Milo Marathon 21km

A month ago, New Balance Power Run 25km.
Today, Milo Marathon 21km.

Should be doable, right?

Problem: Super undertrained for this run.  I lacked long runs... As a matter of fact, I did not do any long run since NB Power Run! Hah.  I just registered for Milo since it was cheap and I was looking for a December run.  Anyway, I tried cramming my LSDs early this week, did 2 consecutive 10KMs, Monday and Tuesday.  Last week I did one 10KM and that's it plus a couple of spinning classes here and there.  The culprit for no long runs? Yaya leaving for the province for a little over a week plus being busy with other things.

All creative excuses came to mind last night - maybe I'm not ready, skip ko nalang ito... Anyway P600 lang naman ito.  Just sleep in... and the list goes on.  But of course, the more I wanted to skip it, the more I wanted to do it to prove that I am stronger than laziness! So, off to MOA I went, with our ever trusty and supportive driver, Greg.  This time, I wasn't running with anyone.  I registered on my own and ran on my own from KM 1 to 21.

I started off on a bad note, at about KM 6 I was already hungry (WHAT?! After eating a cup and a half of rice last night with homemade Kare-Kare?!!).  I think it was because I skipped my usual PB sandwich on the way to MOA and traded it for extra sleep.  I was watching out for bananas (which I never saw, BTW) in the hopes of easing my hunger.  Thank God I eventually forgot being hungry... maybe because all other aches and pains came to consciousness, haha.  At about KM 12, I thanked God I was more than halfway through.  I did not check out the race route so I was thinking this would be the same route as RU3 which was all flat, no flyovers.  Well, surprise, surprise! We had to cross 2 flyovers over Roxas Blvd.! When I saw that uphill, I seriously wanted to cry... don't ask me how I felt when I saw ANOTHER uphill.  HAHAHA.

Late Post: NB Power Run 2013 ++

Success! I conquered my longest distance yet since TBR's Dream Marathon in February 2013 and it was great! I finished within the time I wanted to which is 3 hours (2:59, hehe).  Looking forward to doing a better 25km next year.

Two races I registered for after Power Run:

1) Rescue Run 2013, which I didn't run since I didn't have a yaya whole week last week, which also explains the zero mileage.  Well, not really.  Did 3km last Tuesday as my recovery run but that's it.  Anyway, I registered just the same to serve as my donation for the typhoon victims.

2) Milo Marathon Finals 21km.  This will have a 2:30 cut off and, well, based on my Power Run (25km) and RU3 (21km) times, I should be able to make it.  We'll see.  Last race for the year! ;)

Workout Monday

Call my crazy but today I walked home from the gym.  I live in the Sta. Mesa/Manila area and the gym is in Xavier School, Greenhills.  Normally, I'd take a bus ride home which is the most convenient way.  That is, if the driver is unavailable for me to use.  I've always wanted to try walking because anyway according to the app Waze, I only live 2.6KMs away.  So in the gym, I did my long run (did not take note of the KMs anymore, just made sure to run 2 hours straight) and did some strength exercises after (lunges, squats, weights, push-ups, sit-ups, etc).

Gym selfie in between weighted squats.  Must work on those arms!

I finished at 11AM and told myself, okay, since there's no work and I'm in no rush, today, I will walk home.  From Xavier, I walked out to Ortigas Avenue and walked straight until I reached Santolan.  Turned in to M. Paterno - where I started to feel hunger pangs! Hahaha.  After all, I just had a peanut butter sandwich pre-run and 2 small bananas while running.  I stopped at a vendor to buy puto and was told, "Naku ma'am, sold out na po!" WHAT?! Ugh.  So I walked some more... and saw a buko vendor! I ordered a glass and was happy (even if that glass tasted more like water than buko.  Sad).  I reached N. Domingo and turned left and walked more... Until I reached Araneta Avenue, the bridge and was relieved.  Malapit na.

After 48 minutes, I finally reach home.  I'm glad I crossed that off my to-do list but will I do it again? Probably not - streets in the Manila simply do not encourage walking.  Plus, I'd die of pollution if I were to do this regularly.

Home sweet home :)

Run United 21km + NB Power Run

Initially I was challenging myself to train for a sub2 half-marathon but I realized along the way that it was a little too ambitious, at least at this point.  I still want to be able to do that but I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy and now is just too soon.  So, I came to this race with just one goal in mind: to finish better than my 21km PR - 2:32 (at Goldilocks Anniversary run, in 2011).  And I did, I I was able to finish at 2:28 which is 4 minutes faster than my PR, at Goldilocks... and 6 minutes faster than the last half-marathon at Condura Skyway just this year. 

For this race, I ran with Dan, a friend of a friend.  I just asked Sharl, my co-teacher, if her running friend is doing RU3.  She said yes and I said, can we run together (since he was also running alone).  So we did and it I think helped both parties a lot.  For him, it was helpful to run with someone who had a GPS watch so his pace could be consistent.  For me, it helped to know he was sort of depending on my to pace him and make sure he wouldn't go too fast, slow, etc.  Although we agreed to start together, we were both okay if either of us ended up leaving the other.  

Dan and I finished strong ;)

I was worried for this run because I skipped 2 weekends of long runs after the last I did which was only 19km.  Thank God for His mercy that allowed me to set a new PR! Dan and I ran together until about 17kms when the gap between the two of us just kept getting bigger and bigger... When I saw that I just had to run 3kms more, I decided to speed it up a bit.  Met Dan at the finish line, 4 minutes after I crossed.  Considering his last long run was only 10kms, not bad.  I was happy to set a PR and he was also happy he didn't cramp up (as was the case in RU2) and also set a PR.  

So I thought I was done running long for now, I decided I would register for only 10KM for New Balance PowerRun.  But when I got to their Shangri-la branch, I was told that they had run out of 10KM race kits! What to do.  They asked other branches and I was told that it was still available in some (but not branches convenient for me to go to, proximity-wise).  While at the NB store, I bumped into some friends who sort of cajoled me into doing 25km nalang.  When it comes to running, mabilis lang ako mapilit.  Hence, 25km it is.  Dan also registered so I won't have to run it alone ;) It's going to be in the Fort so I'm going to have to anticipate those hills! :S

Was planning on only 12kms tomorrow but since I registered for this run... I think I will have to increase that.  Lalalalala.

The things I get myself into.  #fortheloveofrunning

Crazy August

Have I seriously not written anything in a month?! August has been extremely busy.

Two bridal showers
...both from 6:00 PM until the next day - but of course I only stayed until the night! Cinderella ang peg ;)

One of two showers I attended this month.  Obviously the theme was The Great Gatsby ;)

I'm no fashionista so I get so stressed out with themed/costume parties, thank God for friends willing to lend me stuff!

CRUZ-MA NUPTIALS, the 2nd in our barkada of 12!

Girlfriends of over 10 years! <3 ...and the boys :)

Bride is the one in the center, in her beautiful Edwin Tan gown, turned short dress.
(One Esplanade)

Adrienne, my BFF who is home from New York (but leaving tomorrow, I cry) // Dianne // me in a gown made by a co-teacher/co-ICAN, Mia Syson <3

Eating out almost every weekend :O
...with the barkada since 3 of my friends based abroad were home for the said wedding.

Here's our first brunch with Aids who just arrived the night before ;) 

(Cafe Breton, Podium Mall)

Long runs.  
I've ran up to 16KMs already, 2 more weekends and my legs will be ready for the October 6 half-marathon! As for finishing it sub 2, that's another story.

Trying to lose more of the weight I put on in the pregnancy.  

September 2012 and August 2013

A difference of about 30-40 lbs.

I'm still about 10-15 lbs away from my goal.  I told myself, I will only register for Condura Skyway (42km) 2014 if I reach my goal weight by the time registration starts! Ughh how much time do I have? Maybe 1-2 months? :|

Checking papers, exams and finalizing grades
Of course, doing the teacher work I dread.  I mean, I love being in the classroom but the checking just takes so much time! Because I teach religion/Christian Life, most of our assessments are in essay form and handling 7 sections is not an easy feat! That's about 40students x 7sections = 280 papers to check! :p Phew.  And I am writing this entry because as of present time, I'm done with all papers to check and grades to finish! Praise God.

So, yes, life has been busy but it's been good.  Had some super duper stressful moments but never without God's Grace, so I survived.  But still...

I'm so glad August is over.

Milo 10km

This post is a little late but I just have to post this! I did my 2012-2013 PR for 10km in this run!!! HOORAY.

For this run, I wasn't with my usual running girls Van and Les (actually it's been awhile since we all ran together, haha).  Instead, I ran with Mishi who was kind enough to register for me.  We met up in the parking lot across SMX and walked to the starting line at around 4:45AM.  Gun start was at 5:00AM so, no rush.  For this run, I was targeting a time of 1:10 since my last 10KM in UP (just a week ago) was at 1:13.  So I thought shaving off 3 minutes would be an attainable goal.  I ran the first KM super relaxed (now I realize I could have ran it a bit faster to finish at a better time.  Yabang ba, haha) and sped up a bit at 3KM and kept going a little faster as each KM progressed.  I stopped to drink Gatorade at 5KM and then water at 7KM.  After that second water break, I tried to run a bit faster and went for a 5:45mins/KM at 8.5KM.  All that for a total time of 1:07! 6 minutes faster than the week before... and 3 minutes faster than the time I thought it would take for me to finish! :) :) :)

Praise God! Next race is not until RU3 so until then, it's train, train, train for me to get to that Sub2 goal!

Toby's Garage Sale

I've read about status updates on the Toby's garage sale in the past but never really had the chance to go.  Yesterday, I was chatting with co-teacher (and former teacher, hehe) Kat and she was raving about the sale.  She got to buy sneakers for only P1,200 (forgot the brand, though).  She specifically urged me to go because there were a lot of running shoes/apparel.  I had no idea where it was but her instructions seemed simple enough so Greg (driver) and I went this morning.

Seeing the photos on Toby's Facebook page, I just couldn't resist.
These were the photos that excited me:

 

(All photos above from the said FB page)

So anyway, I went during lunch time today to make sure there wouldn't be a lot of people.  It was still quite packed, though not enough people na tatamarin na ako mag shop.  I went mainly for the Moving Comfort sports bras since that was the only thing I needed.  HOWEVER, I could not resist the Brooks running shoes which were 65% off! What a steal, right? 

Para sa akin ata talaga ito, last pair in my size! For only P978.00! Original price at P2,700+.  Will use it for a relaxing run tomorrow to break in them.

My Moving Comfort bras at 50% off! If you're a girl runner, you should know that quality sports bras are just as important as running shoes! ;)

I also got a Brooks singlet at P340.00.  Other items I would have bought too if I had an endless budget: (1) another pair of Asics (good friend Van's Gel Nimbus (I think) was being sold at just P3,500 (I think she bought it at P7,500?)! (2) Vibram for 'wala lang' at P1,200 (3) Arena goggles (3) one-piece swimsuit

I just didn't want to spend that much today, plus didn't reaaaally need a new pair of shoes.  Hindi ko lang talaga natiis yung Brooks kasi sobrang mura! But the guard did say they would have another sale in 4 months... hmmm.  Maybe then? HAHA. 

Oh, to add to my shopping, the husband bought me new socks! ;) Not from the garage sale though.  These were bought in Nike Greenhills but ALSO on sale from P295.00 to P220+.

So, that's it for today's shopping.  And I'm probably also done for another few months (until the next Toby's sale?).  Funny how I have to think fashion buys over and over and over again... and how I don't mind wearing the same blouses and jeans twenty million times.  But when it comes to running (and Liam, of course but that's a given)? No second thoughts needed.  

Oh, the things I prioritize.  Hehe.

PS Will treat today's purchases as my reward for running my first 10km since TBRDM at 1:13, average pace 7:30/km (no walking/water break).  Still a lot of work to do to get to my 21km @ 2:00 but I think it's a good start.  Ready for Milo next weekend! :D