go human speed down. I really wasn't prepared for hills. When I run on treadmills, the grade is just 0. Too late for regrets.

I finished the 5km in 36 mins. While I was still panting, I got to chat with a lady who was walking around cooling down. She was 50 years old, and she finished her 5k in 28 mins. Wow! She said I could finish under 30 minutes too if I practice.

Hmmm, I have 20 more years to practice. Hehehe.

Running to lose

Here are the hard fat facts about me. I just sit on my butt the whole day, so it's not a surprise that I weigh 17kg heavier than my ideal weight.

AND I have two weddings to attend next year - I'll be the maid of honor to my sister's January wedding, and a bridesmaid to a friend's March wedding. For anybody who's taken somebody else's wedding seriously, you'll understand my panic in hoping to fit in the dresses and make our side of the family look good, sigh.

There seems to be a general consensus that the best way to lose fat is through cardio, weight training, and diet. For cardio, I'm going to do running. I've already enrolled in the gym for weight training. And diet, hmmm diet, is gonna be a pain, but i'll take note of what I eat.

This blog will be about my attempts at losing weight the healthy way. Wish me luck!