Conquering Mt. Batulao : My first ever TRAIL Experience

                I woke up at 4am, prepared everything and headed to the bus station at MRT Taft going to Batangas. From there, with my trail partner CJ Miles, we headed to Batangas (via Nasugbu) and stopped at Evercrest Golf Course in Lemery. In front of Evercrest are carinderias where you can have your early morning breakfast. The area also serves as a baggage counter for mountaineers and an after trail shower venue once you're done hiking.

     Going to the jump-off point, we hired a tricycle (P100 per trip) and a local guide (P250 for a day hike) to take us through the course.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a good experience going there because of the accident we encountered on our way. The rough road going there (approximately 5k) was a challenge. The tricycle is too low, when  the trike hit a bump, my head also hit the steel bar in front of the tricycle. My head, shoulder and leg were all injured. I was literally crying. It took us 5 mins to decide whether we will go on and continue or go back and go to the nearest hospital. I don't wanna set a negative vibe so we decided to continue our journey, after all I can still walk - brave enough to conquer the trails. 

     We started the hike around 7:30am - ascend on old trail and descend on new trail. We reached the summit roughly 3 hours after. Thanks to the buko juice I had in the summit, too bad lots of insects were flying or maybe celebrating cause of that first achievement. We finished before lunch, earlier than expected. We ran/walked on our way back, sort of post climb recovery too - no more tricycle ride because of what happened that day. 

     For a beginner and a newbie like me who doesn't have much trail exposure plus the fact that I was injured, reaching the summit was really something that I could be proud of. I know it's way easier to go on hiking at Mt Batulao (for first timers) but I believe this is just one baby step that can be a result of bigger steps in the future.

Unpopular

All of us are leaders in our God-given capacity. Whatever our status in life is – we are all capable to lead. We can be leaders in school, church or any organization we belong to - the thing is how well we are as leaders?

They say in order to be a good leader, one must be a good follower – sounds so cliché but this is true. You become who you follow – and that’s the root of how well you will be as a leader.

Back in my elementary and high school days, I had the chance to lead various organizations. Being part of the cream section made it easier for me to lead. Fame, power, connections – these are some of the things that made the job even lighter. Somehow, this shows how the world views leadership: being able to influence because of my title.

People will follow you because you have a title – it’s all about ENTITLEMENT. You are a leader because of your title. But leadership is not about tenures or statures; it is never about who you know and never about your connections. People will initially follow you because of your title; the important thing is that they will continue to follow you because you are good. That’s how God defines leadership and He made Himself a perfect example of being such:  A SERVANT LEADER. It’s about the service we give to others, it’s about valuing others above ourselves - it is about our CHARACTER.  And that character is a result of having a cultivated relationship with God.

Being a leader is a continuous process. It is in our relationship with others that we show our character. And like Jesus who became a representation of how it is like to be a servant leader – we also need to have the same mindset as Jesus if we want others to follow us.

Being a leader is not about being popular 'cause leadership is not a popularity contest.

1st HEROES RUN 2012

The first ever HEROES RUN will happen this coming December 2 at Fort Andres Bonifacio Complex, Taguig City. 

This is the first run that I'll be participating with A CAUSE. This event aims to provide medical assistance to our living heroes in uniform: Battle Wounded in Action (WIA) personnel of the Philippine Army as well as our athletes such as the Dragon Boat Team (Philippine Team), Boxers, Athletics (Olympian Maristela Torres), Soccer Players (Roel Gener and Manuel Sacapano of the AZKAL), Volleybelles (National V-League Champion) and other event that our soldier athletes excel both in the local and international scene. They are the beneficiaries through the different health care benefits provided by the Army General Hospital (AGH).

Aside from being one of the sponsors in this run, this will also be my BIRTHDAY RUN! Yehey! I'll be doing 21k here, hope I'll be able to beat my PR :)

If you don't have any run on December 2, see you all at the 1st HEROES RUN!

Let's RUN... with the HEROES

RUN... for the HEROES

COZ U R, a HERO

Race for Life 2012

I've been attending Victory Christian Fellowship (Pioneer Chapter) for more than a year now and I'm very happy to say that I'll be running my first Race for Life run this year. Yehey! :)

My VGroup and I initially talked about it prior to registration period. We said, we wanted to register and run together. It's also a good time to bond with other church members and at the same time help those kids in Real Life foundation. 

I'll be running 10k (the farthest distance they have) with CJ. My VGroup members will be doing 5k. 

Race for life will be held on November 30 (Bonifacio Day) at the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. 

See you all at the FINISH LINE! ❤

Men's Health Philippines Urbanathlon

6 days to go and the battle is on! Already got my race kit for Men's Health Philippines Urbanathlon which will be held at SM Mall of Asia Grounds on October 14. Thanks to Philippine Airforce (Joar) for the free race kit!

I'll be doing a 10k run with obstacles with my Spartan friends Jun and JR!

I really don't have any idea about the obstacles 'til I saw these online, yay! If you'll be joining, take a look at these obstacles and start doing core training now (which exactly what I plan to do for tomorrow's ANR session)

Men’s Health Urbanathlon 2012 Obstacles: Images courtesy of Takbo.ph

 

There you go! Good luck to all of us! See you all on Sunday! :D

TBR Dream Team Run : Team Ayala Tatsulok

T-Sheryl, B-Karlene, R-Tine Anne : Team AYALA TATSULOK

Half the distance, thrice the fun! Finally, I was able to register for the TBR Dream Team Run! Yehey! Gosh, it was epic. I had to look for teammates second to the last day of registration and go to BGC to check if there's an available slot. Thank God, I made it!

With Sheryl and Tine Anne of Ayala Triads, we call ourselves the TEAM AYALA TATSULOK! (coined after Team Ayala Triads) Thanks to Belle for the Tagalog version suggestion  :)

I'm really excited for this one. Though I haven't tried running in TBR nor registered for 2013's FM, being part of this run is big enough. This run is also memorable because this will be my first PAID run. Yeah, thanks to my generous sponsors for the couple of free runs I had and will have. Hehehe :)

This will be a new route for me too since it'll be held at Nuvali. Been running here in the Metro but haven't really had the chance to run out of town. 

I'm sure it'll be fun, though we're aiming to beat our PRs or at least be competitive enough to be within the 2:30 time, I think what's more important is the fun and learning will have during the race. 

I am excited. 

Goodluck to everyone who'll be running! See you in Nuvali! :)

KOTR Experience: My first 16.8k

My third medal is in! What a nice medal from Adidas King of the Road Run! Glad I finished my first 16.8k strong and injury free!


This is also my first KOTR experience. Thanks again to Adidas Philippines and to ANR Ayala Triangle (TRIADS) for the free KOTR race kit! Indeed, my diligence to attend the ANR sessions paid well. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                             


Route is pretty much familiar, from BGC to Buendia and back (via Kalayaan flyover). I didn't expect that it'd be much difficult going back, thanks to Moi's advise to push really hard when it's uphill. 

Thanks also to all my pacers : Marven, Moi, Jeff, Donald and Gan for running with me.

I would also like to commend all of the teams who were cheering in the hydration stations. You guys did great, love the costumes too.

Glad I was able to manage to put a smile while running (not obvious that I'm really tired and so eager to cross the finish line to get my medal and rest) Special thanks to Mr. Photographer (Angelo Lagumbay) for this floating running photo of mine. You captured it well, nice timing! Kudos to you brother!

As for the race result and analysis, here it is! Still finished the race in sub 2. Yehey!

Quite good considering I walked most of the time especially when I was at the flyover. 

Still ranked 36th in my division. Hehe :)

I know I could have done it better, but there's always a next time. 

Time to learn, time to train... 

'til my next race! See you on the road runners! :)