Category: Running

“Vin Diesel”: My “New” Name & Blah de Blah

On By kingofpotsIn Running1 Comment

During the joint DND-AFP New Year’s Call this morning (04 January 2008) at the AFP Commissioned Officers Club, Camp Aguinaldo, I was introduced by the Secretary of National Defense, Hon Gilberto Teodoro, Jr, to his wife and to the members of the receiving line/hosts as “Vin Diesel”.

During the reception, I was again approached by the Secretary while I was talking with the members of the Defense Press Corps (Media Military beat) and introduced me again as “Vin Diesel” to them. The first time that the Secretary called me as such was after the 72nd Armed Forces of the Philippines Anniversary and Parade held at Camp Aguinaldo last 21 December 2007.

On my first meeting with the Secretary Teodoro, in person, on the third week of November last year in Iloilo City, he was a jolly, friendly and informal/casual in his conversation with me and to the rest of the commanders in my area of operations. He remembered me well as I was the one who introduced and accompanied him during his “courtesy call” to Bishop Angel Lagdameo in Jaro, Iloilo City plus the fact that I was the Host Commander during his brief visit in my Area of Operations.

I really did not know his first impression on me as I was trying to “adjust” to his “casual/informal” style of conversation. But I can see in him seriousness whenever we talk about our mission and concerns in the area. Sometimes, I became emphatic and aggressive on my statements (telling the group on the “realities” and “opportunities/challenges” the military had to take to solve the insurgency problem in the area/region) during our briefing/conference where he was as one of our guests with the Chief of Staff, AFP.

It seems my aggressiveness and being a “risk-taker” made the Secretary think of recalling the name of “Vin Diesel”.  Vin Diesel was first known as one of the lead actors of the movie “Fast and Furious” and later became the lead actor of the action-movie “XXX” and now the producer of the movie “Hitman”. I am glad the Secretary did not call me the “Hitman” or “Agent Number 47”.

It is a complement to be called as such from the incumbent Secretary of National Defense and I really like it. It is better than being called then by a former Secretary of National Defense as “Kojak”.

“Vin Diesel” or “Bald Runner”, both are great names for me!

Day Trip to Manila & Blah..Blah

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, RunningLeave a comment

I left Laoag City at 5:00 AM today on board a car to Manila. It was a slow ride due to heavy traffic in almost all the towns and cities we had to pass through along the way. My son enjoyed the scenery of the rice fields and mountains on the east and the sea shore on the west and most of all, the food we had to eat along the way. In a few days, my son will be going back to Los Angeles.

The trip took us almost 13 hours to reach Manila. We were delayed by a “flat tire” which was brought about by a 4-inch nail that punctured one of the car’s rear tires. We were fortunate to bring the car with air to spare up to Tarlac City. The one who fixed/vulcanized the tire said that the nail came from one of the temporary wooden bridges somewhere between San Fernando, La Union and Tarlac City.

On my way to Manila, I was planning to have an evening run at The Fort but the long trip from Laoag City made me tired and undecided. However, after arriving in my quarters, I noticed that I have more things to do to prepare for my “official” duties and activities for tomorrow. So, I finally decided not to run this evening and I have to go to bed early and prepare for longer runs tomorrow.

D-52 Day: 2008 Pasig River Heritage Marathon

On By kingofpotsIn Marathon Race, Practice Runs, Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

02 January 2008 (AM Run)

I had an early morning run with my son, John Paul, in Laoag City. We covered a distance of 12.5 miles or 20.16 kilometers.

From Barangay Dibua South, we went to Laoag City/Padsan Bridge and was able to reach the crossing going to the Gabu/Laoag Airport and Suba Road, infront of the Northwestern College. From there, which was our turn-around point, we went back to Laoag City Poblacion and ran along Bacarra Road. And before reaching Divine Word College, we turned left towards the MMSU and ultimately reached the Laoag City Sports Complex where we had “speed runs” along the oval track. We completed at least eight rounds around the oval and additional two rounds for our  cool-down run.

We had an elapsed running time of  1:48:15 hours (excluding the cool-down run). We ran at an average pace of 8:39.6 minutes per mile or 5:22 minutes per kilometer.

We were met by my driver and security detail at the Oval Track where we had our “Gatorade” break after running almost one hour and thirty minutes. It was my longest run where I was able to deprive my body from water/fluid intake.

On our way to the Gabu Road, we were running at an average pace of 9:00-9:15 minutes per mile. But from the turn-around point on our way back to the Poblacion and to the Oval Track, my son and I were already racing with one another where he dropped me by almost fifty meters. I was running at an average pace of 8:20-8:30 mins per mile while my son was running at an average pace of 7:45-8:15 mins per mile.

At one time at the Oval Track, we tried to do a Yasso 800 once. My son was timed at 3:45 minutes while I did a poor 4:20 minutes! Well, that was after we were both ran on the road for about 10 miles already.

After the run, we had stretching for 15 minutes and drank Gatorade and lots of water. From the Oval Track, we boarded our car on our way back to our house at Barangay Dibua.

The following data were taken from my Zone Trainer Digital Heart Monitor:

Time “In Zone” (135-165HR)—1:24:24 hours

Maximum HR—167 

Average HR—144

Minimum HR—88

Total Calories—1,294

It was a nice run with my son and I am really impressed on his endurance and speed. He told me that he had already started preparing for the next Los Angeles Marathon which will be held on the first Sunday of March 2008.

D-12 Day: 2008 Clark Freeport 10K

On By kingofpotsIn RunningLeave a comment

01 January 2007

I left Manila for Laoag City to visit my parents and to fetch my son and bring him to Manila. I got the morning PAL flight to Laoag City and was busy reading the latest issue of Newsbreak Magazine while in flight.

I was planning to run in the afternoon but visitors and relatives from other provinces came to the house and entertaining these people had ruined my plan.

But before these visitors came to the house, I was able to have at least two hours of sleep and I was able to recover the tired feeling brought by yesterday’s run at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. It was a blessing in disguise that I was not able to run today as the rest/sleep I had this afternoon would provide me more strength to run a farther distance tomorrow morning. I need to sleep early tonight.

My son will be running with me tomorrow morning.

New Year’s Eve Run

On By kingofpotsIn Practice Runs, Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

31 December 2007 (PM Run) 

I had my New Year’s Eve Run at the Libingan ng mga Bayani along the 2-mile route that I’ve measured. I was able to finish 5 rounds from 4:30 PM-6:10 PM. It was an easy run to end the year 2007.

I was able to run 10 miles or 16 kilometers at 1:33:24 hours. I was running at an average pace of 9:20 minutes per mile or 5:50 mins per kilometer.

The following data were taken from my Zone Trainer Digital Heart Monitor:

Maximum HR—158

Minimum HR—96

Average HR—145 

Time “In Zone” (135-165)—1:29:36 hours

Recovery Time—20 minutes

Total Calories—1,171

I was able to sleep after dinner and woke up at 11:00 PM just in time to watch the fireworks from the horizons surrounding Fort Bonifacio. I ate a lot of pasta/”pansit” during the midnight feast to welcome the year 2008.   

I am looking forward for more running workouts for the year 2008.

Happy New Year!

On By kingofpotsIn RunningLeave a comment

To All The Runners, Happy & “Injury-Free” New Year!!!

Do I Need To Run Twice A Day?

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Practice Runs, Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

When I prepared for my first marathon in the early ’80s, I’ve been running twice a day, running early in the morning and later in the afternoon. I usually start my run in the morning as early as 5:00 AM and finish before 7:00 AM, running a minimum of 10 kilometers. In the afternoon, I start my run at 5:00 PM and finish before 7:00 PM running almost the same distance as what I had covered in the morning.

I was able to do all these runs because I was still young at that time and could easily recover from muscle pains and aches due to running after few hours of sleep and rest. I was glad I did not have any major injuries except for leg cramps, shin splints, and stomach cramps. These pains and aches became my “body signals” when to stop running or reduce my mileage. While I was building my endurance capability, I did not focus on speed for longer distances or tempo play but more on “fartlek” of lesser distances up to 200 meters.

It appears in my readings that there were elite runners who started to introduce lesser mileage and more speed works/tempo runs in their running workouts plus more days to recover in order to improve one’s time to finish the marathon. But this approach to training is only good to elite runners who had reached their peak or best PR and starting to get older. Lesser mileages and more speed/tempo runs as training workout for new/younger runners  is not advisable. This will lead to injuries, frustrations and inconsistencies.

I am reminded of the comment of our postman in Los Angeles who is also a marathoner/runner. After knowing that I ‘ve stopped running for so many years and trying to return to marathon training, he said, “It will be a hard and painful one for you to go back”. I guess, he is telling the truth!

After browsing some runner’s websites, I came upon this website (www.letsrun.com) and these two articles were able to convince me to go “back to basics” on runner’s training.

Starting on New Year’s Day, I will be running twice-a-day on my easy runs to build-up my endurance and slowly get serious with “tempo” runs/speed plays. This will be a very slow process but I am sure this is the right direction to be back as a competitive runner at my age. I know it will take months and years but this is a commitment I should start doing for the year 2008.

To all the Runners, Happy New Year, More Miles To Run & Injury-Free In 2008!!!

Training Journal (24-30 Dec 2007)

On By kingofpotsIn Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

24 Dec 2007—Rest Day

25 Dec 2007—11 miles/17.8 kilometers

26 Dec 2007—Dumbbell Exercises & Strengthening Exercises

27 Dec 2007—12 miles/19.2 kilometers

28 Dec 2007—Rest Day

29 Dec 2007—6.2 miles/10 kilometers

30 Dec 2007—7 miles/11.2 kilometers

Total Mileage: 36.7 miles/57.92 kilometers

Oval Track Run @ Iloilo #2

On By kingofpotsIn Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

30 December 2007 (PM Run)

I finished 28 X 400 meters at the Oval Track of the Iloilo Sports Center this afternoon from 5:00-6:10 PM. My time for my running workout was 1:04:10 hours which I consider as an easy run for the day.

I was able to run 10.8 kilometers or 7 miles for the day at a slow pace of  9:09 mins per mile or 5:55 mins per kilometer.

The following were the data taken from my Zone Trainer Digital Heart Rate Monitor:

Maximum Heart Rate—172

Minimum Heart Rate—82

Average Heart Rate—155

Time “In Zone” (135-165 HR)—58:22 minutes

Recovery Time (127-145 HR)—18 minutes

Total Calories—899 

Tempo Run

On By kingofpotsIn Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

29 December 2007 (AM Run)

I did a modified speed/”fartlek” run this morning along the 2-mile route inside the camp with the goal of running 6.2 miles or 10 kilometers to find out if I can still improve my time. Using the TIMEX “Zone Trainer Digital Heart Rate Monitor”, I would like also to experience the feeling of reaching my Maximum Heart Rate during my speed run workout.

I made three rounds along the 2-mile route inside the camp and additional 400 meters to complete the distance of 6.2 miles or 10 kilometers. I registered the following split times every round:

1st round—-16:25 mins

2nd round—-31:44 mins

3rd round—-47:49 mins

400 meters—-49:52 mins

From my TIMEX Zone Trainer Heart Monitor, I got the following data:

Peak Heart Rate—-173

Minimum Heart Rate—143

Average Heart Rate—-157

Total Calories—-769

I made a 1-mile cool-down run at 9:00 min pace/mile after the speed run and it was followed by stretching.

It appears that I am slowly improving my time for the 10K distance.