Blue Review

Katipunan Flyover was not that hard to traverse naman pala eh.

This was one of the realizations I had after a nice training run with coach Al Neri at the Big Blue Run 2. Since I am preparing for my revenge for Condura Full Mary, all of my races now are training runs, all Sundays are Long Runs Sundays.

I've been a practicing a concept mentioned by Coach Ige Lopez during our Mizuno Run Clinics way back last year that we should have a good night's rest 2 nights before a major race (in our case, Friday night) to ensure a well-rested athlete come race day.

Last Friday, I was not able to do that as I attended a college barkada reunion of some sort, AND I still have to go to work the following Saturday, I am so sure I wouldn't have enough rest for the race on Sunday. In my mind, I was doomed!

The previous week, I also joined a fun run (take note! races below 42K are not marathons, they are FUN RUNS, or Training Runs, or for some Fartleks hahaha), and with this race, I've had enough rest Friday AND Saturday, my 10K time was 1 hour and 12 minutes!

Saturday was a dragging day at the office too, and having little time to rest that night, I made a mental note to ensure that I hydrate properly (I actually consumed 1.5L of gatorade in almost one sitting!) Sobrang doomed, I said to myself. The previous week, I almost had another ITBS attack when I was running along Heritage, so I said to myself not to rush into things, and that this race is a TRAINING LONG RUN (i intend to add a few more rounds after the race, FYI, baka sabihin nyo, 10K is not a long run hahaha).

So, ok na diba. i went to bed (or should i say sofa?) around 10pm to give me enough time to sleep. Coach Al and I had decided to meet at 430am to start with the warm up rounds inside the campus before the race starts at 530am but lo and behold, I woke up past 4am na (despite my alarm clock's texts and missed calls, di ako nagising ng 330 to prepare my stuff for the race).

so ayun. i know malapit lang, and that it's not going to be as crowded as Fort or MOA, so ok lang. I met up with coach Al near the starting line to get my bib and did a little warm up (things i've learned from Day 1 of the Adination in UP) and waited for the gun start. Knowing that this is a training run, mentally noted that my pace would, ideally be 7ish lang. lo and behold, as we were traversing the stretch of Katipunan, we reached a peak pace of 550ish. so much for a long run pace huh.

the weather actually contributed a lot to my improved performance from last week. yesterday's atmosphere was actually very cool. you can already feel that Christmas is near! it took me some time to start perspiring pa nga eh, hahaha. the whole time we were running, it was cloudy. no need for shades, pero for a cap/visor, needed para sa pawis and iwas itim-batok.

towards the last u-turn going back to katipunan, i felt that i was already running a suka-pace. (i have this weird tendency to pinpoint how "fast" i am without the use of a garmin by my breathing, or if i can still chat with my fellow pacemates, or worse, if i feel im going at a "puking-anytime-soon" pace. since this was considered a long run, i decided to slow down a bit and let my pace mates go ahead (at that point i think we were already at the 5:50ish pace).

to cut the story short, I enjoyed the race.

BLUE POINTS
- konting tao (kasi most were either in MOA or Fort)
- homecoming (I'm a True-Blue, you know)
- good weather (not that the organizer can do anything about it, maganda lang talaga ung weather)
- enough hydration (ice cold water or 100 Plus) very good
- route was secured by QC police (may nagalit pa ngang babae eh, eh it was super aga pa, nag iinit na ulo agad)
- mostly flat, with a little rolling plains and Katipunan Flyover
- no Kenyans

GREEN POINTS
- route was short (9.3K as per people with garmin)
- loot bag was only 1 oatmeal cookie from Banapple (pero yummy)
- no Kenyans, but there were a few elites who ran this race (sayang kasi if you're one of the "non-pro" runners, and wanted to run super fast and try to win it, sorry ka, may elites eh)

also, this race was the break-in run for my K-ona  (and Coach Al's Inspire 6). No prior runs to this race. all the while i thought the good reviews from those who have a pair of K-onas were just all marketing ploy, it was not. the shoe was light but not too thin sa forefoot. Enough cushioning all through out the race, and most specially during the post race additional mileage. medial support was just right. it was not pushing against my arches, sakto lang. sarap sha gamitin.

choosing between YELLOW or BLUE. eventually went for my first love.

they said don't use anything new on race day. this one is an exception :)

now i know how it feels.

i haven't been able to blog as much as i used to.

nope. it's not because i don't want to, it's more of, there's nothing much to write much about.

no new "thoughts" have pushed me to excitement to write again. well, not until super recently.

since the inception of project training wheels, i wanted to try if i can be confident enough to ride on the highways. initially, i just wanted to roam around UP's acad oval and velodrome, and the usual BHS run route, but if i would be joining a bike race, much more a triathlon event, i must be able to have enough confidence to ride alongside trucks, jeeps, and other road menaces in order to test my mettle.

since the team had their long ride at daang hari & daang reyna a few weeks ago and a jala jala easy ride a weekend ago, i was so jealous because i was not able to join them due to work on saturdays :(

so, when i found out that captain erick guieb planned another jala jala ride, i wanted to make sure that would be able to join them this time. i even decided to skip swim training thursday night to make sure that i would be able to wake up early the following day.

for some weird reason, i was not able to wake up according to schedule. (so what's new?) and if not for some teammates' (thanks dasher, marvs, karen, emil) unending calls, i wouldn't have been able to wake up and eventually ride with the team.

without further ado, here are some of the pics i had during the long ride.
(i would like to say thanks to doc marvs for the pics, lalo na the action shots which he did either while 
a. biking with one hand on the highway or b. driving rico's SUV while still on the highway).

ellen: tim, akalain mo yun, after 26+ years, natuto din tayo mag bike? 

and now, andito tayo in the middle of this beautiful place riding.

me: (i couldn't agree less)

  one of the pic stops we had during the long ride.

as compared to the last time i rode with the group, 

i DIDN'T kiss the floor this time :)

from being a kenkoy runner, now a kenkoy biker

tootee running after a more experienced phumba

the team at the nearing the turn-around point.

another pic stop. so what's new?

the group almost decided to eat lunch here 

(buti na lang nag adik sila at hindi na dito kumain)

kenkoy biker seriously out to get them.

sinong THEM?

mga truck drivers na humaharurot after ka i-overtake, 

sabay bomba ng gas = todo usok

 

three words kept ringing in my ear: GO GO IRONMAN! GO GO IRONMAN!

(thanks to Commish Rico for the cheers and push literal as the support van passed by me)

after a few more kilometers from the last pic stop, 

the group decided to stop and eat lunch finally.

tootee needs his break, and KR needs to eat.

maaawa na kayo sa long ride virgin, 

hindi pa yan nag agahan para lang umabot sa 

long fun ride ng team kaya ganyan ang itsura nyan.

the team couldn't endure it anymore, we were all famished with the long but fun ride.

what else to finish the long ride with a nakabubusog pero cheap na lunch at kainan sa

after having lunch, the team trooped back to DPWH Morong where we all parked our vehicles and then called it a day. it was a fun ride, given that i only have been riding for 3 months, literally. 

as i was driving on my way home, i  thought to myself that this might have been the graduation rites for Project Training Wheels.  (or should it be a century ride?)

for now, i am happy i've had this chance to ride long and safe and i arrived home in one piece. no untoward incidents that day, except for marvz' double flat (which in a way turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he was able to test ride jonas' tri-bike [bagay talaga sayo yun marvz, ehehhe].

ganun pala ang feeling ng mag bike sa main roads/ highways.

unlike running where you can just stop when you think that the rude drivers are getting the better of you, in biking, you have to be a little bit more "understanding" primarily because, one wrong move and you're dead, figuratively and hopefully not literally. 

ibang feeling as compared to when you're the one in the confines of your vehicle. while biking along the road, you'd realize again you're just flesh and bone (and metal alloy/carbon, etc) and one mistake can be very fatal.

scary. but enjoyable.

i didn't even feel the heat as much as i would normally do when running under those conditions.

ang sarap and ang saya!

 until the next ride...

ayot? APIR!

timmy wanted to TRI

last weekend,  some of my friends had their animo sprint simulation. i thought to myself, since i know how to swim, i know how to run, and fairly able to ride the bike in a way, i decided to join them too! :)
the last time i swam was 2 years ago, i decided to take things easily and just go with the flow. if i can perform better, then go. if my body tells me to chillax and take things slowly, then so be it :)

since medyo tinatamad akong mag sulat, here are some of the images from the event ;)

my borrowed MTB from RJ (thanks RJ!) my helmet, and my mizuno wave elixirs

 

 before the simulation started, everyone was still smiling

ang lamig! :) 

feeling the water first before seriously trying to swim again :)

then things got more serious. everyone became a tubig-mamaw

 the "newbie" swimmer taking a break from all the seriousness everyone was in.

(pero seriously, i tried not to stop)

in the middle of the serious swims, others were able to make funny moments while training

from originally being a kenkoy runner...

 transitioning to ....

a kenkoy biker! :)

sabi nila, maling direction daw ako 

(feeling ko ito ung part na  i got lost, sumobra ata sa atat mag bike!)

kenkoy biker gets serious ha :)

everything was going smoothly until we learned that raff had an accident

check out the damage to the gwapo bike :(

after finding out that raff was ok, we all went back to our regular programming (swim galore!)

langoy pa rin kahit umuulan! :)

next stop...

Ellen's Bike Shopping! :)

project training wheels

project training wheels day 2.

this session egged us to have 2 things with us.
1. own helmet  (for our own protection) and
2. cycling/biking shorts (with butt pads) to eliminate the sore butt after effects

so far, ellen & i were able to accomplish item #1

project training wheels class picture

ellen (with rudy), timmy (with spyder), carins (specialized), raff (giro), karen (bell)

second row: brando, chelly, cindy, tracy

go go power rangers?

unfortunately, we weren't able to accomplish item #2 as ellen was busy winning 2nd place overall at the recently concluded Camaya Coast Aquathlon

 team secondwind's JC Pineda taking 1st, while team endure's Ellen Encinares taking the 2nd spot

initially we planned to get bike shorts at the nearby bike stores in BHS, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, ubos yung size for ellen, and wala silang cycling shorts with padding for me.

for this session, we had a new classmate

coach pio with new classmate, master cindy

and new assistant coaches

"coach" raffger

"coach" karen

other bikers/ spectators were also present, namely carina, tracy, wilnar, and chelly the belly. brando also dropped by to take the photos (all photos in this blog entry were taken by brando, except the camaya pics).

this session's main goal was to help us gain more confidence in riding the bike, and at the same time, have practice riding on our own.

another special session we had that day was how to change/ remove tires
this was a concern raised before, specially for those who don't have a big car that would fit the bike.

coach pio teaching us how to remove the rear wheel (ndi sha flat ha, nag tuturo lang talagang mag palit ng gulong) hahaha

some more pics from the second session

the "kilabot" ng kolehiyala doing tricks

the master is back!

student bikers on the loose!

as the day progressed, we tried riding the road bike

after the day's session, we had the usual class pictures

after dinner on our way back to the parking lot, our beloved coach was approached by an old lady asking him what happened to him. all the while we thought that coach pio knew this lady who asked him, but no, she was a complete stranger! :) hahahaha :) ibang level talaga si coach.

one last class picture.

as per coach pio, the next step is to GET the BIKE!