Month: October 2020

14-Day Rest & Recovery

On By kingofpotsIn LifestyleLeave a comment

I have been absent from blogging because, first, I was not motivated to write anything for the past days; second, I have to take a rest from my daily running for the past 14 days; and lastly, I have been busy trying to “break-in” my newly bought heritage boots which is Made In USA (my first time to own a pair of boots made in the USA) around the house. So, instead of running with my sneakers/running shoes, I have been walking around the house, in my backyard, and on the streets within my neighborhood. I guess, I will make another blog about my experience and review about the said boots in the future.

It was a blessing in disguise that I have decided to have a 14-day rest and recovery from my daily running workouts. I was able to gain more weight and was I able to rest and have at least eight hours of sleep every night. During the past 14 days, I was able to eat whatever available to be cooked and I have to alternately eat fresh foods like vegetables, poultry, and meat. I was able to eat fresh fruits that was harvested in my backyard, too! However, on these days, I was not able to drink those sweetened cola drinks but more on water. In the end, I was able to gain more weight, about 4-5 pounds and feel to have regained some strength.

This morning, October 24, Saturday, I have decided to start running again in my Backyard Loop. Maybe, I was inspired by what had happened last weekend at the Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra where the winner, Karel Sabbe from Belgium, was able to run for 75 hours where he was able to cover a distance of 502 kilometers. This feat is a Course Record for the said event. In this event, runners have to run a loop course of 6.7 kilometers every hour until only one runner remains.

I have been thinking of doing this kind of format of running in my Backyard Loop but for the past months that I have been doing my “Virtual Runs”, I have observed that I have slowed my pace and speed. Due to old age and lack of speed training, I could barely finish 6.7 kilometers in one hour in my Backyard Loop. On my first month of virtual running in May, I can still run the said distance in one hour but I have only few minutes to take time to rest before I start again for the next lap-hour. Maybe, I could only last for 4-5 lap-hours until I am exhausted from being able to finish the said distance every hour.

With this predicament and my present situation, I have to adjust and had been thinking since Tuesday that I have to reduce my target distance to cover within one hour. Finally, I have found a good balance between having a leisure run (without much stress and intensity) and being able to cover some distance without any worries. I thought of starting again from my 14-day rest and recover by doing the MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function) Training with the goal to finish 5 kilometers in every hour. (Note: I have discussed and posted a post in my past blogs for the said training procedure).

On my first day of the MAF, I was able to cover a distance of 5 kilometers with an average Heart Rate of 127 beats per minute (bpm) which is slightly higher than my target HR of 122 bpm even if I forced myself to hike and walk if I see that my HR was getting higher than 122 bpm. Anyway, I was happy that I was back again to running today.

After Running For 5 Kilometers

I will be maintaining this MAF Training for the next month/30 days. I will call this the One Hour In 5 Kilometers Per Day In 30 Days Challenge. Follow me as I go through with this new Challenge.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Some Tips In Traveling To The Philippines During Covid-19 Situation (As of October 6, 2020)

On By kingofpotsIn General Information, Insights, Lifestyle, TravelLeave a comment

In the past few days, I have read in my Facebook Newsfeed about a question being raised/posted by a Filipino who is based in the United States on what is the protocol to expect and follow once an arriving passenger gets into the Manila International’s Airport.

Through the experience related to me by a Filipino Tourists who was stranded in the United States for almost six months due to the pandemic brought about by the Covid-19 virus and through the experience of a friend (US Citizen) who arrived from the United States (also) due to an emergeny situation to attend to in the Philippines, the following are the steps/procedures to follow once a passenger arrives at the airport.

  1. Tourists have to take a Covid-19 Rapid Test/Swab Test which is paid by the tourist once he/she arrives or exit from the airplane. The cost for each test is about US Dollars 95.00. One has to accomplish some form stating you Name and e-mail address or contact number where the Rapid Test Result will be sent once the result is available.
  2. After the Rapid/Swab Test, tourist has to arrange for his Hotel Accommodation at the Airport where he will be transported immediately. Car or Taxi Services are available in the airport to provide the necessary transportation to your Hotel of choice. Hotel Accommodation and Taxi Service are not FREE for tourists.
  3. Tourist is advised to stay inside his Hotel room until the result of the Rapid Test/Swab test is sent to the passenger. Usually, the test result will be released and sent to the passenger in a few hours through the e-mail address stated in the Form filled-up during the Test.
  4. If the Test is Negative, you can already the leave the Hotel and proceed to your final destination. If your final destination is within Metro Manila, you can take the Taxi services available at the Hotel. If you are Positive, you can have the option to stay longer in the Hotel or take some advise from authorities of the Department of Health on what are your available options to be able to observe and strictly implement the 14-day Quarantine Period for you.
  5. If you are an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) returning to the Philippines, the Rapid/Swab Test is FREE at the Airpot. After the Swab test is done, the OFW will then be transported to a government-designated accommodation facility/Hotel for them for FREE. Just the same with the tourist, they will wait for the release of the result of the Covid-19 Test. If the test is negative, they can leave the Hotel and proceed to their Final Destination. If found positive, contact the Department of Health for further steps for your immediate 14-day Quarantine Period to a Government designated facility or have the option to stay in your residence and follow the 14-day Quarantine protocol.
  6. Just in case, the tourist has a connecting flight from Manila to another destination in Visayas or Mindanao, he/she should have made made the travel arrangements during the time when his/her ticket was purchased for Manila. If not, this travel connection should be made once he/she arrives at the Manila International Airport. A Travel Pass from the Philippine National Police (PNP) is a requirement for this trip. (Note: There is a PNP Desk at the Airport where to ask for information and request for this Travel Pass)
  7. The Travel Pass will facilitate a coordination with the Local Government authorities in your final destination for your trip from the Local City Airport to your final place of destination. You will be asked to strictly adhere to the 14-day Quarantine Period in your Final Destination.
  8. Always observe the wearing of face mask, face shield, no talking in enclosed space, washing of hands with soap and/or alcohol (after touching or holding anything not in your possession) and social distancing (of at least, one meter apart)

For further information, please click the links below:

https://www.dfa.gov.ph/covid-19-advisories/26376-travel-restrictions-by-philippine-government-on-foreign-travelers

https://guidetothephilippines.ph/articles/ultimate-guides/philippines-travel-covid-19

Keep safe always and thank you for reading! Cheers!

Ten-Minute Video: Team PAU @ 2020 IAU 6-Hour Global Virtual Solidarity Run

On By kingofpotsIn Current Events, Fitness, General Information, Health, Insights, Jogging, Lifestyle, Pictures, Running, Sports Events, Timed Events, Ultra Marathon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) invited the Philippine Association of Ultrarunners (PAU), the National Ultramarathon Federation of the Philippines, to join the 2020 6-Hour Global Virtual Solidarity Run which was held last August 29-30, 2020. This event was attended by more than 40 member countries with a total of 426 athlete-runners throughout the world.

Team PAU was composed of 9 Male and 9 Female runners coming from the different regions of the country. Due to the Covid-19 Lockdown restrictions, all the runners were advised to do their running in their place of residence, whether on the outdoors or indoors (on treadmill machine). Team PAU represented the country in this event.

Here is the Video of Team PAU during the event:

Team PAU Video @ 2020 IAU 6-Hour Global Solidarity Run

Thank you for watching. Cheers!

(Note: Please subscribe to my You Tube Channel for more running adventures and stories in the Philippines. Thank you!)

13 Years With WordPress

On By kingofpotsIn Fitness, Health, Hiking, Insights, Jogging, Lifestyle, Running2 Comments

Seven months before I retired in the military service, I started to write my stories on running on WordPress. Since then, it has been 13 years that I have posting my running experiences and adventures to my readers. Those past years were great where I was able to inform, share, and inspire others to start running as part of a healthy lifestyle. I hope this blog had contributed to what I have intended to do since then.

At the present, writing my stories in this blog is my way to motivate myself to go out in the outdoors to maintain my physical fitness through running and hiking and to maintain a healthy mental fitness/attitude by writing my personal stories and other information/stories that I would share to everybody. As I grow older, writing is becoming my daily habit to exercise my brain and thinking ability. And since last week, I have extended or expanded my stories to any information that are happening around me and to the environment.

Thank you, WordPress for this opportunity to share my stories as told by an old and ordinary average runner. Thank you also to my subscribers throughout the world, a gratitude coming from a blogger in the Philippines!

Cheers for more stories in the future! Thank you for reading this blog. Stay safe always!

2020 Virgin Money London Marathon Race Highlights

On By kingofpotsIn Fitness, General Information, Health, Insights, Jogging, Lifestyle, Marathon Race, Marathon Race Results, Pictures, Race Results, Running, Sports Events1 Comment

Months before the conduct of the 2020 London Marathon Race, it was announced that the scheduled April event will be held despite the Covid-19 pandemic situation and it will be held on October 4, Sunday, with the participation of selected world elite athletes coming from selected countries. Most significant in the announcement was the participation of the two of the fastest marathon finishers in the world: Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya who is the reigning world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:01:39 hours in the 2018 Berlin Marathon and Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia who is the world record holder and Olympian record holder in the 10,000-meter event with a time of 26:17:53 minutes and second fastest time in the marathon with a time of 2:01:41 hours which he set in the 2019 Berlin Marathon, two-second slower than Kipchoge’s time.

Aside from the World’s Men’s Elite runners, the World’s Women’s Elite runners were invited to join the race. This is to include the Elite Marathon Runners from Great Britain. The rest of those who are supposed to participate and had been picked in the lottery to join the 2020 London Marathon had been asked to join in a virtual run and be able to complete the run within a period of 24 hours. Unfortunately, I registered for the third time in this marathon event and as usual, I was not been able to be picked up in the lottery.

In the months, weeks, and days before the London Marathon, there were so many information on the social media and printed media about this “duel” of the two fastest marathon runners in the world; Kipchoge and Bekele. With its hype, I tried to research on the Internet on the past competitions where these two great long distance runners had joined and competed with each other. Bekele was already a World and Olympic “Star” in the 2000s while Kipchoge was trailing behind him in the Oval Track Competition Races. However, during the 2010 and later years, both runners had shifted to road running on marathon races. Kipchoge started to shine and perform consistently in Marathon Races in Europe. However, Bekele had also his winning races on the road until he was sidelined with some injuries. Bekele is 38 years old while Kipchoge is 35 years old. But, these two runners had been always pushing the bar for the world record in marathon up to this time. The sub-2:02-hour time in the Marathon Race are being held by these two greatest runners in the world.

Kipchoge & Bekele Poster (From Google/Facebook)

In my past blog, I posted and predicted that Eliud Kipchoge will win over Kenenisa Bekele in the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon. However, I was still confident to predict that the winning time will be within the 2:02-2:03-hour range knowing how the place looks like when I had the chance to visit London in 2018. The London Marathon was held along the streets surrounding the St James Park near Buckingham Palace which is a loop-course covering a distance of 1.33 miles for each loop. Runners have to complete 19+ loops to finish the Marathon distance of 26.2 miles while is completely flat.

Two days before the race, Bekele announced to the media that he was withdrawing from the race because of an injury on his left calf muscle which he got two weeks before on a sprinting session. With this news, I was confident that Kipchoge would win the said race.

I watched the LIVE coverage of the London Marathon in the evening of Sunday, October 4, 2020 (Manila Time) after I found out that Brigid Kosgei of Kenya won the Women’s Championship with a time of 2:18:58 hours. She is the current Marathon World Record Holder with a time of 2:14:04 hours which she achieved in the 2019 Chicago Marathon Race. Worthy to note in the women’s race is the “sprint run” of  Sara Hall on the last 50 meters to pass Ruth Chepngetich to the finish line winning the race as the First Runner-Up in 2:22:01 hours. This is Sara Hall’s Personal Best in the Marathon.

Kitata & Kosgei: Overall Champion & Women’s Champion (Picture From Google)

On the last loop of the Marathon, Eliud Kipchoge could not react on the blistering pace of the faster runners and he did not win as I had predicted. Tola Shura Kitata of Ethiopia won as the Overall Champion of the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon with a time of 2:05:41 hours. He was the First Runner-Up in the 2018 London Marathon where Eliud Kipchoge won as the Champion. Eliud Kipchoge finished the race in 8th place with a time of 2:06:49 hours and he said in his post-race interview that his ears got blocked during the last loops that he could not concentrate and focus with his run. However, he was gentleman enough to accept the result of his performance. Kipchoge and Bekele will be back!

Thank you for reading. Have a good day and week ahead of us.

Covid-19 Situation In The Philippines (October 2, 2020)

On By kingofpotsIn Covid-19 Pandemic, Current Events, Fitness, Health, Insights, Lifestyle, Pictures, RunningLeave a comment

As of October 2, 2020, after 201 days since Lockdown was declared in Metro Manila and to the rest of the country, a total of 316,678 confirmed cases were reported. For this day, there were 2,611 new confirmed cases. There were 56 deaths today and 416 recoveries. The country has now a total of 5,616 deaths and total recoveries of 254,617.

As more Covid-19 test centers and testing capability in key cities and local government units, there had been an increase in confirmed cases of positive to the Covid-19 virus. However, there is no additional data as to the number of asymptomatic cases as compared to the more serious cases which are being admitted in Covid-19 health facilities and quarantine areas with serious symptoms with the virus. Most of these asymptomatic cases prefer to be quarantined in their respective homes/residences. It is my personal belief that these new confirmed cases have their Covid-19 tests being reported or registered without knowing if they are asymptomatic with the Covid-19 virus or not. However, the data/tabulation below would show the number of Total Active Cases which is 56, 445. Just the same with the confirmed cases, it is hard to find out which of these cases are manifesting serious symptoms of the virus (and should be under the care of the hospitals and other health facilities focused on the treatment of such patients) and to those who are asymptomatic with the symptoms of the virus who are most likely on their own personal quarantine method or confined in their respective homes.

The tabulation below would show the total of 2,611 new covid-19 cases from the different places in Luzon and Visayas: NCR/Metro Manila; Cavite; Iloilo; Bulacan; and Rizal Provinces. Just the same with my personal observation, these new Covid-19 cases are combination of those asymptomatic and those with serious symptoms with the said virus.

In the context of World Statistics on the number of Covid-19 cases, the Philippines is now ranked #20 and ranked #1 among the Southeast Asian countries. The increase in the number of confirmed cases in the country could be attributed to the increase and aggressive conduct of “free” Covid-19 tests being conducted by key cities and local government units. From the slow progress and testing rate in the first 3 months of the Lockdown period from March 17, the country was able to speed-up its testing capabilities to the point that we are one of the top countries who have conducted testing to the populations. As of October 2, we have tested 3,800,150 persons, higher than Pakistan and Indonesia which have more than twice our population of 109 million+ persons.

As per percentage of deaths, the Philippines is scoring very low as compared with other countries. We have 51 deaths in every One Million in our population. Our total number of deaths of the latest report is 5,616.

After 201 days or almost 7 months of Lockdown or movement restrictions, I think we have to live with the Covid-19 virus within the country. We have learned a lot already about the virus and we should practice preventive methods and protocol like: wearing face masks; wearing of face shield; washing of hands with soap and/or alcohol; strictly observe social distancing (at least one meter apart from other people in public areas); no talking in enclosed areas; and proper ventilation in enclosed areas. Additionally, we have to boost our body immune system by exercising outdoors or indoors (running, biking, stretching, swimming, and other calisthenics exercises); exposing the body to natural sunlight, at least, one hour a day; eat healthy foods; hydrate or drink more water and fruit juices, and sleep at least 8 hours a day.

Always stay safe and healthy! Thank you for reading this blog!

(Note: Tabulations From Philippine Star & Department of Health)

 

Sports Events This Weekend (October 3-4, 2020)

On By kingofpotsIn 2020 NBA Finals, Fitness, General Information, Health, Insights, Lifestyle, Races, Running, Sports Events, Sports ProgramLeave a comment

There are two important sports events that will be happening this weekend. It will be the second game of the NBA Finals for LA Lakers against Miami Heat on Saturday morning (Manila Time), October 3, 2020 and the London Marathon Race in the afternoon of Sunday (Manila Time), October 4, 2020 where the Top 2 Fastest and Greatest Marathon Runners, Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele will be competing with each other with the rest of the Elite Runners entire the World. On the Women’s Category competition, it will be a fight between Brigid Kosgei and Vivian Cheruiyot.

On the NBA Finals, LA Lakers won in the first game with a score of 116-98 where the game was played in Los Angeles, California. I would predict that LA Lakers will win again in the Second Game. 

On the Virgin Money London Marathon Race, I would predict Eliud Kipchoge to win the race with a time of less than 2:03 hours with the route of 19.6 laps along the streets around the St James Park in London, England. On the Women’s Category, I will predict Brigid Kosgei to win.

Good luck to LA Lakers and Eliud Kipchoge.

200 Days Since Covid-19 Lockdown

On By kingofpotsIn Covid-19 Pandemic, Fitness, Food, General Information, Health, Insights, JoggingLeave a comment

On this day, October 1, 2020 marks the 200th day since Metro Manila and the whole of the Philippines where put into Lockdown due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. On March 17, 2020, I just arrived at the Manila International Airport from my last International Trail Running Event participation in Sabah, Malaysia. From the airport, I went directly to my training playground in Bataan, which is 110 kilometers northwest from Manila, and stayed there for almost four months until Lockdown restrictions were relaxed and eased up.

Since then, I have been going to Manila on a monthly basis to attend to my financial arrangements and updates. It was just last month, September, that I experienced eating in a restaurant, buying a shoes (Onitsuka Tiger) inside a Mall, and check on my house and staff on a regular basis. So far, so good. On these activities outside of my residence, I would be using a face mask and a full-face shield and made sure that I observe social distancing of at least, one-two meters apart from other people in public areas. Whenever I am driving my car in my monthly trips, I would be always with my face mask. I think this is now the “new normal” while the Covid-19 virus is still present in the environment.

For the past 200 days, I have been busy with running in my Backyard Loop and within my Playground which consists of hills and mountains all around the place where I am now staying. I have also renewed my subscription with the You Tube Channel where I would be posting some videos about running and things that I have been doing in my Playground. However, for the past two weeks, I have reduced the number of hours that I would engage myself in running. I am now strictly following a “One-Hour” daily running routine. Since I finished the 1,000K Virtual Run Across Tennessee and the IAU 6-Hour Virtual Solidarity Run during the period of the 200-day Lockdown, it is time for my body to reduce my daily running duration after one week of rest and recovery period. At my age of 68 years old, I have to slowdown and balance my running with my rest and recovery. At this moment, I was able to bring back my body weight to 133 pounds from 123 pounds at the peak when I was doing my Virtual Runs.

I always make sure to wear a face mask during my runs outside my backyard and maintain one-two meters of social distancing in populated areas. Above all, I always maintain and boost my immune system by doing my daily exercises through running and stretching; eating healthy foods, and making sure to sleep at least, 8 hours every night. Living simply and healthy during this time.

More posts on this blog coming soon! Thank you for reading.

 

New Contents In This Blog

On By kingofpotsIn Current Events, Food, General Information, Practice RunsLeave a comment

Starting today, October 1, 2020, this blog site will be featuring “general information” on things that are happening within the environment, whether they are politics, social issues, economic issues, health and sports, and other current events and latest information. Hopefully, this will make this blog site relevant and on “real-time” situation reporting. I will be adding some information about fashion and entertainment, most specially on the movies that I watch on my Apple TV through You Tube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, and Apple Movies.

With this development, I will expect myself to be writing almost everyday and make myself busy. Thank you for following and reading this blog.