Running with my Pure Cadence

I bought a pair of shoes last July hoping it will be my TBR marathon shoes, but it felt wrong when I ran. Then decided, I should do practice runs on it and get a new pair.

When I decided to get a new one, I thought of getting an expert's advice and have my gait analysis taken. So, as soon as I got my extra money, I went to Runnr at BGC high street and took my chance on getting my new shoes.

I've already set my eyes on getting a Brooks pair. I have been looking into the Pure project series and saw reviews that it is a good pair. So, after my gait analysis, it was seen that my arch is for Neutral but when I ran, they saw that I needed Stability shoes. 

This is entirely different from what I bought from Singapore, my fuschia pink Adidas. It is for Neutral runners. And it was as advised by our gym instructor. Not that he's wrong, I thought it is the right shoes too. He explained it to me right. When I used my Fuschias it is good on the feet and friendly on my knees. (remember that I've had knee injuries before and I would like to be more careful in my shoe choices)

So, I took this guy's advise and looked at the stability shoe choices. Of course, almost everything is expensive and it was sad spending money on it. But, I was willing to take my chance, this is a marathon after all, and I think I need to really spend in order for me to finish it well. Good thing, Brooks Pure Cadence was on the rack and took it for a spin on their treadmill. 

It feels snuggly and my toes, especially the left one, feels iffy. I might have problems running on it since it's fit is tight on the side. But when I checked, the socks are folded and when I ran again it felt a bit better. I guess it just needs, a little breaking in, in order for me to get used to it.

I bought the shoes and went home. I then thought of using my new shoes in my long run on the next day. I went to UP on a sunday afternoon then road tested Cyan. 

It felt different, I was running without my mp3 to make me feel it more. Since the shoes are for stability running, it felt it was promoting a different run. My legs felt heavy and every step of my feet felt like a big stomp. It feels like it's activating the pain on my ITB (Ilotilial Band). I walked a few times on my first 6kms.

On the 6th, I decided to get my mp3 player so that I can focus on running and drank my gatorade with the GU gel for energy. I was able to run properly, and i did not feel any pain from there on. I was able to focus on running straight, but my feet are still not used to it, and I am still not running I am supposed to with it. 

I was able to finish at around 13.2kms at 1hr and 49 mins. Not a bad run, I think. I was planning to run at an average of 8:00 mins/kms. I guess I just need to get used to it, or I will use Fuschia in my marathon.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Geez. 

PS: if I spelled Fuschia wrong, forgive me. Heehee

First look at my Pure Cadence

Fuschia Pinkie Adidas on its first run

Running the Nike We Run Manila 2013 10k race

This is my first 10k of the year. Yes, you've read that right, I am running 10k again. I have not ran any short distance race lately, since my office friends asked if I can join, I gave in. 

Mind you, Nike We Run Manila is not one of the races I am looking forward to yearly. First, it only hosts 10k races and second, it has too many runners, makes running properly (meaning PR possible runs) impossible. This is based on past experience and feedback from friends who have ran the race. 

So with this, why join? Well, I am giving myself a chance to run another 10k again. And, knowing the freebies from Nike, I know it will be all worth it. With this, I joined my friends in registering the race. 

One thing that made me think twice though, the race will be held at Marikina City. Marikina, with its small and congested roads, all my running woes will probably come true. As one friend have mentioned, it was a cheap place to hold a race in. But, I thought, I am giving Marikina a chance, since I have been running on their Sports Plaza for months now, why not give it a try.

After registering and gathering the kits, I think I am good to go. Good thing, the race organizer already expected the number of participants in this race and sent a message to everyone to be early at the race venue. (This is as i said, the roads are small) Me and my office mates already set to meet at one of my office mate's house, where we leave our things there. 

As I commute, the fx (public transpo that I was in) from Commonwealth Market, did not go through the San Mateo route, maybe due to the expected traffic, it went around Katipunan Ave then Marcos Hi-way. My office mate directed me to go through another way to prevent the people and the traffic, which was effective, I was able to get to the destination on time. 

At the starting line, it was filled with people. What can you expect? It was expected to have 14,000 runners. I already started at wave 2. So I guess there were more people at the back when we started. 

Panorama version of how it looked like at my place at the starting line

It was people congested at the start, it was hard to run properly. I have to zigzag all the way from people who were walking. I like to shout at them to remind that "THIS IS A RUN RACE PEOPLE NOT A WALK IN THE PARK". This is the part that I did not like, I wish they were reminded to walk on the one side so we can all run on the other. As soon as the roads got wider, I was already exhausted. I felt the heat, and the lack of oxygen due to the volume of people also gasping for air during the run. I am disappointed with myself at this point but, when I looked at my performance, it was okay. I was at my good comfortably hard pace.

I liked the part where the people around were cheering and the kids were asking for high fives. It was something I can smile at during the race. I did not look for photographers at this point since it is impossible to look for yourself in a crowd of 14000 people.

I must say, the finish line on this race is my favorite so far. The whole sports plaza was lighted and the track felt like the red carpet. I did not make my photo finish finish, but I slowed down and clamored the moment. It was amazing. I ran there a couple of times, but I did not expect the whole stadium to be that beautiful. Amazing. 

The finish line chaos

Overall, the race was okay for me. The influx of people and roads and the racers themselves did disappoint but the people cheering, the finish line view and the freebies were enough to make me like this race. I guess I can look forward to this race next year. Good job Nike. :) 

Me and my friends before gunstart

 

Running Pink Run 2013

Last time I ran a race was last June 2013, and I skipped Milo Manila Eliminations due to lack of training. So, when I saw this, and encouraged a friend of mine to join this race with me, I ran a race again.

Good thing this race was staged at UP Diliman, which was near our home. And it's still inexpensive! Despite the fact the it's for cancer, I also needed to run a long run - for the marathon training. 

One thing races never fail at is starting early and on time. This was no exception, and I did not consider I don't have my bib with me (because my good friend, Ate MJ, registered the race for me) and I came 5mins late. So we both started out late.

Before coming in the starting line, we are both planning to do a 6mins run and one min walk, just to try the run-walk interval. So, after everything has been plastered on me, the bib, the shoe thingy and my own belt, we took off.

The 16k route will take you 7.5 rounds at UP academic oval, so on our first round, it went okay. But on the fifth round, I felt my previous injury reeling in, I've had a badminton injury last tournament where in my upper right leg feels iffy. I could not keep up and the one minute stops make me feel it more. So I let Ms Mj run and then I walked for about 500 m. Then, I returned to my own way of running, put my headphones on, then ran all the way to the finish line.

Finished at 2:16, lame time I know, but it was okay. I did not practice, just got well from a flu and I guess I wasn't in the mood. But it's okay. The whole race was okay, there were a lot of photographers, there were few racers, hydration was verrry sufficient.

This is the first race I've used my Fushia pink shoes on and I think I'm not going to use it on the marathon. But I am going to weigh it in first, do some more running just to check. 

Me and Running buddy Ate MJ during this race

All smiles

Earphone Crazy Pop

I left my iPod with the earphones connected on my bed one day, take note that I am just leaving to get to the loo. Then, when I came back, I was surprised to see the dog munching my pink candy colored headset and made it look like this..

Much to my dismay, to myself, to the dog and to the whole situation, the earphones, obviously, can no longer be used. 

Probably, this is my 3rd earphone for the year. I started the year with the Panasonic (which was about a thousand bucks) then mellowed with a Pioneer, for about 700 Php. Then, this one, the Audiophile one with the same color as my new running shoes. The first and third one were destroyed care of my doggie, Odin, then the other was defective. Stupid me, I did not keep the receipt so I just bought a new one.

So come payday, I decided to get one, again. Of course, I plan to splurge again, on earphones, since, I am a fan of high quality sounds care of my uncle who' I grew up with. I would love to hear an extra bass and good noise cancellation on it. Since, I use it for work and for my runs, sometimes in commute as well, since I am not the type who would like to disappear in the crowd and my iPod would do that for me. Anyway, I kept that explanation for too long, so, I searched at running shops and all of them are selling the expensive Yurbuds. The sales talk really would make me lean towards buying it, but, instead, I've kept my money inside my pocket or wallet. It is advantageous to get it, but not at this time, I guess. But, come February, I might get one, if and only if this new one is not yet broken. 

I came across the Coloud Pop Headphones. I saw this first when I came to ROX (Recreational Outdoor Exchange at Bonifacio High Street) along with the Yurbuds. It looks cute and pop-y, I did not want to get it the first time i saw it because it was way out of my budget (which was around 300-500php, this costs 895Php and it is already on Sale mind you). Also, one of the reasons I did not want to get it was the microphone. It has a built in mic that I thought I was never going to use, since I will only be using it for running.

But, when I came to the mall and made some serious earphone searching. I reconsidered getting it. Why? Because, first and foremost, it looks cute, sound quality is between better to best (my criteria for getting earphones really was cuteness AND sound quality. I don't compromise, I should get both) and the mic was okay to use too (for my SoundCloud account - yea, lol I sing too, now you know). I can also use it as a headset to my phone, so it will be convenient. 

I may have a lot of reasons why I am splurging on this one but based on the review I've read (and it's only one LOL - you may read it here in this link ) it is quite good and practical given its price and design. So I say yay for this purchase! I just hope I don't just leave it anywhere for the dog to mangle on. 

Stop Log

I joined PEx Running club for the reason that I really wanna be inspired to run more. They have this kilometer run log thread where in we may log in our mileage for the day then add up to the total mileage done by the group. This is for fun though, so I joined this thread and I religiously log in my miles BEFORE.

Yeah, BEFORE. What the fudge happened to me? I checked my Nike and found out that I only ran thrice for July (add one for my 4km SG run) and then 2 runs for August. Depression really got me out of running.

I came back to the site again when the president tagged me on Facebook saying that I was one of the top mileage posters.  I thought, I have to fight the slot. As per checking, I was the second one, next to the president. And as I posted earlier my previous (from April to present) and recent runs, I think I already surpassrd him. 

I can't make depression get this part of me, I love running and I signed up for a marathon to make meself run more and of course I wanna be in shape. 

Okay so, since Sept is already here, I promise myself to log more miles to PEx, Daily Mile and Nike. I will be starting the training this month so I am darn excited. 

Target for Sept, at least 80kms. Let's see. Cheerio! 

Note

Just in case you weren't informed, I had a bout with depression last July to early August. It made me make stupid decisions that I don't really feel sorry doing but it was stupid and it just took my sanity downtown. I have found out, thru the internet and not yet confirmed, that I may have cyclothymia. I will be seeking help soon. 

Thinspiration

This is Jeon Ji Hyun, she is known as the My Sassy Girl. I used her photo as an avatar at a forum site I have been lurking at for years. And I used her avatar for a year or so, this is after I have watched My Sassy Girl for the nth time.

I have thought of this now, since I have been uninspired lately, I need to have a benchmark as to whom do I wanna be after all of the hardwork I have been doing. And, I so came to Ms. Jeon Ji Hyun's photos.

She is currently modelling for Reebok and man, I really really wanna have her body - flat abs and small waist, firm arms and legs. I know, I am waaaay far from her as of now, but I need to inspire myself. So to inspire myself, I am posting these ad pictures from Reebok that I took from the internet (credits to the owners of all pictures).

Now, I wanna get some Reebok stuff to inspire me more. LOL. I have to have this body before I do the marathon! :D

First step to 42

Yes. I have decided to do the inevitable 42km run or what we call THE MARATHON. I have been following Miss Bullrunner or Jaymie Pizzaro (site: www.thebullrunner.com) for some time now and I have been inspired with her blogs and stories and her marathon event the TBR Dream Marathon.

The Bull Runner Dream Marathon caters to first and second time marathoners, I have been skeptic in joining this before because it's waaayy too expensive. (Normal marathon runs would fare about 500 - 1000php but this one is around 3200php) Most runners would save the money for another run, but as I followed Ms Bullrunner site regarding this event, it seems that the experience was worth the pay. I think it was more than what most of them paid for.

Registration started last Friday, Aug 9, 2013 and I made sure I was in front of the pc at around noon because only the first 800 (now 900) people who registers only gets the slot on this. So, I made sure I have a slot, I patiently waited at the office even if it was a holiday. (Ha-ha) 

So, come 12nn, I registered myself and a friend for a slot(whom I thought I could not register but I successfully did) The waiting time killed the sanity out of me, it was like waiting for the board exam results, but thankfully come Monday night, I saw my name on the list of successful registrants I was ecstatic and scared.

Ecstatic or excited because this was something to look forward to. Amidst everything that's happening in my life, this is the only thing that will make me go running again. As I said, distance inspires me, and to conquer 42kms is a challenge, and it's exciting to train again. I am now fidgeting on the day they will be giving me the training plan. I'm just too excited to start.

Scared because the distance is something new to me, and it's normal to be scared (I think). But being scared only fuels me to go forth and conquer it. I love it, I love imagining myself on the finish line kissing the TBR Dream Marathon medal. I love the feeling it gives me. 

Training starts on Sept 2013, and run will commence on Feb 16, 2013. I will try to chronicle everything new and everything effective. I hope this helps you too. 

The email that confirms it all, I should start training already. :)