At the end of my day, I headed straight to ULTRA for my training. My calves still hurt like hell but what the heck. No pain no gain… well, hopefully, it would result in a loss of more pounds.
I did the usual 2km warm-up followed by some running drills. It’s really difficult to start back at square one. I’m building my base but I know that it’s also for the best since I don’t want my body to get shocked. Slow and steady is best and it is more reliable.
When I was doing the running drills, I found myself gasping for air. My body is really not used to doing what I used to do on a regular basis.
The last time I was at ULTRA, I wasn’t sure if I was doing the midfoot or forefoot strike. So today, I tried my best not to land on the area between the ball of my foot and my toes. According to what I’ve been reading, that’s the forefoot. I also consciously tried not to land on my heels. I guess if I did both, I’d end up doing the midfoot strike.
My plan for the day was to do a 5k interval session. This means running at 80% at the straight parts of the track while jogging on the curved portions. Well, since I was starting, I thought that I should run-walk-run instead of run-jog-run. Thinking of the entire workout bored me. It would mean that for every loop around the oval, I’d run twice and walk twice. In order for me to do 5k, I had to do 12.5 laps around the oval and it would translate to 50 run-walk-run segments. The idea of doing 50 just seemed too much and seemed really boring and I didn’t like the idea that it would take so long to finish.
As predicted, I got bored in the middle of the workout and I ended up doing 3.2km or 32 segments of the run-walk routine. Well, not bad if I count the 2km warmup that I did also. Let’s just hope all this work pays off
I had set today as the day I return to ULTRA. I was quite anxious for many reasons…
ONE… It’s been a while since I’ve trained at ULTRA.
I think it’s been months if not a quarter since I last set foot on ULTRA. It’s really been that long. It felt like my first time when I set foot inside the track. I scanned the area for people I might recognize. I was looking for the usual coaches who were there or those that used to Coach me like Rio, John and Roel.
TWO… I felt out of place.
Ultra is know for people who do speed work and not for those who jog or walk around the track. It’s known to be the home of so many athletes… and I was not one of them. As I scanned the track oval, there were a lot of people who looked and ran like runners, not your recreational runners who take their sweet time as they stroll the entire 5k route. Inside were runners who were real serious about their training, either doing their tempo run, interval or fartleks.
THREE… I was huge.
I felt embarrassed about how big I had gotten. I was hoping not to see anyone I knew. Perhaps in their mind, “Si Passion Runner ba ‘yo?! Bakit parang hindi niya kamukha yung facebook profile niya? (Is that Passion Runner? How come he looks nothing like his facebook profile pic?)”
Or something like, “Geez! This guy ain’t a runner, what is he doing here?”
It’s been more than a year since my favorite picture was taken…
[Photo courtesy of Ben Chan]
It was taken during the Nike Human Race (31.08.2008). It was the time when I was at my so-called “PEAK”. It was when I had passed some people I had been training with and it was also when I realized I loved hills! This race was held at McKinley hills. I think it was one of the very first events that used this venue for road races.
Can anyone guess who’s standing next to me in the picture below? (HINT: She’s now a Nike Human Race Ambassador) Yes! It’s Bards Bathan, the Nike Ambassador of Team BananaRunning. She was actually the person who inspired me to put up my first blog after I had visited hers and read her amazing weight loss story.
[L-R: Passion Runner, BananaRunning, DATC, runner, RunningShield. NOTE: I'm sorry, I don't remember the name of Patrick's friend. Photo courtesy of RunningShield]
[L-R: Passion Runner, JunC, RunningShield. Photo courtesy of RunningShield]
As the QC International Marathon draws closer, I can’t help but feel anxious that I am still not in the best shape. I’ve gotten invitations from people to join their running clinics or run clubs but… let’s just say I enjoy running alone or with one or two people.
There is one training camp though that caught my attention. It’s really a no frills, hardcore running camp… take note, CAMP, not clinic. You don’t even need to bring any gear, other than your pair of running shoes. Check it out
As I was on my way home from school last night, I was debating with myself whether I would attend the briefing for the Q.C. International Marathon. It was late… I was tired… I was feeling sick with a terrible cough, bad doze of colds and a hoarse voice. As I reached the u-turn flyover in C-5, I decided to go. “What the heck? Free dinner…” I thought to myself.
I headed to Kabisera Bar & Grill for the briefing. The first person that I saw was Vince Mendoza who was busy talking to someone on the phone. Trying to look for familiar faces, I immediately spotted Ben Chan (aka Photographer on the Run, Photovendo), Lala Calma (who is a also law student but at the Ateneo Law School), Marga Deona (Runradio), Bards Bathan (aka Bananarunning), DingDong Biruar (aka RunMD), Johnny Sy (Johnny’s Run) and new people I got to meet like Mike, Dave de Leon. On the other side of the room, I spotted Que Gavan (Takbo.ph), Roselle (aka Running Diva), Timmy (kenkoy runner), Running Pinoy and a handful of other people from Runnex Inc. (Excecutive Runners Club of the Philippines) like Atty. Art Disini and Atty. Rudy Fernandez. A little later came in Jay (Prometheus Cometh) and JunC (Soul Mates).
I ended up signing up for the 21k. There is no turning back. I think I’m ready for this… will you?
