During our 3-hour flight to China, my seatmate and I (let’s hide him under the name KQ2) compared reading material. He was reading a book entitled, “The God Delusion.” My book of choice, on the other hand, was “The Existence of God is Self-Evident,” something which could not possibly have been more contrasting. We had a good laugh about it, and I even tried to scan his book for a bit but I could not read it without wincing so I gladly gave it back. I took out my copy of Triathlete Magazine and we eventually found common ground–our love for the sport is indeed very strong.
Little did I know that just a few days after this, my commitment as an athlete would be brutally tested yet again. My love affair with triathlon has had its share of ups and downs over the last ten years, but our relationship is solid. As I went into Ironman distance two years ago, it proved to be sweeter than ever.
Until Ironman China.
This race tried to break me, and honestly, in those dark dark moments of the marathon I thought it had succeeded. I have no idea how I finished, I only remember that it was the longest and most dreadful walk that I had to do. Heck, it was the only Ironman in which I ever recall having to walk at all. I had suffered too much on the bike to be able to run.
What happened??? It was a well-organized race, don’t get me wrong, and hats off to the organizers. I had also come to this race prepared as always, as my training partners can attest to. I had tapered well, rested well, eaten well–did all the things a good athlete is supposed to do. It was a tough race, as tough as they can be, comparable to Kona itself–but I will not use this as an excuse. When you sign up for an Ironman, you don’t expect to have it easy. If for some reason you do, then you are definitely in the wrong sport. I showed up in Haikou fully aware of this.
So again, what happened? As of this writing, the answer still escapes me. It will take time to process. What I do know is, I had a bad race. No , I had a horrible race. However, I also know, in a strange way, that this was good for me.
Why? It has taught me that even when I do hit rock bottom, trudging on just to survive and with all hopes of a stellar performance out the window, I could still manage to hold my head up high and raise my hands in victory as I crossed the finish line, a good 13 hours and 39minutes later– a spectacularly fantastic PW (Personal Worst 🙂 ) for me. Yes Ironman, you have challenged me today, but my faith remains intact.
The wonderful thing is, my atheist friend KQ2 did amazingly well amidst a most formidable field of athletes from all over the world. He finished among the pros and was among the top age groupers, thus garnering him a slot for the Ironman World Championships in Kona like I knew he would. Believer or not, I am beside myself with joy for him, and in fact will even accompany him. After all, I am still his coach 🙂
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Thank you for always Believing. Cinnabon, Adidas, Hed, Timex, Aquasphere, Hammer, Rudy Project, Cobb Cycling, Zoot. My dearest family and friends, you know who you are, thank you. Pinay In Action, Fitness First, Sabak Tri, South Tri, Polo Tri, Xycos, the SuperTriKids and IronKids families.
Category Archives: Adidas
Keeping The Faith: My Ironman China Race Report
Filed under Adidas, Coaching and Training, Events, Fitness First, Race Report, Timex
Century Tuna Run plus Phil Premiere Cycling League Time Trials
Well this is a really belated entry but nevertheless I still wanted to post some pics.
Three weeks ago I did the 21km run in the am, with my friend Arland keeping me company as he was willing to run easier as part of his taper for Ironman Langkawi. It was an excellent run event with a lot of celebrities and friends although I had to hurry as I had to join the Philippine Premier Cycling League Time Trials in Sta Rosa on the same day!
Filed under Adidas, Biking, Events, Fitness First, Race Report, Running, Timex
The Bull Runner
I was extremely flattered when Jaymie Pizarro, aka The Bull Runner, asked me to pose for the Jan Feb 2010 issue of her magazine. I felt a bit unworthy as the previous covers were Pia Cayetano, Drew Arellano and Tessa Valdes but how could I say no! 🙂
I gamely posed for Ben Chan and answered Marga Deona’s interview and here is the cover photo… can’t wait to see the magazine! Jaymie said it will be out by the 17th.
Thanks so much Team TBR!!!
Filed under Adidas, Pinay In Action, Running, Selected Features, Timex
EX TRI 2009: Off-Road Fun!!!
After all these years, I was finally able to join EX TRI, the Philippines’ longest-running off-road triathlon. And boy was I glad I did! My friend Rizzo had to go out of the country and turned over her slot to me, even lending me her mountain bike shoes (we both have big feet!). I have to thank Rizzo and Anton for those and Ginny Summerfield for lending me her mountain bike…hugs to you!
I was officially adopted by TEAM SABAK for the weekend, and being a group of mountain bikers, they were hands down the perfect group to be with for an event like this. I was able to test-ride Ginny’s bike once in a Sta. Rosa Ride with Tyrone, Ginny and David a week and a half ago to make sure I still knew how to use a mountain bike (last time I rode one was when I joined Carrera-Habagat in 2007!).
Our “school bus” going to La Luz Resort in Batangas included David, Noel, Richie, and David’s trusty driver Rex. We had a long convoy of Team Sabak SUVs with bike racks and luckily we had a relatively fast trip. As we neared the resort I saw the choppy waters and thought, this was going to be interesting…
Eric and his eXtribe Crew gave us the race briefing and we headed to shore soon after that. A lot were nervous because of the waves. I get excited when I see the rough ocean though–as long as it is not too much. This was perfect, I thought. It was a fast swim and up ahead I could see the lead swimmers, Nonoy and Noel in the distance.
The bike was a mixture of paved road and trails and as I settled into a good rhythm (only after stopping to figure out how to use my borrowed CamelBack..tsk tsk, rookie) I found myself grinning. This was pure FUN! I loved the small break from my tri bike, to be honest. I forgot how much I enjoyed mountain biking.
I completed the bike quite satisfied and went on to do the trail run… which might as well have been a roller coaster ride. The first part had no flat portions whatsoever. It was either straight up or straight down. I mean it– I had to resign myself to walking up the hills. Oh well, I thought, everyone else would walk too for sure.
The last part of the run was along the beach, and it was a barrage of rocks and sand, I was a bit slow in my footing as I wasn’t wearing proper trail shoes and I dropped down two places because of this (I count the guys 🙂 ) but it was all I could manage as training on the track and running on loose sand are definitely not the same.
I saw the finish line after the stretch of big rocks and for the second time during the race caught myself grinning again. If only all races would make me this level of happy, I would bottle the feeling up and sell it! I was especially happy because my athletes did remarkably well and snatched the top podium spots. A coach can only be so proud 🙂
Congratulations to all the finishers and thank you very much to the organizers for putting up such an awesome event!!! Thanks to Teddy Tong, Raoul Floresca, and Alman Dave Quiboquibo for the photos.
Gotta Love Racing: Tour of Matabungkay and Adidas King of the Road back to back weekend
Tour Of Matabungkay Team Time Trial – Batangas, Oct 24 2009
There are some races which are fun, some which are painful, some which are tough and lonely, and then there is the Team Time Trial. Which I ABSOLUTELY LOVE. Maybe because I love time trialing per se. Or because I love when we all look so professional and slick in our matching cycling kits. And then there are my female teammates. Who Absolutely, Positively, ROCK. I just love being part of this relatively new all girls cycling team and am really proud of what we have done in so little time. We were the first women’s team to cross the line!
Special thanks to Doray for putting it all together the past few weeks, my work as captain was much easier on race day (all I had to do was keep shouting at them, and trust me after coaching for years this comes quite naturally to me by now). Thanks to Rizzo Tangan, Bea Locsin, Tonichi Balaguer, and Mimi Lucas. Love you girls!
P.S. Fitness First Cycling Ladies Team is actually a combination of Fitness First, Polo Tri, and Sabak Tri ladies 🙂
P.P.S. Thanks Anthony Balaguer for letting me use your wonderful photos!!!
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ADIDAS King Of The Road- Taguig and Makati, Oct 25 2009
Today was a great 21k training race, one that I did not expect to have the day after riding hard with my teammates in the Tour of Matabungkay… I was just glad to make it to the race venue before 5am. I drove home late from the race in Batangas the night before to make sure my sponsor would be happy! Sleep I need! I saw Lea Caringal organizing all of her Adidas athletes and after her trusty photog Nesty took some snapshots we hurried to the start line. Soon enough we were surrounded by uber bright yellow singlets and then it was quite easy to stay alert. When the gun went off something inside me woke up as well and even though I had agreed to just run with Joey and Paolo (oops sorry guys) I mindlessly dashed madly with the crowd… something that surprised even myself as I am always scolding my students not to do this exact thing! Hahaha….
Anyhow it turned out to be a good race, I was happily dancing to the music at the aid stations and thanked the cheerleaders for holding up encouraging placards for the runners. I also kept cheering for all the students I ran into. The food and drink were plentiful, which is always important. I was running in 5th place for most of the race and was actually content to stay there til I noticed at the last turnaround that the two girls in front of me were not doing so well. I decided then that I could still afford to pick up my pace a little bit and that was enough to get me into 3rd place. Cool! After the awarding I looked into my goodie bag and found out that I got a Globe Tattoo– way cool!
That afternoon after a well-deserved nap I coached the SuperTriKids for their Bike and Run session. What a great weekend!
Thanks Patricia and Paolo for the pics!!!
Filed under Adidas, Athletes, Biking, Events, Fitness First, Pinay In Action, Race Report, Running, Timex
Putrajaya Ironman 70.3 2009
Well it’s been about 10 days now and I have been slow to blog about this race. I was kind of wishy-washy in joining it because:
1. The organization was also slow to update us on the status of the race. I was already on the plane and brief thoughts of “what if I wasn’t properly registered cause my name isn’t even on the site?” popped into my head.
2. My heart was not into it because of the recent devastation in the Philippines brought about by Typhoon Ondoy.
3. My training had really been only good enough for a sprint, not a half ironman (my friend Paolo even pointed out to me when I told him this– “heck, more like a mini-sprint!” as he knew of my crazy schedule).
4. My fellow Ironfools Pia and Joey cancelled, for understandable reasons. Our kababayans needed help.
Oh well, you get the picture. Naturally it is not recommended to go into a race with this mindset, and I highly discourage it, but there I was. My only bright spot was that Patrice was going to be there, and I thought to myself well that’s more than enough reason to make the trip!
It turned out to be the right decision. It was a beautiful place, a wonderful hotel, and a well-organized race. Being the budget airline kind of gal that I am, I flew in at the God-forsaken hour of 3am, and was lucky enough to be woken up by the hotel cleaning staff just before I missed the free buffet breakfast. It was a yummy spread of Asian food that I loved, and I started to feel good about coming. I went down to register, saw Emma Bishop of TBB among others and we had a nice chat. Later in the afternoon, Monica and LC from our National Team also arrived, followed by Peter the next day. So all in all we were four Filipinos. Although lean and mean, I knew we could still REPRESENT!
I can honestly say that I had fun during the swim, bike, and run portions… even though it was sometimes lonely–but that is long distance racing for you! Being part of the last wave on the swim was not very ideal for me as I had to go through a lot of the men’s previous waves… but I didn’t really mind, I felt like I should be taking it easy anyway. The bike course is beautiful, very nice roads but we had some confusion about the loops, which we gladly sorted out. As for the run, I liked the idea that we were running on the main road of the CBD but there was nobody, no cars, etc. Putrajaya is a new city the Malaysians created to relocate all their government buildings, and since it was a weekend, they obviously had no work. Very Cool.
I thought my time was really slow (okay, it was really slow) but then everyone seemed to be a bit slower that normal too because for some reason it was not a very fast course. But it didn’t matter, I am always happy to race. Happier still was the fact that somehow, I finished first in my category (I suspect it was because of my expert nutrition from Hammer, as I really do not know where else to credit it to). My effort earned me another Clearwater 70.3 World Championships slot, and so I took it, just in case.
My equestrian friends from Malaysia, Nazroff and Qabil, dropped by to see me as they were in the area for a show jumping event. Was glad to see old buddies!
So there it is…another race in Malaysia, another good memory. I like our neighboring country’s triathlon events. I am sure I will be back for a few more next year!
Filed under Adidas, Art and Culture, Coaching and Training, Events, Fitness First, Nutrition, Pinay In Action, Race Report, Timex, Travel
Adidas King of the Road 2009
IMPORTANT UPDATE ON ADIDAS RUNNING CLINIC SCHEDULE: As of Oct 13, 2009, Due to the closure of ULTRA Track Oval, meeting place will be moved to Fitness First Fort Bonifacio Club, 6pm. COACH ANI.
Perks up for grabs when you register for the Adidas King of the Road:
![KOTR Print Ad Compre FA[1]](https://anikarina.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/kotr-print-ad-compre-fa1.jpg?w=212&h=300 "KOTR Print Ad Compre FA[1]")
Registration on-going Registration for the 2009 adidas King of the Road (KOTR) on October 25 is ongoing in 14 venues in Metro Manila. The event covers three running distances, 5k, 10k and 21k and the fee is P500. It will be held at the Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.
Adidas offers free running clinics with Ani De Leon: Renowned tri athlete and coach Ani De Leon will offer free running clinics in preparation for the adidas King of the Road! Ani De Leon believes that running, like any other sports, requires training and preparation to avoid any unnecessary injuries or health risks especially if you are a first-time runner or someone who has health-related risks maybe due to age. You can enjoy running at its fullest if you train and prepare for it and through adidas, Miss De Leon will train you for your run for free!
Free running clinics are scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday, 6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. from October 6 – 22 at the ULTRA Running Oval. Registration is simple, just send an e-mail expressing your interest to avail of the free running clinics to adidas_kingoftheroad_2k9@yahoo.com also include your contact details so we can coordinate with you.
Mi adidas discounts Perks never run out once you register for the KOTR. Just present your registration receipt at the counter to avail 50% off your mi adidas. You can now customize your shoes according to your style using the high-tech software available at the adidas flagship store in Greenbelt 3. Hurry as there are limited coupons available!
Running Expo on October 17-18 For the first time, adidas will conduct a Running Expo on October 17 to 18 at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall from 10:00 A.M. – 8:00 P.M. for all KOTR participants! Carbo-loading, exhibits, seminars, distribution of singlets, race bibs, presentations and a lot more surprises await all KOTR runners.
Get the latest on King of the Road from Facebook and E-group Get the latest from adidas about the King of the Road. Add us up in your Facebook accounts! Just search for adidas Running Philippines. Exciting prizes await you loyal King of the Road marathoners! Just add our e-group at http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/adidas_kingoftheroad_2k9/ King of the Road for a good cause The King of the Road is for a good cause as this year, the HOPE worldwide Philippines, Inc., an organization which upholds children protection and welfare will be its beneficiary.
Register now and experience the joys of running only with Adidas. Because every runner is different.
Desaru Triathlon 2009
This was an “impromptu half ironman” race, if I may call it that. We decided to join this two weeks before the event, and we were quite lucky to make it. But sometimes the best moments are those which go unplanned. It was quite a productive race (I guess that would mean: 1. Good Results 2. Great Company 3. Yummy food afterwards!!!), with the Ironfools all present and with Che, Nadine, Patrice and Peter joining our happy party too.
Special Thanks have to go to Daniel Sng and Irene Tan of Singapore for lending me a rear 650c wheel when mine decided to conk out. You guys are lifesavers 🙂
Here is Pia’s blog about it: http://mydailyrace.com/myblog/?p=490
Filed under Adidas, Articles, Coaching and Training, Events, Fitness First, Friends, Pinay In Action, Race Report, Timex
Filipina Ironwoman 