Year 2010 in Summary

           Now (CCM 2011)                                    Then (CCM 2010)

        I just came to realize what a fun year 2010 had been for me. Every month of the year I get to experience so many new things and meet new friends.

  My Highlights of 2010:

 

    Last January 2010, I get to experience running my first ever Half Marathon in the first ever Cebu City Marathon together with my friends. On February, my family and I moved to our new condo in Citilights. I, then experienced my first ever trekking experience last March on my friend's birthday. We trekked in the mountains from Talamban to Busay! 

Summer came, On April, my friends and I went to Danao, Bohol and had an adventure of a lifetime. I tried the plunge!Then on May, I travelled to Singapore to join the Adidas Sundown Marathon participating in the Women's 10km. My first time to run internationally and at night!

Summer went by fast. Last June, together with my gymates and other friends, we trekked to Mt. Mannugal! We trekked for 8 hours in the heat of the sun. It was a lot of fun and my body was so sore the next day. July came, I experienced getting into the top 10 in the 12km run of Fitness First and also travelled to Palawan! My dream destination! The following month August, I became a member of TTB! A new set of friends to run with whom I met in the site dailymile.com

September came, I ran my 2nd Half Marathon of the year! On October, I had a mini vacation in HK and by the end of the month I ran my fastest Half Marathon of 2:02:24! By November, I experienced running a Half Marathon in Manila which I placed 11th in the women's category and 2nd in my age division. 

By the end of the year (December 2010),  I experienced running a Half Marathon internationally again in Singapore. Which I also experienced traveling Business class for the first time. 

 

     

Business class experience

Such a late post....

Last Dec 3, 2010. I flew to Singapore for my first international Half marathon race. It was also my first time to fly business class. Philippine Airlines got a promo on their miles redemption. 70% off! I checked my number of miles and got surprised that I can still avail to fly business. It was always a dream to experience sitting on those huge chairs and have better food served. 

It was a funny experience since it was my first time that I didn't know that business class passengers have free food at the mabuhay lounge so when I got into the airport I ate lunch at Deli france before going inside the mabuhay lounge. When I went inside mabuhay lounge, I still ate the free food and drank the flowing drinks. Their internet was quite fast so I didn't get bored waiting for my flight which was 1 hr delayed! 

When I got inside the plane, they served right away mango smoothie. It was very sweet. I decided to watch Sorcerer's Apprentice.

My first dish was the appetizer. 

Baby octopus

Turkey 

a slide of boiled egg

Red Wine

Next dish: Salmon over cheese and salad, bread , fruits 

Main dish: Beef tenderloin with vegetables and herbed mash potatoes. with lemon.

Dessert was supposed to be arcy dairy ice cream but i guess they ran out of it so they just served the fruits.

Since I'm not use to drink alcohol. I didn't get to finish the movie because the wine made me sleepy. hehe

On the way back to Manila... Pineapple juice was served when I got inside the plane.

 The appetizer with white wine

All I can remember is the cream cheese

the other two I forgot. 

The next dish:

Salmon with orange wedges,

cheese

bread with butter

fruits for desert 

Main dish: Hainesse chicken with rice and 

vegetables. Very healthy dish. 

White wine for white meat

Watched the movie Eclipse on the way back

The window seat is more cozier than the aisle seat.

It was nice that I didn't have a seat mate next to me. 

I wonder when I can experience this again! :)

Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010: The Experience

The Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore is the biggest marathon in Asia. I registered for this run last June 2010. I was really looking forward for this run since it will be my first international half marathon!

I left for Singapore last December 3, 2010. A few weeks before the run I already experienced ITBFS. The pain was unbearable everytime I would either walk or run. Last saturday, I decided to run 5k around the park near the apartment of my friend. I still felt the pain on my left while running. What's worse is it rained before we even got home. So we got drenched in the rain.During the afternoon while walking around Singapore I also noticed my right itb was hurting.

On the day of the race, I woke up around 4:30am and left around 5:10am rode a taxi to Sentosa. When I arrived, there were so many runners already standing near the starting point. I noticed a lot of foreigners joined the race too. I'm guessing they come from Europe.

The race started on time around 6:30am. Surprisingly it was still dark not like here in Cebu. The starting point was in the Sentosa bridge.

Here are the highlights of the race:

1km-6km: We ran from Sentosa Bridge and along the beaches of Sentosa. The road was not flat at all. A lot of uphill, downhill and side turns. Kept on stopping because my laces kept getting loose. First 5km was still able to maintain my pace.

6km-7km: We were inside Universal Studios Sentosa. It was fun to watch the mascots. I saw Kung Fu panda, a penguin and egyptians near the pyramids with rock solid abs!

7km-8km- We are now passing Resorts world Sentosa.

8km- 9km: We ran inside an underground tunnel going towards the exit of Sentosa. That's were i noticed my phiten necklace was gone!

9km-10km: We were already running in the streets of Singapore. I started to feel the impact of the slopes inside Sentosa on both of my legs

10.5km-13km- The sight was buildings around Singapore. We were now on a bridge. The thumping of my feet to the ground was painful. Had to walk many times

13.5- 17km- After walking only a few meters to drink in the water station. we went up another bridge going straight to the express highway.

16km- This is where we merged with the full marathoners and the runners in the 10km. The roads felt small because there were too many runners. A beautiful sight of the marina sands hotel.

18km-19km- This is where I hit the wall. The fast beat songs of my Ipod were of no use to me anymore because my legs started to feel numb. I saw a medical tent around the 18.5km and wanted to stop but then again I was less than 3kms away to the finish line. A view of the Singapore flyer.

Finish line

19-21km: The last 2kms of the run was so hard, I had to stop and stretch. There were so many runners on the road. One after another they passed by me. I also noticed a lot of runners on the side experiencing muscle cramps.

21km-21.2km- My watched stopped at 21km. Then I realized there were still 196 meters to go! G sulit gyud nila! When I reached the finish line, I immediately approached a volunteer and told her to take me to the med tent.

After the med tent, I limped my way to claim my finisher medal and food.

RunPix result

Results posted in 2 days.

Inspite of my injury still finished 1424th place out 11274 runners. Top 13%!
266th place out of 4,172 women. Top 6%!
74thplace in the F(20-29) age division out of 1965 women- Top 4%
5th place out of 144 female runners from the Philippines!
15th place out 435 runners from the Philippines!


NOW TIME TO REST!

My award!

Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010

In 8 days from now I will participate in one of the biggest race in Asia. The STANDARD CHARTERED MARATHON being held in Singapore. The race day will be on December 5, 2010. It will be the my FIRST time to participate in an International Half Marathon Race. I'm getting excited just thinking about it.  Written on the first page of the handbook, it will be a RACE LIKE NO OTHER!

The official sponsors of the race will be Asics for the event tee, Ben and Jerry for the ice cream, 100 plus for the sports drink, Ocean Health and GNC for the medications, Nature Valley for the energy bar, GU gel for the energy gel, OSIM and Citizen for the timer. 

What make it the biggest race ever is that there will be 60,000 runners joining the event! 15,000 of which will run with me on the Half Marathon race category. 

The Half Marathon has the best route because it will start at the very famous Sentosa Island and will go through these amazing iconic sites like Resorts World, Universal Studios and Singapore Flyer and will cross the finish line at  The Padang,St. Andrew's road. Race will start at 6:30 am which is also a first for me since most runs here in Cebu will start around 4:30-5am.

Along the route, Water/Drink stations will be in the start and finish and every 5k mark after the first 3km mark. I think the gap between these water stations is quite long. GU gels will be supplied in the 10km while banana stations will be available at the 13.8km mark. A medical aid tent will also be at the 18.5km. I'm glad to know that the race route is also flat. Public toilets will be available at the start and finish point.

Another first, is that Kilometer markers will be provided every kilometer along the route. A great way to remind the runners if they are near the finish line! Timing chips to track the time of the run and most importantly road closure for 6 hours after the start time.

The race entry pack for overseas runners will be on December 3 and 4 which is exclusive of the event bag, handbook, event tee, bib with safety pins, timing chips and lastly goodies from the sponsors!

At the end of the race, runners will receive their finisher medals. Photos will be provided by Marathon-Photos.com. Runpix analysis will also be provided 48 hour after the race.

My 25th Run: Run United 2

Last September, I found out that most of the TTB members are joining Run Rio 3rd leg: Run United 2. I got envious that they were running in Manila and also running such a long distance. I had my hesitations at first since it was only 2 weeks before my Standard Chartered Half Marathon race. 

But on the first week of October, I found out that PAL had a promo to Manila during the dates of the Run Rio Race. I took it as a sign and bought a ticket to Manila and then also registered for the race. I chose to run the Half Marathon distance because I felt that 2 weeks is not enough recovery and if do incur injury I have enough time to rest. I also registered my sister for the 3km distance. 

Two weeks ago, TTB ran another 27km long run. During that run, I felt pain around my ITB and shin area. My knees hurt so much while I was running and that got me really scared. Even when I ran my recovery 5km days after the run I still felt pain. 

I flew to Manila last friday morning because my race was on Saturday. My sister and I decided to go to SM to have a carboloading lunch and then went to the salon to have nail art on our nails! Then went home early to have a good night's rest.

I had my alarm set on 3:30 am! I made sure that everything was ready from my clothes, dtag,race bib,shoes and eye shadow! We left the condo at 4:15 am and arrived at the Fort 15 mins later. I told my sister I will go first to the starting point because the 21km will start anytime. 

While waiting for the gun start, I was amazed on how well the race was organized. There was a huge LCD screen near the stage. There were Emcees that greeted the runners. There were so many of us running the Half Marathon. I found there were so many first timers and I also found out there will be a Run Rio Cebu leg next year!

After the stretching and warm up, the run started on time. Off we go! I was so happy that the road was so flat. But during the 2nd km, I started to feel pain on my knee. There were water stations every 1.5 kms which I felt every run should follow. After 2kms, the pain went away and i was surprised that I maintained the same pace compared to the Citigym Halloween run. 

But going towards the Buendia Flyover, the pain went back and it was so unbearable. It was so difficult running uphill and downhill on the flyover. The pain never went away. But even so, I still maintained a below 6/km pace. I started telling myself to run slower but my shoes just wants to keep on running. 

After the 11km, that's where my leg started to feel numb and I had no choice but slow down my pace and stop once in while to stretch it. What's worse was that around the 15km, the battery on my ipod went dead. So I had no choice to run the remaining 6kms with no music! It was so boring that I had to rely on the pace of the other runners. 

While running, I kept on looking for the photovendos but they were nowhere to be seen. I only noticed them around the last 2kms of the race. At one point I actually stopped to ask a cameraman to take my picture! When I crossed the finish line, I finished at a time of 2 hrs 6 mins 13 secs. The lady gave me my finisher medal and asked for my name.

At that point, my leg hurt so much that I wanted to ask for steroids and pain medications. It was so difficult to walk to the tent to pick up my finisher's kit and to walk all the way to the parking lot.

Even though I was running injured almost all throughout the race, I am still glad that I joined the race because it was by far the best race I've ever joined. 

Run Rio results are in 3 days after the run. I found out I ranked no.11 among female runners and 195 out of 1100 runners! :)

Heat Training

Last November 14, 2010 (Sunday), the group decided to have an LSD of 30k in preparation for Run Rio's Run United 2 in which most of the members of TTB are running 32k. I, on the other hand just opted for a Half Marathon because I want to give me legs time to recover for my first international half marathon this coming December 5.

Before the Heat came out

We were supposed to start around 4-4:30am but ended up with a late start. The route was similar to Citigym Halloween run but Rh1 added the 3 bridges to make the run longer. The first 10k was not bad at all. I maintained a pace of 6.2-7.0/km, which I felt was a relaxed pace. The first stop was ToTal gas station near the new bridge. The group bought drinks for rehydration and posed for some pictures. Then we proceed with our run going up to Cansaga bridge. 

Around the 11km, I can already feel the intense heat of the sun and about that time my Ipod was going crazy. I just followed the group and went under the bridge and went around the other side. By this time, I can feel the pain in my knees. It hurt so much that I had to slow down. After the cansaga bridge, the next bridge was the new bridge. The first half of the group can't be seen anymore. They were too fast. The other half was not visible in sight either. By this time, the pain went down to my calves and feet. 

arriving at shell station

A part of me wanted to stop and take a taxi because the heat of the sun was just unbearable. But I told myself the distance I had run is too short to stop so I continued. By the 18km, I was already on the tip of the old bridge. I can no longer exert effort to even jog so I decided to walk for 1km, which was basically the whole bridge. The 2nd stop was the shell station. When I got there most of them were already there and sitting down the pavement. We waited for the rest to arrive.

The TTB girls

After resting, we decided to continue and changed the route instead of running to reclamation, we opted to shorten the route and run to AS fortuna. Around the 20km, I felt pain in my knees and legs again. So I asked Ken to pace with me. I realized that having someone pace with you while running really helps a lot. It motivates you to finish the route knowing that someone is running beside you. It also lessens the boredom of running solo. Around As Fortuna, we basically run and walked while talking at the same time. Cecile taking pictures at the same time. I didn't feel the heat of the sun while walking it was more of the strong wind.

The third stop was Caltex station in banilad where in we stopped for drinks again and rested for awhile. Then afterwards we ran back to coffeecat. When we arrived, I decided to have a 1km cooldown around IT park. I ran a total distance of 27km with a time of 3 hrs 24 mins. I was running from 4:45 to 9am. I do hope that on our next LSD I can last 30km and the it would be a cloudy day!

Busay Run Extreme

Last Sunday, my friends and I ran a 12km run to Busay. We opted to meet at JY Square Mall around 4:30 am. We had a late start and started almost 5 am. When we started it started to drizzle but that didn't stop us from running! Thank goodness, the rain stopped around the first km. This would be the third time to run to Busay. The distance is much longer too. There was no pressure this time to run fast. Corrine and I were ahead of the pack since for some it was their first time. 

When the sun came up, Corrine and I decided to take pictures. We even asked a stranger to take a picture of us. This time, running wasn't so difficult as the previous two. On the 6-7km, I decided to change the way I ran. I ran 200m and walked 100 meters in order to put less pressure on the knees. On the 7km mark only 1 km left to the zipline. It was difficult to jog anymore so I basically just walked the last km. When we reached the sari-sari store near the zipline. I decided to buy gatorade. It was so expensive! 

After the zipline, it was downhill already. The downhill path was more difficult than the uphill part. So, we ran it slow. So as not to put pressure on the knees and legs. On the way down, my hydration belt fell off. It was getting loose already. I guess it was not advisable to use it downhill. The rest of the group was not there yet so we went up again and waited for them.  When the arrived, we went down again and at the end, we took pictures beside the km mark. We went up again to find the remaining part of the group. The distance was still less than 12km. It was only 10km. So Corrine and I went downhill. We decided to have hill repeats by going up and down every 200-300 meters until we reached 12km.

When we went downhill we took pictures again of each other. We rode a vhire on the way down and ate breakfast at MCdo.