I Finally Found the One!

While I may have already found the man for me and will be settling down with him soon, I have yet to find my running shoe match..until last week. After an evening run around the Bonifacio High Street area, I did a cool-down stroll and found myself in front of Mizuno. It was already CLOSED, but I could still see the store staff doing some last-minute tasks. I put on the sweetest smile and most desperate look I could muster and signaled to one of the lady staff if I may come in still.

Luckily, she was extra kind and agreed to let me. I read somewhere that Mizuno does foot arch analysis. After that knee pain in the Condura 21k run, I badly needed to get some clues on why I had it again (the last time the knee monster struck was three months ago at the Ictus Centennial Run in UP).

I was graciously led to stand on top of a box with a 45-degree mirror inside. While I stood there, a staff held another mirror and showed me how my feet touched the box top. To my surprise, they looked high-arched! All this time I was really convinced that I was flat-footed, thanks to a rock climbing instructor who once made that judgment after observing me climb. Hmm, here is now a prime suspect for all my knee pains. Haha! Convenient scapegoat! My current pair is obviously not suited for high-arched running feet and so I tried on Mizuno Wave Creation 10. They felt good on my feet and looked nice, too. I think I can run better with this pair on.

my dream running shoes for now

I didn't buy right away though. I remembered that Ryan (my fiance) has yet to come up with a pasalubong idea for me from his 1-month US trip. Guess where the sweet smile and desperate look will be employed next? ;-p

Hopefully by May, I will be running with Mizuno Wave Creation 10. Yipee!

Caffeine Substitute

I know I should be in bed now, but thanks to my 8.30-9.30pm recovery run, I'm still very much awake! It never fails-

a run in the evening = usual bedtime + 2-3 hrs of being unable to sleep

It's almost like drinking coffee except that you're wide awake AND energetic! Caffeine certainly can't do that to me. There are times when I still feel sleepy even after two cups of brewed coffee (nope, not yet a coffee addict ;-p).

As for this evening's recovery run, surprise, surprise, it's still for the half marathon last Sunday. Technically it should not be called that anymore, being done so late in the week. Can't think of a fancier term though for my first training run after the Condura race. Ehehe. Forgive my vanity.

Just did a slow 8km interrupted by a 1km sprint with a pace of about 5min/km. Not sure if you'd call it a sprint but that pace is already fast for me. My, I was literally panting for breath! Only shows I need to do more on the speed training space.

My fiance was supposed to run with me but he got tied up in a depressing meeting and had problems with his car muffler. Quite sad :-( On the brighter side, I had ample time to cool down and window shop at Bonifacio High Street. As it turned out, the window shopping led to a great discovery.... Mizuno Creation 10 :-)

More on that in my next entry, and on my first half marathon in another one... It's now 2.49am... still not feeling sleepy. Tsk Tsk.

Oops, got bitten by the running AND blogging bug...

Oh yes, I am quite fond of running. Ever since I was in grade school actually. Being on the chubby side, I had to do something to keep my weight in check (and yes, I was already that conscious, no small thanks to the Health and Home books my mom bought annually back then). I did not take it up to a serious level though. Just resorted to it when necessary- that is, when I needed to shed excess pounds.

That did change after experiencing my first road race in Japan last May 2008. It was a lovely 13.5km run around a lake with a good view of Mt Fuji. The route was ideal- mostly flat, sometimes sloping up and down, but was never harshly steep. Water stations had ladies distributing orange slices, the roadside was filled with both Japanese and gaijin folks cheering us up, and a light drizzle was keeping everyone conveniently hydrated. I was hooked by that whole experience and I needed to sustain it!

When I returned to Manila some months after, it so happened that my good friend Cathy was also interested in trying out running. The ensuing events led to where we are now- preparing for our first 21km road race with a Skyway twist!

Part of the prep for this half marathon was to attend last night's Carbo Loading Party hosted by Takbo.ph. In one of the program segments, blogging runners were asked to reveal themselves and have a photo session at the front. My, was I surprised to see only 3-5 women in that group. The rest of the runner bloggers were from the OTHER gender!

Now I have always told myself to stay away from blogging. My consistent excuse is I simply don't have the time for it. Or should I say, I simply have better things to do! But that scene was a bit of a challenge to me. So I guess now I'm caving in.

On the flip side of the coin, you can also opt to read that as, "now I have a good excuse to start a blog". Hehehe. Let's see if I can sustain this one, too.