2011 Adidas KOTR Philippines

The running mistress, she found her way (and got it) - AGAIN. See, I already knew that the hubby was going to the frontRunner cloud race thing. I had braced myself to spend half of the super long weekend without him.

Then miraculously, the hubby got a free race kit for Adidas King of the Road. Oh, you running mistress your ways are cunning, yes they are! At least it wasn't a full marathon (consuelo). And he was gone for less than 4 hours. Okay, like I was awake anyway. But still.

 

Last race schmace. 

When the hubby returned home, I was ready to put on a pout. But then he had my favorite meal from Tapa King for breakfast. Oh he knows me so well. I can't help but love him and his blistered feet.

*Race Results from the Organizers still not available, but you could check for updates HERE.

Photos from A Runner's Circle and Team USB.

you can't stop your husband from running away.

Running is a mean mistress to contend with. She will not let go easily. Even if you're less than 3 months due to bringing a child into the world. Your husband will go with her. Early in the morning. Or maybe for an entire day. Sometimes even overseas.

Yep, that's what my husband did. As I was happily enjoying the balance of my second trimester and up until now that we're nearing the finish line.

There was the 2nd PAU Mt. Pinatubo Ultramarathon (50k). Yep, up and down a mountain it was. And it was trail. Thru rivers and lahar. See, normal people would rent a 4x4 to save hours of sludging. But these weren't normal people. 

Photos by Keshia Fule.

Then there was the Bursa Malaysia Rat Race (4.5k). Uh-huh. Muh-lay-sia. The hubby was gone for around 4 days to fulfill his duties as a Maybanker. Their CEO and some foreign colleagues apparently refer to him as "the crazy one" and they probably said, "Hey, let's get that crazy one from the Philippines to join the Rat Race team." The crazy one said OK. 

The race was a pressure test. So much expectations. So little km's to prove it - 4.5k as compared to the long distances he so loves. I stayed at my parent's home for the time being. Sick with the flu and floating in a queen-sized bed. He did get me a nice gray hoodie from Uniqlo. Yay me. 

Photos by Michelle Looi and Chuah Sakura.

And then there's the Manila International Marathon (which was supposed to be last July or something). He didn't race it. Just wanted to do his ultrarunning pace and finish. From this race he's gone over his goal of reaching his 1,000th km in running races. Which was apparently a goal for this year. I actually miss being at the finish line. I'm such a fan girl (read: future stage mother).

Photo by Alfred delos Reyes 

So YAY. We thought it was over. That's what you think! The mistress, she laughs. Because here comes the frontRunner Magazine's Rock and Road Series 1: Run to the Clouds 50k. 

With a title like that, I doubt that the hubby had strength to resist. Benguet. Mountains. Ultramarathon. Road and dirt road. Oh the wonderful words to invite the crazy people! It's going to be on October 30. He says it's going to be the last race for the year.

Let's see, Hero, let's see. I'm sure you'd like to be taken up the mountains too.

why we're calling our baby Hero.

When we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, I was calling our little baby "Bean." Chips didn't want anything to do with that at all (one, it sounds puny and two, he or she may end up like Mr. Bean). And since we still didn't know, we really couldn't pick out names yet. So we thought, okay, let's at least have a nickname ready. 

If it could have something to do with the baby's real name later on, that would be great. But if not, well, case-in-point there's "Chips" which if you knew his real name would beg the question "now where did that come from?" Did we want the same for our kid? Well, curiosity is always a great conversation starter. 

Okay so here's what we knew: the baby is due December. If you backtrack, that would make him or her a March baby. A Bataan Death March baby to be exact! 

One night during dinner, Chips was wearing his BDM finisher's shirt. And I just said, why don't we call him (or her) Hero? It would work either way. And I loved how it just brings us back to how incredible that race was for Team Chips. Hero. That's what we're nick-naming our little one.

So now we know that we're having a girl. And we talk to her and call her Hero. We haven't completely decided on what her real (full) name would be yet, but for sure, our Hero's going to be a feisty little ball of cuteness. Who knows, maybe she'll even grow up to be a runner like her daddy.

the battle of the baby joggers

It's fun looking at strollers, especially now that we're just a couple of months from our due date. We're not really bent on getting a jogger. But they just look extremely hardcore and cool. Chips would presumably have loads of fun with it. I just like it because I guess it stems from my love of big cars, err, SUV's.

We've decided on getting a lightweight stroller, especially since I'll be using it most of the time. And we could still take the baby jogging - maybe not at Chips' pace. Most probably mine, which is like... walking. Anyway, just for amusement's sake, I'll post some photos and info on baby joggers I found totally cool.

Caution: No reviews. Purely aesthetic. Maybe some snide remarks.

The JEEP OVERLAND Limited Jogging Stroller.  They named it after a monster of an SUV. That just about sold it for me. And it has an odometer and a dock for iPods. The other thing, JEEP is branded so beautifully up front. Grrrar.

The JOOVY Zoom 360 Jogger.  It looks fierce. It's actually for "city living". I guess you would need all that 3" travel suspension with all the potholes in the metro. The product manual also says it's made out of aircraft grade aluminum. So when your baby travels, your jogger and the airplane would be really good friends.

The BOB Ironman Single Jogger. It's called IRONMAN. How awesome is that. Your baby could look at other babies and say, "Hey I'm on an ironman. Oh what, your stroller has little bears." And if daddy or mommy has actually done the Ironman, that's just doubly awesome. It's like fate.

The SCHWINN JOYRIDER Jogging Stroller.  The sheer size of the wheels bite you first. They're 20 inches in diameter. How crazy is that. It's made up of aluminum and folds into something I couldn't even explain. It looks like a stroller sandwich.

The BABY JOGGER 25th Anniversary Performance Jogger. If other babies saw your baby in this stroller, they'd be thinking your baby was some loony speedfreak. It's just a picture and it already looks fast. It's a solid one-piece frame built for maximum durability and it has shock absorbers too. It also has reflective stitching in case you know, you'd like to get your baby used to your 4am weekend runs.

35th Milo Marathon - Garmin Connect

I think that this Garmin thing is so cool. Honestly, when the hubby showed me a photo of the watch I said to him, "It looks like a calculator." Well, it still does. But at least now I think it's a cool calculator.

Ever since he got it, they've been inseparable on runs. Even the shortest distance. Still need to wear it. Except for unfortunate instances (very few) when he forgets it or forgets to charge it.

He even wanted to try out its heart rate monitor belt-thing on my tummy to see if it could pick up our baby's heartbeat. If we get crazy enough maybe we just will.

35th Milo Marathon Race and the Results

First off, I'd like to give a shout-out to Milo and RunRio: thank you for setting up a safe and very well-organized race. The race kit and booklet is pretty impressive (reminded me of the HK one we did on February, actually). Being preggy and needing more rest than ever, this is actually the first time I've not gone with my husband as support (or finish line cheerer) on a marathon.

And while the heat-stricken memory of last year's Milo Marathon still scared me enough to want to be with him, I had to stay home. The cool thing about this year was a live SMS update on certain distance points. My cel buzzed me awake several times in the wee hours of the morning, and it somehow allayed my worst fears of Chips being soaked and stranded somewhere. The race was progressing well, it seemed, despite the unforgiving weather. 

Chips' official time clocked into my phone at 8:14 AM. I got up from bed and happily ate my breakfast, beaming with pride (aside from the fact that I was having a hearty serving of bacon). I'm visualizing myself at the finish line, jumping and running to give him a hug. I hope he felt it!

This was not the time we were expecting at all, given that he barely trained for this race. The lack of training you'll have to blame on me, who always wanted him home early. Yep, I'm sorry running mistress, the wife had to get her way.

I'm also thanking in this post Chips' pace-buddy for that race, Werner Cruz, for keeping him company as well as his spirits up and happy. Congratulations to him as well, and to the other runners (and supporters) who gave up the warm snuggly hug of their blankets to be part of such a great event!

Official Results may be seen by clicking HERE.

Or you can copy this link to your browser:
http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/miloelim2011

Note: a post from Runrio.com says that the race results are in the process of being verified until August 2 (Tuesday), so I guess you'll have to check again within the next couple of days if your time/ranking has changed... if you're that kind of OC person :)

when a runner goes to the beach...

He will always (initially) take a long time to decide if he will run or not. But he will eventually calculate that with or without the tours involved, he will have enough time to get out and run. A runner will take a vacation from work and the city, but never from running. He brought trail shoes when we went on our honeymoon. He ran twice.

For three days last week, we were in Bohol with family. We've been there before, so Chips together with his brother and myself decided to not join the tour and just spend time on the beach. It was the perfect opportunity for him to spend the morning running around - around 20k, before heading back to join us for breakfast.  I had bacon *squee*.

I didn't get to buy a straw hat, but good thing Chips brought his visor. I love it. It's underside is black, so when sunlight bounces from the ground, it gets absorbed by the black fabric. Genius! Good job, Nike. There aren't many white visors that have this kind of "feature".  Oh and look, another feature in the photo, the 20-week baby bump!

And to relax after a run, he's reading the latest book from his uber-running-idol, Dean Karnazes. He giggles and chuckles and shares tidbits to me with the utmost gleam in his eyes. Watching him talk about running is like hearing a boy talking about a girl he's falling madly in love with. And it's really cute, honestly. If this is his love-affair (aside from me), I really don't mind.

That day we also set out to eat a hearty meal. He did say he passed an italian restaurant on the main road while on his run. He said that it was "not that far". It was good that I had a full breakfast, because we were walking for a good 15 minutes and we still haven't hit this fabled resto. He apologizes, saying it seemed closer when he was running. Right. We decide to trudge on and I said to him, this better be worth a pregnant woman walking on a slightly uphill road for 20 minutes.

We get there, it's called Guisseppe's.  And it was THE BEST Italian meal I've EVER had in my life. And I'm not just saying it because I was a preggers and hungry. The owner is really Italian. They fly in their ingredients straight from Italy. They use wood-fire ovens. Their pasta is fresh and home-made. Need I say more.

They have a branch in Cebu City. So if we're having a family vacation there, I'll definitely eat there. Aside from the brilliant beach waters of Bohol, the meal we had here was a very close contender for THE highlight of the trip. I know, I'm shameless at plugging. I still dream of that lasagna. 

The next day was spent snorkling. And if our baby comes out not loving the water, I'm not sure what happened. I think it's safe to say though that this would be my last beach trip until the little one is born. I could tell though that next year will be really awesome.