Last Sunday, I joined this 42km event in Nueva Vizcaya, the highlight of which was to summit Mt. Ugo. It was a refreshing change of pace from the usual weekend spent in Metro Manila. If you would ask me, the 9 hour trip was worth it : everything is clean- the trails especially.  It’s as if the farther you are from the Metro, the nearer you are to paradise. Course Map This is the first time I have seen a tree like this in Luzon This is the view from the starting line. Can you imagine how cold it is in the summit ? Let’s get ready to rumble. View from the trail at sunrise What else can I say ? Henry having a hard time accepting we have to pass this route twice. This is where we got lost earlier The summit, finally! For a brief moment, the sun decided to show itself. Finished! … Excited for my next trail   This one is perfect. The route wasn’t so difficult, the trails are 90% runnable even when wet. For the aid stations, they contain exactly what a trail runner needs : softdrinks, natural spring water from the mountain itself, bread, chocolate, biscuits and electrolyte drinks.   Well, too bad .. bandits aren’t allowed in this race. Maybe next time, they should register early. As with any adrenaline related activity, equipment and apparel are important. I don’t think I would have enjoyed the run as much if i had used any other shoe. This is my first time to use lightweight shoes in an actual race – and the thing is ,  I haven’t actually ran in this pair before.  So imagine how happy I am when instead of giving me problems , it...

This morning, I ran 20k in the rain, by now I guess you know how refreshing that feels :). Anyway, it has been a two week rest after QCIM –it seems that I have almost recovered from my injuries  – this means that I could start increasing my mileage again, (finally).   QCIM Let’s get ready to rumble …. This is the third edition of the Quezon City International Marathon – I am happy to be a participant in all three events. I think this is the first time when it actually rained on this race.  I had doubts at first if I can complete this edition since my left foot is still swollen from the  trail run (CM50) which I joined the week before – imagine running the entire 42k with swollen feet. Finished this one in 5:27 – I had to since we were pacing for 5:30   Clark to Mayamit Falls 50 Miler Happy thoughts before the race … As I’ve said .. painful but fun   This is the first edition of this trail race ( I joined the shorter 60km edition) , and boy was I glad to have joined it! If you would ask me, there are two races here that you should include in your bucket list : Bataan Death March and this one (in no particular order).  I would describe this one as “masarap na masakit”. This is the first time that I injured my hamstring, finished with swollen feet and got lost many times. I reached the finish line way after cut-off.  This is also the first time that I have experienced eating gourmet pasta in the middle of the race – ha! Ang sarrrrap! In a nutshell, the best local trail race that I...

Before I even started running , I have already summited several of our country’s mountains. So whenever there is a trail run on the race calendar, I really try my best to participate in it. The North Face trail run in Nuvali is one of the best trail runs I have ever joined due to the following : Cheap registration fee. Near Metro Manila (no need to bring a tent or get a hotel room) Shuttle Service was provided (although I didn’t avail of this service) Nice race distance – although it would’ve been better if they had a 50k category  (something to look forward to in TNF Baguio) Ample water stations Lots of marshalls TNF and PUR really did a great job with this one; the trail wasn’t that difficult but it gave people like me who haven’t hit the trail in quite a long time just the right dose of endorphins Congratulations to TNF and PUR for a job well done.   The 22k starting line. The race started at 5:45 am instead of 5:15. The Dawn Blue Skies (Road) signs of the times George of Team Hardcore – he covered more than 22KM as he was running back and forth the trail. IDOL!!! Nice view! Never mind the runner, hehehe This pair used to be color gray …. The second river crossing – view from the top Nice stairs There were a few of these rock formations along the trail … I miss...

2009 was a good running year for me … I have joined a lot of races and have completed 2 full marathons before my 1st year running anniversary – a feat that I thought wasn’t possible due to the corporate-sponsored stress which was given to me for free. .. and what better way to end it than to run two half marathons (NB and Philstar), an unplanned trail run and the Rizal day 32km run. Happy new...

May 24, 2009 Sacobia, Pampanga Crashed at 2000H when we got back to the tent in Clearwater after buying “dinner” in Parkson Duty Free (having had zero sleep from the birthday party I attended the night before) and woke up at around 0100H on Sunday. Tried to sleep for awhile, but hit the shower when I realized it was already 0330H. There was more than one person running on the trail that day, and there was only one bathroom to be used. Tights, shorts, singlet, Redrock purse, my beloved Adidas road shoes, which almost made me laugh when I remembered the post I’ve written around the same time last year. I swore that after the first trail running experience last year, I will never go trail running without the proper gear anymore. That morning, I only had one thought–one I learned the hard way: when all else fails: be one with the mud! The organizers wasted no time in starting the race promptly but there was a bit of a trouble when runners got “clogged” on the way down to the start of the trail. Someone even commented: “hanggang dito ba naman traffic?” and some laughed. Just about the right amount of good humor to start the race right   Runners Ready To Get On The Trail I was already holding a Powerade bottle but decided to get water just in case I’d need it. Running on lahar and river crossing was of course, part of the entire challenge so the first thing I did when we got down to the trail was take pictures! Hehe! It’s not everyday that I get to experience it, anyway.                                     ...

I woke up at around 4:00 am, did my usual morning routine and at about 4:45, I was already walking on my way to the base camp where I would be running my first 20k trail run. As initially planned, I would run this race on a slow, easy pace. (No thanks to my wet shoes) After the gun went off at 5:30, we ran about a kilometer of road before we entered the trail proper. There was a long queue of people awaiting their turn to start from the slight downhill slope before we could enter the lahar-filled bottom of the Sacobia river. During the first part of the race, I slowed down and grabbed my camera phone so that I could take pictures of the other runners while everyone was still “clean”. As I have always said before, at the end of any trail encounter, we would all have the same shoe color: muddy brown!       As we approached the first part of the river, I was happy with my shoes (I would’ve been happier if they were dry to begin with) because the water have not penetrated my Gore-Tex shoes. I was thinking how difficult it would be later on for those runners wearing regular (read: breathable) running shoes since I am sure that at this point, their feet would all be wet. Some of the runners were cautious while most of them ran along the wet riverbed with gusto, as if playing in the flooded streets of Metro Manila! I thought to myself: “Now that’s the spirit”. I rejoiced too soon: later, I have reached the part of the river that was about 6 inches deep and way higher than my shoes. You see, the thing about Gore-Tex...