my only concern when we walked into the mini-stop just outside clark's airport complex was that they might not sell us beer. i wasn't sure what time it was since i may have been besotted to even consult my watch: there's an alcohol ban at 2am. it was already our second trip to the convenience store, having spilled 4 liters of beer onto our happy mouths while beng dispensed relationship advice to those who were still awake after enduring close to an hour of hayden kho's trysts with at least 2 women. we picked out another 2 liters when the doors swung open and a very deeply tanned woman walked inside. it looks like someone's already getting ready for the race, dennis whispered, but when i saw her limping with difficulty towards the cashier carrying a cup of lucky me supreme, i concluded that she had just finished. so i approached her and asked: did you run the TNF 100? yes, she replied. and did you win? i continued. yes, she said again, first place. i congratulated her and her companion who also reported that he and his partner won 2nd place in the relay. it didn't seem obvious but he correctly guessed that we were members of AMCI and reported that igue was still trekking (igue and his partner eventually took 3rd place honors). we bade them goodbye and hoped to see them later at the awarding ceremonies as we carried our "energy drinks" to the car.


how i ended up in clark after deciding not to join the TNF 100 trail run is a product of chance, circumstance, coincidence, and serendipity. i had no one to ride with nor share a place with for the early morning race in clark. sure, about 50 of my orgmates would be joining the race, but i was either too shy or too much of a diva to be asking anyone to allow me to hitch with them or share a place to stay near the venue. i deride rejection, and didn't want to come across as a beggar: pleading with people to accommodate me and my helplessness. it's not exactly the proper attitude, but i don't apologize for it. i figured: if people wanted me to to join them, they'd offer. so by saturday morning, with no offers to choose from, i just decided on an itinerary in the metro. at 10am, i left for quiapo to buy a gallon of white gas in preparation for my climbing season, a floor pump for my deflated tires, and a stand for my bike. while at king's i salivated after some nice-looking frames for road bikes and wondered whether i'd have to shell out P60k just to be able to join the UP law invitational triathlon in july. then i had lunch at the chow king beside the bike shop, where, big surprise: mercy showed up. we talked about a few things and the topic of the TNF 100 came up and she asked if i was going. i told her about my predicament, and one thing led to another, one person texted another, and i ended up receiving a message form jenipie asking if i needed a ride. so that addressed my beggar issues. my plans for the weekend changed, and i packed my deuter bag with supplies. even managed to sneak in a swim at MASA and dropped by S&R for bananas. and i suppose it was providential because jenipie hadn't previously driven herself to clark and would've gotten lost if i hadn't navigated.


so dennis and i returned to our villa at fontana, and beng continued counseling the boys which i felt was kind of ironic after we had just participated in a defilement of women by viewing those sex videos -- i explained my own shame and convinced myself they were for educational reasons, much like when the senate does weird things under the guise of it being in aid of legislation. i was already a bit overwhelmed by the things i saw at the villa: new items and things that may have been talked about -- i am a bit out of circulation. after we had squeezed the last drop of red horse beer, which followed 2 bottles of ginebra premium, the last thing i remember is turning the lights off. the next thing i knew was that angie was shaking the sofa i slept on. i found dennis sleeping on one chair, and alex on the other. the only thing i managed to do that morning was brush my teeth and wash up. when we reached the venue, people noticed my blood-shot eyes and they probably got inebriated just breathing the air around me. lasing ka ba? was a common question, and i always replied, kanina. i must have had just a little over 30 minutes of sleep.


the venue for the run was just outside the clark expo, and some instructor from FF was getting us warmed up with a body combat routine which people were too lazy to do. at 5:30am, the participants in the 20k category were off, and 10 minutes later, it was our turn. the route takes us out to the roads leading to the SCTEx's clark south toll gates, then abruptly left to the lahar channel which may have once been a river. the first queue took place on the route down to the channel while the sun was just rising. it looked like a line for an MRT ticket. stepping on real trail, i was happy to discover that the lahar down there is packed and hard, unlike beach sand, and not slushy or soft. up on the bridge, coach rio was barking apologies to the runners. i could only see his wiry hair. i was running well at the beginning, but i knew what my real intentions were: to take pictures. i had opted for my samsung WB500 because i was unsure of the trail, and also because my nikon D300 is currently undergoing some cosmetic changes. so very frequently, i stopped, framed a photo, and shot. also, at different intervals, i took videos that were between 30 seconds to about a minute long. so throngs of runners were overtaking me. however, at some portions, i would run past them because they slowed down at the sight of water and mud, slowly treading their feet, wary about getting grime and mud on their shoes. i wanted to shout: if you want paved roads, there's another race at fort bonifacio! i was wearing my old NB off-trails, which have not actually experienced a real run such as this one, but which proved to be a good performer as i jumped through slopes that reduced most people's strides to baby steps.


the route is part lahar plains, part forest trails, and a bit of road. i am unsure if the channel gets to be inundated, but the presence of lahar is a clear indication that water runs through it. nevertheless, grass has grown really tall in many places that it looks as if water had generally not risen higher than 5 feet. other than the grass, there is no other vegetation here, and therefore, no shade. the view of the zambales mountain ranges is in the distance, and the sky is a deep blue, against the rising sun in the east. there were at least 2 water stations along this portion, which must have accounted for about 4km. i had only taken one bottle at the beginning: pink gatorade, which i had to hold on to until the next water station where i deposited the bottle. i wondered, at that time, if the bottles would be picked up, or if the trail would be cleaned up after the run. some people complained about there not being enough water stations, but i complained about too many bottles and cups littering the trail. i think runners should be conscious of the fact that we were running through seldom-used trails and that carrying a bottle until the next spot where they could be properly disposed of shouldn't be too much of a burden. not many people share my ideas on this.


when we left the lahar channel, we negotiated some muddy trails inside the forest. at one point there was a steep ascent, and a man at the top had to reach out his hand to the runners, which i found unnecessary, really. i took another trail and found myself at the top unassisted. years of mountaineering experience behind me. when i was there, i was surprised to find that although i had stopped many times, even dropping my foot into a knee-deep hole along the channel, there were still a lot of people behind me, many of them already walking. and the walk continued when we faced the rising sun as mud made the trail slippery, particularly for those who wore road racing shoes. i remarked to kenneth: ano to, alay lakad? when the trail allowed, i resumed my pace, only for the purpose of getting good shots. the trail passed groves of mango trees, and the trail, though untame, appeared as though a 4x4 had been its way before.


after the lapse of another 30 minutes, i suddenly saw james taking pictures. he said the bridge was already nearby, and true enough we found the third water station just at the edge of the road. we turned right towards the bridge, and although you could see the other end, it was an interminable walk across! by this time my feet had gotten used to the trail that it was almost painful to be running on a paved surface. i got pretty lazy just looking at the distance that was left. i was only steadily walking and alternately running. i wasn't there to place or anything, or to beat a time, personal or otherwise. until i saw marga appear behind me, and i had to keep my run! but when i was 20 meters from the finish line, i had to oblige coach rio for a photo! and based on official time, i finished in an hour and 32 minutes, 2 below my sketchy goal.


we lingered for a bit at the finish line, having our pics taken by photo vendo (too much for what seemed like a novel idea), and waiting for our friends to get their prizes: aside from igue, tatax won 2nd in the 10k category, while shay and mercy were 2nd and 3rd in the 20k division. i would've stayed longer but the host was terrible! his prepositions were all over the place and he has the worst lines ever, such as: and the 2nd place winner holds bib number 6-9-9-7... and the name goes to. what the? and he said this at least 10 times (there are 12 winners in each of the 10k and 20k divisions, not counting 100k where all the finishers get these cool commemorative plates and the relay). i know i can do worlds better than him and i really should send in an audition tape to host things like this. eventually, we had to go back to fontana, take much-deserved baths, and check out at 12. we had a hearty 65-peso meal just outside of clark, and before 2pm, i was already in makati. the temptation to sleep was one that i gave into without protest.


for more photos of the event, check out my multiply album.

Tags: 10k, amci, clark, photography, running, the north face, trail running

i'll be muddied and sullied. i'll slip and i'll fall. i will trip and i will tumble. i'll walk and i'll crawl.

no. i'm not talking about life in general, but my first race for the year: the TNF thrill of the trail this january 18, where i'm registered for the 10k.


i missed the first edition of the trail run sometime in the third quarter of last year, but i've been registered for this one. after hearing the stories about last year's run from friends who all got down and dirty i'm tempted to wear my hiking boots. but they're 2 stones heavy so that won't be wise. i'm no ill-equipped though for this run because i do own a number of trail runners. over the holidays i unearthed them from a grave of dust and cobwebs in my room to decide which to wear.

first are my blue TNF ultra gore tex XCR trail runners.

i got my pair as some sort of an impulse purchase in 2004, and later even had them replaced after the sole began to show signs of deterioration even when i hardly used them. i say they were purchased on impulse because i merely liked the brand and how the pair looked but they didn't fit my feet nicely. i already got the size 11 and still my big toe was already scraping the the front end, and the toe box was a bit tight as well, that all my other toes curled uncomfortably. because of the bad fit, i rarely used the pair, particularly for my outdoor activities. many months later, i tried them on again, hoping that by some miracle, they'd be a better fit. but they'd deteriorated from non-use, and the fit is still too tight. my feet have expanded since i first bought the pair. a pity that i can't wear this pair since it would be nice to be fully garbed in TNF (prizes go to runners who wear at least one item from TNF).

so i got another pair: yellow new balance M872 off road shoes.

after that miscue with my TNF shoes, i decided to get a little extra for my toes so i got the size 12. i figured since i'd be using them for trail running, there ought to be some reasonable space inside the shoe so as to avoid nasty dead toenails. but! new balance shoes are normally 2E, so there was already sufficient space in the toe box, so now i look like a clown wearing shoes the size of boats!

before i left singapore early last month, i picked these up at the terminal 2 of changi airport: red salomon XA pro 3D.

they're like the nicest things to look at, and my low-arched feet are getting used to the contours of the pad. i've worn them around manila a few times and i kid you not when i say that i've noticed some "i covet thee" looks from people. ever since adidas sold salomon to american sports, they have not been available in the philippines, and i've been wanting to get one ever since i retired my first trekking shoes which were also by salomon (they were also trail running shoes actually). but i don't think i will risk exposing such nice things to the rigors of a real run come january 18. they're too pretty for the trail.

so, although i'd probably look silly on my NB M872, they win: i've tested the pair at least twice on some unpaved lots in fort bonifacio when i still worked there. all i need to do is find some nice laces and i'm all geared up.

Tags: 10k, footwear, salomon, the north face

it has been nearly a year since i last participated in a road race, the last one being in preparation for my mount apo climb in late november last year. i recall, with vivid detail how i bucked sidestitch and a number of pains radiating from many points along the length of my enormous legs to finish 10km in slightly over 58 minutes. it was a proud personal moment considering i hadn't had any serious training previously, and that my last long run just prior to that -- the now ignominious new balance 25km killer at clark which i finished in over 3 hours after a serious bout of cramps past the 14km mark -- nearly left me disabled. but the last two of my 10k's have been been impressive, only that i had accomplished them a long time ago. i actually don't know why i haven't been an active participant in the many road races that are scheduled each month, and i've been generally lazy to lace on my running shoes to hit the treadmill or the asphalt for a minimum of 30 minutes. my state of fitness has so plummeted that there came a time i had to walk in between a 4km cardio workout. that was a little over 2 months ago, and after nearly hitting 168lbs again, i resolved not just to lose weight, but to pick up my speed and stamina. i signed up for the 21km category of the singapore standard chartered marathon slated this december, and i've been training, albeit aimlessly. and this perhaps is the reason why i was lackluster last saturday for the adidas KOTR.

my preparations for my first 10k of the year were superficial: i bought the most recent pair of adidas running shoes as well as a very breezy pair of adidas running shorts and even a nice post-workout adidas shirt with an oddly-placed zipper. i ran, mostly on the treadmill, and a few times around velasquez park, doing a steady pace of about 5'50" to a kilometer, and covering distances of about 5kms, often less. the longest run i had prior to last saturday was 3 rounds of the academic oval at UP, which is only 6.6kms. and none of my practice runs ever had sun in them.

so although i looked forward to the adidas king of the road, and had personal goals for myself, i knew that it would be a huge challenge. at 5am, ryan scooped me at the corner of tordesillas and buendia. markers had already been placed on the innermost lane for the runners, which ballooned to over 5,000. at 5:30am, while a beautiful dawn was breaking over the rooftops of serendra, and after the 21k runners were off, we filed into the starting line. my ears were plugged into my iPod nano, and my recently-calibrated nike+ was attached to my shoes. just before 6am, we were off. i started steady, focused really on just maintaining 6' per kilometer, with occasional gusts of speed in the hope of finishing below 60 minutes. when we went up the flyover, i didn't slow down, even as i saw the leading runners of the 21k pass us by. i was doing good, so i thought, and was pleased to find other lawyers running: nicky ty, john virgino, to name a few. i also had so many friends going the other direction, and i cheered them on. i had to stop though at the foot of the flyover to tie my shoelaces, but i picked up my pace and continued till the turnaround at reposo.

it was then that i began to entertain thoughts of stopping. the sun made a direct hit on our faces and i felt ill at ease. i could sense a distraction developing on the sole of my feet: a blister was forming. damn shoes. going up the flyover, i slowed down a lot. it looked like i was running, but it really was a trot. then a number of pains, like nerves and veins pressed against bone, began to surface, and i had to walk for about 100 meters just before getting down at ground level. i ran again, but had to walk again in front of net one center all the way to the fort strip. i found my second wind just before the NBC tent and it was a sprint to the finish line.

i took one final glance at the official time before crossing the finish line, and it was 1'03'57". i ended my workout a bit later, and my iPod and nike+ recorded 1'04'03". all in all, it was a good run, although i felt hugely disappointed that i couldn't sustain my pace, and that i caved in to the distractions of these little nagging pains. i was unable to break through the psychological barrier: since i haven't done anything beyond 7k this year and since i've never had sun exposure in any of my runs, i basically slowed down when i reached 8k. i really have to improve on my runs in time for the singapore standard chartered marathon. it would be a dream to finish it in 2 hours. that's a lofty goal.

finish line dash.


with fellow finishers che, ryan, JC, sammer, and joven
photos courtesy of gilbert 2k

Tags: 10k, adidas king of the road, road race, running

it took me an hour and nearly 2 minutes to complete the adidas king of the road yesterday. it was held at the usual route used by the milo marathon. this is still over 6 minutes off my goal of getting back to sub-55, as i did in my last milo marathon in 2005. during the run, i was beset by some bothersome pain on, of all places, at the top of my left foot, where the shoe's tongue rests (possibly including the intermediate and lateral cuneiform bones and maybe the navicular bone, all under the inferior extensor retinaculum tendon). i also had some pain in the stomach which i successfully ignored for the entire time i was running. what i could not ignore though was the need to heed the call of nature. i felt extremely heavy on the way back at the turnaround in libertad. on the way back, after 6 or so kilometers, i spotted a pair of portalets along the baywalk, and i ran towards it. to my disappointment, i found both locked! i had slowed down at the time so i had to push on the asphalt again. after about 300 meters, i found this newly-opened portalet with a sign: P5.00 only. told the guy cleaning it: "manong, pagamit!" (and he was kind enough to understand that i had no means to pay.) when i was inside, i felt that the entire thing was throbbing. i actually felt a little dizzy, with my heart pumping all that blood all over my body all the way to my head, and i was standing there motionless, relieving myself of excess liquids. but i felt really good after that and i ran faster than i expected, despite having lost over 3 minutes already. nelson was in a race with me at the time, although i think he couldn't resist the urge to walk, and i crossed the tape ahead of him and many others as well. time on my suunto was 1:01:46. time on my iPod nano with the nike+: 1:01:58 (wasn't able to end the workout immediately, and it was still inaccurate because the distance was measured at only 8.39km). official time, probably 30 seconds more. hey! it took me more than that to even get to the starting line since we started at the back! and there were just too many people in front that i started running only when i got to the manila hotel!

a valuable lesson here is not to stop immediately when you feel you can't run anymore. it's better to just keep walking at a steady pace. but the asics runners did pretty good!

so i guess i have to be serious with my resolve not just to train this batch, but to train with this batch. the milo marathon's not until 20 days from now, so i still have an opportunity to improve my time, lose weight, and be more fit. i'm getting a pair of adizero CS so my asics won't retire too soon. am i suddenly back in the game? time is improving, but not good enough.

Tags: 10k, adidas king of the road, road race, running

seventy minutes and seven seconds. i had my worst 10km run yesterday at the champion fun run when 3 weeks of absolutely no runs plus an extended eating binge since my sudden sagada trip till the just-concluded AMCI photo exhibit conspired to take me back to a fitness level that's far from ideal. although i had my iPod nano plugged into my ears with some cool embassy tracks keeping me company and my cadence in step, i was nevertheless bogged down by side stitch, a thinning shoe sole, and lack of practice! hated the fact that after the 5km turn, i paused to get water, and then walked. awful run.

Tags: 10k, road race, running

yesterday's events were seriously not part of the plan. like i mentioned in the last previous post, i participated in the 10km run of the philippine marathon for the pasig river. i must add that running long distances (even a 10k) is not one of my favorite activities. to be honest, if there were better ways for me to maintain a healthy heart, to burn fat, and to build endurance, i would probably do those things instead of running. there are many, but very brief highs in the sport of running that unlike hiking along scenic routes, it is not something i necessarily enjoy doing. but while the act of running itself isn't exactly tops in my list, the feeling i get when i finally cross the finish line is incomparable. when i was detagged just after i ran non-stop for over 58 minutes yesterday, i raised my hands, slowed to a trot, fell in line, and muttered, "i love it!"

so after i ran, i went to my office a block away from the finish line, washed up, wiped the sweat off my brows, relaxed my feet and removed my shoes, changed, and blogged. i went back down on the pretext that i would be supporting my friends who were still enduring the remaining 2 hours under the unrelenting sun of the full marathon. at the time, i though support only meant cheering in the comfort of a car or a bike. what i ended up doing was bringing a plastic bag filled with gatorades and bottled water, walking about half a kilometer of C-5 and intermittently running and walking alongside one of my friends. seriously, if you're breathing heavily along C-5, you'll probably contract a lung disease after just one marathon! but there i was, looking for someone familiar. i gave a small bottle of water to gilbert and doc, and after around 20 minutes, i bumped into roy who was walking along C-5. a little in front of him was chris's pick-up, driven by don, with melay and lia giving roy his shot of powergel, his bite of powerbar, his sip of 100 plus, his ice, his much-needed cheers. not all runners have this much luxury. and since i was there, i was ordered to ride the pick-up, take photographs, and was quickly turned into roy's personal alalay, rushing to him with his needs. and for the last 2 kilometers of the run, i joined him, encouraged him to pick up the pace, and held on to an AMCI banner. and i was shod in slippers too! to be fair, my globe thong slippers are extremely tough! haha.

roy finished with more than 10 minutes before the fifth hour. i wasn't there anymore, but i was told that by the time cutebalddiver was about to finish, the organizers were already disassembling the finish line. haha. nevertheless, good job TB!

oh, and along the way, a lot of people were begging me for my goods. of course i had to keep them in case my runner needed them, but when i saw this young man sitting on the pavement, his face deathly pale, asking me, "kuya may pagkain ba kayo? nahihilo na kasi ako eh", i didn't hesitate to give him half of roy's powerbar. i also gave water to other runners. apparently, the organizers had run out of water, and there were almost no stations left along the last 3k of the route. it felt good to be charitable to these runners.



photo taken by tintin austria using mardel mission's canon 350D

Tags: 10k, marathon, road race, running

"something low maintenance." that was my instruction to the senior stylist at the bench fix salon at the ELJ building when i was asked what kind of haircut i wanted. i have never been a creature of habit: routines bore me and i thrive on change, but when i went to the barbershop at philcoa yesterday, i found out that my barber of 5 years has left the country. i've been visiting the same barbershop since my undergrad days in UP, and this is my second barber to leave the country. i felt that my wires had been shortcircuited and that my world had tilted a little. i didn't know what to do. was i going to get a new barber? i was unsure. but i was also scheduled to work out at the FF in ABS-CBN. and there happened to be a bench fix salon there. i've visited it before, not recently, when i went to see my barber and found out he had gone on vacation. i got a nice cut, but i had the worst time styling it. i couldn't comb it at all. my hair looked nice right after the cut (and the shampoo, the rinse, the blowdry, the clay) when i looked at it in the mirror, but i wonder whether i could actually sustain this look for more than a month. it takes too much effort to do it in the morning, and maintain it throughout the rest of the day. i'm not really much of a metrosexual, and i don't bother so much about how my hair looks. but maybe i should. trouble is, my hair stylist suggests that i visit him at least twice a month. at P225 a cut and with a generous tip as well, i'm not sure i can sustain that! yeesh! find me a barber!



i timed a respectable 58' 13", and i am really proud of myself. i wasn't at all prepared for a 10km run, but when mardel announced last friday that he had a race packet which he won't be using, i gladly offered my legs to do the running. yes, i've been doing my sprints in the gym, but i lacked the proper training to sustain a good pace in a long run, exposed to the elements. there's a world of a difference between the treadmill and a real road, with inclines, declines, pollution, turns, crowds, sun, water stations, cars, etc! my best time has been shy over 55 minutes. i hope to do a sub-55 in my next 10km. and while i am not wont to making announcements, i hope to do a much longer run in the future. but a full marathon? not likely. weirdest thing is that people keep asking me if i'll be running a marathon. i don't think i'll last more than 2 and a half hours on the road. people think i'm fast, but what they don't know is that this is something i had to work really hard to achieve: whatever state of fitness i'm in is a result of a lot of effort and perseverance, since i used to be such a weakling -- no, worse. i was a lampayatot. now i'm into all these sporting endeavors. but what i don't have is an inborn athleticism. i don't have innate physical strength or might or speed or coordination or whatever. and at this stage, i can't exactly count on my youth. i really think i lost a lot while i was slaving away at law school. sigh.

Tags: 10k, metrosexual, road race, running

gosh this day was tiring. woke up before 4am to make it to makati parks by 5.30 for a 10km run. finished in good time: exactly 60 minutes, almost 3 minutes off from the last time i did the route. the different training shirt helped heaps, and didn’t suffer from anything despite having no water breaks. the whitish drink was weird but it may have helped a little. after that, we had our BLS training. learned nothing new, and helped batchmates with the practical exam. we finished after 7pm! but it was lots of fun, and my instructor gave me one of those pins.

this sunday came on the heels of a series of parties and long evenings. on thursday, i met with guada who’s about to leave for bangkok. then moved to makati for iton’s despedida. gave an impromptu testimonial. he’ll be based in singapore for the next two years. too many departures. that party ended in old swiss inn where we lasted till close to 5am. but it was not a problem because friday was a holiday for me.

after lunch, i call up malvin to greet him a happy birthday. he asks me to round up some B2K5 folks to pop by his bash in malate. i’ll try, i said. people had other plans, and so did i. nevertheless, i showed up, belted my usual song at the new karaoke place called snyder along orosa, and downed 3 sanmig strong ice. would’ve left earlier, but people don’t usually show up until 3 hours after the appointed hour. zoomed to the next party in cubao. and this was when the fun started. too many revelations that night, and it was just great to hang out with fun, interesting, game, and rowdy batchmates in AMCI. moss dropped by and poisoned us with his concoction called leche. loved it! instantly becomes official B2K5 drink. i had more strong ice. stoned, i accepted dares, interviewed and disrobed people, including myself. and got home almost 6am. i wake up with a cleaving headache. popped 2 alaxan FRs and a biogesic. walked around the house feeling woozy. left for badminton at west drive with my fingers still trembling. didn’t plan to play but had at least 4 games. people observed i was getting better at the sport. ha! playing again tomorrow. thinking about getting my own racket.

after the game, went to next door/tiananmen in ortigas home depot, the schizophrenic resto. menu, music, mood, prices and server costumes change after 9pm. brilliant!

had another fruitless trip to isabela on tuesday, and got back to manila very early wednesday morning after back-to-back 10 hour bus trips. coaxed bert into giving extra merits for people who’d be doing extra rounds. worked! people took the bait. looking forward to sleeping till lunch. ahh! the humanity!

Tags: 10k, 2k5, amci, gimik, running

i should’ve accepted carlo’s bet last week because i was way ahead of him at the milo marathon this morning. he was actually poised to overtake me when i slowed down on the way up the flyover but after that, he was nowhere in sight! haha. so dong, your wish did come true. i clocked a very respectable time of under 53 minutes, 5th in my batch, behind jon, sigz, JC, and gerry. the latter two were really impressive today. so i’m back in the rankings, which can be attributed to the fact that rendo wasn’t around, and nestor, well, had an out-of-body experience. he was with a huge pack in the lead near the turnaround at the cuneta astrodome, and it turns out he collapsed just in front of the US embassy after feeling some numbness in the hands, with less than 2 kms left. it must’ve been the new red nike shox. haha. but he’s alright now and managed to show up for the afternoon session of our BFA at the makati university, after spending only a couple of hours at the manila doctor’s hospital. when i saw him inside the ambulance, they were smothering him with ice. lots of ice. he seemed conscious, but unresponsive. funny this should happen while we’re doing our red cross training.

now, this is all redundant to me, since it’s been less than a year since i last got my red cross IDs, but these things expire notwithstanding the fact that no new knowledge is acquired or shared. in fact, last year’s training, was a lot more detailed than this one. although i have gotta admit, this was way way more fun than any other training i’ve had. this batch is hilarious, and save for hot nerd niel, the boys are all game. i pity the abuse that sigz unwillingly exposed himself to though, but that kept us awake. and maricar’s procession up and down the stairs was such a classic. jason had a field day capturing all that on video. “hindi kita malilimutan” was floating from our lips. all that laughing probably made learning a lot more challenging, but we all thankfully survived. next week, we climb the mariveles mountains, dissecting sky’s loop that takes us down tarak ridge. interesting. i’m feeling super!

by the way, i saw ex kulê EIC herbert today. he says he’s joined UPM. okay, so much for that. goodness, this marathon really took a toll on me. i woke up at a little past 3 while the rain was pouring really hard. still, a 10km route is no joke. but, i’m sure i’d do just fine next time. i must say God answered my prayer to keep my side stitches at bay. thank you God.

Tags: 10k, milo marathon, road race

foreword: here's something fished from my yahoogroups. this piece was sent out in two parts, in a span of two days. it shows just how productive i can be if i were less deliberate. it's not bad, and i'm posting it here in its entirety, with no further revisions.

when the horde of runners began punishing the black asphalt with the assault of their shoes, i was immediately gripped with some anxiety. it was not my first time to run a marathon, but it was my first time to run that length. 10km is a big deal, and for most of us who lead sedentary lives in the luxury of our airconditioned offices, hammering out 8 hours in the seclusion of our cubicles or our rooms, to run 10km is a great challenge never to be underestimated. but i am one of the most confident persons i know, a quality which sometimes borders on arrogance, and i knew i would finish. the challenge for me was not so much to finish the 10km, but to finish it in good time. it is for this reason that i was personally dissatisfied with my performance. my goal was to cross the finish line in less than an hour. unfortunately, i was visited by pain in the stomach, probably because i ran not on an empty stomach. it was my first mistake. the second mistake was to give in to the temptation to walk rather than to maintain my steady pace. so i wasn't able to improve on my personal record. i crossed the line in a little less than 1 hour and 5 minutes.

i think this is an important lesson because in climbing, the goal is not so much to conquer mountains, but to conquer ourselves. i know that a lot of mountaineers say they climb mountains because they are there. i don't think that's necessarily bad, but that does not cultivate the right values. we've been blessed with all these natural beauties not so much so that we can have playgrounds above the clouds. these blessings are there for us to admire, to respect, and to care for. i climb mountains because i want to get away from the urban concerns of the city. and whenever i am up there, i realize the evils of unchecked urbanization. the air up there is refreshingly different. the views are always outstanding. and the experience is always tremendously memorable. these come far and few between when i am down in the city.

climbing mountains, therefore, teaches me to value nature even more. i become an environmentalist by default. so when i am on top of the mountain, with an impressive and unimpeded view of the surrounding environs, i am always thankful for having this rare opportunity to admire all of these. and i am finally thankful that despite the doubts that may have lingered at the back of my mind, i have conquered all my personal limitations. i may not be on the highest peak this side of the planet, but it certainly does not feel any different from being on top of the world. once again, i've pushed the envelope, and i am ready for my next challenge.

when we began running the 10km course, i had to keep brushing aside the nagging feeling that somewhere along roxas boulevard, i'd give up. but i remembered my own unsolicited advice to jay. i told him that when all else fails, you can draw your second wind from the throng. i told him that the crowd will push you to go farther. and this was all too real for me. when we started running, my focus was divided. i couldn't concentrate on my own pace, but i paid great attention on the other runners. i saw men and women, young and old, huge and diminutive, each one eager to conquer their own fears. and this is what truly inspired me to push on even when my body begged me to stop.

i usually have a high regard of myself, which probably naturally flows from my surplus of self-confidence. i know what i am capable of doing, and i find it thrilling when i push myself to the limit and surprise myself when i end up accomplishing something beyond what i would naturally expect. but the experience at the milo marathon has taught me time and again the value of never underestimating other people. i was running what i felt was a good pace given my highly sedentary lifestyle. but all i needed to do was to look around and realize that regardless of how i may think of myself, i am never as fast as i think i am, not as strong as i would want to be, and not as brave as i would expect. there they were, well ahead of me, men and women carrying their frail and fragile bodies, running on their crystal legs, feeling the breeze on their faces, and finishing in a time i could only hope to achieve in the near future.

to be sure, the milo marathon was a humbling experience for me. 10km never seemed so long and at the same time so short.

one of the valuable things our BMC taught us was to never underestimate a mountain. and that is always true for me. in fact, i have a tendency to overestimate it. to always think that it is harder than it actually is. to think that the trail is longer than it really is. to think that i couldn't finish when i actually can. despite my overwhelming confidence, this is always something which i keep in mind. after we've reached the summit and once we've returned to the comforts of our own homes, we think about the climb and how much the mountain has humbled us. even when we think we are tireless machines who never run out of energy, we wake up the following day plagued with not a few aches. it is a wonderful experience to know that the pains we feel is a result of our quest to exceed the limitations. and once again, we are all humbled, no matter how many mountains we've climbed, no matter how many miles we've run, no matter how heavy the load we've carried, it always feels like the first time. it is never a walk in the park. if it is, then where's the challenge?

generations of mountaineers will come and go, but the mountain will always be there. everyone who knows how to respect a mountain and to value its savage beauty will always regard their climbs as above all a humbling experience.

i hope i've shared some of my thoughts with you guys. the reason i do this is that i think climbing isn't all about being with a bunch of happy campers who delight in the drinking sessions on the summit. yes, that too is important. but the primordial thing for me is that climbing molds me into a better person. it teaches me lessons i would otherwise not learn in the lowlands. it is an experience as well as an education.

Tags: 10k, milo marathon, road race, running, writing