Gone Too Fast

It's 4:30am, I was about to rise from my slumber when it rained. It's a downpour, I decided to skip my early 10km scheduled run and went back to bed to continue my sleep. At 5:30am I woke up to find out it was not raining anymore. At 6:30am, after I brought my son to school I headed to the amoranto oval with a 6min warm-up run.

After a little stretching routine I went to work. My program is to run at race speed for 5km. The first kilometer went fine with a split time of 04m19s. The second kilometer was faster as I clocked at 04m11s. My breathing was normal, I could feel I'm back after the recovery period from the recent milo eliminations.

The Ordeal

On my sixth lap, I stared at my watch to see my split when suddenly I felt a twitch in my left eye. The twitching continued and shut down my left eye. Worried, I halted as the sensation exaggerated, now including part of my left face. It was at this moment that I felt that the twitching is severe. Serious enough that I was terrified, I thought of having a symptom of stroke. I did not panicked though and even shouted to my peers for help. My mind was lucid as I was anticipating a fall, which luckily didn't occur. After a brief walk, uttering prayers, it went out and returned to normal. Saying thanks and praises to God, I continued my walk to the bench and drenched myself with cold water. I called it a day.

The Discovery

During the afternoon I went to the doctor and had my check-up. The diagnosis; it was a muscle twitch. Fasciculation (wikipedia) is a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction (twitching) visible under the skin arising from the spontaneous discharge of a bundle of skeletal muscle fibers. Fasciculations have a variety of causes, the majority of which are benign, but can also be due to disease of the motor neurons. More of this here.

The check-up went well, I had a good dialogue with the doctor, an internal medicine/cardiology specialist. My neuro tests conducted were all normal but I have to have a blood test examined in a couple of days. I hope it would end up well. The good news was "you're good to go, you're good to run", she said.

A Day at the Office

Ran out of words, got nothing to write, got nothing to do, but ...

Will you hit ENTER?

hooked |hookt|

adjective

informal captivated; absorbed ; addicted

formal keen on, enthusiastic about, addicted to, obsessed with, infatuated with, fixated on, fanatical about; informal mad about, crazy about, wild about, nuts about.

Three's a Charm

Not long ago, Xty prepared herself to run her first half-marathon race and aimed for a 6mins per kilometer pace. The two previous races were close until she nailed it on her third try. At the recent globe run for home, she coasted to her victory. A feat equivalent to more than a mile long was transformed from every fraction of time won.

Condura Run for the Whale Sharks

02h07m51s

33rd Milo Marathon Eliminations
02h08m30s

Globe Run for Home
02h06m15s

View more photos here.
Milo photo courtesy of Marvin O.

Kenny's Open 2009

Calling all Manila urbanites! Come join the Kenny's Open 2009 Urbanite Run, a one-of-a-kind night run that will not only raise funds for Hands On Manila Foundation but promote deliciously healthy eating too!

Event Details:

1. The Kenny's Open 2009 Urbanite Run will be held on August 15, 2009 at The Fort. Official time will be at 8:00pm.
2. The run will accomodate a total of 3,000 runners, 18 years old and above, with divisions of 5km, 10km and 15km distances.

How to Join:

1. Purchase the Urbanite Run ticket.
To join the urbanite run, interested participants must purchase an urbanite run ticket for P600 at any Kenny Roger's Roasters branch or through the web by visiting www.kennys.com.ph. An electronic claim voucher will be issued to registrants to claim their urbanite run ticket at any Kenny Roger's Roasters branch.

Urbanite Run tickets will entitle participants to:

a. Eat: Bearers are entitled to an Urbanite meal form Kenny Rogers. Simply present the urbanite run ticket at any Kenny Rogers branch to claim the urbanite meal. Redemption period from July 15 to August 15, 2009.

b. Run: The urbanite run ticket will serve as the runner's registration voucher, to be attached to their registration form, if they register manually. See below for registration details.


c. Donate: Serve as runner's donation to Hands On Manila Foundation. On the day of the run, bearers are to drop the "donate" portion of their urbanite tickets at the designated box on-site.

2. Register on the Run.
Registration will be from July 15 to August 11, 2009. Participants may register online, just follow the urbanite race link at www.kennys.com.ph or through designated registration sites at Nike Park and Runnr and claim materials on-site. Manual registration will also be available to last-minute participants on the night of the run - within one hour before call time.

Event Day:

1. Call time. On the night of the run, participants must arrive at 8:00pm. Gun start times are 8:30pm (for 5km), 8:45pm (for 10km) and 9:00pm (for 15km).

2. Prizes. Cash prizes will be awarded to first, second, and third place finishers of each division, to be awarded after the run finishes.
3. EventActivities:
At the end of the run, participants will be invited to relax and socialize, and cap off the evening with a bang with percussions group, Tribo Manila.

... A night of fun entertainment and, of course, deliciously healthy eating!

Why join the Urbanite Run?

The urbanite run, fashioned to cater specifically to the fit and active urbanite crowd, will promote the commitment to deliciously healthy living through Kenny Rogers!

... And true to its name,
our run will be at night!

Clarifications:

1. Only Kenny Roger's Roasters outlets and the Kenny's Roast and Grill Restaurant at the Powerplant serve as registration sites.

2. You can claim your run kit only at the Kenny tents to be installed infront of the Nike Park in Bonifacio High Street on August 13 & 14 only, from 3:30pm to 11:00pm.

For more details log on to www.kennys.com.ph.

Run Radio

For the past few years, running as a sport has increasingly become popular among Filipinos, leading to the prevalence of road races around Metro Manila. The aforementioned races have become a congregation of people from all walks of life united in their love for running and their resolution to lead a healthy and fit lifestyle. From elite athletes to weekend warriors, from multisport enthusiasts to the weight-watcher, running has become an integral part in the public's efforts to keep fit.

With running at its peak, the idea for producing a viable medium to promote and sustain the sport's presence in the public eye came, hence the idea to produce Run Radio.

The show will be hosted by Jaymie Pizarro, thebullrunner, a known catalyst for influencing people to take up running as a lifestyle choice, and Jay Nacino, prometheuscometh, a former Ateneo track team member who has rekindled his love for running. Both hosts are known figures in the running circuit through their blogs where they give detailed accounts of their training, their races, and running in general.

Run Radio will start airing on July 24, 2009 at NU107, and will continue to air every Fridays, 9-10pm.

For the latest updates please visit www.nu107fm.com/profile/runradio.

Message in a Bottle

Paavo Nurmi, the legendary Finnish long-distance runner, carried a stopwatch while racing to pace himself. During a qualifying race in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Nurmi fell at a water jump and dropped his watch. Lucien Duquesne of France stopped, lifted his rival to his feet and helped him retrieve his watch from the water.

Rather than forge ahead, Nurmi ran the rest of the race by Duquesne's side and at the finish line offered the Frenchman first place. Duquesne declined.

To the men & women behind this bottle, our appreciation. My medal goes with you.

Adopted from: RDAsia

The Angel of 407: Racing the Milo Eliminations

The early morning was humid, I felt the heat as soon as I stepped out of my place. It was 3:00am. Rain had visited our roofs on the past days of the week and mostly occurred from midnight to early morning but it seems no rain will be falling on this day. I am hoping for a drizzle as I get myself to the famous luneta for the 33rd Milo Elimination Race, I guess this will be a different way to run this premiere running event of the country.

I arrived at the site an hour before race start and kept myself busy with friends chatting and reminiscing the previous milo races that we've had. A video of the previous milo marathon race was shown on a big screen to entertain runners and boost their confidence for this race. At 4:00am the organizers announced the call time and the participants entered the corral. With a few minutes before race time we were sent off.

I started with a relaxed pace and tucked behind Sir Jovie and the hardcore group, I find his start pace good enough from the last marathons that we ran together. Approaching the u.s. embassy I slowly crawled ahead and feel the increase in my pace. In just a few minutes my pace mate Rod appeared from behind and we started cruising along with our projected pace.

Some 30mins before the race I saw Jay, the Greek Prometheus Cometh arrived with a lady. I called him but he didn't hear me due to the sound from the loud speakers as he checked-in to the race. After about 30mins of getting jogs and stretches, I rested for a while, relaxed and once more reviewed my race strategies. Later inside the corral I managed to locate him and we talked regarding the race. His plan is to maintain his pace allthroughout and increase some if he could feel the urge. Given that, I told him that I'll stay behind since I usually start easy and off he went as the gun was fired.

Jay is ahead.

Rod and I continued our relaxed pace together with other runners left and right of us. Stories were told once again since the last time we met was during the 32nd milo finals. We kept on chatting as we go along, this strategy brought us farther during the last two editions and we expect that this time will be the same.

At one stretch of roxas boulevard a lady appeared from the median island with somewhat of a hydration supply in hand. I recognized her as the lady who came along with Jay before the race started and without hesitation, I shouted "Jay is ahead" twice. After hearing me the lady and his companion immediately rushed back to the other side of the road to maybe reach Jay in no time.

Before reaching the first turn around point at airport road I saw Jay on his way back, he's a few hundred meters ahead of me and is running well. Rod and I caught him up before the edsa flyover and went ahead of him. This was the first time I knew my pace was at 5:15 mpk, thanks Jay for the info. Maintaining a slightly above pace I continued cruising along buendia avenue until the makati cental business district. It's difficult for me to leave Jay behind but his race is different from mine.

Jay is behind.

Upon reaching malugay I saw again the lady who emerged from the median island somewhere at roxas boulevard. I said "Jay is behind", and saw the comfort in her eyes. Maybe there will be no more dilly dally on her part. I was still strong at this point as Rod and I soldiered the remaining stretch of buendia avenue. Upon reaching the kalayaan flyover I consumed my first gel, it was a good 01h30m had passed at this point in time. Jay is not far away behind us as I climbed the road leading to fort bonifacio, he'll catch up on us in a little while.

Hi Mrs. Jay.

At the corner of 5th avenue and 26th street, the lady now with a camera on hand, is shooting on us straight forward. Maybe Jay is inches away from us. As I drew closer to her I politely said "hi mrs. jay nacino", and she beamed a smile. I felt the appreciation and the fatigue somewhat went away. I felt a decrease in our pace at this point since this was mainly an uphill ride until mckinley road. Upon reaching bayani road Jay caught us up and went ahead after the second turning point, he was running strong. Time check: 02h00m, second gel down.

Rod fell behind and I maintained my position with the man possessed. Jay and I ran along through the third turn around point at c5 road and back. Suddenly the rain poured after we reached lawton avenue on our way back, this scenario brought us back to the last elims and finals editions. This is the reality in racing the milo way. At 02h30m we were at essensa but the man with me seems unperturbed. Jay continued to strut his butt without fading away. I am not surprised because I am a witness in his preparations. We reached again the lady at the fort, took a little breather and continued the chase of time, at this moment we were at the 5:07 mpk pace. I can't believe why I am running this fast as Jay and I reached km30, it's because of a dream I know. Because of the man I'm running with, he's on a mission. As we exited fort bonifacio we saw the t2 running support (thanks harry for the pics) and not farther away is the takbo.ph group. The cheers from them lifted our spirit and the bottled water was the coldest I have had, many thanks guys.

05m07s pace at km 30

Goodbye Jay.

We continued until the kalayaan flyover on our way back until Jay eventually broke ahead. I stayed behind him and ran my pace until he went way ahead. I wasn't prepared to match his energy and toughness because I'm not in his level. I could still see him cruising along until he disappeared from my sight, that was at the buendia avenue and osmena highway junction, maybe after 03h10m of running. My story of Jay halted there as we went on our own. I soldiered the rest of buendia avenue in solitude, marked those ahead of me and took them one by one, I'm still good enough. The billboard with the huge message was still there, I continued to talk to Him. I felt more stronger because I am getting closer to the other takbo.ph group support. The place was lively and I am overwhelmed as I passed by them. Thank you Gene for the personalized stuff and to all the other volunteers. You're all heroes.

I collected my reserves for the dreaded roxas boulevard take over, the last stretch where most of the runners fear. Same with the previous milo races I had, the rajah sulayman park was again a witness of my walk-run-walk-run ordeal. Here's the place wherein the toughest buckles, but after this place lies the prize. After this 3km stretch lies the gold, and if you're brave enough, it is yours. I hope Jay survived this experience. I exited buendia avenue at 03h18m and with an average pace of 8:00mpk at this stretch I finished the race.

finishing the race

Where's Jay.

After crossing the finish line xty told me that Jay went ahead. She got his pic and told me that she only heard "whooah" from him. I supposed he just changed and collected himself. This was a grueling run, considering the pacing we've had. After my 20mins of finishing, a grinning Jay finally showed up with the lady in him. After 42km of running, 5 precious times of seeing her on the race, I finally knew the angel of 407, she was Mrs. Angel Nacino.

The story never ends here.

with jay at the finish line

everybody got an angel

More photos here.

Related stories here.