Din: The Road To Becoming an Ultramarathoner

One of the primary reasons why I decided to complete my first marathon was the lure of joining ultramarathons. I am not "driven by speed" thus when I was training for my first marathon, I avoided tempo and interval training runs as much as I can and "cheated" by replacing them with hill repeats and hill training runs instead. Well, as mentioned in RunnersWorld, training on hills is speedwork in disguise. =D

It was actually the easy long runs that I enjoyed during my trainings. I liked the solitude, the zen-like rhythmic sound of my feet on the road and the calming effect this gave me. As a result, after I finished my first marathon, I looked for ultra races instead of improving my 10k, 21k and 42k personal bests.

The potential opportunity came even before I had finished my first marathon. A week before the TBR Dream Marathon. my good friend Julius, invited me to join him in the Mayon 360 50 miler race. It was scheduled two weeks after the TBR Dream Marathon. I was quite tempted in registering already for this race but eventually decided to wait until I had completed my marathon. It was in the end a wise decision since I incurred injuries in my first marathon which required at least one week of rest. As a result, I had to put my plan of running my first ultra race in the back burner and focus first on healing my injuries.

The next opportunity came in frontRUNNER's Valley Trail Challenge at Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. This was scheduled on June 18, roughly three months after my first marathon. My initial thought was perfect, I still had time to prepare and train. There were two challenges though that I needed to face. First, it was a trail run (I didn't have any training on trail routes since there were none where I live) and second, instead of being a 50K race, an additional 7 kilometers were added to the race! I thought, wow, this would be a great painfest for my first ultra! =D

Even with these challenges, I was excited (or crazy perhaps) that when the first day of registration came, I immediately signed-up for the race. To my surprise, I was the second registrant and got this for a bib number (the first registrants, a couple, chose the 100 and 101 numbers). I felt like an elite for a second but became scared shit afterwards because of the implications of the number! haha! =D In the end, I didn't have the number changed since I thought this would be a good symbol for my first ultra.



After putting the race registration out of the way, the next challenge was how to train for this race. Back then, actually I didn't know how to approach my training. All I knew, based on my researches, was to do back-to-back long runs. As a result, you could see this from the samples of my weekly training report below.







On the latter part of my training, I also learned about heat training courtesy of Julius. He accompanied me in a long run with heat training included (see training report below). We started around 2pm and just one and a half hour in the run, I was already burnt crisp and panting like a dog from the heat of the sun and the pavement! That was a rude awakening! That was my first taste on how heat could be a game changer and adversely affect one's performance.



With these preparations, I thought I was ready but boy was I mistaken! Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed my first ultra but I had a lot of lessons learned from heat training (I did not have enough), to hydration (the one 20oz handheld bottle I brought was not enough to carry me to the next hydration station), to the right trail running shoe (I used Vibram FiveFingers Treksport which was not suited to the gravel roads of the route).

Just like what I did in my first marathon, I would let the pictures I took speak for all the emotions I felt when I ran my first ultramarathon. Please excuse some of the crappy pictures since I used my "wet-from-sweat" mobile phone.


The beauty of trail running. You don't see this in your regular road races.


For me, this was the most beautiful part of the route. This area was even called "New Zealand."


Running with Mt. Makiling as your backdrop.


My fellow running comrades and for some, this was also their first ultra.


What lies beyond 42K?


For me, this was the true meaning of trail running. Notice the dirty legs and shoes!


1km away from finishing my first ultramarathon. All thumbs up amidst the sore feet and legs.


After 9 hours and 15 minutes of running bliss!


Simple, straightforward, lotsa fun! This was ultrarunning at its finest!


Ranked 63rd out of 112 runners. Not bad for a first timer! =)

Lastly, I would like to share this great race recap from the main man himself, Race Director and frontRUNNER Magazine Editor, Jonel Mendoza.

Din: The Road To Becoming a Marathoner

Update: 
1/26/2012 - I decided to complete this post rather than have it in 2 parts.

More than three months after running the TBR Dream Marathon 2011 (my first marathon!), when the euphoria has died down and the hustles and bustles of daily routine and work has taken over again, it is now the best time to look back and reflect on what led me to finish this great endeavor. Looking back will give me the insights (hopefully) to look forward and plan the next phase of my running activities.


The Decision
It was September last year that I made the big leap and decided to sign-up for the TBR Dream Marathon 2011. I was able to document what I felt back then here and here in making this decision. It was quite nerve-wracking since I felt I was not yet ready to take the plunge and run a marathon. In fact, my longest race back then was just a 16K!

What drove me though was the rising passion on running and the thought, "It is better to aim at the sun and hit the moon rather than aim at the moon and hit the rocks." Looking back, I thought, sometimes, there was indeed a thin line separating bravery and stupidity! =)

The Preparation
I learned that fear and uncertainty were great motivators. So much so that I took everything to the extremes especially my marathon training. I immediately worked on running half-marathon races. As a result, I ran two half-marathon races in two consecutive Sundays, the October Running Festival followed by the Adidas King of the Road.



You might be wondering, what were I thinking? Yeah, fear and uncertainty really makes you do stupid things. Great thing was I held back in these races meaning I did not race them until I "redline." I just considered them as "training runs." Most probably this was the reason why I did not incur any injuries.

Foolishly boosted by the "successes" in these two half-marathon races, I ran 3 more "challenging" (well from my standards) races in the two months after the Adidas King of the Road Race. These were:


Run United 2 32K


Corregidor Half-Marathon


Rizal Day Run 32K

All the while I thought I was doing something right when I successfully finished these races. I was even proud that I was ending 2010 with lots of confidence that I would be ready for the TBR Dream Marathon or even "I am now ready." Little did I know that I was setting myself up for disaster.


The Setback
I started 2011 with a bang by joining the Cebu half-marathon event. I was feeling great in the race that I decided to forego my run-walk strategy for the first time and ran the whole course non-stop!


Cebu Half-Marathon (I didn't noticed that the runner besides me was cramping. I only saw it after I downloaded the picture.)

I was on cloud nine because I considered this as a big achievement resulting from my training. Here came the start of the setback though. A few days after the race, I felt spent and wasted. I didn't have the energy or even the will to continue with my training. I was clueless on what was the cause of these challenges. As a result, for about a month, I was not able to rake in the necessary mileage indicated in my training program. Sadly though, I still had the bravado of thinking that I would post a much faster time in the Condura half-marathon event which was my next scheduled race after Cebu.


Condura Half-Marathon (This was near the 16km marker where I hit the proverbial "wall" and beca a walking mess afterwards.)

This was when I experienced the rude awakening. I ran Condura non-stop, just like Cebu, but I ran it fast from the start. Since I lacked the necessary training and mileage between Cebu and Condura, the outcome was already obvious. When I reached the 16km marker, I was already running out of steam. By the time I reached the 18km marker, I was running on fumes.

It was my first race that I felt very bad, physically and psychologically; that I just want it to be finished so that I could go home already. I felt really bad not because of the race (it was a great race) but because of my bad decisions.

A day of recovery did wonders to my spirit. I immediately set out to understand what happened to me.

After reading several articles, I thought I found the culprit. I peaked too soon! I was at my peak when I ran the Cebu Half-Marathon which resulted to my excellent performance.

This was potentially the result of running longer distances too early too soon. Looking back, I ran two 32K races one and a half months earlier that what was suggested in my training schedule. A big lessons learned indeed. I took heart though for this was a great lesson. It actually even energized me since I understood the cause of the challenges I encountered. It was a natural part of the cycle of peaking.


The Comeback
With these newly acquired knowledge, I set out to jumpstart my training to make the most out of the remaining 30 days in my training schedule before the big day. I was inspired and this could be seen from the mileage I racked.








The Race
A picture is worth a thousand words. What more if you have several pictures and a video to boot! As a result, I would let the pictures speak for the emotions and eventually the euphoria that I (and my batchmates) experienced before, during, at the finish line and after the race.


My lucky bib number which made me win a New Balance backpack bag in the TBR Dream Marathon send-off party raffle.


We were already at Nuvali around 12:30am. This showed how jittery and excited I was.


Less than 1 kilometer to go before the finish line. If you have noticed I used the Vibram FiveFingers Bikila as my shoes for my first marathon. I was not crazy. =D I will explain why when I review my FiveFingers shoes in a separate post.


Fist pump! All the pain you endured and struggled with especially at the last 10 kilometers of the race would surely disappear once you are 10 meters away from the finish line!


I read somewhere that only an idiot can finish a marathon. I proudly exclaim i am one now!


Another shot of the momentous moment.


With my #1 fan and the best support crew!


This summed it all!


There were plenty of "surprises" along the "killer" route.


This was the message at the back of our finisher's shirt and look at that kick-ass race medal!



This was the TBR Dream Marathon 2011 official video. Please check out the 12:13 section of the video. =) Enjoy!

Din: I Dreamt Big. I Ran Strong.

I read somewhere that only an idiot can finish a marathon. I proudly exclaim I am one now!

I'll be sharing the details that led me to become a marathoner in the next few days. I'll relish for now the remaining feelings of euphoria and hopefully be able to learn to walk properly again.

Din: This Is It!

Barely less than 48 hours to go and I will be running my first marathon via the TBR Dream Marathon at Nuvali. After going through more than 16 weeks of training, I am experiencing mixed emotions right now from excitement, to fear, to jitteriness and the intermittent doubts and then back to excitement again. It's an emotional roller coaster to say the least.

I am guessing (correctly I hope) that all marathon first-timers go through this stage. To calm my nerves, I just repeat, silently and sometimes out loud (when I'm alone of course!) that I can do this! I can do this! You already have a plan. Stick to the plan! Finish this and you can now proudly say, "I am now an idiot!"

Carrie: How I Finished My First 16KM

A good 2 weeks before the Condura Skyway Marathon I was invited by my hubby to join him and other TBR 2011 dreamers for a 90min run at BGC, of course I said yes and eagerly hoped for a good run.

On that beautiful Saturday morning, I told hubby that if I could not carry on with the group's pace, I will just run on my own and just do my thing. Little did I know that people who joined the running session will be divided into 3 categories (run continuously, 9min run/1min walk and 4min run/1min walk) the announcement got me excited since hopefully I will not be running alone after all, though I secretly hoped that the group that I joined will not be running fast. I positioned myself at the end of the 4-1 group and was joined by Vic, a TBR dreamer. A few minutes before the run we were joined by Jaymie Pizarro, TBR herself (Jaymie assigned herself as the day's sweeper), lucky for us! Introductions were made and the run officially started.

I had a great time running with Vic and Jaymie, so much so that we got lost from our group. We didnt realized that the group took a left turn and we look a straight path. All the same, we chatted our way through the meet up point and finished a good 4+km and surprisingly maintained my most comfortable pace (8:45-9). After a few minutes rest, we resumed running and made it for another 4+km sans Jaymie who exchanged places with Lit Onrubia.

After the training session, I continued running for another 2km with hubby, all the while telling him of my experience and wonderful conversations with Vic and Jaymie. I told him that I never did imagine that I could converse with fellow runners while running and the many running advices Jaymie shared, one which is so important is to follow the Jeff Galloway run/walk/run method. I used to do run/walk/run strategy but run for 1km then walk for 10secs. I always get tired early on. Though this method got me through all of my 5km and 10km races, I was afraid that it may not get me through with 16kms. Oh and by the way, my Saturday morning session with the TBR dreamers will not be complete without another special moment. Finally I was able to meet Reylynne Delapaz, the runvocate. She was the pacer for our 4-1 group. Reylynne and I shared a few medical alarms with thyroid diseases. But that is under the bridge now, mine got removed a few years back so no worries.

One week before Condura, I altered my game plan and incorporated Jeff Galloway's run/walk method. But instead of a 4-1, I opted for a 5-1 instead. One minute additional running time wont hurt at all, I thought.

On Condura day, I felt good and inspired. I vowed to stick to my new game plan of 5-1 (run/walk/run) method plus I told myself to better tackle the route I will brisk walk the Amorsolo flyover and the Kalayaan flyover and will resume the run/walk method after. I had the best time of my life while running the Skyway. My plan worked to perfection! And I am happy to share that I made it with an official time of 2h 24min 47sec with an 8:54 pace, strong, no injuries and very very happy.

Thank you Jaymie for all the insights that you shared. I most probably be miserable if I continued on with my 1km run and 10secs walk strategy.

Din: Happy New Year!

For the past month, I have been experiencing what I call the "blogging block." I find it difficult to even complete a single paragraph in my planned posts. As a result, I have these numerous drafts queued in Blogger. On the other hand, even with this "block" still hanging heavily in my head, I write this short note to everybody.

A Happy New Year To All!

May this be a year of more health, prosperity, success, happiness and most especially running events that we will join! (Talk about priorities! hahaha) Oh, and more blog posts too! Cheers!

Carrie: My 1st 10KM

I have been preparing for my first 10km for the past 2-3 months and by the looks of what happened in the recently concluded Adidas KOTR Race, I was not able to beat my practice training PR by about 3mins. Not bad! Not bad at all. Considering the madness that happened last October 24, from the unruly crowd to the different choke points to my enthusiasm to conquer the Kalayaan flyover, I got the best 10km baptism anyone could ever dream of.

Though I know I still have a lot to train for especially with hill training, the route was an awakening of sorts. I had the best time running until I reached the turn around point in Buendia going up to the sharp point of the flyover. I decided to take a walk break and took sips of water and braced myself for the challenge ahead. Mid point of the steep road, my heart was pounding fast, I was huffing and puffing, my mind was yelling at me to just walk the entire uphill route and just make it up in the next 10km race. I said "NO". I prepared for this, made a lot of sacrifices and dreamed of conquering this flyover. So, I pushed myself to continue, willed myself to go forward, made a mental note of finishing if not the entire race BUT JUST this particular uphill challenge alone...then a question came across...is this what they call running with the heart when nothing is left anymore? Maybe yes. I got myself through the entire steep road and when I reached the top I immediately rewarded myself by doing a 200-meter walk break, got my groove back and run all the way to the finish line. I even had the strength to smile for a photo op!

Pictures courtesy of Greentennial Run

Official race time was 1h:31m:04s - really not bad at all. I guess going back to the hills of Alabang Hills and Hillsborough will help me improve my time and staying power. Race time is just the icing on the cake, I would rather improve on the journey towards longevity.

See you on my next 10km engagement!

Din: Hill Training and My First Half Mary

My favorite workout is hill training. Mind you I'm not a masochist hehehe =). I just love the challenge and the exhilarating feeling of being on top of a hill after a hard run. Thus, when I started my training for the half marathon, I immediately incorporated hill training in my workouts. In fact, I even incorporated it in my long slow and tempo runs. I firmly believed if I could be strong in running hills, I would be stronger in "flats."

This belief and training regimen was put to the test, successfully if I might say, in my first half marathon run last Sunday, October 17, when I joined the The Fort Running Festival. I was only aiming for a 7min 30sec / km pace. That's what I have trained for based on my 5K race pace using the FIRST Training program. During the race, even if I was already running at a 7min / km pace, I still felt strong thus I continued with this pace surprisingly until the end of the race with enough juice left so to speak.

A week after the Fort Running Festival race, I ran another 21K at the Adidas King of the Road race last October 24. I was able to get a new PR considering that the route was a lot more challenging and there were hydration challenges in the last 5 kilometers of the race. Good thing I have my Amphipod Hydration Belt which supplied me with enough juice during these last kilometers.

Pictures courtesy of Greentennial Run

Picture courtesy of Adidas Philippines

All these great results, I attribute mostly to hill training. As such, I am planning to incorporate hill training again to my marathon training plan that will start next month. It is my hope that  I will be able to replicate the same great results that I have in my first two 21km races to the TBR Dream Marathon next year.

For more information about hill training, I have listed below some links that helped me. I hope these will also help you out in learning and enjoying this great workout.

Hill Training articles from Runner's World
Hill Training from Runner's World UK
Hill Training from BrianMac

Din: #5

I was registrant #5 in the recently concluded registration period for the TBR Dream Marathon 2011.  Talk about being excited!

Kudos to TJ who enthusiastically and patiently answered all my questions when he was processing my registration. It was fast and efficient. The photo-session was also a blast.

Now that the 2nd half of the process has been completed, the real fun begins! Time to put on the shoes and hit the road!

Din: TBR Dream Marathon 2011

When The Bull Runner announced last August the date for the TBR Dream Marathon 2011, I started asking myself, am I ready? Can I already make that leap of faith?

Frankly, doubts started to creep in my mind and I thought, perhaps it was not yet time. I'll enjoy first half-mary races next year and then start preparing for a full mary around 3rd or 4th quarter.

And then I saw another update from The Bull Runner last September 9. I again asked the same 2 questions, am I ready? Can I already make that leap of faith? After thinking about it again for a day, I still came with the same conclusion, perhaps it was not yet time and left the questions behind.

Last Friday morning, September 17, I was checking my Facebook account when I saw Jaymie's wall post that the TBR Dream Marathon reservation was open. Suddenly the 2 questions came rushing back like a flash flood in my mind. I read through The Bull Runner's announcement and the 15 reasons why I should join the TBR Dream Marathon not just once but 3 times.

I think I can do this! This started as a small voice in my head which slowly but surely started to get louder and louder until I cannot take it no more. I clicked the Reserve For TBR Dream Marathon 2011 link, filled up the form as fast as I can and clicked submit. I immediately whipped out my mobile phone and sent an SMS to Carrie and told her, "I made the leap. I registered in the TBR Dream Marathon!"

The next 24 hours were mostly focused on one thing, clicking the refresh button in my browser waiting for the latest update from The Bull Runner!

Saturday, September 18, in the middle of lunch at the Alabang Town Center, I whipped out my mobile phone, opened Opera Mobile and checked thebullrunner.com (ah, the wonders of mobile technology). I immediately told Carrie, there was a new post and it was about the reserved runner list, what I had been waiting for for the past 24 hours. The next 5 minutes were pure agony due to the horrendous speed of my mobile connection (GPRS-like speed in an EDGE connection!). Voila, the PDF file opened! Immediately realizing that the list was alphabetically arranged, I immediately scrolled to C to check if I was included.

The rest I should say was history and I gave a high five to Carrie!

I understand that this is just half of the process. I still need to go to the official registration. But boy, this is just the reservation process and I already experienced this kind of excitement! What more during the training and the race itself on March 20, 2011!

To my future TBR Dream Marathon 2011 co-participants, here's to us for making that leap of faith, for being unafraid in going out of our comfort zones and for dreaming and believing in ourselves that we can do this! To Jaymie, many thanks for giving us this huge opportunity and privilege! Kudos to you and your team.

Now time to put on that running shoes and start training! =) 

Din: Zen Moment

Multi-tasking is the rule in my line of work. Our moniker here is "wearing several hats." Even outside work this is still the case. For example, I check my emails, check my Facebook account, visit my favorite mailing lists, all at the same time. Most often than not, I have at least 10 tabs open in my browser.

I reckon for you my kind readers, this is also the norm rather than the exception.

This is the reason why I am drawn to running. It is a respite to the chaotic and frantic world brought about by multi-tasking. It is the only activity that forces me to focus on only one task, that is to run.

How good is that!

It forces my mind to go into what I call a Zen moment, when body and mind are one and working in unison. The physical component where I constantly check the status of my legs, knees, muscles, breathing and heart rate. The psychological component where I decide if I slow down or go faster. These two are directly intertwined that the output from one serves as the input for the other.

In a world full of Blackberry's chirping for the latest email, back to back 2-hour meetings, nightly conference calls with foreign counterparts, running is like an oasis in the middle of an unforgiving desert.

These were actually the same thoughts I shared to friends when we had our belated get-together lunch. I was using these metaphors to explain why I am "addicted" to running.

These were also the answers I recently got to the same question I asked myself way way back. Actually, my gut tells me that I already knew the answer and leave it like that but my curious logical / rational self always, always would like to objectify any unexplained experiences that I am going through.

And now that the answers were "crystal clear," I was able to "ran like there was no tomorrow" during the Fort Striders Run were I joined the 16K race. I did not win any prizes though even if I ran like crazy. In fact, I only posted a decent time and was just at the top 60%. Then why I am so proud?

Let me share you this Zen story:

Once upon a time in ancient Japan, a young man was studying martial arts under a famous teacher. Every day the young man would practice in a courtyard along with the other students. One day, as the master watched, he could see that the other students were consistently interfering with the young man's technique. Sensing the student's frustration, the master approached the student and tapped him on the shoulder. "What is wrong?" inquired the teacher. "I cannot execute my technique and I do not understand why," replied the student. "This is because you do not understand harmony. Please follow me," said the master. Leaving the practice hall, the master and student walked a short distance into the woods until they came upon a stream. After standing silently beside the streambed for a few minutes, the master spoke. "Look at the water," he instructed. "It does not slam into the rocks and stop out of frustration, but instead flows around them and continues down the stream. Become like the water and you will understand harmony."

Din: Level Up

After running six 10k races, I thought it was time to move on to the next race category, the 15 or 16K. Well, as luck turned out, the next race in our calendar was the Run To Read Race with a 15K category. Perfect opportunity as well to run a longer distance than 10K at The Fort which included the infamous route to the Heritage Park. Time to test if my hill workouts were enough for me to survive the undulating paths of the Bayani Road.

Since I would be running a 15K race, I decided to use the Amphipod instead of my trusty handheld Nathan water bottle. Just in case, you can find my reviews of the Nathan here and the Amphipod here.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I take hydration quite seriously. I do not depend on the race organizers in providing me with enough hydration even if it is their responsibility. Again, I repeat, I do not put my safety in the hands of others. This is actually based on experiences from previous races that Carrie and I joined. To further elaborate, imagine a spectrum, on the right are organizers who really care for the runners' well-being and ensure that the runners can even swim on  the huge volume of water and sports drink available. On the left are organizers who, either because of cluelessness (or downright stupidity) or worst, irresponsibility, do not care about the runners' plight and only care for their own pockets resulting to stations without the water most especially for longer distances.

In the middle of this spectrum are the organizers hit by Murphy's law. To those who are unfamiliar with this law, it states that, "If something is bound to go wrong, it will."

In the case of the Run To Read Race, I could classify it in the middle of the spectrum, especially for those who ran the 15K race. Unfortunately, the water stations ran out of cups even if there were still ample amounts of water. This was actually still a good case for those who brought their own hydration kits. Bad for those who didn't. I was actually able to refill my Amphipod bottles twice thus I have enough water and Pocari drinks to sustain me until the end of the race. The moral of the story, believe in Murphy, bring your own bottle!