Year: 2008

Last Two Bibs; Route & Last Run

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Practice Runs, Races, RunningLeave a comment

27 March 2008

I registered personally at the Mizuno Store at Bonifacio High Street Mall after lunch today. The staff at the store told me that I am getting the second to the last bib for the 15K run. In one minute, I got out of the store and I am officially registered to run the 15K. While I was filling up my registration form, another guy entered the room and he got the last bib.

While looking at the zeroxed copy of the route, it confirmed the information I got from my officer yesterday. While I was going back to attend the closing ceremony of the seminar which I attended, I planned already to have my last practice run for the week before the race day on some portions of the route after the seminar.

Glancing at the course, the 15K route will be a hard one with so many hills along the way. My target of finishing the race in 1:15:00 hours would be a hard task and I could force my body to its limits. Well, mentally, that is still the target/objective but in reality, a 1:17:00 to 1:18:00 hours would be a decent time to finish the 15K run.

The strategy is to divide the course in three 5K runs. First 5K will be with a comfortable pace; the second 5K will be a faster one and the last 5K will be covered at a 2-mile run pace. The hilly portions will be at Bayani Road after the PA Golf Course; from the Heritage Park to Bayani Road; from the Golf Course along the Bayani Road up to the back of the Philippine Army Grandstand; McKinley Hills area; and the Essensa road. The difficulty on these hilly portions should be countered while running along the downhill portions of the route, which means that I have to increase my pace on the descending portions. The McKinley Hill part in going back to Lawton Avenue towards the finish line will be the “Killer Hill” in this race!

At 6:00 PM, I was already having my stretching exercises. I started from running workout from my quarters towards the Libingan ng mga Bayani, running along the outermost roads inside the park; went out and ran towards Heritage Park and C-5 Highway and back to Bayani Road; ran along Lawton Avenue towards McKinley Hill and was able to reach C-5 exit; and made a fast run in going up the last hill towards Lawton. From Gate 1 of Fort Bonifacio, I had my cool-down run towards my quarters.

My last practice run was a slow one but I was able to run in 1:29:03 hours with an estimated distance covered of 15 kilometers. I used my Timex Watch w/ HR Monitor with a 150-160 bpm and 1,060 total calories burned.

D-4 Day: Mizuno Infinity 15K Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, Races, RunningLeave a comment

26 March 2008 (8:32 PM-9:25PM)

I’ve been in Manila for the 6th Philippine Army Physical Fitness Test Challenge yesterday and for today and tomorrow, I am attending a seminar/meeting among the Commanders of the Philippine Army. On Friday, I will also attend the 111th Founding Anniversary of the Philippine Army in a Military Parade and Awarding Ceremonies.

While attending a dinner with the Commanders, one of the officers from the Headquarters Philippine Army who is also a weekend runner told me that he had registered already for the Mizuno Infinity 15K Run. Well, I told him that I have yet to register in one of the Mizuno Stores in Makati with the thought that I’ll be registering at the Boifacio High Street Mall. I asked the officer about the route and he told me the general route of the 15K Run. He told me that route covers Lawton Avenue, Bayani Road, Heritage Park, Mckinley Hill Area and The Fort area.

After dinner, I immediately changed to my running attire and had a “run through” or course familiarization on the hilly portions of the course. Actually, it was not a course familiarization but a review on the route as I am familiar on most of the portions of the route. I did “fartlek” runs on the flat/plain portions and hill “bounding” exercises on the ascending portions of the route. I also practiced “belly breathing” on the hilly portions. 

The following data were registered in my GF 305:

Distance—8.63 kms                 Time—48:39 mins

Average Pace—5:38 mins/km    Average Speed—10.6 km/hr

Maximum Speed—13.6 km/hr   Total Calories—634 cal

Average HR—160 bpm                Maximum HR—170 bpm

Total Ascent—324 meters          Total Descent—357 meters

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-Kinsei 2

“ONE” Wristband

On By kingofpotsIn Running3 Comments

One year ago today, I started giving this “white” rubber wristband to my officers and to a selected number of my troops who were directly involved in armed firefight/encounter with the armed insurgents in Central and Western Visayas. I even gave this wristband to the Governors and local government officials; to the Catholic Church’s Bishops; members of the media; and friends of the Command. The Governors of Aklan and Iloilo are wearing proudly this “ONE” Wristband up to the present.

In December 2006, during my visit to my family in Los Angeles, my daughter gave me this wristband, explaining to me that there was a Music/Rock Concert that was held in Los Angeles where most of the celebrities, VIPs, and Hollywood Stars were wearing this white “ONE” wristband and wearing this kind of wristband was the “in-thing” that time. Unknowingly, such wristband is a symbol of an advocacy to solve poverty and make poverty a history.  

I used this “white” wristband to explain to the recipient that wearing it is a symbol that he /she is committed to support our mission to solve insurgency as solving poverty greatly affects the overall improvement and maintenance of peace and order in the area.

I’ve been wearing this “ONE” Wristband for one year and you could see it in my pictures in all my road races. I’ve been wearing this wristband with my military uniform, too!

The famous “American Idol” finalists and judges last year were wearing this “ONE” Wristband as they sponsored a support/aid to the poor communities in Africa. During the last Senatorial Elections here in the country last year, the opposition senatorial candidates used this “white wristband” as part of their campaign’s platform, but after the elections, they changed this wristband to a better looking and more expensive bracelets. And the worst is, you seldom hear them “trying” to help solve the problem of poverty. Please correct me if I am wrong on this observation. 

Anyway, I still have 100 pieces of this “ONE” wristband (Made in USA) and I am giving a piece of this to every donor of an old/used running shoes. These wristbands will be available for the first 100 donors. I will be the one who will personally give this wristband.

I hope to see you at the Mizuno Infinity Run.

6th Army Physical Fitness Test Challenge

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Races, Running8 Comments

25 March 2008 (5:00 AM-7:00 AM)

Last night, I took the last flight from Iloilo City to Manila just to be able to participate in the 6th Army Physical Fitness Test Challenge, being the author/originator of this event which started in 2000. For unknown reasons, this event was not conducted in 2006 & 2007 PA Anniversary. I am glad that the Commanding General of the Philippine Army, Lt Gen Alexander Yano revived this event as he is an athlete and lover of sports. One of his priorities as soon as he assumed the leadership of the Philippine Army was to enhance the physical fitness of the soldiers and improve the physical fitness facilities and equipment in every Division/Command nationwide. My Division/Command in the Western Visayas is recipient of this program.

General Yano sent me a text message last night at 11:00 PM, which I read when I woke up at 4:15 AM this morning, telling that he revived the conduct of the Army Physical Fitness Test. It is subtle message that he is personally attending the event. He knew that I was responsible in the creation of this pysical fitness event and he was inviting me to join.

When I arrived at the Philippine Army Grandstand at 5:00 AM, two sets/groups of participants (25 persons per set) had already finished their Push-Ups and Sit-Ups events. I was surprised that my registration form was prepared already and all I had to do was to pin my race number/bib. I joined the third set/group together with my brother, Maj General Samuel Narcise, the Inspector General of the Philippine Army, and some of the Officers and Enlisted Personnel.

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A pose with my brother before the start of the 6th Philippine Army Physical Fitness test Challenge.

We started with the Push-Ups event for a time limit of 2 minutes only. I did 65 repetitions in 2 minutes!

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Starting position…Once the Umpire says “GO”, you have to stretch/kick your legs to the back.

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And down with your body and legs to the ground as one..the fist of the “counter” (one who counts your repetitions) must be touching your breast to count as one repetition. The upper arms should be in line with your back when going down.

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You can rest only in this position with your body still straight…but I did not rest and I did 65 repetitions continuously.

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After almost 5 minutes of rest after the Push-Ups event, we were led to the next station for the Sit-Ups. This is the starting position. The guy holding my feet pressing them to the ground with the help of his knees is the one who counts your repetitions.

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In order to count in a repetition, the whole back of the body should be touching the ground. I did a very fast repetitions on this event. I counted mentally up to 70 repetitions but the “counter” only counted 62! I guess, my counting was faster than his counting. No complaints though!

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The Sit-Ups event has a time limit of 2 minutes also. This is the only allowed resting position but it is suggested that there should be no rest while doing this exercise as you will lose your momentum. On record, I finished 62 repetitions!

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Our group started in the 2-mile run…with my brother and the officers and men of the Philippine Army..

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After finishing the 2nd round/lap…

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Finishing the 2-mile run after 3 laps…Remember always, Don’t forget to smile once you pass the finish line. I finished in 14:56 minutes for the 2-mile run (3.2 kilometers). The following data were taken from GF 305:

Distance—3.25 kms                   Time—14.56 minutes

Average Pace—4:36 mins/km      Average Speed—13.0 kms/hr

Maximum Speed—15.8 kms/hr   Total Calories—239 cal

Average HR—165 bpm                  Maximum HR—169 bpm

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Lt General Yano, the Commanding General of the Philippine Army (at the center), ran the 2-mile run with the last group of particpants. My brother and I joined him during the run and he finished in 18:21 minutes!

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As a result of the 6th Philippine Army Physical Fitness Test Challenge, I was awarded with a Medal as the Champion in the Executive Category (which means, 50 & above years of age!). Not bad for a Major General of the AFP, retiring in 52 days from the service. My brother was also awarded with the 2nd Runner-Up Medal in the same category.

Total Distance Covered—7.5 kilometers (to include one lap of cool-down jogging). It was a nice tapering workout in preparation for my next road race on Sunday.

Running Shoes—ASICS GEL Kinsei-2

I hope to see you at the Mizuno Infinity 15K Run this Sunday!…And don’t forget to bring your old shoes for donation!

D-7 Day: Mizuno Infinity 15K Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, Races, Runners' Training, Running3 Comments

23 March 2008

Happy Easter to Everybody!

I was supposed to spend my Holy Week in Boracay and stay in our Cottage which is located in Station 0 ( I coined the name because our place is way up north of Station 1) together with my “security detail” bringing with me my books, RW Magazines, and my laptop. However, I changed my mind with the thought of preparing for the next road race which is the Mizuno Infinity 15K Run next Sunday within the hills & mountains of Jamindan. I thought that running along the beachfront of Boracay is not productive as my preparation even if I decided to run along the fairways of Fairways & Bluewater Golf Course or even run the hills of Boracay Island. The 2-mile route inside my camp was a better option plus the fact that I could be easily identified in Boracay as one of the tourists there. I am more rested here in the camp than travelling for almost 3 1/2 hours to Boracay by land and my soldiers in Boracay might be concentrating on my security rather than protecting and securing the tourists visiting in the island. And I don’t want this thing to happen.

Building-up my strength and endurance in the hills/mountains of Jamindan was part of my preparation for the Mizuno Run. I want to improve my time in the 15K with the plan to run at an average pace of 4:50-4:58 minutes per kilometer in order to finish the 15K run in 1:15:00 hours or below. Not knowing on the details of the route, I concentrated my training on my hill workouts in order to prepare for the “worst”. If the route of the race will be at The Fort Area, I am confident that I can maintain my pace with those gradual ascending portions in the area.

Having woke up early this morning to attend the Easter Sunday activities at 5:00 AM at the camp & attending the mass after the “Salubong” at the Camp’s Chapel, I opted to have my run late in the afternoon and confident that there will be no rain today. I started my running workout with stretching and later made my warm-up with brisk walking and slow jogging for about 1.6 kilometers along the 2-mile route. I am supposed to have my endurance run which is a regular run with a distance of 10 kilometers but I finally decided to have a “speed play” within the 400-meter distance flat area along the route. I did 5 repetitions of the “400-meter intervals” with 400-meter slow jog in between speed repeats. The following were the data taken from my GF 305 every lap:

#1)  Distance—416.33 meters          Time—1:47 mins

        Average Pace—4:18 mins/km      Average Speed—13.9 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—16.4 kms/hr   Total Calories—26 cal

        Average HR—134 bpm                  Maximum HR—153 bpm

        Total Ascent—6 meters                 Total Descent—19 meters

#2)  Distance—413.16 meters          Time—1:44 mins

        Average Pace—4:12 mins/km      Average Speed—14.3 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—15.6 kms/hr   Total Calories—27 cal

        Average HR—151 bpm                  Maximum HR—161 bpm

        Total Ascent—7 meters                 Total Descent—11 meters

#3)  Distance—436.97 meters         Time—1:38 mins

        Average Pace—3:44 mins/km      Average Speed—16 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—19.2 kms/hr   Total Calories—28 cal

        Average HR—148 bpm                  Maximum HR—163 bpm

        Total Ascent—7 meters                 Total Descent—13 meters

#4)  Distance—438.73 meters         Time—1:41 mins

        Average Pace—3:51 mins/km      Average Speed—15.5 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—18.8 kms/hr   Total Calories—29 cal

        Average HR—152 bpm                  Maximum HR—164 bpm

        Total Ascent—8 meters                 Total Descent—14 meters

#5)  Distance—432.57 meters         Time—1:56 mins

        Average Pace—4:28 mins/km      Average Speed—13.4 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—15.8 kms/hr   Total Calories—29 cal

        Average HR—151 bpm                   Maximum HR—159 bpm

        Total Ascent—8 meters                 Total Descent—11 meters

Cool-Down Jogging for 1.2 kilometers (3 X 400 meters) and then had my post-stretching exercises.

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120

Music—Linkin Park/Laura Fygi

Total Distance Covered—6.8 kilometers or 4.25 miles 

Black Saturday Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, RunningLeave a comment

22 March 2008 (5:13 PM- 7:15 PM)

There had been no rains in Jamindan for the past 5 days and the weather today is fine and there are no clouds in the sky. I started my run while the sun was about to set and disappear from the ridge of the highest mountain in the camp and stopped my running workout when the moon has risen on the eastern horizon. Checking on my wall calendat, I found out that today/tonight is Full Moon. It was a nice sight seeing the moon beaming its light on some portions of the camp’s streets where the lighted street lights are not yet available. I started to slow down with my pace when the surroundings became dark but I need to finish at least two hours of running for today’s workout.

I am well rested today and I planned to have my running workout this morning but I became lazy to wake up early as planned. I had additional one hour of sleep after I cancelled my morning workout. After breakfast, I acted on administrative papers and read reports coming from my units under me. I also read back issues of RW Magazine and the book written by Alvin & Heidi Toffler, “Revolutionary Wealth”. I also watched some movies from Star Movies-TV Channel and the 2nd Round of the PGA Puerto Rico Golf Tournament at Solar Sports.  After one hour sleep after watching the movie, “The Gods Must Be Crazy”, I started to prepare for my afternoon run.

The following were the data taken from my GF 305:

Distance—20.10 kms              Time—2:01:22 hrs

Average Pace—6:02 mins/km     Average Speed—9.9 km/hr

Maximum Speed—14.8 km/hr    Total Calories—1,483 cal

Average HR—148 bpm                  Maximum HR—161 bpm

Total Ascent—660 meters            Total Descent—668 meters

Warm-Up—410 meters                 Cool-Down—560 meters

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120

Music—Matchbox Twenty & Led Zeppelin’s Mothership. 

It was nice to hear “Stairway to Heaven” while I was having my cool-down jogging & brisk walking!

Total Distance Covered—21.07 kms or 13.17 miles 

Pictures: Hill Workout @ Jamindan

On By kingofpotsIn RunningLeave a comment

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At the 300-meter point of the 3.2 km (2-mile run) loop inside the camp, downhill & 200-meter point, uphill.

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At the 900-meter point…downhill & 100-meter point from the start…uphill

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At 1.1 km point..flat area. The mountain at the background is the highest peak in the camp where our road trails lead.

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At 1.5-km point, slight downhill.

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At 2.7 km point..160 meters uphill

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At 2.9-km point, slightly uphill

Happy Easter!

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, RunningLeave a comment

Happy Easter to Everybody!

I hope you enjoyed your trip and vacation. See you at the Mizuno Infinity Run next Sunday!

Holy Thursday Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, Running2 Comments

20 March 2008 (6:48-8:00 AM)

I woke up early in the morning and I started to prepare for my running workout at 6:00 AM. After 20 minutes of stretching and slow jog for about 400 meters to warm-up, I started my run around the camp along the 2-mile route that I have measured. I planned to have a one hour run and just maintained a pace that I felt I was comfortable. I concentrated on my running form along the ascending portions of the route and made some “hill bounding” exercises. I consider this run as one of my endurance/strengthening runs in preparation for my next road race.

There are three ascending portions of the route which cover the first mile and the rest is a flat distance of about 800 meters and the remaining are descending portions. The 2-mile course inside the camp is very challenging, most especially with the 1st mile.

I was able to cover a distance of 12.21 kilometers or 7.63 miles for this morning’s running workout. The following were the data taken from my GF 305:

Distance—12.21 kms                        Time—1:09:04 hrs

Average Pace—5:39 mins/km           Average Speed—10.6 km/hr

Maximum Speed—15.1 kms/hr         Total Calories—897 cal

Average HR—157 bpm                        Maximum HR—168 bpm

Total Ascent—333 meters                  Total Descent—339 meters 

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120

Music—ABBA (In memory of Ola Brunkert, drummer of the group who died last 16 March 2008 in his home in Arta, Mallorca Island, Spain)

20 March 2008 (5:07-6:35 PM)

In the afternoon, after watching TV and reading the newspapers, I prepared for another running workout with the plan to reach the highest peak within the camp where the rest of the mountail trail/road would lead. It was an easy and slow run with the objective of not stopping along the ascending portions of the route. I did not stop along the route and just kept maintaining my slow pace. I was able to reach the end of the roads inside the camp. I was not able to experience any problems with my breathing and heart rate.

This was a very slow run but I consider this as my strengthening/endurance running workout. The following data were registered in my GF 305:

Distance—10.02 kms                 Time—1:26:03 hrs

Average Pace—8:35 mins/km      Average Speed—7.0 km/hr

Maximum Speed—11.1 km/hr      Total Calories—628 cal

Average HR—121 bpm                   Maximum HR—159 bpm

Total Ascent—402 meters             Total Descent—433 meters

Running Shoes—NIKE Training Air Edge

Music—Justin Timberlake/Rod Stewart

Total Distance For The Day—22.23 kms or 13.9 miles

Running Form

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Runners' Training, Running2 Comments

Running form refers to the study of the mechanisms of movement of running. Most studies and researches in running proved that there are some runners who run more efficiently than others and improving on one’s running form will definitely improve his or her running results/finish time. There are four things to consider to improve one’s running form—footstrike, forward stride, body angle, and arm movement.  

On footstrike, I am basically a flat-footed and ball-heel footstriker and I am comfortable running with it in 10K up to marathon races. My footstrike with the ball-heel method makes the part behind ball of my foot touches the ground first and my knee bends slightly to absord the shock and simultaneously my heel slightly touches the ground so the entire sole of my running shoe makes contact with the ground. Then I roll up to the ball of the foot for a “power” lift off by pushing off the big toe.

On forward stride, I am a “shuffler” who runs very low to the ground with little lift with my knees and no or little exaggerated back kick but sometimes I could increase the length of my stride if I lift my knees a little higher and increase the frequency of my strides. I usually shift to this form when I am running over hills and sprints towards the finish line.                                               

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 This is my running form as taken from one of my pictures during the 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon last 09 March 2008  

On body angle, I usually run relaxed and comfortable with my head and body erect looking about 20 meters infront of me. My pictures show my body as erect and relaxed as possible but sometimes there are times when I lean backwards and exaggerate my “breast out” appearance. I should be running with a slight forward lean as shown in my picture below during my oval track runs.

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This is the front view of my running form when I had my oval/track run in Iloilo City Sports Complex.

On the Arms movement, it is the Arm Action that I am practicing in my running workouts for the past days. According to my readings and research, the arms should be driven downwards in a vertical plane from the elbow in short, quick strokes, with the shoulders down and relaxed. It is not recommended to run and swing the arms from the shoulders, locking your arms at the elbow. I am slowly fixing this problem and exaggerate in swinging my arms from my elbow and don’t allow my elbow to move backward during my running workout.

At my age, I may not be able to attain the “perfect” running form as I recall how I saw Waldemar Cierpinski in person or the fluid motion of Frank Shorter and seeing the way elite runners are seen in the Runners World Magazine but I am sure these information would greatly improve one’s ability to run faster and more efficient.