Phil. Dua Series Leg 2: I'm all set!

Well, it's my 2nd duathlon for 2014 on Sunday at the Philippine Duathlon Series - Leg 2, in Nuvali, Laguna. Glad to see that the race organizers have added a wrist band in the racekit, a preventive step from would-be bike thieves which unfortunately took one of the bikes in Leg 1.

Training has been stagnant in terms of volume in the past weeks, attributed mainly to either my laziness to finish the workout, or by daddy duties that should be prioritized. With 4 months into tapping the services of Coach Andy, my performance this Sunday will determine how far this coaching has improved me.

Training-wise, I've improved a lot. When before I only do 5-7km runs on weekdays, I can nowrun 10k easy runs with ease ---on a weekday. The bike volume (and intensity) has increased a lot since I went under Coach Andy's intense training regimen. No pressure for me to perform well this Sunday as I will just put in what I've done during training. Whatever happens, happens.

Hope to post a good result of this race by next week.

Here we go....

Post-Race: Alaska Cycle Philippines

The good:

1. Accurate distance (40km)
2. Good work on controlling the traffic
3. Lots of freebies

For improvement:

1. Wished the FinisherPix photos were free

I had a good time racing this one, improving my average speed from 28kph last year to about 30+kph here (1:17:40 chip time). I was able to hang on for most of the peloton groups that I encountered, ending the race with the one led by Alaska head huncho Fred Uytengsu. This was a good gauge to check if I'm improving on my bike.

Yup, I'm already excited for the next installment of this BGC race which happens this November.

2014 Philippine Duathlon Schedule

I managed to come up with the table below based on different website updates. The schedule is accurate as of this writing (and as per the websites I checked).

As per swimbikerun.ph, they plan to move DuamanX2 either to 1st or 2nd week of September. This might conflict training schedules since the much awaited Unilab Duathlon is scheduled on Sept 7. Hopefully the different race organizers will discuss schedules to pose no conflict and, more importantly, allow us to join all the races without conflict of training or risk of injury.

Happy hunting!

My 1st Bugarin-Jalajala Ride

After endless invites by @roadiemanila, I finally gave in and rode the famous Bugarin-Jalajala loop last Saturday.

To summarize, the route had an 8km 4% climb followed by a -4% descent of the same length. The rest was flatland around the Jalajala road, which ends in a 400m teasing climb as you finish back to Pisong Kape.


It was, as expected, a good route for cyclists as there were few vehicles, the air was clean, and a picturesque view. I will definitely go there again.

On my ride effort, my weekly ULTRA/StPaul Pasig climbs have paid off, as I managed the initial 8km climb with ease, i.e. no concerns of tapping out to walk. Thanks as well to my weekday Sufferfest sessions, particularly the Hunted Individual which boasts of a 20min continous climb which trained my legs to suffer.

Yup, I'll definitely take that loop (or two! ) again.

       

Start of the ride (8km climb)

Food break at the top of climb

Just had to stop and take this photo

Ran in Japan

I was in Tokyo with the wife last week and I have to say that I enjoyed our stay there. The food, the cool weather, the food....have I said food already? Hehehe...

RAMENNNN!!!!

All that eating had to be burned so good thing I brought my running gear. By Saturday morning I took a mid-morning run from the hotel to Imperial palace, which had a 5k loop. Incidentally, the 5k/10k Tell race was being held on that day so I had the chance to run alongside the registered runners. As I was just on pasyal pace, I was being overtaken left and right by the race participants. I pushed the pace after a while, up to HM effort. Although I noticed my HR increasing, overall effort seemed comfortable so much so that I went for another loop even when my hydration bottles were already empty. Total kms for that day: 12km (13km if you add the cooldown walk from Imperial Palace back to the hotel).

I'll definitely run there again should we get a chance to spend another vacation in Japan.

Love you Tokyo!