Ran United (2)1

After all whats been said and done, here I am once again, adding fuel to the unstoppable blaze that is Run United 1 for the year 2012. Pardon me for being so late, work's got me all tied-up again.




21k Runners waiting for the gunstart.




Thats me before the race, all ready to go!

Anyway, RU1 is the 1st of the trilogy and 1st in a lot of ways: 1st ever to have BGC, Roxas Blvd. and MOA in one 21km route. Its the 1st to use SMS technology to inform runners of their official time. Its also the 1st to have medals on each leg and once completed, you could put them all together to form one gigantic medallion perfect for your memorabilia wall. And its the 1st to have free shuttle service from MOA to BGC and vice versa complete with police escorts to avoid delay. On to my story and how I hated my run and the result. Like the CSM last Feb, I was running ok in the first half but come 13th km my thigh muscles and calves started giving me cramps everytime I ran for more than 1km. So I had no choice but to run-walk upto the 17th km. After the 17th I started running with a slow pace until I reached the 18th km. I wanted to make up for lost time so I ran upto the finish line like there were zombies chasing me (uy, sounds like another run o!) I finished with a measly time of 2:32 according to the sms. A second slower than my last 21k! Yikes! After crossing the finish line I got my medal and immediately set out to get my free drinks and my loot bag together with my finishers shirt. But as I was claiming my shirt, the lady in the booth didnt bother to get the stub that I was giving her so after getting my shirt I was tempted to get another Medium sized shirt as pasalubong for my wife. Yes! I confess! I am one of those who took advantage of the situation. But I never thought that their stocks would be stolen and a lot of runners wont be getting theirs. Well anyway, karma wont just sit there and do nothing, after getting my massage,




and dipping my tired feet in ice cold water courtesy of the ULAH expo runners area, as I arrived in my house, tired and sleepy, I found out that Ive lost my Garmin heart rate monitor (there, happy now?!). I shouldve known better, sigh.
Enough of that, let me just run through some more of my comments;
- hydration were suffcient but the people manning the stations werent.
- bananas and sponges were also placed in strategic spots, you just have to dip those sponges some more to be able to serve its purpose.
- it was hard enough climbing the buendia flyover with thousands of runners, but having visibility issues is another, they shouldve placed more lights to improve runners visibility and avoid accidents.
- and also, while funny at times, but organizers should tell their bouncers or marshals to pee on designated portalets not on the walls or empty lots. BGC is too nice a place for others to just spray their pee on it. Come on now! 'Susginoo!
With that, Ill leave you with an apology and a reminder of the Golden Rule: "Do not do unto others what you want others do unto you." Yes, I've learned that the hard way after the race. (Hu-hu)
Till next time, happy trails!
Run hard, run happy!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Best Birthday Gift Ever

Last February 4 was my birthday. Also, my Mom was scheduled to arrive on the same date. I asked my sister (in the states) to buy me a Garmin Forerunner 210, as it'll be my birthday gift to myself. I told her that Ill pay her thru my Mom.





Once purchased, my sister sent me a pic of the watch which made me more excited to have it. On the day that my Mom arrived, she handed me the watch and told me not to pay her anymore since it was my birthday! I know right? Suh-weeet!! Right on time for the Skyway Marathon happening the next day!
Instantly I opened the box and one by one I checked whats inside it.





- 1 Forerunner 210 unit
- 1 usb charger clip
- 1 adaptor plug(for wall charging)
- 1 Garmin heart rate monitor with strap
- 1 cd software
- 1 startup manual

What I did next was familiarize myself with the watch thru the manual. And then I went thru the initial setup of the watch. I just answered all the questions and within a minute or two, it was set to go. Of course I had to fully charge it before the race the next day. Placing the unit in the clip charger was a bit challenging at first. You have to perfectly align the holes in the watch to the charger, if you see the Garmin logo and the battery life icon in the watch, it means the watch is charging properly. So the next day, race day, I attached the heart rate monitor to the strap then wore it just below my chest, instantly the watch detects it and will ask if you want to use it. Its best if you connect and locate satellites minutes before the gunstart since it took me at least a minute and a half for it to locate a satellite. Gunstart came and all I had to do was to press the start button to start the timer. There you'll see your distance, pace and time. Now if you press on the page/menu button, the fields in the display screen will change to distance, heart rate and pace. Another press of the button will take you to laps display then the time and date then back to distance, pace and time display. During the whole 21k run I couldnt help myself from looking at my watch. When I finally crossed the finish line, I just pressed on the start/stop button to stop the timer. Oh and dont forget to press the lap/reset button after every run to save and reset your previous run. Once I got home that day I quickly uploaded the saved info to their garmin connect website and voila! The complete details were staring in front of me.





Here's a sample of what youll see when you upload your run at garmin connect. Grabe, pati pagtawid mo ng street kuha niya!

I also wondered if its ok to use this gps watch on wet conditions. Upon checking on its manual and after reading some reviews on the internet, I found out that its pretty much ok to do so. One guy even took a shower with it just to check.

I havent found a name to call it yet but Im choosing between Barda and Gardo. I know for some its weird to name them but for me its normal, I give names to all my toys. To site an example, I call my car the Pogster Mobile, my laptop, Lappy. Kanya-kanyang trip lang diba?

So there you go, I guess i have to say goodbye to my Nike+ app now, since I wont be using it anymore, and hello to my new love, Barda (or Gardo)!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Alvir,Manila,Philippines