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!
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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!
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.
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.
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.
One of the training tips that my Coach had given me when I complained about my knee pains as a result of my long runs in the mountains is for me to try hiking into the mountains instead of doing my easy long runs there. However, he told me that I should carry a weighted backpack with me starting with 10-15 pounds for my first try or experience in hiking to the mountains. This workout of hiking with a weighted backpack should be done once a week.
This advice or tip was given to me way back last December 2019. It was good that I bought a North Face backpack which is made with thick material and does not have so many pockets or dividers inside it. I would use 2-liter bottles filled with water as the weight I would carry inside my backpack. Since then, I have been hiking with a weighted backpack once a week in going to the mountains for a hike of 3-4 hours and steadily progressed on making my backpack weight up to 25 pounds. Despite the fact that I would be enticed to run the downhills, I forced myself to be patient and slow on the downhills. On those hikes with weighted backpack for the past weeks and months, it gave me more strength on my legs and thus, I was able to finish my ultra trail races (local and international) since then up to the time Covid-19 Lockdown was imposed.
During the Lockdown period (past 4 months), I have been doing my daily runs in my Backyard Loop and I would be doing my hiking with a weighted backpack once a week. After I rested for one week of no running, I resumed my hiking with a weighted backpack yesterday with a reduced weight of 20 pounds. However, I did it in my Backyard Loop. After one mile, I started to perspire and after one hour, I was able to hike a distance of 3 miles.
Hiking With A Weighted Backpack
It was good to be back hiking with my weighted backpack again and I am eager to go back to the mountain trails in the coming days and weeks.
Last Tuesday, I was able to run in 61 minutes (1:01 hours) covering a distance of 4 miles or 6.4 kilometers in my Backyard Loop. I started with an easy pace of 16-17 minutes per mile until I was able to increase it to 12-13 minutes per mile. I usually run one loop in my Backyard for 5:30 minutes on an easy pace but I could also finish it in 4:15 minutes in my tempo runs.
I still had my Army Physical Fitness Challenge later in the day which I passed, doing the exercises on the minimum/passing scores of 20 push-ups; 30 sit-ups; and 20-minute 2-mile run along the paved road in front of my compound. Later in the evening, I did my 2-minute forward plank challenge and 100 push-ups challenge.
Yesterday, Wednesday, I did a one-hour hike in my Backyard Loop carrying a backpack weighing 20 pounds of water which were contained in six 2-liter bottles. I was able to cover a distance of 3 miles in one hour. Later in the day, I was able to do my daily “Challenges”.
On the Covid-19 situation in the Philippines, there are now 143,749 total of confirmed cases where 4,444 cases were reported for the day. The following picture shows the latest update from the Department of Health:
Total Tally Of Covid-19 Cases In The Philippines (August 12, 2020)
The weather had improved for the past two days but it is still cloudy and overcast. The ground condition of the trail in my Backyard Loop has become softer due to the past rains but I am glad that the composition of the soil is more sandy than being a muddy one. My trail shoes had been appropriate with this kind of ground condition. Every step gave me more comfort to my old knees and joints.
Today is Monday and it is supposed to be my Rest Day in Running but since I was not able to run yesterday because of the strong rains brought about by Typhoon “Enteng”, I did a 4-mile run in my Backyard Loop which took me almost 1 hour and 30 minutes. I started with the first mile by walking and slowly started to jog at the start of my second mile. Every time I finish a mile, I would change the direction of my run along the loop.
After finishing the run in 1.5 hours, I immediately did my stretching exercises. I usually do four (4) stretching exercises targeting my quadriceps, hamstrings, calf muscles, and my groin muscles. I do each stretching exercises at 3 minutes for each leg.
No Army Physical Fitness Test Challenge for today. However, I still did my Daily 2-Minute Forward Plank Challenge and 100 Push-Ups Challenge. It was my 3rd day for the Forward Plank and 9th day for the Push-Ups.
I uploaded my latest video on my You Tube Channel and I am still learning on how to edit my videos. Hopefully, I will be able to learn more about video making from the other You Tubers. Using my iPhone and my old Panasonic Lumix for the meantime is just temporary. You can watch my video (in Filipino dialect) here.
Today is Sunday and it had been raining the whole day and night in my Playground. I just found out that there is a Typhoon on the west side of the island of Luzon where more rains are expected for the next coming days. I did not run today.
Instead, I have been reading the news through the Internet and these were the significant information.
Today is the 75th anniversary of the Bombing of Nagasaki, Japan where an estimate of 74,000 people died in the said dropping of the second Atomic Bomb which ended the World War II after Japan surrendered to the Allies unconditionally on August 14, 1945. The nuclear radiation brought about by the explosion of the bomb resulted to more thousands of deaths in the weeks, months, and years to come.
Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,109 additional Covid-19 cases making the total cases count to 129,913. Metro Manila accounted for the most new cases with 1,700 cases. This increase in cases was made despite the imposition of MECQ since August 3, 2020.
PhilHealth is still in the NEWS about its alleged corruption of funds as revealed during the Senate Investigation.
Run Rabbit Run 100-Mile Endurance Race is going to happen this coming September in Steamboat, Colorado. Most of the ultra elite runners in the US are registered in this race due to the fact that it has cash prizes to the podium finishers. I think a total amount of $17,000 of cash prize is ready for them.
Courtney Dauwalter, 2019 Female UTMB Champion, is at Mile 223 of the northbound Colorado Trail trying to break the FKT in the said trail. She has still 258 miles for her to complete the trail. She is in her 4th day and going into her 5th day. She is way ahead of the course record of 8 days.
I am supposed to be on my 15th day of my Army Physical Fitness Test but I was not able to do my 2-Mile Run because of the rain. However, I did my push-ups and sit-ups with passing scores.
In addition to this Challenge, I have been doing two Challenges: 100-Push-Ups Every Day Challenge and 2-Minute Forward Plank Every Day Challenge. These two Challenges will be discussed in detail in my next posts in this blog. These Challenges keep me busy while I am watching my favorite Netflix movies.
I became lazy for the past days and I just stopped running since last July 30 and that makes 9 days of no running. Three days ago, I came up with a video on my You Tube Channel and the topic “What Happens To You After One Week Of No Running?”. Aside from my personal observations and feelings, I posted a survey question on Facebook about the same question. I got a lot of comments/answers from my friends and from the Public and those comments are mentioned in the said video/episode.
Starting today, I resumed my running and I decided to post my running workout for the day in my blog. This will be a daily routine for me in this blog. Actually, three days ago, I decided to have a run in my Backyard Loop to conduct my 2nd MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function) Test for the month of July. However, on my 3rd mile, my Suunto Watch HR Monitor just stopped and stuck to 113 BPM as average and it could no longer go down even if I was already walking. In a few minutes, I found out that the HR Monitor Belt has no longer have a signal to my Watch. I just stopped and I was able to run and hike for 4 miles.
Today, I did a one mile easy jog as my warm-up with the thought that I am going to do my 2nd MAF Test. My HR Monitor was working and I started with 85 bpm and it registered 112 bpm as soon as I finished my warm-up of one mile. Since I have reached my lowest HR within my range of 112-122 bpm, I decided to start my MAF Test. After my first mile, my HR registered at 121 bpm with a time of 14:25 minutes. I rested for 30 seconds by walking and then I started my 2nd mile. I have slowed at the middle of the mile when my watch registered at 122 bpm and tried to maintain it until I finished the 2nd mile in 16:30 minutes. I rested again for 30 seconds before I started my 3rd mile. When I saw my bpm at 121, I started my 3rd mile and had my pace a little faster. I was able to maintain my average bpm at 122 until I finished my 3rd mile in 14:55 minutes. Having confident of my bpm at 122, I started my 4th mile after resting for 30 seconds. After finishing 2 loops of my Backyard Loop which is equivalent to 0.60 miles, my HR registered at 122 and I was on a “auto-mode” in my run. For the last loop, I was running through perceived effort and I was confident that I was not going more than my 122 BPM. When I finished my 4th mile, I saw my watch registered a time of 12:39 minutes and I was surprised that my time was so fast. But when I looked at my Average BPM, I saw that my HR registered at 123 bmp. I might have run at a faster pace when I was thinking that I was running easy on my perceived effort.
Because of this, I rested for one minute instead of 30 seconds just to be sure my HR will go down at 122 bpm. My rest for 1 minute brought down my average bpm to 122 and I started my 5th and last mile. My 5th mile registered with a time of 15:05 minutes. I just walked for another 300 meters before I did my stretching exercises. In summary, I was able to run a distance of 6.2 miles or 10 kilometers for 1:40+hours.
The rolling is the summary of my 2nd MAF Test (July 2020)
1st Mile—-14:25 minutes 4th Mile—-12:39 minutes
2nd Mile—16:30 minutes 5th Mile—-15:05 minutes
3rd Mile—-14:55 minutes
Tomorrow, we will find out if I have improved or not from my 1st MAF Test as we will be able to compare it and come up with an assessment. For the meantime, this is the video that I have posted on my You Tube Channel on what happens when you rest for one week with NO Running. Thanks for watching and please subscribe for more videos on running.
When I was the Assistant Chief of Staff for Training and Education (G-8) for the whole Philippine Army in 1999 to 2000, I came up with a Command Directive that had been approved by the Commanding General of the Philippine Army for the strict implementation of the Army Physical Fitness Test where every personnel of the Command, to include all the Generals, to undergo the said test on a regular basis, for promotion, and other administrative movement to include application for schooling in the local and international training schools. Since its implementation, I was a witness of deaths of those who passed and failed in the said test, separation from the service, and non-promotion of officers and men of the Philippine Army. Because of this test, the Officers and Men of the Philippine Army were able to embrace the importance of a healthy body and mind. There had been studies made by the local medical practitioners on the validity of the Army Physical Fitness Test just to prove that the US Army Standards are not fitted to our local soldiers but after some adjustments of the standards, I personally still believe that the US Standards fit well to any person on earth. For one to be able to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test Standards, one has to prepare and train for it.
To prove my point, I asked a soldier in his mid-40s who failed in his first APFT to report to me every day for daily workout of the 3 exercises involved in the test. I asked the soldier to start doing at least 20 reps of push-ups, 20 reps of sit-ups, and run, jog and walk the 2-mile run. On a daily basis, the soldier was asked to increase the reps by one repetition every day and ask the soldier to run, at least, one hour everyday at an easy effort. After a month, I conducted a PFT on the said soldier. He was surprised that he finally got a score of 90%. He passed the 70% minimum score by getting a 90% score after preparing for the test in one month. If that soldier who failed can improve within a month, it is possible that anybody who failed in the test could pass it with the proper training and preparation.
I know that the said Command Directive that I authored is still in place and being implemented right now by the Philippine Army. This is now one of the policies of the Philippine Army that is already institutionalized.
Now, after finishing an international and local Virtual Races during the period of 4 months of Lockdown due to Covid-19, I have been thinking of a running challenge or doing any physical challenge that will motivate me to do some exercises and running on a daily basis. I immediately thought of the APFT but to add challenge into it, I would do it on a daily basis, instead of the Quarterly Period (once in 3 months) which is the regular schedule for the conduct of the APFT in the Philippine Army.
So, on July 25, 2020, Saturday, I started my daily Army Physical Fitness Test Challenge In 30 Days. I have to make a video each of my daily APFT and have it uploaded in my You Tube Channel. Actually, I did the Video posted for my Day #1 on You Tube for a “teaser” on my APFT Challenge. On my first day, I did 21 reps of push-ups which is a passing score for my age; 29 reps on sit-ups (passed); and 28:13 minutes on the 2-mile run (failed!) in my Backyard Loop which is a single-track trail with lots of turns and uneven ground. The passing time/score for the 2-mile run for my age is 20 minutes.
The full instructions of the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and Standards/Minimum Score could be seen here.
I hope to update my You Tube Channel with a Video on this Challenge every 6 days.
Thank you for watching this “teaser” video on the said Challenge.
Bald Runner 
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