Race Report: Powerade Duathlon MOA

I know its not Strictly a running event, but then again, I'm not strictly a running blog.

I'll keep this short because I'm kinda lazy today and I'm trying to fit in some pool time before my 6 PM Ethics class today.

Knowing that the race was supposed to start at 6:30, I got up at 4 am an went through my normal pre race routine; hot shower to warm the muscles, Oatmeal, and get into the race clothes.

Ever since I was a couple of minutes late to this year's Happy Run, I now always allot more time then I think I need to get to the race venue.

In this case, it turned out that I didn't need to worry about being late. 

After spending 20 to 30 minutes battling with very unhelpful guards just to find a parking space, Marga and I arrived at the registration area to find a long line to claim the race packet followed by another long line to get body marked.

After all was said and done for us, we racked our bikes in the transition area and ran into a few friends. Ryan, my teammate in UPDT and Habagat was there, and we ended up talking for a few minutes before we went to the front of the starting pack to get his race face on! Hehe

By this time is was around 8 AM and it was hot! I remember Marga and I being in the back of a whole group of people who were milling around the starting arch, when we heard that gun go off!

The race had started!

Knowing that it takes me a very long time to warm up, I started the race slowly. Keeping a steady pace in the back while slowly making up ground as the kms passed beneath my feet.

It was so hot that I remember at one point in the run, all the runners suddenly crowded on the left side of the street because that side was shaded by the giant Uniwide mall.

According to the official times, my 1st 7k run plus transition was 0:35:25, which I guess is not that bad for a 7k run.

It was my bike time that really disappointed me. For 6 loops around MOA, more or less 30 kms of flat terrain, I timed a 1:05:14 including transition 2.

From the get go, I knew my bike time would be bad, after all this would be just my second time on the road bike after being on a MTB for 2 years.

What immediately struck me was the gearing. I remember starting off and accelerating quickly through some gears, when it became "heavy" I thought, ok this must be a good pace. No sooner had the words entered my mind when I was quickly overtaken by 3 road bikers!

Damn! I thought, Ang Bagal Ko!

In my mind, using my MTB with its little ratios as a frame of reference I thought I was really pushing a tiny gear on my road bike, when I looked down I saw I was only around the 3 or 4th gear from the largest one!

So I tried shifting down, but that became way too tiring, so I shifted gears again and prepared for a long morning of being overtaken up and down the course.

Which is pretty much what happened. I think I must have lost at least 10 maybe 15 places on the bike leg alone!

Which meant that I had some serious running to do.

Into the 2nd and last run leg, we had 4 kms to run. Straight of the blocks, I quickly speed up. Only to just as quickly slow my pace when my right calf started to give me the "spasm of doom"! Having experience this in a duathlon last year, I knew what to expect, I just slowed my pace a bit and I knew eventually, it would pass.

And it did, I was clear. I picked up the pace again and eventually even caught up with my friend Ryan who was around 3 or 4 minutes ahead of me coming out of the bike.

After we had made our turn around I increased my pace again and I even remember with around 1 km to go, asking the guy beside me if he wanted to race to the finish, you know for a little extra push.

Unfortunately, he declined, but I decided to run ahead anyway.

Long story short, I finished the 4k in 18:59 for a total time of 1:59:38, not bad I think for my 1st road dua. 

Running Batanes 3

My last installation of this series is not actually a run I did, but rather was planning to and really looking forward to doing, if not for the fickle weather of the islands.

Saturday morning was supposed to be a rest day for us, hence I was really looking forward to getting in a good long run around the South of the Island.

Yet, when I awoke, the sky was overcast, a light rain was falling and gale-force winds were howling. No way, I'd run that. I didn't even bring a jacket! Looked like an indoor day. Oh well, there's always gin. (As an aside, our tour guide tells me that they sell 26 Million Pesos of Rice a year in Batanes, and 22 Million Pesos worth of Gin! Gin is almost a staple product!)

However, I'd like to talk about the route I would have taken, having scoped it out by car the day before.

If I or say you were to do it, first you'd make your way South of Basco to the Municipality ofMahatao.

Pretty soon, you'll find yourself on the paved national road which hugs the coastline and provides beautiful, I mean absolutely stunning views.

Be careful though as there are alot of blind corners and the Ivatans as nice and hospitable as they are, are not the best of drivers. You may also want to pay attention to the fact that the roads are not always in the best condition, although there was a modernization project going on there while I was there. According to the omni present signs, they'll be spending 110 Million to modernize the roads there.

Around 5 to 7 Kms out of Basco, you'll reachthe municipality of Mahatao. The 1st thing you may notice is that the main road takes a right while a smaller road goes straight, following the main road. 

In Mahatao, take time to appreciate some of the history around you. From old Ivatan houses, churches and even Spanish era bridges.

Making your way out of to the edge of town, you'll still be in the still be running on the stunning coastal road. And by now, you'll probably be thirsty, so be sure to drop by the Honesty Store 

If you're lucky, the owner, a retired teacher with a golden heart, maybe around and she can tell you the story of the history of the Honestly Store. 

The next part of the run will be on similar roads to the ones before Mahatao. But with one important exception.

The view...

The rocky cliff faces now becoming gently rolling hills and still rocky beaches. This view is the favorite of the loop for me.

Just check out these views!

Right before you reach the abandoned American outpost on the beach shown above, you will see a fork going up to "Marlboro Country"

This is where the paved roads start to become rough and trail shoes start looking like a really good idea.

A kilometer or so and you'll run into a closed gate. This is the gate for the communal grazing pasture. You may open the gate and pass through, but please for the love of God, close it behind you. Unless you to spend the rest of your vacation looking for a herd of missing cows!

After  you pass these rolling grass covered hills, don't forget to lock the other gate behind you, and soon you'll find yourself on a paved road.

These paved road can have some killer uphills, but if you preservere and finish, you will find yourself in the town of Mahatao again, coming out of the secondary road which you may have noticed earlier.

At this point you'll only be 3 or 4 kms from Basco and you just follow the roads you took earlier. But run quickly, because you don't want to get stuck out here in the dark, remember what I said about Ivatan drivers earlier!

Hope you had fun!

Second Wind on Facebook!!

Because Hector is so hip and "with it", he decided to use his technological expertise to put Second Wind on Facebook!!!

Be a Fan! Get to know the latest news, promos, sales, and discounts!

See more pics of the store and ve-cinity map (Hector's words, not mine) below.

Second Wind Soft Opening

I was in the shop yesterday and the final supplier finally made his delivery.

Yup, Mizuno is in the house, err... store.

And of course, as with every delivery I found my perfect shoe, in this case, the Mizuno Wave Musha. Shown on the leftmost, bottom.

With all the stocks in yesterday, Hector, Neville, The Engineer and I spend around 2 to 3 hours getting the shop into ship, errr store-shape.

And with all that out of the way, I am proud to whisper to you all that the shop has...

a soft opening today!!! Drop by around noon onwards, browse the merchandise and get to meet Hec and Nevs.

Batanes Running 2

Having an hour or 2 break until the next event for that day, I decided to take a short run. 

Initially, I decided to run a bit around the Basco streets, passing some beautiful old but decrepit houses interspaced with cyber cafes! Ahh, progress, you really can't stop it.

As I was finishing up my run, I passed by the town plaza and sighted this.

Confirming that the lighthouse was in fact just a kilometer or two out of town, I decided to make my way there.

I made my way North of Basco. A few minutes of running on paved roads and after asking directions from a friendly old lady, I found myself here.

Apparently, it was a short cut which would go straight up the mountain, rather than a round about way.

Just a quick run pass the cemetary...

and a short but wild trip up some underbrush; I ended up at the base of the light house.

Of course I couldn't stop here. I didn't come all this way to check out the base of a lighthouse. But before going in, I saw this...

Yes! Solar powered! High tech! And Green!

So, on to the more important things. The base of the lighthouse is apparently always open so any one can make his or her way to the top.

50 Steps later and I encountered this a ladder with a sign.

NO ENTER! Being in the Honesty capital of the Philippines, I decided to heed the request. Even if the inner kid in me screamed to find out what was up there.

Instead, I steped out on the circular balcony the goes around the top of the lighthouse and took in the spectacular view.

That's Mt. Iraya in the background! Seeing its summit perennially covered in clouds during my stay there is one of the top reasons I am going back to Batanes.

From up here, I could see that path I took going up. 

Don't worry, there's a less exotic but longer path if you choose. 

After visiting the lighthouse, I decided to take in some of the sights surrounding it.

Check out the beauty of the rugged Batanes coastline.

And what I think is an abandoned former American something.

Batanes Warning

When ever you see sights like this...

Beware of this...

Condura Run Recap

There was a time that I joined every running race that I could get my hands (feet?) on. However, a few months of running every weekend can really take a lot out of you. And with my diversion into multi-sports and MTB, plus my MBA classes, I really have begun to pick and choose which road races I do.  In fact, I think that my last race run was during the Happy Run more than a month ago, which in a city where there is a race every weekend, is a very long time.

But when I heard from Patrick that the Condura Run would have a 21k and would be on the Skyway, I didn't hesitate, I automatically registered!

For me doing this race was a no brainer, not only because Patrick was a good friend. For 1, 21k is probably my favorite distance for a road race; it’s just long enough to be challenging, but not too long that you contemplate suicide along the way. 

Secondly, last year's run was arguably one of the best managed in the country, so I knew I would be able to enjoy and race this year's event worry-free.

Lastly, come on! One month between road races is way to long!

Night before race day, I got a text from Pat that there would be 6,000 runners registered for the race, so he advised coming early.

Imagining the problems I would have parking if I went late, I decided to take his advice to heart and arrived at the venue a good 45 minutes before the start of the 21k.

Once there, I laced up, wore my I am Ninoy jersey, using the CR, and talked a bit with my friends.

15 minutes before the start, we made our way to the start assembly area, where my visions of a perfect and trouble free race quickly crumbled. I couldn't find the entrance to the assembly area; I saw a sign for a 5k and 10k but no 21k! Then I ran into a rather rude race official who said we had to enter by the 10k sign.

Once I got in line for the assembly area, it was so crowded that I only got in a minute or two before the start of the race!

Luckily, when the starting gun went off, all this pre race stress melted away and I concentrated on the primary task of running 21k as fast as I could. 

As any experienced runner will tell you, the 1st 2 or 3k of any road race is spent trying to go around slower runners while at the same time trying not to run too fast and wreck your whole race program.

It wasn't until the pack made its way down from the Kalayaan flyover that I managed to get into some "clean air" and I was able to race at a pace I was happy with. 

 (For those who do not know, I still don't run with those techy Garmins and HRMs and such. I prefer to run "blind" and instead listen to my own body if I can go faster or slower.)

For this 1st half of the race, I decided to run conservatively and was actually thinking of running a negative split. So I definitely ran within myself for the 1st half of the race and was feeling very good as we reached Osmena Highway and the highlight of the race, the SKYWAY route!

It’s at this point that I remember thinking that after we get over the SKYWAY onramp, we should be fine.  In my head, I remember thinking that once this ascent was done with the SKYWAY would be once long flat stretch until the turn around and the eventual downhill run.

Boy was I wrong! The Skyway was anything but flat, instead proving to an undulating concrete snake with energy sapping uphills and knee pounding downhills. Magallenes interchange never seemed to far away to me before!

It was round halfway to the turn around when we saw the lead group of 4 runners. 42 minutes into the race and they had probably finished more than 14 or 15 kms! I haven't even reached the turn around point! Later I would find that they finished in 1 Hour 10 minutes! 

Looking back on yesterday's race, I really didn't get a chance to enjoy the Skyway because on the way to the turnaround I was too busy focusing on running and on the way back I suddenly felt very weak and close to bonking. I really slowed at this point, almost running at 6 minutes per kilometer. I was caught and passed by a lot of people; my team mate Al passed me just off the SKYWAY gave me some encouraging words, which helped. At the very least it distracted me for 15 seconds and took my mind of my pain. 

At this point all I could think of was a bet I made with Hector. Loser buys a bottle of Rush! I assumed that I was ahead of him at this point, so I took a long and careful look at each runner who passed me. I maybe slow, but so long as I managed to stay ahead of Hec, I would be fine!

It wasn't until reached the 16km point that I got my often prayed for and much needed Second Wind. But my problems didn't end there; suddenly my left knee began acting up!

So little kilometers left yet still so many problems! I remember telling my knee to hold it together for another 5k and I'll deal with the pain tomorrow if there was really a problem.

When we finally reached the Fort, I started to run faster, hoping that by finishing faster I would get a good race time and more importantly I can get myself out of my self imposed misery. 

Unfortunately, every time I tired to speed up my legs quickly gave out.

But 300 meters from the end, I saw another runner quickly making ground on the side of the pack. Oh! A Now it would be a race! Could be fun! So I waited for him to pass me and quickly made chase behind him!

Thank god for that guy! By focusing on chasing him, I managed to distract myself all through the finish line and to a time of 1:47! This is probably a PR, because my last 21k was Subic Marathon last year at 1:58:10

So it was all good! And more importantly I finished ahead of Hector! 

 

P.S. Thanks to Marga and Pat for helping me find my key after I lost it in my post race delirium.