IE8 | 8 MilesI remember last year when a runner colleague of mine reported for work with colds. He told me that he got it from participating in  a road race the day before. He quipped : “You see the race pushed thru even if it was raining like hell”. Back then, I couldn’t understand why would someone do such a thing. Last Sunday, I got my answer. I woke up at 5:00 am – “I’m gonna be late!” (I thought the race would start at 5:30) I asked myself, now why would I want to run today ? I have a deadline and I still need to report to work later and it’s raining outside-I would just end up getting wet … then I realized that even if it wasn’t raining ,  i’d get wet anyway, and besides … I haven’t experienced how it feels to run in the rain yet. The way I see it, if there will be only a few runners today, then I would have a better chance of winning that laptop. Before I knew it, I was already in the parking area near the starting line of the IE8 race. This is a well-organized race : THis is the first time that I saw sponges in a short distance race. There were  lots of food and even cheer leaders in the aid-station .. talk about feeling like a pro! But wait … that’s not all: they even gave out coke in the last aid-station at the foot of the Kalayaan flyover! I finished running 13.4Km (I was also suprised at the distance) at 1:23 on my watch. My shoes were wet but what the hell, nothing beats running in the rain! In a nut-shell, I would give...

After what I have experienced with the previous race, I didn’t  have high expectations for this race. I woke up at around 4 and arrived at  Market! Market!  at around 5 am. It was the usual race day. I wore my shoes in the parking area and did some stretching; got in the mall to use the rest room and there I was,  waiting for the 10-miler to start. For the first time after a couple of races, this race started on time (thank God). The only other race which I could remember that started on time was the Condura 21k. Most races should be organized like this one: It started on time Lots of road marshals (so that no one gets lost) Lots of cold water (and cups) Powerade at the finish line I reached the finish line with a time of 1:41 (unofficial). It’s really difficult to set PRs if you don’t train-I’m just thankful that I still get the chance to run on weekends. Congratulations to the organizer for making this such a happy running experience for me. Image from...

Running is addictive … once you start, you just want to keep on increasing your dose. I remembered running my first race which was a 10k during last year’s VSO held at the fort.  After a few 10ks I ran my 1st 15k during Asian Hospital’s Run New and then my 1st half-marathon which was the Condura Race. I was actually planning back then on making Botak my first full marathon. Lucky for me, I had so many deadlines at work that I had to forego of that plan and instead registered for the half-marathon.  Had I been stubborn and pushed through with it, last Sunday’s run would have been a very painful memory. Me and my friend Ian weren’t expecting PRs for this race as I didn’t have enough time to train (my weekly mileage went  down from 38 to 0 after pacing for our friend Isko in BDM 102) and Ian is under the weather. So, we decided to aim for a finish somewhere between 2:15 and 2:30. We were able to finish it with 2:29:29 on my watch. Observations : There was a water truck in the Kalayaan flyover.  Sweet! Excellent singlets. I don’t  wear singlets anymore but I have to make an exception in this case. Lots of Gatorade at the finish line. There was also an awesome band at the finish line. The race started late.  It started at 6:00 am. Starting a 21k race during the summer months in the Philippines is not cool (literally). There were not enough water cups in the aid stations ; luckily I brought a disposable hand-held water bottle with me which I conveniently refilled whenever I reach an aid station. Since this race involves a lot of “turn-arounds”; they should have added...

      After almost half a year and four months of no physical activity due to my foot injury, but now I’m back.   At some point, my foot did start to hurt but whenever I asked myself the question: do I stop? The answer has to be NO. I’m gonna have to update this entry again later, but I thought it would be fun to post some goofing around after the race…   Find out how Kuya Eugene and Kuya Ian (being a bit “under the weather” cos of flu) finished their half marathon. Har de har har 😀  Music definitely played a large part in making me a bit more relaxed while I waited for them at the finish line! One of the hosts was right…it’s like Woodstock in a race event. I can’t remember who the musicians were but they definitely kicked ass playing their instruments! Definitely loved the one below....