Nuvali to Tagaytay LSD with Team SCR

Wow! Finally some time to blog! Not a surprise when I saw that my latest post was from April 20. The whole month of May passed by without me getting in Blogger! And now the most dreaded part of anyone who blogs - catching up with backlogs! I'll try my best to burn those backlogs today, so posts will be shorter, but still lots of photos. Hehe!

24th of March I joined Team SCR on their LSD from Nuvali to Tagaytay. They are celebrating their 2nd anniversary as a running group. These guys rock! I may not be a member of their team but they were warm and accommodating; such a friendly bunch of runners.

Me and Prof Syril resting in front of Rowena's Tagaytay

Overlooking Taal 

KM 60?!?! Hahahaha!

After the tiring 27km LSD it was time for the celebration. Food and drinks were overflowing! Each one introduced himself/herself by giving a word (using the first letter of the name) which best describes him/her. Since I was a new face to most people in the group, I chose "newbie" haha!

And now to the photos (which were courtesy of Ikasam's DSLR and Jeff's GoPro):

CHEERS! To more years running together, Team SCR!

Sub-2 Pacer Duty (A Success!) at Run United Leg 1

Aaargh! Another late blog post. Thank God for a non-working holiday, I finally was able to open my blog site again and burn some backlogs. I've been looking forward to sharing my RU1 race experience for quite some time now.

March 13 - Race Kit Claiming:
Much controversy surrounded this year's leg 1 of Run United, with the introduction of prepaid cards as part of the registration process. Well as for me, I did an online registration the very first day registration opened, so I didn't have to go through queuing for the prepaid card purchase. Prepaid cards, especially of the 21km category, was sold out in record time, with a lot of speculations that scalpers hoarded them and selling them at much higher prices. There were some runners who took it against Coach Rio and the organizers of RU1 unfortunately. I think it's quite unfair though, to blame organizers when the intent was good for the prepaid card system - for runners to input their complete registration details at the comfort of their own homes, and for proper tracking of the singlet and finisher shirt demand and supply. Again, runners only have themselves to blame - if no one would support these scalpers, they wouldn't thrive anyway.

Race kit claiming was slated from March 13 to 15 at Mall of Asia. After attending a shoe launch at Glorietta, I was accompanied to MoA by Run Adobo King CJ and Speedy Titan Rolly. What greeted us was a very, very long line. With thousands of registrants, I kinda expected this. Fortunate for us though, fellow runner Syril was already in queue and he offered getting our confirmation slips so he could claim our kits together with his. Such luck!

Selfie with the snake-like lines at the background

Runner Newbie Wannabe Photo - presenting the 21k race map! Lol!

Finally getting our kits after the long wait

Race kit! I'm runner #8667!

March 16 - Race Day:
With my crazy Team Banana teammates' idea to wear a uniform on race day, I borrowed a Team Ninoy cycling shirt from Boss Raphie a couple of days before the race. I was not sure if the top will be a comfortable fit, but I borrowed it anyway. RU1 will be sort of a newbie-type race - me wearing a lot of new running gear - my new Garmin FR220, new Asics Kayano 20 shoes, new 2XU 3/4 compressions tights, and a newly-borrowed top! Haha!

I was at the venue early, so as not to get stressed with parking, and one by one, my teammates arrived. Such fun seeing us donning the yellow shirt (as yellow as a banana could be), and of course we wouldn't miss to grab some photos before heading to the race assembly area.

From L-R: Mark Runner, Beck Runner, Ikasam, Chef Lloyd, Mervin, Prof Syril, me

We were way at the back of the pack in the 21k assembly area, and found out runners will be released in two waves (obviously we were in Wave 2).

Photo courtesy of Tong Pascua. Team Yellow!

Initial discussion that we had, we will run together with a target sub-2, but will be grouped in pairs - Wyatt and Ikasam, Syril and Lloyd, me and Becky. Imagine 6 runners running as a group until finish line.

However all that changed as the race started. With the sheer number of runners, we were zigzagging our way to overtake runners left and right. It was energy-consuming and you could easily lose the person you are running with. I stuck with the plan of pacing Becky though, even when Syril and Wyatt sped off to do their normal race pace. I can sense Becky is on peak condition and will grab the sub-2 target.

Run United 1 2014 21k race route

I tried my best to be a strict pacer, watching Becky's running form, reminding him not to shout back to runners greeting him along the way, pushing him to lessen his walk breaks at hydration stations and asking him just to take sips instead of consuming entire cups of water and Gatorade. He also keeps on looking at his own GPS watch, something I don't approve, as I want to remove the pressure from him by being the one to monitor our run time. At the race mid-point, we were very much on track with our target, with some buffer to relax.

Thanks Sir Art Mendoza for this shot at one of the Gatorade hydration stations

As the final 3 kilometers approached, it became tougher as we were running with runners from all categories. There were a lot of walkers and selfie runners who just can't follow basic running etiquette. It was like the start of the race all over again as we zigzagged our way to the final stretch. At the last hydration station, I asked Becky if he wants to stop and he answered no. We sped off and reached the final U-turn point on the way to the finish line.

It was a photo finish - we clocked in with a chip time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 52 seconds. My sub-2 pacer duty is a success! Great job to Becky for keeping up with the pace!

Almost at the finish! Photo courtesy of I Love to do this

After the race, of course it's time to hang out and meet fellow runners and finishers at the race village.

With the Runner Mamaws - Ralph, Mervin, Ikasam, Wyatt, Syril, JP, Cholo, Pat, Archie (Photo courtesy of JP)

With Syril, Rolly, Vincent, Ryan and JP (Photo courtesy of JP)

So sad we didn't have a complete group shot. Team Banana in all our yellow glory - Becky, Ikasam, Wyatt, Syril, Lloyd, Mervin. Missing Team Banana Members in RU1: Raphie, Goldi, Mark Mark

Breakfast time with Ryan, Hazielle, Rolly, Joey, Jake and Flip at Mang Inasal

A couple of days after, race results were released. I'm a bit disappointed though that they only released ranking based on gun time. I'm not really sure how difficult it is to generate another set of results based on chip time, which is only fair for a race with waves.

Well, I just generated one on my own using my MS Excel skills. Haha! So it turned out my 506th ranking in gun time is way lower than my chip time ranking which is 379th! Out of 4717 21k finishers, that's really something.

I can't wait for leg 2 this coming June 1! It's another Afroman distance to conquer! Congratulations and thanks to Unilab Active Health and Runrio for helping us runners again to exceed ourselves!

BDM 102 2014: Reporting for (Support) Duty!

It's always flattering to be invited to be part of an ultrarunner's support crew. It only means you're someone trust-worthy enough to take care of the runner's needs during the entire long distance event.

Supporting in Bataan Death March (BDM) 102km is not new to me as I've already supported last 2012 when my Team Alpha1 teammate Eugene embarked on his longest distance run yet. (He placed 2nd runner up by the way and you could read about that in my BDM 102 2012 blog post.)

Now being part of a new running team of ultramarathon addicts (Team Banana), I was already expecting requests for support as this year's BDM neared. Both Syril (Prof) and Wyatt (Bokidol) kept asking if I could be part of their support crew, and I kept asking them back of their concrete plans and strategies of which they did not have a ready answer. I remember when I supported Eugene two years ago, we had a number of meetings to really prepare ourselves for the big day, so I was kinda expecting the same. No planning sessions occurred, and I don't think someone even bothered attending the runners' briefing. Haha!

As race day neared it was still not clear to me whether I would support Sy or Wy, who is bringing a car, who will support who. I guess with their experience in their previous ultramarathon events it was more of "bahala na" mode. Little did they know that Bald Runner events are different, with strict guidelines and rules to follow, so a lot of preparations are vital.

March 1 came, a Saturday. Our rendezvous point was at Starbucks 6750, Makati. I did some shopping for some supplies before going there, as I had no idea what Syril or Wyatt brought with them. Compared to my experience previously where we stayed overnight at Mariveles, this time we met 4pm in the afternoon and planned to travel for about 5 hours to KM0, just in time for the 10pm race start. A little risky if you ask me, but we arrived there anyway, and we were greeted with a long queue at the runner's check-in counter.

Syril was not even wearing his shoes yet, we still did not have any ice, and time was ticking. Good thing support car #2 (Wyatt's) already had some tube ice available, so we split whatever they had into two, hoping that somewhere along the way we will be able to buy more ice.

So the support split was set:
- WYATT'S SUPPORT TEAM - Beck-beck, Raphie and Ikasam + 1 driver
- SYRIL'S SUPPORT TEAM - Me and Mervin + 2 drivers

Support Vehicles all geared up!

We went ahead to KM7, the first legal stop of runners after traversing the crazy, zigzag inclined road. As usual the festive mood was very prominent at this location as this is the area where almost all support cars converged and you get to see the early frontrunners of the race.

Our support cars, while leapfrogging, often meet whenever we park for our next stop, as Syril and Wyatt almost have the same pace, and they were just a few hundred meters apart. Wait times would usually be a time for chat, eating and of course cheering other runners on as they pass by. Oh and I forgot, taking pictures too!

Our runners posing for the camera = Wasted time LOL!

Eventually Syril caught up with Wyatt (with a corresponding epic set of tantrums which unfortunately Mervin and I failed to witness) so they instantly became pace buddies. Good timing as well as another Team SCR runner, Jaylord, needs replacement support (as his support car had some issues).

Mervin and I then became the support crew of two runners. As the sun started to rise, our 4km leapfrog strategy started to decrease to 3 to 2.5 to 2. Syril would alternate water and Gatorade as hydration on every stop, while Wyatt will clap his hands in anticipation whenever we approach him with an ice-cold Coke. Sy's source of energy would be Flat Tops or M&Ms, though I don't remember Wyatt consuming any solid food except for one stop wherein they both had a bite of California Maki.

Kilometer after kilometer our runners endured, even with the sweltering heat of the sun finally taking its toll on their bodies. The cold water spray and sponges really came in handy as every stop we needed to lower their temperature. At this point, I can't help but pity them as we could really see how they struggled to run in the heat of the sun. Stops and rests became longer. Mervs and I still managed to push them though to keep going, even though Wy and Sy already lost hope to bag the GOLD medal (finishers under 13 hours).

My favorite water spray! Wyatt and Syril still managed to strike a pose while suffering haha!

As we approached the final couple kilometers, I can't help but feel nostalgic - the feeling of meeting the runner you supported as he crosses the finish line, successful in his 102 kilometer journey. Supporting Eugene before and knowing he was 2nd runner-up, and now meeting both Wy and Sy as they finished strong, is a comparable, triumphant moment.

Wy and Sy placed 33rd and 34th respectively, among 300 runners and 253 official finishers, with a time of 13 hours and 38 minutes. I was there to capture their finish line moment, proud to be part of their support team.

Red Top, Yellow Legs and Yellow Top, Red Legs! Haha! Wy and Sy on their finish line moment

KM102 is a place for meet and greet, congratulating other BDM 102 warriors and finishers. And as you may already know, I have the photos to prove it.

Wattaface Prof! Also met JP who finished in 13:22! Almost hit the gold!

I had to have my photo taken with two of my running idols. Congratulations Syril and Wyatt! Thank you for trusting us to be part of your support team!

Post-race meal at Razon's

After having breakfast, we went back to the finish line area to meet more race finishers as the race cut-off approached.

Top-left: Prof and the ever-covered Archie
Top-right: Birthday Girl Jie and Ate She
Bottom-left: Confused and disoriented Loyce haha!
Bottom-right: BDM Grand Slam Queen Sheryll and Tong

Side-story: We were all wondering where our Team Banana teammate Mark Mark was. While we were anticipating his arrival at the finish line, the other support car (with Beck-beck, Ikasam, and Wyatt) was at KM95 also waiting for him to pass by. Mervin and I were discussing he might not make it to cut-off time, and were already feeling disappointed on the thought of Mark Mark not finishing the race. Funny thing is, those were worthless worries, as Mark Mark was just inside the KM102 hall resting! He also finished within the SILVER medal group. So all's well that ends well.

Mark Mark: Lost and Found

Team Banana has a lot to celebrate and be thankful for. Before heading home, we stopped by Jollibee NLEX for some BDM chit-chat (and reminiscing Prof's tantrums, LOL!).

A week later, the team had a "formal" celebration at Gerry's Grill. A few bottles of beer became legal. Thanks for Wy and Sy's treat!

Next year, I'm sure they will be eyeing that grand slam prize (BDM160 and BDM102). Haven't experienced supporting in 160 yet so I'm sure it'll be fun. I'm also contemplating on running 102, but we'll see.

Again, congratulations to Wyatt and Syril - BDM102 warriors! Let me end this blog post with their Facebook thank you messages, which made supporting them even more worth it.

Leveling Up to Ultramarathon: 60km at LU2TA

I often mention to running friends I'll never venture into race events beyond 42km. I ate my own words last February 9 when I ran my very first ultramarathon - not just 50km mind you. It's a 60km event - LU2TA, from Luneta to Tagaytay, hence the tagline "City to the Sky". Well what it became in actuality is a 63km event - started at Rajah Sulayman instead of the intended Luneta.

My 711 Run 1000 post accounted the events leading to my hospitalization and a week-long rest from work. However, that did not stop one of my Team Banana teammates Syril to bully me in registering for LU2TA. Invite after invite I was just laughing it off. I know I'm in no condition to even run a full marathon with my recent illness.

But there are just instances when a certain seed has been planted in our heads, that we just can't shake off. I was curious if I could do an ultra. With 4 years of running experience, I feel I am ready. I told Syril and Becky Runner it's a go. I decided not to tell anyone else though what I am about to do. This will be my secret race event. It's a win-win situation for me. If I finish the race, I get to brag about it. If I DNF, no one will know. Hahaha!

Fresh from my long rest, I had to have my legs warmed-up again. February 2, I did an LSD with Syril and Mark Runner. No target distance, but I was hoping to at least do a half-marathon. My body only managed a 14km run and I already got tired. With one week until race day, panic started to sink in.

LSD with Syril (and Mark Runner, not in this photo). Bumped into Coach Mherlz who gave me some great ultramarathon preparation tips. (Photo courtesy of Syril)

But this is a commitment. The next day, I went to a BDO branch near the office, and deposited the registration fee of P1750. This is it! There's no turning back now.

Desperate to be ultramarathon-ready with one week left, here are the things I did:

• Diet - an apple, banana, a bottle of Powerade each day. Coach Mherlz advised loading of Powerade for my body to get used to electrolytes. And a lot of carbs - macaroni salad, pasta, pizza, rice. I was on pig-mode the whole week.
• Work-out - I did 5km on the cross-ramp machine at Gold's daily from February 3 to 5 before tapering. 
• Atlas Pelvis / Body Treatment at Karada - Scheduled an appointment for bone alignment and body treatment last February 5. Karada is one of my recent finds and I just love this Japanese Seitai salon.
• Stretching at Intercare - met my PT Franz of Intercare for an hour long stretching session last February 6.
• Stock-up on GU Roctane - bought 6 Roctanes, with the plan of consuming one every 10 kilometers

Hopefully, the effects of everything I did will work their magic come race day.

February 8, Saturday, went to Makati in the afternoon to go to the grocery, hear mass at Greenbelt, and then meet with Team banana teammates Syril and Mervs. Sy generously offered his support car, though I had doubts one support car can support multiple runners with different race pace. I'm really going into this ultramarathon experience with no idea on what my expectations should be, except the vision of me crossing the finish line. Haha!

With Team Banana Mark Mark, Mervs, Sy and Cholo (Photo courtesy of RunningSmasher)

We arrived at the assembly area and were informed we need to check-in our bibs. The race organizer Prince Baltazar also served as the host of the event, while runners were all around the area just waiting for the signal for race start. Funny how at the stroke of midnight, Prince just did a quick 15 second countdown and then runners were sent off, coming from different locations as there was no definite assembly area.

Within the first kilometer, I noticed Sy speeding off in a very strong pace. I was originally planning to pace with him (to not complicate our support needs), but I had to let go and run a slower pace. So I was on my own.

We passed by two of the usual flyovers at Roxas Boulevard without the comfort of road closure. First time I did a run like this, with passing vehicles and without road cones and without much marshals along the way. So this is how running an ultramarathon feels like. Its fun and risky at the same time.

While enjoying my alone time, a runner suddenly approached me from the right - it was Loyce! Glad to see a familiar face. He was surprised seeing me doing an ultramarathon. I told him my strategy to keep this a secret event. So now I had someone to pace with. Yay!

After passing the second flyover, we turned left at Airport Road and then right to Quirino Avenue. Quirino Avenue passes two cities - Paranaque and Las Pinas, and ends up at Aguinaldo Highway, a long stretch passing multiple Cavite cities - Bacoor, Imus, Dasmarinas, then Tagaytay!

Pacing with Loyce (Photo courtesy of Team BANG running)

Loyce was kind enough to offer extending his support to me, with his girlfriend Mary Ann doing primary support duties (Thanks Mary Ann!). Your ice-cold Coke was a savior! Haha!

Approaching half-way point though, Loyce was complaining about tummy problems already. He had to do his thing so he told me to go ahead and will catch up if he can. So again, I was left alone, though I still was able to catch up with Syril's support crew to refill my hydration bottle a couple of times. Thanks Goldi and Set for the cheers and support during my quick pit stops.

Alone again. Lol! (Photo courtesy of RunningSmasher)

And so the long and tiring route continued. Aguinaldo Highway is a very familiar territory (as I worked at Intel Cavite for a few years) so I knew how long I still need to run to finish the race. Official hydration stations were placed every 10 kilometers. There were water, Gatorade, hard-boiled eggs, bananas and lots of Flat Tops at each station, much to my delight. I probably consumed 3 to 5 Flat Tops every time I stop at those stations. Haha!

The gradual inclining roads of Aguinaldo Highway eventually took its toll on my body. I had to do frequent long walks and shorter runs. When I saw sunrise, I realized I have been running (and walking) for 6 hours already! At this point also came the realization I was already an ultramarathoner, as the 42km point was already way behind me.

Photo courtesy of Kit Elma Photography

Photo courtesy of Mike Martinez

Photo courtesy of Mike Martinez

As I reached the end of the Aguinaldo Highway, I knew it was just one last push as I turned left on the Tagaytay-Calamba road. Excitement kicked-in a bit so I consumed my last GU Roctane which gave me energy to run (though in a slower pace as it was quite an upHELL).

The temperature's perfect, not hot and not too cool. I had limited hydration left on the bottle I'm carrying but I was not that thirsty. I heaved a big sigh of relief as I saw the entrance of the Palace in the Sky, but the zigzag road and inclined road going to the top was a killer. As I saw the finish line, I didn't even bother to run. I finished the race - all 63 kilometers of it! I am now an ultramarathoner!

Receiving the medal and trophy from the race organizer himself - Prince Baltazar!

With the guy who planted the ultramarathon seed in my head - Syril. Thanks for bullying me to join. Haha!

It was then time to hang-out and cheer other runners finishing the race. I was in the company of Team SCR, what a bunch of fun (and strong) runners!

Team SCR snap c/o RunningSmasher

With Mervs and Sy. Go Team Banana!

Our post-race breakfast at Kenny Rogers Nuvali. A big meal well-deserved!

Two days later, results were released at this link: http://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=18280

My official finish time - 8 hours, 35 minutes and 47 seconds, 135th out of 600 finishers, translating to being at the top 22.5% percentile. Really not bad for my first ultra.

Me and my runner friends' results

Now you might be asking, will I continue this UM craze? Naaah. No plans yet on doing my 2nd ultra. It would probably take some time. The question bothering my mind has been answered already anyway.

Congratulations to Prince Baltazar and his organizing committee for staging this unique race! How many people can say they've ran from Manila to Tagaytay? 

Can I finish an ultra? HELL YEAH I CAN.