The Dream Is On

The Road to My First Full Marathon Starts Now! Ive succesfully grabbed a spot in the much coveted TBR Dream Marathon this coming Feb16. 

Training will start next month. After a long lay-off from running, Im quite excited to commit myself to training and running for my first full mary. 

From here on, I will be documenting my progress, ill be giving you a blow-by-blow recap of what transpired. 

Sept. 18 Wednesday

Came off from work at 7pm. Had to wait for a while for that green frog bus in buendia to take me to the bgc entrance along kalayaan, walked to get to SLMC and arrivved at the confeence room for my 1st ever bull circle. I arrived with coach Lit onstage talking about the foundations of running, its importance, and how to do them right. Then he talked about the Galloway method which is the Run-Walk method. Each minute that I was there got me more interested. I gained vital infos to succeed on my training for the big day. 

Of course, The Bull Runner, Ms Jaymie pizarro was there. She was a welcome sight for my sore and tired eyes. She sounded the way I imagined her voice to be. I was starstruck. 

She was so near and yet so far. One day ill have our picture taken together. This weekend is the start of my training. Im planning to simply follow whatever Mr. Lafferty just said. Ease in to running, do the galloway method and lessen my ego. 

Oct. 5, 2013, Saturday

6:15 AM

Arrived with a few minutes to spare at BGC track 30th for our first Bull Session. I was as usual by my lonely self, people around me proudly sporting their tbr university shirts. I had time to look around, check out my batchmates, take pictures and observe. Then it was time. 

Coach Lit breakin' it down for y'all!

I just had to take a snap of her...

Coach Lit took the mic and broke it down! A little intro here, a short reminder, then he grouped us according to our preferred paces. I chose the 4:1 group with an average pace of 6:30 to 7:00. 

Our group started at a conservative pace of around 7:30 min/km. At first, I was feeling kinda bored with our pace but I just cant forget what Coach Jim talked about in Bull Circle 1; start with a conservative pace, lose your ego. True enough, as the group finished our 50min run, we averaged at 7min/km. Hanep! I never thought that can be done. Achieving a decent pace and still having enough fuel in the tank. As of this writing, I now incorporate a lot of galloway method in my training runs!

Heres our group shot that I got from our TBR 2014 batch's FB site. 

Oct. 26, 2013, Saturday

6:00 AM

Today is the 2nd Bull Session. Compared to the previous one the mood was more light with a hint of stress on my part due to being tardy and had to run all the way from the parking lot just to make it on time. People were a bit less of a stranger and now are looking more familiar. Stayed on the same group I had during the 1st one. We started our run with a 10 min warmup around hi-street. But after that, our pace went from 0-60! We were averaging below 6:30! Thats why some of us were panting like crazy by the 50th minute. So, the pacers finally decided to stick to our pace of 6:30 to 7 upto the finish. After the run, all were asked to stay for the photo shoot. People had fun posing for the camera, after that, it was time to go and off to training by our own. 

Heres a photo taken that day that I picked up from our fb site

The Adventures of TheBooRunner

Its the middle of the year and my first post for the year 2013. Life has been busy tango-ing with me. Too many to mention, too hard to explain ika nga sa isang entry sa slumbook ni ate. 

Let me fill you in with my 2013 life so far, I have been feeling miserable lately because I have been missing my morning runs a lot. Its an off again, on again thang. I havent joined any runs since the 711 run800 event. Yes, I wasted what was supposed to be my summer of runs and training. Instead i was focused more at work and family. Which I find nothing wrong with, its just that feeling of disappointment when you miss a scheduled run because of reasons brought about life's circumstances. Guilt, shoulda, coulda, woulda! Definitely, my passion for running took the backseat this first half of the year. 

With all that rubbish regarding running, I am mighty proud to say that I have been more focused on my family. Less time for running means more time and energy for my wife and kids. More time for house chores, groceries with the wifey, summer dip with the boys, more time to visit loved ones, more time to think, reflect, assess and decide. 

Also one of the most significant part of this year is my trip in Singapore with my friends. It was just like a high school field trip, the only difference is the location and our age. The usual stuff happening in a field trip happened-from waking up early, to having the never-ending kulitans and flashbacks. Oh yes and there were the sightseeings, picture taking, eating out and drinking in's. It sure was a guiltless, well-deserved, 3 day break from our usual routine, and boy did we enjoy every minute of it!

The other half thats keeping me all tied-up is work. Was recently promoted and am now a Lead Designer. Meaning more responsibilities, more load, to keep it simple, more work. But who's complaining? Not me. In fact, im happy about it. Its a feat for me! A confidence booster, a picker-upper(?), an extra motivation and a source of inspiration. 

With all these in my bag, Im still trying my darndest to juggle everything without dropping any. I am hoping to go back to my usual training schedule starting June just right for my July KOTR2013 16km race. But with the kids' school just around the corner, well, thats another hurdle to tackle. 

The Great Medal Haul

2012 was a great running year for me. A memorable one indeed. I ran my first half-marathon in the Condura Skyway Marathon, finishing your first 21k is both tiring and exciting. My first time to experience that kind of pain, my first time to have conquered such a challenge, hence, my first medal. And boy how they look and feel great hanging around your neck. But, I didnt stop there. I also joined the Etc Earth Run's 21km run where I achieved my PR of 2:12 in that category. It was a big lift for me and for my ego. It seems everytime I ran, I get faster and I get a nice piece of medal to go along with that. Another highlight for 2012 is me joining all three Run United's at 21k with satisfying results. Ive learned the value of commitment, the importance of hard work and the results that go along with that. Also, as a promise to myself and to give more meaning to my runs, almost all of the races I participate in should have social relevance and should benefit the needy. One race that Im glad I joined is the Tetra Pak RFR. The race donated a portion of our reg fees to their beneficiary, and also helped people to be aware of the benefits of recycling. This is also the time where I started having leg cramps that affected my finishing time. Maybe because of the lack of mileage I log in during trainings, sodium depletion, or lack of hydration. The last run I joined was Milo's 36th Marathon Finals. Same thing happened, leg cramped on me so I finished with a disappointing time of 2:20. At least I was able to give a child running shoe and joining at least 1 Milo race per year is an sop for me.

Thats about it. All the of my running highlights for the year 2012. This 2013, im contemplating in using salt sticks every long runs and see if its really sodium depeletion. And this year will be all about personal bests for me in all categories and maybe finally join TBR's Dream Marathon. Lets all keep our fingers crossed, and lets all have a happy, prosperous, and exciting 2013. Till then, run hard, run happy! BooRunner out!