Tag: Running

Something To Read & Think About

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Races, Running, Sports Program1 Comment

Before you read the following article which I copied from the website of Marathon Guide (http://marathonguide.com), I would like to mention my insights about the New York City Marathon which is true to the other Marathon Races in the different cities in the USA and to other countries around the world:

1. It takes an avid or regular runner who has the passion in it to create, organize, and implement  a Marathon Race, no matter how small the number of runners on its first edition. What it needs is a good leader and a vision for the event. Fred Lebow, founder of the New York Marathon and later President of the New York Road Runners, was neither a natural-born American nor an elite & fast runner but through his dedication to the event, the race had become as one of the World’s Championship Marathon Races.

2. The need to be backed-up by an organization that shares your vision and purpose. The New York Road Runners had been the running club/organization that is behind the event. Of course, the club has membership fees and such fees have corresponding privileges.

3. Partnership with the City Government and Sponsors.  I am sure the City Government had the strategic thinking/view that the event will become bigger as the years come. With more participants to this race, it will increase the number of visitors, and income to the different establishments, thereby making the economy of the city more vibrant and active. The bottom line is that the city government receives more revenues from the taxes being paid  by such establishments.

4. Involvement of the Community. Like the Los Angeles Marathon, San Francisco Marathon and other city marathons, they are very memorable to runners because of the involvement of the community as volunteers and cheerers along the ENTIRE route of the event. By reading the experiences of runners in their marathon experiences, you could find out that almost the whole route is lined up with musicians; volunteers with water, beverages, sports drinks, and even beer; acrobats; dancers; rock bands; loud stereo music from big speakers; and simply people cheering you loudly and even stating your name.

5. Lastly, the runner-participants. The more the runners participating the event, the better for the event and the city. It is stated in the report below that the runners contribute much in the economy for the city from their brief stay in terms of hotel accommodations, foods, tours and shopping. On the other hand, the taxes being paid by the Race Organizer, the New York Road Runners, to the City Government come from the registration fee paid by the runner. So, if you are wondering why you are paying much for the registration fee as compared from other Marathon Races in some of the key cities in the USA, it’s because you are in New York!!!

Enjoy reading this one.

2010 ING New York City Marathon Generates $340M for NYC

Race Raised $30.8M for Charities

Total Economic Impact Increased 25% Since 2006

New York, NY—The ING NYC Marathon generated a new high of approximately

$340 million in total economic impact for New York City last year, a New

York Road Runners (NYRR) commissioned study released today found. In

addition, the study showed that the Marathon generates more than $30

million for charities, and a record number of visitors, participants and TV

viewers were involved in last year’s race.

The study is based on a survey of over 1,000 participants in the Marathon,

and assesses their spending in categories such as hotel, travel,

entertainment and retail, in addition to their direct expenditures on the

race itself.  In addition, the study includes other metrics such as total

charitable donations captures, visitor estimates and number of total race

participants.

“This study demonstrates the crucial role the ING NYC Marathon plays in

bringing benefits to our whole city and making it more vibrant every year,”

said New York Road Runners CEO and President Mary Wittenberg. “In addition

to the hundreds of schools we help with health and fitness programs and

hundreds of thousands who participate in the races, this race has clearly

become a cornerstone of positive economic activity for New York that the

city can count on year in and year out.”

“The New York Road Runners impact our economy by bringing in millions of

dollars through programs that benefit our overall city’s health including

hundreds of thousands of students in public schools,” said Council Member

Robert Jackson, Chair of the New York City Council Education Committee. “I

look forward to continue participating in races to come and supporting its

initiatives to improve the health and daily lives of our children.”

“Running the ING NYC Marathon is a feat of willpower – but it’s also a

testament to the economic power of the 2 million spectators, the runners

and their guests, the sponsors, the vendors, and the New York Road

Runners,” said New York City Economic Development Corp. Chief Operating

Office Josh Wallack. “Not only does the marathon raise money for charity,

it results in real contributions to the City’s booming tourism economy.”

The study showed two ranges of total economic impact.  The “conservative”

range showed $304 million in impact and the “baseline” range $378 million.

The conservative range includes only those impacts that would not have

occurred within New York City without the Marathon, and the baseline

includes all expenditures associated with Marathon participants and their

guests.

The full report can be requested by emailing ahowe@globalstrategygroup.com

Other key findings from the report include:

  • Total economic impact from visitor and guest spending is 25% greater in

2010 than in 2006

  • Tax revenues to New York City from the ING NYC Marathon ranged from

$10.8 to $11.2 million.

  • 2010 ING NYC Marathon drew 45,350 participants, 2 million spectators,

and a television reach of 315M worldwide

  • The race raised $30.8M for charities, $24.3M of that went to charities

in NYC

  • The total number participants and their guests was about 290,250 people
  • Participants spend a total of close to $1,800 each during their visit

The 2010 ING NYC Marathon made an unprecedented charitable impact, raising

$30.8 million overall, $24.3 million of which went to NYC based charities.

NYRR provides a number of charities with entries to the event, each of

which recruits runners to raise at least $2,500 per participant and then

provides the runner with guaranteed entry into the race.  NYRR receives a

fee for the entries, all of which is dedicated to NYRR’s non-profit

mission.

More than 2 million spectators came to watch the 45,350 runners in person

and total direct spending was approximately $153.2 million from

participants and their guests.

The first phases of findings were based off an electronic survey of

approximately 1,000 participants in 2010 ING New York City Marathon. In

addition NYRR collected data concerning spending by Marathon sponsors and

vendors as well as charity fundraising. The final estimates were based off

ING NYC Marathon participants and their guests, the NYRR organization

itself, Marathon sponsors, vendors at ING Health and Fitness Expo, and

associated charity fundraising.

The analysis does not include spending and impacts generated by

unaffiliated spectators because many of them are likely NYC residents who

would be spending money anyway, even though this does not account for the

many others who are likely non-NYC residents who traveled into the city for

the race but were not associated with a participant.

Expenditures by Marathon sponsors, vendors at the ING Health and Fitness

Expo, and charity revenues generated by fundraising are also considered in

the impact analysis. Sponsor and vendor expenditures as well as NYC-based

charity revenues are assumed to be either directly or indirectly associated

with the Marathon.

Expenditures by media organizations for providing televised coverage of the

event, public costs of staging the event (security, street closures etc)

and media and branding value from extensive world-wide television exposure

for NYC were not considered.

NYRR retained AECOM to estimate the economic and fiscal impacts of the ING

New York City Marathon 2010. AECOM was retained on similar occasions by

NYRR to conduct a similar analysis.

New York Road Runners

Headquartered in New York City, New York Road Runners is dedicated to

growing the sport of running, enhancing health and fitness for all, and

meeting our community’s needs. Our goal is to leverage the expertise

acquired in our 50+ year history to empower all people of all ages to live

fitter, healthier lives through participation in our races, community

events, instruction and training resources, and youth programs. Our races

and other fitness programs draw upwards of 300,000 people annually. The ING

New York City Marathon, NYRR’s premier event, is the largest and most

inclusive marathon in the world, attracting the world’s top professional

runners and raising over $20 million for charity annually. NYRR’s

running-based youth programs, which currently serve nearly 100,000 children

in hundreds of schools and community centers, promote children’s physical

fitness, character development, and personal achievement in underserved

communities.

So, after reading this report from the New York Road Runners, it is deplorable and sad to remember that we had then a Manila International Marathon; PAL International Marathon; and Pasig River Heritage Marathon since the early 80’s but all of these just disappeared.

Sayang!…What a waste!!!

I rest my case.

(Source: http://www.marathonguide.com)

2012 Olympic Games Qualifying Standards For Athletics

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Marathon Race, Races, Running, Sports Program2 Comments

Sculptor Art For the London Olympic Park (From http://www.london2012.com)
In a meeting last April 11-12, 2011 in Daegu, South Korea among the members of the IAAF Council, it was approved that  there are 47 Medals (Men & Women) to be contested which are categorized as the following:
IAAF Qualification System Athletics 2011. In addition to the list of events, a qualification system is also discussed and stated.
Running/Walking/Track Events—29 Medals
Field (Throwing & Jumping)—16 Medals
Combined Events (Decathlon & Heptathlon)—2 Medals
Total Medals In Athletics—47 Medals
With the list above, it is in Athletics where you have the most number of Medals in contention in the Olympic Games. The next sports which has the most number of medals would be Swimming. I think the 3rd medal earner would be Gymnastics. And the last would be a tie for boxing, taekwando, and other combat/contact sports like wrestling and judo.  It could be noted that these sports are all DOABLE for the Pinoys and we could excel in them! Basing from our physical features, average height and weight, we are not different from the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans who had been among the top medal earners in the Olympic Games.
I will not deal on how we would be able to excel and become Olympic qualifiers on these sports because our Sports Officials and NSA Coaches have better ideas and have the necessary resources to attain such objective/goal.
The following are the qualifying times and distances for the different track/running and field events for the 2012 London Olympic Games:
The following are the list of Marathon Races which are considered as Olympic Games Qualifying Races for the 2012 London Olympics’ Marathon Race. It is well noted in the list that the 2011 CAMSUR Marathon Race is the qualifying Marathon Race in the Philippines. I hope our National Pool of Athletes for the Marathon Race will be able to attain their qualifying time for the 2012 London Olympics.
On Racewalking, the following are the published races which are considered as Official Qualifying Races for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
I hope the above documents will be a good reference to our NSA in Athletics, to their Coaches, our National Pool of Athletes and to the upcoming elite athletes in athletics.

Hardheaded

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Pictures, Places to Run, Running, Trail Running, Travel5 Comments

I never learn my past mistakes and heed to the lessons learned I have been repeatedly writing on this blog. I am simply stubborn!

I should have recovered from my latest adventure run for at least 4-6 weeks due to the injury I incurred on my left knee. But I was not able to control my urge to run on this particular place.

Paved Road Covered With Big Trees
Not Much Traffic From Vehicles
But I Was Able To See A Lot of Cyclists
In A Place Called "Meadow" After Running 5K Uphill On A Trail
Trail Covered With Trees
Redwood Trees All Around The Place
Trail Running Is Fun!!!
Highest Peak of the Trail
This is the Place Where "Folger's Coffee" Started Its Production

For a clear description of the trail and park, please visit Leor Pantilat’s blog.

A distance of 40 kilometers, 20K on paved road and 20K on mountain trail, for six hours made me limped towards the end of the run. Because of this run, my recovery was disrupted and I am back to square one! However, I am back to my rehab activities.

My mantra during the rehab period is PATIENCE!!!

TNF (Phil) Sucks!

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Running, Trail Running, Ultramarathon2 Comments

Reasons Why I Don’t Run The North Face (Phil) Races

You can see in my profile that I never participated in any of the local TNF Races and I have personal reasons for it. Although I finished my first taste of an Ultra Trail Run at the Bulldog 50K in 2008 in Malibu, California in 2008, I was happy to know that the Main Sponsor for such race was The North Face. By chance, I finished this first ultra trail run using a TNF Arnuva 50 BOA Trail Shoes! Since then, I’ve been using various TNF Trail Shoes and apparel/equipment for my trail runs here and abroad to include my training runs up to the point that I feature them in this blog!

Let me go directly to the reasons why I don’t run on TNF local races. These are my personal reasons and I don’t want that my readers will be influenced by these reasons.

  1. TNF Philippines did not act on my request for sponsorship for the 1st BDM 102K in 2009 with the reason that it was not an ultra trail run. However, I saw TNF Logos being displayed on the Support Vehicles of Pinoy Ultra Runner (PUR) members who participated in the 1st BDM 102K which simply means that these runners were “sponsored” by TNF. I really did not understand why TNF would sponsor PUR runners/participants in my race when in fact they did not favourably act on my request for sponsorship for the event. (Note: I wonder what happened to the elite ultra runners who called themselves as “Pinoy Ultra Runners”)
  2. TNF Philippines gave a TNF Trail Running Shoes to a runner-blogger who have not yet experienced running on a trail running race event for the simple reason that the runner-blogger was going to participate a TNF 10K Trail Run along the lahar grounds of Clark-Sacobia area. I called the attention of TNF Philippines about this and complained why they are not giving “something” for the Bald Runner as he was fielding a team of runners from the Elite Team Bald Runner for the past two editions and had been a loyal user of TNF apparel and products. Moreso, that I finished already an ultra trail running event. TNF Phil promised to give a new pair of TNF shoes to me as a result of my complaint but up to now I have yet to receive the shoes. It was a simple case of being envious but it was not fair on my part as I’ve endorsed their products way ahead than the other runner-bloggers.  Fortunately, it was one of my BDM 102 finishers who gave me a brand new TNF shoes but he is not in any way connected with TNF. Thanks to July Oconer for the “gift” and generosity. July is also a TNF “loyalist” like me.
  3. I complained about the condition of my TNF Rocky Chucky Trail Shoes after a 50K Trail Run at Mt Pinatubo and TNF did not replace it. Instead, TNF Phil repaired the shoes by using glue to the detached parts and I got the repaired shoes after 5 weeks (that’s a long time to repair a pair of shoes!). After using the repaired shoes for one running workout, the glued parts were separated again. For once, I praised the customer service of TNF Phil when they replaced my non-operating BOA lock & wire for my TNF Arnuva 50 BOA shoes with a new pair of TNF trail shoes but in this case, their customer service was simply poor and deplorable.
  4. It came to my attention of a complaint made by a runner who joined the TNF Baguio about his lost drop bags who got an unsatisfactory feedback from the Race Organizers but the bottom line here is that TNF Phil did not give a satisfactory reason why the runner’s drop bags lost during the conduct of the race. BDM 102 “veteran” Eric Socrates would attest to this information.
  5. On technical matters about the local TNF races. In their 100K trail runs, the prescribed cut-off time is 30 hours. I think this is a very easy requirement to finish an ultra trail run with such distance. You can practically walk all the way up to the finish line even if the terrain is very challenging. The thing that I don’t understand is that the TNF Phil races has the same “point equivalent” with that of a ultra trail running event in the USA which is more challenging and longer in distance. Such accumulated points are needed if you want to qualify for the TNF Mont Blanc 100-Mile Endurance Run (UTMB) in Chamonix, France. So, if you have plans of participating in future UTMB Races, then joining the TNF Phil races will give you the “points” needed for you to be qualified for the race.
  6. For this year, TNF Phil has scheduled a Trail Run in Camarines Sur on April 30-May 1 as part of the 2011 TNF Pacific-Asia Ultra Trail Run Series. Up to this time, TNF Phil is silent about the details of the race but there is only one mountain that is prominent in the province and that is the Mt Isarog. While I was in Camarines Sur for the Marathon Race last year, I had the chance to talk to the Philippine Army’s Intelligence Officer based thereat. In our conversation, I asked him about the security condition of Mt Isarog and he told me that it is not yet declared as “cleared” from the NPA/insurgent forces operating in the area. I hope and wish that from the time I had a conversation with the said Intelligence Officer up to this time, the Mount Isarog is already declared as “cleared” from the armed insurgents! (Note: I wrote this post 2 months ago and I hope that by this time the security forces in the area had “cleared” the place and they will be there to provide the necessary security for the said event)
  7. I created a sports federation for ultra running in the country which is the Philippine Association of Ultrarunners (PAU) under the auspices of the PATAFA and the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU). PAU embraces and covers all running events that are considered farther than a Marathon Distance which is 42.195 kilometers, whether they are ultra trail runs, ultra road races, or multi-day/multi-stage runs. What I don’t understand is that the Race Organizers of TNF Phil are not coordinating with me or with PAU with regards to their races. If these people are professionals, they should have, at least, the respect and courtesy to coordinate with the sports federation on ultra running. A simple e-mail or SMS would satisfy me on this matter. (Note: This observation goes also to those Race Organizers/Directors who are coming up with ultra marathon races in the different parts of the country who do not coordinate with me/PAU in coming up with their scheduled events. I don’t want that the sports federation for ultrarunning will become like our cycling, basketball, shooting & other sports who have two or more associations/federations under each sports!)
  8. This could be a petty reason but I would like to repeat it (all over again!) as I stated in my previous posts. When will TNF Phil sponsor the visit of Dean Karnazes to the Philippines? I think you know that DK is one of the most prominent athlete endorsers of TNF, if not, the most prominent in the world. I admit that I was strongly influenced by the first book of this guy to get into ultra trail running and eventually come up with the 1st BDM 102K Ultramarathon Race. To describe how crazy I was to meet this guy, I went to Badwater, California for the start of the Badwater Ultramarathon in 2008 (a trip with my wife for 5 hours from Los Angeles where I drove a car) just to personally meet and have a photo-ops with this guy and it later resulted to meeting and talking to him again in two separate events. I hope TNF Phil will not wait till the time when DK is within the age of Jeff Galloway (age of 66) to visit the country.

Now, if you ask me if I will join in this year’s TNF Phil? No way, Pedro! I’d rather run in the San Francisco’s 50-Mile TNF Endurance Ultra Trail Run this December!

Good luck to all the TNF 100 CamSur trail runners & trekkers! Have fun and stay safe!

By the way, does TNF Phil allow the use of trekking poles? Just asking!

Deaths

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Pictures, Running4 Comments

Grete Waitz of Oslo, Norway died last Tuesday, April 19 due to cancer. She was 57 years old. She was considered as the fastest lady marathon runner from 1978 to 1988, except in 1981 when she DNFd the New York Marathon due to shin splints and when she placed 2nd and earned the Silver Medal in the 1984 Olympic Games’ Marathon Race. Nobody among the lady marathoners had broken her record of winning the Ladies New York Marathon for 9 times! She won also the Ladies Category in the London Marathon in 1983 and 1986. She was one of my marathon idols when I started to train and run for my marathons races in the 80’s. May she rest in peace!

Grete Waitz, A Consistent ADIDAS Endorser & Sponsored Athlete

In contrast, a young athlete, Sally Meyerhoff, a runner and a triathlete, died last March 7, 2011 due to cycling accident as she was bumped by a fast pick-up truck wile she was crossing a road intersection. She died on the spot. She was still young at the age of 27 and had the potentials to be a future Olympic Games athlete. What makes her more memorable is that she maintained a blog at http://runsal3.blogspot.com where she wrote her latest post entry a day before she died.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year, there are more than 500,000 people in the US are treated in emergency department, and more than 700 people die due to cycling-related accidents.

In the Philippines, I have yet to find out the statistics of cycling-related accidents.

Sally Meyerhoff, A "MararthonGuide.Com" Endorser

Unbelievable!!!

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Marathon Race, Races, Running4 Comments

There is only one word to describe what happened at the 115th edition of the Boston Marathon which was held last Monday—Unbelievable!

For the past years, I was not interested  in trying to monitor what is happening “live” during the race due to the fact that the elite runners were not so much known to me as most of them were from East Africa—Kenya and Ethiopia. After Toshihiko Sato of Japan won the race in 1987 for the 2nd time, the succeeding years up to now had been won by either from Kenya or Ethiopia, except in 1990 when it was won by Gelindo Bordin of Italy and in 2001 when Lee Bong-ju of South Korea won the race. On the women’s division, after Rosa Mota of Portugal won the race in 1990, those elite runners from Poland, Germany, Russia, and of course, Kenya & Ethiopia did not “ring” a bell in my ears. It could be that the winners’ names were hard to memorize or it could be my non-interest then of running because my sensitive assignments or it could be that I did not mind updating myself on what was happening in the running world’s events by not subscribing or buying the latest editions then of the popular running magazines.

But what caught my attention again in this year’s edition of the Boston Marathon was the fact that Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher of the USA had been featured in the runners’ magazines and other running news of their desire to win in the said race. Of course, who would not be excited to see an American/US citizen who will win this year’s edition when the last American winner (Greg Meyer) was in 1983 (almost 3 decades ago). And this is the reason why there is a lot of euphoria and expectations on the result of this year’s edition as being played by the press releases, articles published in running magazines, and other media pronouncements.

But the results in last Monday’s race proved that the Kenyans would steal the show from the rest of the elite runners. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the race in the fastest ever recorded Marathon Finish of 2:03:02 hours. In the Ladies Division, Catherine Kilel of Kenya won the Championship with a time of 2:22:36 hours. Geoffrey Mutai and Moses Mosop are definitely the fastest marathoners whose times were faster than the existing record time of 2:03:59 hours by Haile Gebrselassie at the 2008 Berlin Marathon. Whether Mutai’s time was not considered as an official Marathon World Record, it is considered as a New Course Record for the Boston Marathon. In my opinion, Mutai will not be affected with such decision as he is more interested in cashing in the Cash Prize he received for his efforts. A cash prize of $ 200,000 is a lot of money for a Kenyan runner!

Ryan Hall, Desiree Davila and Kara Goucher of the USA had also unbelievable results in their efforts where each of them improved their respective PRs. But there was another unbelievable show during the race which was 53-year old Joan Benoit Samuelson’s finish time of 2:51:29 hours making her the record holder for the fastest finish time in the ladies age group of 50-54 years old.

Lastly, the most unbelievable of them all is the decision of the BAA last February of this year to reduce the qualifying time for each age category for the Boston Marathon by 5 minutes. This means that I have to finish a marathon race in 3:55:00 hours by next year (as I will turn to be a 60-year old!) if I need to include joining the Boston Marathon in my “bucket list”. At this point in time, a decision to join or qualify for the Boston Marathon in the future will entail a lot of focus, patience, determination, and resources. There is a need to completely dedicate my time in this life-defining quest for excellence in running.

But, for the Bald Runner to finish the Boston Marathon that would definitely be…UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

For 2013, these are the new qualifying times for the Boston Marathon

Age Group Men Women
18-34 3:05:00 3:35:00
35-39 3:10:00 3:40:00
40-44 3:15:00 3:45:00
45-49 3:25:00 3:55:00
50-54 3:30:00 4:00:00
55-59 3:40:00 4:10:00
60-64 3:55:00 4:25:00
65-69 4:10:00 4:40:00
70-74 4:25:00 4:55:00
75-79 4:40:00 5:10:00
80+ 4:55:00 5:25:00

Creed For The Ancient Marathoner

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Marathon Race, Running6 Comments

For those who are about to reach their “half-century” age and “senior citizen” status, the following “creed” is nice to read and as a good reference. The complete article where this excerpt was taken can be browsed at Marathon and Beyond Magazine. This creed applies to me!

Creed for the Ancient Marathoner

1.  Honor the run. Train enough, but not too much. Don’t rely on yesterday’s experience for today’s challenge. Be true to the task. Know
that you are the torchbearer for those younger. You show them not just what you can do but what they will be able to do. You show
them their future.

2.  Don’t be surprised. Train in the heat and in the cold. Know how todrink and eat. Know where each step is taking you.

3.  Don’t take any extra weight along with you; be spare.

4.  Be rested, be fresh, and arrive at the start ready for a full go. Know that each part of you is ready to go the full course.

5.  Age is not an excuse. It is an advantage. Each of us has been up our personal hill more often than the younger runners. We are older, we have experienced more, we have more to give—and we understand more.

6.  Don’t make excuses. Don’t rely on someone else. You are in charge. You alone can crest the rise, fight the fatigue, master the moment.

7.  Although you are in charge of yourself, you are not alone. Your number increases. You run in the footsteps you have made—but also in the paths of Emil, Frank, Johnny, Grete, Clarence, George, and others. You tie your shoes with their laces. You are one with the heroes and heroines.

8.  Don’t compete with your yesterday. No one can defeat you. Be the best that you can be this day. By being your best today, you will
prepare for being your best tomorrow.

9.  Listen to the wisdom of your body. It is older. It has been tested. It knows how. Pay respect and learn from its teachings.

10.  Have fun, don’t take the run too seriously, be confident. 

Bortz’s Law: “It is never too late to start, but it is too soon to stop”

(Source: Running, Aging, and Human Potential by Dr Walter Bortz, Marathon And Beyond Magazine, Sep/Oct 2009)

On Rehab

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Runners Injury, Runners' Training, Running, Stretching8 Comments

For the past one week, I’ve been regularly going to the Gym to strengthen my knees, quadriceps and calf muscles. In short, I’ve been trying to to cure my injury which I incurred during my “West To East” Run. The problem lies on my left leg which I think had been my more dominant running leg in my workouts and road/trail races.

Since I’ve finished my latest adventure run, I rested and recovered for about 16 days without any run or physical activity. My daily activities were geared to my rest by doing some light stretching exercises, walking, and browsing on the Internet. I did not have any massages but I concentrated more on my intake of natural foods rich in carbohydrates, proteins and fats. However, every two days, I have to take one capsule of Alaxan FR.

After 16 days of no running, I decided to go to the gym and start trying to bring back some “action” to my legs. After 16 days of no activity, I’ve observed that my leg muscles were soft and tender. I missed those times that my legs were full of “lumps” or “rocks” of hard muscles.

I have been doing lots stationary cycling/biking maintaining an rpm of not less than 100; doing also fast rpm on elliptical machines of at least 120 rpm; and lastly, on the rowing machine trying to maintain at least 22-24 strokes per minute. All these exercises are done with an elapsed time of at least 30 minutes. I hope these exercises will result to something better for my running legs.

The core and upper body muscle routine is still there but the emphasis in my gym works are now concentrated to my legs.

To top it all, I’ve been drinking Ensure as my nutrition drinks. Lots of water intake during gym workouts.

We will see in the coming days what would be the result of my gym workouts. I hope my legs will be better.

Real LIFE Foundation: Serving The Poor

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Pictures, Running, Running For Cause, Running Heroes, Ultramarathon2 Comments

Over a breakfast meeting at the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Course Restaurant in the early part of January 2010, Joshua Suarez, a runner-applicant who was invited to run the 2nd edition of the BDM 102k Ultra Marathon Race, explained to me that he is going to run and finish the BDM 102K Ultra Marathon Race to raise funds in behalf of the scholars of the Real LIFE Foundation. It was in this meeting that he explained to me about the programs and projects of the said foundation.

I immediately approved on the request of Joshua and he was able to finish the race. He was cheered and supported by the scholars/students on those hot, humid, dusty, and exposed kilometers of road on the last half of the course. I guess, he was able to raise a lot of funds to support the scholarship of those students who belong to the marginalized families in Pasig City and other parts of Metro Manila.

Little did I know that Joshua recruited another four (4) runners immediately after he finished the BDM 102 and asked them to train for the 3rd edition of the BDM 102 with the same purpose of raising some funds to support the scholarship of selected students under the administration of the Real LIFE Foundatioon.

Paul Pajo, Ferdie Cabiling, Junn Besana, and Alden Meneses diligently atttended the Ultra Marathon Clinics/Lectures and participated in some of the PAU Races held last year as part of their preparation for the 2011 BDM 102K Ultra Marathon Race. Joshua Suarez became their point man and leader of what they dubbed as the “Bataan LIFE March 2011”, a charity project to raise funds for the scholars of the Real LIFE Foundation by running and finishing the BDM 102.

BDM 102 "Heroes" For Real LIFE Foundation (Ferdie, Alden, Junn, Joshua, & Paul)

These five runners were able to finish the race and were able to raise funds amounting to P 500,000+ from pledges and contributions from donors, here and abroad. I am sure this money will go to the projects and programs of the Foundation with the main aim to provide hope and better future for less-fortunate and poor children for them to attain education and develop good values in the process.

These 5 runners became instant “heroes” to the scholars of the Real LIFE Foundation. And in a fitting ceremony, each of them received medal and plaque of appreciation from the Board of Trustees of the Foundation as represented by the Executive Director, Lynn Nawata.

I was also awarded with a plaque of appreciation and a gift for being the Founder and Race Director of the BDM 102K Ultra Marathon Race. My heartfelt thanks to the Board of Trustees for having me invited to such memorable event and for the award accorded to me.

Joshua Suarez Being Awarded With Jekoy Valle and Lynn Nawata
Junn Besana Being Awarded With Jekoy Valle & Lynn Nawata

I will always remember this program/ceremony. The testimonials of the graduates of the foundation’s scholarship program made me cry! It later sink in to my mind that I created an event, the BDM 102K, as a platform and instrument for people to be able to help the poor.

It is a motivation that will keep me doing my best to sustain the yearly conduct of the BDM 102!

Thanks To The Real LIFE Foundation!!!

If you want to be a part or donor to this foundation, please visit www.igivetolife.com.

Going To Ultrarunning?

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Runners' Training, Running, Trail Running, Ultramarathon6 Comments

I highly recommend marathon finishers to read the following article from the Running Times Magazine if they are interested to try ultra marathon running in the future. 

http://runningtimes.com//Article.aspx?ArticleID=21831

Good luck and train well!