Checkout my Marathon shoes!

Boys and girls, check out my new running shoes for my mythical marathon run in October! Yeah baby, fame and glory awaits!


Now of course, if I had been steadfast and persevere in my training I would have been running in Milo marathon by now. But as is the case, life happens, and that boys and girls, is how we roll.

Btw, here's putting in a good word for the folks at Runnr shop at Bonifacio High St (BHS). I was there last Sunday when I saw their video-gait analysis treadmill and thought I'd rock up to the place and ask if they can do one for me. They did, and very thoroughly at that. So now I know I'm running close to how the Etheopians does it. Naks naman!

After that I made some cursory comments on one of the 'light' shoes I've been considering and wasn't really expecting a response beyond a light-hearted "This sir is stability shoes, we highly recommend it". So imagine my surprise when I suddenly found myself in discussion on the technical merits of this particular shoes and why he strongly recommend that I consider the two other shoes with similar features and attributes _based_ from his own experience of trying them on. Whoa... that gentle boys and gentle men is kind of advice you're looking for when buying shoes. Color me impress to find folks at the store who know their stuff.

Now, I'm dense... Normally I don't feel the slightest compunction or guilt going into some swanky shop, wasting time or needling staff, or just trying everything on display and then leaving the store without getting anything. As long as I can afford it, of course, and make it a vague point to come back when I do need it (confidence, kiddos, has to be rooted in something, otherwise you're just being obnoxious customer :-)). But this one of one of few time I felt bad not getting anything from a shop, simply because I had great time talking to their staff and their pre-sales service. But I did tell them upfront though, and this guy Jessie I was talking to, was still paragon of an exemplary customer service.

So folks, next time you need a running shoes, check out their shop. You almost always want someone more experience and technical advising you on those not-so-cheap technical shoes without the baggage of being employed to promote one brand selection.

I didn't get the shoes at their store because they had 10% off at the NB shop at the Shang mall. I'm cheap, pero over five hundred box din yun, abah, laki din yun. But on my next shoes, I will.

Update 2009-06-22: Caught a nasty cold (nope, not that one) so had to skip training for a few days and had to take some medicine for quicker recovery. bummer.

Mizuno 15K Race - Third Time is the Charm

Third time's the charm for Mizuno. After their last 2 disastrous race, things are finally looking for their race events!

But first off, a few nitpicks:

The race singlet was crappy piece of shirt, a far cry from the stylish and high-quality singlet they gave in previous races. I always associate cool singlets with Mizuno race. I'd even go as far as to say that that huge turnout could be accounted in part by expectation of another cool Mizuno singlets. Oh well, sponsors must be feeling the downturn and had to cut cost somewhere.

Also for the life of me, what's with the distributing singlets at the end of the race? It's not like it's something to die for. You would have thought that it was more logical to hand it out before the race (when you get your bib number). I'm sure they have their wonderful reason for doing it but next time though, it does make more sense to hand out singlets before the race, really, no joke. Some people like wearing the official singlet on race day, you know.

I love running in big races, but honestly, weaving through a huge crowd when got your game on and in the zone kinda spoil the mind-state for me. They had to merge 15k runners on their way back with the other shorter distance runners a few blocks from the Buendia interchange. Result? Well, a lot of the fast walkers in the race kinda constraint the 15k runners who by that time is already enjoying their endorphin shot and running on adrenalin.

Now that said, this is a very good and a well-organized race. Considering how the first two race ended up disastrously for the organizers (whether it was from the lack of water station or chaotic finish line) this race was a joy to run. Kudos to Mr Rudy Bischoco and his team!

I'm sure the guy have his share of horror stories and better-off forgotten races, but it must have been a long time since. All the races I've run that he's handle was nothing but! Even Mr Rudy's quirky habit of starting the race a few minutes early was kinda quaint :-) So sponsors and organizers, if you're having a string of bad luck in your races and you feel that the stars and feng shui are against you or perhaps you just don't want to leave anything to chance on race day, play it safe so to speak, call in the big guns.

Awkward quote of the day:

On my way back at the Buendia flyover, I pass these two pretty young lass chatting in their super-saucy, extra-loud and heavily-accented, collegiala Taglish (good lord! give me strength not pull these girls aside, and give them a well-deserved spanking for wilfully mangling two perfectly good languages). Girls, as cute as you are, drop the tone/accent/speak you acquired from your exclusive and sainted alma mater, I'm sure you wear it as badge of honor but it's pakking irritating.

Anyways, one of the girls suddenly blurted out, "Asan yung bib mo? Are you a bandit?". Heh, you could've heard a pin drop, fortunately for the other girl, she got her wits about, "Oh, they run out of registration for me at the store, I'm just joining you guys for my long run". You go, girl!

And stay classy, bandits!

By my watch, I clocked in 1:27:16 for the 15K run, that's 5.53/km pace for me. Officially though, I got 1:31:59 time. That's 4 mins gap but that's alright, since I came in late and all the runners have taken off when I got to the starting line. (a bit slow but w/o warming up I had to do 8.0/km pace first 3 kms).

After race pics:

While waiting for breakfast...

Yeah! As oily and as fatty as you can please!

Microsoft IE8 Run (8 Miles)

Wuhoo! Who's your daddee?!? Yeah baby, got my game on!

I couldn't believe how fast I run this race, 8 miles in 1:13:54 time, that's like 5.32/km pace, beyond my usual 6.10 pace for my long runs and still wasn't feeling any knee pains. I even place at the top 113 finisher! Wuhoo, agasim that!
(that's an Ilocano word, in case you care).

Let's see... this is your usual weekend race, except for light drizzle the whole time, there isn't really much to tell. Uhmm, let see... nothing still beat a girl in black short shorts on top of flawlessly white long legs for that eu naturalle look. Hands down, best running form all female runner should strive for. Nothing against those who wear compression pants, baggy shorts or whatnot, but some things are inherently more pleasing to the eyes.

Hmm, what else... oh yeah, kudos to the organizers for well-organized race! And special mention goes to all the police and race marshalls who directed traffic (or rather, who bravely stop traffic at the intersections) while runners pass by. You're my heroes! Not easy to act coolly while drivers impatiently honk their horns at you. Next time though, just walk to nearest offending driver, tap on his window and just ask kindly and super nicely that he stop pressing his horns. Actually, better to just to walk to the driver, tap his window, move back a few paces, pull out your gun and yell... RACE MARSHALLS!! YOU TALKIN TO ME!

Hehe, joking :-)

That's it for my race recap folks. Just one thing though, I really got to workout some system where I get to pee a few minutes before the race, as it is, I was still queuing at the portalet when the staring gun went off. Nope, don't want to cut-off or lessen my water intake before the race, since that means stopping at one of the water stations to re-hydrate.

Pics stolen from meekrunner's blog :-)

Catching up with Ms Anna and lakay Jun after the race.