La Mesa Ecopark

I was getting bored of my usual SM Fairview route so I decided to give La Mesa Dam Ecopark a try.

It’s been a while since I last visited this park. I was surprised that the area was more developed now than 2 years back.

Aside from the boating area, wall climbing, and paintball, the park now has an Eco Museum. I wasn’t able to go inside the area where the pools, orchidarium, flower terraces and fish pond are because I only had P50 with me (entrance fee is P40 for QC residents and P50 for non-QC) and I may need it in case of emergency. Maybe next time.

For more info on the La Mesa Ecopark, please visit http://www.lamesaecopark.com/.

 

after more than 8K I finally reached La Mesa Dam Eco Park

slightly uphill path from the main entrance to the park

eco center which houses the administration office

wall climbing

boating area

Online Journal

2009 is just days away and I know for sure some of us are already planning our training for the new year. If you have been keeping a journal to log your runs, here are two cool sites to monitor your runs online:

dailymile –> http://www.dailymile.com

 

Runner+ –> http://www.runnerplus.com

 

Log

You can log your runs using kilometers or miles. The advantage of Runner+ is if you are a Nike+ user. You can synch you Nike+ data to Runner+. However, dailymile will soon support not only Nike+ but Garmin as well.

Another advantage of dailymile is you can log not only your runs but other workouts as well – cycling, swimming, weight training. This is great news for tri-athletes.

Comments/Forums/Chat

You can comment on your friends’ workouts/runs on both site. Dailymile even allows you to send motivations to your friends. Both sites also have online forums but Runner+ has an active chat.

Other Features

Runner+: There are a lot of running articles that you can browse through.

dailymile: You can upload photos and videos. View upcoming events and even create your own events.

 

I’ll leave it up to you which site you would choose. In any case, don’t forget to add me up as a friend.

Christmas Run

I usually wake up late on Christmas day but today was different. While everyone in the house was still resting from the previous night’s festivity, I was up at 6 AM. I actually set the alarm at 5:30 AM but managed to pull myself from  bed after 30 minutes.

As I walked outside our village, I was greeted by my neighbors who just finished their inuman session. I started my Nike+ sportsband as I hit the main road. It was cool and breezy as I made my way to SM Fairview. The usual busy Quirino Highway was empty this Christmas day. Upon reaching Neopolitan Business Park beside SM Fairview, I did some stretching and took snapshots of this beautiful morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mindanao Ave. is about 2.7 kms long and intersects Commonwealth Ave. Ext. and Regalado Ave. Seeing there were few vehicles, I ran the whole stretch from St. Anthony School in Lagro to Cresta Verde Village and back. I found a new route that I will be adding as I increase my mileage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it was Christmas Day, I took a break at Mary the Queen Parish Church to hear mass. After the mass, I went another loop around Neopolitan Business Park before heading home. Total distance – 12 kms.

I felt great this morning. The pain in my calves that has been bugging me for the past week did not occur. Could this be the signal to start my marathon training? I’m not sure but I’ll be taking full advantage of the long holiday.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Antipolo For the Last Time

We did it again! We conquered the hills of Antipolo for the last time in 2008.

With little sleep (again!), I was up early Sunday morning with our host Bobby, second timer Mikey and Antipolo virgins Taki, Tanya and Vimz. Just like the last time, our route was Brookside Cainta-Valley Golf-Victoria Valley-Antipolo. Although I experienced pain in my calves during the first 5kms, I had a wonderful time as the kwentuhan and kulit meter were high almost the entire route. The 17 km run was a combination of run, jog, walk, kulitan and photo op.

Thank you guys. Til the next Antipolo run!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by Vimz

Another Delay?

My US assignment might be pushed back to a later date.

Not my fault but someone else’s stupidity.

@#$%!

Looking at the brightside, I might still join January races.

Volleyball Champs

The finals of the Volle 650 Season 5 ended last Saturday, December 13. I missed the finals of Season 4 as I was assigned in Virginia, US last year. However this year I was able to play the entire season before my US assignment.

Our team went up against PAGCOR, one of new and strong teams this year. It was a very close 1st set but Accenture edge out PAGCOR 32-20. We dominated the 2nd and 3rd set, 25-17 and 25-20 sealing our second Volle 650 Corporate Division championship trophy.

Accenture Volleyball Team - Corporate Division

Pao, Palo, Wey, Jerzy, Wilbert, Angie, Ra, Anne, Kenz, Mark, Willie, Vic, Nald and She 

Congratulations team. I will really miss playing with you guys next season. See you all in AVL 2010 and Volle 650 Season 7.

Christmas Get Together

Since a lot of my runner/blogger friends already made a post about last Monday night’s get together, I’ll make this as one of those “let the pictures do the talking” post.

PS. It was Mark’s idea to “celebrate” my birthday that night since I won’t be here in the Phils. on May. But then again, thank you to those who greeted. Send your gifts over to Seattle. hehe 

 

Vimz, Jaymie, Doray, Tiffin, Jaimie, Abby, Gigi, Que, Rio, Jun, Jinoe, Hector, Vener, Taki, Vince, Gene, Dingdong, Ben, Jay, Dindo, Bards, Philip, Vina, Bro J, Mark, Wilbert, Mesh, Mikey, Aljo

more pictures in my multiply site – http://ibetlacbay.multiply.com/photos/album/102/Christmas_get_together_with_runner_friends

UP ICTUS Recap

- The race started on time. There were markers but some confusion happened at the first turn in-front of the Oblation. Lead runners went straight instead of going right towards the police station.

- New route which was generally flat.

- It was not a PR for me but I still registered a decent time of 57:01 considering the pain I experienced in my calves on the first 3kms of the race.

- Freebies -> Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee! souvenir photo from PhotoVendo

- There were few Happy Feet runners (congratulations Chaia and Philip!) but I was able to meet a lot of Takbo.ph peeps. Rico treated us with unlimited taho.

running at the academic oval (photo c/o Vener)

Takbo.ph meets taho.ph

Takbo.ph group pic

Zero One Zero One Zero Nine

So it’s final. I will be leaving on 01/01/09 for Seattle, Washington USA. While everybody is eagerly awaiting the coming of the new year, I will be busy making final checks on my luggage ensuring that I have packed everything I needed.

You might be asking why I am leaving. Being in an IT company, our clients are from abroad and would sometimes require you to work “onshore”. My new client is based in Seattle and has requested me to work there until October 2009 (Yes, that long! My first assignment was just 4 months). Initially they planned me to be there before Christmas but because of some paperworks and clearances my working start date was moved to January 5. There were also no more flights for the weekend of Jan 2, 3 and 4 which left me no choice but to book the New Year flight.

For the meantime, I will enjoy my last race at UP ICTUS, do a practice run in Antipolo and attend the remaining sessions of the Nike Clinic.

PS. Since I am already in the US, I will be doing my first full marathon probably in LA Marathon. Winter training trips would very much be appreciated.

My Last Race for the Year

Race bib # 2654. See you at UP on Sunday!