The Century Tuna Superbods Run

The Century Tuna Superbods run, the biggest running event we’ve attended (so far). It’s part of the RunRio Trilogy (not sure what it is but it sounds cool) and they have Derek Ramsay, Coach Rio and the Century Superbods models as their main endorsers. This one even had its own TV ad, a big video ad along EDSA, radio ads, posters and Derek Ramsay’s man nipples were all over the place especially in Fort Bonifacio (by the way, the old ads had a shirtless Derek while the new ones have him wearing a blue nike shirt. I’m guessing some group cried immoral and asked them to Photoshop a shirt).

The Century Tuna run was memorable once since it’s the first time Jaye was running with me. Yay! We even had matching shirts (white Nike running shirts) and shoes (Asics GT-2150).

Interesting note about this race, it was the first one where I didn’t sleep at all the night before. We had rat problems in the kitchen and I wasn’t able to sleep since they were throwing spice bottles to the floor. Why couldn’t they behave like those rats in Ratatouille?

At around 3am, I’ve given up on sleep and took a long cold bath, geared up and did some extra warm-ups. My brother, nephews and I picked up Jaye from her place and made our way to the Fort and met Yhelle and Glen. We did our formal warm-ups then made our way to the assembly area.



There were A LOT of people. For the 5K run, I was able to line up somewhere in the back and when race started, it was a good four minutes before I actually crossed the starting line. Good thing they used a timing chip knotted on your shoelaces and so my official time only started when I stepped on the starting line mat.

When the crowd was finally off, I had trouble snaking through the crowd due to its density. Surprisingly, I felt good and I only forced myself to walk when the uphill part came up. Maybe I should stop sleeping the night before races? I didn’t see Miriam though.. or Derek Ramsay. At around the 2.5K mark, I saw my uncle Mon who I kept teasing last week that I beat him in BookRun and will do the same in the Century Tuna run. When I pulled up beside him, he broke off from the crowd and sprinted through the grass. Cheater.

Problems came at the 3.5K mark. First, my right calf was starting to cramp while running uphill. I ran out of water and when the downhill came, I started sprinting but had to slow down since I had a minor side stitch on the right side of my belly. During my practice runs, I would often get these minor side stitches and in all cases, I could run for 5-7 more minutes before it turns into a full blown side stitch which by then I would have to walk the rest of course. Running with a side stitch is like running with an embedded knife on your gut, yup, that painful. If this was training, I would walk all the way home and mark the run as a “DNF” (did not finish). Since this was the formal run, I decided to go for it and sprint the remaining part, if I cramp up or get hurt in the process I have the entire week to heal up anyway. Like in that Adidas ad: “Impossible is nothing” or Nike ad: “Just do it” or Enrile: “Gusto ko happy ka.”.

By the way, I have a terrible sprinting form. It’s a cross between C3P0 and Mr Bean. In the last kilometer, a lot of runners were already walking. Look, it’s ok to walk in these events but you need to keep two things in mind: One, don’t step on the brakes and screech to a halt or else the guy behind you will bump you (unless of course, that’s what you wanted to do). Two, give space for people to pass by you. Don’t clump together like the Spartans in 300 unless you want to be trampled.

Events like these always cause traffic jams since they clog up intersections. During every race, we are faced with long traffic lines, endless honking and angry drivers. I even saw this cab driver who was slowly crossing the intersection (like the way they do when they want to cut in front of cars along EDSA) and almost hit a couple of runners. To these drivers, I know how you feel but don’t lash out on the runners or the guards. Reach out to the organizers and voice out your complaints and maybe they can teach you to use the steering wheel and the reverse gear in your car to find an alternate route instead of cursing the runners. I swear if someone honks at me I’ll mess up his windshield with boogers.

I finished the race at 39 minutes and 30 seconds (my target was 40 minutes). My leg has cramped up and my tummy felt like I just ate a razor blade. My thigh has stiffen up and I was looking around for anything to drink. I quickly met up with Jaye and Yhelle and we collected the freebies from the event grounds. We got a bottle of Gatorade, a drawstring bag, towels, a granola bar, a tuna sandwich, a tuna turnover, a tuna salad (tuna nanaman!!), a certificate that says I’m now an official “superbod” and a Century Tuna striptease calendar where you can tear off clothes from the superbods models each day.

As for celebrities, we didn’t really see anyone other than Rovilson Fernandez and those Pacman/Freddie Roach impersonators for RunnerSpeak (a local TV show).






We don’t have any more running events for the next 2 weeks since we’ll be going back to training. We’re skipping the Unilab Wellness run but we might join the “Ready, Get Sweat, Go!” (Mar 13), Globe Run for Home (Mar 21), Run Against the Elements (Mar 28), Mizuno Infinity Run (Apr 11), Earth Run (Apr 18).



Side story about the Mizuno Run: I went to a Mizuno store and asked for 5 forms. The guy told me he can’t give me five since they were short on forms and they might run out. I clarified: “Hindi niyo ko puede bigyan ng form kasi konti na lang at baka maubusan kayo?”.

"Opo!" (with matching confident face)

Condura Run

Five reasons why I was excited for the Condura run:

1. It was the first major running event of the year. By “major” I mean more people and more attractions.
2. I was excited to try on my (again) new shoes - my Asics GT-2150.
3. I still have momentum after running a great BookRun the previous week.
4. It’s held at the Fort again and I'm already familiar with the terrain.
5. We were saving the dolphins! It's an odd combination though... Condura? dolphins?

Parking was a terrible experience though. They closed the entire parking lot near Fitness First and so the remaining parking lots were already full at 5:20am. Luckily, we brought mom’s tank (aka “Honda CRV”) which we used to plow a nearby empty lot (it was not meant to be a parking lot but a lot of people followed and parked their cars… mob rules apply I guess).

We did the usual pre-race routines (stretching, fill up water bottles, take pictures) then jogged all the way to the assembly area which was a lot glitzier than the Philstar Run and the Book Run events. First, the assembly area was huge, complete with a DJ and a video screen. Second, they got dancers who did a dance/stretch routine with a cool club background music. Lastly and my favorite, a few seconds before the gun, they had a fireworks display which really had my blood pumping.

When the gun went off, I had to walk the first few meters since I was in the middle of the pack and everyone else was walking. When the crowd finally parted, I was able to jackrabbit my way in between some old folks. The route was a bit different than the old ones and this one featured a lot of uphill runs to which I employed my only strategy – walk up, run down. The problem was that there was a long stretch of uphill and so I walked almost the entire section. Then came the downhill and I saw my target for the race – Miriam Quiambao. No, I’m not trying to hit on her. I want to make sure I finish faster than her. When I pulled beside her, it was the start of the downhill part and then I sprinted all the way down as if I really really really really had to pee (which I did actually). After the downhill was a small road, a rotunda then another long stretch of downhill to which I again sprinted down. I wish I could curl myself into a ball and just roll down the hill. In the final stretch, I had a few more in the tank for short bursts of speed but eventually I unofficially finished the race at 39:30 (based on my sportsband timer).

The problem was, like in the Philstar race, there was a loooong line at the finish line because the organizers at the finish line had to rip off the bar codes from your bib number. The problem was that the bar code was hard to rip off and the organizers were too careful. This means that after forcing myself to sprint the last few meters to get a better time, I found myself helplessly waiting and watching the seconds just add up to my official time. When the official results came out, I clocked in at 45 minutes! The worst part of it was that Miriam Quiambao somehow blinked her way to the finish line and clocked in at 35 minutes! No fair! My nephews placed 75 and 156 while my brother was 299. Me? *hay…* 1648 :-/

After the race, we went over to the Condura village to claim our medals, get some drinks and take pictures. The Condura village felt like a school fair with booths, food, photo ops and a lot of people. Nothing spectacular, just endless people, food and dust. We went home when the sun came up.

We had two weeks to prepare for the next run – Century Superbods Run!

Book Run 2010

It’s the first running event of the year that we attended and it only drew a small crowd since I think runners are more focused on the Condura Run and the Century Tuna SuperBods run. We signed up to run the 5K route which was similar to the one we ran for the Philstar Celebrity Run last year. National Bookstore was one of the major sponsors of this event and the main endorser was Dingdong Dantes whose face was plastered all over the place. Good thing he wore a shirt and pants.

My running gear was almost exactly the same as the one I wore last year for Philstar: same running shirt, same basketball shorts and the same running socks. This time though I used my Adidas Response running shoe and a running belt. Last year, I used my Nike Air Max 180 and a makeshift running belt (my office belt + belt bag).

I did a horrible job in preparing for the run since I slept at 2am while my alarm was set to go off at 3:45am. I couldn’t sleep early that night and when I finally did, I received a production support call and so I had to work at dawn. Waking up after 2 hours of sleep was torture. My head hurt, my legs hurt, heck, even my elbows hurt, my eyes were watery and my tummy was rumbling. I lazily got dressed and dragged myself to the car. My brother and nephews, all well rested practically pranced to the car and were already doing warm ups.

At around 5:30am, we were already parked at the Fort and were doing some stretching exercises. I was still sleepy that time and I walked around in circles like a zombie. When I bent over to touch my knees they cracked, my back cracked too and I suddenly had to pee… the signs of a superior athlete. We all jogged towards the assembly area and by then we were good to go, well except me who was already tired and winded after that half KM trek.

When the PA announced that the 5K was about to start, we lined up somewhere in the front to get a good head start. The PA also announced that Dingdong Dantes was going to run with us. I didn’t see him but I saw this crowd of photographers and endless flashes going off. Marian Rivera was also there and she was walking through the crowd towards my direction until she stopped in front of me. I had my “Sorry, di ako si DingDong, kamukha ko lang” joke but turns out we were beside Gabby Eigenmann, another actor who’s a friend of Marian.



After the photographers were shooed away, the race gun fired and the confetti fired through the air. I ran through the crowd and accidentally elbowed two guys along the way.

There was nothing new in the run since I learned a lot from the last race: trust your map, walk uphill and run like hell downhill. The run went smoothly and in the end I managed to empty out the tank and finish with a full sprint. When I crossed the line, I was breathing heavily, I couldn’t feel my knees and I was dizzy. Waiting for me from the finish line were my brother and nephews who looked as fresh as daisies.

Mom was there too and she was shouting “SHAHANI! SHAHANI! SHAHANI!” while pointing at this girl. “Picturan mo!” mom said.

“Sinong Shahani?” I asked.

“Si Shahani!”. I looked but I couldn’t recognize her. (It turned out that that was Shalani Soledad, Noynoy Aquino’s girlfriend).

Then there was this big crowd that suddenly formed at the finish line. Yep, you guessed it, Mr Bench Brief himself was there. Mom was now shouting “SI DINGDONG! SI DINGDONG! KUNAN MO NG PICTURE SI DINGDONG!!!”. I walked towards the crowd but then Miriam Quiambao suddenly walked by so…



DingDong and Marian were both being interviewed and had their bodyguards nearby. No one could take any pictures with them and all had to settle with stolen shots from afar. My brother though had an ingenious plan - I went in front of Marian to take her picture and my brother went behind her so he now had his picture taken “with” Marian. That sneak…






On our way back, we bumped into Coach Rio. Honestly we only know him from the Century Tuna Superbods Run ad. I only knew him for having Sideshow Bob hair. Extremely friendly guy as he invited us to join the Century Tuna run. He didn’t pay for the registration fee for us though but still… great guy.


We stayed for awhile to watch the awardings in case we won anything... we didn't.





Up next, Condura Run!

The Black Eye

Last week was interesting. I was walking around with a black eye which I got from my nephew while playing basketball. I was driving right when he accidentally poked me hard on my left cheek. It started as a sore lump but for some reason, my eye developed a bruise even though I was hit a few inches away from it. I wanted to tell a different story on how I got it… maybe concoct a cooler story involving me beating up 3 guys at a bar with me just getting hit by a lucky punch. Yeah, as if someone would fall for that. What I loved about the black eye was that everyone bothered me less. It was a very busy week for me last week and I didn’t get a decent night’s sleep. Most of the time I was frowning with eyes half open plus I have this black eye which made me look I was looking for trouble. For some reason people took their database problems elsewhere. Maybe I ought to get one on a weekly basis.

Of shootouts and 2 Mannies

Watching the gunfight between Jason Ivler and the NBI agents had me shaking my head. Jason Ivler is a wanted criminal with a 1M bounty and is tagged as "armed and dangerous" with military training. The NBI agents raided a house the other day and had him cornered in a room. There was one agent by the door holding out a pistol while shooting blindly. There was one agent behind him who wanted to do something but probably wasn’t sure what. Another agent was also holding up his pistol through the door but was shooting at the wall. Lots of gunshots but no tactics, no flashbangs, no smoke grenades, no anything. Just a bunch of agents eager for action and finding an excuse to fire at something. “Ipis! Ipis! *bang!* *bang!*”. I guess this is what happens when a gunfight includes a reporter and a video camera.

This is where I’m confident with my generation when we take over the police and the military. Almost all guys know how to operate an assault rifle, a sniper rifle and a sidearm thanks to hours of playing Counter-Strike.



Pacquiao was tested negative for performance enhancing drugs which is expected since people who use these would practically grow muscles overnight and this is not the case for Pacman. Him having those muscles is not surprising considering the training sessions he goes through. The moment that someone interviews him in English and he responds fluently in English (with accent) quick! ask him to pee in a cup and draw out blood immediately. He might be on English Enhancing Drugs.


As for the other Manny, I’m sorry but I’m sick and tired of his ads, the cheesy jingles sung by children and commercials which really says nothing about how he will implement his plans. Based solely from his ads, how different is he from Eddie Gil who promised a million pesos to each Filipino? I think at this point you either hate him or love him. Love him if you believe his ads. Hate him for his no contact leadership type and the fact that he’s found guilty in the C5 scandal and is now being asked to return 6.2 billion pesos back to the government.





By the way, I’m not endorsing anyone. Noynoy is far from Ninoy or Cory. Gibo has GMA on his back. Gordon talks too much and Erap is still a convicted plunderer who’s now using Cory’s apology in his ads. I don’t trust politicians… except of course the beloved and honorable mayor of Paranaque :D :D :D (sipsip)

My 2009 in Review

Personally, I still think 2009 was a good year. I know we had the economic crisis, deaths of 80’s icons, a flu outbreak, typhoons, an erupting volcano, a celebrity sex scandal and two deadly massacres: Maguindanao and DLSU’s second half of the UAAP season but we also had our share of happy success stories like Efren “The Hero”, Pacquiao over Hatton and Cotto, Obama winning the US elections, a celebrity sex scandal (for pervs) and Filipinos being reminded of the importance of democracy.

Why 2009 was a happy year: Jaye was always on my side through peaks and valleys. Always.

Where I was when I welcomed 2009: Hooters

Where I spent my birthday in 2009: Hooters

Where I had my last dinner out in 2009: Hooters… uh…

I saved so much on tips to barbers. I only had six haircuts the whole year.

“Alam mo ba nung 2009…” (stories I would tell my grandchildren): the Ondoy and Pepeng typhoons, the Mt. Mayon semi-eruption, the swine flu scare (and corresponding “end of mankind” theories), death of Cory and Jacko, the Maguindanao Massacre and Obama sworn as the 44th US president.

Discovered something useful that everyone else already knew. This was the year I learned about using your cellphone as a modem to access the Internet.

The top 5 expenses for the year: (1) Honda Casa car repairs, (2) and (3) two HP laptops, (4) my Nokia 5800 and (5) four Michelin tires for my car. Oh, I also bought a Nikon SB-600 (external flash) and a Nike basketball shoe (Kobe).

Farthest away from home: Hong Kong.

Most helpful quote or motto: “You won’t find new cheese unless you let go of your old one.”

Personal Finance Metrics. I was able to log all my expenses for 2009 and while I confirmed that I spent a lot on personal / leisure items, most of it were worth it. I just realized though that I spent more than I thought on Starbucks coffee in November and December trying to get that planner.

Books I loved the most: “Who Moved My Cheese”, “One Minute Manager”, “Peaks and Valleys” and “The Book of Basketball”. I’ve started reading Twilight in December but while I was expecting this to be about vampires fighting werewolves, the story is more about a girl who’s in love with a guy who has a perfect face… and it goes on and on and on until the end.

Join the club. This was the year I configured my PSP to play downloaded games. For the past 2 years, I played nothing but MLB The Show (07, 08 and 09). The last game I downloaded: NBA The Inside 10.

Lost Interest. I loved my first moon shot so much that I plotted the full moon dates on my planner for the year. I took a picture on January then February then on March, my pictures all looked the same and I never bothered taking another moon picture until December 31. I only have three astronomy related dates on my calendar: January 15 (solar eclipse), June 26 (lunar eclipse) and December 21 (lunar eclipse).

Movies watched: 6 (Yes Man, Monsters vs Aliens, Night at the Museum 2, Up, Fast and Furious, New Moon). Jaye and I had lots of other movies lined up (Slumdog Millionaire, New Moon, Transformers, Harry Potter, etc.) but work has been too demanding.

Most Memorable Moment with Jaye: Strolling along the streets of Macau - setting up the tripod and taking pictures of ourselves, eating at McDonald’s and enjoying a foreign place. Reminds me so much of walking with her in Chicago.

Weight difference: -20 lbs (from super heavyweight to welterweight).

Games of the year: Plants vs Zombies (PC), MLB The Show 08 (PSP) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex (Wii).

Best Meal of the Year: That steak Jaye and I ordered from Antonio’s in Tagaytay. That was hands down the best thing I ate the whole year (and the most expensive at 4,000 pesos).

Irony of the year: I bugged Jaye to go to Johnny Rockets with me where I had one of the best burgers I had in Chicago. I was babbling about burgers for weeks and when we finally went there, I ordered a Philly Cheese Steak.

Catch Phrase of the Year: “Yiheeeee, sobraang cheesy!”

Most hated song: “Nobody” (Wonder Girls)

TV Event of the year: Pacquiao vs Cotto

Stupidest Thing I Bought: a punching bag, hand wrap and gloves. It made sense when I bought it since I needed an aerobic exercise without burning out my already aching knees. The problem with punching bags is that you need to have a perfect place to hang it, you need space to bob and weave, you need to hang it somewhere sturdy and you need to place it somewhere dry and indoors or else it rusts up and insects might crawl inside and lay eggs. Our house didn’t have an area that fit all requirements. Now I have a really really really big paperweight.

The chore that eluded me for a year: cleaning my room. 2009 started with my room close to be declared a disaster area. The funny thing is (and my mom never understood) is that while it looked chaotic, I knew where everything was. There was order in this little space and to prove that – I never really lost anything. I wanted to greet 2009 with a clean room and so I placed that on my to do list and it was there all the way until December 31 when I finally was able to tidy things up though it was only finished on January 3, 2010.

Person from work I referred to the most: Zarina Docken

The Year of the Facebook. Friendster who? People flocked to Facebook and I found myself being a FB addict. I loved playing the different games such as Typewriter Maniac, Farm Town, Restaurant City, Farmville, Café World and Mafia Wars until I realized that my level was inversely proportional to my social life.

Special mention to Wikipedia as I found myself researching everything from world history, art, religion, science, medicine and general knowledge. I wish I could go back in time and tell my high school self not to spend so much time memorizing things since these information will be available to anyone who has a cellphone or iPod and an Internet connection.

Do Over wishes:
1) That Jaye and I could have eaten less outside and cooked ourselves. I missed my kitchen adventures last year.
2) That Jaye and I continued our “something new weekly” and “out of town monthly” plans.
3) That I had a good picture of the solar eclipse or the new year blue moon.
4) That I didn’t jump on the Adam Lambert bandwagon after Danny Gokey was voted off.
5) That I allocated more time for photography.

Revived Hobby from the previous year: Lomography.

Biggest Emo Moment: Around May / June, I set aside my Nikon DSLR and went back to my Canon Ixus digicam. I went through this phase where my pictures have become too commercial and I didn’t like where my art was going. I believed that I was focusing too much on rules and technology that I missed the old days where I would just take pictures just because I wanted to preserve a particular moment. I guess I was pressuring myself to come up with my photo masterpiece of the year.

The only person who registered an assist in basketball for me: Sonn Chan

Biggest life lesson: Work doesn’t love you. Work will stab you in the back if it has to. Work is business and the goal of business is to make money, not look after you.

Most used camera / lens: Nikon D300 + battery grip / Tamron 18-50mm.

2009 resolution that I kept: Pick less fights with EDSA bus drivers and jeepney drivers.

2009 resolution I wished I kept: Eat less burgers and fries.

2009 prediction that came true: That I’ll learn a lot in photography but I’ll still choose not to turn pro.

2009 prediction that didn’t come true: That I’ll be able to vacation somewhere in the Philippines well outside Manila.

Tiger Jokes

Tiger’s such an easy target and before long, a lot of these Tiger jokes are being circulated around.
If you’re not following the Tiger Woods story, here are the events in a nutshell:

#1: Tiger crashed his van just outside his driveway. He was knocked out and was saved by his wife by smashing the windows of his car and dragging him out. Tiger was not drunk or anything.

#2: Tiger was caught by his wife when she inspected his phone and saw an unidentified number. Eventually, his wife confirmed that Tiger was seeing someone else.

#3: At least 10 women suddenly announced that they too had an affair with Tiger Woods.
Gatorade and Accenture dropped Tiger from their sponsorship.

Rumor has it that #1 probably happened in a different order since Tiger’s version of the story didn’t make sense. They say, Tiger and his wife, Elin, were arguing, Tiger tries to drive off but Elin smashes the back of his car. Tiger looks back, loses control of his van and crashes into a hydrant. Makes more sense right

Anyways, here are a couple of Tiger jokes being passed around:

• Tiger crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree. He couldn't decide between a wood and an iron.


• What's the difference between a car and a golf ball? Tiger can drive a golf ball 400 yards.


• Tiger Woods is so rich that he owns lots of expensive cars. Now he has a hole-in-one.


• Tiger has a new movie coming out. It's called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Hydrant.


• (from Stephen Colbert) Tiger always gives 110 percent. That is why he gave 100 percent to his wife and still had 10 percent left over for his alleged mistress."


• (from Conan O'Brien) One of the women who claims she slept with Tiger Woods says they never talked about golf while having sex. However, contractually Tiger was obligated to talk about Nike, Gatorade and American Express.


• Did you hear Tiger changed his name to Cheetah?


• The police asked Tiger's wife how many times she hit him. "I can't remember," Elin said, "just put me down for a 5."


• Ping has a new set of irons called Elins. They're clubs you can beat Tiger with.


• Tiger is now in trouble with his sponsor Gillette because he said that “this was the closest shave I have had yet.”


• Phil Mickelson contacted Tiger’s wife to pick up some tips on how to beat Tiger.


• Tiger crashed his car because he was in a rush to move on to the second hole.


• Someone should explain to Tiger’s wife that hitting a driver meant the club, not the guy in the front seat. Imagine what will happen the next time he asks his wife to do some ironing.


• Last Friday, Tiger Woods hit a tree and a bunch of ladies fell out


• Did you hear that Nike just dropped Tiger as a spokesperson…but Trojan is picking him up.


• All of Tiger’s troubles should be blamed on His fans. They keep edging Him on. Every time He hits the ball, some fan yells out “get in the ho”.


• Tiger Woods was sitting on Santa lap..Santa said HO HO HO..and tiger looked and said where where where

My personal jokes:
Q: Why did Tiger crash his vehicle?
A: He forgot the Earth’s rotation. (sorry, I think only ACN employees will get this)

Q: Why was there a massive spike in orders to Amber’s and Pizza Hut?
A: Tiger got rolled off.

We shouldn’t be surprised he was fired. That’s what you get for going on an indefinite leave.

Run Number One

It was a cold dark morning as I sat on the passenger seat of our car, parked at Bonifacio High Street. My brother and nephews were already warming up while I was still busy pinning my bib number for the 3rd time (I always had it crooked). Well, it was supposed to be dark – it was still 5 in the morning (excited).



It’s the Philstar Run2009 event, my first running event and we entered the 5K course.

There was already a small crowd there for the 21K which was starting at 5:30am and most were wearing the standard issue event singlet. The remaining either wore full body suits, tights, branded singlets or singlets from other races. I couldn’t wear the event singlet since even at 3XL, the darn thing still didn’t fit me. I had a dri-fit shirt on instead and some basketball shorts.




There was a commotion right before the race. There were security guards running and shouting something about a guy in blue. It looks like this guy stole something and now he’s being chased by security. If you’re planning to do a grab and run, why would you do it in an event full of runners?

We lined up for the start of the run as it started to drizzle. Drizzle means no sun, which means it’s good… I think. I did some more last minute ankle rotations and stretches while this guy at the PA started counting down. I reminded my brother and my nephews to go ahead without me since I plan to start really slow so I can pace myself. Diesel engines need to warm up faster.

One thing I was nervous about – I haven’t seen anyone fatter than me. There was this huge guy but he was just taking pictures. My nephew suddenly came up to me shouting “Ninong! Ayun o mas mataba!”. I looked and confirmed that I was at least the second fattest guy running in the event. I just wished he didn’t shout it out loud though.

The run started and everyone jogged along 28th street. The street was crowded and when I started to pick up the pace it was like driving along EDSA where I would snake in between groups of people. This one guy was already exhausted at the end of the street and started walking – one objective completed: Don’t be the first guy to walk.




0.75 KM – Right foot started to hurt. I was staring at it while thinking if I did something wrong like wear thick socks or lace up my shoes too tightly. I looked back up and realized I was the only one running with my head down (bad for running posture). As if I could stare away my foot problem anyway.



1 KM – As planned, I have to walk .5 km to rest. In my practice runs, I could go further than 1Km but I end up walking most of the way later. Time to take more pictures.

1.25 KM – a scooter with sirens asked the 5K runners to part in the middle like the red sea. The scooter zoomed by followed by 7 or 8 runners from the 21K. I think they were the leaders of the 21K run.





2.1 KM – This was the botched part of the course. The thing is, you start at Bonifacio High Street then run all the way to Lawton where you’ll find a U-turn slot then you need to run all the way back to High Street. While nearing the U-turn slot, the runners who were already on their way back were shouting something.

“Balik! Balik! Mali daw.”. Some race marshals asked them to turn around since they should be on a different route. I had to ask around to confirm that it’s not just a mean joke. It was true.

We ran back to this race marshal a few meters back and crowded around her while asking where we were supposed to run. My brother and my uncle were both there. She explained that it was supposed to be there ahead but she was hesitating as if she was unsure. This led to a lot of angry runners as we probably wasted around 5 minutes asking and confirming. I broke through the crowd and asked that she just tells us where we should go. She pointed towards Lawton street so I jogged towards there.



It’s funny though since the rest of the runners I was with were mumbling as they clomped along – “%&@# organizers yan” or “sayang time ko” or “sino ba kasi nag plano nito?”. Tsk tsk, I smell a lot of protests after the race.

2.5 KM – At the U turn slot, a race marshal pointed that the 5K runners should run back now while 10K runners should go ahead. They didn’t give us anything – no stamp, no wristband, no anything. What if I cheated and took the U-turn a few meters back? There was no way of telling right? (Apparently, a lot of people did this in frustration with that botched course thing). Pinoy talaga…

I saw this other slow, chubby guy who I used as a baseline. I could zip by him pretty easily. Once I started walking and I saw him passing me, that was the signal for me to start running again.




3.25 KM – Here’s something I didn’t train for – running uphill and downhill. I stupidly walked at the bottom then started sprinting uphill. Stupid because I was going as fast as this guy who was just jogging and yet I was exerting double the effort. When the downhill part came, everyone started running while I was walking out of gas. People were zipping past me. Experience is what we call our mistakes right?



3.5 KM – I stepped on a rock and by instinct I hopped to a stop and took a quick seat on the sidewalk while I check my knee, my foot, my calf and my ankles. Knee was surprisingly ok (thanks to that patellar band), ankles were tender but were good, feet were tired but with 1.5 KM to go, they would have given me the thumbs up.

“If my feet had hands they would have given me the thumbs up” >> one of the stupidest analogies ever in this blog.

4 KM – A stabbing sensation hit my tummy. Darn, it’s that side stitch thing. Again, I hopped to a stop while I bent over to relieve the pain and told myself that we were 1 kilometer away from the finish. If this were the Stations of the Cross, this would go as “Arnold falls for the second time”.



Good thing I did research on this earlier and an article advised runners who encounter this to run with their hands behind their heads. I guess this clears up something on the tummy area. Runners would ask me if I was ok to which I pounded my chest and gave them a nod. Great, now my chest hurts.

I started running now with my hand behind my head. I guess other runners are wondering who I’m surrendering to.

4.5 KM – I was officially out of gas. My burst of runs doesn’t last longer than 10 seconds and I ended up walking. I looked behind me and saw “Mr. Baseline” a good block away from me which means I don’t have to rush. My brother, my nephews and my aunt should be finished by now. I saw my uncle earlier ahead of me so I was guessing he was already done too.






4.9 KM – Time to empty out the tank. Whatever I had left, I should burn them off now on the last part of the run. Once I walked past this intersection I suddenly burst into my final full blown sprint as if someone just let the neighbor’s angry dog out. My form was no longer correct and I couldn’t feel my knees anymore. I passed through the finish line which flashed “45:something:something” and was greeted by my aunt. My uncle trodded along next and I started to wonder at what point did I pass him. Ye-gads... I looked terrible.





I saw Miriam Quiambao next posing with some runners, making her the second celebrity we saw today. Earlier at the parking lot, we saw Rovilson Fernandez who walked past our car but didn’t even bother taking a picture of him.

Me: “Pao, si Rovilson Fernandez o!!”
Pao: “Oo nga no!!”
Me: (drank Gatorade)
Pao: (ate a banana)

I walked towards our car and saw my brother and nephews with an open cooler chugging on Gatorade. Anjo finished at 27 minutes. Mycky finished at 30+ minutes and my brother finished at 40 minutes with Miriam. I know my brother can finish the whole thing well below 40 minutes but for some reason he slowed down. Let’s call it the “running with Miriam” effect



I told them I finished at 45 minutes but I spent a couple of minutes on that botched part. My aunt told me that they were supposed to give out wrist bands to show that you really turned around at the designated U-turn slot, which they never did. I heard also that runners who finished at around 35+ minutes encountered “traffic” in the finish line since the organizers had to rip off that serial number thing on your bib. My brother explained to me that it was frustrating since instead of running across the finish line the way I did, they had to fall in line in the finish line and saw precious seconds tick by.

I noticed during the race that some were well equipped with a racing belt and notches for bottled water. I had a belt too but it a do-it-yourself running belt using my office belt, a camera case with a belt notch and two office binder clips to keep the case from sliding. I also noticed that I was the only one running with a camera. How Pinoy is that?

I realized also that Nike was not the leader in running gears. I looked around and people were wearing Asics, New Balance, Asics, Adidas, Asics, Asics, Asics, New Balance and Asics. There was one wearing the new Nike Lunar Glide+ but no one else was wearing my 2 year old Aix Max 180’s.

Overall, it was a good run albeit my turtle-like speed. At least I wasn’t nursing any injuries after the run. My knees, ankles and feet all held up fine. Something tells me we’ll see a lot of these events next year.

Philstar Run2009

It’s official. I’ve signed up for my first ever running event – the 5K in Christmas Celebrity Run2009 on December 20 sponsored by The Philippine Star. I’m running with my brother Paolo and two nephews, Mycky and Anjo. The event will benefit GILAS (Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students).

I’m unable to obtain an official list of the actual celebrities who will be running but based on an old report, the following will be joining: Christine Jacob-Sandejas, Maricel Laxa, Anthony Pangilinan, Gary V, Rovilson Fernandez, Marc Nelson, Claudine Barretto, Raymart Santiago, KC Concepcion, Drew Arellano, Piolo Pascual. According to the guy who processed my form, Jericho Rosales (10K), Carlos Agassi (10K), Marc Nelson (21K) and Tuesday Vargas (21K) will be there.

As for my training, I treated my injured foot and tried to do a 5K. The result:

5.01 km in 41 minutes

That’s longer than an episode of CSI.

My foot held up well but now I have a dull pain on both my knees forcing me to take additional rest days and extra stretching sessions.

By the way, funny story: I had a quick 2.5KM run the other night at 11pm. The streets are practically deserted and it was darker than usual since the Christmas lights have been turned off. Running in this environment is peaceful but sometimes gives me the creeps. After running through this small dark road, I turned into this 4 lane main road. Immediately after turning, I slowed down into a lazy jog as I was shocked with what I saw next: ~50 people half a mile away, mostly dressed in white were walking very slowly towards me.

I stopped and placed my hands on my waist. I know there's a logical explanation for this but I'm telling you, they all looked like zombies to me. I guess I've been playing too much Left for Dead and Dead Rising. I walked slowly and when they got nearer, nope, they're people. There was this group of ladies that simultaneously cackled and it echoed through the night. Eventually, I realized what was going on... Simbang Gabi.

After doing my final physical evaluation, I’m good to go despite a sore right foot, a sore right ankle and a sore knee. I’m not really sure what to expect tomorrow but my objective is to just finish standing up and not be hauled on a stretcher. I’m a bit worried though since my last workout just lasted 1.25KM after I suffered that side stitch thing but I have to consider that my body clock is all messed up since I worked night shifts the past few days.

Bahala na si Batman… updates tomorrow! :D