Safeguard-2XU Sole Racing: Completing the Trilogy

Safeguard-2XU Sole Racing goodies! Love them all! Thanks to Coach Rio, Ally, Dada and Mommy Vimz!

The long weekend went by so fast, I still want more time to rest. Coming from a Friday mid-shift work, I had to wake up very early Saturday (with only a couple of hours of shut eye) to meet the 7:30am call-time of an outreach activity (related to HP Run 2013 which I will blog separately). After hours of hard labor, I had to rush back to Glorietta, Makati to meet fellow blogger friends Rolly (Speedy Titan), CJ (Run Adobo King) and Thirdy. From there, it's going to be long ride to Nuvali, venue for the third and final leg of Safeguard and 2XU's Sole Racing. We opted for an overnight stay to get rid of the stress of travelling very early on race day. Besides, we only planned for a low-budget accommodation, and it's in Sogo Sta. Rosa! Haha!

After driving for 2 hours (long part of which we endured after exiting at Sta. Rosa SLEX exit), we went straight to Nuvali for dinner. We celebrated Rolly's birthday at Uncle Cheffy's, with pork ribs & rice, a pan of pizza, and a sampler of desserts! What a carboload party!

Happy birthday, Rolly!

We checked-in at the hotel around 8:30pm, freshened up, and readied our race gear for the next day's race.

Group shot at our room

I set my alarm for 12:00mn, as gun start is 4:00am and I normally eat my light breakfast 4 hours before any race. Problem is, I was tossing and turning, unable to get any decent sleep. Time was ticking. When the alarm sounded, I reset it to alarm 12:30am, still hoping I'd be able to take a nap but to no avail. Defeated, I just got up, had my breakfast and then showered, all while my companions were sound asleep.

At 2:45am, everyone was all set, so we were off.

Ready (but sleepy)

After a few minutes ride, we parked near the race venue. It was time for some warm-up and I was wishing this time that my Soleus GPS watch would lock a signal, but it still failed. So again, I will not have any chance of tracking my per-kilometer performance. Sigh.

Calf compressions FAIL! Hahaha!

There was no need to rush to the assembly area because as always, this race is as intimate as it could get. Runners who joined are the more "seasoned" ones.

By the way, days before the event, there was an announcement of the "Fastest Five Challenge", a winner-take-all competition. The grand prize? An all-expense paid trip to Cebu with accommodations and a free pass to the Cebu Marathon 2014! Rolly wanted to join so we formed a group of five bloggers. It wouldn't hurt to try anyway. And so TEAM BLOGGERS was formed, with the following members:

Allan - Running Free Manila

Bee - Kamote Runner

Noel - Deemen Runner

Rolly - Speedy Titan

Vener - Run Unlimited

The 21k Race Route

I was not expecting the race route to be that tough! Hats off to TBRDM participants doing this 21k route in two loops! It was crazy uphills and downhills which seemed to never end! Not to mention the dizzying final kilometers which twisted and turned and were just mentally draining. But don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the route, what with the favorable weather and ice-cold hydration all throughout.

I did sub-2 finishes during leg 1 and leg 2, so I was expecting one on the final leg as well. However, I failed to meet this target, perhaps due to the lack of sleep, perhaps due to the killer uphells which definitely slowed me down, perhaps due to an all-cement course. The list goes on and on; I will never run out of excuses. Hahaha! Yet 2:04 is still a decent time. I'd take it.

That tired face. (Photo courtesy of Running Photographers)

Captured finish line moment (photo courtesy of Mang Ernie's Photography)

Of course, after the race it was time again for lots of photos with running friends.

With Rolly, Allan and Hendy

Group shot courtesy of Wesley Oraña - Team Titans, Team Alpha1, Six:30, TPPB, Team Ponkan represent!

With the bloggers at the Safeguard Photo Wall

Team Bloggers!

We stayed at the event activity area to watch the awarding of winners and the raffle. Team Cebu Runners bagged the Fastest Five win with an average time of 1:41. Boy, they were fast! Congratulations to them!

The Activity Area

Bonding with the fellow bloggers continued until breakfast.

At Conti's Nuvali

Sending off Ibet - he is joining the ING NYM! I'm green with envy! Good luck, Ibet!

After a tiring run, we were back at the hotel and I was able to get a decent 2-hour, uninterrupted sleep, ready to drive again back to Manila.

A quick break at KFC SLEX

Hope Safeguard and 2XU stage another trilogy race next year!