"on a shoestring"

“It’s elevating and humbling at the same time. Running along a beach at sunrise with no other footprints in the sand, you realize the vastness of creation, your own insignificant space in the plan, how tiny you really are, your own creatureliness and how much you owe to the supreme body, the God that brought all this beauty and harmony into being.” -Sister Marion Irvine, 2:51 PR and 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier

Whenever I find myself in a new place especially a new beach, I will make sure that I find time to run (even if I didn’t bring my running shoes). And run, I did! This time in the historic Lingayen beach, Pangasinan.

After about a kilometer of walking from the President’s Hotel in Lingayen Pangasinan towards the beach, I did some stretching and warm up. I was amped to run so I did some 2K warm-up.

Warm up (used my 10-sec timer)

Read more…

I did this rave run at Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental after a month-long hiatus last November 14. Yep, sorry for posting this tooo late.

Dumaguete City is known as “The City of Gentle People,” this chill city is also the home of Silliman University. 

I had a very scenic run at Dumaguete City’s Boulevard all the way to Hayahay. I felt like it was my first time running. I was trying to catch my breath, trying to feel the rhythm, the coordination of my strides.

When I felt some perspiration on my forehead, I tried to run faster. In my mind, I can still do a sub-5minutes per kilometer but my body doesn’t want to cooperate. I was having a hard time breathing. I can feel my belly, that I gain 4pounds. But I continued… until I reached Hayahay, the place where we partied 2 nights ago. It was a nice place, the music was great because it reggae. How I miss Dumaguete City- that laid-back town full of foreigners.

What’s good on my route is the century-old Acacia trees that line up the boulevard, the relaxed locals having some leisurely walk/jog, the white lamp posts and the nice red-tiled avenue beside the sea. It was a beautiful landscape!

RUNNING STATISTICS:

Date of Run: November 14, 2011 (Monday)

Route: Back and forth at Rizal Blvd then out to Hayahay and back, Dumaguete City

Distance covered: 6 Kilometers

Pros: Running along the Dumaguete Bay was refreshing. The Rizal boulevard is one of the best boulevards in the country.

Cons: The smoke pollution on my way to Hayahay. There are lotsa car and tricycle on the highway.

Time: 36minutes (6:00/km)

Temperature: 29°C

Running Apparel: Diadora singlet, Reebok running shorts, Puma socks, and Brooks T7 Racer.

can i call this the laid-back run? or maybe chill run?

If you want to read more of my out-of-town runs, you can check out my RUNNING PLACES Page.

Q: What’s the worse thing after not being able to run because of injury maybe?

A: Waking up late for the race, especially if you flew 300kms just to run.

I videoed myself when I was about to finish my 5K run.

Still, out of frustration of not being able to wake up for the Philippine Olympic Committee Fun Run (they said that more than 1,000 joined this earlier this morning), I did my own run around the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol. So the title, I did not raced today but still I ran.

I started at L’ Fisher where I am staying and find my way to the Provincial Lagoon. I did 4 rounds on the lagoon and then another 4 laps on the Provincial Capitol Square (South Capitol Rd. – Lacson St. – North Capitol St – Gatuslao St – S. Capitol).

4 loops on each blue-colored rectangle

Good thing is that I’m not alone running because a lot of people also do there morning runs here. Some do aerobics and stretching while others just enjoy the morning sunshine.

Provincial Capitol Lagoon where most joggers do their morning jog

KM.0 of Negros Occidental

Running out-of-town really amps me so even if I was struggling during the first 2 kilometers I did continue and endorphins just went all over my nerves from Km.2 onwards. if not for the heat, I would have added more miles, parang bitin kasi.

Running Statistics:

Date: May 22, 2011 (Sunday)
Distance covered: 5K
Expenses: Php10 (bottled water)
Running Surface: Paved road
Time: 35 minutes, including stops for photo ops (Pace 6:59/km)
Temperature: about 26°C or 78°F
Running Apparel: Pink Nike singlet, Craft running shorts and cycling shorts
Shoes: Red VFF Sprint

Ohhhhh yes, I want to do this more often.

If you want to read more of my out-of-town runs, you can check my running places. Thank you!

Meanwhile, do visit the blog today until the 30th for my coverage of the PHILIPPINE NATIONAL GAMES 2011 organized by Philippine Olympic Commission – Philippine Sports Commission (POC-PSC).

The sun already peeked when I woke up, I immediately went towards my sun deck, took a deep breath while enjoying the scenic Tagaytay morning, a bit chilly, scenic and perfect for a RUN.

The famous Taal Lake, view from my room’s window.

After lacing up and a quick muscle stretch I found myself running on Aguinaldo Highway, staring from my hotel, Summit Ridge Hotel, this is the same road where PAU 50K Tagaytay-Nasugbu was done where I was green-eyed from Km.0-50.

This is my starting line

I did an out-and-back route. As I don’t have a Garmin, I just relied on the kilometer markers, Summit Ridge Hotel is exactly at Km.58 and so it is very easy to measure my run.

These are some icons I saw while running:

Five kilometers on slightly rolling hills and back, my turn-around was kilometer marker 63, where I have a nice view of the Tagaytay hills below.

Going back after 5 kilometers, was a RUN AGAINST THE WIND. The gushing wind is blowing against me, making it harder to run. I love this as this helps in training and it feels like I was running on air- another rave run. I was glad I ran as oppose to getting extra sleep. The run lasted an hour and 9 minutes (1:06).

I used my VFF Sprint here as I was traveling. What I love about my VFF is that it is an all-around footwear, I can use it while walking, running, malling, practically anywhere I go- off-road, beach, pave roads.

On my way back to the hotel, I just placed my camera on the road railing, 10-sec timer.

Ending the run at Robinsons Promenade just beside the hotel. Now I’m ready for a breakfast buffet at Classic Cuisine (C2)… (till the next rave run)

 Run ended here, Robinsons Promenade just beside the Summit Ridge Hotel

Running Stats:

Date of Run: March 16, 2011 (Wednesday)

Route: Summit Ridge Hotel Tagaytay, 5kms to Nasugbu via Aguinaldo  Road (out and back)

Distance covered: 9.8 Kilometers

Pros: The weather was chilly, fresh air, scenic lake view, slight rolling hills perfect for leg strengthening, winds going back was a challenge too.

Cons: The vehicles are king of the road, take a good eye while crossing as they don’t use brakes.

Time: 1:06 (6:44/km)

Temperature: 16°C or 61°F

Running Apparel: Vivo Barefoot singlet, Craft running shorts, no socks.

Shoes: VFF Sprint (Red) 

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Special thanks to Summit Ridge Hotel Tagatay for a very nice stay, the SeriAsia Signature massage the night before the run was a welcome treat for a runner like me. Love my room, 803, the view of Taal Lake was just refreshing.

For inquiries or reservations, call (632) 240-6888; 0922-852-6800 or visit their website www.summitridgehotel.com

*I will be sharing more of my experience with Robinsons Malls (Veranda & Promenade) on my travel blog: JOURNEYINGJAMES next week, so keep an eye.

Running in Batanes: Basco Town Proper to Valugan Boulder Beach (Part 1 of 2)
Running in Batanes: Quickie Runs at Sabtang Island (Part 2 of 2)

I was pinching myself just to make sure it was not a dream. It all started with a desire to run around the Philippines (one of the reason why I call this blog JourneyingJames) and I can’t believe it, I was running on the northernmost part of the country- Batanes, specifically in Batan Island (2nd largest island among the 10 islands of Batanes Province).

The Route: Town Proper to Valugan out and back

I can’t wait to run on this island and I will not forgive myself if I will be a slacker. So I woke up before dawn and readied myself for an easy run to Valugan (Valugan means East in Ivatan language).

At the first 2 kilometers, the run was kinda normal (about 6:45/K) except for the constant pinching to check if this is for real. On the 3rd kilometer, the sound of the crashing waves became my iPod (as I don’t bring iPod while running), then the view of the majestic Mt.Iraya surprised me! It was stunning that I have to stop for a while and breath as much air as possible, it surely took my breath away. “Words are not enough to describe the experience” is such a cliché but that was the feeling.

Valugan Boulder Beach, you can see a portion of Mt. Iraya covered with clouds (Photo credit: Wanderlass)

After some more meters pave roads are no where to be found and the Boulder Beach is posing me a challenge. You know me, I love trail running, so I ran (and jumped, and scrambled ) on the boulders (the photo below shows the terrain) for about 1.5K. Then back to the pave road towards the town proper.

The boulders on the beach lining were actually andesite rocks spewed by Mt.Iraya when it last erupted, 1454. These rocks were smoothed overtime by the undulating tides of the Pacific Ocean (Photo from Izah of Tripadora).

At the last kilometer, I saw an Ivatan kid, Robert (Grade 6 student), he was running after me. I thought it will only last for about 50meters because I was getting faster, but he kept pace and we ran together (and have some chit-chat) until I reach the airport (finish line). He was walking to and from school everyday, but he ran with me that particular day. I said thank you and my heart was smiling for an unexpected thrilling run.

The Ivatans are genuinely nice, all of them smiling as I pass them on my route and their “good morning” greetings are straight from the heart. I was touched. THIS IS RAVE RUN!!!

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Running Stats:

Date of Run: February 12, 2011 (Saturday)

Route: Basco town proper to Valugan Boulder beach, Batanes (out and back)

Distance covered: 7 Kilometers

Pro’s: The weather was fine, fresh air, Ivatans were smiling when I pass them, the sound of the crashing waves amped me, the majestic Mt.Iraya was breath-taking, the boulder was challenging and develops sense of balance.

Time: 47:38 (6:48/km)

Temperature: 18°C or 64°F

Running Apparel: Nature Valley tech shirt, Craft running shorts, cycling shorts and Nike cap.

Shoes: VFF Sprint (Red)

*So sorry I have no picture of myself while running.

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***This happened during the Batanes Bloggers’ Winter Tour last February 11-14, 2011. The trip was made possible by SEAIR. My heartfelt thanks goes to Tita Lydia of Batanes Seaside Lodge & Restaurant and Dir. Bless and the rest of DOT Region 2 staff. Dios Mamajes!

I was able to join this tour because my entry, “Batanes, Ichaddaw ku imu” (Batanes, I love you) won the SEAir Bloggers’ Contest.